How to build habits

Ultimately, when striving for some type of goal or objective, it’s the consistent habits and rituals that are built that will move you to achievement.  Many people have this misconception that it “just happens”.  Like you just get in shape.  Or you just become a fast runner.  Or you just build a million dollar business.  Or you just write a New York best seller.  I hate to bust that fairy tale bubble but it doesn’t work that way.  Reaching levels of success, fortune, fitness and performance, business or anything for that matter is determined by the daily habits you have built in your life.  It’s pretty plain and simple.  You are a direct reflection of your daily rituals.  Whether they support your endeavors or not, know that your habits will dictate your movement. 

Let’s chat about strategies to instill new habits into your life…

First, I think the key is to write down two, no more than three new (or former) habits on paper at a time.  For example:

Habit #1: Floss for 30 days straight

Habit #2: Read from a book 10 minutes everyday for 30 days

Habit #3: Every conversation I have, be intent and in the moment; focus on this

These can be things that can guide you to a larger goal or can be more processed oriented goals.  For instance, maybe you want to read a 200 page book in one month.  Well reading 10 minutes each day will add up to 300 minutes in the month.  And since the average person reads 1 page a minute, that’s 10 pages a day and 300 pages in a month.  There’s your goal of reading a 200-page book achieved, and you even started another book.  Many people overwhelm themselves by looking at the end goal and it gets daunting.  My strategy for you is to break down the goal into smaller, more feasible steps.  Be successful in your daily routine, and the big goal will eventually happen.  Vice versa, lack of execution, your goal doesn’t get achieved.

Another example:

Goal: Lose 30 pounds by February 28^th

Habit #1: drink 72 ounces of water every day – DO NOT MISS

Habit #2: Meal Prep every Sunday evening

Habit #3: 5 workouts a week

Your outcome-based goal is to lose 30 pounds.  But that doesn’t happen without the daily actions.  Focusing on the process each day, will lead you to your goal and will help you build substantial habits that will stay with you even when your date arrives.  Because, why would you want to lose 30 pounds, not build any habits, only to gain it right back?  That’s not that smart. 

From reading different material, and my own personal experience, I feel it takes somewhere between 30-200 days to instill habits.  This depends on the compliance of the individual and the nature of the habit.  Some things just take more time.  (Example: playing Jingle Bells on the piano versus a piece written by Beethoven)

Once you have built the habit, the hard part is over.  You now have a habit, it’s routine for you to read 10 minutes a day.  It’s natural.  You do not have to think about doing that task as much as you used to.  Good job.  With that said, you cannot lose focus on staying consistent.  If your routine gets mundane, you chance losing specific habits.  I see this in the fitness world all the time.  People get busy, leave town or life changes and the first thing to go is their fitness routine.  In order to really build long lasting habits, you must be consistent and do it no matter what.  That’s how you build it into your lifestyle and it becomes a natural thing to do.  Brushing your teeth is a great example.  Hopefully you do this two times a day.  Odds are you started doing this early in life and from encouragement (and sometimes yelling) from your parents or guardians.  It took years for your parents to tell you to do this.  Then eventually, it became such an instilled (and healthy) habit, that you now do it without thinking about it.  You can form healthy, productive and personal development habits this way also.  You just have to be consistent and accountable.

Just like good habits can lead you to achieving big goals, bad habits can lead you down the wrong path, so be very cautious to what your daily rituals and practices are.  If negative or self-destructing habits are occurring, you need to quickly rearrange and change for the better. 

That’s if want to achieve specific goals and work on yourself.  Totally up to you.  

Peace and Love

Making small changes to see big results

First, let me point out that fitness results are not just in numerical form.  Results can come in the form of confidence, energy, leadership, strength and fitness gains, nutrition awareness, positive thinking and overall life vitality.  If all you look at is the scale to determine your results, you will just be defeated.  Yes, you might be looking for physical change but the mental change is just as important.  Those who continue to strive onward and live a consistently healthy lifestyle will be the ones to really benefit from their fitness program.

Here could be a few reasons you might not be seeing a physical result:

1.     You are eating healthy but your calories might need to be adjusted. MyFitnessPal is a great tool to help you assess your calories.  You might need to adjust your calorie intake to see the change you are looking for.  Consistency is the key component.  What will you do over the next 90 days?  Don’t just look at the next week, be driven over a longer period of time to really see changes. 

