Have you been putting off something you need to do?

Why?

If you’ve ever procrastinated on anything, you need to read this…

Today’s special guest post is by the late, great Jim Rohn.

I listen to Mr. Rohn’s CDs in the morning and while I’m driving, they act like “vitamins for the mind” and help keep me positive in an increasingly negative world.

Ending Procrastination

by Jim Rohn

Perseverance is about as important to achievement as gasoline is to driving a car. Sure, there will be times when you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, but you’ll always get out of the rut with genuine perseverance. Without it, you won’t even be able to start your engine.

The opposite of perseverance is procrastination. Perseverance means you never quit. Procrastination usually means you never get started, although the inability to finish something is also a form of procrastination.

Ask people why they procrastinate, and you’ll often hear something like this: “I’m a perfectionist. Everything has to be just right before I can get down to work. No distractions, not too much noise, no telephone calls interrupting me and, of course, I have to be feeling well physically, too. I can’t work when I have a headache.” The other end of procrastination—being unable to finish—also has a perfectionist explanation: “I’m just never satisfied. I’m my own harshest critic. If all the I’s aren’t dotted and all the T’s aren’t crossed, I just can’t consider that I’m done. That’s just the way I am, and I’ll probably never change.”

Do you see what’s going on here? A fault is being turned into a virtue. The perfectionist is saying that his standards are just too high for this world. This fault-into-virtue syndrome is a common defense when people are called upon to discuss their weaknesses, but, in the end, it’s just a very pious kind of excuse-making. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with what’s really behind procrastination.

Remember, the basis of procrastination could be fear of failure. That’s what perfectionism really is, once you take a hard look at it. What’s the difference whether you’re afraid of being less than perfect or afraid of anything else? You’re still paralyzed by fear. What’s the difference whether you never start or never finish? You’re still stuck. You’re still going nowhere. You’re still overwhelmed by whatever task is before you. You’re still allowing yourself to be dominated by a negative vision of the future in which you see yourself being criticized, laughed at, punished or ridden out of town on a rail. Of course, this negative vision of the future is really a mechanism that allows you to do nothing. It’s a very convenient mental tool.

I’m going to tell you how to overcome procrastination. I’m going to show you how to turn procrastination into perseverance, and if you do what I suggest, the process will be virtually painless. It involves using two very powerful principles that foster productivity and perseverance instead of passivity and procrastination.

The first principle is: Break it down.

No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, whether it’s writing a book, climbing a mountain or painting a house, the key to achievement is your ability to break down the task into manageable pieces and knock them off one at one time. Focus on accomplishing what’s right in front of you at this moment. Ignore what’s off in the distance someplace. Substitute real-time positive thinking for negative future visualization. That’s the first all-important technique for bringing an end to procrastination.

Suppose I were to ask you if you could write a 400-page novel. If you’re like most people, that would sound like an impossible task. But suppose I ask you a different question. Suppose I ask if you can write a page and a quarter a day for one year. Do you think you could do it? Now the task is starting to seem more manageable. We’re breaking down the 400-page book into bite-size pieces. Even so, I suspect many people would still find the prospect intimidating. Do you know why? Writing a page and a quarter may not seem so bad, but you’re being asked to look ahead one whole year. When people start to look that far ahead, many of them automatically go into a negative mode. So let me formulate the idea of writing a book in yet another way. Let me break it down even more.

Suppose I were to ask you: Can you fill up a page and a quarter with words, not for a year, not for a month, not even for a week, but just today? Don’t look any further ahead than that. I believe most people would confidently declare that they could accomplish that. Of course, these would be the same people who feel totally incapable of writing a whole book.

If I said the same thing to those people tomorrow—if I told them, “I don’t want you to look back, and I don’t want you to look ahead, I just want you to fill up a page and a quarter this very day”—do you think they could do it?

One day at a time. We’ve all heard that phrase. That’s what we’re doing here. We’re breaking down the time required for a major task into one-day segments, and we’re breaking down the work involved in writing a 400-page book into page-and-a-quarter increments.

Keep this up for one year, and you’ll write the book. Discipline yourself to look neither forward nor backward, and you can accomplish things you never thought you could possibly do. And it all begins with those three words: Break it down.

My second technique for defeating procrastination is also only three words long. The three words are: Write it down. We know how important writing is to goal-setting. The writing you’ll do for beating procrastination is very similar. Instead of focusing on the future, however, you’re now going to be writing about the present just as you experience it every day. Instead of describing the things you want to do or the places you want to go, you’re going to describe what you actually do with your time, and you’re going to keep a written record of the places you actually go.

In other words, you’re going to keep a diary of your activities. And you’re going to be amazed by the distractions, detours and downright wastes of time you engage in during the course of a day. All of these get in the way of achieving your goals. For many people, it’s almost like they planned it that way, and maybe at some unconscious level they did. The great thing about keeping a time diary is that it brings all this out in the open. It forces you to see what you’re actually doing—and what you’re not doing.

The time diary doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Just buy a little spiral notebook that you can easily carry in your pocket. When you go to lunch, when you drive across town, when you go to the dry cleaners, when you spend some time shooting the breeze at the copying machine, make a quick note of the time you began the activity and the time it ends. Try to make this notation as soon as possible. If it’s inconvenient to do it immediately, you can do it later. But you should make an entry in your time diary at least once every 30 minutes, and you should keep this up for at least a week.

Break it down. Write it down. These two techniques are very straightforward. But don’t let that fool you: These are powerful and effective productivity techniques that allow you put an end to procrastination and help you get started achieving your goals.

