Category Archives: Conventional Wisdom – How I hate you
Burn off what you eat
So in college I had a couple of teammates who definitely lived by the philosophy of eat what you want and burn it off…aka exercise so you can eat badly.
I even know a ton of people now that have that do the same thing…
“I workout so I can eat what I want. And when I eat badly, I just go workout to burn it off!”
But that is probably the worst mentality you could have.
Working out doesn’t excuse the CRAP calories you are putting into your body. Exercise doesn’t truly cancel out the bad food.
You may not necessarily gain weight on the scale because you burned off the calories you consumed, BUT you definitely aren’t being healthy and I guarantee you would see your workouts paying off way more if they weren’t simply a way to allow you to eat badly!
For one, you aren’t fueling correctly to really get the most out of your workouts. And your body composition is probably not improving.
Actually it is probably getting worse.
And two, you are probably going to at some point really start overtraining. I know a ton of girls that would lift and then even run just to make sure they “burned off” the food.
Let’s just say this is DEFINITELY not a healthy attitude.
Actually I HATE the attitude….So when I saw a restaurant in London that now allows people to eat and WORK OFF the food, I of course had to write a rant about it.
The restaurant is called Steam. And while I like the idea of a restaurant serving whole, natural foods or even healthy meals, I HATE the idea of a restaurant promoting workouts to work off the meal.
AH!
I like the fact that you can play games and have a place to eat and be active, but the whole philosophy of working off what you eat is what kills me. And honestly, maybe it is just the way the restaurant is promote that really bothers me.
I don’t mind offering people a place to be active and healthy while enjoying a healthy meal, but I don’t like when you offer exercise and activities just to burn calories so that you can eat without guilt.
And vibrating chairs to burn calories!?!
AH!
I mean…yea promoting eating well and working out is great…but not if you are promoting working out to BURN OFF what you eat! This restaurant is just seems to promote the disordered eating mentality that so many people already have!
AH!
You DON’T workout to burn off what you eat people! You workout to be healthy and strong and happy!
Elementary School Moves
So when writing up some new workouts, I began to think about all of the games we played in gym class…dodgeball, crab crawl soccer, scooter ball…just to name a few.
And I thought…why not include some of those moves!?! Remember when you used to swing from the monkey bar or do wheelbarrow races? Remember when you’d have to crab crawl around the gym and you considered it to be a GAME!?!
Those moves while super fun in elementary school were actually super good for you!
So now each of our workouts includes some element of elementary school play. And while it might not be as easy as it once was…it is still ridiculously “fun!”
So next time you want to work on shoulder strength, consider a wheelbarrow crawl. Or next time you work your core and upper back, consider a skin the cat.
Or what about climbing a rope? Remember when you used to climb up those poles on the playground?!? Not as easy as you remember it I’m sure!
There are so many great moves that we did as kids, but somewhere along the line we stop. And instead we start doing bicep curls and tricep extensions, which honestly aren’t near as good for us or even half as functional.
So below is a great workout with some simple elementary school moves. Try it…it might be fun! (If you don’t have some of the stuff or understand what it is, feel free to email me at manbiceps@gmail.com and I can either explain it or give you some substitutions!)
Workout
Warm up (make sure to get shoulders, glutes, back and core warm)
3 rounds (Rest in between each round or do with a partner for a relay):
Rope run and drag and then plank hinge and pull (Run down about 50ft and drag a 1.5 inch rope behind you until it is stretched out along the ground. Then go into a plank/table top crawl position facing the same way as the way you ran. Reach back between your legs and grab the rope. Sit your butt back to really get a good reach and then pull the rope through as far as you can, extending your hips as you pull. So you will go from about a plank position on the hands to almost a child’s pose still on the hands to really get a reach back and through. Pull the rope until it is completely piled in front of you and run it back.)
5 rounds:
Rope Climbs (can sub in inverted rows if you don’t have a rope…5 reps if you do it on a rope and 10 reps slowly if you do rows)
Crab Crawl 50ft forward and 50ft back (Crab crawl is with your hips facing the ceiling)
Crab crawls!
Skin the Cat (This is the move where you hold a pull up bar or monkey bar and swing your feet through over your head between your hands and all the way down toward the ground behind you. If this is too tough, simplify it by just first tucking the knees to the elbows and then next by doing a straight leg lift up to the bar) 8-12 reps
Rest and repeat for all rounds!
For our conditioning we actually played tug of war with a few stipulations to prevent injury.
