NO EXCUSES!

So you’ve made the commitment to change. You have been inspired by someone or something. You know what you want to look and feel like. You are excited! You have told your spouse, your best friends, or maybe even a few strangers that you are ready to start the Body for Life 12 week program. You refuse to let those who doubt you stand in your way. As you begin your 12 week program you realize that the only person who stands in the way of your success is you.

At some point during the 12 weeks you may begin to feel a little overwhelmed. Some of you may begin to feel some self doubt. What do you do now? How can you be successful? The answer is quite simple: Eliminate the excuses.

I’m sick. I’m tired. I don’t have the time. I strained my muscle. I can’t afford to eat right. I don’t have any equipment. The excuses can be endless. The bottom line is everyone has an excuse, it is a matter of whether they use it or not. Choose not to use an excuse.

Chances are there will be a time in your Body for Life Challenge that you get sick. Does that mean quit the challenge? Does that mean you can’t stay the course? There will be a time you are too tired, so why not be tired after the 20 minute cardio session is over. If it has been awhile since you have been active there is a great possibility you will strain a muscle at some point. Don’t let this be the reason you stop your challenge. Eat right and take care of your injuries while continuing to work the muscles in your body that are not strained. My favorite excuse is I can’t afford to eat right. Quite honestly I don’t know how people can afford not to eat right. Besides the money you are going to save in health bills have you been to McDonalds recently? If you haven’t, good for you. If you have, you know just to feed a family of four, you are going to drop $25.00. You can save yourself hundreds of dollars a month just by not eating out. You don’t have any equipment. I would dare say there are hundreds of exercises that do not require equipment. There are also several different ways you can do cardio without a treadmill. Just ask my Father in Law, and he will tell you that the broken bottom stair in his house that was used as a step-up feels like it has been stepped onto thousands of times.

If you quit your challenge because you are waiting for the perfect 12 weeks there is a chance you will be waiting for a long time. There are certain things that will be outside of your control. Move on and do your best. Those things that you can control, CONTROL! Be a planner. Plan when you are going to exercise, plan what you are going to eat. Have something you can eat if your schedule changes. My EAS bottle was like an extra appendage. I always had a Myoplex Lite shake on hand if I was late coming home from work or if I got stuck somewhere. I am sure you have heard it a million times but if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Good Luck with your challenge and remember NO EXCUSES!

The Warrior Inside

I finally talked my wife into renting a “guy” flick. She was not at all excited but could see my eyes light up when I saw King Leonidas on the front cover. I think somewhere deep down every guy would like to believe he could have been one of the 300 Spartan Warriors. With my popcorn, Dr. Pepper, and large chocolate brownie shake in hand I was ready to enjoy the epic battle. I was in awe as I watched scene after scene. These Spartans were not your typical looking body builders. They were lean, chiseled, and gave the appearance that they could conquer the world. As I watched the movie I couldn’t help but think there was a Warrior inside of me that wanted to come out. During the movie I kept looking down at my stomach of 41” and wondered how did I let myself get here and how long would it take to get back? Could I ever feel confident about myself again? It wasn’t just how I looked either, it was how I felt. I felt lazy. I felt like I had no drive to make myself feel better. I had known my health was bad for some time. The Dr. had prescribed medication for my high cholesterol, and my blood pressure was high. I was definitely too young to be feeling this old.

As soon as the movie was over I did two things. I called my younger brother Austin and asked him if I could borrow his copy of Body for Life, and I looked up everything on the internet I could find about how these 300 Spartan Warriors (actors) looked liked they walked right out of Sparta. One of the workouts these actors did was called the 300 workout. It was quite extensive to say the least. I attempted it right away. What one of the actors could do in 18 minutes would have taken me several days to accomplish. I think I almost died, and I wasn’t even 1/3 of the way through the workout. Following my near death experience I read the book Body for Life in a day. This was my answer. This is what I was looking for. The answer: 84 days. 84 days to get my life turned around. 84 days to become a Warrior. 84 days to set the direction for the rest of my life. 84 days to accomplish what most would say impossible. 84 days to be an example to my students. 84 days to show my students that when I say I am going to do something I will do it.

I put everything I had into those 84 days. I had too many reasons to succeed. I had too many goals set to give up. Body for Life gave me the direction. EAS gave me the nutrition, and my will gave me the way to succeed. The vision I had of myself while sitting on that couch came to fruition. It was 100% worth any sacrifice made in those 84 days. More importantly I have learned how to continue to set goals for myself.

Download the Success Journal’s from the website. Write down your dream list, write down your reasons, and set your goals. If I had one suggestion it would be to write everything down. Take ownership over your thoughts by writing them down. Become accountable to yourself.

There are 84 days that separate you from where you are now and where you want to be. Don’t let those 84 days pass you by. Everyone has that Warrior inside of them.

Commit!

Fully Invest Yourself!

Dream Big

and Don’t Be Afraid to Fail!