I believe just as many others do that positive thinking and written goals are something that can propel you too much greater success than just hoping for good to come. One thing that should be mentioned too more often though is the role of negative thinking in our lives.

Negative thinking to me is just looking at the bad side of a situation. Things like “If I run I might hurt myself” or “I don’t want to give up chocolate forever” or “What’s the point, I will probably fail anyway” these are very dis-empowering thoughts and they will stop you from achieving success. Really all negative thinking is is a pattern of thought. Since it is a pattern you can change it and not have it as much in your life anymore.

We have all had tough times and bad thoughts roll through our head but if you think about a time when you were excited and looked forward to a situation compared to a time where you were scared, worried and though you might fail you can remember I am sure the lack of strength and the lack of commitment that you felt. There is nothing worse and what a terrible way to go through life scared of what is coming up looking with fear at the opportunities that await. Read the rest of this entry »

Often I will write a blog post, or have a workout, or write and email to all the people that get my newsletters, or grab an apple or chocolate bar and I ask one question.

Why bother getting healthy?

This is a question that everyone needs to ask themselves before they step into the gym, walk into a fast food restaurant, get into the kitchen, grab a beer, and basically anytime that you are doing any helathy or unhealthy thing to your body.

You need to formulate an answer and if you have not done this yet then it is probably a big reason why you have trouble succeeding – anyone that has this answer will alrady be doing good things for themselves.

I have to admit that I am far from perfect as far as my diet and excercise go but I have hard and fast rules that I will talk about in another post. But the fact is that I care about my health and will always stick it as a high priority in my life. Is that what you do or not, or sometimes, or when the mood strikes? Read the rest of this entry »

We all want to lose weight, gain muscle and be healthier, but the trouble is that these things never seem to come to us. There is a reason for this and it is simply that we do not make small changes in our mindset to bring about the big changes.

For instance let’s say that you want to lose weight. You try every diet for a few weeks only to fall off and fall into your old habits. Even the people on the Biggest Loser tend to gain their weight back and do you know why this is? The mind is not changed. You need to change your mind before the outward changes are going to manifest for you.

The best way to change you mind is not to one day say “I want to be thin” actually the best way to say this in your mind would be “I am thin” since your mind will accept the now but does not really understand the furute and the past when making change.

The next thing that you need to do to make those changes in your life is to do the small things. To lose weight of course ytou need to clean out your cupboards but that is not going to help you at the grocery store, instead you have to change your mind on what you like and do not like for food. No one that I know of really likes rice cackes but they will always eat them to lose weight. What would be the point of eating rice cakes at home and then eating lots of cake when you go out for dinner? Read the rest of this entry »

I know that I ma not the only one that struggles with this. Trying to make sure that we get our exercise in and of course being pulled by the work that puts a roof over your head means that it is usually fitness that will lose the battle.

I want my wrinkles to melt away. I want my belly as flat as the girl in the Google ads. And I certainly want my arms to look as good as Michelle Obama’s. But when forced to choose between exercise, work and family, sit-ups and push-ups fall to the bottom of my list.

Unfortunately, the downturn in the economy has most of us working more, trying to find a job, or shifting in a new career direction, giving up exercise and fitness the minute it doesn’t fit into our schedule.

Yet, with the tough economy on everyone’s mind, exercise is probably the common denominator that keeps people sane: employers, employees, service providers, clients. Some people are taking extraordinary steps to preserve that outlet. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever wanted to get in shape in a month? I sent this email out to all the guys that have joined the “21 days of fitness”.

I initially sent it just to try to help kickstart some people but since I sent it I have been buried in emails from people excited about making a change and getting in shape in the next month. So I have decided to post this on the blog as well.

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When you signed up for my 21 Days of Fitness email program and then continued with getting my occasional emails I am sure that you were excited and committed. But commitment and motivation can be fleeting. How are you doing now? Are you really working hard to get or stay in shape?

Today for me was the first day in a while that I rode my bike to work and I was thinking about one thing during my ride:

“What could I do to help as many people as possible get in shape starting this week?”

Well I tend to be a nice guy, I poke and prod here and there but I am not very aggressive in my emails in saying how critical it is to improve your health. Today I want to start to change that.

Do you know that Summer is almost here? Are you going to lose that 10 pounds of fat or gain that few pounds of muscle before Summer hits full swing? Do you really internalize the idea that every good thing that you do for your body today will make you healthier today and tomorrow?