You may be thinking…”Oh that isn’t a workout!”
But trust me….it really really was!
Are you healthy?
So what does “being healthy” really mean?
Is being healthy NOT being sick?
I mean cause really just because you aren’t sick doesn’t mean you are healthy.
So then what is HEALTHY?
Is it having all of your vital stats fall within that “healthy” range set out by the medical community?
I mean is that really healthy if the person eats crap all day yet has supposedly falls within the healthy ranges for cholesterol and blood pressure and such!?!
Ehhhhh…doesn’t sound healthy to me.
They might look healthy on paper, but frankly I don’t think that is any guarantee that they won’t be plagued by illness or die at an early age.
Eating crap is eating crap. And frankly, I think it will come back to bite most people.
So then…what is “being healthy?”
Honestly, I don’t have an answer for you. And neither does anyone else.
That is why people are so confused about what diet or exercise program to follow – there are studies used to say that almost a bazillion different things are healthy!
So how do I judge when I’m being healthy?
Well I took a look at all of the evidence and picked a side.
I choose to pick the side of eating whole natural foods – real foods. I choose this diet because it seems most logical to me.
People have called it a “fad diet,” but as someone said in “The Perfect Human Diet” documentary that I watched last night, “It then is a 2 million year old fad.”
We evolved the way we did because we ate meat. Our systems are adapted to eat whole natural foods.
So processed foods? Foods that we only started eating with industrialization?
Those are not whole natural foods. Those are NOT foods we were meant to eat.
Those to me aren’t healthy.
And there are people who will site studies saying I’m wrong and that my diet is a fad.
Really!?!
You are going to call my diet a fad when there haven’t been any early vegetarian human fossils found? You are going to tell me that I should eat grains when humans didn’t eat grains until recently!?!
HA!
I have the whole of human evolution behind my beliefs…How many years are behind yours!?!
And yea…now some of you will say…”Well we didn’t have science then”….or “We didn’t know any better”….or “We lived way shorter lives back then.”
Yea we didn’t have science…we ate what didn’t kill us. Just like all animals seem to eat what is right.
I mean if a study came out today saying we should feed lions grains are you really going to believe it?
And yea…we did live shorter lives. We didn’t have medicine back then to keep people alive. We also now don’t have to contend with a lot of the dangers that they did!
And don’t get me wrong, I think science helps us learn a lot and even better ourselves.
But please don’t use it to tell me that grains are healthy and natural animal products aren’t.
We use grains to fatten animals…Maybe…Just maybe then grains really are at the heart of the problem.
Anyway, one last little factoid before I get back on topic, which was mentioned in The Perfect Human Diet….
Look at cattle feed nutritional info….the feed used to FATTEN cattle. It recommends low-fat, moderate protein and high carb.
Think about who else recommends a diet set up this way….
OH! The food pyramid! That is where I’ve seen this diet before! And guess who came up with the food pyramid orginially?
POLITICIANS!
So yea…I chose my side.
And once I picked that side, I tested it and realize just how much freaking better I felt day in and day out while eating, living and working out that way. So because I felt better than I’d ever felt before, I decided that I was being healthy.
Feeling energized and strong day in and day out to me is feeling healthy.
Not having to down 50 cups of coffee to make it through the day to me seems healthy.
Not feeling bloated. Or sluggish. Or winded at the slightest exertion….
That to me is healthy.
Being able to constantly achieve greater and greater fitness goals because I’m fueling proper, sleeping enough and not overtraining.
That to me is healthy.
Feeling GOOD.
That to me is healthy.
I honestly sort of believe that we can FEEL when our body is in order especially when we’ve cut out all the crap.
Trust me, anyone who has gone to a clean whole foods diet can now recognize how crappy they actually felt when they ate all of the processed junk.
So I challenge you to ask yourself, “Are you really healthy?”
Do you actually feel good day in and day out?
One Simple Change
I frankly think that developing a healthy diet is simple.
People make it seem like it is super complex. Heck companies want people to think it is complex so they can sell supplements and weight loss products and processed foods that supposedly have all these health benefits.
But honestly, you really only need to remember one thing when it comes to eating healthily – eat whole, natural food!
Cut out all the crap!
Don’t worry about freaking supplements even if they were on Dr. Oz. Don’t worry about your micronutrient intakes. Don’t worry about exactly how many fruits or vegetables you eat or how many omega-3s you are getting.
