Real Functional Training

Your "To Do" List When You're Fighting Temptation

We all battle temptation sometimes. And
having a plan to strengthen your willpower
when you're struggling can go a long way
towards helping you achieve your goals.
So the next time you are battling with the
snooze button of fighting an internal war
with that piece of chocolate cake do these
three things:

1) Stop focusing on the problem

Whatever your mind focuses on grows. If
you are feeling hungry or tempted by food,
and you continue to focus on those feels,
they will eventually become the only thing
on your mind.

Instead of thinking about why you need to
give in, try thinking about why you need to
continue.

Instead of obsessing about how hungry you
are and how one or two chips won't hurt you..

Think about how you CAN'T just have "one or
two" because most of the time "one or two"
turns into the half the bag!

The mind is very powerful - so instead of using
it to justify your failures use it to strengthen your
resolve!
 

2) Willpower is a muscle

Willpower is a muscle and every time you resist
temptation you make it stronger. Each victory,
no matter how small, makes it easier to do the
right thing next time.

Every lapse in motivation we overcome, every
temptation we resist, will make us stronger in the
long run.

3) Get real with yourself

Did you think this was going to be easy? Because
I hate to burst your bubble but nothing worth doing
is.

Instead of quitting your diet, quit fooling yourself!
Success is about HARD WORK - plain and simple.

So quit thinking this was going to be a "piece
of cake" and get real with yourself!
Now throw out that cookie and give me 20 Burpees!
Till next time...
John

Trying Isn't Good Enough

I hate to tell you this but trying just
isn't good enough...

Whenever someone says "I'll try" it
should be followed with "but it ain't
gonna happen."

Don't get me wrong - making positive
change in our lives IS very difficult...

And we will all fail to reach our goals
from time to time...

And that's OK...

Our failures are just speed bumps on the
road towards our goals.

But if you're just "trying" you need 
an attitude adjustment pronto!

Google (which according to my daughter
knows everything) defines "to try" as

"Try - to make an attempt or effort to do something"

Hmmmmm....

Is making "an attempt" to do something good enough?

Not in my book.

Trying just isn't gonna get you to where you need
to be. It's a weak word that reflects your equally
weak commitment.

Instead of "trying" we need to STRIVE!

"Strive - to make GREAT efforts to accomplish or
obtain something"

So next time you think to yourself "I
should try that" STOP!

Re-assess your commitment level and
if it's something you really want make a
conscious decision to strive for it!

You can do it! I know you can - as long
as you don't try ;-))

What to do when you feel like quitting...

Everyone feels like quitting sometimes...
And I’m no different.

Just the other day I was talking with Michelle
about exactly that…
 
Disgruntled employees, 3:45 AM alarms,
7 PM Bootcamps…it can wear me out.
 
Sometimes I just want to quit and get a
regular job…
 
But then I logged into Facebook and saw
this post from one of you:
 
“I'm a firm believer in the work you all do! These
classes have been tough, exhausting, and at times,
painful. All of that plus i really have fun! That
means - it works!!! Thank you!!”

And then I got it... IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!
 

Weather you realize it or not, your hard work
is inspiring others to do their best.

And when you realize that, you’ll be energized.
 
Tia has inspired so many of us (me included!)
by chronicling her weight loss journey on
Facebook…
 
In turn, she is inspired by Carol who is proving
to everyone that age is no excuse...
(not that I’m sayin’ you’re old Carol ;-))
 
And just a few days ago Susan posted a message
about how she was going to forgo the cupcake
she wanted and just go to bed.
 
That post helped me to just go to bed instead of
finishing the beer I’d just opened ;-))
 
So while you keep fighting towards what is really
important, remember your efforts are not only helping
you…they are inspiring others!
 
There is another lesson to be learned here as well:
 
EVERYONE thinks of quitting sometimes.
 
Abraham Lincoln considered quitting politics all
together after numerous lost elections.
 
Lucky for all of us he didn’t.
 
Whatever your goal…whatever your motivations…
real defeat only happens when you quit.
 
And every set back, every momentary loss of
motivation only makes us stronger.
 
No matter what obstacle has gotten you down, no
matter how seemingly insurmountable the challenges
in your way are, and no matter how frustrated you
might be at the pace of your progress - remember
that you are not alone.

Do the work – not just for yourself but for all of us!

See You All Tomorrow!

John

I'll Show You Mine If You'll Show Me Yours...

