Day #17 3 Things Winners Don't Do

In a follow up to the post about what winners do, here are three things winners don't do.

1) Quit - Winners never, ever give up.  They break, the crumble and at times are crushed.  But they never, ever quit.  Pain and struggle are temporary speed bumps on the road to succeeding.  These should not be walls that keep us from our goal, but simply serve as obstacles we fight hard to overcome.  DON'T QUIT!

2) Blame Others - The affirmative of this is that winners take personal responsibility.  Their situation is never someone else's fault.  Their weight struggle is not blamed on DNA or genes.  The inability to lose weight has nothing to do with what everyone else in their life is doing.  Your life situation is not the fault of someone else!  A winner takes responsibility for themselves!

3)  Half A$$ IT - A winner gives everything, every time.  A winner puts their foot to the pedal and steps on it.  50% is not going to get you the results you want.  75% is not going to get you to your goals.  You have got to give 100% and then give something more.  DIG DEEPER ala Shaun T!  DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST ala Tony Horton!  Give your all, all the time!

You have the ability to win!!!!  Now GO WIN!!

Day #8 - My 5 Struggles

Weigh in day!  It is a day of hope that teeters on being a great celebration or a possible deflation.  Today was somewhere in between.  I was down to 181.2 and a BMI of 25.98, a total weight loss of 3.6 lbs.  Pretty good for a weeks work, but honestly was hoping for better.  I know, maybe that sounds like I was looking for a miracle.  This got me thinking about the struggles we face.  So here are the 5 struggles I face and how I do my best to overcome them.

1) FOOD -
Inside of me is an 11 year old chubby kids who still buys his jeans in the "HUSKY" section.  That kids loves sweet tea, pizza, and especially Chex Mix.  While the grown up healthier Jeff has grown to enjoy eggplant, cabbage, zucchini and other veggies.  There is a part of me that still has the urge to tear open a bag of party mix and eat it 'til it is gone.

How I deal: For starters, try not to keep it in the house.  Secondly, to make a better choice if I do get the urge.  And at times, I do treat myself to some Bold Party Blend Chex Mix, but I pour an amount in a bowl and try, try, try to not go back to the bag.

2) TIME -
Probably the second biggest hiccup we have to our health and fitness is squeezing out the time to do it.  I have a wife, three kids and a whole heap of responsibilities.  I feel ya on this one...So I schedule my workouts in my to do list.  I tell my family that this is when I am working out and try to manage other activities around it.  Try to establish a set time to do it - early morning, after the kids go to bed, just after work.  If it becomes part of the daily routine, then you and everyone else will work around it.

3) EXERCISE
Simply put, if you don't love it, you won't want to do it.  Find a program that you really enjoy doing.  Don't have one, then I would love to recommend a few.  I tried to doing TurboFire, similar to TurboKick classes.  I felt like a dancing bear and hated it.  I found myself not wanting to do it.  If you hate it, you won't do it.  Find one you LOVE! It makes it easy to do.

4) THE MIRROR
I may struggle the most with the man looking back at me.  I have some convincing of myself to do that I deserve to look and feel better.  Obesity is mentally and emotionally crippling disease.  When you see change it fuels the fire.  When you bust your can and don't see change, you start to question why you are doing it.  You look in the mirror and say "why?"  I have worked hard on my Jack Handy and telling myself that I deserve it.

5) WHY
Losing sight of your WHY is the quickest way to lose motivation.  About 3 years ago, I checked in around 220 lbs, ate whatever I wanted and to use a country song reference treated my body like an old honky tonk - minus the booze, smokes and loose women.  Our youngest was an infant, we had one in school and one about to start school and they needed and deserved a dad who could go play catch in the yard, chase after bicycles, and have the energy to be active with them.  My wife deserved a husband who had energy at the end of the day.  I deserved to be healthy and have a long life..see my kids become adults and live out their lives.  They are my WHY.

MEALS: updated later

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat Kick Start 30 -- my eleven year old son was my workout partner

Day #5 Just Ask

"I can do it myself..."  at least that is what I always seem to try to convince myself.  In reality it is not a confidence in my own abilities to act like that, but more my fear of asking for help.  Maybe you are like me and would rather suffer through, struggle, and face defeat rather than suck it up and ask someone for help. It is not even that I don't want help or that I believe that I don't need it...the struggle comes in asking.

