How to get better results in 2012 than you did in 2011
Random Stuff I Learned About Fat Loss … To Help You Have A Better 2012
FOCUS is your most valuable discipline today. The internet is pulling our attention in a thousand directions and all it takes is one click. Experts tell us that it’s literally changing the way our brains are wired, cutting our attentions spans and making us more distractible in everything we do. If you spend a lot of time online and feel like you’re becoming more and more ADD, it’s not your imagination. The ability to concentrate has always been a trait of champion athletes, business achievers and fitness success stories. It’s now more important than ever to train yourself to focus.
Deadlines + motivation + rewards can spark extraordinary efforts and results. If you have true deadline pressure and high levels of motivation plus reward for goal achievement, you can make a fitness transformation so far above the average that people will think you’re taking drugs or photoshopping your pictures. Next to actually getting onstage to compete, the body transformation contest is the best example of this I have ever seen. Seek out these types of challenges and watch your results skyrocket!
Personal responsibility is necessary for personal change. Why do so many weight loss sales pitches start off with, “it’s not your fault?” It’s because taking responsibility off your shoulders opens the door to selling you a gimmick. The truth is, you have no power to change until you accept responsibility for where you are today and for your future results. In fact, if you’re not responsible for all your results, then how do you expect to change anything? Blaming or absolving yourself of responsibility is giving up your power.
It’s more important than ever to embrace evidence-based fitness. There are so many scams online today in weight loss, health and fitness and the internet can deliver them so persuasively and quickly before they come and go, you must learn to demand proof before you buy into anything. Investigate before you invest. Logic and common sense help, but I’m talking about science; peer reviewed, published research. And remember what Carl Sagan said: the more extraordinary the claims, the more extraordinary the evidence must be.
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY ! If you can’t try out a program for a week ask yourself what are they trying to hide ? If they are confidant the program will work they will WELCOME YOU to try it out.
When it come to fat loss and general Health & Wellness improvement, you can get 80% of the way there with a good solid effort. A properly designed program( one that addresses PROPER form, quality of movement, rest & intensity and that helps prevent injuries) and consistent effort can get you 80% of the way there, especially if you’re a beginner or the average person who simply wants to get back to a healthy, functional and attractive body. It doesn’t take a huge time investment. It only requires you to get started and be consistent. This is good news for most people. But for the competitor and anyone else who wants to achieve as close to 100% of their potential as possible, hard work, details, precision and putting in the hours are absolute musts.
2012: Fat burner supplements and diet pills are STILL a waste of money. Even the stuff that “works” barely works (think 25 to 75 or so extra calories burned per day – in 24 hours – which usually doesn’t pan out into long term fat loss in pounds, which to me translates to: Doesn’t work). Best “fat burner?” Try working out and eating right!
OF COURSE calories matter! A lot of people still believe “calories don’t count.” They’re still wrong. Of course there’s more to good nutrition than calories. For health, the quality of your food matters – a lot. For body composition, food choices and macronutrient ratios matter too, especially if you swap carbs for protein. That doesn’t change the fact that a calorie deficit has to be there first for weight loss to occur. Ignore calories at your own peril.
Establishing a daily meal plan and following it consistently is even more important than what time of day or how often you eat. Haphazard eating or just going into your day and eating whatever comes across your path is a recipe for failure. If you don’t have a consistent meal plan, it’s nearly impossible to troubleshoot fat loss plateaus and you may be causing metabolic dysfunction.
Reduced carb diets are a legitimate approach. Low carb diets shouldn’t be dumped in the fad category. They’re not for everyone, but can work very well for many people. Low-medium carb, high protein diets work exceptionally well for controlling calories, regulating appetite and retaining lean body mass. Keep in mind, there are many different types of low carb diets. Low carb doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating all carbs, nor does it mean eating bacon, sausage and pork rinds. Reducing carbs could be as simple as dropping some white sugar and refined grains and replacing them with some lean protein and healthy fat.
Carbs are not bad or evil. Saying a low carb diet is a viable diet option is not the same as saying carbohydrates are responsible for obesity. In 2012, if anyone tells you carbs are fattening, beyond the ability of sugar and refined carbs to easily deliver an overload of calories, listen to them at your own peril – they may mean well, but they don’t get it YET.
Reading the great books is one of the greatest disciplines. Shut off the TV and get off the internet for a while and read the great books on self-development. Re-read the classics as often as you can (There’s a reason everyone talks about books like Psycho Cybernetics, Think and Grow Rich and As a Man Thinketh – why not read them and find out). The people who have continued to be readers and not just web surfers are pulling far, far ahead of the pack in every area of their lives – physically, mentally, financially and socially.
People who denounce goal setting, positive thinking and personal development will continue to stunt the growth of themselves and everyone around them. Every year I see people criticizing the personal development disciplines. People who tell you “goal setting doesn’t work” could not be giving worse advice. Goal setting is the master skill of success. If you don’t do it consciously, your unconscious will set goals by default anyway based on whatever type of thinking and input you feed it. It’s better to be in conscious control of the process. Positive thinking is the precursor to positive action and does a lot more good than pessimism (and makes you a nicer person to be around). Visualization? Scientifically proven and used by every top athlete and business achiever. Sure, there is junk information in the self help field, as there is in every field. But time and efforts spent improving the kind of person you are is the best investment you’ll ever make.
Train with a champion or a Coach at every opportunity you have. Seeing the contrast between the level of a champion’s training and everyone else’s training will astonish you. Every time you get the chance, train with and around people at levels far above yours. If you’re serious about your training, the appreciation of that difference will change your standards forever.
Have a HAPPY & FIT NEW YEAR and may 2012 bring you closer to reaching & surpassing your Health & Wellness goals.
Yours in Health,
Russ