So as you can see in the graph, my weight loss slowed down over the past 21 days, as expected. Looking at the full 42 days though, the results are very significant, and one day when I post before and after picture from when I was 197, you’ll see the big image change.

• Total Inches Loss – 14 inches – via Myotape
• Total Weight Loss – 16.4 lbs – via Digital Scale
• Total Bodyfat Loss – 5.3% – via Omron

The way I approached these 21 days was exactly the same as I did the previous 21 days. The only thing I noticed, since I post pictures of 90% of what I eat to facebook, is that I consumed a bit more dairy. Regardless, I’m pretty happy with my progression.

I honestly can’t say that I have a very clear goal of where I want to get to. I have a clear goal for how I like to eat healthy, I have a clear goal of losing bodyfat (and I know my weight will drop with it for awhile).

One good side effect of eating Primal is that I’ve been whipping up some cool dishes. So not only have we made infinitely better food choices when eating out, but also choosing grassfed meat when possible and cooking at home when time allows.

Food Porn

Big Tim's Grok Pot Orange-Garlic Chicken

Cage free eggs, turkey bacon, and a bigass tomato covered in garlic.

Curry chicken, carrots, broccoli, artichoke, beats, and salad - Corbet & Conley.

22 ounce ribeye, mixed veggies, and salad, all smothered in Chipotle Butter

Thoughts

The biggest side effect of eating Primal is having everyone ask about it. On one hand, everyone wants to know how you got your results, on the other hand many people want to argue that meals should be balanced out with grains. There are 10 or so frequently asked questions and arguments that people throw my way.

Most of the time it’s not a problem to show them some scientific research to point them in the right direction. However, sometimes I get challenged, and I really don’t have a good answer, which is probably the best side effect, because it forces me to go out there, ask my own questions, find more research, and be able to give an intelligent answer the next time around.

Again, huge thanks to Mark Sisson, he has been the biggest influence in me learning and doing the Primal Lifestyle, providing amazing research to bring to life all his principles, and for being a genuine non-judgmental person that’s changed countless people’s lives. Big thanks to Tim Ferriss, since he has inspired me to keep better metrics and self-experiment. Also big thanks to Martin Berkhan, for having the most comprehensive articles on intermittent fasting, and spitting out the best research articles on facebook and twitter.

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So what am I working on next? I’m going to continue eating with no grains, no sugar, no alcohol. I want to see how lean I can get by August 26th, the day after my boards, and the day Marina and I leave for our 10 day trip to Paris. I’m also in the process of doing a 6 week 100 pushup challenge – I don’t know if it will get done in 6 weeks, or maybe a couple more, but I’ll post a video of me doing the 100 pushups on here, with a graph of my weekly pushup to show how I did it.

If you’re curious about my results in the next 21 days, or my pushup challenge, and want to see some more things I cook up, then add yourself to the mailing list, and I’ll see you soon.

Comment on this post, I’d like to know what kind of things motivate you to be healthy.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means. ~Maimonides

During the past semester of dental school (or more accurately, the past 2 years of it), I spent a lot of time eating shit. Many 16-hour study days, fueled by barrels of coffee filled with sugar, and layers upon layers of fast food.

Amongst those long days were a few streaks of eating well, but never sustainably. I got the results that I wanted in school, but I got fat – a side effect I was willing to deal with in the semi-short term.

When summer started, I started using my free time to cook a bit more, and started eating about 70% healthy primal food. However, three weeks ago, when I met Mark Sisson, he said something that inspired to me gear up my diet to 100% primal.

Mark pointed out that while people are on Industrial diets, they’re on a perpetual downward spiral of eating sugar to sustain themselves, exercising heavily to burn off the sugar, depleting all their glycogen and thus needing more sugar, just to burn it off again. He said that it takes 2-3 weeks of being on a high protein, high fat, and low carb diet of natural foods in order to switch our metabolic programming from that of a sugar burner to that of a fat burner. I highly suggest reading his article The Metabolic Paradigm Shift, as it was a big catalyst for me in the past 21 days.

So here is a graph of my results:

As you can see from the graph, I experienced a significant change overall:

• Total Inches Loss – 10.5 inches – via Myotape
• Total Weight Loss – 11.6 lbs – via Digital Scale
• Total Bodyfat Loss – 3% – via Omron

The Method to My Madness

Over the past 21 days, I found that there were a bunch of naysayers, but overall most people were actually pretty receptive to my food habits. Especially friends on facebook, since I started a new photo album, and posted 47 photos so far of the delicious-yumminess that I had been consuming. The best part of that? I felt like people were really inspired, they were giving me positive feedback, and they were reporting back to me about their positive food choices and also when they tried my recipes.

In his book Four Hour Body, Tim Ferriss stated that one of the best things you can do for weight-loss is to take a picture of every meal (and I have taken a picture of most). The reasoning is that if you’re going to be taking a pic, and especially if you’re posting them publicly, you’re very unlikely to pig out on a big bag of potato chips or candy. You know what, I agree.

Intermittent Fasting – for most of the 21 days I did my own version of intermittent fasting (IF). Researchers at Columbia and Rockefeller Universities have shown that our hunger cycles on a circadian rhythm. My take away from this is that our bodies learn to anticipate meal times, and so the more meals we have, the more we’ll be hungry between them. By having only one or two meals a day, you’ll be less hungry leading up to those meals.

I said that I did ‘my version’ of IF. On average I would go to sleep at 10pm, and wake up at 6am. I would have a protein shake (30 g protein to 3.5 g carb) within 30 minutes of waking up, then my next meal would be around noon-1pm and my last meal would be at 8-9pm (basically an 8 hour feeding window). So while my fast wasn’t exactly that long, I didn’t consider the protein shake as a meal, so about a 16 hour daily fast. The reason for having such a small ‘breakfast’? Research shows that counter-intuitively to conventional wisdom, having a large breakfast can cannibalize lean muscle mass.

Update: While I read about IF in many places over the years, I recently got a lot of information and inspiration over at LeanGains.com – another highly recommended site by European nutrition author Martin Berkhan. I was using referencing some research above that I found solely via Martin, and accidently forgot to source him. My apologies.

Eating Primally – I’ve been living and breathing the Primal (aka Paleo or Hunter-gather) lifestyle. In short, that means eating lots of meat and vegetables, and occasionally (for me it was once or twice a week) snacking on nuts or a small amount very dark chocolate. Since I’m trying to get lean, I stayed away from fruit, and limited my dairy intake to about two slices of cheese per week.

I ate absolutely no bread, rice, nor consumed any sugar. I incorporated sweet potato into only a couple of meals. My beverages consisted of straight up water (sometimes with a twist of lime), non-flavored seltzer, and coffee/tea with no added sugar.

Did I mention zero alcohol?

Let’s take a look at 4 example meals:

Broiled Steak over Organic Mixed Greens w/ Cherry Tomatoes (Balsamic & Evoo dressing)

Scrambled Eggs, Swiss Cheese, Turkey Bacon, Homemade Tomato Sauce

Raw Sashimi Grade Tuna and Sauteed Bok Choy

Meatza with homemade tomato sauce and broiled veggie topping.

My meals ranged from simple things like throwing a few eggs into a pan and seasoning, to more complicated time consuming dishes like making a Meatza with homemade tomato sauce and broiled veggie toppings. I really looked around the recipes on Mark’s Daily Apple, Primal Quick and Easy Meals Book (highly recommended), and various Primal/Paleo recipe blogs.

Knowing what fits into the eating style and what doesn’t allowed me to make things up as I went along, and to make smart choices at restaurants and family gatherings.

Exercise – I really could have done more exercise. During the last semester I got less than zero exercise. All I did was sit in the library. Sure I had a few bouts of exercise, but then went back into my hibernation state. Lately I haven’t been exercising either. My back has been really sore, some muscle spasms, so I’ve been letting that rest up.

However, what I have been doing a lot of is walking. I’ve been walking everywhere. Sure, I only live 2 blocks away from school, but besides that I’ve been walking around all the Manhattan neighborhoods, and rarely using the train. Finally getting to enjoy some of the city, and feeling good in the process.

What Not To Do

Since posting about my winter morning routine back in January, not everything has gone as planned – I’m not perfect. When school got beyond tough, I diverted all energy and time to one thing – studying. One thing that I did back then, that I didn’t do during the past 21 days, was measure myself daily.

Daily measurements of weight, bodyfat, and inches is not only time consuming, but it’s totally absurd. Your weight fluctuates daily, so being hung up over not moving an inch or a pound is counter-productive. This time around I checked my inches weekly, because I knew they wouldn’t lie to me, and I saved the before and after weight for a one-shot deal, in order to build anticipation, not get hung up in details, and really have something huge to celebrate.

Don’t buy new clothes before starting this lifestyle choice. You will lose weight rapidly and not fit into your clothes anymore, so buy new clothes only after you lose the weight, or you’ll have wasted a lot of money like I did. Yes, it was worth it!

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The best part of this experience was partnering up with my girlfriend. She also ate 100% primal, exercised regularly (even with the 16kg kettlebell I purchased recently). Today after our measurement we’ve recommitted to another 21 days of 100%. We’re going to Paris together at the end of August, and I have some very big goals for how I want to look when that day comes, so I’m positively looking forward to that trip.

If you’re curious about my results in the next 21 days, and want to see some more things I cook up, then add yourself to the mailing list, and I’ll see you soon.

Comment on this post, I’d like to know what kind of things motivate you to be healthy.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

That really takes a toll on a person, but at the same time it’s made me capable of accomplishing things I wouldn’t be able to before. It’s given me tremendous focus, much more patience, and the absolute do-or-die need to become even more efficient.

So one of my adaptation strategies for about a month has been to create a new routine through out my day. As opposed to staying up studying until 4am some nights, and then getting up at 7am for lab, and then taking random naps in the day. This unhealthy trend made me crave too many cups of coffee each day (which I usually had with milk and sugar). All of this led me to gaining a bunch of bodyfat, and walking around like a zombie for weeks on end. Not a bad temporary state to be in considering this is me grinding towards my life goals.

However, I’m trying to see if there’s a healthier way. A way to get even more focus and more efficiency out of my days, keeping my body healthy and regular, increasing my daily energy. This seems like a mirage in a great big desert of what some say is the hardest semester of dental school.

The Routine

For about a month I had been going to sleep at 10pm and waking up at 6am, so that I get 8 hours of sleep. This has been working out great, and it’s not just the fact that it’s 8 hours, but the same 8 hours. There have of course been nights where I’ve stayed up a bit later, but rarely, which leaves me with a good reserve of energy to not get tired throughout the day, as long as I get it right the following night.

In order to make 6am mean something to me, I’ve had to look at all my school schedules. Most of the time I either have lab or lecture at 8am, but if I don’t, I know that no matter what, by 8am I am to be studying (either home or library).

The first 30 minutes. Within 30 minutes of waking up, I’m on a schedule. I know I have to weigh myself, check my bodyfat, enter it into an excel, do a quick burst of exercises, and drink a 30g protein shake. For me this is time sensitive, so I don’t have the luxury of hitting the snooze (not that I need to, I feel energized). I believe that it’s good to get that food in within 30 minutes, but even if it’s not as time sensitive as I think, it’s awesome for starting the morning with a rapid pace.

After that I have to go through the process of getting ready to go somewhere, which means I hop in the shower, shave, put on my clothes, and be ready to get out there door by 7 if I needed to be.

The Turkey Agreement. My girlfriend and I have an agreement that whoever gets out of bed last is the Turkey, and has to make the bed. For weeks she was the turkey, now she jumps up same time as me, so we had ‘double turkey’ and made the bed together. I know it’s corny, but, it’s a hack that really works. This one action has served to obliterate any afterthought of wanting to hit the snooze. I realize that this might not be for everyone, but I hope it shows you the type of creative problem solving one can take to hack their mornings.

By the way, I really had to explain this one to Marina, and get her to agree to it in order for it to work. You can’t force someone to be a part of your crazy little plans, but many times when you explain the benefits, make it fair and fun, and give them a tincture of time, they’ll come around.

Getting good sleep. There’s a number of things that you can do to get better sleep. Better sleep means you’ll be better rested and have higher energy. Being regular in your sleep schedule is one thing, keeping your room on the cooler side is another, and just making sure you’re hydrated is yet another. I’m sure you can think of a few more, just make sure your sleep counts.

There’s even a little device called the Zeo that monitors your sleep patterns for you and helps you figure out what’s going on with your cycles. I’m actually a bit curious about it, so if anyone has had experience with it, please share.

You can also take a look at the latest post on Life Optimizer 25 Ways to Wake Up Earlier, which has some tips for getting better sleep. I was actually just commenting there, and because I left a rather long comment, I decided to turn it into a post of it’s own here. Also I wrote the Ultimate Guide to Getting Great Sleep in 2008.

Eating well, and regularly. Aside from being regular, it’s my diet that’s keeping my energy levels up these days. I eat by a very similar mesh of Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint Diet in combination with some hack’s from Tim Ferris Four Hour Body, Slow-carb diet (which btw is mostly Mark Sisson’s Primal/Paleo principles and recipes, with a few differences in principle). I eat between 10am-11am, then again between 4pm-5pm, then again if I’m really hungry or just need a healthy snack between 8pm-10pm. The reason I pick these times is that it makes sense for me with my schedule, and keeps me from being hungry throughout the day.

