We have good ones, like eating a proper meal, exercising on a regular basis, daily hygiene, locking your car door, etc.

We have bad ones, like eating too much at dinner then still having dessert, skipping a workout because you just aren’t feeling it, drinking too much, sleeping too little, staying up too late, and more.

How do we break the bad ones, keep the good ones, and establish the ones that will positively influence our life?

Notice your bad routines first. Make an effort to break these habits and give yourself a secondary task to complete instead of falling into the bad habit. Once you’ve broken the bad habit routine, reward yourself with a satisfying treat that compliments what you’ve been working toward.

Establish the habits you’d like to see yourself doing on regular basis and practice them as frequently as possible, perhaps every day. Once you get into the routine of doing something it becomes more like second nature.

Lastly, don’t lose sight of your good habits. Keep them high on a pedestal and practice them regularly.

So what have I changed?

My first habits I have introduced are:
-waking up a little earlier to start my day with less rushing around
-reintroducing and strictly sticking to my no grain, lean protein, high vegetable meal plan
-take a walk with my first dog, Bella, every day just her and I

These seem so simple, but for me these are the things that will help me to be:
-more productive
-have more energy
-reduce chaos
-enjoy the small things
-essentially get more work done more efficiently

My list will increase, it will evolve.
I’ll keep you posted.

In fact, during a yoga class I took this evening, my instructor pointed out that doing even just a little bit of work each day is far better than doing one marathon session a week.

Yes!  She gets it!!

Earlier in the day I also drove past a car with a bumper sticker that read, “Children learn what they live.”  Which brings me to the main part of my post.  Why do you workout?

I personally workout so that I am healthier and have less of the common disease and disorder found in the sedentary population.  I also workout to keep my body strong so that I’m able to do a good number of daily tasks on my own.  This is the short version of course, and I’d be more than happy to expand at a later date in the future.

If I had kids, I’d work out just to keep them active, not sitting in front of the television, not spaced out on some new game system, but to show them the fun behind working out and all the creative things you can do to be active.

So, why do you workout?

So what’s next?  Hopefully you left a comment on the last post and let us all know what your goals are moving forward.  Your specific goals, the ones you want to achieve and are so serious about them that you’ve posted them on this page  and you will succeed in reaching them!

Back to what’s next…take ACTION.

Post this somewhere you can see it everyday, at least 10 times a day, and remember that actions you will be putting in place.

Set up a plan to get your goals in motion.  Hold yourself accountable, and if you don’t have a local friend or family member that will do that for you, use this site.

Do your goals mean that you will exercise a minimum of four times a week?

Do your goals mean that you will watch your nutrition and be mindful of the foods you chose to consume?

Do your goals reflect a lifestyle change that you will embrace moving forward?

Tell us what your next step is, and let me know if you need and help along the way.

The idea behind this workout is for a focus on strength. The turkish get up and the single leg deadlift should both be performed slowly and under control. For each kettlebell exercise chose a weight that allows you to work hard, but not go to failure.

When you get to your push ups, I like to do my push ups with my elbows tight to my torso. They are a little harder to do this way, but make for a much stronger push up.

The full workout:

3/3 Turkish Get Ups
5/5 Single Leg Deadlifts
10 Push Ups

Based on the amount of time you have to workout and your fitness ability, try completing between 4-6 rounds.

“You can’t out-train a shitty diet.”

Sounds pretty harsh right up front, but the statement couldn’t be more true. You can workout daily, several times a day in fact, but if you don’t eat well, it will eventually catch up with you. In multiple ways nonetheless.

There are a few scenarios here…

First – What if you aren’t interested in losing body fat? You’re already lean and you workout because you like to.

If this is you, that’s great! If I never had to worry about my figure I think I’d be elated. Even if this were true there comes a point in time when you have to start concerning yourself with the types of food you fuel your body with. If you chose better food options your training will also improve.

Second – What if you’re content with the way you look for the most part, but you wouldn’t mind losing about 5lbs?

If you start a consistent exercise program you will start to see changes in the way you look, maybe not the scale exactly, but your shape will start to change. After several weeks of sticking to your program you will have to start paying attention to what you eat. Similar to the first scenario, what you put in is what you get out. If you eat pizza several times a week and sandwiched for lunch, soon you’ll be competing with your exercise program.

Third – You’ve never really worked out, you’ve never really followed a good nutrition program.

This is sometimes the best, but can also be the hardest place to be in. If you’ve never worked out or paid much attention to your nutrition, the initial changes you will make will seem like miracles! I’m not saying that you won’t be working hard, but this is the first time in your life that you are making positive changes. You will need to continue to make changes in both your workouts, either the number of times per week or the intensity, and constant improvements with your nutrition.

My long winded rant is because of this.

Nutrition plays an equally important role in any sports performance training program.

Nutrition plays an equally important role in any weight loss program.

Nutrition plays an important role in life.

After all, you can’t out train a shitty diet.

I was in my kitchen making a cup of coffee. She asked for some information that I had to look up. I asked her to hold on as I quickly walked up the two flights of stairs to my attic office. She said no problem.

Of course after I gave her the info, she then asked me for more info, this time I had to ask her to hold on as I quickly walked down the same two flights to get back to the piece of paper I left in the kitchen. That’s when I couldn’t believe what she said to me.

“Well at least you’re getting your exercise today.”

Is that really exercise? No

Does she really think that was good exercise? Sadly, probably.

I walk up and down from my attic office to the kitchen more times than I can count in a day. In between all that I also do an actual real workout, one where I sweat and lift weights.

Have we, as a collective whole, really become so sedentary and inactive, that walking up and down two flights of stairs has been classified as exercise?

I almost forgot to mention that my house is set up off the road, so I also have to walk up and down about 15 steps every time I want to leave my house or come home.

Crazy exercise I get with all those stairs!

Now it has to do with the kids being out of school, or it’s too hot, or not having enough energy at the end of the day.

I can answer those three for you right now…

Take your kids outside to play, they need the fresh air and exercise just as much if not more than you do.

It’s been beautiful lately, but even if you’re overly sensitive to the sun and heat, most gyms are still indoors and they have the a/c on. If this isn’t enough for you then make your workout revolve around swimming.

If you don’t have enough energy at the end of the day, try working out first thing in the morning. For many folks, this is the preferred time of day. You can also make sure you are fueling your body with the appropriate nutrition and a decent amount of sleep.

There’s always time for a workout, even if it’s a short one, something (to an extent anyway) is always better than nothing.

At the bottom of this post you’ll find another link, the one that Erica referenced, about the Fat Acceptance Movement.

I still shake my head in disbelief.

I give credit and respect to people who fight for what they believe in, but this is just one of those things, I can’t.

With all the research and studies that have been conducted on obesity and the effects of obesity, you would think this movement would create an encouraging environment for people to want to become more healthy without having to face the thoughts of mainstream society.

Yet, this movement has created a belief that it’s just fine to be obese, that it’s just fine to condemn your body. I’ve seen quite a few people lose a significant amount of weight in my career. I met them at the beginning, or at their sticking point, I know them now, as they have made a choice and committment to leading a healthy lifestyle and have proof to show the world.

Not a single one of them has told me they prefer they way they used to live their life.

They all have stories, stories of unsupportive friends and family members, stories of success, and stories of how they just feel better.

None of them are willing to trade how they felt before, for how they feel today.

Here’s the article that Erica mentioned.

http://bitchmagazine.org/article/big-trouble