give and take

If we all suddenly "got it" that to hurt another is to hurt yourself world peace would break out in under twenty minutes.

Focus on Progress, Not Perfection

I'm still doing Bill Phillip's Transformation Challenge, he's an incredible teacher and www.transformation.com is a great online community. This week my assignment was to focus on progress, and not perfection. So to put things into focus for myself I made this picture collage showing where I've been the last 5 yrs.

With a Great Body Comes Great Responsibility

But what constitutes a great body? Everyone has their own personal ideal, but to me every single body is great. I've seen guys missing legs that had an inner, as well as outer, strength few four limbed bipeds possess. Consistently seeking improvement is the key. In other words get some guts. Most people don't have the guts to train hard. Or the guts to eat healthy. Or the guts to take responsibility for their health. The average human being is having a near-life experience.

Nobody has a "bad back", "bad knees", etc. We've just treated ourselves poorly and got back what we gave. Every thought we think, and every thing we do creates chemical reactions within. We create our health moment by moment. Every decision weakens or strengthens. So get some guts. Decide what kind of body you want, then start taking steps toward that. A great body might require a great effort. Or maybe it won't. It could very well be that it is much easier than you think.

http://www.fitprossupportthetroops.org

The Calorie Deficit

If you're counting calories, I suggest getting at least 10-12 cal. per pound of bodyweight daily. Minimum. Because as you get leaner you still need to keep a calorie deficit or your fatloss hits a plateau. Most diets fail because people are inspired to change, but create too big of a calorie deficit in the beginning.

Of course, thats where proper training comes into play. With exercise you burn calories while amping up your metabolism (fuel burning system)and building muscle. Muscle burns calories even when its at rest, and due to its density it takes up less space on your body that fat.

You know all of this, I'm just reminding everyone this time of year.