Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Standards are someone ELSE'S definition of YOUR success!


Kind of a crazy thought huh?

But it's true.  It seems that we are our best critics.  And it's almost a universal truth that we grow up being taught that we should analyze and critique our actions against "standards" which are really just the expectations of others.  You see it as early as grade school when you are graded on your knowledge of subjects which eventually becomes a precursor to identifying whether you are "fit" to graduate onto the next grade.

Extrapolate this into your daily life as an adult!  We tell ourselves that we aren't successful until we achieve certain accomplishments or make a certain amount of money or reach a certain social status.  The idea of being worthy of certain things in life seems to always come with a caveat that certain prerequisites or "standards" are met first.

WHY???

Isn't it possible that we all learn, grow and progress at different rates and in different ways depending on our experience and circumstances?  Isn't it possible that your talents may not be realized yet and you don't necessarily control all of the variables to identify your true potential in life?

Of course we don't control everything that happens in our lives.  But there are certain variables that we CAN control.


Did you define what is important to YOU today?

Did you illustrate your OWN vision of success so you know what exactly it is you are going after?

These are YOUR definitions NOT someone else's...so FORGET the standards and definitely FORGET the expectations of others!


There are two ways to look at improving your life:


The first is how we are conditioned as children to look at life:

You identify a weakness that is holding you back and determine that this weakness is the reason you aren't succeeding in life.  You make a plan to improve upon this weakness and it gives you hope that if you can just change who you are that you'll be worthy of the life you want to live.

How has that been working for you?  Do you really want to define your life by how and why you are weak?


OR there's a much healthier way:


Focus instead on who you ARE not who you AREN'T! You can concentrate instead on the talents you possess and the strengths that have come from your experience in life.  Instead of focusing on the standards that other people have established to compare the lives of (frankly, very different) people, make your OWN standards!  What is it that you bring to the table that makes you unique or STRONG?  How can you utilize that strength to build the life that you envision for yourself?

My challenge to YOU is to focus on what you CAN control and where you excel!

It's easy to get caught up in what you think is your lot in life, what you think you need to accomplish by a certain age, by a certain standard that your friends (or frenemies) or your heroes have achieved.

But does it make you any less of a person if you don't do so?

OF COURSE NOT!!!

So GO, surprise yourself.  Work toward what you want every day whether the prize is easily in view or not.  Guess what, you MAY not get to what others define as "SUCCESS".  In fact, your eventual realization of success may be what others SEE as failure.  SO WHAT!  They aren't YOU and you aren't THEM!  We all live our OWN lives!

You may struggle or take longer than you expected but it NEVER makes for a wasted effort, a mistake, a wrong path or an unworthy pursuit to be the best you can be!

Just because you don't live up to someone else's standard NEVER means you are less successful, you are less talented, you are less passionate or you don't care!

You make your own success in life and your definition is your own...so DEFINE it and PURSUE it until you ACHIEVE IT!


Stay fit,
Coach Joe

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Why Calorie Restriction Diets Don't Work!!

Hi Motiv8ers,

Coach Ty here again with another very important nutrition post that if you take seriously, will change your life forever.

Topic for today: Why Calorie Restriction Diets Don't Work!

Motiv8ers, I have been in the fitness world for a while now and let me tell you, trying to figure out what diet is best for you is crazy confusing.  You have the low-carb diet, Atkins diet, Ketogenic diet, Whole 30, Weight Watchers, Biggest Loser Challenge, flexible dieting, Paleo diet, Vegan diet, and the list goes on.  If you don't have the time to really study each of these diets, you might feel incredibly frustrated and overwhelmed because you don't know who to believe.

Well, Motiv8 is here to help!  My goal today is to simplify things for you so you can start to take action on improving your health!  Then, in the following weeks, I'll give you the tools needed to help you start making healthy changes to your health.  Let's get you thinking!

Let me start with the most frustrating phrase I hear pretty much every day: "In order to lose weight, I just need to eat less and exercise more."

Here are the list of things that pop in my head when I hear that statement:
  • If you eat less, how are you going to have the energy to exercise?
  • If you eat less, how are you going to get the nutrients you need to support muscle growth?
  • Just eat less? Why aren't you focusing on what you are eating?
  • If you eat less and exercise more, how are you going to have the energy for your family and work?
  • If you eat less, your body will store more fat because of the lack of calories you are feeding it!
Crew, in reality eating less doesn't make sense!  