As a world-renowned author and success expert, Jim Rohn touched millions of lives during his 46-year career as a motivational speaker and messenger of positive life change.

For more information on Jim and his popular personal achievement resources or to subscribe to the weekly Jim Rohn Newsletter, visit www.JimRohn.com.

Nine people emailed me yesterday asking if Wold Fitness has a plan for increasing pull ups.

“Of course,” I said, “but why all the interest?”

Turns out some morning show had reported that pull ups are the number one exercise for burning calories in your upper body.

Now, I think there are exercises that burn more calories, but the pull up IS one of my very favorite movements.

It tones and strengthens your back and arms (backless dresses, ladies?)

How To Build Your Pull Up

First, work on losing fat.  The heavier you are the harder it is going to be to pull yourself up.

Second, if you can’t do any pullups yet, start training with negatives.

A negative chin up is simple: Grab on to the bar, jump up, and lower yourself as slowly as possible.  Try to take 8 seconds on the way down.  Then jump back up and do it again.

Work up to 3 sets of 8 reps twice a week.

Once you are able to rock out 3 sets of negatives, you should be able to bust out at least one pull up.

Here is the plan that will take you from one pull up to five in only 8 weeks:

Do This Program Twice A Week

Week 1: 4×1

Week 2: 1×2, 3×1

Week 3: 2×2, 2×1

Week 4: 3×2, 1×1

Week 5: 4×2

Week 6: 1×3, 3×2

Week 7: 2×3, 2×2

Week 8: 3×3, 1×2

BAM, now you can do five pull ups.  Congratulations!

After this the keys to improving your pull ups are CONSISTENCY and VARIETY.

One of the reasons I love pullups and chinups so much is that there are endless variations to play with.

Rope Pullups

Clapping Pullups

Reaching Pullups

Ballistic Grip Pull Ups

Once you’ve worked on your pullups and chinups for a while, test yourself for your max number in a set.  NO CHEATING by not straightening your arms at the bottom or kipping yourself up!

Here are the standards I use with my athletes (from the legendary strength coach Mike Boyle):

MEN (pullups):

• World Class: 25 and up
• National Class: 20-25
• College Level: 15-20
• High School: 10-15

WOMEN (chin ups)

• World Class: 15 and up
• National Class: 10-15
• College Level: 5-10
• High School: 3-5

There you go!  A complete, proven plan for taking you from zero pullups to five.

Get after it!

~ Luke Wold

PS – After a few hours of filming these exercise videos for you, I was too tired to even grab the pullup bar…

I like my celebrities to be in good shape.  I mean, if I wanted to see schlumpy people, I could just head to Walmart.

But when I’m watching a movie, I want everyone to look great.

Now, not everyone here is in the movies, but it’s fun to see what celebs are doing to keep in shape.

Taylor Lautner

Taylor hit the gym five times a week and ate every two hours.  (Eating often is one of the Wold Fitness Nutrition Guidelines)

Here’s what he said: “The actual getting into the gym and working out process was easier, but the eating was harder. Because I had to eat every two hours.”

It’s true.  Eating is the biggest piece of the body transformation puzzle.  Even if you work out five hours a week, that leaves you 163 hours a week to mess it up.

Angelina Jolie

Angelina works out with the awesome Gunnar Peterson.

He says that the exercise he uses to tone her butt is the…. lunge!

There are sooo many ways to lunge, and they all work your butt in different ways, so mix it up!

Lance Armstrong

Lance never goes after anything halfway.  That’s cool.

He uses kettlebells as a cross-training tool to keep his body changing and getting stronger without adding any unnecessary pounds that would detract from his cycling.

The take-home from Lance: Work harder than anyone else.

Heidi Klum

After Heidi had her baby, she made sure to get plenty of protein and worked out for 90 minutes a day.

She tones her stomach with variations of the V-up, which works both the upper and lower abs.

Her trainer says she tones her glutes with deep sumo squats.  One of my favorites!

Lindsay Price

Lindsay uses two really cool moves as staples in her workouts.

The first is a step-up with shoulder press.  One foot on a box (or bench), dumbbells at your shoulders.  Stand up until your leg is straight and press the ‘bells overhead.  This works your thighs, core, butt, shoulders, and arms.

The second is what I call a Pike Plank (her trainer calls it a “caterpillar”).  Get in regular plank position.  From there, push your hips up as high in the air as you can and flex your stomach.  Then flatten out into a regular plank.

Matthew Mcconaughey

Matt does tons and tons of bodyweight exercises.

And I read an interview with him where he described all of his athletic activities: climbing, swimming, surfing, frisbee, etc.

Along with good nutrition, the wide variety of exercises Matt does are what gives him such a great body.

Jennifer Garner

After Jennifer had her baby, she dedicated herself to eating small frequent meals (sound familiar?) and working out five times a week.

The super-awesome Valerie Waters trained Jennifer and had her doing lots of lunges and shoulder presses to get that slammin’ bod.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan trained with an old school body-part approach: one day arms, one day legs, one day back, etc.

A MUCH more effective and efficient approach would have been an upper/lower split, but he looks so good I can’t really fault him.

For the scene shown above, I’m betting that he did some sort of carb cycling plan to achieve that “extra lean” look.  I use a plan like this to get models ready for a shoot, powerlifters cut down for weigh-ins, and to get someone ready for a big event like a wedding or reuinion.