In my opinion, it’s all about the morning routine, if you’re interested in having a great day and working toward your bigger life goals. It helps if you have a schedule like work or school to be at, and if not, create a ‘fake’ starting time to your day, that you can duplicate each day. Then see what you can get done in an hour, or two hours, that will take you closer to your life goals. BTW, I wrote about my morning routine for 2008. In some ways it’s very similar to what it is now, except now I wake up earlier.

It’s helps to record and keep track of the morning routine. There will be days when you won’t be able to help but be thrown off (like today, because I got really into writing this article that I wanted to see it through), but don’t let that be an excuse to stop it all together. Just get back to your routine the very next day, and automate your success.

Perhaps you want to be in better shape, well then do some exercise and get a high protein healthy meal in first thing (try for within 30 minutes). Do you want to become knowledgeable in something? With just 10 pages a day, you’ll read about 1 book a month, and 12 in a year, which will get you a SIGNIFICANT amount of knowledge about a subject.

What else can you get done? Just automate it and make it your reason for living.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Humans evolved in motion; hunting, fighting, and surviving. Since starting NYUCD in September, I’ve lost track of how many 16 hour days were spent sitting in the same spot (my version of surviving tigers like Dr. Baker and Dr. Roy )

This isn’t a complaint, but my current grind is that of sitting and studying, and my future profession is that of sitting and grinding. Dentistry is up there on the list of professions with most work related injuries, so I think now is the best time as ever to get physically fit for life.

For the month of February I decided to do whatever I had to do in order to make time for exercise. I have been exercising before, but now I wanted to take it to the next level, with more commitment, and most importantly for me, with more structure.

My friend recommended a workout routine from Flex Magazine, which is designed to build huge guns (arms!). What I like about this plan is that it covers in great detail exactly when and how to weight lift, as well as a nutritional plan that accompanies the workouts.

That plan covered 3 days a week, and for the other days I did either moderate intensity cardio, high intensity interval training cardio, various chest exercises, or a strength training routine from Strong Lifts. So while I had the Flex routine, which was my go-to exercise that gave my workout-week structure, I also experimented with other things in an effort to find out what works for me.

There were a couple of days when I was so busy that at the end of the day the gym was already closed, and I had to get some exercises done right in the apartment. I just did basic Calisthenics, and one time I actually did sets of squats with Marina on my shoulders. Pretty funny, with the added bonus of her cheering me on from up by the ceiling!

Here’s the point. Dental students are as busy as people can get in my opinion. Onslaughts of examinations, studying, and hours of lab work occupy all of our time. I haven’t even seen my family in two months. If I can find the time to exercise with our schedules, I am sure that you can find some time to exercise.

Overcoming ‘Not Enough Time To Exercise’

If it weren’t for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn’t get any exercise at all. ~Joey Adams

I’m not going to make a top 100 list here. There are only so many fundamentals, and I believe that anyone can find one that works for them in the simple list of three below.

1. Time Journal. For 2-3 days keep a detailed journal of everything you do throughout the day. Do this with a simple pad and paper, and you will soon discover exactly where your time sinks are. You can then choose to be more efficient on tasks, cut others out, and ultimately rescue a half an hour to an hour of time per day to exercise.

2. Wake Up Early. You can work waking up earlier into your schedule. The thought of this might seem inhumane, but the reality is that you get used to everything, even this. Once you’ve done it enough times, you’ll wake up with more energy, and have more energy throughout your day.

3. High Intensity Workouts. Research shows that high intensity workouts in short bursts are more effective than long exercises. So if you’re physically capable, and your manage your time so well that you don’t have any free time as it is, then consider how a 10-15 minute high intensity workout can be worked in right before your shower time.

The ‘not enough time to exercise’ excuse was one that my mom has used for years. After all, she’s a dentist, a business owner, a mother, a grandmother (by way of my older sister), a wife, a friend to many, and a million other things. I literally begged her everyday for a period of 6 months to get a personal trainer to help her get started. She simply woke up earlier 4 times a week to workout with a trainer, stopped eating after 6pm, and cut out her evening TV session to speed-walk an hour outside. The result is that she currently lost 85 pounds (38.5 kg), while her schedule is still as busy as can ever.

Forming the Exercise Habit

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~Aristotle

I’ve gone in and out of periods in my life when I went to the gym often, and when I pretty much did nothing. There were different factors involved, and a lot of lessons learned, but once again let’s look at the fundamentals:

1. Structure. When it comes to exercise, I find that it helps when I work hard physically, but not mentally. I want to wake up and know exactly what it is that I’m responsible for doing on this given day. Right now my arms routine gives me structure, but I remember when I earned my black belt in Taekwondo, my instructors gave me all the structure I could ask for on a daily basis. The point is, you want to research, pick something, and then stick to it so you have nothing left to think about — just do it.

2. Friends. One of the most important things you can do is approach your most in shape friend. Even if working out with them is not an option, they can teach you more in a 30 minute conversation than you can learn in a long time of searching the advertisement-riddled internet. Research proves that you’re going to assimilate to the people you surround yourself with, so surround yourself with people you respect and admire.

3. Metrics. Keeping track of your progress is very motivating and helps you by striving for higher goals. Whether you keep track of how long and fast you can run, how much weight you can lift, how many inches are on your waste, or your body fat percentage, you will see that when you’re keeping track, you want to stay on track. Forget BMI and your weight, these are not helpful because they do not distinguish between the muscle and fat in your body composition. You could easily start gaining weight while your physique becomes more sculpted since muscle weighs more than fat.

4. Give the 30 day trial method a try. Last month I did a 30 day trial with perfect class attendance. I did it, and then I quit it because it did not resonate with me. I decided that it was more important to manage my energy, and study at times that I am feeling focused. The commitment was just for 30 days, followed by an evaluation, and then either a drop or a re-commitment. This time, I’m going to continue with the habit I have formed in my 30 day trial, and continue to exercise daily.

My Next 30 Days

We want to remove negative habits, replace them with positive habits, and build upon positive habits with more positive habits. I’m going to continue my habit of daily exercise, and add a new 30 day trial of writing a very detailed list of tasks to accomplish for tomorrow.

Each day, by the time I’m ready to hit the sack, I will have written everything I need to accomplish based on my life goals and my most important priorities. The point is not necessarily to work myself to exhaustion, but to remove any confusion or hesitation about what I should be doing, based on no ones values other than my own.

How do you feel about exercise? What 30 day challenge will you work on? If you like this article, please Stumble it and share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, I’d appreciate it.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

This might be old news, but I am just BLOWN AWAY by the alarming statistics of disease in our country.  Did you know that 80% of Americans are overweight and 30% are considered to be obese?  Worse, The World Health Organization states that 75% of all American deaths are diet related!

The US spent $2.26 trillion on health care in 2007!!! This is more than any other country in the world!

According to Paul Lemanski, MD, MS, FACP, author of Benefiting the Planet as well as the Individual,

“A reduced reliance on medication requires a diet and lifestyle that optimizes body weight with a predominately plant based diet in combination with increased physical activity.”

Translation:

If we eat mostly plants and exercise, we will experience less disease. Sounds simple enough, right? Well then, why aren’t more people incorporating what seems to be “common sense” into their lifestyle?

There are several reasons…

Time and money come to mind initially but a lot of the time it is simply ignorance:  Some people just don’t know what they don’t know.

A few days ago, a lady who I am coaching asked me if her fruit cups would be considered a healthy snack!  I was amazed at the question and actually had to explain to her that there was absolutely NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE in her packaged snack of choice.  Heck, with all of the added preservatives and high fructose corn syrup, she may as well have chosen a chocolate bar.  At least dark chocolate has antioxidants in it.

Anyway, it is a very sad reality, but what we don’t know is killing us.

Besides the poor quality food we eat, we live in an EXTREMELY toxic environment.  The air we breathe, the mattress we sleep on (doused in flame retardant by law) and even the showers that we bathe in (our water is “purified” with chlorine here in the US).

Can you imagine on any given day, how many toxins are introduced to our bodies?  The number is insurmountable. There is no wonder that we are one of the unhealthiest nations in the world!  With the wealth and knowledge that we have, we shouldn’t be on that list at all!

Anyway, so what do we do about this “toxic burden”?

Well, your body is already doing it!  To protect itself against these toxins, your body will actually store fat as a defense mechanism!

Picture this:  We have trillions of cells in our body. Imagine each cell coating itself with just a little bit of fat to protect itself from the impurities that enter your system.

The problem is that with all of this “excess junk” in our systems, we are carrying a lot of excess fat to counter it.

The only logical solution is to cleanse ourselves of these impurities.  Many indigenous countries around the world have already been practicing cleansing as a lifestyle for decades – and they are healthier as a result of it.

By cleansing your body, you are removing the toxins which are a threat to your cells and organs.  Once the threat is gone, your body can relinquish the fat that it has been storing!

There are many different ways to cleanse your body and I would recommend that you look into the benefits of cleansing for yourself.  I would be happy to share with you what I have found to work for me and countless others if you want.

I personally dropped 7% body fat in 3 weeks using one particular system.  Just send me an email or look me up on facebook.

In the meantime, here are a few steps you can take to get you started down the right path to healthy living:

1. Only drink purified water. A step beyond that is only drink Alkalized water. A good rule of thumb is to drink half of your body weight in ounces per day.  Next time you feel hungry, reach for your water first and see if that doesn’t satisfy the craving.
2. Get a water purifier for your shower head. Your skin is your largest organ – protect it!
3. Organically grown is always best. If you can’t get to a local farmer’s market, cruise the outside perimeter of your supermarket.  The inside isles really don’t have much to offer in terms of nutritional value.
4. Stay away from packaged foods. They are usually high in preservatives and lack the nutritional value that your body needs.
5. Snack. In addition to your 3 meals a day, you should be snacking throughout the day.  I personally eat something almost every hour, even if it is only a few almonds.  This will keep your metabolism revved up all day long.
6. Get plenty of Z’s. About 8 hours of sleep each night is ideal.
7. Exercise. Last but not least, 20-30 minutes of exercise each day will keep you looking and feeling your best.  For workout tips, you can check out www.trainerstip.com which is hosted by my brother, Luke Guldan.

Bianca Perilli and I used to play together in the park when we were kids living in Brooklyn. Recently reunited thanks to Facebook, I’ve come to learn that despite growing our own separate ways, we are both huge fans of Jim Rohn, and Bianca is a nutritional coach very much obsessed with personal development. If you have any questions, or would like more information on how you can do a nutritional cleanse, drop Bianca a line via e-mail or phone.

Bianca Perilli
917.476.7589
Bianca@biancaperilli.com

My friend, and future Doctor, Sofiya, shared an inspirational story with me the other day about an acquaintance of hers. We’ll call this acquaintance Margie (not real name).

Margie is a classic example of a girl with no discipline, who let herself go, and was basically shunned by boys because of being overweight, having a low self-esteem, and being a social misfit of sorts.

Margie would complain that guys always treated her badly, and that at 21 years of age she was still not able to forge an intimate connection with a member of the opposite sex. She knew that she had to change, but her chief complaint was always “I can’t.”

I think we can all relate, whether by being there ourselves or knowing someone who wears the “I can’t” attitude around with them, that this is one of the worst mental states to be in. While Margie said she couldn’t lose weight, or didn’t know how, people like Sofiya and other people in Margie’s life would always think to themselves “Of course you can, plenty of other people have, and so can you.” I’m just not sure if enough people were straight up with Margie, or kind enough to zap her into consciousness and get her to take action.

“If you’re one of those people who goes around saying ‘I don’t know what to do,’ please believe me when I tell you that no one around you actually believes your story. You’re more transparent than you realize. To other people it just sounds like pointless whining.”
~Steve Pavlina in Your Wealthy Avatar

If we take a good hard look at some of our excuses, chances are that we’ll be able to laugh and see how ridiculous they are. I mean, come on, people with far less than you and I have accomplished far more.

Discipline: From Rock Bottom

This story might have a happy ending, maybe. I don’t know where Margie will be by the end of her life, but a part of her story stood out in my mind that I wanted to share it with everyone here… with the world.

One day Margie woke up from a night of sleep, I’m guessing it was on a day that she just couldn’t take it anymore and hit something like rock bottom, and decided that from this day forward she would no longer bite her nails. If you’re thinking what does nail biting have to do with weight loss, and how is this going to help her get into a relationship with someone that will be nice to her, then let me explain.

As a side story, I remember listening to an Anthony Robbins audio program, where he described a huge business transaction that he was doing with a very beautiful and powerful woman. The deal was all locked, they were just about to sign on the dotted line and go for dinner, when the woman noticed Anthony’s nails as he was going to sign the contract. His nails were bitten. The woman declared that because Anthony did not have the self-discipline to not bite his nails, then she did not want to do business with him, and the whole deal was off right then and there. Lesson learned.