Don’t worry about doing a diet with 20 bazillion different rules! Make one change first!
Just cut out all of the processed crap!
If you started focusing on just eating natural foods, so things that spring out of the ground and aren’t processed…aka usually have a short shelf life unless frozen, your healthy and the way you feel will improve exponentially.
Just by starting to even cut out one processed thing a day, like the crackers you eat for a snack (even if they are supposedly “healthy” crackers), you will be cutting out a ton of crap from your diet.
Processed foods are loaded down with vegetable oils and sugars. I mean take a look at any nutritional label on any pre-packaged food at the grocery store. I bet there are a ton of things listed in the ingredients that you’ve never heard of.
AND I bet all of them have way more sugar than you expected…but then again you were probably more worried about the fact that they were supposedly advertised as low-fat or “all-natural,” right!?!
But seriously, those pre-packaged foods can do some damage.
Here we are worried about the amount of saturated fat in an animal product and yet people are consuming a TON of simple sugars and vegetable oil (which is SUPER bad because it causes inflammation because it contains a horrible ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s) in all of the processed crap out there!
Anyway, the point is if you cut out processed, pre-packaged foods and focus on eating whole, natural foods, you will instantly cut out a TON of bad things.
Once you do that and have a good diet baseline, then start looking at ratios and exactly what natural foods are best and how you react to gluten, dairy and carbs, in general.
Don’t make it complicated to start!
At work we constantly talk about getting back to basics. And that is exactly what you’ve got to do here. Don’t make a ton of changes and complicate your diet.
Make one simple change and get back to the basics – eat whole, natural foods!
Paleo is a joke
I LOVE talking about diet and exercise.
I LOVE when people find out I’m a trainer and then ask me a ton of questions.
I LOVE when people ask me about my diet or exercise program.
I HATE when people tell me they’ve started doing Paleo and then tell me about the latest Paleo baked good they made.
Are you a sucker for Paleo products? HELLO! People are making money off of you…they don’t care about your health!!!
To me Paleo and baked good (aka sweets) can’t legitimately be used in the same sentence unless you are saying you’ve switched to Paleo and only eat baked goods on cheat days now.
Paleo baked goods…those three words combined like that make me want to scream.
Paleo has become a joke.
The whole point of Paleo or Primal is to eat WHOLE, NATURAL FOODS. To eat meat, fruits and vegetables and cut out all of the processed crap and sugar.
The whole point of Paleo is to make you healthier and reduce the inflammation in your body.
The whole point of Paleo is NOT to make a less bad for you version of traditional baked goods.
If you are TRULY doing Paleo you aren’t eating freaking Paleo muffins or Paleo pie or pizza.
You aren’t baking with almond flour or using a ton of honey or maple syrup to sweeten things. You aren’t buying “gluten-free” processed products.
Why AREN’T those things truly Paleo!?!
Because they totally miss the point!
It’s true…nothing is ACTUALLY paleolithic, but the point of the diet is to cut out all of the crap and eat naturally raised products!
For example, the reason the Paleo/Primal diet tells you to cut out grains is because of the inflammation grains cause which is what causes cholesterol to build up in the arteries and cause heart problems.
Grains also contain phytic acid, which hinders your body from absorbing many vitamins and minerals.
Guess what also contains phytic acid?
ALMONDS!
So when you eat your normal serving of 1/4 cup of almonds you are fine…BUT a pizza made from almond flour!?!
That is a ton more than the 1/4 of a cup you should be eating.
And that means a TON OF PHYTIC ACID!!
You cut out grains because someone doing the Paleo diet told you to, BUT you didn’t understand WHY you were supposed to cut out grains. So you end up making your freaking Paleo almond crust pizza and get the exact crap that the Paleo diet is supposed to help you eliminate from your diet.
AH!
So because most people don’t really UNDERSTAND the point of the Paleo diet…because people don’t really understand why the diet has them cut out certain foods…because people just do it because their friend lost weight doing it…People end up destroying the diet and eating crap that is disguised as being “Paleo.”
Basically, don’t tell me you are doing Paleo or Primal if you are going to tell me about the latest cookie, pie, pizza, muffin or WHATEVER that you just made.
Don’t tell me you won’t eat cheese or rice because it isn’t Paleo and then freaking go eat gummy worms because they are gluten-free.
Don’t tell me you don’t eat beans (which you probably don’t even realize you don’t eat because they contain phytic acid) and then go eat farm-raised salmon or coconut milk with a ton of extra additives.
