Motivation From Competition

I know I have been on again off again in my own journey to weight loss. I know that I haven't been setting the best example to the people who read my blog. I know I can do better, and I think I have finally found a good way to go about it.

Spite.... I don't like to lose. I like to compete. Did I mention that I don't like to lose? I started a competition with one of my college buddies to see who can drop 20 pounds first. Prior to this competition I felt lethargic, sluggish, and every other adjective to describe a lazy person. If nothing else I am getting up and moving because I don't want to lose, health and fitness aside.

Maybe that is what everyone needs, a little competition. Or at least something that will motivate them. What motivates you to get up and do something healthy?

365 Fit For Life

February 5th Quick Tip

Trying to save money at the grocery store is like trying to push a rock up a hill. Both are doable, you just have to work at it. My tip for the day is to go to the grocery store with just cash in your pocket. It is hard to keep a budget when it is so easy to swipe some plastic. If you only have cash in your pocket, meaning literally leave all credit/debit cards at home or in the car, then you have to force yourself to really look at what you are buying. Do I really need a name brand food item? Do I really need another box of 100 calorie packs? I have done it now a few times, and I think it works. I still get nutritious food, and I think I save money because I only buy what I really need.

365 Fit for life.

Reality Check

No one likes to hear truth, especially about weight loss. Reality however, is just what people need to hear. We all want a yes man in our life to sugar coat everything. Someone to give us reassurance that if we eat too many cookies that we won't pay for it later. Why do you think we talk to so many people all the time about the same topic? We are all looking for someone to agree with us. Reality isn't supposed to agree with us, reality isn't supposed to take sides, reality is just that, reality.

There are many different ways to look at things. Some need a soft touch, others need someone to yell at them. In either scenario, we all have to accept some truth, it's up to us to decide how we want it, but in either case, all that matters is that we get it. I hope that you are able to take a reality check every now and again.

365 Fit for life

Lower Body Nobodies

I talked earlier about the guys that do nothing but arm lifts. These are the ones with hulking arms, and stick skinny legs that you see exclusively near the bench press. I was walking on the treadmill at the gym and I noticed a few of these, lower body nobodies.

I am not sure why I find these guys to be of such interest or concern to me, but they are. I think it is because I like to be balanced and well rounded. I see these guys every day I am at the gym, and I wonder if they know that they could get bigger upper bodies by getting bigger legs.

While doing my cardio I saw two guys that I usually see at the gym. They definitely qualify as the lower body nobodies. A thought came to mind on what type of information do they read. Obviously they care about their fitness, or otherwise they wouldn't be at the gym so much. I just wonder what is telling them to lift the way that they lift.

I do not want you to think that I know everything, or that my approach is the best way. Far from it. I just hope that in whatever you do, you try to do it in the best most efficient way possible. I love to read information about fitness, and I hope I can share as much of it with you as I can.

365 Fit for life.

Urban Exerciser

I have decided to create my own class of gym goer. I am going to call them the Urban Exerciser. We have all seen them at one time or another, you might even be one. These are the guys that go to the gym in their jeans, usually ripped, work boots, or dressed in some other attire than what we would traditionally see in the gym.

I was at the gym the other day and I saw an Urban Exerciser. He was wearing a bandanna, with ripped jeans, and a shirt that started out like a normal shirt but then was reduced to a t-shirt version of a wife beater.

I am not necessarily saying that the above mentioned attire is a bad thing, because to each their own, I am just saying that I am not an Urban Exerciser.

365 Fit for Life.

How Did I....

How did I? That is a question that I am sure every person on this planet has asked at some point. How did I lose my job? How did I gain so much weight? How did my marriage end? How did I become so lazy? I have been asking myself these same type of questions. Since this is a fitness blog, I have asked myself, How did I get so fat?

I suppose we would need to decide what fat is? Is fat what other people say about me? Is fat what society deems me to be? or... Is fat what I have decided for myself? Fat, is as subjective as you want to make it. A girl that is 100 lbs may think that she is fat, while everyone else around her thinks she is too skinny. Fat might not be 300 lbs to some, but extremely obese to others. Fat has to do with a lot of things. How tall you are seems to be a big factor. While media and other outside sources have a great deal of influence on what we decide is fat, it ultimately boils down to what you decide for yourself. At various times through out my life, I have decided I was fat. Today is one of those days. I am not at the heaviest I have been in my life, but I am close enough to it to not feel good.

People always seem to ask themselves, when did I get this way? Or, How did I let myself go like this? People know the answer, they just never want to say it. I know why I feel this way. I know how I got to where I am right now. It is by doing all the things that I know I'm not supposed to. I hid behind my own pride that no matter what I do, I will always be able to bounce back.

I am definitely at the crossroads once again in my life. Down one road I can live with my foolish pride and see how long I can go without doing anything about it. On the other road I can swallow my pride, and do everything that I know is right. I am going to try and choose the latter. I went to the gym the other day and that is for a new post, but I will leave you with this: It is never too late to do the right thing.

365 Fit for Life.