April 30, 2007

Needs and Wants

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 3:58 pm

“The last thing you want to do is often the first thing you need to do!” – B. Phillips.

Say you’ve had a hard day at the office and the kids are whining; there’s dinner to be made, the dog needs let out, the laundry has piled up, and the commode has backed up once again thanks to the toddler flushing a whole roll of toilet paper.

The LAST thing you want to do is to think about exercising and eating right. But that’s the first thing you should do. If you’re able to get your workout done first thing in the morning, then you’re better prepared to have the rest of your day come at you. Sometimes, it’s not feasible, however, to get up that early. But always remember that it’s a small fraction of your day, so don’t skip your workouts.

Don’t fall into the rut of bad nutrition, either, as it’s difficult enough to eat six meals a day, AND drink your water, but you know what? You’ll have more energy to tackle what life throws at you. You’ll find that the further you go in the program, the more energy you have; the less sluggish you feel, the more mentally alert you will be.

After all, getting healthy and fit IS the reason you’re involved with Body For Life, isn’t it?

What’s YOUR reason for starting on your transformation journey?

April 28, 2007

Variety is the spice of life

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 5:24 pm

Tink and I were discussing one of the finer parts of Body For Life is that you aren’t limited in what you can eat. You can have beef, pork, chicken, seafood; fruit; vegetables; bread.

This allows for a great variety of foods to be enjoyed; tonight’s dinner is a turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and salad. Depending on how it finally tastes depends on if I post the recipe or not.

Exercise today consisted of early morning treadmill with added weights; I just came back from a five mile walk.

Some advice if you’re planning on eating healthier (and I hope that you do!) Sometimes, you have to hit several stores in close proximity to save the most money. Trader Joe’s was cheaper on some things; Farm Fresh on others. Amazingly enough, BJ’s Wholesale club was only cheapest on meat.

The other thing that sets Body For Life apart is the built in “free day.” Every seventh day, you don’t plan, you don’t exercise, and you don’t stick to a eating plan. You simply live your life.

That one day is important for moral, for jump starting your metabolism, and for helping you remember how miserable you felt all the time when you were overeating on a regular basis.

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments section — I’ll give you my take on them; just remember — each person loses weight at a different pace … but using the program of eating more frequently and exercising, you WILL make a difference in your life. 🙂

April 26, 2007

Willpower and Believing In Yourself

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 10:14 am

Much of the Body For Life program depends on how much you believe in yourself. You’ll find that the more you want to change, the more you crave the change, the more you look in the mirror and say “that person isn’t me. The real me is fit and healthy and able to take on the world!”, the more you’ll find willpower to resist temptations.

You’ll find you stick to the program more than you deviate from it. Sure, you’ll have cravings, but you’ll consider what changes you want to make in your life and realize that it’s just a craving. Like Eve with the Apple, sometimes giving in can have unintended consequences.

That’s why Body For Life has the “Free Day” Concept built in. You crave a Chinese buffet? There’s your free day to look forward to so you can indulge.

Had a really crappy day at work and coworkers want to take you out for a three martini unwind? You can do it — IF you realize that you’ll need to shift your free day. Soon it will become second nature to know what is good for you and what isn’t. Remember, if you put garbage in, you don’t get garbage out. You get garbage ON. On your thighs, buttocks, and around your middle.

It brings your attitude down, slows you down, keeps you from doing the things you want to.

Believe in yourself. You can make the change; for me, it was like the smoke had cleared for the first time in years. I could think clearer. I had more energy. I had a lust for life. Look out world, here I come!

April 25, 2007

Life is about choices

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 8:28 am

How you handle those choices determines your outcome.

You can prepare for some of the challenges that will come your way in your day-to-day life, and there are others that (as Nationwide would say) come at you fast.

In using the Power Mindset of the Body For Life program, you can train your mind on how to deal with these situations, making you stronger and uncovering courage and power you were not aware you had.