Sometimes fear sets in.  What will they think if I ask?  How will they respond?  Will they see me as weak?  These question flood us (or just me) and handicap me from getting the help I need, whether in weight loss or business or finances or just life.  Our character traits spill over into every area of our life.  So if you struggle with asking for help in general, what I know is that you are not going to go to someone and say "help me lose the weight."  How do I know this?  Because I am that guy, who struggled and struggle and refused to ask anyone for help.   I wrote earlier this week about how support creates success.  But you will never get the support you need if you don't ask.  I finally asked.  I went to a friend who had reached out to me about Beachbody and I said I need to help to get to the goals I have.

While I am less than perfect at asking, as matter of fact, still learning to ask for the things I want and need.  I am getting better.  Our first step to reaching the goals we set might be as simple as asking someone to help.  If you have health and weight loss goals, here is an open hand extended.  Just ask for help...

MEALS:
Breakfast: Egg with 2% pepperjack cheese on 10 grain Brownberry toast, medium Red Delicious apple - total cal - 275
Snack #1: Chocolate Shakeology, frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup skim milk w/ ice and water - 270
Lunch: 5oz of tuna with spicy brown mustard and sweet relish, baby carrots, banana, 10 grain Brownberry bread - 378
Snack #2: 6 sourdough pretzel nuggets, Brownberry toast with Wholly Guacamole, baby carrots - 290
Dinner: Lean Turkey sausage link, potato, onion and green pepper pan fried - 335
Total Calories: 1548

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat HIIT Plyo Shock - or in other words 30 minutes of pain and agony!!!

Day 3 - The lonliest place

Three years ago, I was OBESE, out of shape and fat.  I wanted to change, I even tried changing.  But failed time and time again.  Truth is getting healthy, losing weight and changing your habits can be a lonely place.  Going to a gym or class by yourself is not much fun.  Choosing to eat your brown bag healthy lunch over eating out with co-workers can be troublesome and lonely.

What I have found is that I succeed in my health and fitness when I don't do it alone.  My wife and I started this journey together three years ago and both have been most successful when we are in FULL SUPPORT of one another.  Full support is not "hey great for you."  Full support is I am going to sweat while you sweat. I am going to eat better and be accountable to bring better food into our house.  Full support is pushing one another off the couch to get a workout in.

Not everyone has a partner in life that gives that support, but that does not mean you are alone.  I would love to be a part of support system for you, if you would do the same for me.  Statistics show you have a great chance of losing weight, getting healthy and staying that way with proper support.  If interested comment below and we will connect.

I need you and whether you want to admit it you might just need me too.


MEALS:
Breakfast - 100% Whole wheat, sugar free toast, 1 egg, 1 pc turkey bacon, 2% sharp cheddar cheese and a banana - 340

Snack #1 - Chocolate Shakeology, frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup of skim milk, ice and water - Total Cals - 270

Lunch - Tuna with spicy brown mustard and sweet relish (my little indulgence), 100% whole wheat sugar free bread, red delicious apple, quaker chocolate chunk granola bar - Total cal - 400

Snack #2 - Red delicious apple, 2 tbsps natural peanut butter - Total Cal - 275

Dinner - 2 eggs, zuchini & squash topped with Ragu Heart Healthy spaghetti sauce - Total Cal 245

Total Cal - 1530 (there may be another snack yet coming)

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat Kata 45 - 45 minutes of boxing, karate, a little muay thai and fat calories burned!!

Day 1 - Revenge of the Sugar Cookies

Starting Weight: 184.8  BMI 26.45 and the annoying sound of my Wii Fit telling me I am overweight!  Great start to a Monday!

I had intentionally avoided scales the last 3 weeks knowing my weight was on a steady climb. But the miniature voice in the Wii this morning as a stepped on the scale is motivation enough as it declared I was overweight.  Honestly, I did workout 6 days last week, but the week before was a steady diet of Christmas Sugar Cookies with my coffee filled with sweetly flavored creamer.  I guess they have taken their revenge.  It is now time to fight back...good bye sugar cookie belly.

