Taking a new direction!

The past 3 months of blogging have been tremendously insightful for me. Through writing, reading, working out, meditating, eating healthy and experiencing the highs and lows of life, I feel like I have made some great changes to my life and have learned a lot.

I have sought out health and happiness on a daily basis and I want to be able to share and teach that to everyone! But I have to admit that I am not happy every day and as a consequence my health ebbs and flows with that.

Stuff happen, right? We all get busy. We all have stress. But that is not the heart of the matter.

Ultimately, for me, doing what I love and being with those I love every day is a big part of my happiness

But I have a deep concern of many things in the world and I want them to change!

I am not sure where I am going to take all this, I just know that there is a part of me that is not happy with what is happening out there… and I need to get it off my chest!

I hope it comes out thought provokingly, insightful and meaningful for those of you reading.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Anything exciting happening? If not keep wondering!

I had a conversation the other day with a close friend about the opinions of others that led me to the thought that sometimes we need to just remind ourselves of all the wonderful, exciting choices we have in this life and say, "Thank you for your opinion!"

I love A.A. Milne's conversation between Pooh and Piglet because it reminds us that everyone has different things they are excited about just as everyone has varying opinions. Whether you like their opinion or not… Let it go and be excited about all the possibilities in your day!

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.” 

                                                                                                                     ― A.A. Milne

What are or were you excited about today?

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Blah, Blah, Blah!

Having started a project to lose weight and maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle after failing miserably for the last decade, I have found out that if I do not do the things I love to do every day then I will quickly fall off the horse.

I know that when I write I feel good. Even if it is writing thoughts I may have shared in an earlier blog or just righting blah, blah blah down until something comes out of me. Much like I am doing right now.

Working out and maintaining your health can be the same thing. If you have not been to the gym in a while or your workout bench is getting cluttered with stuff at home, perhaps it is time for a trip to the gym, clean off that workout bench or just go for a walk.

Yes, it's that simple. Don't make a plan… just get up and go!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Time to get back on the horse

The expression, "Time to get back on the horse" would imply that perhaps you have failed or got hurt doing something, so the only thing to do when you fail is to get back on "the horse" and put your fears aside.

For me, the "horses" I ride are health, happiness, education, writing and what I do to earn a living.

Sometimes if one of those go, the rest tend to suffer. Relax a little on my workouts and I may not write as much. Don't take the time to read today and my work might suffer.

If your dreams of a healthy and happy life are the products of whether or not you are doing the things you love to do, why aren't you doing them?

I ask myself this everyday... So today I will read, write, workout and do what I love!

What will you do?

Health and Happiness!

Bill

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

The Gift of the Roller Coaster!

Sammy and I at Six Flags...
Just another Roller Coaster ride

When you look up the term "Roller Coaster" in the dictionary it says. "An action, event, or experience marked by abrupt, extreme changes in circumstance, quality, or behavior"

If I had to describe the month of August 2013 I think I would have to say, "That's It!" When I look back at my whole life I would have to say, "That's It!"

What a ride it has been! I have gone from the highs of losing and keeping off 20 pounds to some personal challenges of worry and frustration that I was not sure how I was going to overcome to an awakening of compassion and forgiveness that has given me a new outlook on life.

Experiencing the highs and lows of life is what we do. But how we look at each experience drives who we are or will become. Truly if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Reflection, contemplation and critical thinking play an important role in the ones self development. I have not only lost 20 pounds off this mortal shell but feel my spirit is lighter than ever.

I have been blessed with a gift that by just believing it is there it can show up for me every day... The gift of possibility.

May you be blessed by the same gift.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Awakening at the Pizza Parlor!

Have you ever had one of those days that seems like everything is flowing? I mean everything! Thoughts, emotions and physical well being are all connected on a level that you didn't even know existed?

Through reading and writing these last 68 days and really all my life, yesterday I had an awakening and today it transcended into a state of total bliss and joy. I can't quite explain why it happened when it did... but it did!

I can only tell you that I let go of some negative feelings I have had for a long time and everything became clear to me.

I don't know if tomorrow will be the same. It may be something that goes in and out for a while, but letting go of some resentment and anger really seem to help.

All these things that I had previously perceived as being bad looked like gifts to me. I started to think of annoying and hurtful people and events in my life with compassion and a veil of frustration was lifted off of me.

I expected that such an awakening event may come at a time of quiet meditation or contemplation but instead came at a busy and noisy Pizza Parlor while my girlfriend and I philosophized about life.

I feel open and excited to all possibilities.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Just Smile Today!

I have been receiving all kinds of notes and kind messages from people about my current physique transformation.

