You can start today and be in the best shape of your life before you know it. What does it take? Well, to be honest, a little common sense. I started myself on what I call the "Common Sense Diet" almost exactly a year ago to the date, and at 34 years old I am in the best shape of my life.The first MAJOR step that I took happened when I realized I couldn't keep weight off despite working out like crazy, so I told myself:
"STOP DRINKING COKE YOU DUMBASS!"
It has now been a year since I drank Coke. That might sound like a small feat, but believe me, it is BIG because this is the first time since I was a kid that I can say this.
Two weeks after continuing my normal workout routine and stopping drinking soda, BAM! All of a sudden I noticed that the hard-to-eliminate fat was slowly disappearing and I felt like I was in better shape than Richard Simmons ever promised in his Sweatin' to the Oldies classics.
Turn it UPPPPPP Richard!
That for me was a major tipping point. I already had a workout routine that should do the trick, but I wasn't eating--and also in this case--drinking the right things. Speaking of drinking, the next major breakthrough for me besides a couple little was juicing. I am honestly not the biggest fan of eating vegetables raw, even when they are drenched in ranch sauce, BUT, when I throw those puppies in a blender, I am completely in LOVE. I can feel the rush of all the pure vitamins soak in my body with delicious flavors and drench me with positive energy as they wash down.
What do you consume that is similar for you like soda was for me? Figure it out, yo. It's probably pretty obvious.
"You are what you eat."
Not a fan of this saying for some reason, but it's true. There is a reason why all vegetables have such a vibrant color. The reason being is that if you consume them, you will start to resemble them energetically and take on their shape in general. You should feel light and have a bright and positive attitude once you are consistent with your consumption. Now guess how you will feel if you eat a bunch of bacon, beef, pizza and drink soda? Notice how most of those are dark and heavy? Yeah, you get it now. You'll be heavy and carry a lazy and a lower physical energy.
For me it was just tinkering and figuring out another way to consume the vegetables that made me feel good. Even from there, some juices I didn't like, so I tried others. F.Y.I.: beets, carrots, apples, and ginger are an INSANELY good combo.
After tossing this "common sense" thing around for a while, I just happened to come across a podcast that is geared towards the creative entrepreneurs of the world called the Unmistakable Creative and I saw an interview about health the science of health, which isn't a typical topic on the show. Turns out it was an interview with a neuroscience Ph.D author named Darya Rose who runs the incredible blog called Summer Tomato. Her story is that she was on every diet in the world for 15 years until she started to put her scientific research into play and get the facts on eating healthy and controlling weight. Her hypothesis? It pained her to find out that all diets she spent 15 years trying are completely bogus because you succumb to the eventual burnout of will power.
Instead she recommends taking basic steps of eating healthy and being active. This type of thinking will help you lose weight, but in most cases it happens slowly. So be PATIENT!
What else did her research find out? In order to make these adjustments in your eating habits, you change, c'mon now, your HABITS! I wrote and article months ago about the importance of habits and it feels good a Ph.D author feels the same way about habits and how they relate to your health.
Recap of how habits are formed:
1) There's a cue. Example: Billy comes over everyday at work for lunch.
2) There's an ACTION. Example: Billy LOVES pizza and you two go to Dominoes every day and CRUSH an extra large pizza.
3) There's a reward. Example: You pigged out on a delicious pizza and feel lazy and comfortable.
So what you could do to break this habit is eliminate Billy for meals and set a reward that if you eat a healthy meal that you actually like the taste of, you will buy yourself a little treat. AND, if you do this for one week, you will buy a plane ticket to see your friend in Los Angeles. You get the drift.
You see you where I'm going now? Find triggers to create healthy habits (running shoes next to your bed, for example) and reward yourself for taking healthy action.
How I have used this method
I started a two-minute workout almost everyday about a year and half ago. I started with 25 push ups and 100 sit-ups in the morning (and maybe even less). Despite all this talk about patience, I must admit, this made a HUGE difference in just a week or two in my disposition and muscle tone. Next thing I knew I could 80 straight push ups and would still usually stick to the 100 sit-ups and go for a run sometimes after that.
Oh, and what was my cue for this workout habit change, you ask? Whenever I started the shower I knew that if I took the shower I probably wouldn't workout afterwards. So when I started the shower, I would jump into the next room and knockout the push ups and sit-ups. Yeah I know this is a waste of water, but it literally takes two minutes and is SUPER healthy for me and I still do it to this day.
The reward: a chocolate banana bread from down the street most of the time.
This was seriously LIFE CHANGING!
Raise your standards and do something about it.
One thing Darya didn't mention in her interview that I believe is valuable is the standards you set for yourself. Tony Robbins mentioned this in regards to general lifestyle in an interview I watched recently and it makes all the sense in the world. When I couldn't stand having those few extra pounds on my stomach to the point where I HAD to do something, my standards increased for myself and action was taken.
You gotta believe, man.
Charles Duhigg wrote in The Power of Habit how much BELIEF plays a factor in habit change. You won't do it if you don't believe. Tell yourself you will, stop listening to your stupid roommate who doesn't think you will either, and prove someone wrong today, including yourself.
Summary
In short:
-This isn't rocket science. You don't have to eliminate ALL bad things, just make sense of it all and be mindful of what you're putting into your body.
-Form better eating habits and start SMALL (throw healthy snacks in your desk so you're not hungry when Billy comes around)
-Form better workout habits and start SMALL (remember, five push ups, or one push up, it doesn't matter just do SOMETHING)
-Raise your standards
-Believe
P.S. Wanna hear the podcast with Darya? Listen to the first 25 minutes for health related topics and the rest for business ideas. Here ya go:
http://unmistakablecreative.com/episodes/the-science-of-healthy-eating-with-darya-rose
P.P.S. I believe in YOU. Kick some ass today.
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