How to Set Achievable Goals

Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be. Khalil Gibran

A combination of both short- and long-term goals is important to your success. A long-term goal sets your motivation in place and helps define direction and purpose in your training. But it's also essential to set specific, clear goals along the way.

Steer clear of ambiguous goals like "I want to lose weight for summer" or sweeping goals like changing your lifestyle. Instead, set a specific goal such as "I want to run a 5K in less than 30 minutes," and then develop a series of incremental goals that you can celebrate as you improve.

Example: Want to lose weight? Here's the framework for a 4-month plan.

• Month 1: Do something active 10 to 12 times this month, or 2 to 3 times a week, and eat breakfast every day.
• Month 2: Eat three meals a day, and try to do another 10 to 12 workouts.
• Month 3: Train 2 or 3 times a week and eat two snacks a day in addition to your three small meals.
• Month 4: Do something active on the weekends in addition to your weekly workouts.

Flesh out this plan with smaller weekly goals to make significant change fast without overwhelming yourself. Celebrate your successes each step of the way. This doesn't mean you need to revert back to bad habits and hit the drive-thru. Going out with friends, treating yourself to a massage, or shopping, for instance, can all be rewarding.

Of course there will be times when you slip up, but don't beat yourself up about it—just get right back in the game and start from a place where you feel comfortable. You've been there before and you know what it takes to get right back into the swing of things.

At the end of each day, ask yourself: "Did I move closer to my goal today? Answer honestly. If you're not making progess, try thinking about just one small thing you can do each day that will help you reach your next incremental goal.

Success is steady progress toward one's personal goals. Jim Rohn

Patience

A man who is a master of patience is master of everything else. George Savile



The second commercial from the Jordan Brand's new Become Legendary Campaign.

·         Look Me In The Eyes - Jordan Commercial - Become Legendary

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BirIEDYrw0Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty. John Ruskin

It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.

Winston Churchill

 

Successful Eating While on the Road

A hectic travel schedule may seem difficult, but it is no excuse not to eat healthy. If you know you are going to be traveling, do what you can to prepare in advance. The key things to consider are:

• How long you will be traveling: There is a big difference in eating between a 3-hour trip verses an 8-hour trip. You know you will be away from a kitchen and cannot rely on the food options, so it is best to bring items to snack on relative to your trip length.
•  The conditions of your trip: Will you be in a car or a plane, in an all day, off-site meeting? Be aware of your conditions. Will you have access to water, a fridge, or unhealthy foods? You need to mentally prepare so you don’t suddenly scarf down a greasy slice of pizza or muffin instead of a healthier option.

You should always remember to bring your water bottle (empty it before if you are going through airport security). Hydration is a great way to curb hunger, reduce swelling, and keep you feeling fresh. Other important items to keep handy are nutrition bars, apples or oranges, almonds, and packets of oatmeal and protein powder. Dried goods are great because they are not dependent on having a form of refrigeration. You can bring shaker bottle so that you can mix up protein shakes on the go! No matter what your travel schedule, keeping yourself well prepared with some basic supplies will keep you feeling good and eating properly. No one wants to eat a heavy airport meal then have to sit on a 4-hour flight!

Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.

Benjamin Franklin

new years resolution



WHOEVER WANTS TO REACH A DISTANT GOAL MUST TAKE MANY SMALL STEPS.

Helmut Schmidt

Stick to Your New Year's Resolutions

Most people fail keeping there new year’s resolution, because in most cases they are too drastic and unrealistic.

If you're like the majority of people who make New Year's resolutions, your goals are probably related to health, weight loss, and fitness. Here are some simple strategies to help turn those resolutions into reality.

choose Realistic Resolutions

Picking New Year's resolutions that are not realistic for you is just setting yourself up for failure. Your chances of achieving your goals are much better if they're realistic. Of course, it's always fun and inspiring to dream, but try breaking your ultimate goal up into more manageable, realistic goals that could lead you to it.

Don't Take on Too Much

When choosing your resolutions, don't try to change many different things at once. You'll burn yourself out and won't accomplish any of your goals, leaving you feeling disappointed and defeated. Instead, focus on a few key goals and the steps you need to take to reach them.