It is inspiring people to make changes in their own life and that is exactly what my intention was all along.

Now I don't have cancer. I am not down and out on the streets of Chicago. I am not an outcast from family and friends because of horrible behaviors I had in my past. I live a good life. I have been lucky enough to recognize this and be grateful for it.

I struggled with some of the things that life has brought me, but somewhere deep down inside I knew that I wanted to be happy, that my essential nature was happy and that changing my health is so key to "my" happiness and I created a life I love by working out everyday, eating healthy, delicious meals, reading great books, listening to motivational audio and watching thought provoking DVDs.

The real change was not so much in my physique, though I am happy with that, but in my outward expression. Just look at how my expression changed from day 1 to day 60! It went from "Take the damn picture" to "How cool is this?"

I was down right miserable in the world I created for myself... there is no doubt. But in 60 days I was able to change my outlook and therefor my outward appearance to one of happiness. Not because I have some magic workout that everyone can do, but because I worked at and am still working on the way I see things... Through a smile.

So do whatever it takes to smile today or do as my mentor Dr. Wayne Dyer says, "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change." Most importantly your self!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Thank You Martin Luther King!

I think I will let someone else do the talking today... From 50 years ago today!

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon of hope to millions of slaves, who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, the colored America is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the colored American is still sadly crippled by the manacle of segregation and the chains of discrimination.

One hundred years later, the colored American lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the colored American is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our Nation's Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our great republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed to the inalienable rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given its colored people a bad check, a check that has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.

We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is not time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.

Now it the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

Now it the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

Now is the time to make justice a reality to all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of its colored citizens. This sweltering summer of the colored people's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end but a beginning. Those who hope that the colored Americans needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the colored citizen is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the colored person's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for white only."

We cannot be satisfied as long as a colored person in Mississippi cannot vote and a colored person in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of your trials and tribulations. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by storms of persecutions and staggered by the winds of police brutality.

You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our modern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you, my friends, we have the difficulties of today and tomorrow.

I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day out in the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interpostion and nullification; that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be engulfed, every hill shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi and every mountainside.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream Speech"... August 28, 1963

I skipped my workout to read a book!

Yesterday I was lucky to have most of the day to myself and started reading a book that is, in my humble opinion, profound! I even skipped most of my workout to read it. I sat on a bike reading so at least I got that in.

I read all the time and as you know am quite proud of my library of books. But after watching the movie documentary I Am for the second time this past weekend I decided to do a little research into some of Tom Shadyac's influences for the movie and found out he just put out a book as well called "Life's Operating Manual with Fear and Truth Dialogs" in April of this year.

I was driven to downloaded the book to my iPad so as not to waste any time running up to the bookstore, even though you know how much I love going to the bookstore. I could not put it down. If I didn't have to go pick my kid up from school I would have stayed glued to my couch and read it in its entirety.

A little over half way through, I can't wait to read the rest. Each chapter Tom writes an essay and then proceed to have a conversation between what he calls Fear and Truth or the "Two Wolves Inside of Us."

The book speaks to me because this is part of my journey and yours as well. There are two wolves inside us telling us different things... Which one will we listen to?

I may just sit on a bike today and read as well... and soak up my truth!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

What if?

What if every day you woke up in a state of bliss?

What if every day you woke up happy?

What if every day you fed your body only good nutrients?

What if every day you had the best workout ever and enjoyed the activities of your day?

What if every day you didn't judge, condemn or criticize anyone... including yourself?

What if every day you gave back to the world bliss, happiness and a healthy and joyful example of how to live?

What if?

Health and Happiness!

Bill

This is a Process, not a Program!

Each rep I take is as important as the next!

For the last month or so, I have been lucky enough to get worked on by my friend Michelle with Muscle Activation Techniques and apply what I am learning about my weaknesses and strengths to my workouts.

I am reminded that this is a process just as I remind my clients the same thing and that there is no program that gets you from point A to point B!

I am reminded that in order to get to point B, sometimes there are different routes to get there.

I would love for it to be linear but I know that the aches, pains and range of motion imbalances are signs that my body needs a different course of action.

Muscle Activation Techniques is the only technique I know that can help guide me through to my goals and it is my belief that without it I would be back to square one, frustrated and beat down, not wanting to get to the gym.

As I ask all of my clients, I do the same and am willing to take a MAT session and learn, pay attention and then apply what I have learned until I get back to another session.

It's a new way to look at Personal Training. It's not just throwing a bunch of exercises together and hoping for good results. It is check and balances and moving toward the goal rather than farther away.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Be Yourself with No Regrets!

Everyday we are faced with how we can look at what life gives us and the choices we make.