Jessica Biel

Jessica keeps in shape with four big things:

• full range bodyweight movements
• medicine ball work
• light dumbbell exercises
• agility drills

It sounds like a description of my bootcamp!  Jessica and her trainer have the formula down pat.

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Insulin DIRECTLY affects your weight, health, and shape.  It’s a pain in the butt to describe and define every part of the process (I know because I was tested on it weekly until I got it!)

So here’s a quick and dirty introduction to insulin…

THE BASICS

Sugar is very sharp.  And when it bounces around in your bloodstream it can cause a lot of small cuts and scrapes.  Platelets stick to the cuts and that is when you start to get blockages in your arteries.

Insulin is a storage hormone released by your pancreas.  Your body wants to protect itself from all of the sharp little sugar crystals bouncing around so it unleashes the insulin.

The insulin then “sweeps up” all of the sugar and shoves it wherever there is any storage room.  If your muscles and liver can’t store any more sugar, your liver converts all of the extra into triglycerides and sends it to fat cells for storage.  (Like kicking all of the dirty laundry behind your door – pretty soon the pile gets HUGE!)

A LITTLE MORE…

Insulin really delivers nutrients to all cells, but we’re going to look at liver, muscle, and fat cells.  When everything is working right, cell receptors use insulin as a sort of “key” to unlock gateways in cell membranes.  With those gates open, nutrients can be stored and used in the cell, it also eliminates extra sugar from your bloodstream.

What happens when you follow the Standard American Diet (SAD) and eat too many grains and processed carbs?  You produce too much insulin over time.

Remember when I said that there was only a little bit of storage room for sugar in your muscles and liver?  Most people can only store 400grams.  When that is “topped off,” any glucose in your blood that isn’t being used immediately (during a fitness bootcamp, for example) is converted into fat and stored.

With high insulin levels, your fat cells not only store extra glucose, they also store all of the fat you ate at your last meal.  And here’s the kicker – HIGH INSULIN IS A SIGNAL FOR FAT CELLS TO HOLD ONTO FAT AND NOT RELEASE IT.

If you keep producing too much insulin, the pattern continues and you gain fat.  A LOT of fat.

Then it happens:  your cells start to become insulin resistant.  (Especially if you don’t exercise)  Insulin is a “key” to open gateways in cell membranes.  But when you are insulin resistant, the KEY DOESN’T FIT!

Someone who doesn’t exercise never calls on their glycogen stores, so they constantly have a full tank of liver and muscle glycogen.  With the lack of exercise their cells are very bad at burning and “restocking” energy from food, so all carbs and fats go directly to the liver to be turned into fat.  Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200.

Soon, even fat cells resist more storage.  And when that happens, you have no more defense against the havoc carbs will wreak on your body.

That is when diabetes, heart attacks, blindness, amputations, and other health disasters happen.

To burn stored glycogen and fat, the best thing to do is EXERCISE.  Dietary changes alone won’t work at this point:  The genes responsible for the “locks” in your cell membranes turn themselves off to protect against the insulin in your bloodstream.

When your liver becomes insulin resistant, your situation gets even worse.  If glucose isn’t absorbed by your liver, some cells in your liver sends out a signal that they REALLY wants glucose.  Then, other cells in your liver dump EVEN MORE sugar into your bloodstream, even though there’s already too much!

And when the “double dose” of blood sugar bounces off insulin resistant cells and gets stored as fat.  Unless your fat cells are FULL, then you start in on glucose toxicity – sugar poisoning.

AND A BIT OF GOOD NEWS!

When you control your insulin levels with a low-carb diet and frequent exercise, these “locks” actually become INSULIN SENSITIVE.  And then you are MORE effective at absorbing nutrients transported by insulin.  Awesome!

PLUS – Controlling insulin tells your genes to make more receptor sites, making you even more effective at absorbing nutrients!

BACK TO THE BAD NEWS: SOME CONSEQUENCES OF INSULIN RESISTANCE

Fat cells get bigger and fatter.  This means YOU get bigger and fatter.

Fat cells can’t release energy to be used as fuel, because the insulin keeps the fat locked up.

Glucose (sugar) stays in your blood longer where it can cut up your blood vessels and randomly bind with important protein molecules, rendering them useless for your body processes.  This results in increased inflammation, circulatory problems, and nerve damage.

Your pancreas works to produce more and more insulin – until it gets exhausted and shuts down.  Then you’re DEPENDENT on insulin injections for the rest of your life.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY

There isn’t a “one day” cure for insulin resistance.  The very first thing you need to do is cut out flour and sugar.

This means no bread, no english muffins, no waffles, no pancakes, no buns, nothing that has any flour.  I don’t care if it says “100% whole wheat” on it.  It will still break down into 100% whole blood sugar.  Don’t eat it.

Cutting out modern carbohydrates like grains and sugar will help you control insulin and help you lose fat – both of which will improve insulin sensitivity (good thing).  Learn more about carb cravings in this post: Sugar Cravings Taking Over Your Brain!

The second thing to do is start a structured exercise program – NOT random acts of aerobics.  Here is a VERY simple metabolism boosting workout you can do almost anywhere: 10 Minute Workout

Hey Gang.  One of my friends sent me this article and I liked it so much I asked the author if I could share it with you.  He said yes!  Check it out….  ~ Luke

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There’s one thing that’s absolutely guaranteed to piss people off. In fact, it’s a surefire way to alienate others and drive them away.

This is one thing within your control that’s absolutely certain to ruin a first impression.

