Being in shape or out of shape is a choice. Having experienced childhood obesity, I learned that:
(i) fat grows faster than muscle
(ii) childhood obesity is nightmarish
(iii) losing fat is an exercise of free will
Getting in shape depends entirely on your personal choices. Fat loss is the product of a series of decisions. Good decisions, good shape. Bad decisions, bad shape. I have coached and taught thousands of student-athletes who are throwing away their health by willingly letting themselves get out of shape. My coaching ideology is simple – train hard or go home. I don’t cut any player. Players who can’t cut it cut themselves. I don’t compromise on my ideology that student-athletes must be in peak physical and mental condition to compete. That’s the secret to winning. There’s no shortcut to success. Get in top shape and you’ll win consistently; stay in bad shape and you’ll lose consistently. The choice is yours.
The decision to lose fat start with need. I lost my childhood obesity when I needed to. The need started when I couldn’t tolerate looking at my gut, feeling fat, being a horrible little league athlete, and when I could no longer tolerate the ridicule of my teammates and coaches. Need is the most powerful motivator. When you need to change, you will. That’s the secret starting point of fat loss.
Intellectual fitness is just as important as physical fitness. An unchallenged mind will soften and turn to mush. If you don’t workout your brain, it will weaken just like a soft, flabby gut. The quickest way to an out-of-shape mind is letting in junk. Just like junk food piles on physical blubber, junk thoughts will pile on mental blubber. Like body fat, mind fat accumulates by gorging on empty junk.
I stopped watching the news a long time ago because its filled with nothing but depression that will attack your mind and rot your soul. But I fell off the wagon recently. Watching the news is mental torture. The federal budget, unspeakable crimes, gas prices, a collapsing economy, never-ending campaigns of bullshit…watching the news is self-induced depression. Try this – don’t watch or read the news for just one week. I guarantee you won’t miss it. I guarantee it will be therapeutic.
The battle to loss fat and keep it off is a struggle. There’s no easy way around fat loss. Fat loss needs to be worked out in three places: in the gym, in the kitchen, and in the mind.
I fought childhood obesity. At the age of 12, I stated a work out career that has lasted 42 years, uninterrupted. The operative word is “career.” Working out isn’t a hobby for me, it’s a career. The reason is that I refuse to go back to obesity. Fat cells don’t disappear. They shrink. Consequently, my childhood obesity makes it easier for me to get fat. My fat-fighting has been a life-long battle. But I’m winning because of three reasons: gym, kitchen, mindset.
Fat loss starts at the top – mindset. There is no way to get in the shape that you want without self-discipline. Not just average discipline, hardcore discipline. What is hardcore self-discipline? Iron-will. The will to stick to a plan. The will to follow what needs to be done. The will to lead yourself out of the misery of being out of shape. Iron-will mindset doesn’t just happen. Nothing just happens. The secret is practice. Iron-will is habits developed by practice. The first step is to change your focus on what matters and then stick to that focus. What you focus on grows…good or bad. Get a plan and focus on it.
Exercise is the next component of fat loss. Strength training with weights and cardio. Lifting weights is a part of my life, a part of my daily routine. I’ve lifted weights for 42 consecutive years for one reason – mindset. I developed a passion for it because it works. The benefits are amazing. I don’t focus on the pain of working out. I focus on the pain of NOT working out. When I think of life without working out, I rush to the gym to get my rush. The gym will transform your life – guaranteed.
The third element of fat loss is the kitchen. The 3 secrets of nutrition are simple –
i. remove junk food
ii. spread out food intake throughout the day
iii. proper protein intake.
Removing junk food will dramatically change your appearance. Junk food is easy to define but we sometimes rationalize/irrationalize. You don’t need a PhD in nutrition to figure out what’s junk food.
Portion size is vital. Large meals make me fat. But I don’t starve. Far from it. I eat 6-7 small meals every day and mini-meals in between.
Protein is essential for both men and women. Protein is crucial to build muscle. Even though protein is not a direct fat-burning food, protein intake stimulates certain hormone release in the body creating a natural fat loss effect. I never have and never will take a fat-burner supplement. The body does it legally, safely, and for free.