2.     Your activity/workouts needs to be adjusted.  Maybe you need more cardio. Maybe you need more strength training.  Maybe you are not recovering properly.  Find the piece to the puzzle that is needed to jump-start your results.  Push yourself in the gym.  Add in extra cardio sessions.  Let's see what you can do!

3.     You are stressed and overwhelmed.  Stress raises your cortisol levels due to excess cortisol secretion during times of physical or psychological stress.  Cortisol stimulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism for fast energy, and stimulates insulin release and maintenance of blood sugar levels.  This disruption of cortisol secretion may promote weight gain.  Add in quiet/meditation time to release tension so you can be less stressed in your everyday life.  Take 5-10 minutes a few times during the week to breathe and relax your muscles and quiet your thoughts.  This activity will recharge your mind, rejuvenate your body and supercharge your energy.

4.     Not giving it time.  Getting results in a fitness program takes time.  Too many people want a quick fix or to see a result in a few weeks.  A few weeks is just the tip of the iceberg.  When you have been dialed in and on track for months, the results will come.  But go back to what I was talking about above, results are not just numerical.  Look for other areas where you might be changing.  I have personally spent years trying to improve my performance and fitness. It's an ongoing process.  My determination leads me to gaining the results I am looking for.  And to me, it's not just about the destination.  As the destination is the icing on the cake, I love the journey.  I love the daily grind of training, eating healthy and the energy it gives me.  The journey is what gives people the self esteem, the vigor to live life and the physical strength to keep on pushing!

Keep striving! Be persistent! Say no to average! Let's make it a great week!

If you don't jump, you will never know

Staring down, fear hits you,
You have no clue what to expect.
It seems so risky,
It may be.
Have you done your research?
What are the risks versus rewards?
What are the pros and cons?
Just know, that if you don't jump,
you will never know.
If you don't jump,
no reward can be claimed.
If you don't jump,
you risk mediocrity. 
Jumping and succeeding might be a game changer,
you will want to do it again.
The more you jump,
the more you learn,
the more you expand,
the more you grow.
Along the journey,
you will fail or not succeed,
and land face first.
Get back up, dust yourself off,
learn from your mistakes and keep going.
Just remember, by "jumping", you could change the world!

1.................2................3, GO!

Finish 2016 on a Health Note

As we hustle into November, the year is slowly creeping to an end.  With that in mind, creating momentum for the upcoming year should be the mindset.  This momentum happens by finishing the year on a strong and positive note.   

Here are a few strategies to help you stay on track with your healthy living plan over the next 2 months:

1.     Challenge yourself up to Thanksgiving.  I encourage you to push yourself over the next four weeks.  Add an extra training session to your routine, clean up your nutrition plan and push your comfort zone.  The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are a critical time to stay healthy and on your plan.  This sets you up to sustain a healthy lifestyle leading into the winter months. 

2.     Do not miss your workouts.  If you continue to maintain your workout schedule, you will be less likely to gain weight over the next 8 weeks.  The average American will gain 7-10 pounds over the next 2 months.  Lack of activity and consumption of high caloric food is a sure fire way to add pounds.  Don’t let this happen to you.  Simply staying on a consistent workout schedule will aide in sustaining the results you have achieved up to this point.   

3.     Do not wait for “New Year’s Resolution” time.  I am very adamant about this strategy.  Many people wait till the New Year to start their fitness routine.  Why wait?  Get going now.  I see it every New Year.  Many people decide to get on a plan at the beginning of the year only to fall off within weeks of starting.  Do not let this be you.  Start now by adding a couple workouts a week and changing a few nutritional habits.  Then when the New Year rolls around, you have already created sustainable healthy habits. 

4.     Sign up for an event.  Locally, we have the annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, the Tinsel Toy 5k in December and the Resolution Run 5k on January 1^st.  Signing up for an event creates motivation and accountability and will get you training consistently so you will be prepared for your event.  Find a group of people and encourage them to train with you.  This will make training and competing in the event a better experience. 