Write Down Your Plan

Write out your plan for achieving your goals. Writing down your resolution and the steps you're going to take can be very motivating. It will help you make your goals specific, not vague, and will force you to commit to your resolution.

Set Small, Attainable Goals

If you have a really ambitious New Year's resolution, such as losing weight, running a marathon, make sure that you have smaller, attainable goals with measurable results along the way. They'll help you track your progress and prevent you from getting bored or discouraged. For example, if your resolution is to lose 25 pounds total, your first goal could be to lose 1-2 pounds every week. An added benefit of setting smaller, attainable goals is that even if you don't meet your ultimate goal, you'll still have achieved other accomplishments along the way.

Make Your Goals Known

Telling friends and family members about your goals means that people will be holding you accountable and supporting you along the way. Your goals will also seem more real if you talk about them, rather than keeping them to yourself.

Keep a Journal

Tracking your workout or diet in a journal is a great way stay motivated. Even if no one else sees it, it can help hold you accountable. It's also a good place to record your goals. When you hit a rough patch in your training, you can go back and get inspired by how much progress you've made. Reviewing your positive steps will also make it harder to go back to your old habits. You can use a simple notebook to keep a journal..

Use a Schedule and Get Organized

Deciding to go workout when you feel like it isn't going to work for most people. Look at your weekly schedule and figure out when you're most likely to have the time for training, or whatever activities are going to help you reach your goals. Get everything you need to help accomplish your resolutions, so you can't come up with easy excuses.

Cut Yourself Some Slack

You're going to experiences some setbacks on the road to achieving your resolutions. Don't let one or two slips make you give up. Think of setbacks as opportunities for growth and don't beat yourself for not being perfect. It’s only a failure if you don’t try again!

Try to stay positive and get back on track.

A great resolution for the New Year is to volunteer your time for others, even if just once a week, or once a month. Volunteering is all about commitment and enthusiasm, so choose something that you will enjoy and are interested in.
Julie Fisher-McGarry

Happy Holidays and a happy and healthy New Year!

from the Tugendhaft family

Challenges and difficult times aren't just those things that occur to someone else. The secret is in learning to turn problems into positives and attacking each issue with action not inaction."

Byron Pulsifer

 

How to Boost Your Metabolism

Overview

Stoke your body’s metabolism, lose weight. But how? Our culture promotes the idea of eating three square meals a day, avoiding between-meal snacks, and not eating between dinner and bedtime. No wonder we’re facing a global obesity crisis. Stoke your metabolism with the right strategies and you’ll build lean muscle, burn fat, and stay energized.

The Thermic Effect

When the body has to digest food, it has to work to get it broken down into a usable form. The term for this is the thermic effect. It means that every time you eat, your body has to rev up the furnace to break that food down. This does not mean you should eat huge meals or grab something from the drive-thru every three hours. You should eat a combination of high-fiber carbohydrates, lean protein, and healthy fats every three hours, in portions that are correct for your size and activity level. When it comes to the number of meals, less is not more. In fact, more meals, means more metabolic revving, so eat wisely, but eat up.

Strategies to Boost Metabolism

Grazing

Forget what you’ve been taught. If you want to control your appetite, regulate your blood sugar level to stay energized and alert, and build lean muscle mass, you need to more often, not less. Aim for five to six small- to medium-size meals or snacks each day. That equates to eating, on average, every three hours. Think of yourself as “grazing” all day, instead of sitting down for three massive feedings.
It’s possible to fit in six meals a day regardless of your job or lifestyle. Remember that six “meals” should not be long, sit-down affairs. A few could be, but three of those meals should just be snacks; one or two of which might just be shakes before and after your workout. And since you’re eating more often, your traditional breakfasts, lunches and dinners probably will be lighter.
Benefits:

• Controlling blood sugar levels improves concentration and helps regulate appetite. If you can do those two things, you’ll be in much better control of your body. After all, having consistent levels of blood sugar gives you consistent energy and makes you feel good, since you’re avoiding huge swings in hunger and mood.
• Over the course of the day, your mood, concentration, and energy levels go up and down. Aside from the stresses of your day, this is partly a function of your blood sugar levels. When these levels go down there’s a tendency to grab the first food available, and that’s usually not something good for you.
• Frequent eating is like constantly throwing wood on the fire. Digesting food cranks up your metabolism and burns more calories every time you eat. By not eating often, the fire smolders and dies. A hot fire, on the other hand, burns wood continuously. Those six smaller meals keep the fire hot. And since you know you’ll eat in a few hours, you’re less likely to overeat.

