The feeling of New Year's Day!

Yesterday I asked you to imagine as if today were New Year's Day! Did you get there? Imagination locked and loaded?

Today I have a couple more questions to ask you.

1. What does the excitement of starting something new feel like?
2. What are your intentions on day 1 of starting something new?

I can only tell you my answers to those questions, but perhaps it may give you a little insight to helping you stick to your plan.

1. Starting something new feels awesome! I am excited when I have a new project lined up and planned out.
2. My intentions are to finish the project!

For me, today is no different from New Year's Day, the typical day to start some kind of new workout program or healthy resolution. I can answer those questions the same way every day. But somewhere along the way, we get distracted and we loose focus. We get caught up in paying our bills or the circumstances of our life. I get it... believe me, I get it!

My suggestion is that every day be New Year's Day! Feel enthused at your plan for the day and focus on your intentions with excitement! Today is all you have. Don't worry that you missed yesterdays workout, or fell of the eating plan. You didn't worry about it on New Year's Day after all that holiday eating and your failure last year to get in better shape. Why are you discouraged today?

Health and Happiness!

Sincerely,

Bill 

Let's imagine that today is New Year's Eve!

What can you do in 95 days?

If you are a calendar junky like me than you may be aware that there are 95 days left until 2014 (Not counting today of course and depending on were and when you are reading this from).  Officially here in Chicago, there is this many days left (Click Here).

I thank you for your forbearance while I get through this because I know you may be thinking, "So... What does this have to do with fitness?"

It took me just 57 days to change the way my body looked and felt as you have probably have seen from my photos and read about.

I am just wondering if you have not started a process like I have, why you would wait until the new year to get it going.

Now is an incredible time to start! Imagine the shape you will be in both mentally and physically to start the new year. Not to mention that the gym is going to be jam packed with people in January with the same old desires.

So lets you and I start a journey... just like we always do.  Let's imagine that today is New Year's Eve and tomorrow you will be getting to the gym and starting your new healthy eating lifestyle.

The cool thing is that you know exactly what I mean. You are excited aren't you? You know what New Year's Day feels like... No, not the hangover. The opportunity to renew!

It happens at the start of every day... We just forget how cool New Year's Day usually feels. I know you have a lot going on. I know you have things to do. But I think you can get it done.

Happy New Year!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Focus on the good vibes out there... And be grateful!

I sit for a few minutes every day and try to catch up on the things friends and family are doing and posting on Facebook. And yesterday was a particularly good day for thoughtful posts everything from good news about family and note worthy events to cool stories happening in the world.

There was a lot of good vibes... maybe because that is what I am focusing my attention on more so now!

One particular site that has caught my attention, and forgive me for not remembering who posted this site first, is a site called Upworthy.

Today this popped up and warmed my heart. One of The Greatest Contributing Factors to Happiness!

I am grateful for Upworthy.com... as it made it easy to pass on a little happiness!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Here is to the class of 83!

Friends Forever... No matter what distance is between us!

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog... I took some time off from writing and part of that time was spent with Family and Friends and in particular my 30 year High School Reunion.

It could have easily been my one year or one month reunion as some of the people I got to see I picked up conversations again with as if we barely left the halls of Lakeview High. More on this for a later blog.

I found it interesting that when it went to the 5, 10 or even the 20 year reunion, I may have had a little anxious feeling when going back to see friends. What would I tell them about myself? What had I accomplished? What were the successes of my life that I would share with people? 

At 30 years I was more interested in what they were doing and how happy others were. I met some with only a handshake or a hug, while others I heard stories of good lives lived so far and the joys they have experienced. I honestly think I heard only one story of "success" in terms of financial gain and even that was only a quick, "well I am making a boatload of money finally" but just like high school, I didn't look at these people in any regard to their status in life. I looked at them as friends to share time with and enjoy.

The connection I had and still have with people really stuck out. These were people I shared, for the most part, the better of 4 years time with. Although I didn't go to grade school with any of them, I grew up in the city and they the suburbs of Detroit, we all shared so much in that little 4 year period.

As I look back now and see as a more difficult time, preparation for life on your own, the bonds you make with these souls could easily be compared to the bonds soldiers make when going off to war. Some we will never speak of... only amongst ourselves. Wink! Wink!

I look forward to seeing all these people sooner rather than waiting another 5 or 10 years. As we all approach 50 years of age... time spent together seems much more valuable.

So, here is to the class of 83 Lakeview High School! To the war we survived called growing up! And here is to the joys we shared and will share in years to come!

Health and Happiness!

Bill 

Three Questions!

I took a little time off from writing, working out and calorie counting partly intentional and partly unintentional. But I am reminded of Leo Tolstoy's Essay Three Questions:

• When is the best time to do each thing?

• Who are the most important people to work with?

• What is the most important thing to do at all times?

What I realize when I ask myself why I didn't write for the last three weeks, got only a few workouts in and really didn't keep track of the food I was eating, was that the best time to be doing what I was doing was when I was doing it. The most important person to be with was who I was with. And the most important thing to be doing at all times was what I was doing, when I was doing it.

I am sure if you think about it a little or perhaps take the time to read Tolstoy's Three Questions that to sit around and think that you have wasted any of your time is just not so. I choose to take the time for other things in my life the last three weeks because they were just more important than putting words into this blog, working out or counting calories.

What did I do? I spent time with family and friends. I took time off work to be with someone I love and get away from the craziness of city life. I read books, to tell you the truth, that have put a new perspective to my life.

And now the blog is back!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

I can't tell you what workout is best... but I can give you a little taste of something I do.

As I mentioned in my blog "The Real Roadblock to Success" and "This is a Process not a Program" I do not think it is what you are doing so much as it is how you feel about what you are doing.

