10 Days to a Successful 2014

Day One: Sloooooow Dooooooown

If you're looking for success and have yet to find it perhaps it's time to look at the approach. You can't just sign up for a marathon without a progressive plan. You don't start at 26 miles, do you? We want to explode off the starting line with SO much excitement and passion that we are utterly breathless and wheezing before the end of the first mile. You burn yourself out quickly, possibly even injure yourself if you manage to get further. Sound familiar? Millions of people are doing this, over and over and over. It took me 8 years of this mindset to begin wondering what I was missing. 

Think about it. Is this approach really effective? You've made the decision, you're FINALLY ready to change your life!! You're going to pour EVERYTHING you have into making it happen and you want it to happen FAST to keep you motivated. Your intentions are good, nothing short of pure, soul-burning desire to succeed, whatever the cost! Just hold on! Take a step back, a deep, cleansing breath, relax and start again. It's not a sprint, it's a life-long marathon.

Why Rapid Changes and Quick Fixes Don't Work Long Term

Now don't get me wrong, there is ALWAYS the exception to the rule, the people that have incredible success with fads, gimmicks, hyped up garbage and crazy diet strategies. Those are the ones you see in before and after's but look for the long term results and I bet you will have a hell of a time tracking those down. 

Take it slow. I know you want to get up and go, start that crazy program, spend hours in the gym and drastically reduce your calories. We are North Americans! We are brought up with quick fixes, fast food, convenience. We are ULTRA fast-paced, there is no time for taking ANYTHING slow! To be perfectly honest there are LOADS of programs that will cause weight loss. You can get results on a donut diet but your quality of health and chances of long-term success will be significantly lower and often your quality of health and metabolism suffer dearly. I did this, myself, just a few years ago in under a year. Not only that but this approach creates all kinds of disadvantages you probably weren't aware of. 

Not all Weight Loss is Equal

Rapid weight loss ALWAYS breaks down muscle. This is NOT good and will cause that skinny-fat phenomenon. High body fat and low body weight carries the same risk factors as someone who has the same body fat percentage and is overweight! You'll lack that sexy, toned and healthy shape and be jiggly all over. If you were quite overweight you'll have more issues with excess skin due to the lack of muscle "filling" it out. Especially if you're working the same muscle groups day in and day out, spending long, monotonous days on boring cardio machines and skipping the weights because you don't want to turn into she-hulk. No, you won't wake up looking like a steroid-fiend after a few weeks, months, or even years of lifting. That sort of definition and build takes a ridiculous amount of time, dedication, and highly specific and customized nutrition and training. 

I don't know about you, but I would MUCH rather spend 45 minutes in the gym with a well-balanced diet, eating 2000 calories a day, that isn't making me want to eat my children. I have FAR better things I could be doing with my time and energy than dragging out workouts and dieting to extremes, cutting out multiple food groups and obsessing over numbers. Work out SMARTER, not necessarily harder. 

Where Do We Go From Here?

Logically, if you are overweight and begin at 1000 calories and 2 hours in the gym 5 days a week, what happens when you hit the inevitable plateau? Your only option would be to DECREASE calories or INCREASE workouts, right? What happens if your mega program lacks the rapid results you're aching for? Suddenly it's not worth the effort. Do you think you'll still be motivated to spend 2 hours a day in the gym sweating oceans when your progress stalls for weeks or months? How about when life inevitably happens, the kids get sick, the car breaks down, you have 10 extra responsibilities on your plate, and you suddenly don't have time for such a workout? Do you really want to be eating 800 calories a day to keep seeing progress? If you nix those extensive workouts you can bet you'll see some reversal in progress pretty darn quickly from that hiatus. Even more discouraging!

PLAN and Accept 

I'm telling you, these things happen. It seems every time we set our efforts on something positive that life throws boulders in your path. Every. Single. Time. That's not just you, that's the way it is. That's the way life ALWAYS will be! Don't wait for that to CHANGE. YOU have to be prepared to dodge them, dart around them and, sometimes, accept when things don't go as planned. Because they will NEVER go as planned. 

WHAT SOCIETY HAS BEEN DOING ISN"T WORKING SO STOP DOING IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS!!! If you got results and it didn't last, chances are it's not YOU that is weak, useless and pathetic, lacking the strength and willpower to succeed. It could mean the program was setup poorly to create rapid results with NO attention to long-term results and what creates them. Slow, calculated, sustainable life changes. Are we getting the idea yet? ;)  

Find a Solid Source you can Trust

Is it easy? No. If you want something you CAN achieve it with the RIGHT guidance and direction. Throw away your fads and gimmicks, diet pills, fat burners, wraps, creams, lotions, laxatives, vibration machines, magic drinks and anything else that promises miracle results without real effort because you can bet your ass you will be disappointed in the end, back to your previous weight or more in 2/3 of cases (thanks to burning of all that calorie-burning muscle). There is no magic, no secrets, just science and old fashioned persistence and long-term commitment. No matter what, if you are constantly moving forward, making small changes, you WILL get to your goal. Maybe not in 3 months or even 6 months, maybe not even in 5 years, but you cannot deny that you WILL get there if you continue to learn, grow and keep on keeping on. 

Cheers.

JOIN our 2014 15 Day Flat-Belly Detox or 15 Day Inch Loss Jumpstart challenges starting January 6! Click HERE to learn more on our Facebook Challenge page! 

* Check back in the coming days for Part 2 on discovering what drives you * 

* For more information on nutrition and science-based weight management program visit HealthyStrong *