Motiv8 recommends focussing on the foods you put in your body.  The goal is to eat more whole foods in a plant-based diet and remove processed foods.
  • Focus on getting enough calories from real whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, starchy vegetables, legumes (like beans), nuts, and grass-fed lean meats.
  • When you eat enough you will have the energy to do the work needed to get into great shape and spark muscle growth.
  • When eating enough real whole foods, you will probably be surprised by the amount of food you will be eating to hit your calorie needs.  Real whole foods have less calories than processed foods meaning you have to eat a larger amount of food each day to keep your cravings for junk food at bay.
  • Once you start eating more and exercising more you will start to see the body fat melt away.  At that point it is important to make sure you don't put the fat back on by eating a lot of processed foods.  You have to keep your new healthy lifestyle going long-term in order to see the benefits.
Crew, the benefits are huge if you follow these simple steps.  Coach Joe's story is the perfect example of this.  All of you know Joe as this crazy fit ultra runner/trainer.  But he wasn't always like this.  He used to have a normal 8 to 5 desk job and exercise was just something he did every once in a while.

Check out his before and after pics and then check out his story!
Before
After
Here is Joe's Story:

"When I started my journey I had a misconception that the way to lose weight was to exercise more while eating less.  So I cut my calories to nearly 1500 per day, well below my requirement then of 2400.  I lost weight at first but soon I hit a plateau at 180 lbs.  Months went by and I was getting stronger but not seeing any weight loss.  No matter what I tried I couldn’t move the needle.  Then, instead of cutting my calories, I focused on the type of foods I was eating.  I removed as much sugar from my diet as possible, replaced processed snacks with fruit and started to eat more fiber while cutting down my intake of meat.  All of a sudden the switch flipped and within a few weeks I could start to see small improvements in my energy level, which lead to improvements in my performance at workouts.  By the end of the summer of 2012 I had resurrected the metabolism I had as a teenager and lost an additional 15 lbs!  It was also the start of my transformation from being just fit to being able to build a body extremely resistant to injuries and sickness, run ultramarathons and become a fitness trainer."

Crew this blog post only scratches the surface on this topic and we hope it has sparked some interest in you.  Over the next few weeks and months we will make sure you have all the tools you need to help you become that Super Human you are looking for and become crazy healthy long-term!

Crew I know you have questions so post below or ask us questions in our Motiv8 SETS!  Keep reading this Blog and I promise you will get the info you need to change your life.

Last thing here is a quick video from NutritionFacts.org about eating more to weigh less!


Crew, Stay EPIC and don't forget to be AWESOME!

We will see you at our Motiv8 SETS!

P.S. Check out more blog posts under the label Nutrition to get more details on what your diet should be looking like!

Coach Ty Out!

Monday, September 12, 2016

Help Others By Including Yourself!

So here it is…

The time of the year when we get "busy"; with school, with work, with family obligations.  This is the time of year we start developing those excuses for why we can't stay on track with our healthy habits.  Usually they start with "I just don't have time".

On one hand I find it honorable that people want to schedule so much of their day with things to do and goals to accomplish.  But at some point we overburden ourselves to the point that what is most important to us becomes a gray area.  Or we just downright remove things that SHOULD be important to us from our priority list.  

It's a recipe for frustration, unhappiness and feeling unfulfilled.  

Maybe you're staying busy?  Maybe you're getting something done?  But is what you are working on really what helps you GROW the most?  Is it even what might help others grow?

Sometimes we can convince ourselves that the conditions just aren't right for us to really pursue what we want in life.  The "busy" excuse is often the condition we focus on and it's usually grounded in wanting to do something for others.  There's a lot of good intent there and that's a righteous feeling to have!

But including yourself in your priorities is often a path to incredible growth and productivity because you feel WHOLE when you do something for yourself!  You feel progress, you feel strength, you feel like you're moving forward rather than putting your own life on the backburner.  It completely transforms your perception of the world around you!  It can also completely change others' perception of what may be possible in their own lives, simply by being an inspiration to those around you!

Run Rabbit Run 100 mile trail race is coming up in a few days.  It's an incredibly long and arduous process to prepare for a race like this and one that meant sacrifices here and there that I truly didn't want to make.

But what I also experienced along the way is it drove people around me to rethink what is possible for THEM!  From acquaintances to neighbors to old friends and new ones alike, I've had innumerable conversations the past few months.  People want to know about nutrition, they want to know how to build the endurance a 100 mile race takes, they want to know how to get back on track to being consistent in their own fitness and health.  

I wouldn't trade these conversations for anything in the world!

  
  • Sometimes these conversations are moments that turn people's lives around! 
  • Sometimes these conversations are the catalyst for someone to finally make healthy food choices or start a training regimen of their own!  
  • Sometimes these conversations are the triggers for someone finally saying enough is enough.  It's time to CHANGE starting TODAY!




So make sure that as we get into these busier months ahead that you leave something on your plate for YOU!  Give yourself time, make one of your passions a high priority and go after a big goal.  And never, ever, ever give up because you never know how your life may impact someone you know!

Reading this blog for the first time? Start your own journey right here!  www.motiv8fitness.net


Stay fit,
Coach Joe