Do you know what it is? It’s not arrogance. It’s not being loud or rude. It’s not even your ugly Hawaiian t-shirt.

It’s bad breath. Foul-smelling breath is universally accepted as a negative trait. Nobody enjoys interacting someone who doesn’t keep their breath smelling fresh.

Maybe you’ve kissed a girl who just took a shot of tequila. Maybe you’ve visited a doctor who ate an onion sandwich for lunch and didn’t brush his teeth. Or maybe you just know someone who seems to always have bad breath.

In any case, I’m sure you’ve experienced how awful it can be. You cringe and fight to keep your distance from anyone with bad breath, but usually it’s unavoidable. You probably leave with negative thoughts about that person, wishing they would just brush their teeth more often.

The question is, are YOU that person? Most people with bad breath are completely clueless. After all, everyone hates bad breath, so nobody purposefully avoids brushing their teeth.

No, generally speaking people with bad breath have absolutely no idea. The key for you is to employ a few different strategies to ensure that you’re NEVER that person with the awful-smelling breath.

To begin with, you need to know how to test your breath. If you’re heading into an important meeting or out on a first date, you need to know whether or not your breath smells like cat food.

To do so, there’s really only one surefire test. First, you need to thoroughly wash your hands. Once they’re dry, you need to lick the back of your hand. Yep, that’s right, you need to LICK your hand.

Once you’ve slobbered on it, take a big whiff of the back of your hand. If it smells a bit funky, then your breath probably smells a lot worse. If after a few sniffs you still can’t smell anything, then you’re probably in the clear. Once you’re finished this breath test you’ll probably want to wash your hands again….

Now that you know how to test for bad breath, how can you prevent it? There are a number of things you can do to prevent and cure oral odors.

First, and very obviously, you should be brushing your teeth at least twice daily. I recommend brushing your teeth any time you leave the house, because this is one of the most effective ways of refreshing your breath.

Perhaps a bit more surprising, flossing is also very important. The buildup of plaque between your teeth can contribute to the growth of foul-smelling bacteria, so regular flossing is actually a major part of keeping your breath smelling pleasant.

If you aren’t already doing so, cleaning your tongue is absolutely crucial. Open your mouth and take a look in the mirror: you’ll see a layer of white gunk at the back of your tongue. Some of this is natural, and to be expected. But you should regularly scrape some of this crap off your tongue to reduce bacteria buildup.

There are tongue scrapers you can buy at your local drug store (beside the toothbrushes, usually). Or, if you’re really cheap like me, you can use a kitchen spoon. Starting from the back, gently pull the white gunk forward and off your tongue. Rinse the spoon or tongue scraper after every use. Remember, be gentle and be careful not to go too far back (or you’ll gag over the sink – not pleasant).

Chewing gum is hardly the answer to bad breath, but it can provide some relief. If you know you have bad breath, then a piece of gum is your new best friend. In addition to masking some of the bad odors, gum also activates your saliva glands. Having saliva in your mouth is an important factor in reducing bad breath.

If you opt to chew gum, don’t be too obvious about it. Some people, particularly older people, find chewing gum to be rude. Keep your mouth closed and your smacking to a minimum.

Another way to ensure that your breath is always fresh is to stay hydrated. And I mean stay hydrated ALL the time. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, and don’t let your mouth get too dry. As I mentioned, lack of saliva is a cause of bad breath. That’s why you often wake up in the morning with foul breath – your mouth is dry and you’re dehydrated.

Last but certainly not least, be smart about what you eat. Think ahead. If you’re going to be in an important business meeting or going on a date, don’t order that super spicy dish! Stay away from beer (and pretty much all booze), coffee, chocolate, onions, and other spicy foods.

If avoiding these things (particularly coffee and booze) is impossible, then be prepared. Keep a toothbrush and toothpaste in your office drawer or you car. At the very least, gargle with water a few times and chew a piece of gum. This can at least hide the odor of your most recent latté.

Some of these tips are common sense, but you simply must follow them all if you want to avoid driving others away with your bad breath. After all, nasty breath is the single most effective way of ruining a first impression – or any interaction!

About the author:

Mark Belmont is the author of The Handsome Factor Appearance Transformation System, a complete step-by-step guide to enhancing your appearance.

1. Take 6 grams of Fish Oil every day.
2. Eat 24 almonds every day (1 ounce)
3. Measure your waist, hips, thighs, and upper arms every Friday.
4. Schedule the time to plan, prepare, and shop for your meals.
5. Get plenty of the cheap plastic tupperware containers.  Make sure the lids all fit.
6. Design a “go-to” breakfast, lunch, and dinner that you can fall back on if you don’t have a plan.
7. Buy some cool workout clothes that you look forward to wearing.
8. Read this blog.
9. Read “Freakin’ Fabulous” by Clinton Kelly to learn how to dress outside the gym (One of my favorite books!)
10. Take pictures of you in your underwear every other week.
11. Drink at least 80 ounces of water every day.
12. Don’t drink any calories (exceptions: protein shakes)
13. Go to a casino buffet and see what people who eat like that look like
14. Throw out everything in your kitchen that isn’t part of your meal plan.  If it’s in your house, you’ll eat it.
15. Plan out your reward meals in advance.  And then enjoy them.
16. Get good cooking tools, it makes it a lot more fun (and much easier!) to have the right stuff.
17. Find a skinny doctor to give you a checkup
18. Register for one of my bootcamps and come at least 3x a week.
19. Before you skip a workout, watch this video:
    