Read the rest of this entry »

I have been going through my RSS feeds today and have found some really nice articles that I wanted to share with you,

JoLynn at The Fit Shack has a longer article on Why it is so hard to stay motivated. Motivation, I believe, is the biggest obstacle most people have to getting off their but and getting the work done to improve their fitness.

On Fit Hacks, Brandon has given us 8 great reasons other than just the exercise for getting out and exercising, really eye opening stuff.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin reveals a study that shows that caffeine will not help you burn extra calories during intense exercise

A reminder is often needed when we are working out and trying to get results but sometimes they don’t come fast enough. Fitness Chick has a great article on how fitness is really supposed to be fun!

Blake at the Fight for Fitness Blog reminds us all that exercise is critically important.  No matter how well you eat it will never make you stronger.

These days, people are so crazy about losing weight as quickly as possible that they are looking for the latest and greatest shortcuts. If a program promises to help them lose ten pounds in three days, they would choose that over the one which promises to help them lose ten pounds in ten weeks, even if the former might involve the use of unhealthy weight loss techniques. But does such a choice really help them in the long run?

Keep in mind that when it comes to weight loss, being ’short-sighted’ is not good. When you try to lose weight by using these weight loss ’shortcuts’, more often than not you will gain back the ‘lost’ weight pretty quickly. A simpler way to lose weight is to follow healthy and natural weight loss methods. What is the best and most natural way to lose weight? Obviously following a healthy diet and exercise program is the key to lose weight healthily and permanently.

Here are the two old but simple weight loss methods that you should follow to acquire a slim and fit body easily and naturally. Read the rest of this entry »

I find through emails and website comments that people can be armed with all of the information but still not make real and lasting change in their health and fitness. We all know that diet and exercise are the only secrets that are really needed but even with this information and a plan most people will not stick to a plan. The reason?

People don’t beleive that they can make real change.

Over the years and with all of the bad decisions we will alsways seem to dwell on the problems that we have caused ourselves and the problems that others have casued and we never seem to think deep down that we can change.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately and I believe that failure in our fitness goals really comes down to the following three factors.

1. We don’t dwell on our successes
2. We don’t trust our knowledge
3. We look at our results today instead of looking a little farther out. Read the rest of this entry »

I really want to start posting a bit more personal thoughts here and here is a bit from the weekend.

I beleive that we all have an internal compass that tells us what we are and are not capable of and what our life is supposed to look like.

Trouble is that it is all crap fed by our ego self.

What we really need to do is to decide what we want, figure out the steps, and just do it.

My wife went away for the weekend and while she is away she has very low expectations of me. Make sure the kids make it though the weekend and don’t make a mess. Well this weekend I tried to do more. I got out and photowalked with the kids, took them swimming for a few hours and kept them entertained while spring cleaning. All this and we really had a great time together. Read the rest of this entry »

Weight loss can be achieved with the right knowledge. In this article I will offer you that knowledge. When I was trying to lose weight, I had no one to guide me and hence I made some mistakes along the way. I hope you don’t make those same mistakes like me.

The first mistake I made was to choose a fad weight loss program like the Weight Watchers for my weight loss. I failed to realize, until after it was too late, that fad diet plans come with their own shortcomings.

It went like this: the Weight Watchers program worked perfectly for the first few weeks. It helped me lose weight with the kind of speed I wanted. However, it fell flat after a few months. I soon discovered that I wasn’t losing weight as rapidly as before. I discussed it with my friends, and they said that maybe I am not sticking to my diet plan and ’straying’ too much. It was of no use convincing them that such was not the case. At last they suggested that I should record all my eating and other habits in a weight loss diary.

So I did as they suggested. And here are some shocking discoveries I made along the way:

1. First discovery – Emotional eating: I finally realized that my friends were not all wrong when they said I was ’straying’. I just didn’t realize it myself. I would eat a few packets of chips, a bowl of chocolate soup, some pastries etc. every day. They had formed such integral parts of my daily life that I just couldn’t get over them. And that was partially responsible for the failure of my diet plan.

2. Second discovery – Yeast infection: If you take antibiotics over a prolonged period of time, it will destroy the probiotics present in your digestive system – the good bacteria that help you with digestion. Slowly the yeast infection would engulf your entire intestine in such a way that you will feel drowsy and fatigued all the time, have cravings for sweet foods, and experience abdominal acidity right after eating. Well, that was what had happened with me. This was yet another stumbling block that I had to remove.

This problem can be eradicated by eating foods that are rich in probiotics, such as yogurt, kefir, etc. Don’t ignore this problem as it can wreck havoc with your weight loss plan.

Once I eliminated those two stumbling blocks from my life, weight loss was inevitable.