As I alluded to in an earlier post, you are either motivated to stay the same or to make changes in your life.  Most people though (and I know this is true for me) are motivated in many different directions at once in many different areas.  The level of motivation is the thing.  I was actually motivated to change for a long time, but my motivations to stay the same were greater and so I did nothing.  For change to begin we have to reach a tipping point at which the motivation to change is greater than the motivation to stay the same.  I mentioned some of my motivators in a previous post.

MAN, AM I MOTIVATED!

But is motivation enough?  Not really.  Motivation to change is just that: an overwhelming desire to make a change.  But “what” change and how will you know when you have made it?  My hobby is birding (that’s bird watching, not hunting).  I travel a couple times a year to various “birdy” spots around the country to seek new birds to add to my list.  Let’s say one day I wake up and feel motivated to take a trip to go birding… now what?  I want to do it, I have the drive and resources to do it, but I don’t have a plan to do it.  There will be many aspects to putting together a doable plan, but the first thing I need is a goal.

Be a Goalie

My goals were clear to me.  I wanted to lower my cholesterol and triglyceride numbers in order to get off medications.  I also wanted to get my diabetes A1C test into the normal range.  I had made previous progress on this and was actually off medications for it, but my level was still 6.2 and I thought I could do better.  Finally, I wanted to lose enough weight to get back to a healthy BMI.  According to the charts I would need to weigh in the 175-180 range for this to occur.  Now I know BMI is not a very good indicator of where one should really be, but it gave me something to shoot for.  Remember I started out at 307.

The Only Thing Better Than Setting a Goal, Is Reaching a Goal

So it has been almost exactly four months since I started on this journey, where am I at now?  I am currently down to 238lbs. as of today’s weigh in.  Yes folks that’s 69lbs, and yes I am very pleased.  Nothing does the soul better than to have someone at work say “your looking great.”  For the first time in 16 years I was able to get my wedding ring off my finger (Okay, it’s not something I want to KEEP off, I just like being able to GET it off).  I only have about 50lbs left to go, over half way there!  That’s pretty good, but even better than this is that I have dropped my blood test numbers significantly.  In fact they are too low and my doctor has taken me off all cholesterol and triglyceride lowering medication, oh and I don’t have to take high blood pressure medication anymore.  My A1C is 5.5, firmly ensconced in the normal range.  Since I have met several of my goals I am setting new ones which I will discuss at another time.

Hey, I Want a Goal!

One of the great aspects of Yuri’s programs, especially Fitter U Fitness is that they help you set reasonable reachable goals and provide a format with which you can go after them.  I’ll post at some point about the importance of others in the process of setting and reaching goals, but for now just know that Yuri’s style and approach is a very big help in both the motivation and goal setting departments. 

What are your thoughts on setting goals?

John

Why are we here?

My name is John and for my first post on the Fitter U Fitness blog, I thought a good start would be to discribe my motivation for seeking out all of the great information Yuri provides and beginning the process of losing weight and getting into shape.  Without motivation goals will never be set and action will not be taken and change will not occur.  It was lack of motivation that got me into my current situation.  After discharging from the Army in 1991 I was tired of forced daily physical training and was looking to relax.  I told myself, mostly unconsciously, that no one was going to force me to work out ever again.  I was, of course, even motivated in this mindset.  I was motivated to do things my way and to avoid discipline, which at the time I associated with military service.  As in most things I am trully motivated to do, I was very successful.  Within a relatively short time I gained 40 lbs. and within a few years I weighed 307 lbs.

Who’s that looking at me in the mirror?

At some point in the late 1990′s I realized what a mistake I had made and was feeling very bad about myself and made a concerted effort to turn things around.  I started going to the gym everyday for two hours and went on my very own diet (which I am sure I will publish one day) which consisted of 2 cans of tuna fish with balsamic vinegar and two cans of a diet drink a day.  In other words I did everything wrong.  Yes, I lost a significant amount of weight within 2 months, but there was no way to sustain such a ridiculous diet, and unfocused/poorly thought out physical fittness plan.  Within a very short period of time I had gained all my weight back.  For many years I had another motivation:  Not to embarrass myself by failing at an effort to lose weight again.