5.     Go back to the 85% rule.  I have talked about this strategy before.  This is a critical time of the year to follow the 85% rule.  Simply put, 85% of your food intake should be healthy choices.  Look at the next 40 times you put food into your mouth; 34 of those meals should be healthy.  That gives you 6 meals where you can indulge on other options.  By following this rule, you will maintain your weight, keep your energy levels high, decrease your chances of getting a cold or the flu and overall keep you healthier. 

Changing your lifestyle is not a quick fix

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Say you burn, on average, 2100 calories everyday.  And let’s say you eat, on average, 2200 calories everyday.  That means you are eating 100 calories over your activity metabolic rate (find out your approximate metabolic rate by going to the link), which is how many calories you will burn throughout the day.  No big deal right?  It’s just 100 calories over.  I agree, it’s not that big of deal, until you have done that consistently for 10 years. 

Let me show you some math:

Let’s say you eat 100 calories over your activity metabolic rate 90% of the year.  That’s 328 days in the year.

100 calories x 328 = 32,800 calories in a year

32,800 calories / 3500 calories (1 pound) = 9.3 pounds

9.3 pounds x 10 years = 93 pounds

Now you may have days over this 10 year span where you burn more calories than you take in or eat right at your average 2100 calories, so you may not just gain 93 pounds in 10 years.  My point is that weight gain does not happen overnight.  It can be a very small climb throughout the years that created the gradual weight gain. 

Have you seen the movie, ‘The Santa Clause’ with Tim Allen?  The part that I am using as a hypothetical example is when Tim Allen (who plays Santa Clause) wakes up one morning and he magically has the belly of Santa Clause and he has gained a tremendous amount of weight overnight.  This does not happen in real life, thank goodness.  (Though, after weekend eating binges, it can definitely feel that way)

Now just like we do not gain weight overnight, we will not lose the weight overnight.  In order to increase your chances of success, you must build a long-term mindset.  Lifestyle change is what you are after, that is if you want to sustain your results.   If the goal is to lose 50 pounds, first ask yourself the question, “How long has this taken me to put on?”  Usually your answer will be a few years. (If you are honest with yourself)  The habits you have ingrained and the lifestyle you now live are in direct result of a consistent way of living.  If you want true change and transformation, the goal would be to slowly move the “lifestyle” dial in the direction of a healthier way of life or a leaner body.   

One of the worse mistakes people make when looking to “get in shape and/or lose weight” is completely overhauling their lifestyle.  They go from sedentary living and eating high calorie processed foods to an extreme workout program and intense low-carb dieting and then they expect quick results.  This is so far from the truth.  What you will be doing with this approach is setting yourself up to fail.  Your internal system will not be happy due to the night and day overhaul.  You will try the diet, sort of follow through, and end up hating your lifestyle.  Then go right back to your old habits. 

Instead of a complete lifestyle overhaul, let’s do this a better way.  Choose 2-3 action steps that are needed to improve your lifestyle.  Then act and be consistent.  I know, not much excitement with this approach but a much better system for you to actually change and attain your goals.  And with this way, you are better off to sustain your new and improved lifestyle. 

Here are a few examples:

·      For the next 30 days, focus on water intake.  Aim for 60-80 ounces of water everyday.   

·      Focus on vegetable and fruit intake.  Aim for 3-5 servings daily. 

·      Exercise.  Aim for 4 days in the week x 30-60 minutes

You are not “going on a diet” or starting some outrageous workout program.  You are going to commit to changing your lifestyle one step at a time.  The only way it happens is to start with the basic fundamentals and build them into habits.  Once you have created the foundation, we then can move on to more complex components.  When in doubt or if you are not sure where to start, begin with the 3 bullet points above.   

True change is a slow and steady process.  The only way you create this change that you are looking for is by consistently following through on specific daily rituals.  Repetition is a needed component to instilling new and improved habits.  You also need to change your way of thinking.  Again, instead of thinking you are “going on a diet”, change that thinking into, “I am going to instill small changes to improve my lifestyle”.  It’s a completely different approach to this thing we call fitness. 

After putting in the years of work to cement the basic fundamentals, when it’s time to step up your performance or find a new level of fitness, you then follow the same system to change.  Find what you need to do on a daily basis, work to make them natural habits and be consistent.  This is the system and process that builds a healthy lifestyle, not just a quick fix program that is not sustainable. 