20. Drink at least 2 mugs of green tea every day.
21. Make friends from work come to bootcamp with you, you can all support each other during the day.
22. Hang this line up in your kitchen: “Eating is a promise you make to your body, and every time you eat processed food, you are betraying that promise.“
23. Get rid of negative people in your life.
24. Give up grains.
25. Give up high fructose corn syrup
26. Give up alcohol
27. Go for a walk 3x a week for extra exercise and to absorb vitamin D.
28. Write your goals down from memory every morning.
29. Friend me on Facebook and ask questions on my wall.
30. Get a stainless steel water bottle with a cool pattern on it.
31. Take a great multivitamin like VGF25+ (for women or for men)
32. Do extra interval training twice a week (here is an interval program I use with my clients: Interval Training Workout)
33. Set an “Unveiling Date” to reveal your swimsuit body.  Memorial Day is coming up soon….
34. Get rid of your fat clothes as you lose weight.  Don’t give yourself an easy out.
35. Buy a pair of skinny jeans with the waist size you want to be.  Hang them on your wall.
36. Make your family eat healthy too.  There’s no reason to cook 2 separate meals.  Show them you love them and make them eat clean.
37. Try a new kind of vegetable every week
38. Add flavor without adding calories: salsa, mustard, lime juice, tabasco, spices
39. Drink a mug of peppermint tea before bed every night
40. Print out pictures of fitness role models and put them in your food log
41. Floss twice a day (Do you know how many people skip this?)
42. Add 1 cup of broccoli to lunch and dinner
43. Cook meat twice a week so you always have a supply
44. Pack some protein powder in baggies so you’ll never have to skip a meal (I like this one)
45. Go see a chiropractor at least once a month (I go to Brian Russell, he is the best!)
46. Use a  Foam Roller every day
47. Add a long stretching session every week
48. Read Secrets of a Former Fat Girl and learn her “It’s Not An Option” strategy for getting fit
49. Come to a seminar and learn what REALLY works when it comes to increasing your metabolism
50. Ask yourself “If I don’t make this change today, how will I feel this time next year?”
51. Keep a nutrition, workout, and healthy ideas journal.
52. Go to a fitness and bodybuilding expo.  You probably don’t want to look like these guys and gals, but you’ll see people who are 100% dedicated to their physique.
53. Plan a vacation to the beach and decide to be the fittest person there
54. Wear a pair of Vibram Fivefingers during your workouts and your knees, ankles, and back will thank you
55. Mellow out.  Stress hormones cause fat storage.
56. Don’t half-ass your workouts.  You’re there to get something done.
57. Take one day a week off from hard exercise.  Go for a walk in the hills.  This is called “Active Recovery”
58. Eat five or six snacks every day, instead of 3 large meals
59. Eat REAL foods.  Processed foods cause an insulin surge and you’ll store every extra calorie as body fat.
60. Buy smaller dinner plates.  Our fullness is greatly controlled by the size of our plates in relation to food volume.
61. Feel fuller by eating more vegetables and clear soups.  This is called “Volumetrics”
62. Eat breakfast.   This will cut your risks of obesity, heart disease, and cancer.  (I’m not hungry first thing, so I have a protein shake, almonds, apple, and spinach)
63. Read food labels and pass up anything that you can’t pronounce.
64. Watch less TV.  Pick a few favorites and TiVo them.  Sitting in front of the TV is the express route to snacky-town.
65. Don’t fear dietary fat.  Your body NEEDS fat.  Cut out all carbs from grain and sugar instead.  (Go to town on fruits and veggies!)
66. Follow your plan.  The more closely you follow your nutrition and workout plan, the faster you’ll get the results you want.
67. Brush your teeth after every main meal.
68. Eat a healthy snack before you go to a social event.  That way you’ll be less likely to binge on the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
69. Get out of the “more is better” mindset when it comes to exercise.  Instead, take a smart approach based on the elements of your metabolism.  More isn’t better.  BETTER is better.
70. Get your teeth whitened.  You’ll feel better and smile more.
71. Keep walking shoes in your car.  No more excuses.
72. Shop with a list.  Not on the list, not in your cart.
73. Drink a specially-formulated workout drink during and after your workout.  (I drink this one: Prograde Workout)
74. Maybe you think it’s easy for some people.  And maybe you’re just making excuses:
    
75. Don’t smoke.  Don’t hang out in smoky places.
76. Pack your lunch (Last Friday I asked 3 of my fittest friends out to lunch.  All 3 already had something packed by 7am.  Coincidence?)
77. Get some sunshine early every day.
78. Need a jump start?  Hire a GOOD personal trainer for 4 months to get you going.
79. Eat more protein.  It raises your metabolism and preserves lean, toned muscle.
80. Give yourself a break.  If you screw up on your diet, just get started again THAT DAY.  Don’t declare the week a loss and set yourself farther back
81. Get more and better sleep.  Try to make your bedroom a “cave”- dark and silent.
82. Throw out your scales.  Use the pictures from number 10 to gauge your progress.
83. Cut out all soy from your diet.  It will mess up your hormones and make you store more fat.  (Also – tastes gross)
84. Make exercise time your fun time.  We have a blast at bootcamp because it’s fun and we vibe great together.
85. Why sports?  You’ll live longer!
    