Eat Breakfast

When you wake up in the morning, your metabolism is running at the lowest metabolic rate of the entire day. Basically, your body is running on fumes. The second you eat something, your body cranks into gear and metabolically starts working at a higher rate. Your morning shower may wake up your mind, but breakfast wakes up your metabolism.

Build Muscle

Many people try to get thin by not eating. They deprive their bodies of nutrients, and while they might look healthy, they have dangerous blood profiles and a high ratio of fat to lean muscle. Their bodies are what we call “skinny fat”.
The last thing you want to do is lose lean mass. After all, you train hard to build muscle, which produces power, stabilizes joints, promotes movement, and is critical for optimal performance throughout life, not to mention on the athletic field. Moreover, the average person loses a pound of lean mass per year, so it’s imperative to take action to maintain your muscle.
What’s more, every pound of muscle you pack on requires approximately 20 additional calories. So add muscle and more of your food will go towards sustaining your physique.
If you don’t eat often, the most readily available substance for the body to consume is muscle. There’s a misconception that the body first eats away its fat. But the body is remarkably resistant to fat loss and will turn to its lean muscle first, a process known as catabolism, keeping stored body fat in reserve as long as necessary. In other words, eating less often can actually waste muscle.

Fuel with Protein

You should include a lean protein source with every meal. Protein has the highest “thermic effect” of all the macronutrients. To use the analogy that frequent eating is like throwing wood on a fire, when you eat protein, it is like throwing lighter fluid onto that fire. So include a lean protein source with every meal to get a little extra burst of metabolic power.

Never underestimate your problem or your ability to deal with it.

Robert H. Schuller

Change the World

Don't let others change your life, be your own change agent and implement the changes you want! And if an unexpected change occurs in your life, find the positive in it.

Catherine Pulsifer

 

Change the World

When you exercise and eat right, you feel better. When you feel better, you're able to do more. When you do more, you usually end up doing it with other people. This lifestyle shift gives us the energy to be better people. Have the desire to improve your live NOW! Choosing to help yourself can change and save the lives of others as well.

When you feel good, you act very differently than when you feel bad. The people around you don't have to be told what kind of mood you're in. Your actions will have enough energy to affect everyone you come in contact with. You become what you eat and what you do! If you choose to devote your time and energy to a healthy life style with wisdom and courage, you become a beacon of energy so powerful, you could change the lives of people around you.

I believe you have a choice to go through life for three different reasons, each one dramatically more powerful than the next: 1) To Feel Good; 2) To Be Good; and 3) To Do Good.

1.      To Feel Good about our health and our appearance affects our state of mind. The reason so many people reach for cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, food, and sex is because for a short while they'll feel good and alter their state of mind. The problem with this behavior is that people end up trying to solve long-term problems with short-term pleasures.

2.      To Be Good is a different approach because it focuses on ways to maintain this NEW healthy lifestyle. People who want to Be Good search for mantras, affirmations, and other techniques to keep the ball rolling. The vain and aesthetic aspects of exercise don't play as much of a role either. The Be Good state of mind works very well for some, but to achieve the greatest selfless level of all you must Do Good.

3.      To Do Good is about taking the focus off yourself and beginning to put the focus on people who need your help. The gift of giving is the greatest gift to receive. The people I know who practice this on a daily basis are the most well-rounded, content, empathetic, wise, and happy people I've ever met. It's also important to recognize when friends and family aren't ready to change. The worst kind of advice to give is the kind that was never asked for.

It's said that about 3 percent of the people on Earth live in bliss. What the hell are the other 97 percent of us doing? We're spending too much time on ME, ME, ME!

I honestly believe that the key to success comes to people who figure out that when you share your experience, your wisdom, your love, and your truth, you begin to know what it's like to live in that 3 percent.

Find what you love. Do it. And share it with others. Welcome to bliss!