I have some homework for you...

I want you to sit down in a quiet place
with a pen and paper and do some serious
soul searching.

I want you to REALLY think about why
you are doing this...

Why are you working so hard in bootcamp?

Why you are eating hard boiled eggs or a
protein shake for breakfast instead of having
a Latte and a Pumpkin Spice muffin?

And then write it down and show it to me.

But I don't want to see any cheap answers
like "I want to look good" or "I want to lose
20 pounds."

Don't get me wrong...there's nothing wrong
with working out to look good. But I need
you to dig deeper...

I need you to peel the onion to get to the
REAL reasons why these things are important.

When you identify your deeper motivations
it becomes MUCH easier to resist temptation.

If the choice is "I want to lose weight" versus
"I want some of that delicious chocolate cake"
most of us will pick the cake every time...

But if you know you want to lose weight
because your doc told you have type II
diabetes and that if you don't get your blood
sugar down...

Then you're no longer choosing between
"chocolate cake" and "losing weight" but
rather "chocolate cake" and "curing my
diabetes so I can see my kids get married."

And the choice becomes MUCH easier.

But the real key is to be honest with yourself...

Because if you're not the things you write
down won't mean anything and won't help.

So if you want to look GREAT because you're
going to a wedding and you know your ex
is going to be there....

And you want him or her to know exactly what
they are missing out on....

That's cool - use it as motivation!

I won't judge you ;-))





OK...I said I'd show you mine ;-))

1) I want to be around for my daughter Sophia
for as long as I can be. I know I can't control
everything...but I also know losing another 30
pounds will extend my expected life span and
decrease my risk of nearly every disease known
to man.



I need to hang around to scare off all the boys
in a few years! (Bench pressing 400 pounds won't
hurt either)


2) I want to be a better role model for my clients.
I am sick of just "talking the talk" and feel like
I need to also "walk the walk" if I want to help
more people achieve their goals.



I want to be a positive role model to the awesome
people like Mimi who pay me good money to help
them reach their goals!


There it is...now it's your turn!

Talk soon...

John

Black & White Thinking

It's easy to look at health & fitness through a
black and white lens.

Fiber "good" for you...

Saturated fat is "bad" for you...

Cardio helps you get lean - weight training bulks
you up.

This type of thinking can not only lead to
misinformation and confusion, but when applied
to ourselves it can quickly sabotage your fitness
and weight loss goals.

Here's an example:

You make your workouts all week but then
Thursday night rolls around and you just don't
feel like working out...

You know you should get your butt up and
come in but you just can't get it going.

You try to stay positive but you just can't
shake your bad feelings.

Maybe you feel lazy...

Or maybe you feel like you "failed"

And pretty soon if you let those feelings
linger things can snowball out of control.

"Screw it - I already failed at exercise so why
not eat this pint of ice cream"

Next thing you know you'll be rationalizing
an all out binge. "Well....it's Thursday night
and I already blew this week. I'll just get
started again on Monday."

When yourself getting into the "Black & White
thinking" trap you need to STOP!!!!

Stop and look at the situation objectively.

Now, I'm not trying to give you an excuse to
miss workouts...

But are you really "lazy"?

Of course not - you've already worked out 4
times this week.

Did you really "fail"?

Hell no! Since when does 1 wrong question on
a test count as a failing grade?

So let's stop expecting perfection from ourselves
and accept that we're all human. We all have
our weak moments. And that's OK...



So don't waste your brain power on beating yourself
up....

And instead start thinking up some excuses for
the text you know is coming from me!

(Just kidding ;-)))

See you soon!

John

Who are We Really Competing Against?

If you were in my 6:20 PM Small Group Training
tonight you might have noticed I used 1 clients
results on an exercise to motivate another...

And although a little competition amongst friends
can be fun....

I really hate that I did that.

Because that is not what I ever want my gym to
be about.

And as long as my name is on the door you can
rest assured that the ONLY person you will ever
compete against is yourself....

And not the you from ten or twenty years ago...

The only person you ever need to"beat" is the
you from yesterday.

In my place, we don't "compete" against each
other like they do one popular training franchise...

(It rhymes with toss shit...but who's comparing lol)

In here we work together....

We support and encourage each other...

Sure, I'll push you when you need it.

But we'll always be a TEAM...

Working TOGETHER...

Not competing against one another.

Till next time...

John