How will you respond

Perfection is only something in the clouds. 
Striving for it creates a double edge sword. 
Because ambition can be an obsession. 
It can take you to your ultimate dreams and goals. 
It can take you to your best version of yourself. 
But when you allow this obsession to over rule humility and love,
now it becomes a relentless ego. 
When the ego is so relentless that it starts to take control, BOOM! 
Something knocks your world.... And you fall... you fall far and hard. 
How will you respond?

We need to become more humble human beings. 
When Life throws one of those curveballs,
be ready because your humility will be exposed. 
This is the ultimate test,
when you are faced with adversity,
what will you do? 
How will you act? 
What will you change? 
Will you change?
How will you respond?  

Looking at yourself in the mirror...
What do you see? 
Fear?
Anger?
Resentment?
Remorse? 
Or do you see Love?
Compassion?
Humility?
God?
Maybe you see a few things.... that's ok.  This is a battle.

Me vs. Me

You vs. You

Who will win?

How will you respond?

Build the lifestyle to achieve your fitness goals

Building your lifestyle to support your fitness and performance goals is a critical element to achieving success.  Many people view fitness as a quick fix, short-term process.  To me, this is the farthest thing from the truth.  Fitness is a life long journey.  As you may have short-term goals to go after, you must create a long-term mindset.  There must be continued movement after those short term goals.  If you do not think this way, you end up yo-yoing through various quick fix systems, only to end up back where you started. 

I am first going to talk about a few lifestyle strategies that are needed to help with time management, self-awareness and mindset.  These components are just as important when striving for a fitness related goal. 

Time Management: Creating your weekly blueprint is vital to taking control of your time and life.  When you manage time more efficiently, you become responsible for the things you want to achieve.  This should become a weekly task.  Sit down on the weekend and plan the upcoming week.  Add in all of your fixed appointments, your family time and events, any social events, workouts, basically, anything that is a priority.  This sets you up to be successful.  The key is following through, so make sure you do your best to stick to your weekly design.  With that said, allow for some flexibility in your schedule because things will pop up unexpectedly.  For example, say your normal 60-minute workout is not realistic because of a kid’s soccer practice.  Simply adjust, and make the workout 25 minutes.  You can still get in a good sweat in a small time frame.  Something is better than nothing.  The idea is to be flexible with this schedule.  If you want to improve your fitness or run a marathon or lose 40 pounds, managing your time is so important for you to be successful.  Find the system that works for you and complete it every week. 

Self-awareness: I have been talking about this concept more and more because it is so valuable when going after your fitness goals.  Self-awareness is looking deep within yourself and recognizing your true self.  What do you want?  How bad do you want it?  What are your passions?  What are you willing to do?  How do you react?  These are all self-awareness questions.  If you are looking to lose 20 pounds, you must become self-aware and recognize what it’s going to take to achieve that goal.  Then ask these questions, “Am I willing to build the lifestyle necessary to go after the goal?  Am I willing to eat foods that support my goal?  Am I going to be consistent?  What action steps do I need to start?”   If you really want to achieve something, you can do it.  But you must look within yourself first and decide to commit.  Mindfulness meditation is a great practice to improve your self-awareness.  This is an exercise for your mind.  You sit in quiet, maybe listening to calming music, and practice breathing.  Allow your thoughts to come and go, but always get back to your breathing.  Focus on the present moment.  Regular practice of mindfulness meditation will strengthen your self-awareness and rejuvenate your inner energy so you can keep going after your goals. 

Mindset: Your mindset can be your main weapon to achieve any goal your heart desires.  This is if you decide to work on it.  I believe in a growth mindset: a type of mindset that believes we can change, we can gain knowledge, improve our intellect, increase our optimism, get better at a sport, etc.  But just like you must lift weights and workout to gain physical strength, in order to build this powerful mindset, you must implement mental conditioning drills in your program.  One of the best tools I recommend is reading.  Reading is growing.  There are so many books out there that will teach and motivate you to work on your mindset.  When you are consistently inputting positive and supporting words, chances increase that you will build a strong mindset.  Be aware of your thoughts because your thoughts ultimately turn into your actions.  If you can rearrange your thoughts to supportive, positive and encouraging, the mindset will become your weapon to go after your goals. 