It all goes back to the old adage “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Reach deep inside. You’ll find you have more character and ability than you ever dreamed possible!

April 23, 2007

A few things…

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 8:52 pm

…that were on my mind:

1. Body For Life forces you to move out of your comfort zone. You shouldn’t expect things to be easy, nor convenient. That goes to show precisely how badly you want to make changes in your life.

2. To get the top results from Body For Life, you have to exercise to hit your high points. Working out and not breaking a sweat is better than sitting on your duff, but isn’t going to give you maximum payback. Sure, it’s uncomfortable, and even painful from time to time, but what you receive in return is far more than you put in.

3. Don’t expect to get ideal results from Body For Life if you deviate from the program; that includes workouts, water consumption, eating six smaller quality meals a day, and mental exercises.

4. Remember that the only person you cheat if you shortcut or give up is yourself.

The mind is a powerful tool, when used properly. It can and WILL help you create a new, fit you.

A Lesson For Life

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 1:47 pm

I’ve posted over at my Ramblings of Silver Blue. Remember, you have to love yourself in order for others to love you.

Limiting Thoughts

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 8:54 am

One important thing about the Body For Life program is to have a positive mindset. That means that you need to reduce the amount of negativity in your life. Now, that’s not the same as reducing stress. You can be negative and not be under stress. The reverse is true: you can be under tremendous stress and still not be negative about it. The difference is YOU.

The most limiting word in the English language is “Can’t”. How many times have you been told (or said) “I can’t do that”.

You’ll find that if you dig down, there are a great number of times that you actually CAN.

I was house sitting for my parents when I started the Body For Life program when two doors down the ambulance was called to assist the elderly woman who lived there. The door was locked, and the cross-the-street neighbor had the key. She shuffles out of her house yelling “I’ve got the key…but I can’t run! You’ll have to be patient.”

The paramedics responded they needed her to hurry. Her reply: “I can’t run!”

They shouted out that they could see her on the floor in the living room.

You know what? She could run. She proved it by scurrying across the street.

But she had convinced herself that she could not run, and in keeping that thought in her mind, she formed limiting beliefs which were holding her back. Once she dug down inside herself, and moved beyond her own belief patterns, she found strength.

What belief patterns are holding you back from being the person you long to be?

April 20, 2007

The journey of a thousand miles…

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 9:09 am

…begins with a single step.

I’m learning that, day by day. When I started the Body For Life program, I had to realize that I didn’t get out of shape in a matter of days, weeks, or months. It is the culmination of a lifetime of bad habits, “convenience” foods, and just plain being lazy. I knew my health was suffering, but I always procrastinated “until tomorrow.”

Then last year, the 40 inch pants were getting tight. I went to Busch Gardens, and had to ride the “big boy” seat on Alpengeist. Humiliation. Then came getting in and out of the shower. How it was harder to put on my clothes. How, when I tied my shoes, the knots were to one side or the other. When I would get out of breath just going up a flight of stairs. I was a textbook case for cardiac problems.

I’d done Body For Life in 2000, and had very good results. But in neglecting myself and putting other people first, I’d slid back into my old habits and packed on almost all the weight I’d lost. Sure, I wasn’t back to 280, but 260 was close enough, and it felt like I was smothering.

Tink and I were at a Flea Market and walked past a vendor that had both the Body For Life book and the Success Journal for Body for Life. I casually mentioned that I had done the program years ago and had good results, but just “didn’t have the time for it anymore.” (Note the excuse pattern here.) We continued walking (just about the only exercise I was getting those days), and came back around to pass the vendor again. I asked how much, just on a whim, for the two books. The response: $3.

If that wasn’t the sign I was looking for to encourage me to get fit, both physically and mentally, then I’d have to have been ignorant. I shelled out the $3, and started anew.

That’s been almost three weeks ago. My attitude has improved; my outlook on life is more positive. I can climb stairs without huffing and puffing. My clothes are getting loose. I’m slowly seeing improvement, and I’m happier with myself than I’ve been in years.