Come on!
Understand why the heck you are doing something! Farm-raised salmon is just about the WORST thing you could possibly eat!!!! It is like Paleo 101 that you eat NATURALLY RAISED animal products!
And if you are going to buy something like coconut milk, READ THE FREAKING LABEL.
Ok…deep breath…I’m done.
Now all of you recent Paleo bandwagoners…go ahead and tell me why I’m wrong…I dare you.
My way or the highway?!?
So I definitely have solid views on nutrition, but I actually don’t vocalize them as much as you would think considering I rant and rave all the time about them here.
If someone asks me my opinion, I will tell them what I personally think.
Like yesterday, the volleyball girls asked me about post-exercise nutrition.
My answer? Eat a lean protein source and a simple carb. Those will be quickly absorbed by your body and used as fuel.
When asked what counted as a lean protein source or simple carb, I answered…
Turkey, chicken, whey protein, rice, potatoes, fruit.
Notice I didn’t say no gluten. Notice I didn’t say no protein bars. (Heck notice I didn’t even say, “Well honestly, I don’t even worry about pre and post workout nutrition…That is something that really only a top few elite competitors/athletes/bodybuilders need to worry about…That the most important thing truly is to eat a whole, natural food diet throughout the day and make sure you are eating when you are hungry!)
I simply listed things I believed are good – things that I would eat.
When asked specifically about bread or gluten or processed foods, I usually say, “Well I don’t believe in eating those things, but there are other people who do x, y and z and it works for them.”
I will almost always present the other side. (Except of course for here where I get to rant about the other side! YESSSS!)
Because it isn’t up to me what you choose. I can provide you with information about my reasons for my decisions, but I can’t tell you what is right.
Because it is a gamble. There are literally thousands of studies and people on both sides of the fat/gluten/carb/vegetarian fence.
Which side you decide to pick is ultimately up to you.
I’ve picked a side and am constantly doing research to make sure that I know WHY I make the decisions that I do.
Anyway, the reason I thought about all of this is because I’m writing up a “10 Healthy Lifestyle Tips” for this Heart Healthy Expo Jeff and I are going to tomorrow.
I was reading through a lot of the different heart-healthy tip things online and I couldn’t bring myself to provide people with recipes or tips that included canola oil and other such crap as healthy.
So below are the 10 Heart Healthy Lifestyle Tips I came up with. I managed to make the tips stay pretty darn mainstream WITHOUT going against my beliefs. I didn’t say not to eat whole grains…I just most definitely didn’t say to do it!!!
- Eat whole, natural foods and cut back on processed, pre-packaged food items. Processed foods are loaded with sugars and bad fats that cause inflammation.
- Use healthy fats such as olive oils, coconut oils and naturally-raised animal fats INSTEAD OF canola and soybean oils, which cause inflammation because they are loaded with omega-6s.
- Cut back on sugar and consume more complex carbohydrates especially fruits and vegetables, which are rich in vitamins and minerals that protect our health.
- Cook more meals. No matter how healthy the restaurant meal supposedly is, it never measures up to a home-cooked meal. Even with our busy schedules and long workdays, we can fit in time to cook. It just takes some planning. Find meals, like casseroles and crockpot recipes, which allow you to make huge portions all at once so that you have leftovers for all those busy days when you don’t have time to cook!
- Plan in some “me time.” Too much stress can negatively impact our health. It is important to take some time each day. This can mean going for a walk with friends, reading a book or anything that allows you to relax for even just 5 minutes at the end of your day.
- Get more sleep! Those who average five or fewer hours of sleep per night have a far higher incidence of “silent” heart disease. In a study done, 27% of those who slept five hours or less per night developed calcifications that can signal heart disease after five years, compared to just 6% of those who slept an average of seven hours or more.
- Do 30 minutes of low intensity aerobic activity (walking, hiking, swimming, chasing after your kids on the playground) 2-3 times per week. Low intensity aerobic activity helps to strengthen our heart and burn fat.
- “Sprint” once a week. To sprint means to do short, intense activity once a week where you get your heart rate up and then let it recover before you go again. The intensity of your sprint will be dependent on your fitness level. A sprint should be between 8-20 seconds of intense work followed by a long period of rest (2 to 5 times the amount work).
- Lift weights! Too often we ignore weight training when it comes to heart health, but strength training is important! Resistance training has been shown to decrease heart rate and blood pressure while improving cholesterol levels and glucose metabolism. All of which result in a healthier heart! Add in weight training 2-3 times per week.