Now that your lifestyle and mindset is supporting your endeavors, let’s look at the specifics of setting and achieving certain fitness goals…

First you need a goal.  Without direction, you fly aimlessly and possibly end up in the same place where you started.  This goal does not have to be a concrete, outcome-based goal.  Let me give you some examples…

“I workout to improve my mobility, keep my cardiovascular system strong and to stay energized in my daily life.”

“I workout to maintain the physique that I have.  I love to eat and drink good wine so my workouts allow this sustainability that I am looking for.”

“I workout and eat healthy foods to feel better and look younger.”

“I workout so that I can keep playing adult soccer with my friends.” 

These objectives could still create motivation for you to live a healthy lifestyle.  Many people think they need outcome-based goals but that’s not true.  Outcome based goals are great, if that is what you are shooting for, but they are not for everyone. 

Let’s look at a few examples of outcome-based goals…

“I will lose 20 pounds over the next 20 weeks.”

“I will run my next marathon in sub 3 hours and 45 minutes.”

“I will go from 28% bodyfat to 23%, three months from today.”

Now that you have a direction, what do you do?  Answer: Know expectations.  This is critical.  It takes a reversed engineered game plan to achieve your goal.  There will be things you will need to do everyday to get your desired results.  What will those things be?  This answer varies on the person and their specific goal.  Write out the top three things needed to accomplish your goal.  Do these three things over and over.  Do them everyday.  These daily actions are the fundamentals you need to achieve the success you are in search of. 

I will give you some practical examples…

“I will lose 20 pounds over the next 20 weeks.”

Action #1: I will drink 70-80 ounces of water everyday for 20 weeks.

Action #2: I will workout 4-6 times for 30-60 minutes per week for these 20 weeks.  I need two days of aerobic based exercise (walking, running, cycling, swimming, etc) and 2-3 days of strength and/or interval type training sessions. 

Action #3: Out of 21 meals in a week, 16 of those meals will support my goal of weight loss.  Lower on the carbohydrate side (still needs to be 25% of diet), medium protein, and medium healthy fat. 

“I want to improve my mobility, keep my cardiovascular system strong and to stay energized in my daily life.”

Action #1: I will drink 70-80 ounces of water everyday. 

Action #2: I will commit to this workout schedule for the rest of my life:

·      4 x 10 minute mobility routines (40 minutes/week)

·      3 x 30 minute brisk walk (90 minutes/week)

·      2 x strength training workouts with my trainer (120 minutes/week)

·      1 x 60 minute bike ride (60 minute/week)

            Total: 5.1 hours/week

Action #3: I will eat 3 servings of vegetables and fruits everyday for the rest of my life. 

I want to supply you with some workout strategies as well:

·      When you train, focus on quality movement and good exercise technique.  Don’t just move haphazardly.  Results come when you are controlled and deliberate with your movement in the gym.  Plus, you increase your chances of pain and injury when moving without control.   

·      Listen to your body.  You shouldn’t be in pain when you workout.  If something hurts and affects your movement, stop and find another exercise. 

·      Push something and pull something with your upper body.  Work your legs, both the front side and back side.  And don’t forget to strengthen your core by implementing stability exercises like planks, side planks, hip lifts, birddogs and farmer walks.  Add power drills like medicine ball slams, controlled jumping and sled sprints.  A sample workout could look like this:

Dynamic warm up:

20 jumping jacks

Knee raise pulls x 10/leg

Quad pulls x 10/leg

Straight leg kicks x 10/leg

20 jumping jacks

Power set: 2-3 rounds

Medicine ball overhead slams x 8

Medicine ball chest slams x 8

Controlled squat jump (reset after each jump) x 8

Strength set: 2-5 rounds

Perfect push up x 10

Inverted rows x 10

Goblet squat x 10

Single leg deadlifts x 5/leg

Front plank x 30 seconds

Side plank x 30 seconds/side

Farmer walks x 30 yards

(Google search will show you examples of these exercises)

The game plan has been built and now the execution must begin.  No goal is achieved without action.  Once you start, the key is to be consistent.  If you have a day that strays away from the plan, simply move on, get back on track and keep going.  If you want to achieve your goal, the idea is to stay on course.

If you have any questions regarding anything in this article, please private message me on Facebook.