Death is not a do-over…

So what was my motivation this past October when I finally, after so many years started working at getting myself back into shape?  There were many.  I knew I would be turning 50 in January.  I knew I had become a type II diabetic, I knew my triglycerides were in the 300′s, I knew I had high colesterol and high blood pressure.  In short I knew I was making choices that would lead to an early death.  But even more importantly was the knowlege that when I looked in the mirror and thought about my physical condition, I knew I was not living true to who I really was.  What I had become was not congruent with my values and beliefs about myself.

I’ll write more in the coming days about where I am now and where I am going, but I want to ask you:  What has motivated you to seek help with your physical condition?  You may be in great shape looking to improve even further, or like me want to return to a place where you felt better about yourself.  Either way you can’t beat what Yuri is offering.  If I had to choose between my gym membership, or the  Fitter U Fitness program, I would go with Fitter U all the way.  More as to why later.

Get/Stay Motivated!

John

As you get started on your fat burning workouts, there’s one thing that you may find you struggle with from time to time – motivation.

Everyone reaches some point in their program where things were going along great but all of a sudden you just don’t feel like hitting the gym for yet another workout or cooking up another meal of grilled chicken with vegetables.  Whether you are currently seeing progress or not, it doesn’t really matter to you anymore – all that matters is that you’re bored and really have no interest in continuing.

In times like these it’s very important that you develop some motivational strategies that you can turn to.  By doing so you’ll increase your interest in those fat burning workouts once again so you can get right back on track to seeing results.

Let’s look at a few motivational techniques that you can use to get you started.

Keep A Progress Journal

Right off the top one of the best things that you can do to ensure that you stay motivated is to keep a progress journal. In this you want to detail all the things that you’ve been doing along the way.  Write down how many sets you’re doing in the gym, how much weight you’re lifting, how long your cardio workouts are, and the foods you’re eating.

By keeping track of all of this when times get tough and it seems as though you are not progressing along, all you have to do is look back at your journal to see the clear picture that yes, you are in fact making more progress than you thought.

Sometimes the day to day progress can seem slow but when you compare week to week progress, it paints the much larger picture.

Get A Workout Partner

Second, there’s no better way to amp up your motivation for your workouts than finding a workout partner.  This should be someone who is preferably at around the same level of you as far as your fitness goes and someone who you could see yourself spending some time with each and every day.

By selecting a workout partner to join you, you know they’ll be counting on you for showing up therefore you’ll be that much more accountable to your workouts in general.

Re-Set Your Goals

Third, make sure that you take the time to periodically re-evaluate your goals.  One big mistake some people make it setting a long term goal for months down the road but never re-assessing it.

Perhaps now you’ve found that you’d rather work towards a different goal that the first few months have passed, or maybe you did a whole lot better than you initially thought and that first goal is no longer challenging you.

Whatever the case, doing a small amount of goal setting each month is a smart way to ensure they stay current and you stay motivated.

Get An Online Personal Trainer

Finally, the last thing that you can do to boost your motivational levels for your workouts is to hire an online personal trainer.  Sometimes this can give you some new ideas to add into your program plan so that you’re never feeling a dull moment.

If you’re someone who tends to get bored doing the same workout over and over again, an online trainer is definitely for you.  By using one you can be sure that your workouts constantly keep changing.

So there you have some quick tops to help you stay motivated with your fat burning workouts.  Try and come up with a few that are unique to you as well to ensure a maximum level of benefits.

Do you have any quick motivational strategies that you’d like to share?

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Sorry….

It’s been far too long without a post on this blog. I don’t really have a good reason for my absence…

Or do I?

Actually, yes I do!

The reason I haven’t been on the blog in a while is that I’ve been wrapped up getting a very exciting new program ready for you!

And, finally it’s ready.

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If you’re serious about creating the healthy and fit body of your dreams then you need the fitness motivation and success strategies that are covered in this brand new report!

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The short answer is YES.

Why?

Well, the reason is pretty simple…

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Today I finished week 2 of the first phase of Fitter U.  I love these circuit exercises because I feel like I’m doing a wide variety of full-body exercises that will prepare me to be more fit in… anything.  Everything!

My problem with weight-training in the past has always been about the tedium of counting reps and sets.  Sounds like a minor thing, but my approach to exercise is to “get in the zone” and not think about the time.  Can you imagine if you had to count every step in a two-mile run?  That’s what it feels like for me to be counting out every rep to every movement.  It’s agony.  I probably have ADD, I know…

So I love how I don’t have to count.  I just get ready, set, and go when Yuri says to go and then I stop when he says to stop.  Perfect!