Margie declaring that she would not bite her nails from this day forward, and as far as I know she hasn’t, was like doing a small workout for her discipline muscle. When we’ve let ourselves go, our discipline muscle has become flabby and atrophied. In order to build it up, we have to work it out by starting small, and then working our way up to bigger and better goals.

Jim Rohn would relate this type of behavior to doing pushups. Do 1 pushups if you can, and rest, then do another. Keep doing this until you’re strong enough to do 2. Rest in between, but don’t rest too long, because if you don’t keep at it, the muscles are going to get weak again.

On a random day after conquering her nail biting habit, Margie woke up, and declared that she would lose 10 lbs of fat from her obese and neglected body. With the confidence of her nail biting conquest to motivate her, and remind her that she can do something she puts her mind to, Margie went on to lose those 10 lbs without a problem. A few declarations later, and Margie has lost a whopping 50 lbs of fat.

From what I hear, Margie looks significantly better and healthier at this point, but still has a lot of work to do. I’m sure that her new found discipline is affecting all areas of her life. I wish Margie the best of luck in succeeding to conquer all her goals in life, and I’m sure that she will meet that special guy, when she’s made herself attractive enough inside and out.

The moral of the story is, stop complaining, stop making excuses, and make a declaration that you will not stand for being less than you can be. Start small, take action, and keep building up to bigger and better goals to create the very best version of yourself that you can dream up.

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Q: Doctor,  I’ve heard that  cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your  heart is only good for so many  beats, and that’s it…  don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out  eventually.  Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer?  Take a  nap.

Q: Should  I cut  down on meat and  eat more fruits and  vegetables?
A: You  must grasp  logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables.  So a steak  is nothing more  than an efficient mechanism of  delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source  of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can  give you  100% of your recommended daily allowance of  vegetable  products.

Q: Should  I reduce my  alcohol intake?
A: No,  not at all.  Wine is made from fruit.  Brandy is  distilled wine, that means they take the water out of  the fruity bit so you  get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out  of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How  can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well,  if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one  to one. If you have two bodies, your  ratio is two to  one, etc.

Q: What  are some of  the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can’t  think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain…Good!

Q:  Aren’t  fried  foods bad for you?
A:  YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!! …..  Foods are fried these days in  vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it.  How could  getting more  vegetables be bad for  you?

Q:  Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft  around  the middle?
A: Definitely not! When  you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q:  Is chocolate bad for me?
A:  Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa  beans ! Another vegetable!!! It’s the best feel-good   food around!

Q:  Is swimming good for your figure?
A:  If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And  remember:
‘Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving  safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather  to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one  hand – chocolate in  the other – body thoroughly used up,  totally worn out and screaming ‘WOO  HOO, What a  Ride’

AND…..

For  those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final  word on nutrition and health.
It’s a relief to know the  truth after all those conflicting nutritional  studies.

1. The Japanese eat  very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than  Americans.

2. The Mexicans  eat a lot of  fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than  Americans.

3. The Chinese  drink very little  red wine
and  suffer fewer heart attacks than  Americans.

4. The  Italians drink a lot of red  wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than  Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of  sausages and fats
and suffer fewer heart attacks than   Americans.

CONCLUSION

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

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I’d also like to welcome the regular Mizfit readers that are going to be coming over here today. I’ve humbly watched Carla’s blog, and have seen first hand that you are some of the greatest bunch of people on the blogosphere. Feel free to look around, comment, and stop by anytime – mi casa su casa.

On with the show!

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can find all of Carla’s MizFit Monday Facetimes here ( http://www.youtube.com/user/chickenbus2006) and the rest of her daily musings at MizFitOnline.com, and if you’ve seen Carla’s arms in the video above, then you know that she can snap you like a slim jim!

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Its that time of the year; Colds, runny noses and coughs are all about us and despite your best attempts to stay healthy its inevitable you will one day cross paths with the wrong person and catch a nasty little bug. Not to fear though all cold’s can be stopped in their tracks by following a few easy steps when you start to feel things coming on…..

On Monday I started feeling a little under the weather while at work, I braved it through the day and now I’m feeling great, I never let the bug take hold of me and I was feeling tip top all week. This was in part thanks to a few simple things I did as soon as I felt something was attacking my immune system. In years gone by I would have probably been in bed drinking lemon and honey tea. Not this year!

1- Clock in your 9 Hours

In an ideal world you want to be getting this much sleep every night anyway, It will not only get your hormones in shape allowing you to burn fat and build muscle but it will also allow your  mind to rewind and clear all the clutter and stress from the day gone by.

This becomes doubly important when your feeling under the weather or like a cold is coming on as on top of all this sleep is the time in which your body will heat up and kill the virus’s that are attacking your immune system and giving you that sniffly nose!

2- Eat A Light Breakfast

The morning is your natural time of detox, therefore its best to stay away from large meals that will put strain on your digestive system. Go for something high in water and minerals. I like to start the day off with a herbal tea with half a lemon squeezed in, this doesn’t only give you a vitamin C boost which will help combat the infection it will also re-hydrate you after the nights sleep.

This excerpt from the Warrior Diet is great:

Contrary to what you may be told, morning is the worst time to eat. When you wake-up, your body is already in an intense detox mode, clearing itself from endotoxins and digestive waste of the past evening meal. During the morning hours, when digestion is fully completed (while you are on empty stomach), a primal survival mechanism, known as fight or flight reaction to stress, is triggered maximizing your body’s capacity to generate energy, be alert, resist fatigue and resist stress.

Try and stick to some fruit and nuts along with some herbal tea and maybe an espresso if you feel like a cold is coming on. This will help your body detox and flush out the virus speeding up your recovery and stopping the bug getting hold of you!

My Favorite light breakfast is a bowl of Blueberries mixed with a handful of raw nuts and a sprinkling of cinnamon. I usually have this with an espresso made from organic coffee.

3- Zinc, Zinc, Zinc

This stuff is key to your immune system:

Many types of immune cells appear to depend upon zinc for optimal function. Researchers have studied the effects of zinc deficiency (and zinc supplementation) on immune response and number of white blood cells, including specific studies on T lymphocytes, macrophages, and B cells (all types of white blood cells). In these studies, zinc deficiency has been shown to compromise white blood cells numbers and immune response, while zinc supplementation has been shown to restore conditions to normal.

Its found in abundance in foods like Nuts, Seeds and some greens like broccoli. I would suggest taking a good dose of Zinc at times when your immune system feels compromised. A good supplement to take to make sure your not Zinc deficient is ZMA it will not only help you sleep better and give you a good dose of vital Magnesium but it will cover your Zinc needs and keep your immune system running well all year round.

4- Get Walking

When you start feeling unwell its best to stop any vigorous exercise, Instead replace it with a couple brisk walks everyday. This will facilitate the function of the lymphatic symptom which is key to flushing out toxins and getting you on the road to recovery.

Drop your regular fitness routine until you feel 100% and instead replace it with the following:

-Light stretching and some Body weight work upon waking. Include a few sets of pushups and body weight squats along with some light stretching. I would recommend some Yoga poses. This will help the flow of blood around your body not only energizing you but getting your mind ready for the day in hand.

-Two to Three 10 Minute Brisk walks a day in an ideal world these would come before each main meal of the day. Soak up the fresh air and sun if your lucky enough to have it, Go for a walk on your lunch break there is nothing better than getting away from your working environment for a while and just being in the moment outside!

5- Nature’s Vitamin C

Vitamin C is vital to fight off any infections and to me there is no better way to get it than from some fresh fruit. Things like Orange’s, Kiwi’s and Berries are packed with the stuff. Take Advantage! Not only do these foods taste great but they will stop you getting a cold and help you fight one away.

Get creative; I have been making fruit and nut salads with diced up oranges, Kiwi’s and Cranberries topped with some Manuka Honey and chopped nuts. Not only is this delicious and something the whole family will enjoy, its also cheap and easy to make!

Putting it Together…..

This is by no means meant to be a medical guide, its just a collection of my favorite tips for when you start feeling something coming on (blocked sinus’s, headache, sniffly nose, croaky voice) following these tips could help you fight things off in a matter of hours rather than days….

• Sleep for 8-10 hours
• Eat a breakfast of Fruit and Nuts plus plenty of Water and Tea
• Get your Zinc in!
• Exercise light and early, get some fresh air
• Eat Fruit high in Vitamin C

Its that simple and could keep you cold and flu free this winter!

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Visit Chris and Zen To Fitness for more.

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First, I’ll tell you one of the reasons that prompted me to go on this little health kick. I started reading Steve Pavlina’s book, Personal Development for Smart People, and the very first chapter came with a self-assessment exercise. After taking the self-assessment, I ranked my health a 1 out of 10. Judging by such a low rank you would think I’m completely immobile or bed ridden with some horrible disease.

I’m 23, and grateful to be pretty healthy. However, the reason I ranked myself so low was based on the path that I was on, instead of ranking myself based on how healthy I am at this exact moment. After traveling a lot this summer, and eating a lot of carbs on the run, I gained a lot of extra weight from empty calories. I was 195 lbs at 5’8′. This is way overweight if you look at any height/weight charts, although I looked at least 15 lbs less than I weighed.

Since the path was leading me in a bad direction, I rated my health very low. On top of that, the exercise says that if you aren’t at an 8, 9, or 10, then you must automatically bring your score down to a 1, because you aren’t where you want to be and you’re just diluting yourself. As any good reader would, I followed the advice, and slammed my score down to a 1. Looking at the 1 was reason enough to make a plan for how I was going to lose some of those extra pounds.

My approach was geared less at dieting than at leading a healthy lifestyle. This included incorporating the 11 principles you see below:

1. Drink 1 Gallon of Water Daily.
2. One Cup of Water Before Snacking.
3. Sunday Fasting
4. No Sweets
5. 3 hours before bed, meal cut off
6. Last meal salad only
7. Fruit snacks
8. 30 chews per bite
9. Daily 30 (Walking)
10. Daily Cardio
11. Eat only when hungry, except breakfast

For a more detailed look at these principles, you can visit the article I wrote about these habits.

The fundamental principle that I like to base this website on is that the advice I give is practical, thus ‘Practical Personal Development.’ It turns out that starting 11 new habits all at the same time is not exactly practical, and can in fact become a bit overwhelming. When you overwhelm yourself with too many new habits, you become very susceptible to quiting all together

For the past week, I haven’t exercised. During last Sunday’s race, I ran 5 miles, and by Monday night I realized that I had hurt my foot. I limped around all week, and wasn’t quite sure how serious it was. Friday I went to a Podiatrist just to be on the safe side, and he told me it’s a strain. He also mentioned that my foot rolls when I walk, so I should get special soles for my shoes to counteract that.

Besides the foot thing, the changing weather in New Jersey has got me feeling sick. I used this week to get plenty of rest, and take it easy, so that I can get well and have a really productive week next week, because I have a lot lined up.

As far as following all 11 principles, it’s pretty much as hard as it appears. Drinking 1 gallon of water is super hard, even if I’m sitting at home, pretty close to a bathroom. On days when I’m working or interning, it’s even more inconvenient, because I don’t want to be taking bathroom breaks every 20 minutes when I’m with patients.

I found that I had to readjust my fasting to Saturday on two occasions, because I decided to do races Sundays, and racing plus fasting are not compatible. Everything else is not too difficult at all, and is based solely on willpower. Sure there is some inconvenience involved, but if you prioritize and set your mind to it, it becomes quite doable.

Ultimately, I set out to lose 20 lbs and I lost 14 lbs. There’s different ways to look at these numbers. I could say that I’m disappointed that I didn’t meet my goal, and that would be a legitimate viewpoint. Conversely, I take a viewpoint which dictates that I made a positive incremental improvement. This loss of excess weight was done in a healthy manner, and at a pace that was not too extreme for my body. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed the full experience.

Future Outlook

I doubt I’ll be concentrated so much on weight loss in the coming months. I’m going to shift my physical goals to training for certain athletic events. I would like to decrease the amount of time it takes me to run 1 mile, by doing various forms of speed exercise. I’m also interested in improving my swimming form, something I’ve never worked on before, so that I can complete a triathlon in the future.

I now rate myself an 8 out of 10 in the health category. I’ll stick to the healthy lifestyle, toy around with different eating habits, and implement new healthy food recipes. Now it’s time to tackle a new challenge, and improve more areas of my life!

Drop by the comment section below:

1. Tell us what challenge you’re inspired and motivated to take on.
2. Tell us what accomplishment you’re proud of, we’d like to know.
   

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This past Sunday I participated in my second race, which was an 8 kilometer (5 mile) race in Central Park, NY. This event was hosted by New York Road Runners and Poland Spring (my favorite water company). There were a total of 6472 participants running, so this created a lot of energy and buzz before, during, and after the race.

I woke up at 4:15 AM, showered, ate some oatmeal, hung out with Marina for a few minutes and headed over to meet the group. Our meeting spot was the LA Fitness parking lot in North Brunswick, NJ, where we got together at 5:30 AM to drive into the city.

It’s always more fun when you go in a group, especially when everyone with me was a much more experienced runner. I got to ask my running questions, get direct answers, and it happened to be that everyone in the group is awesome and has a huge personality.