86. Print out the 7 Rules Of Nutrition and keep them with you when you plan your meals (find them here: Nutrition Guide)
87. Make fitness a LIFESTYLE, not a “quick fix”
88. Get the Paleo Cookbook and try 3 new recipes a week
89. Make a bet that you can lose a bigger percentage of inches off your waist than your friend.
90. Go to ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com and look at what some people eat
91. Before you eat anything, ask yourself “Will this bring me closer to my goals?  Or take me away from them?”
92. Stay satisfied longer by having protein, fats, and vegetables in every meal.
93. Get your priorities straight: Do you want to look and feel great?  Or to eat a muffin that will make you bloated and crash your energy levels in 20 min?
94. Focus on metabolic resistance training.  Building and maintaining lean muscle will raise your metabolism and keep you healthy and mobile.
95. “The more you cook, the better you look.”  Stay out of the fast food drive-thru.
96. Stick to one plan long enough to give it a chance.  If you change workouts or diets based on every ill-informed magazine artilce you read, you’ll never have a chance to make progress on any of them.
97. Take note of how you feel after every meal.  If you’re lethargic, cut down on the carbs.
98. Take ACTION on something EVERY day.  Want to eat 2 apples a day?  Don’t go and buy just four apples.  You’re out of luck in 2 days.  Go and get 14 instead.
99. Remember that a great body is built one day at a time.  Every day that you live according to your plan brings you one day closer to your goals!

What is YOUR best weight loss tip?  I’d love to hear it!  Leave a comment below

What is emotional binge eating?

It’s when you eat large amounts of food when you’re upset, tired, stressed, angry, bored, anxious, lonely, sad, or have low self-esteem 0r relationship problems.  If you’re like me, you usually binge on junk or “comfort” foods.

One study in my files says that 80% of excessive eating is caused by emotions – NOT hunger!

I figure it’s ok to eat for emotional reasons once in a while.  The problem is that we eat emotionally so often that it becomes impossible to distinguish betweeen true, physical hunger and endless emotional hunger.

When I surveyed my facebook friends on their biggest fitness problem, the number one thing people told me they do wrong is binge eat.  At office parties, at home in front of the TV, at the bar on weekends.

If you binge eat, you need to find out what TRIGGERS the emotion that leads you to overconsume.

To do this, try keeping a 2-column food/stress journal.  (My younger clients also keep a “zit journal”, which is kind of gross, but necessary)

Write down what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat in one column.  In the other list the stresses, thoughts, and emotions you’re feeling right before and while you’re eating.

You’ll see the link between the two columns very very quickly.

Here are the most typical emotional triggers that lead to binge eating:

Location/Situation:

This is the number one problem for me, I eat when food is there.  At office birthdays, everyone presses you to try their cake.  At a friend’s house, you don’t want to be rude and turn down anything, so you eat it all.

Negative Thinking:

A LOT of people eat when they feel unworthy.  When their self-esteem is down, they eat for comfort.  Or they actually scold themselves WHILE they’re binge eating, berating their lack of will-power.

Physical:

This is when you eat for physical reasons that aren’t really hunger.  Eating to cure headaches or because you didn’t sleep well are two common causes.

(Or maybe you’re using the phenylethylamine in chocolate to fill other desires, like in the movie Down With Love)

Nervous Energy:

When I’m stressed out or anxious, I become “orally fidgety” and chew gum.  Other people bite their nails or grind their teeth or smoke.  But many many people much on chips or soda to give their mouth something to do.

Boredom:

This is a biggie.  Standing in the kitchen, staring off into space, and finishing off a box of Chips Ahoy.

Habits:

My mom is a GREAT cook.  So lots of my comforting memories revolve around food.  If your parents used to reward you with treats, or take you out to celebrate, or built the habit of dessert after every meal – it has probably become a habit.  And breaking a comforting habit is very emotional.

Misc Emotions:

Have you ever eaten to “fill the hole”?  Stress, fatigue, andger, anxiety, and loneliness usually make the “void”, not true hunger.

Someone who doesn’t like confrontations might go eat 2 snickers bars instead of telling a co-worker that they need to step up.

Food takes the edge off of anger, resentment, fear, and anxiety – and almost everyone uses food for this reason.

Emotion-based hunger usually focuses on a particular food.  One of my friends just texted me that she wants pizza because she’s “craving cheezy greasy stuff.”  This is a comfort food.

To help you identify comfort foods in your food journal, here’s a list of the most common comfort foods.

Number One for both men and women: ICE CREAM.

Men: Pizza, Casserole, Beer, Steak

Women: Chocolate, Cookies

The first step in ending emotional eating is to identify what triggers you to start bingeing.

Your homework: Keep a journal for the next week and find out what sets your eater off.  Next week I’ll give you my best strategies to bust each type of binge eating.

I love seeing “after photos.”

You know, those jaw-dropping body transformations.

Like the guy who changed his beer belly into a six pack.

Or the girl who traded her muffin top for a boy short ready booty.

Big time body transformations are awesome.  Unfortunately, they are also few and far between.  Sure, anyone who walks into a gym and does even a little work will lose some fat, tone some muscles, get stronger, and feel better.

But very few make those head-turning, “holy smokes!” changes in their bodies.

Today I’m going to share the secrets of those people who succeed in big-time transformations.

My main man Tony Robbins has a saying: “Success Leaves Clues.” If you ask 100 people with an amazing set of before-and-afters, I’d bet big money 95% of them took the same route to get there.

So… Here are the 7 things all successful body transformations have in common:

Body Transformation Secret Number One: The Right People

You MUST start surrounding yourself with the right people if you want a mega-change in your body.