One thing I wanted to talk about was something Yuri said during the warmup today that really resonated with me, about how successful people make sure they do the things that need to be done before they do anything else, they do that consistently, and they do those things even if (especially if) they’re the things they don’t want to do.

Remember that ADD?  I am a big one for doing what I want to do first and then squeezing in the “have-to’s” if there’s room.  (I used to eat dessert for breakfast, too.)  Lately I have tackled this issue as far as exercise.  I set some goals (lose ten pounds, start running again) and have been making great gains.  I recently told a friend that I do my exercise consistently and early on because then I feel good about myself for the rest of the day.

And while that’s good, it’s time to head into a new phase.  There are some other areas of my life where I’m not doing what needs to be done, not at all.  I’ve learned a lot about myself the past several months through my exercise plan but now I need to figure out how to carry that knowledge over to some other areas.

• My house is a mess!  That is a constant battle that I need to face.
• I have a degree in French but never use it and my skills are rusty.  I have the time, I have books, what am I waiting for?
• I love to write, am always promising to polish some rough projects and get them out in the world but there they still sit, in draft form.

I hope to make some progress in these three areas in the coming weeks.  Is it possible to have more than one area of one’s life pulled together at the same time?

As a kid, you were always told to get your head out of the clouds and stop daydreaming. Though it got you in trouble in school, daydreaming is a very important tool when trying to achieve your fitness and weight loss goals. Using visualization to imagine your perfect body will empower you to help you invite a positive self-image and invoke good habits.

How visualization works

Spend 15 minutes at the end of your day focusing on what you imagine your perfect body to look like. As you create this mental image, it is transferred to your subconscious, which in turn, begins shaping your body according to how you perceive yourself.

This doesn’t mean that you literally think yourself thin, but your positive mental image will allow you to focus on achieving your goals. Essentially, by making this image a priority, you program your mind to focus on this specific goal while eliminating past body image failures.

The power of the mind

Bad habits often follow poor self-image. If you constant think about how much body fat you carry, how uncomfortable you feel in your clothes, and how out of control you feel about your eating, then your mind will begin taking a toll on your body.

So, if constant worry and focus on your body image discomforts lead to greater body issues, then the situation will work if reversed. The greater the positivity you project inwardly, the better self-image you project outwardly as well. Allowing your subconscious to work for you will lead to the outcome you desire.

Banish bad habits

Weight issues and poor self-image stem from long-term bad habits. Many people eat out of boredom, stress, overwhelming emotions as well as other complex issues. Visualization techniques will rid your subconscious of those bad habits that drive you to poor food choices.

Getting to your subconscious

The best way to reach your subconscious is through relaxation. Turn off the exterior world so you can tune into your inner being. The best time to practice relaxation techniques is early in the morning or before bed.

To sufficiently reach your subconscious, you should perform relaxation in the morning and evening for sessions that last 15 to 20 minutes. A single relaxation session provides you with the rejuvenating effects of 2 hours of sleep.

Create a setting

Turn off the phone, television, and lock the door if necessary. Make sure others in your home know that you need complete silence. Find a comfortable position in a chair on the floor.

Exhale all the air from your lungs and continue taking deep, rhythmic breaths through your nose. Fill your lungs for 10 seconds, hold it for 10 seconds, and then release the air for 10 seconds. Complete 5 breathing cycles lasting in 30-second durations.

Begin putting together images that power your emotions. Imagine yourself with the body you desire. Place yourself in a setting to make it realistic. Picture yourself in 4 weeks, then 10 weeks, and final 6 months from now. Place yourself in your favorite spot performing a desired activity.

=> Do you use visualization? If so, how has it helped you?

Your mind has the amazing ability to affect your environment, the life you live, and even your body. As you create a series of thoughts in your mind, signals sent out through brain cells actually create infinitesimal structural changes in your brain. Thus, limiting your beliefs may actually limit the results you desire when striving for fitness or weight loss goals.

The mind-body connection

Imagine your thoughts as a rhizome, shooting roots through your brain as you create images. As these roots grow, they begin to interconnect and develop an entire life system based on the connection with that thought. If you think negatively about your self-image often enough, it begins to take on a life of its own inside of your mind.

As you form thoughts, your brain releases biochemicals into your blood stream. Though your brain cannot tell the difference between negative and positive thinking, stress levels of these thoughts alter the chemical components released. Essentially, your negative thoughts produce different chemicals that your positive thoughts.