When we got there the sun was barely peaking over the horizon (as if we could see a Horizon in the middle of NYC). Not many people were there yet, and we could see the staff setting up the stage for the performers and announcers, as well as the line of people signing up to be volunteers. I immediately signed up for the race, handed over my thirty-five bucks, and scrambled to get my free Poland Spring T-shirt and shoelaces, which I will cherish as a memory of this milestone.

After about an hour of hanging out with Nora, Marge, Binti, Nicholas, and Michael it was time to line up at our respective spots at the starting line. With over 6,000 people, the participants were divided according to their estimated pace. Since this was going to be the first time I raced an 8K (actually the first time that I would ever attempt to run that far in my entire life) I put a modest 10 minutes per mile.

Little did I know that putting that number down as my pace would put me pretty much at the end of the line of runners. Luckily we all had a timing chip attached to our sneakers, so the countdown started once we personally passed the starting line, and ended at the finish. It actually took me a good 5-7 minutes to reach the starting line after the race had begun.

There were many people cheering at the starting line, which gave me extra energy and motivation. The only problem was I couldn’t run full speed, because there were way too many people in my way. It felt like bumper to bumper traffic, and I was weaving in and out of lanes.

Every few hundred yards there was a pair of volunteers whose sole purpose it seems was to cheer on the runners. At this point, all I thought was that it was nice of the volunteers to come out and cheer, but didn’t realize just how instrumental they would soon be.

Coming up to the second mile my legs felt very fatiqued. I actually thought about slowing down, or walking, and saw a lot of people that had already pulled over to the side to walk it out.

I remembered that just last week I ran a race that was 3.11 miles. I knew I could do at least that much, so I was determined to reach that point no matter what. This is where I began to realize just how valuable those volunteers on the side really are. “Good job runners! Looking strong!” were the words of inspiration around every corner. Hey, if they think I’m looking strong, I can’t disappoint them, can I?

I blew past the 3.11 mile, and then past the 3.5 – things seem a bit easier once you’re half way done, because you just say to yourself that if you did it once you can do it again. However, something happened at the 3.75 area that I wasn’t expecting.

A big terribly painful cramp around my right rib area, which I believe is called a stitch. No one likes to be in pain, especially not when they’re tired and trying to run. I held onto my side, and tried to massage it as a ran. “Looking good runners, you’re almost there!” That helped, once again, but there was something even bigger that helped to work through the pain.

I thought about how I was going to write this article, and how I’d be able to inspire someone by sharing my running story of pushing through, and not giving up. I was tired, I was in pain, and I had nothing to prove to anybody. All that kept me going was a personal challenge, and the fact that I wanted to get to the end.

Around the 4.5 mile point I completely forgot about the pain. At this point I could pretty much see the finish line, so I started to run as fast as my feet would take me. Everyone in front of me who wasn’t already done was on the slow side at this point, and I felt like The Flash as I passed them on their left hand side.

As I ran I saw hordes of people on both sides of the finish line area. Some were cheering, and waiting for their loves ones, while others were taking video and photo shots. I felt like a star and like all eyes were on me. That didn’t matter though, I knew I didn’t win any prize, or finish within the first couple of thousand.

All I could think about was that I made a goal, and in about 20 yards that goal would transform into an achievement.

I finished the 5 miles in 48:41, which is about 9 and a half mile pace, a bit faster then I estimated on the sign up form. Not Olympic speed yet, but not at all bad for a first timer.

There’s nothing better than the feeling of integrity – of saying you’re going to do something, and then doing it.

Now it’s time to hear from you. See if you can answer these two questions in the comments section below.

1. Motivation. What motivates you to push yourself in a race, at work, and in life in general?
2. Aspirations. What do you aspire to do in your life? Let’s set a new personal goal right here.

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The goal is to lose 20 lbs by October 31st. I basically have a week left in order to lose 7 more lbs. The chance of me losing all that weight while still eating anything seems like an over zealous goal at this point. However, I’m not giving up, not just yet.

You can see the weight loss plan, that I created for myself at the start of this month. I put together some common sense tactics in order to get the most weight loss with the least amount of thinking.

Brutal Honesty

I ate really badly this week. Not that every meal was bad, 90% of them were just as healthy as before, but I purposely went for some horrible choices for the sheer sinful fun of it. Let’s see what I can remember…

1. Chicken parmesan sandwhich
2. Multigrain bagel with veggie cream cheese
3. 2 Coffees
4. Insanely hot chicken wings, with fries, and a beer
5. Some kind of sour candy

That’s the unhealthiest of it. However, I think it was enough to stop the weight loss from progressing further this week. On the other hand, the thing that I think did me in the worst is that I didn’t stay as hydrated as I needed to. I ran out of my big 1 gallon waters and never got more from the store. These are great for keeping track of how much water I drink, but I’ll work on creating an even better system, one that doesn’t involve me lugging these uncomfortably sized gallons around.

Exercise

I’m continuing with spin class 2-3 times per week. I’ve also started doing some heavier exercises because my back is feeling better, and because Nora made me. As I mentioned in my previous post on running, I ran my first race on Sunday, which was a pretty cool milestone in my life. I even saved the racing numbers, as a memento to the very first race and to many more to come.

Yesterday after my internship, Michael and I, ran around central park. The goal was the run the whole 5 mile perimeter in the same way as described on the New York Road Runner’s map for this Sunday’s race. Unfortunately we took the smaller circle before the lake, and ended up messing up our running scheme. I didn’t have it in me to do the whole 5 mile track after already running, so we just ran around at random before returning to the car.

This Sunday will be the real deal Poland Spring race. At this point I just want to finish. I’ve never run 8K straight in my life, but one day when I’m running marathons these measly 5 miles will seem like a joke!

Healthy Eating

I think the biggest deal with eating healthy is keeping the refrigerator stocked. I haven’t gone shopping as much this week, and that left some perishables (namely vegetables) not good for eating. When that happens I notice myself eating more meat, which is not the best substitute for veggies!

Otherwise you can refer to the week 2 weight loss report to see the typical meals that I enjoy throughout the week.

It’s Not Over

It’s not over till the fat lady sings… that’s what they say anyway. I’m going to exercise extra hard this week, and be more on point with the healthy meals. However, even if I don’t reach 175lbs within my goal period, I know that I’ve already developed some better habits as well as a good out look on food.

I’m already educated in health and healthy eating, and know a thing or two about fitness, but it’s a totally different ball game when it comes to tackling bad habits and evil inclinations. The biggest hurdle to over come now is not being disappointed at the lack of weight loss and to just push forward.

The best thing that has come out of this month is my new love for running. Now that I’ve figured out where I stand, and have set several running goals to challenge myself, as well as found some places that consistently hold races that I can train for, I am ready to live an extra clean and healthy lifestyle.

What goals are you going to set for yourself for the month of November?

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“I don’t believe in diets, I believe in a healthy lifestyle – I don’t believe in working out, I believe in training – I don’t believe in competition, I believe in challenging yourself.” ~Nora Mamadjanova

They say that each of us is a combination of the five people we spend most of our time with. I hope this is true, because I’ve been spending a lot of time with my trainer Nora, who, judging by the quote above, is definitely someone I would like to model.

This past Sunday she got me to come out and do a race with her at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY. This was a race organized by the popular New York Road Runners organization. My first official race, I was a bit intimidated by the 5K (3.11 mile run).

The race started out across a straight field, then onto gravel, and then it went up a hill, then another hill, and another hill… about 7 hills in a row. This was definitely different from what I’ve previously done on the treadmill and around the development where I live.

After the first 3 hills I became tired, and I saw a few people coming off to the side because they were winded. I started thinking about what Nora said to me, “don’t worry about anyone else, pace yourself, and the important thing is to just finish.” I wasn’t sure if by ‘finish’ she meant I had to run through the whole race, or if walking was permissible as long as I got past the finish line…

Since I forgot to clarify, I wasn’t about to let her down, and I sure as hell couldn’t let myself down. I started focusing on just two things – the next step – and – this will make for a cool blog article. I kept going, up the hill, and up the next hill… over and over again.

This past summer I did a lot of traveling, which (insert big fat excuse here) made it difficult to eat healthy and exercise on a consistent basis. The truth is, of course, I could have eaten healthy and exercised wherever I was in the world. Anyway, I got a bit out of shape, which you can see I’m remedying with the weekly weight loss reports. Basically, I ran about 7 times in preparation for this race, as well as attended spin class (reaction cycling) 2-3 times per week, for 6 weeks, which consists of biking roughly 13 miles per session.

Now I’m addicted to endorphins, which is the release of “happy” hormones into your blood stream during and after a long/strong bout of exercise. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be attending spin class 5 times this week, speed training with my running, and next Sunday I will run an 8K (5 miles) race in Central Park, NY. This is the famous Poland Spring race which is the kickoff the the New York City Marathon.

Nora’s Three Athlete-Principles

“I don’t believe in diets, I believe in a healthy lifestyle” ~Nora Mamadjanova

Instead of being the type of person that starves herself, or tries some kind of a fad diet in order to lose some quick weight, gaining it all back as soon as the diet ends, Nora recommends a healthy lifestyle through healthy eating and consistent exercise.

This is very much aligned with my “weight loss” plan, which has some guidelines I’ve set for myself that can be followed indefinitely for a healthy lifestyle. I’m also actively making exercise a very central and core part of my life. Especially after that 80 year old guy passed me in the race!

“I don’t believe in working out, I believe in training” ~Nora Mamadjanova

I think what she meant by this is that it’s pointless to go to the gym and mindlessly lift weights on isolated body parts. Not only are there more benefits to doing full body strength exercises (like Crossfit for example), but it also makes much more sense to train for races, such as Marathons, Triathlons, or Iron Man events.

From my viewpoint I couldn’t agree more with this. I’ve never been more motivated to move my body and make gains in my exercises than right now. I have a training plan for the week that involves spin, running specific times and speeds, as well as strength training, and that’s because I know I want to kick butt this coming Sunday at the Poland Spring race.

“I don’t believe in competition, I believe in challenging yourself” ~Nora Mamadjanova

Look at any super star athlete that is the best in their field. I think they’ll unanimously tell you the same exact thing, “I don’t look at what the guy next to me is doing, I’m here to set a new best for myself.” I think Nora lives this for sure, because before the race she told me she doesn’t care about winning, she just wants to do it for fun and to add on miles before she runs the New York City Marathon in a couple of weeks, yet she still ended up taking home second place medal.

I can totally relate to this. Even though I didn’t win, I did run next to people and tried to pace myself with them without any luck. Once I started blocking them out, and running at my own pace, I stopped caring about if something hurts, or if I have lead in my feet, and just concentrated on forward motion.

I think I can relate to this on an even bigger level. People have been asking me every day why I want to lose weight, because “I look great at my current weight,” and if I listened to all of them I might as well just give up and eat McDonald’s all day.

The time for my first official race was just under 31 minutes for a 5K, which is respectful for a first race, but on the slow side. I think it’s great because I ran by myself earlier this week and clocked in at about 40 minutes, and without nearly as many hills. Regardless, this gives me a good base to start from, and I’ll be able to improve my time as I move forward with my new love for running.

My question to the readers is, what would you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail?

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Seeing that weight on the scale made me realize that it’s time to take action into my own hands. I’ve been reading about health for years, I know how to get fit, so all that’s left is to put my money where my mouth is. No problem.

The total weight loss from October 1st is 13lbs. That’s 11.5lbs during the first week, and 1.5 during the second. Naturally one would expect to have a huge loss in the beginning because it’s all water weight and toxic that gets cleared out of your system when you start exercising and drinking a lot of water. The healthy amount of weight to lose is just 2lbs per week. If you’re very overweight 2lbs a week is a nice 108 for the year.

The premise behind my weight loss routine is that setting up the proper habits will absolve me from having to make decisions about food. I know now when I can and cannot eat, what I can and cannot eat, how long I should chew my food, and how much exercise I need to do per day.

Hardships

I’m not having any trouble resisting sweets. My one cheat meal for the week was a burger with fries, and everything else was on point. I still can’t quite finish a full gallon of water, especially when I’m working or at my internship. Fasting is not easy, but I’ve done it both weeks, and feel great after wards.

It’s also a bit discouraging to go from such a whopping weight loss to only a 1.5lb loss during the second week. Realistically it makes a lot of sense, but on the emotional level it feels like not fast enough. So just as a small observation I did feel a bit disappointed during this weigh in because I won’t reach my goal of 175lbs by the end of this month if I proceed at this point.

Exercise

All the exercise I’ve been doing must be speeding up my metabolism. I’m much hungrier and eat an extra small meal of healthy food (salad or chicken) during the day. I think I can afford the calories considering how much I expend everyday.

I really enjoy going to spin class at least 3 times per week. Spin class is a group of people on stationary bikes, in a private room lit up by black lights, which pumps fast paced techno and rock music while an instructor motivates you and tells you how fast or how much resistance you should be at. For the first time I asked Nora, the spin instructor I have most of the time, how much we bike during a session and she said it’s around 13 miles. No wonder my endurance has been raising tremendously.