Breakfast: 1 piece sugar free whole wheat toast, egg with pepperjack cheese, 1 pc turkey bacon, medium banana - Total Cal: 325

Meal #2 - Shakeology Chocolate, Banana, 1/2 cup skim milk, ice & water - Total Cal.  300(ish)

Lunch - 5 oz tuna with mustard, medium apple, baby carrots (raw), medium green pepper - Total Cal 265

Snack - medium apple and 2 tbsp natural peanut butter - Total Cal 230

Dinner - 1 skinless chicken leg, baked potato (plain), steamed broccoli about 1 1/2 cup - Total Cal 310

Late Night - Banana and baby carrots raw - Total Cal 125
Daily total calories:  1,555

In honest reflection, I did resist some temptations (um, pizza) and also had the urge to emotionally eat to which I choose carrots.  Now it is not the sugar sweet cereal I wanted, but a much smarter choice.

Exercise - Les Mills Combat 30 minute kick start

**Before picture taken and will be posted later in the week!

Personal Challenge(s)

8 months ago I took on the toughest fitness challenge of my life and surpassed even my wildest dreams on Insanity.  I dropped to a weight I had not been since high school and was as physically fit as I had been possibly ever.

But like most of you, I am not immune to life and busyness and distractions that  we all face.  My fitness became inconsistent, my nutrition was good but not great and during the holidays I found my hand inside the cookie jar more often than not.

One of my goals this year is to be more transparent and open.  A lot of times we are open about our success and more reserved about our failures.  For me  being vulnerable is scary.  While  I have shouted from the rooftops where I have won in my fitness health, I have often times tried to save face when I have hit a stretch of inconsistency.  I am human like you.  I have ups and downs.

So here is to 2013 and being open.  Over the next 60 days I am putting myself through a personal challenge - part fitness, part emotional exercise.  My fitness plan is to start and complete Les Mills Combat - a 60 day MMA style workout program.  The second half of this challenge is to be blog daily (or most days) posting my food, all of it, good or bad, my struggles with exercise, with emotions tied to exercise and nutrition, and posting pictures of my journey.

Goals of this whole thing:  1) Goal weight of 170 lbs  2) Learn to be more vulnerable and open.

Maybe you are asking why or even who cares.  Quite possibly nobody tunes in and follows my journey and that is okay.  It is more about me pushing myself to healthy both physically and emotionally.  I am challenging myself to be accountable and this is platform I am using

It is all about me!

I know that sounds selfish, but sometimes you have to be!

There are days I set an alarm to workout just to snooze through it until I have left myself just enough time to avoid my exercise routine.  Just being honest!  There are other days I workout out of an obligation to my role as a Beachbody Coach, because I know you are watching me.  But there are days that put in my DVD, push play and sweat it out just because I want to, just for me.

Maybe one of the greatest lessons I am learning and want to share with you is that if you take this journey of health and fitness do it for one reason and one reason alone, FOR YOU!  If you are sweating and working for the approval of someone else, then you are working for the wrong reasons.  If you are sweating and working to get someone else's attention, then you are working for the wrong reasons.  But if you are sweating your guts off because you want to make a difference in YOU, then you are working for the right reasons.

What I have learned is that if you do it for any reason other than for the yourself, then you will eventually quit.  While changes may garner more attention that attention is not as fulfilling as feeling good about who you are.  While your new shape make gain you approval, that approval will never be as fulfilling as being happy with who you are.  Each day as you push play and become drenched in perspiration find fulfillment in who you are becoming.  Know that it is a journey you are on and each day brings you closer to your goal of becoming the You  that YOU desire to be.  Do it for YOU and nobody else!

The Thin Line

Let's face it, weight is an emotional thing.  Scale goes up were sad.  Scale goes down were happy.  As much as we would like to reduce it down to just numbers -- number of calories taken in, number of minutes burning those calories off -- what we cannot separate are the emotions of our weight.

With all that in mind, then what we have to strive to overcome is letting our emotions control our behaviors.  In all honesty, if I am having a bad day, there is a mechanism that will pick up any food that is put in front of me and put it in my mouth.  Sometimes this is a conscious decision, other times it is a sub-conscious reflex to my emotions.  I have realized I am not the only one who is an emotional eater.