Thoughts affect your overall health

If you have ever noticed how some people tend to pick up every illness that goes around, it isn’t just because they have a compromised immune system. Those who constantly worry about getting sick, and take ever measure to prevent picking up illness are actually more prone to contracting flu and cold viruses.

Studies conducted on thought patterns suggest that positive thinkers are less likely to be affected by illness. In fact, when a group of people given nasal drops that carried either cold or flu virus molecules, those who thought positively had less symptoms, if any at all, and overcame illness quicker than those who thought negatively.

Believe to achieve

Thinking positively must go beyond just thoughts. You have to actually believe in what you are thinking. Amazingly enough, your body knows the difference. Limitations set forth by fear block positive energy flows in your system, and cause setbacks in your goals. Conversely, thinking positively works as a powerful healing mechanism and can propel you toward optimal health.

A good example of this is placebo tests for illness. If a patient is given a placebo, but told that he will heal, he regains his health simple through the thoughts of healing. You can practice this same method for reaching your fitness and weight loss goals. By simply believing you will achieve the perfect body or gain desired strength, then you can actually do it.

You must align your conscious desirer with your unconscious before you begin believing in your positive imagery. You can do this by simply stating your goals in the mirror each day.

Carefully note your reaction when you make a statement. Do you wince, do you look into your own eyes, or do you look away? Programming yourself to believe what you say is the first step to finding your desired results for fitness.

The importance of standards is something I want to discuss today.

Part of the reason for this is that just yesterday, we released 2 players from our soccer program at the University of Toronto for repeatedly breaking our team’s standards.

In fact, on my blog – YuriElkaim.com – I put together a video post about what one of these players did in our strength and conditioning session the other day. For this unfortunate player, this latest incident was the last straw in a string of events over the past year that led to his release.

We run a very tight ship at U of T soccer because we believe in professionalism, integrity, and honouring the position of privilege we all have to play (or in my case coach) soccer at the highest amateur level in Canada.

In order for us to continue to build our program into a continuing powerhouse we realize that all of our players are important, yet none of them are indispensable.

In essence, no one is bigger than the team. No one single player is bigger than our program!

That’s why when faced with tough decisions it is easier to make the right one. We know what we value and if certain players don’t adhere to these values, then it’s a very easy choice.

The reason I’m sharing this with you is that you too need to have standards! You need to have clearly defined values. And probably most importantly, you need to know what these are.

The clearer you are about your standards and values ahead of time, the easier it will be for you to make quick and decisive choices.

For instance, what are the standards that you have for your body and your health?

What do you value most in your life – health, freedom, family, love, etc…?

Being clear about these facets of who you are will help you grow and be more decisive in any given situation.

Tony Robbins says that decisions are simply a clarification of our values.

I couldn’t agree more.

Going out and drinking on a regular basis tells us about someone’s values.

Working out on a daily basis tells us about someone’s values.

Eating healthy on a daily basis tells us about someone’s values.

Remember, actions speak louder than words. Your actions tells the world (and yourself) what you are all about.

So my challenge to you is to set standards for yourself (if you haven’t already) and get clear on what is most important to you (your values).

I guarantee that doing so will make your life more clear and focused.

Last night on my Insider Club coaching call we talked a little bit about the fact that as human beings we tend to have a “I’ll do it tomorrow” mindset.

You could also call this procrastination.

This is especially apparent at this time of year when a lot of people get caught up in holiday events and social gatherings, eating and drinking whatever they want, and perhaps forgetting about their dietary and fitness goals.

But then that little voice in our heard kicks in and says, “It’s all good. We’ll start fresh on January 1!”

So we continue to fall off the path and indulge everything that comes with the holidays.

At the very least, though, we should be making an attempt to counteract poor dietary and lifestyle choices at this time of year (ie. chocolate, booze, etc…) with those we are more regularly accustomed to – assuming they are healthy.

So if you have a fun-filled night of drinking, why not balance it out with a following day of drinking lots of water and eating tons of greens?

Why not hit the gym first thing and get in a sweat producing full body workout that will cleanse your body of its toxins and leave you feeling great for the rest of the day?

There’s really no need to wait to get back on track. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to wait until January 1 to get your life sorted out, while polluting your body in the meantime.

My challenge to you is to start now.

Keep working out. Keep eating right. And by the time the New Year comes you’ll be far ahead of the game and you’ll far less ground to make up en route to your health and fitness goals.

So stop reading this and get your butt moving!