I’ve also started doing a bit of running. Sometimes I do spin class in the morning, and then I run in the evening. Some days, like today, all I did was run. I jogged 3.17 miles, a pinch over 5 kilometers, and it took me nearly 40 minutes. The distance is respectable considering I just started running recently, but I think it’s a bit too slow. Nora got me to enter a race with her and her running group this coming Sunday for 5 kilometers. At least I know I can finish, so I’ll have a base from which I can improve.

Injury

I hurt my back at work. I was assisting an oral surgeon, and we did an extraction of four wisdom teeth, and we ran into a complication. Since the doctor and the other assistant were both shorter than me, I was forced to stand in an excruciating position for my back for over an hour. From my professional opinion the surgeon did an awesome job, despite the circumstances, and the patient came out in perfect condition. I wish I could say the same for my back.

My chiropractor says my rhomboid muscles are in spasm which is causing the t7 vertebrae to get rotated off to the side. He cracked it back into place and did some therapy on the muscles. Combined with a 25 minute back massage Friday I’m still only at 50-75%. Doctors orders are that running and spin class are okay, but no lifting, not even so much as push-ups. This sucks, but I don’t want to further provoke the injury. If you know of any cool stretches/exercises for Rhomboids feel free to throw down a link or put the advice in the comments below.

Meals

• Breakfast. For the first meal I usually have Post Selects, Great Grains cereal. It tastes really good and seems nutritious enough. Alternatively, I have a bowl of oatmeal (with cut up banana on top), or make myself a vegetable omelet. Another thing I’ve had for breakfast, especially after fasting, is Kefir with fresh berries such as blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries.
• Lunch. This meal is a huge salad, whenever time allows, with some grilled chicken on top. I use the following salad recipe, and it’s healthy and so delicious. I mix it up a tad here and there, depending on the ingredients I have, and I never get bored of it.
• Dinner. Dinner is a smaller meal. I either fill up on small portion of protein, or more fruits and vegetables, depending on how I’m feeling or what’s available. Usually if I skip a meal it ends up being dinner. Then I wake up at 4-4:30 am to have breakfast before my 6 am spin class so that I have some energy.
• Snacks. Almonds, blueberries, stawberries, raspberries, bananas, apples, Kefir, chocolate cake (definitely not, just kidding!). Btw, my friend Artem tells me he has a secret recipe for a super healthy snack. You put a purple grape in the freezer and you get a natural candy. I’ll give this a try when food shopping today.

Overall

I feel more confident, not really because I look thinner, it’s only a small difference, but mostly because I’m proactively making a difference in my own life, eating energizing food, and exercising. It feels nice to be able to fast as well. I guess the confidence really comes from the fact that I’m exercising self-discipline, and that’s an amazing feeling to have.

Let’s take a quick Poll. How much do you think I’ll weigh 1 week from now. I’m currently at 182.

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I didn’t take this pledge lightly and gave it my all. I realize my week 1 weight loss is pretty unbelievable, and I’m pleasantly surprised myself. It feels as if toxic and fat just melted off my body. I’ve been staring at myself in the mirror everyday this week, so it’s hard for me to see all the details (I’m the dummy that didn’t take a before picture), but I’m starting to see more ribs for sure.

I also see a big difference in physical endurance. I just shred it up in spin class and on the treadmill these past couple of days with a new found energy and endurance.

Cheating

I guess you want to know if I followed all my guidelines from the previous article. No. I didn’t manage to pull off every single step flawlessly, even though I tried over and over again. The only cheating I did as far as food choices was to eat 1 piece of multigrain-raisen-nut bread with a thin layer of hummus during Saturday’s lunch, and a Chai from Panera later that afternoon.

My water-fast lasted 25 hours, from 4pm Saturday to 5pm Sunday. As I mentioned on Twitter, my first meal after the fast was Kefir and a serving of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Right after this meal my heart started to beat really quickly and my belly hurt, so I took a nap. First thing Monday morning at spin class I had more energy than I’ve ever had in my life — I felt like the incredible hulk.

Active vs. Passive Weight Loss

After going through one week of my weight loss plan I realized that some things are easier to keep than others, depending on your physical abilities and inner core of motivation.

Let’s take drinking 1 gallon of water per day. This was definitely a very active task. The first day I tried to do this I was peeing every 3 minutes and at one point, and for a duration for 5 minutes, I felt my kidney’s begin to hurt from all the peeing. That sucked. So I toned it down but drank as close to 1 gallon as I possibly could each day — find your own sweet spot for this and then go a little further.

Not eating after 7pm is more of a passive way to lose weight. It’s no skin off my back if I skip a meal because I couldn’t get my food in on time. It just means a couple hours of hunger before bed, but an extra enjoyment of food in the morning. I’ve actually come to enjoy hunger throughout this week. I don’t eat until I’m full, not even close, and that keeps me alert and energized throughout the day.

Chewing food started out as an active procedure where I had to actively count to 30 (or until the food was liquid) during every bite. However, after about 4 days I started to eat without remembering the count, and as soon as I took the first bite I started counting, and only when I got to about 10 I realized what I was counting — it became a habit quite quickly.

Not having sweets has been a passive experience for me. I haven’t put myself in many situations where I’ve been tempted by the sweets, and I’ve been either at the internship, work, or with family during the week. The first 2 don’t serve sweets, and the last one knows not to offer — makes it much easier.

For the most part I’ve had salad, or fruit salad as last meal, except one time where I had a piece of grilled chicken and beans. I felt like my body needed some extra protein because my legs were sore longer than usual after my last spin class.

Exceptions

Not making exceptions in the rules for yourself has to be the number one way to reach your goal. When you sit down to make your goals, with an educated and highly conscious idea of the journey that is required in order to get there, you put some good rules together. Once you start breaking them you leave the door open for more breaches to come. Each time you breach, it becomes easier and easier to breach again. The best thing I’ve noticed is to be harder on yourself than anybody else will be.

People around me keep saying that I look great at my current weight, and there’s no reason to lose more. Others say that I’m losing weight too fast, and that it’s “not good.” That doesn’t phaze me because I have a plan and I’m sticking to it!

Expectations

While I did lose more than half my goal weight in one-third of the time, I do realize that it’s now going to be harder. The first weight consisted of water — since I started drinking so much water my body stopped retaining it and thus I lost a few lbs of stored water. There was also some extra toxic, and the first level of easy to lose fat.

I expect that it will be harder for me to lose the last 8.5 lbs. However, harder is just a relative term. With this much weight already off, and these healthy nutritious meals energizing me and allowing me to train longer and harder, I expect that my boosted metabolism will continue to burn the fat and I’ll have no trouble reaching me target.

Your Chance To Build Me

Since I’m well on my way to reaching my 20 lb weight loss for the month of October I’m going to need another goal. If I don’t get another goal, I’m going to be at risk for getting bored, losing motivation, and reverting back to bad habits. This is where you come in!

You build the perfect machine. I’m pretty open to which direction you, my smart and beautiful readers, want me to go. I’m currently at 183.5 lbs. The doctor recommended weight for my height is approximately 160. Should I keep dropping weight, set a fitness goal, maintain my current weight, or do you have something else in mind for me? Share in the comments below!

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From the onset of the summer I have been feeling very impulsive and have cultivated a wide array of unhealthy food habits. This month I’m pledging to go from 195 lbs to 175 lbs, and I’m going to do it by NOT thinking.

Although I run a self-improvement blog, I’m just as susceptible to falling into bad habits as everyone else. However, I think I have more exposure and opportunity to become aware of my mistakes and to correct them before they become detrimental and leave me with regret (and if you take on journaling you will have the very same opportunity).

I’m 5’8″ and currently weighed in at 195 lbs, the largest weight I’ve been in my life. With my body structure, it’s impossible to tell that I weigh this much. The weight is evenly distributed throughout my body with some large deposits on my thighs. I think I look like I weigh 170 lbs (my spin class instructor told me I look like I weigh 160 lbs yesterday), so I was a slightly surprised at the scale. While I have been exercising almost every day, I doubt that most of this extra weight is new muscle — it has to be fat.

I gained this weight mindlessly. I removed every single restriction that I have had on eating and indulged in in breads, pastries, cookies, cakes, and ice cream and gorged on food until I couldn’t move. The way I’m going to lose this weight will be mindlessly as well. I’ll do it be setting up fool-proof restrictions and guidelines that will get me to my target weight, if I do nothing more than follow them.

I’m at a higher state of awareness while I am writing this article. I’m thinking clearly and have a definite and measurable goal in mind for this weight loss project. Tomorrow morning I might very well find myself in a low state of consciousness and awareness and be very liable to make a wrong decision. With this system, all the decisions are being made now; now all I have to do is stick to them.

Today is October 1st. My goal is to lose 20 lbs in 31 days and weigh 175 lbs on November 1st. The reason I want to lose this weight is so that I can be healthier, more energetic and more focused on my work.

11 Mindless Eating Habits for Skinny Robots

1. Drink 1 Gallon of Water Daily. This is a lot, but I believe it is the right amount. I haven’t been drinking this much liquid recently, let alone this much water. However, it will quench my thirst and keep my stomach full and unlikely to desire more food. I’m going to be peeing a lot the first week!
2. One Cup of Water Before Snacking. With a gallon of water going into me every day I’ll naturally be drinking water before everything. However, the point is that if I feel hunger, I will first drink a cup of water and wait 10 minutes, so that I can make sure I was hungry and not thirsty — the body has a way of confusing the two sometimes.
3. Sunday Fasting. For the next month I don’t have any work scheduled on Sunday. There are 4 Sundays in the month of October, so this means I will be doing a full water fast 4 times. (Read about all the benefits of fasting.)
4. No sweets. Let’s define what I mean by sweets. Cookies, candies, cakes, pastries, chocolates, ice creams and anything else with sugar in it that isn’t a fruit. I’ve already mentioned that I’ll be drinking nothing but water, which automatically removes all the high-carb and high-sugar beverages such as sodas and juices.
5. 3 hours before bed, meal cut off. Having a sleeping routine is awesome for getting all our body processes synchronized and optimized. I’d like to say that I’ll be in bed by 10pm each night, but I know I’ll have to be flexible on this one, especially on weekends. Regardless, I’m going to treat 10pm as bed time, and as such I’m going to make 7pm the last moment to get a piece of food into my mouth for the day.
6. Last meal salad only. It would be silly of me to make a last meal cutoff time and gorge on large amounts of food. That stuff would just sit in my stomach overnight and make me fat! I’m going to keep the last meal a light salad, and allow my stomach to go through a nightly fasting and detox period.
7. Fruit snacks. If I get hungry between meals the only choice is a fruit snack. Apples, pears, strawberries, and blueberries often make their way into my house and I’ll either be eating them straight, or blending them together with a few greens.
8. 30 chews per bite. My biggest problem with food is that I eat way too quickly. I’ve had this bad food habit ever since I could remember. I guess I have a large mouth, so I can basically inhale food without chewing if I wanted to. This is bad because I’m not grinding down the food enough to give it maximal surface area for digestion. For the next month I will be chewing each bite of food 30 times or until it’s liquid — whatever comes first.
9. Daily 30. Regardless of my exercise habits, I’m going to take a 30 minute walk with my iPod. I’m not going to create a rule that I’m going to jog during this walk, but it will be a brisk walk to get my heart rate up.
10. Daily cardio. I might not be able to make it to the gym everyday, but that’s not going to stop me from doing a daily cardio session. Twice a week my gym has 6am spin class, which is 45 minutes of intense bike cardio. Otherwise, I’m going to either run 30 minutes, ellyptical 30 minutes, or do a session of urban rebounder.
11. Eat only when hungry, except breakfast. I’m going to be a stickler for eating breakfast first thing in the morning or right after my morning workout routine, whether I’m hungry or not. It’s important to get the food in me early in order to start up my metabolism and keep my brain full of energy. However, for the remainder of the day I’ll only eat when I’m hungry, and not a bite more.

In addition to my daily cardio exercises, a friend of mine who is a professional personal trainer is going to show me two great morning routines. One for upper body, and one for lower body, so I can alternate them every day. This will be less time consuming, and more effective than whatever I can think up on my own and is geared toward having a lean Christian Bale (in American Psycho) type body.

I’m glad I put on the extra pounds (no regrets)! With all the changes that have been going on in my life lately, this gives me an excellent outlet to concentrate on as I move forward in my mission to take over the… ehh never mind!

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“There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.”
~Woody Allen

Effects of ‘Bad’ Sleep

1. Problems Concentrating
2. Slow Metabolism
3. Low energy levels, fatigue
4. Irritability, behavioral problems
5. Infections
6. Blurred Vision

Cures for Sleeplessness

The truth is that every person has a very unique biological clock and circadian rhythm. I can outline some helpful tips for you, but essentially it will be up to you to find your ideal medium, the amount of hours you need to sleep, and the best sleeping conditions for you. These tips are geared towards the general public and if you’re a bat that needs to sleep upside down I’m not sure there’s anything we can do to help you except turn off the lights!

“Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.”
~Thomas Dekker

1. Don’t Go To Sleep. It might seem counter-intuitive that an article about getting quality sleep would tell you not to go to sleep. What I’m referring to is going to sleep before you feel tired. This causes a pointless waste of time, during which we lay in bed dreading the wakefulness. The key is to wait until we’re feeling drowsy, and think we’ll be able to fall asleep within the next 15 minutes or so.

2. Cool Room Temperature. Nothing makes sleeping harder than obnoxiously high temperatures. If you’re in a hot area, get yourself an A/C or a fan. If it’s winter and your heating system if super high, crack open the window just enough to cool your room — Then snuggle under those blankets and pass right out!

• I find it helps to wear socks to sleep as to not let out any body temperature through this vulnerable limb.

3. All Day Hydration. Make sure you drink plenty of water throughout the day. This will replenish and invigorate every cell in your body, speeding up your metabolism, and restoring your natural body cycles. You may want to tone down the water drinking towards the evening if you have a weak bladder.

• Stay away from sodas, concentrated juices, coffee, and other caffeinated and sugary beverages. They overwhelm your digestive and circulatory systems as well as throw off your natural cycles (including the sleep cycle!).

4. Ease Your Mind. Our world is so full of stimulation, from hard work, internet surfing, games, great conversations, children, and the stresses of life. This could lead us to think too rapidly and be too anxious in order to fall asleep. It helps to ease our mind for at least 30 minutes before going to bed.

• Play music that is soft and repetitive, such as classical, or perhaps some background white noise.
• Schedule tomorrow. This will help relax your mind because you won’t be worrying about remembering what’s important.
• Take it easy. Do not do work, listen to fast music, watch tv, or exercise close to bedtime as it will keep you up-and-atom!
• Read. It helps to have some easy reading (no textbooks!) such as fiction in order to engage your mind in an interesting story. As soon as you feel the drowsiness setting in you can just put the book down and roll over into bed.

5. Sleep in the fetal position. When in doubt refer to the small, untainted and pure among us — kids. They’re naturally inclined to sleep in the fetal position, and doctors would agree that it’s the healthiest position from proper spinal alignment. This means you’ll be able to sleep comfortably, see what kids are doing.

6. The Lap of Luxury. If you’re going to spend money on something expensive, or treat yourself in any way, consider making the first treat one which will improve your life — the gift of comfortable and luxurious sleep. Get yourself an expensive mattress with memory foam, and some high-thread count sheets, and day dream about going to sleep all day. The truth is, if you’re exhausted enough it won’t matter where you fall asleep, but the quality of your sleep depends largely on the mattress.

7. Take Naps. If you feel lethargic or drowsy in the middle of the day, take this opportunity to nap for 30-60 minutes, but no more. Napping will actually train your body to quickly enter deep sleep — a skill you’ll be able to use in the evenings. Be careful not to nap later in the day, or too close to your bedtime, as the extra rest may keep you from falling asleep quickly.

8. Soak Up The Sun. Our brains have a center known as the supra-chiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that controls many aspects of our metabolism, such as body temperature and hormones. This area of our brain is triggered by the amount of sunlight we get. Experiencing sun first thing in the morning releases melatonin, increases our body temperature, and generally makes us more alert. It’s important to get a sufficient amount of sunlight during the day, in order to keep the sleep-wake cycle functioning correctly.

9. Known Yourself. Whether it’s nature vs. nurture, or genetics vs. habit, it’s very important to get to know your own sleeping patterns and how they fluctuate with the seasons. You can do this by experimenting with when you go to sleep, when you rise, and how many hours you sleep per night. Also, experiment with different variations of nap times. Once you find the sweet spot of your sleeping cycle you can get back to this happy-medium whenever you want.

• Schedule. Keeping a strict schedule is a huge benefit to having great quality sleep. If you’re in school, or work a 9-5 job, you’re already benefiting from a set schedule (as long as you don’t mess it up by staying up way too late).
• Freelancers. As a freelancer you may design your own schedule as you see fit. This has the pros of flexibility, but the cons of no set schedule. Even if you don’t have anyone to answer to, see if you can create a schedule where you sleep, eat, and exercise at the same time each day in order to boost your circadian rhythm and get great quality sleep.
• Web workers. The computer monitor does not count as sunlight. This means that if you’re cooped up in front of a computer all day long, you’re going to have to pull yourself away and get some sun.

10. Avoid Alarm Scare. It’s never good to be scared out of your sleep by a noisy alarm clock. Sure it does the job by waking you up, but it scares you in the process. I recommend waking up the way nature intended — with the sun. Obviously this isn’t always possible depending on living conditions and when we actually have to rise. Luckily there is a solution.

• Biobrite Sunrise Clock. This clock brings the sunlight to you, no matter where you are, and no matter what time.

11. Perfect Bedtime Foods. It’s important to eat (or not eat) the proper foods before bedtime.

• Low Glycemic. Having a small amount of low glycemic foods before bed will allow your body to mildly digest and keep the energy reserves from depleting. Often leading to a better, more refreshing sleep.
• Gassy Foods. Whatever you’re intolerant to, whether it be milk, red meat, or beans, avoid these foods before bed. An upset gassy stomach is a sure way to stay awake at night.

Common Sleep Myths

When it comes to myths about sleeping, ignorance is not bliss. It’s important to dispel some of these urban legends in order to avoid making decisions based on wrong information.

1. Sleep More If You’re Tired. If you’re already getting the recommended amount of sleep each night, and you feel tired on top of that, you shouldn’t necessarily seek more sleep to remedy the fatigue. You might have a medical condition that is preventing you from getting high-quality sleep, eating an unhealthy diet, or not exercising enough during the day. You might even be depressed. Try to find the real source of fatigue instead of sleeping away your day.
2. Sleep More On Weekends. Many of us have a hectic week schedule and we make the mistake of sleeping off the weekly sleep deprivation during the weekends. This is a poor decision because it alters the regular sleeping schedule and come Monday you’ll have to readjust once again, becoming susceptible to more low-quality sleep.
3. Lost Sleep? No Problem! People think that running on less sleep, in order to get more done, won’t have a huge toll on them. On the contrary, a chronic sleep deprivation can cause serious illnesses as well as lower our metabolism and certain cognitive abilities. It might seem like you have more hours in the day, but you won’t be getting as much done!
4. Sleep Less When You’re Older. I often hear older people say that with age you do not need to sleep as much. This is true when you go from being an infant to an adult, but between different stages of adulthood you need the same exact amount of sleep. If you’re older, and you can’t sleep as many hours as you used to, you should seek medical advice as to the cause of this problem.
5. Turkey Makes You Sleepy. True enough, turkey contains tryptophan, but there are very comparable levels of this amino acid in other meats and poultry. I think the problem lies in the fact that most people heavily overeat on thanksgiving (as well as have some alcohol on top), and as you know over eating often leads to lethargy.
6. Snoring Does Not Reflect Sleep Problems. This may not necessarily be true. One should look into the sources of sleeping. If sleep apnea or another sleeping disorder is the culprit, then it is essential to treat this sleep-quality-destroying and possibly fatal disorder.

What To Do Upon Waking

The last thing we want to do as soon as we wake up is think. The best way to remedy that is to work up a morning routine that we can stick to and execute without hesitation. Here are some ideas from my own morning routine.

“If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.”
~Dale Carnegie

1. Take Notes. Some of our best ideas, and more exclusive stories come to us during our slumber. Unfortunately, just moments after we wake we become preoccupied with life and lose all recollection of what our dreams had in store for us. By keeping a small note book by our bed side we are able to capture some of these great ideas before they have a chance to whisk away.
2. Drink Water. There’s nothing better than a glass of water to restart the metabolism after about 8 hours of fasting and hibernation.
3. Exercise. Within the first hour or so of waking up proves to be the best time to exercise. Exercise maxes out and restores your energy levels, so that you can go through the day at full power without even needing a cup of coffee.
4. Read. It’s easy to get sidetracked on our self-improvement goals, such as reading, but by adding as little as 30 minutes of reading time to our morning routine we are able to learn and grow on auto-pilot and make leaps and bounds in our reading goals.

Additional Resources

• Sleeping Fun. Take this seven question sleep-survey in order to see how deep you’ve dug yourself into the insomniac hole. It’s quick and fun so you have nothing to lose.
• Sleeping Aid. If after trying this advice you still have a hard time falling asleep, then I recommend you try out the End Tiredness Program. It has proven, expert supported tools to get you into tip-top sleeping shape in no time.
• Meditative Audio. Not only will meditating help you feel more calm throughout your day, but listening to a soothing voice is more certainly very instrumental to dozing off peacefully. For this I recommend Inner Peace Audio by Adam Kayce.

“Sleep is pain’s easiest salve, and doth fulfill all the offices of death, except to kill”
~John Donne

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“I read so many bad things about sex that I had to give up reading.”
~Anonymous

I’m not knocking Viagra®, as I’m sure it does wonders for men’s sexual problems and erectile dysfunction. Although, I wouldn’t know personally, I swear!

Free Sex Is A Myth

First of all, I’m not suggesting that every healthy, consenting adult is partaking in prostitution. Obviously, it’s only the sickos, perverts, and some relatively normal people with emotional damage or severe insecurities. However, I’m not referring to “free” as in without cash-money.

If you’re a standard American guy that subscribes to premarital sex, then it’s likely that you’re paying for sex by taking girls out on dates, buying them presents, or at the very least spending time and energy to go see them. Fine, maybe you’ve read Make Her Chase You and now the girls come to you, feed you, and bring you presents. Nevertheless, there is a certain amount of time and emotional energy that you’re allocating, as well as the other things we’ll discuss below.

As the standard American girl, who also subscribes to premarital sex, you’re likely aware that sex is not free. I think women are more intuitive about these things. You know that you’re investing time into making yourself beautiful, charming, as well as purchasing clothes that make you look great. If you think this is a generalization, you’re right, and there’s more of that to come.

2. Sex Is Never Free In Marriage

I’m not married, but I’ve been watching married people very closely for the last 23 years, so I have some interesting findings to report. Sex never becomes free, not even after marriage.

Think about the time and effort that you’ve put into your relationships. The good times, the bad times, and the times you wish never existed. Now you just have more of them. Just because your spouse is right there, available, and you don’t even have to get out of bed in the morning to get it, still, doesn’t mean it’s free.

10 (Unwanted) Sex-Related Problems

Let’s go through a small list. Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Herpes Simplex, HIV/AIDS, HPV, Syphilis, and Trichomoniasis. In some cases you could have a disease, not even know it, and pass it onto a partner. In other cases, it may hurt so much you’d wish you had the nerve to cut your genitals off (I don’t know, I’m just guessing).

In the worst of cases, you’re going to pay for sex with your life. That’s a pretty big price to pay.

2. Screwing A Nut’s Head.

There are plenty of people out there that have experienced sex-related trauma. Perhaps they were molested as children, or have been involved in an abusive relationship. Regardless, sex may just be a trigger for a totally unrelated psychological deviation.

Whatever the cause might be, you might just find yourself in a not-so-fun Lorena Bobbitt type of situation. I can’t think of anything worse than your member put under a guillotine (well, unless it’s my own member).

3. Unwanted Pregnancy.

I don’t know why someone wouldn’t want a baby- they’re cute, cuddly, and always smiling (right?). Well, if you are one of those weirdos that thinks babies take up a lot of time, cost a lot of money, and require many sleepless nights in an attempt to raise a decent human being, you might want to take this into account before having sex.

Arguably, one may never be fully ready to take on the responsibility of a child, but that is especially true when the child is not wanted. Is one unprotected romp really worth bringing in a life into this world that you can’t support, love, or raise the way it deserves?

4. All Kinds of Rape

By all kinds I mean date rape, and the aggressive violent rape that we hear about on TV. Unfortunately, things like that happen, and the victims also don’t think that it can happen to them.

Who are you coming home with? Is anyone under the influence? You need to ask yourself some good questions before you find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation. There’s also the possibility of someone ‘crying rape’ on you, when that couldn’t be further from the truth– know who you’re dealing with.

5.. Sexsomnia (sleepsex).

I’m not saying sex in your sleep has to be a bad thing. It could even prove to be quite pleasant for your partner; that is if they’re consenting. However, there have been cases of sleep sex that was not consented, and the “victim” did not even remember it.

If you do suffer from this, the best piece of advice I can offer you is — sleep alone, or seek medical attention.

6. Boredom.

Most people don’t relate to sex as boring. But, it can get that way, that is if you treat it as a routine. Mix it up, do something different, or take a break.

The Jewish people have an interesting solution known as 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. During the week of a woman’s menstrual flow, and the week after, the couple not only abstains from sex, but from all forms of touching. During these 2 weeks the couple gets to experience each other on a deeper mental, emotional, and spiritual level. By the time the 2 weeks are up, they’re longing for each other so much that they fall in love all over again.

7. Loss of Productivity.

Sex isn’t always just sex; sometimes it leads to cuddling, or even worse — sleep. Think about that, you’re minding your own business, reading a book, or trying to get some work done, when out of nowhere, without warning, your sex-happy partner pounces on you.