I love doing isometrics as a stand alone workout or as a warm up for other exercise.

My Isometric Workout consists of holding 5 to 15 seconds and transitioning from move to move as smoothly as I can. (Usually takes around 5 seconds or less to get to the next position)

My friends have asked for the workout I am doing and while will not give you the whole workout because I don't know you and I am generally don't give out workouts without evaluating someone first, here is a simple routine you can try inside or outside (as I did). Remember you should consult your physician or exercise professional before trying anything new.

6 moves, you can repeat the as many times as you like, but if you can get through it 5 times holding 15 seconds each, it should take you about 10 minutes.

With each move you are trying to perform a full range of motion while reaching and squeezing as much as you as you can.

Jack Knife --- Reaching up to touch the toes

Hip Lift --- Squeezing thigh and glutes

Seated Upright Rotation --- Squeeze those abs, straighten up your spine and turn both ways

Flip over into a Plank -- Squeezing everything! (If this is too challenging, try it from your knees)

Finish with a Low Back Raise -- Arms reaching out

Remember to breath! Go to the point of where you are comfortable going and move smoothly in and out of each position and transitioning to the next.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

If you are going to stink at something... Stink Good!

Why do we tell kids, or anyone for that matter, that they stink at something?

If I let others dictate the way I see myself and paint my self portrait from that, I may be doing the same thing.

I have gone through 3 years of watching my son play hockey and of course suffered every emotion that he has gone through. And while I use to get frustrated when he either didn't listen to the coach or me on tactics to be better and perhaps now and again had a "bad" game or practice, I now know he doesn't stink bad those days... he stinks good!

The very thought that we know what stinks and doesn't stink when it comes to doing anything other than what we are doing is very peculiar to me now.  If I am not the Quarterback on the football field, the Goalie in net, the Pitcher on the mound, the designer of the computer or the garbage man in my alley, why do I have the right to tell someone they stunk today or they are doing it wrong?

Perhaps it is an extension of our need to be right, or at least our ego's need. Perhaps there are things we wish to improve at and it is easier to criticize to others.

Only that individual knows if they played well, just as I know if I had a good workout, a good session with a client or a good conversation with a friend. Only I know if I was all there or not.

I watched my son come off the ice the other day, looking a little rejected and thought at first to ask what did you do wrong or try to tell him how he could have done better but all I said was, "You were awesome!" and told him how much I loved watching him play. With just that his whole demeanor changed.

Then I asked him why he seemed upset and he went on to tell me what I already knew, he didn't have the best practice ever and wished he did things a little different. So I said, "Then you Stunk Good today!"

"I Stunk Good?" he laughed.

"Yeah you Stunk Good because you learned from your mistakes. You can only stink bad if you don't learn anything or blame it on someone else."

I could have easily told him what he did wrong or how to do it better but to let him know that I enjoyed watching him play and that we can only learn from our mistakes gave him something to think about other than he wasn't good at a sport he loved to play for just one day.

Imagine if we walked around without criticism and enjoyed a persons highs and lows rather than beating them down after a bad day... It just might start to change the world.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Start today with a Fresh Canvas

It is amazing to sit back and look at the painting that is called "My Life."

Norman Rockwell's Triple Self Portrait

If the roadblocks to my success reside in me as I suggested yesterday, then I also am the artist that paints the picture and puts it on display for everyone to see.

I can remember when I walked into my first full time job interview thinking, "I have this job and I will be a fitness manager at this club". I had no other thoughts and guess what, within two years I created a position of Personal Training Manager. There really wasn't any Personal Training when I walked into the club, but I created it in my mind without any doubts... No Road Blocks!

Somewhere down the road when success didn't happen as easily I started creating a new picture of myself and I turned "I have this with no doubts" to "I hope I am good enough."

How can a 25 year old man with no experience think he is the king of the world and the same man 20 years later, with more knowledge and sweat equity, have doubts about himself? Easy, I let others come in and erase what I saw in the mirror and change what I looked like. I started to believe some of the negative things people were telling me and I have been repainting that picture on the same canvas all these years.

Complicated as this may be, I think the simple fix is to start with a fresh canvas and repaint my picture.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

The Real Roadblock to Success!

I started my journey to lose weight on June 24, 2013, full of goals and aspirations. I started writing this blog a year earlier naming it "Even Trainers Get Fat... Headed" because I was looking for the road blocks that were causing me to be stuck in a 200 pound overweight body. 

As I put it, "What makes this time any different? Will it be the diet? Is it the Workout? Well, if you are reading this and care to follow. We are going to see… And maybe we can all get a little smarter about how to stick with a healthy lifestyle."

So that is what I looked for initially, my diet and workout, because I thought, like most of us do, that those were the way to reach my fitness goals. I wanted "to get a little smarter" about how I did all that but it turns out it was not just what I was doing but the way I was looking at my life that had me stuck.

I have said this in the past and believe it still, that you can take whatever approach you want to healthy eating habits and use any type of workout to get results. But those results are not going to last unless you look in the mirror at yourself and figure out the real roadblock to your success... You!

How many fat loss programs out there work? How many different workouts are there out there that are the "Key to Fitness Success"? Too many to count!

Unless you discover your true essence and be it every day then failure and frustration is sure to be around the corner for you.

I have been so blessed to discover that I was the road block and that my health was up to the way I was looking at every aspect of my life not just what I was doing in the gym or making in the kitchen.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

What makes you so special?

Ever get the feeling that you are not so special after all? I can't tell you how many times since childhood  I thought that or was told that. The sad fact is I believed it.

But through my own journey I cannot believe this anymore. You and I have something to give this world. A chance to inspire and give back. That is what makes each and every one of us special!

In her book, A Return To Love, Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Marianne Williamson writes it best.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

For your viewing pleasure