A personal trainer I know says that your weight is an average of the five people you spend the most time with.

A study from Harvard found that hanging out with fat people is enough to make you fat.  The wrong people in your life are almost certain to drag you down.  (Maybe not right away, but they can wear anyone out)

This happens because of something called “cultural para stimuli.”  Victor Starling came up with this theory after experimenting on cats.

Starling took half of the cats in the study and performed brain surgery on them.  This surgery made them act in bizarre and self-destructive manners.  Then he put them in with the rest of the cats.

What happened?  Did the crazy cats try to act like the normal cats?  Did the normal cats ignore the crazy cats and get on with their lives?  Nope.  ALL of the cats started acting crazy!

Look at the self-destructive behavior of your friends and family.  They eat too much.  They’re lazy.  Their lifestyle sucks.  Do you pull them up or do they drag you down?  Most of the time, it’s the latter.

Your mission: Ditch the lazy crazies and find some like-minded companions for your transformation.

Body Transformation Secret Number Two: Set A SPECIFIC Goal, With A Deadline

Deirdre Reid set a goal of losing half a percent of body fat per week for 8 weeks. Here’s her picture:

Deirdre went from a size four to a size zero in less than 8 weeks by following the Wold Fitness Ripped Plan.

See, “losing weight” isn’t a goal.  (And it’s better to focus on inches instead of weight anyway.)

A goal has to be measurable, have a time frame, and there has to be a REASON.

The power of a goal with a deadline is most obvious in bodybuilding and figure competitors.  They KNOW they are going to be on stage in a teeny swimsuit in just 16 weeks, so they don’t cheat on their diet, they don’t miss or half-ass their training, and they stay focused.

Your Mission: TODAY sit down with a pad and pen and set a specific goal with a deadline.

Body Transformation Secret Number Three: MEASURE!!

Everyone who has made an amazing body transformation has gone through a period of measuring their food and calculating calorie and macronutrient breakdowns.

This is because measuring raises your awareness of what you’re REALLY putting in your body.

You don’t have to do this forever.  Just two weeks of keeping a detailed log will provide you invaluable knowledge to carry you through any body transformation.

And this is really cool – as a fitness coach, I can tell you that absent anything else, measurement improves results.

Wrapping a tape measure around your waist every Friday afternoon will keep you on track better than hopping on a scale every morning.  I promise.

Your Mission: Start keeping a food log.  Write down everything you eat for just 3 days.

That’s it for today…

Stay tuned to get the rest of my secrets to an amazing body transformation.

WARNING: Two of them are DEFINITELY not politically correct.

An interview with John Alvino of How to get Ripped Abs.

Luke Wold: Hey John, I consider you a “real world” guy – in that you work with real people with busy lives and hectic schedules. We all know that there is a ton of fat loss advice for pre-contest bodybuilders (fasted cardio, two-a-day sessions, egg whites and steamed fish 6 times a day…).

And we also know that there’s good advice out there for the overweight guys who have never exercised before (like don’t eat Oreos, and take the stairs instead of the elevator…).

But what about the “in between” person? You know, the professional man or woman who works a solid 9-5 job with maybe up to an hour commute each way, and still tries to spend time with the family and kids. There’s a serious lack of information for this demographic. How do you set up a solid “real world” fat loss nutrition plan for these people?

JA: I couldn’t agree with you more. Earlier in my career, I would tell this type of client that they had to eat a broccoli and alfalfa sprouts omelet for breakfast every single day! When they told me that they didn’t have the time to prepare that, I would accuse them of not being committed.

Looking back on it now, I realize that as a young trainer, I had no idea how difficult it is to work a stressful job, raise a family, and still summon up enough energy to even get to the gym.

It wasn’t too long before I realized that my expectations were unreasonable, unnecessary, and unrealistic for them to stick to. Thus, I had to be creative enough to devise meal plans that would deliver results while being realistic and easy enough for this busy folks to actually follow.

After years of trial and error, I have found several ways to accomplish this goal. For starters, these clients have a tough time following a diet that has very precise parameters.

For instance, instructions such as: “eat exactly 3.35 ounces of salmon with 1 ¾ cups of broccoli at exactly 10:25 a.m. each morning”, or “You must prepare and eat 7 meals per day.” Their lives are simply too stressful and busy to be this rigid. They need more flexibility in their diet protocol.

Trying to force this “all or nothing” approach onto a person such as this will more often than not result in total failure. After your client realizes that he can’t follow the plan, he will fall off the wagon and feel completely defeated.

This may discourage him from ever trying to lose fat again. And it is just unnecessary. A successful diet, first and foremost, must actually be feasible. If it’s not, it doesn’t matter how great it is, because it will most surely fail.

To make an eating plan realistic for a busy businessman or woman, I would suggest that they eat 3 meals per day. Most people eat breakfast, lunch and dinner anyway, so this would not be disruptive to their extremely busy day. In between these “regular” meals, I would suggest eating 2-3 convenient snacks.

LW: What about training? Doing six or seven days a week, or multiple sessions for these people is just fantasy land. What about some real world workouts? I’ll give you an example – a 40 year old father of two – with a full time job (40 plus hours per week) who is maybe 19-20% body fat but wants to see his abs for the first time this summer?

JA: In my experience, when someone has a restricted schedule like this, I am usually only able to meet with them around train 3 times per week. So it is imperative that we get the most out of each training session. The most important goal for each of these training sessions is to create a metabolic elevation that will last up until the next training session.