Since you’re caught by surprise, you submit, but then you’re facing the possibility of a heavy arm passed out on top of you, and you need to plot your escape.

8. Lose Your Mind, And Your Money

I got news for you, if you can call it that, but some people (not saying it’s women in particular) use sex as a weapon of mass seduction. They seduce, use, and abuse a sex partner, in order to confuse their emotions, and ultimately get what they want.

It’s sounds simple enough to avoid, or even like a fair win-win situation — money for service — but naive unsuspecting people can be taken advantage of, which is just sad.

9. Making Sex Mean Something.

Susan Rink once said, “when you’re hot, you’re hot; when you’re not, you’re not.” That’s sex in a nutshell. Sometimes people make sex mean more — like love. Love and sex are totally and completely unrelated. Love shouldn’t be based on a pair of orgasms, but as a function of giving to the person we love.

10. Desensitization.

In the modern world, sex is so much a part of our culture that we may stop being emotionally in touch with it. People are indulging in a tendency toward sex as the highest form of satisfaction, when in reality it’s very low on the pleasure scale.

I don’t have any personal quarrels with the LGBT movement, but I think that human beings were created to reproduce, which is only possible through heterosexual sex. I also think that this bond between a man and a woman can be very spiritual, and that as a generalization, the LGBT crowd prioritizes sexual satisfisfaction above reproduction and spirituality (I’m not saying there is no LGBT love, and in the relationships where there is, more power to them).

5 Solutions To Sex-Related Problems

1. Do Nothing.

It’s both one of the easiest and one of the hardest things to do at the same time. It’s easy because, just as the name implies, you don’t have to do anything–nothing at all. That means no masturbation, no touching, and certainly no sexual intercourse.

If there’s nothing for you to do, why is it so hard?

2. Abstain & Masterbate.

Woody Allen once said, “don’t knock masturbation — it’s sex with someone I love.”

3. Use Contraceptives.

Today there are so many great ways to stay protected and get pleasure at the same time. Condoms are still the leading choice for protection against sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.

4. Stay Monogamous.

Nothing is a guarantee, but a trusting monogamous relationship offers a greater chance of safety and pleasure at the same time. When you have sex with the same partner, you get to learn each others bodies, desires, and what really get them off.

5. Sex As Art.

If you’re set on having sex, and there’s no talking you out of it, then you might as well do whatever is in your power to harness every morsel of pleasure that you can out of the experience. If you’re already going all out, then by all means try new toys, positions, and places.

You can even read one of my favorite sex-books 500 Love Making Tips. Actually, it now comes with 4 bonuses, and a 56 day money-back guarantee just to make the deal sweet.

Share The Knowledge

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“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.”
~John Donne

No matter how much you’ve worked on your self-control you cannot deny that people in your life influence you. We happen to be the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with.

Spend one half of your time with your 4 friends and the other half with your spouse? It follows that you’ll be even more susceptible to influence from your spouse. This assimilation can lead to a blossoming healthy relationship, or take us into a downward spiral of self.

I’m personally not married, but I know how much time I spend with my girlfriend alone, and I observe how my parents and the parents of all my friends functions together. No where do I see couples where one person has a crap diet while the other is super healthy. With that said, let’s take a look at ways that we can get fit with our spouses.

1. Walk it out: The recommended minimum exercise is 3 times a week at 30 minutes a pop (depending on who you ask). You can take that a step further and go for walks after dinner or before bed every day of the week. A great time to talk and bond as well.
2. Couple’s sport: Find a couples sport, such as tennis, basketball, volleyball, etc. that you can play against with another couple you are friends with. This will encourage cooperation and teamwork strategies, which you’ll apply to other areas of your life, all while getting fit!
3. Crafting healthy meals: Getting caught without a healthy meal is like getting caught with your pants off (not from personal experience). Take the time to figure out who is going to be preparing what healthy meals so that you aren’t caught off guard with nothing healthy and forced to eat fast food.
4. Tossing the junk: If there’s no junk food in the house, you aren’t going to eat junk food in the house. Not keeping junk food in the house is a team effort if I’ve ever seen one. Make that decision together and keep healthy snacks like fruits, nuts, yogurts, and berries.
5. Enrolling your goals: If you have a certain weight loss or physical fitness goal don’t keep it to yourself. Keeping it to yourself is a sure fire way of losing motivation. On the other hand, if you share your goals with your significant other, they can keep you accountable and remind you when you’re slacking.
6. Sleep together: This isn’t what it sounds like (unless you want it to). Get on the same sleeping schedule so that neither of you is waking the other up. This will allow your body to function optimally, maximizing your sleep, and maximizing the use of your circadian rhythm.
7. Motivate (read: not criticize): There is a fine line between motivating your partner and making them feel like poop. The self-esteem has much to do with how we’re going to treat our bodies. Be kind, compassionate, and loving- this will help them grow into their goals instead of into those big clothes.

—–

Side note: I’m in the middle of finals week to finish up my master’s degree. I won’t be writing much through the 15th, but this is a great opportunity to write a guest article for this site if you have been thinking about it. It would mean getting your self-improvement message out to thousands of readers as well as getting some exposure for your site if you have one. Contact me, or check contribute page for details.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

For the past month I’ve been having some excellent workouts. Workouts that I’ve been really looking forward to. Some people would argue that work outs should be strictly work and no play, but I disagree. I think it’s possible to have a lot of fun while getting your work done at the same time.

If you’re an American, and I know a lot of your are, then it’s very likely that you aren’t meeting the minimum recommended exercise intake. I’m sure the percentage is lower because you are investing time into personal development. This is why I’m sure you will appreciate learning of new ways to improve your health through exercise.

The Essentials of a Good Work Out

1. Sweat. Your body temperature rises, and so does your heart rate. You’re using your body at a higher level than you would throughout your day. This makes your regularly scheduled tasks much easier compared to the threshold you’ve set for yourself through your workout routine.
2. You give it your all. This is an exercise in mental fitness, rather than simply physical fitness. You develop a level of discipline when you’re pushing yourself to the next level. Later in the day when you’re working on a really tough project, you’ll get through it because you’ve already established discipline.
3. It’s fun and variable. I think a fun exercise is crucial because doing the same thing over and over can be mind-boggling. On one hand you want to develop discipline, but on the other you want to actually do the workout and gain physical benefits.
4. Safe. Let’s face it, if you drop a 200lb weight on your chest, or get sprained ankles from your exercise routine it’s going to distract you from your regularly schedule programming. You can push yourself to new limits without hurting yourself. If you’re not sure how to do that than invest in a couple of sessions with a personal trainer.

Urban Rebounder

I mentioned that I’ve been having great workouts, and I’m sure by now you’re curious to know what I’ve been doing. My ‘secret formula’ is the Urban Rebounder. It has all of the essentials that I mentioned in list above. It makes you sweat, you can give it your all, it’s fun, variable, and safe.

It’s an excellent cardiovascular workout for kids, adults and seniors of both the male and female species alike. J.B. Berns, who practiced martial arts for over 20 years and is said to be one of the best personal trainers in America according to fitness magazine, is the creative force behind the Urban Rebounder.

I got a chance to speak with him through e-mails and he seems very knowledgeable and dedicated to his product and to serving people. He even invited me to his Urban Rebounding class up in NYC, but I have yet to accept his invitation and schlep my way over there.

When J.B. sent me the Urban Rebounding kit, complete with rebounder and 6 DVDs, I felt like a kid opening up presents. Essentially I was since J.B. had sent it to me for free to review for you guys. At first it looked kind of big, but then I realized that you just simply fold it in half and put it in a closet and you’re done with it until the next day. I personally keep it in the basement under the ping pong table when I’m not using it.

If you and a friend both decide to get one so that you can exercise together you can get a special carrying case, which should make it an absolute breeze to transport. I didn’t get one with my package, but when I order the second rebounder to keep at Marina’s house I’ll get myself 2 carrying cases.

The Urban Rebounder DVDs each have about 4 workouts on them, and you get really ‘close’ with the Urban Rebounding instructors when you see them for 30 minutes each day. Well it’s each day for me, but you can do 20 minutes 3 times a day. It’s up to you. I personally get a lot of entertainment from their huge personalities when I’m working out.

With so many workouts you don’t get a chance to get bored of them. They’re easy enough to follow all the steps, but you can choose your difficulty by simply pressing harder on the rebounder. If I can get a great work out from it so can you.

Go ahead and take a peak at the Urban Rebounding website. If you’re ordering I would get it from there directly because you’ll get the best deal and it will be easier to deal with any issues that might come up. Urban Rebounder official site.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

“The best of all medicines is resting and fasting”
~Benjamin Franklin

In the beginning of January of this year, I decided to do a little experiment on myself. I have read about the benefits of fasting for many years, and was determined to experience them for myself.

I went four days without eating, and the only things I consumed were water, and a 8oz vegetable/fruit juice smoothie in the middle of the day. The first day was a bit difficult (due to detoxification symptoms), but it was all smooth sailing from there (minus the occasional temptation to eat from family and friends).

During the fasting period I felt light, agile, mentally focused, happy, and ready to take on the world. I felt as if my energy was being used to promote proper bodily functions, instead of being suppressed by my digestive system.

It should be noted that while I do some medical research, and finishing up my Master’s in biomedical science, that you should consult a medical professional, such as your doctor, before starting a new fasting regimen.

Benefits of Fasting

1. Clear mental state: Fasting has been shown to avoid mental fatigue and promote mental clarity during stressful situations.
2. Longer life: Many experiments done on animals have shown that calorie restriction is responsible for longer life spans when comparing animals to their non-fasting counterparts.
3. Reduce digestive workload. Without any food in your stomach, your whole digestive system will not require any energy.
4. Fight illnesses. Since you will have reduced your digestive workload, that spare energy will be able to go towards the immune system, and fight infections.
5. Detoxification. Typically the body only gets a taste of cleansing each night while we sleep. A fast facilitates deeper cleansing and gets rid of toxins such as dead cells, extra fatty tissue, intestinal mucus, toxins in blood and lymphatic systems, cholesterol and many others.
6. Self control/discipline: Fasting requires a great deal of discipline. Especially if you have people around you not only eating food, but encouraging you to do the same thing. Requiring discipline turns into increasing discipline.
7. Weight Loss. During my fast I lost about 4lbs, which I imagine to be pure toxins. It’s been over a month, and not only have I not gained it back, but I lost additional weight. Mainly using my simple target weight method.
8. Increased energy: Another benefit that comes from the reduction of digestive workload is the overall gain of energy for the entire body.

“Fasting is an institution as old as Adam. It has been resorted to for self-purification or for some ends, noble as well as ignoble.”
~Mahatma Gandhi

Types of Fasting

There are several types of fasting, and depending on your health, and other situations, you can decide which one works best for you. When I fast, I tend to choose the juice fasting, but I find it important for you to make your own decisions about how you will treat your body.

1. Juice fasting: Considered the best choice for detoxification. This is because you aren’t completely eliminating intake of enzymes and nutrients, which makes the cleansing process easier to withstand.
2. Water fasting: This method of fasting requires more calories from your body, and is a harder method of detoxing.
3. Full Fast: This way of fasting involves no food, or drink, and is by far the hardest to undergo.
4. Raw food diet: This diet does not require eating any less. It merely requires consuming raw fruits and veggies, and nothing else. The detox effects will be similar to the juice fasting, but will take longer to effect.

Fasting Frequency

• One day per week. This is a basic upkeep fast.
• Three days every four months. A slightly longer upkeep fast.
• Nine day fast, twice a year. Fast beginning of summer, and beginning of winter, to cleanse in conjunction with climate change.

Fasting Process

Now that you have a good idea of what fasting is, the benefits of fasting, as well as some types of fasting, it’s time to consider how to go about fasting.

1. Pre-fast preparation: It is important to prepare for a fast, especially if your diet is full of toxins, or if you are ill or overweight. Begin by gradually switching to all fruit/vegetable consumptions two weeks before the start of the fast. What this will do is decrease the symptoms associated with detoxification, and make this cleansing a much easier process. You can also begin to perform calorie restriction, and eat less, several days before the fast begins.
2. During fasting: Once you have decided on fasting frequency and type of fasting, it’s time to fast. You may want to avoid demanding physical activity and engage in something more relaxing like reading, stretching, walking and meditating. Once you know how your body reacts to fasting, you can experiment as to what kind of demands you can place on your body during a fasting state.
3. Breaking fast: When breaking a fast, you may want to begin by drinking fruit/vegatable juices, and than switching to eating small pieces of fruits or vegetables until your stomach gets used to food again. You may also want to take this opportunity to switch to a healthier overall diet.

Tools

1. Enema. This is an ideal way to assist the cleansing process by washing out the colon. It can remove built up fecal matter, cure headaches, remove intestinal metals, kill parasites and create a feeling of well being.
2. Vitamix. This 2HP machine is the perfect solution for juicing and blending. It’s basically raw power, your fruits, vegetables, and anything else you want to put in there doesn’t stand a chance.
3. Master Cleanse. A system that several of my friends used to clear out their system, lose weight, and feel great at the same time. I’ve watched them drink this lemonade for 10 days at a time, and it’s something I will do for myself.