Everyone can think of the one thing that would make life better for them. But people are not so quick to answer the second question: What are you doing to make that change come true.

Catherine Pulsifer

Rocky's motivational speech

Life is a series of adjustments; You can make changes along the way, but if you don't start moving forward you'll never get anywhere! Kimora Lee Simmons

Rocky’s motivational speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Vg4uyYwEk&feature=related

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!

Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.
 Denis Waitley quotes 

Words of Wisdom: Energy

Winners are people with definite purpose in life. Denis Waitley

Words of Wisdom: Energy

I'd like to reveal four key components for success, and quite possibly other aspects of your life.

Have you ever noticed that some days just flow? Even on days when you have tons of things to do, you seem to have all the ENERGY in the world to handle anything. Yet other days feel like you live on Saturn. The weight of the world feels 10 times heavier than normal.

It comes down to the amount of ENERGY you have on any given day. Your ENERGY always dictates your REALITY. When you're filled with ENERGY, you're sharp, ready, enthusiastic, and willing. When you're pooped . . . forget about it! Organizing a sock drawer feels like climbing Mt. Everest.

So what causes these shifts? The big four are:

1. Food and supplementation. There's no way you can maintain a consistent level of ENERGY by eating the same old crap. You must . . . you have to . . . you need to make "The Change." Proper ENERGY levels only come from eating the right food the right way at the right time of day. If you don't know what that means, then you haven't read my mervmail’s!
   
   You are what you eat! If you eat the same old tired food that put you in this mess in the first place, that's just what you'll get. Tired and old before your time. You know what to do, so do it! It's not Atkins^® or Slim-Fast^® or fast food or soft drinks or fried food or candy bars or doughnuts or liquid diets or any panoply of misleading ways of consuming food. Get your mind right about what goes in your mouth or continue to live in the land of the wannabes!
2. Sleep. This probably seems like the most obvious and simple component of the four. But it's often the most abused.
   We're not sleeping enough hours at night, and even when we do, they're often filled with so much mind chatter that we don't get the proper rest we need. In Taoist philosophy, there's the yin and the yang. These are opposing ENERGIES that create balance. workout is yang ENERGY. Sleep and rest are yin ENERGY. There must be proper balance between vim and vigor (yang) and inward calm (yin). If you don't get enough sleep and rest, your body will not receive the proper restoration.
3. Stress management. Do you realize that if you took the fear, worry, and anxiety out of every "stressful" situation in your life, the end result of that situation would still occur? You can panic and freak out all you want, but time will still pass and the end of that moment will still happen, whether you freak out or not. So why not choose something different? When do fear, worry, and anxiety ever really help a situation?
   
   So what is stress? It's the inability to move through a situation logically, peacefully, positively, productively, and gracefully. To be stressed out takes lots of ENERGY. Being stressed out can severely affect how well you'll sleep at night. Stress is when you assess blame and don't take responsibility. ("I'm stressed out because of______, and that's why I can't______.") Don't let stress be your scapegoat.
   
   Don't waste your time on gossip, ridicule, envy, self-pity, anger, guilt, arrogance, need, impatience, regret, manipulation, jealousy, fear, worry, and anxiety, because they'll zap your ENERGY and cause you stress!
   
   Choose understanding, truth, clarity, patience, devotion, gratitude, vulnerability, acceptance, wisdom, hope, forgiveness, empathy, discipline, perseverance, community, and peace. Because if you do, you will gladly kiss stress goodbye and say hello to all the ENERGY you'll need.
4. Purpose. Purpose is the driving force to get you from here to there. If you don't have purpose, all the best food, supplementation, sleep, and stress-free days won't help you one bit. You have to have a powerful burning desire to want it.
   
   My dictionary tells me that "purpose" is "seeking resolution." Searching for answers to solve a problem. An intention. This all goes to the core of . . . why? Why do I want to change my life and start living healthy, maybe even for the second or third time, or more?
   
   You're looking for resolution. You're searching for answers to help solve this problem. And most importantly, you must be clear about your intention. No one ever does anything just for the heck of it. There's always some intention behind everything we do. Different kinds of behavior have different levels of intention and purpose. Eating fast food and abusing your body is one level. Following a healthy life style with all its challenges is another.

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
John F. Kennedy