- Skip the two a days! More time in the gym doesn’t always equal better health. Overtraining can actually have negative effects on your health. Your workouts don’t need to be more than an hour especially if they are super intense. So don’t worry about how long you workout for – focus on your intensity!
NOTE: I am not ashamed of my beliefs, but I do believe that sometimes if you are too vocal upon first conversation with someone who you can actually get them to shut down and complete tune out all of the good stuff you are saying. Sometimes if you ease people into the unknown they are more accepting of the things you have to say!
Dr. Oz – GRRRRRR
So on Wednesday of last week, I did a lunch and learn talk at a local business with another trainer from Innovative Results.
We talked mostly about mindset, but we did touch on some basics of dieting. We talked about eating whole, natural foods. We talked about cutting calories, but making sure that we don’t cut out too many. We talked about making small changes over time so they actually take root.
And at the end a woman raises her hand with a question…a question about supplements that she saw on Dr. Oz.
UGH! (I wanted to throw up my hands and roll my eyes. I don’t have a problem with Dr. Oz just the fact that everyone DOES exactly what he says like mindless drones.)
She wanted to know what we thought about some green coffee bean thing and raspberry ketones. She said, “Dr. Oz says that these two things will help you lose weight.”
The only thing I could say back was, “KISS…Keep it simple stupid.”
hahaha! YES!
She looked at me in confusion.
I just simply explained that I didn’t even want to get into discussing those supplements. That the MOST IMPORTANT thing if you want to lose weight is to eat whole, natural foods.
First you have to get the macronutrients in order before you start thinking about the micronutrients.
Green coffee beans or whatever the heck they are, aren’t a magic pill!!!! There may be some new study saying they can help AID with weight loss, but trust me, if you want real results, you have to do real work and eat REAL food.
Let’s face it….Dr. Oz has a TV show. He wants to talk about new trends, new fads…It is what keeps people tuning in!
I can’t blame him! I love researching and experimenting (I mean shoot I tried the potato diet just to see what would happen!)
The problem with it is…He has power. He has credentials and a TV show that reaches millions. He is a well-respected medical figure, and rightly so!, so people believe whatever he says. If he says raspberry ketones have health benefits, people run out to buy them.
Stop being drones!!! Use your brain!!!!!
Really you think some green coffee bean is going to solve all your problems!?! I mean if you look at most of the boxes with the supplements or extracts the boxes even tell you, “take along with a HEALTHY diet and exercise program.”
What do you really think makes you lose weight!?! The green stupid bean or the healthy diet and exercise program!?!
AH!
GRRRR Dr. Oz!
Stop making people think dieting is so complicated!
Keep it simple stupid!
If you have the healthy diet on lock…If your macronutrient breakdown is in order THEN maybe think about experimenting with green coffee beans and all that jazz!
Do you know why?
Do you honestly know why you eat the way you do? Do you know why you do certain exercises?
If I asked you right now why eating vegetables is good, could you truly give me an answer?
Or would you just be able to repeat something that someone else told you?
How do you know that what they told you is even true!?!
YOU DON’T!
Unless of course you’ve done your own research.
Ok so I’m not saying to doubt everything that you hear. And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t trust a professional’s word.
But I do firmly believe that no matter what the subject, you need to do your own research.
I mean I tell you to avoid gluten. I tell you that fat is not the enemy. I tell you to eat LOTS OF MEAT aka I’m anti-vegetarian.
And while I hope you agree with me because I firmly believe I’m right, I know that people won’t believe with me.
And while I don’t mind a good debate, I really hate when people tell me that I’m wrong without truly backing up their opinion.
Sorry to pick on you vegetarians, but I really hate when you attack me about how our farming industry is hurting our environment and that we should all be vegetarians to protect it.
Because for one, this shows me that you obviously haven’t really read a word I said. If you notice I don’t promote conventional farming practices…I’m for all naturally raised animal products a.k.a the way animals WERE living on the land originally when we used to hunt them,
And two, no one really ever explains how being a vegetarian is MORE environmentally safe than eating meat raised the natural way. Most of the time when I actually point out how BAD mono-crop farming is for the environment, they have no response.
And why don’t they have a response?
Not because someone out there hasn’t come up with one, but because most people don’t really understand WHY they are doing the things they do!
haha random but funny!