How do you succeed at all three? A fitness coach with a track record. Fitness isn’t a luxury, it’s essential for quality of life.
The NFL has zero credibility in my view. The NFL is a sideshow, a daily soap opera with absurd story lines. Here are some examples:
1. Who is actually running the New Orleans Saints? Since when does a head coach decide on his successor? Is Sean Payton really authorized to offer the job to Bill Parcells? I don’t get it.
2. I am a Tim Tebow fan. Why? I want to see his haters proven wrong.
3. The Jets signing of Time Tebow is absurd. I understand signing him to compete with Mark Sanchez but I don’t get the “he’s a back-up to be used in the Wildcat” nonsense.
4. Rex Ryan was asked if Sanchez was consulted. Wow. What a stupid question. Since when are players general managers?
5. Tebow’s press conference was a circus. Howe does the Jets front office think?
6. Tebow turned around a hopeless team who won a playoff game against the Steelers. Then he’s traded. His haters point to Tebow’s stats. Check John Elway’s stats in his first full year. You’ll be shocked.
7. The NFL is a shopping league. Shop around for the best talent. Hand out absurd sums of guaranteed money to unproven rookies and free agents who are damaged goods.
I’ll stick to coaching football in the amateur ranks. I won’t spend a dime to buy an NFL ticket. Every minute I watch any NFL news is a complete waste of my time.
The X Fitness workout system has transformed thousands of football players from scratch for 4 decades. The system is now in an e-book called Explode. For the next week, the first 100 daily to inbox their email address will win a free Explode e-book as part of our gratitude to our members and Facebook friends for X Fitness’s 11Th anniversary on April 1. Keep lifting.
April 1 is the 11th anniversary of X Fitness. Over 7,000 have been members during that time. Our deep appreciation and sincere gratitude to all current and past members, including our 5,000 Facebook friends internationally. Every day until April 1st, X Fitness is giving away free e-books of our new e-book “Explode: the X Fitness Workout System” to the first 100 people who inbox us with an email address so we can send the e-book. This will go on every day until April 1, starting today. The first 100 who send a simply inbox message asking for a free Explode e-book win. Thank you again. Keep lifting.
The suspensions handed out to the New Orleans Saints are deserved. As a football coach. the concept of bounties is deeply embarrassing. Trying to injure players and have them carted off is shameful. I have seen the too many players end up in emergency rooms and operating tables. Football injuries are no joke. Head coach Sean Payton got what he deserved. He deserves his one-year suspension. He’s lucky he didn’t get suspended for life. Coaching football is a privilege, not a right. Conspiring to injure players is disgraceful. No defence.
Gregg Williams, New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator, got suspended indefinitely. He deserves it. The Saints were warned by the league to stop. The Saints disregarded the warning. Organizational arrogance.
Congratulations to Roger Goodell. You protected the integrity of the game.
Wasted reps can’t be repeated.
www.soulofalifter.com #24-365xfitnessnevercloses
Wasted-reps is the leading cause of failure. Sports, business, fitness, academics, jobs, or anything you’re trying to accomplish, wasted-reps are blown opportunities to grow. Once they’re wasted, you can’t repeat them. No replay, no re-try. You can do it over once you wasted the chance.
I have told my football teams for 40 seasons that you get one set of reps – that’s it. What you do with them is your choice. Waste them or build them. Throw them away or use them to the fullest. The choice is yours. If you decide to wasted reps, don’t point fingers when they pass you by. Just wave because you let it happen. If you want to change your life, change your reps. Make the most of out every opportunity that you’re given. We all get one set of reps. We won’t make the same choices. We won’t all take full advantage of our reps. What you do with your reps determines what you become and how far you go.
y sincere gratitude to the inventor of the speed bag and heavy bag. S/he is a genius. Its right up there with the Internet, coffee, protein powder, and classic rock.
#workingoutis sacred
Just started this trend today on Twitter. Trying to make it a worldwide trend on Twitter.