I’ve got a long way to go before I’m as fit as I want to be. But as the title says, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I’ve made that step… a step in faith… in faith in myself.

As a show of my belief in the life changing principles in Body For Life (which really are simple), I’ve started giving out copies of the book. I’m buying them used and passing them on to people who want to know more about the program. You keep the spirit of giving going and lives improve in the process.

Is there anything better than that, really?

April 19, 2007

Positive Visualization

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 12:52 pm

“See where you’re going before you get there.” (B. Phillips)

It’s an important tool in the progression through the Body For Life program that you are able to have a vision of where you want to be. What changes you want to make.

What do you want to eventually look like? Sure, it may take more than 12 weeks to get to that point, but… be a child for once.

What do I mean? Look through magazines and find photos of people with physiques like that which you envision yourself having. Cut them out and paste your head on them. Put them some place where you can see them every day. They will act as inspiration as you move forward. Focus on the pride you will have and how healthy you will feel when you metamorphose into that new you. The more you can hold this image in your mind, the more the “power mindset” will help you achieve it.

Sounds like voodoo, but it’s not. It’s a combination of “the power of positive thinking” and simply believing in yourself.

April 18, 2007

Excuses, Excuses.

Filed under: Inspriation — Silver Blue @ 9:15 am

While the idea is to focus on progress, not perfection in the Body For Life program, you need to watch that you don’t get caught up in excuses.

What do I mean?

The, “Oh, I don’t have time to work out”; “I don’t have a gym membership”; “I can just spread my free day throughout the week”, etc.

The idea behind Body For Life is to make a change in your life. Change doesn’t come easily, nor without resistance. It’s like a new pair of shoes you’ve got to break in and get used to. It’s VERY easy to slide back into your old patterns of not eating healthily and not exercising.

Remember: there’s no one holding anything over you if you don’t eat your six meals a day, or if you don’t do your workout, or even if you don’t hit your high point in your workout. In fact, the only person you’ll be cheating is… yourself. Your coworkers won’t care if you’ve gorged yourself on five pounds of chocolate. Your loved ones won’t know (if they don’t watch you or if they aren’t on BFL with you) that you skipped your bike ride and stopped off at Krispe Kreme.

But YOU will know. Once you start the program and feel the effects — the change, from the inside out that you are creating — you will know. Even on your free days, when you’re free to eat anything you want, you’ll slowly notice changes being made in your own decisions. Sure, you can stuff yourself with artery clogging fatty foods (and in fact, in the beginning of the program, you WILL do it, believe me!), but then you’ll feel stuffed, bloated, and uncomfortable. That’s not to say you shouldn’t use your free days to eat whatever you wish — that’s what they’re there for. You’ll just learn not to overdo it.

It is a change, however, and that means you don’t just stuff your face with full-fat garbage. Did you know the reason most people don’t enjoy their food is because they can’t taste it? Food has become so bogged down with fat and sauces that if you were to take and only use simple spices (as simple as a small amount of salt (or salt-substitute, if you’re on reduced sodium restrictions due to health concerns) and pepper), the natural flavour (which you can then enhance with garlic, onion, red pepper, oregano, etc. etc.) comes out and you are actually able to enjoy your food more. That’s why people who quit smoking tend to gain weight. They can actually taste what they’re eating instead of having their tongues coated all the time. Reduce the fat, you reduce what coats your taste buds and … less fat in you, less fat on you. Eating healthier doesn’t have to be boring, and honestly, there’s little health benefit to be gained by using whole fat ingredients 99% of the time.

Most importantly, Body For Life isn’t just a 12 week program that you complete and VOILÀ, new you. It’s a 12 week program for the rest of your life. You simply live from one 12 week period to the next, setting new goals and dreams for yourself.

It is making a major change in my life, and I know it can do the same for you.