So while I’m sure there will be a few vegetarians offended by this post, my point isn’t to get a response to my above comments. My point is that you need to THINK.
I don’t care what diet or exercise program you follow, even if it is mine. You still need to UNDERSTAND why you are doing it.
Don’t eat a diet low in fat and high in “whole grains” and tell me fat is bad and whole grains are good for you if you can’t back it up.
And saying, “Well whole grains have fiber” doesn’t cut it.
Anyway, next time you decide to take a stance on something, make sure you’ve really thought about your stance and understand the reasoning behind it.
ZZZ….ZZZ….
Let me tell you a little secret…Actually it is the true key to success if you want to get stronger, fitter, healthier and happier….
GET MORE SLEEP!
Click on this cartoon for some more reasons why sleep is important!
That’s it…Get more sleep.
You don’t need any fancy supplements or to do crazy workouts or the latest diet fad.
All you need to do is get more sleep.
Don’t believe me? Think sleep is overrated?
Do you love to BRAG about how little sleep you’ve gotten and how much caffeine you’ve consumed?
Well stop. Because all you are bragging about is BEING STUPID. (And who really wants to brag about being an idiot?)
Anyway, if you could only do one thing this year to make yourself better, I would recommend that you get more sleep.
Sleep affects how well both your mind and body operate. If you think you are doing fine now on only 4 hours of sleep just think about how well you would do if you got the eight you needed!
Why settle for fine when you could be great!?!
Why not do everything you can to make your performance and your health better?
Because you supposedly don’t have time?
COME ON! You have time to sleep. You just don’t choose to MAKE time.
If you don’t believe me that you have the time to get enough sleep, take a look at your schedule. I bet you will find a ton of “time” that you are wasting on stuff that you could be using to get more sleep.
But then again…You have to VALUE sleep if you are going to make the effort to get more.
The question is, “How can you NOT value sleep?”
How can you not value something that makes your mind function better? I mean who doesn’t want to be more productive each day?
How can you not value something that improves your health and helps you lower your risk of heart disease? I mean who doesn’t want to live longer?
How can you not value something that helps your body prevent illness? I mean who doesn’t want a strong immune system so that you don’t get sick?
How can you not value something that makes all of your healthy eating finally pay off? I mean who wants to deprive themselves of delicious bad food all of the time if they aren’t losing weight and feeling great because of all the healthy, whole foods they are consuming?
How can you not value something that makes all your workouts worthwhile? I mean who doesn’t want their workouts to pay off because they aren’t giving their body enough rest and recovery to rebuild itself stronger than before?
So…How can you not value sleep?
I know I do. And that’s why I made some changes. So are you ready to make some changes?
Are you ready to really make all your dieting and hard work in the gym pay off?
THEN GET SOME SLEEP!
Long-term…BLEH
So I always try to set a long-term goal, but sometimes it is really REALLY hard to start initiating changes when your goal seems so far away.
It is hard to get started when you goal seems COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING.
Sometimes it can seem so challenging that you don’t even want to get started – you’d rather just go sit on the couch, open up a bag of potato chips and watch some movies.
I know…I almost always feel that way each and every New Year.
A new set of challenges. A round of potential “failures.”
It can be extremely daunting.
But that doesn’t mean you should just give up or not even get started!
You need to break down that big, overwhelming long-term goal into smaller short-term goals.
And when I say “small short-term goals,” I mean SMALL. Like something you almost already do small.
Yes, month-long and week-long goals are important and great, but you need to set even smaller, easy to accomplish goals.
You need goals that you can easily accomplish so you stay motivated and constantly feel like you are moving forward.
Accomplishments and successes, no matter how small, motivate us. They really REALLY do.
And yes, there will still be set backs, but the more you can constantly feel like you are progressing, the easier it will be to stick to your goal and accomplish something that at once seemed overwhelming and completely undoable!
It’s amazing how something that once seemed undoable becomes so easily within reach when we just shrink the goal and make ourselves realize that we don’t need to be perfect to achieve it!
That’s right….We don’t need to be perfect. We just need to overcome little day-by-day challenges and we will get there.
Small steps. Small success are really what matter.
And those small success, over time, will add up to one big success, which may be even more than you were originally shooting for!
So take a deep breath, step back and shrink that long-term goal into small, DOABLE mini goals!
Then take small steps each and every day. And before you know it…YOU WILL BE THERE!
Happy New Year to the New You!
Man Bicep 