I have also learned that when I exercise and push my physical limits there is an emotional connection to that as well.  I feel accomplished, satisfied, and actually a sense of happiness.  Exercise is euphoric.  Now I will say this, there are many days at the start of my workout that I don't feel joy or happiness, but that is where choice comes in.  And choice is that thin line that keeps us emotionally attached to the number on the scale.

I have come to a better emotional state when it comes to the scale based on these simple facts:

1) I have eaten in a way that feeds my body what it needs.
2) I have exercised in a way that has push my body to it's physical limits.
3) That I am not defined by that number, but being refined into a healthier person.

Don't let the thin line become a dictator of your behavior.  Overcome those emotions driven by the number you see.  Choose to win.  Win with your food, win with your exercise, win with your attitude.

The Fat Kid Inside...

While I was active and athletic as a kid, I was also quite a "chubbs".  Losing and gaining weight is a matter of math - burn more calories than you take in.  I had no issue burning calories as a kid, but had a greater love for taking them in.  End result: a chubby, athlete.

Inside me is still that "fat kid".  The internal battle I face is the same as it was at 12 years old, now with the metabolism of a 35 year old man.  Like a magnetic force I am drawn to Chinese buffets, sweet tea, pizza parties and holiday feasts.  Like a drunk with his bottle, I never know when to put down the plate.  It is always just one more piece of chicken, one more serving of potato salad, one more...won't kill me.  True enough one more won't, but a life of one mores will.

I have spent the past three years is essence overcoming the inner fat kid.  My journey to a healthier and fitter lifestyle faced many challenges, but the greatest one was controlling my food intake and my desire for food.  Inside still lies that 12 year old kid who longs to shove his face full of whatever is in front of him.  The desire still lies deep inside me so as to win the war on weight comes by beating that "inner fat kid".

A couple of tips to beat the inner fat kid:

1)  Control what you can control:  Bring your lunch to work instead of ordering out; put proper servings on you plate; serve from the stove and not from the table, this prevents from picking more. The more you can control the food, the better your chance of not over indulging.

2) Eliminate piece by piece:  starting changing things out little by little, change from sweet tea to unsweet tea or soda to water.  Little changes start to add up.  Begin cutting back on sodiums, butters and little things that add calories to vegetables or proteins that naturally full of flavor.

3) Say NO:  it takes will power but walk past the doughnuts, the cookies, the sweets that open the abyss of endless snacking.

4) Don't buy it:  because the kids like it is not an excuse ti keep it in the house.  If it is not available, you won't eat it.

Win the war on the inner fat kid and win the war on weight!

My Why...

I remember the first time I watched The Biggest Loser. I know it sounds sappy, but I remember tears welling up in my eyes and a lump in my throat while I watched morbidly obese people begin their journey toward getting healthy.

At the time, I was near 215 pounds myself.  I thought of myself as "slightly overweight" but never obese.  Every year as I set goals for that year was the same goal: lose 15 pounds.  And every year I failed to do anything about it.  But each season I would watch as incredibly overweight people shed pounds and gained years on The Biggest Loser.  I blamed my lack of ability to change my own life on time, on my job, on my inability to do it on my own, on my lack of knowledge, on whatever I could find to blame it on.

Then my mom bought a Wii Fit.  And that is when an insulting anime voice called me "OBESE".  I had never realized it or even considered -- pudgy, chunky, "filled out"...maybe, but never obese.  That is when the journey started for me.  I wanted to prove to myself and a Japanese animated voice that I was no longer obese...as matter of fact as of right now when I weigh in it tells me I am healthy.

My Why I became a Beachbody Coach is because I first hand understand the struggle of gaining and losing weight.  And those tears and that lump in my throat watching people I personally will never meet change their life on a TV show is multiplied even greater when someone I know, someone I love changes their life and health forever.  Do I hope to make money?  Absolutely.  But more than that I hope to make an impact.  I hope to play a role in seeing people change their health, change the health of their families.  I hope I make a small imprint in this overall challenge to "End The Trend" of Obesity.  I do it because I want the join of seeing others change the voice of their life that calls them OBESE to calling them HEALTHY! 

That is why I began the journey to a fitter me...

If you would like to start the journey for yourself or would like to help others start the journey by becoming a BEACHBODY COACH.  I would love to talk more with you.