Two days ago as I mentioned in my blog Welcoming Your Emotions, a myriad of negative feelings I was going through that found me up at 4am writing. Just two days earlier I was hopeful and excited like Christmas Morning. Yesterday I found that through they eyes of a child was a great way to look at life. Today the frustration I felt earlier in the week has turned back into joy and put a new perspective on life.

We have a chance to live life on our own terms and be the person that we want to be. Not what other people think we should be, how to act or what we should be doing. Just be ourselves and let others be themselves.

We could get mad, upset and furious with the world or we can keep on our path.

It doesn't really matter if you agree with the way I live my life. All that really matters is that I agree with the way I am living my life. I love sayings like, "What you think of me is none of my business" and "Be independent of the good opinion of others." Put into practice they bring me peace of mind as I connect to who I am.

I remembered this morning that I asked my Dad if he had any regrets in his life before he died, he replied, without blinking an eye, "No, none! You make choices in life and you do the best you can do with them. No regrets!"

I think I may have lived with Buddha and didn't even know it!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Live life like a kid!

It's almost 8pm on a Friday night. I just dropped off my kid to his Mother's house after spending a week with him. Half of it on a mini vacation, splitting time between a water park resort and an amusement park.

Maybe no one reads this blog because I am not going to post it to Facebook or Tweet it.

I am just siting back and thinking about how much fun it was to be with my kid and how he keeps me focused on being a kid myself, enjoying life and having fun.

This one is for me... Sent out in hopes that just one person reads it and takes note to do the same!

Live life like your 8 years old! Pure Joy and Happiness! Full of awe and wonder!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Welcoming your emotions!

It's almost 4 in the morning. I am on a little mini vacation with my son before he goes back to school and while I should be sleeping soundly I am awake. Awake with thoughts and emotions pouring through my head.

Life throws all sort of "Things" at us and we can choose how we handle those situations with a number of emotions and reactions.

I recently had something happen that drove a roller coaster ride of negative emotions through me. You name I felt it. Everything from fear to frustration, anger to rage and resentment.

While I will not tell you about "The Thing" that happened, because it could be anything that drives us to negative emotions, I look at a life and see that there can be two sides to everything.

I woke up excited like Christmas morning one day this week, a day later I was sad and upset. There is ugliness in the world, but there is beauty. There is fear and there is Love. There is the deepest of sorrow and regret and there is the joy and the triumph of success.

I came to the conclusion that I am going to welcome my emotions and go through them and observe them. You never really hang onto an emotion for too long. Most seem to fade away. Some seem to resurface from triggers, but they too fade away, good or bad.

You can flip through the TV channels and experience all the emotions you like. Watch an uplifting movie about a persons rising from rags to riches or defeat to winning and you are filled with enthusiasm and motivation and then turn on the news a witness violence and bloodshed and be filled with sadness and despair.

We are not going to stop the emotions from coming. Maybe we don't even get to choose them as I suggested. Maybe all we can really do is just sit down at some point in our day, maybe even while they are happening and observe and learn from them.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

 

The Most Important Place To Be!

There are events in everyone's life that remind you where the most important place to be is, who the most important person is and what is the most important thing to be doing. Right now there is nothing more important than my son, my girlfriend and my own current state of health and peace of mind!

But I am sitting at home in my office typing and those people are close by and thats why they are important to me right now as I finish thoughts for this blog.

When I am with a client... that is the most important person and the most important place to be and taking care of that client is the most important thing to be doing.

When I am with my family or friends, they too are the most important people, with them is the most important place to be and doing what ever it is I am doing is the most important as well.

It is a lesson I learned from the Tolstoy story called Three Questions. I first heard the story told by Paul Pearsall in a series of tapes called the Pleasure Principle 20 years ago and then it resurfaced and I heard it again from Dr. Wayne Dyer in his book Excuses Be Gone!

The most important place to be is the where you are right now! The most important person to be with is the one you are with and the most important thing to be doing is what you are doing with that person.

So to quote Tolstoy, "Remember then, there is only is only one time that is important... Now!"

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Filled with the Excitement of Christmas Morning!

Day 1, 30 and 56!

I found myself on the verge of collapse yesterday after a day filled with challenges, stress, bills to pay and things to do! After putting my kid to bed, I literally passed out on my couch before I could even put myself to bed.

I know I posted Day 1 and Day 56 photo's to yesterdays blog and as fun as that was to share I woke up today at 3 in the morning filled with more excitement as if it were Christmas morning, thinking about the last 8 weeks and wondering what the next 8 weeks are going to bring!

I have always said, it's not the present once you open it that is exciting, (although that is fun) it's right before that is the most exciting moment.