Let’s assume that he would be using a Monday, Wednesday, Friday training schedule. Our goal is to perform a workout that increases metabolic rate for 48 hours. In order to accomplish this, we must work all major muscle groups – so that means full body training routines.

These full body routines should emphasize exercises that have a high metabolic cost. In addition, this routine should be designed using a multi-station approach.

Because there is a time constraint, you will spend very little time resting in between sets. Therefore, exercises performed back to back should not interfere with each other. In other words, consecutive exercises should not fatigue the same exact muscle groups.

Immediately following the resistance phase of this routine, he would perform a special type of interval training. For the actual interval, you will work hard (about 90% of your max) for 30 seconds. Then decrease the intensity to about 60% of your max for 60 seconds. That is one interval.

After the 60 second “easy” period, increase the intensity back up to 90% and begin the second interval of the workout. Start with 6 intervals per workout, and build your way up to doing 12 intervals per workout. Once you can perform 12 intervals at maximal intensity, it is time to vary your workout.

Varying your workout from time to time, when done in a calculated manner, will keep your body constantly stimulated to respond positively to this type of training.

LW: Can you give us a sample workout based on your training principles?

JA: Sure. I’ll give you’re a workout that I designed for my client JR. He fits the “busy working client” criteria perfectly. He works about 70 hours per week, has a wife and 2 kids that he spends a lot of time with. To his credit, he still manages to train hard 3 times per week. This is the workout that he just performed:

1: Dynamic Movement Phase (5 min):

Rope Jumping 3×60 seconds with 30 sec rest.

2: Joint Prep Phase (3 min):

Overhead Squat 30 seconds, Reaching Split Squat 30 seconds, Forward Flexion 30 seconds, Supine Hip Raise 30 seconds, Intermediate Plank 30 seconds

3: Resistance Phase (25 min): This is a multi station circuit. Perform 5 rounds without any rest.

1a) DB Squat Push Press Combo 5x 12,10,8,6,4

1b) Strap Chin Ups 5x 12,10,8,6,4

1c) DB Step Up 5x 12,10,8,6,4

1d) Hands Elevated A Frame Push Up 5x 12,10,8,6,4

1e) DB RDL With Shrug 5x 12,10,8,6,4

4: Interval Phase: (12 minutes)  Do 4 continuous sets

2a) Med Ball Slams 30 sec maximal effort

2b) Jumping Jacks 60 sec easy pace

2c) Rocket Jumps 30 sec maximal effort

2d) Seal Split Shuffles 60 sec easy pace

5: Static Stretch Phase: (5 minutes)

This routine has JR out of the gym in 50 minutes. And the results speak for themselves. JR has lost 22 pounds of fat in 9 short weeks and is in the best shape of his life.

LW: Nice. Any other tips for these people?

JA: There are several little things that they must do in order to succeed. Some of the keys to success are:

• Since you are only training 3 times per week you must make each workout count.
• You must be consistent.
• No missed workouts.
• Prepare food in bulk. (Most cheating stems from not having healthy food readily available).
• Keep the house stocked with quick and accessible healthy foods and snacks.
• During the first week of your meal plan, I encourage you to weigh/measure your food.

For instance, if one of your meals requires 1 cup of rice, you should have a pretty good idea of what a cup of rice looks like. That way, when you are eating out, or on the road, you will be able to estimate your portions with reasonable accuracy.

LW: Thanks so much, John, for taking the time to share these great insights with us. For those of you who are interested in creating an amazing body transformation and losing fat at an incredible rate, you should definitely go to John’s website, How to get Ripped Abs

He has changed a lot of lives with his amazing fat loss techniques, and clearly he is sensitive to the working class person who is busy, but still wants and deserves to get in great shape!

JA: Thank you, Luke. It’s always a pleasure speaking with you. I look forward to next time!

~ Luke Wold

PS – Click here to check out How to get Ripped Abs

One of the first things you need to do if you want to lose weight is quit drinking anything with calories in it.

This is one of the 7 Fundamental Rules Of Nutrition that make up the best fat loss and fitness programs.  (Here’s all 7: Carson City Nutrition)

Calories add up quick with any kind of a drink, and liquid doesn’t set off the “fullness alert” in your brain.

Quick Example:

I was talking to a lady on Saturday afternoon.  She told me she has a tall cafe latte with 2% milk from Starbucks every morning (and sometimes one in the afternoon too).

Now for some quick and easy math – a tall latte with 2% milk has 150 Calories.  365 of these come out to 54,750 Calories over the course of a year.

And you know what, a pound of fat has 3500 Calories.  Some quick division (54750/3500) shows us that a daily latte with 2% milk comes out to the same calories as 15.64 pounds of fat.  (And those lattes would cost you$949, not counting taxes and tips)

Yikes!

I’m NOT telling you to cut out coffee.  No way!  But if you switched from a latte with 2% milk to an Americano, you’d save yourself 54,750 Calories a year – without having to exercise!  (To jog off that many calories you’d have to cover over 684 miles)

Here’s another example: a cup of orange juice has 121 Calories.  Every breakfast in a commercial has a glass of orange juice next to it.

A cup of orange juice every day comes out to 44,165 Calories over a year.  This is the same calories found in 12.62 pounds of fat.

Now, what about the title of this post?  How To Gain 15 Pounds In 2010. Simple – if you drink just a few extra calories every morning, you can easily put on 15 pounds in this coming year.

OR you can switch to coffee, water, and green tea and start losing weight without breaking a sweat.

The choice is up to you.