All I did was imagine myself healthier 8 weeks ago and it happened. I imagined with the heart of a kid and knew I was going to get the present I wanted!

We all have challenges, stress, things to do, bills to pay and we don't know what the day will bring us. But if we could wake up every day filled with the excitement of Christmas morning and the anticipation of what exciting things are going to happen today, we are at least starting off the day in a positive way!

Have an Outstanding Day!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

8 Weeks! Pictures tell only part of the story!

On Day1 , June 24, 2013, I was 203 Pounds, 24% Body Fat and had a 38 inch waist! Yikes! In the small picture below you can see "My Former Self" slowly fading away!

Yesterday on Day 56, August 18, 2013, I weighed 182 Pounds, measured 16% Body Fat and had a little less than 34 inch waist.

Smiling @ 182 Pounds!

My Former Self

But the pictures tell only part of the story. I have found in 8 weeks that what kept me from achieving any success in the past was what was inside my head rather than some formula that gets me in shape.

I look and the difference of eight weeks but can see further than what the pictures show. Not only is it the daily habits of eating right and enjoying my activity but striving to be in a state of happiness.

Sure persistence and determination drive me every day but happiness with myself and my world are just as important and I see a happier, energetic soul with more of the essence of who I am.

I still have ups and downs and feel as though I have a long way to go. But I am on my way!

I wish you the same!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

We all need a little pick me up... even me!

As I wake up this Sunday morning, a little ache in the shoulder, toes cracking as my feet hit the floor, knee's a little funky, worries about money, being a good parent, a good partner, a good person and numerous others, I know I don't have all the answers but they are within my reach. Sometimes we all need a little pick me up. Sometimes we need it everyday to keep things in perspective and stay the course!

I am reminded today of part of the quote from Marianne Williamson that says, "Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."

Yes, I have fears, doubts and troubles like everyone else but bringing them out to make others feel better serves no purpose but to stay in the shadow of success and dreams and to never come into their light.

Here is the full quote from Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,

but that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, handsome, talented and 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 were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give

other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear,

our presence automatically liberates others.

Health and Happiness!

Bill

The Scale Doesn't Talk!

Thursday I took a well-deserved day off from any training. I had worked out every day for the past week and a half, been a little tired from work, had a hint of soreness in my muscles and I have not been getting enough sleep.

Friday, I took another day off from working out. I have my reasons. Don't Judge me! Let me tell you why...

I have been going with the flow of my body and mind since June 24, when I began this journey and although Thursday was a day off for me, Friday was a day off for others.

Thinking, analyzing the data, counting the calories, consumed and thoroughly obsessed in this process I had other personal things on my plate that needed attention and as I laid down to sleep last night I found a peace inside me about the decision I took for the day.

To be honest, I woke up a little worried about what the scale might say as I stepped on it. Interestingly enough... The Scale Doesn't Talk!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

What the Hell was I thinking?

As I approach the end of 8 weeks of training and healthy eating habits renewed I can only sit back and wonder... "What the Hell was I thinking?"

This can be the only lifestyle to live. In tune with my body and mind. Never wavering from the daily quest!

Although the weight that was on my back, literally, has not been wiped off completely, I feel as though this journey has sparked something in me that has been missing for a long time.

Whatever it is you want to achieve, no matter how big or small, set your sights on it and don't let go!

Health and Happiness!

Bill

Go to the bookstore today!

I wrote a blog a month ago and asked the question, "What are you reading to keep fit?" It spoke of my dreams of having a library room stocked with books, how fortunate I am as many as I do and what I was currently reading.

One of my favorite Author's and blogger is Seth Godin. He writes a blog every day and is my inspiration for writing mine every day.

Today's blog, received at 5:30am sharp, as always, was called "An End to Books" and I cannot agree with him more as he makes some great points about the dying of book stores and libraries and how the whole publishing industry has changed. Not to mention that we can now get books downloaded to our iPads and Tablets, but unfortunately those devices also have emails and other distractions.

I love to go hang out at a bookstore. Oh wait, can you tell me where one is? Yes, they are getting harder and harder to find. Once upon a time there was the small bookstore, which then grew to the Mega Book Store and then all of the sudden, most of those have vanished.

I have to admit, I do on occasion download books now to my iPad as I just don't take nor have the time to go enjoy the book store as I like to do. I use to make it a Sunday ritual, then I got married, had a kid and as you know, responsibilities of life kick in.

I seem to be coming back to the theme, wouldn't you say? Balance! Find time to do the things you love.

I will be going to a bookstore today... Perhaps to buy another Seth Godin book.  ;-)

Health and Happiness!

Bill