“What the eyes are for the outer world, fasts are for the inner.”
~Mahatma Gandhi

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Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Heather Johnson of BusinessCreditCards.

“A healthy body is a guest chamber for the soul: a sick body is a prison” ~Francis Bacon, Sr.

As anyone who has attempted to go at it alone and get healthy will tell you, achieving and maintaining your optimal level of fitness should not be an individual effort. Everyone who starts a new health and fitness routine does so with good intentions; but, as the saying goes, the road to huge is paved with good intentions.

If you really want to get into shape, it helps to find a friend, form a team, or found a community of like-minded individuals who can offer advice, warn you of potential pitfalls, and help you accomplish your goals.

The logical extension of this way of thinking is to tap the collective knowledge and encouragement of our ever-expanding and increasingly accessible world community. People all over have struggled with that same beer belly and those same flabby thighs, so why not gain from their experience?

Check out these posts, use the tips and tools that have helped others pursue the same pilgrimage towards a healthier self, and get your ass in shape.

1. Organize Your Health: Fitsugar’s post on organizing your health is a good place to start when you are just getting into the exciting planning stages for your new health program. Use the tools described in the post and you’ll be organized from the start. Easily design and keep track of your diet and fitness plans, from outlining weekly preparations down to ensuring that you drink those all-important eight glasses of water per day.
2. Avoid Common Fitness Pitfalls: This post identifies and warns against 10 of the most common exercise pitfalls. If you can recognize and avoid hazards such as setting unrealistic goals, over-exercising, and fixating on the scale, you will be able to develop an effective fitness routine that you will be able to sustain for years rather than days.
3. 10 Foods for Better Health: Power foods like olive oil, nuts, tea, and salmon can help you kick-start a healthy diet. Follow the advice in this post by incorporating these ten foods into your diet and you will soon be merging into the fast lane on the road to good health
4. Finding Time to Exercise: One of the biggest challenges in starting any new health regimen is fitting time to exercise into your hectic schedule. This post presents 5 shrewd fitness tips that will help you incorporate mini-workouts into your busy day.
5. 10 More Tips for Your Wellness Journey: This post advocated ten simple tips that will help you improve your health in all areas of your life. Follow these tips and you will be able to maintain your mental and emotional fitness as well as your physique.

About Heather Johnson:

Heather Johnson is a freelance business, finance and credit writer, as well as a regular contributor for BusinessCreditCards.com site for comparing small business credit cards. She welcomes questions, comments, and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com

Photo by RebeccaPollard

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Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from fruitful time

A couple of days ago I met a friend of mine at a local cafeteria for a chat. At one point we started talking about habits. My friend confessed that he smokes 30 cigarettes a day and has tried several times to quit smoking but every time he failed. I shared with him the tips that helped me quit smoking. Like him I had tried several times to quit smoking and finally I succeeded.

We agreed that since I have first hand experience I will be his coach to quit smoking. The following are the tips that I shared with my friend.

1. Believe that you can do it

Saying things like “I will try to quit smoking” will never make you quit. You first of all have to decide with yourself that you really want to quit. I believe that 90% of the people who try to quit smoking and fail is because they in the first place did not mean to quit.

2. Get to know how harmful cigarettes are

Spend a week browsing the internet and gather some content about how harmful cigarettes are. Find pictures of lungs of people who smoke. Get to know what effects cigarettes have on you and the people around you. This will help you convince yourself that quitting the bad habit of smoking makes real sense.

3. Make a plan

Plan how you are going to quit over a period of time. Be aware don’t make it easy for yourself. If you smoke 30 cigarettes a day, you can completely quit smoking in less than a month. Yes, I am not joking.

4. Make it public

Don’t keep the news for yourself. Make other people pressure you. If you say to your family, friends and colleagues that you are quitting, then you have no chance of smoking at least when you are in their presence. Also by making it public, you will stop being offered cigarettes by friends who still think that you are a smoker. This was the most difficult part for me.

5. Replace cigarettes

One of the most difficult things at first when you quit smoking is what to do to replace smoking. I used to find myself mimicking the movement I used to do while smoking, even though it had been months since I quitted. The only solution to this is to replace a cigarette with a non alcoholic drink. Every now and then instead of taking a puff, you take a sip.

6. Start exercising

This is the best tip. I was going to put it the first one but I know that if I had done that, most of the people would not have read the rest of the article. Even when I was giving tips to my friend, I didn’t tell him this tip as the first one. But I am a strong believer that exercises helped me to quit. I went to a gym and subscribed for 6 months. Then I started to do some basic cardio. It was then when I realized how harmful smoking is.

I challenged myself to improve my stamina by completely quitting smoking and exercise daily. The challenge to increase my stamina made it easier to throw away all the packets of cigarettes that I had in my office desk.

7. Be rootless

Unfortunately there are people (I don’t call them friends) who even though you tell them that you are trying very hard to quit smoking, they still insist that you should take a cigarette. They start this nonsense that one cigarette will not harm you. The point is not harm; the point is that you start smoking again by taking a single puff. Be rootless, be ready to even avoid the company of such people since they will make it extremely hard for you to quit. Spare me some words:

A true friends respects your opinion and if you tell him that you are trying to quit smoking, he will help you achieve that goal rather than making your challenge more difficult.

Do you have a success story in which you quit smoking, or got rid of any other bad habit, such as drinking, pornography, or biting your nails? Share it in the comments below!

This is a guest post by FruitfulTime – the software company behind the todo list software “FruitfulTime TaskManager”. FruitfulTime has a blog focusing on personal productivity, visit FruitfulTime Blog or subscribe to feed

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For example, you would focus on being healthy, as opposed to losing 10 lbs. Losing 10 lbs keeps focus on thoughts of being overweight. You’ll probably be losing these very same 10 lbs every single year. Weight loss doesn’t have to be a difficult process at all. It’s actually one of the simplist things that we are capable of doing as human beings, because it requires virtually no effort.

The Knowledge Is In Your Hands

You already have a strong general sense of what is healthy and what isn’t. You know fried food is bad, and you know vegatables are good. Most importantly you understand that eating less, and exercising more, will likely yield a very high chance of weight loss.

The wellness principle states that everything we put into our body is either going to help take us towards our health goal, or take us further from it. If we keep this in mind, we will never have a question as to which decision is more viable.

Tips To Optimize Weight Loss

This isn’t anything new, and I’m sure you’ve either heard this before, or realized it yourself. Despite that, it’s nice to have a list, to look at, and to get inspired by.

1. Substitute Water. Our bodies are about 65-70% water. It follows that water would be not only essential, but the best possibly choice of liquids to ingest. In fact, our bodies will sometimes simulate a hunger response, when in reality the body is craving hydration. When hungry, drink a glass or two of water to check if it suppresses your hunger.
2. Chew Your Food. Chewing our food very slowly and deliberately has several benefits that are often overlooked. It gives us the ability to relax, and enjoy our meal. Slow chewing is the first, and highly important, step in a complex system of digestion. Besides, if we eat slowly, we might feel full before finishing the whole meal, and can leave the rest for the next meal.
3. Exercise daily. How silly of me to include something as obvious as exercise. I did a 30 day trial with waking up, and walking for 30 minutes first thing in the morning. My journal records that I was feeling amazing during the period of time that I was following this habit.
4. Publicize your intentions. The same way that Tynan uses a forum to keep his productivity accountable, you could use a forum to keep your weight loss goals accountable. Simply record your intentions, goals, and a progress of what you’re up to.
5. Create a food schedule. Plan your day so that you’re eating at approximately the same time each day. This scheduling will incorporate itself into your circadian rhythm, and aid in digestion.
6. Do not over eat. Know your limit and stop eating when you are full. I have often been a victim of wanting to finish a meal so that it doesn’t go to waste. This has left me with many a stomach ache. Next time, doggy bag it for later, and don’t hurt yourself!
7. Choose your snacks wisely. Put down the Doritos® and cheese puffs. Pick up the apple and baby carrots. Make the right decision, I know you can do it.

What are your super simple health tips?

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Editor’s Note: This article was written by Marina Tsipenyuk

Ever wonder why athletes are generally more healthy than non athletes? Seems like a very obvious answer! Exercising the body is essential for a healthy heart, strong muscles, good coordination…etc…and a healthy mind?

Our culture tends to dichotomize mind and body by their own respective features. The body has its functions and ways to improve through, for example, eating wholesome food and exercising, and the mind improves by understanding greater concepts, reading, and learning.

But isn’t the mind a part of the body? How can we distinguish between one and the other when they work together to produce a whole person? Have you ever seen a mind walking and a body standing still, literally?

If we are to take a holistic approach to health, maybe we can optimize our lives by creating a balance that dismisses this dichotomy in favor of synergy. When we exercise our bodies, we can look at it as though we are exercising our minds as well. Overcoming the belief that we are incapable physically can prepare us for much more difficult challenges.

Our bodies are built to do a lot more, physically, than most people have used them for, much less, imagined. Much of this physicality, however, manifests in the mind. When we are running and our body tells us that it is tired, it is our mind that pushes us forward, unfolding our greatest potential. Endurance is a product of the mind, and the more we are capable of enduring, physically, the greater the mental challenges we are able to face. Think of endurance as empowerment! Pushing ourselves at the gym can allow us to cope with difficult real-life situations, which can range from a bad day at work to an illness or tragedy.

I believe that by changing the way we think about the constitution of the mind and body, we can opt to take care of ourselves better so as to preserve both. So the next time you are exercising, see how much you can push yourself, feel empowered by your abilities, and know that if you can handle that, you can handle anything.

What recommendations do you have for bridging the gap between physical endurance and mental strength?

About Marina Tsipenyuk

Marina Tsipenyuk is a student at Rutgers University studying political science and finance. She is currently involved in a historical research project, co-founded a breast cancer support organization called Bead the Cure, and mentors a women’s studies course. She hopes to go to law school and, eventually, become a lawyer.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

There are limitless benefits to starting and sticking to a solid morning routine. My favorite benefit is that once the routine is a habit, it can be executed in such a robotic way as to not exert much effort on your part. To start this new year off right I’ve devised a new morning routine that I will be following strictly for the next 30 days.

1. Rise at 8am.

When choosing a good time to rise, it is important to consider your own unique situation. Basically, you want to wake up early enough to fit in your morning routine before your normally schedule day begins.

For me, at least for January, 8am is ideal. I’m on winter break until the 22nd, and even then I will have night classes. I like to stay up late reading, or doing things with friends, so for me this is practical.

Practical for you might mean waking up at 5:00am to get things done before your kids wake up. This is good reason why you should tweak your rising time, and your routine in general in order to be the best fit for you.

2. Drink 1 cup of lemon water.

“The lemon is a wonderful stimulant to the liver and is a dissolvent of uric acid and other poisons, liquefies the bile, and is very good in cases of malaria. Sufferers of chronic rheumatism and gout will benefit by taking lemon juice, also those who have a tendency to bleed, uterine hemorrhages, etc.; rickets and tuberculosis. In pregnancy, it will help to build bone in the child. We find that the lemon contains certain elements which will go to build up a healthy system and keep that system healthy and well. As a food, we find, owing to its potassium content, it will nourish the brain and nerve cells. Its calcium builds up the bony structure and makes healthy teeth.” (via Idaho Observer)

Those all sound like good benefits to me. I personally like the fact that it gives your metabolism a wake up call and aids in digestion.

3. The morning walk.

The benefits of a 30 minute walk, 5 times a week are basically priceless, but only if you value your health. I do. Some of the benefits include:

• Managing your weight.
• Controlling your blood pressure.
• Decreasing risk of heart attack.
• Boosting “good” cholesterol.
• Lowering your risk of stroke.
• Prevent depression, colon cancer, constipation, osteoporosis, and impotence
• Lengthen lifespan
• Lower stress levels and much more (via AARP)

My morning exercise will also include a combination of several calisthenic exercises that use my own bodyweight to promote strength and flexibility. They’re quick and don’t require any special equipment other than the pull up bar I have in my room.

Neither the morning walk, nor the calisthenics are meant to be used instead of more vigorous exercise, but they provide a really good baseline if there is no time for anything else.

4. Shower

The morning exercise is followed up by a morning shower. Even if I have no plans to leave the house that day, I always feel so refreshed and awake after I shower, that it just has to be a staple in my morning routine.

5. Breakfast.

Getting food into your system early in the morning will give you a head start on being healthy and feeling energized and focused throughout the day. I’m committing myself to having a large fruit smoothie for breakfast all month long. The base of this smoothie will be water, bananas and mango, and the occasional other fruits that I want to add in for variety.

6. Read for 30 minutes.

Reading and learning happen to be the center of all of my life goals. Even if my days are hectic, and I can’t find leisure time to read, I will always have those 30 minutes in my morning routine to chip away at some potentially life changing books. From my own experience, I know that whenever I do have leisure time, I read for hours at a time, but I know this isn’t possible with most of our schedules.

I think the benefits of reading are quite clear. You get to expand your mind, while absorbing decades of other peoples experience in hours. Apart from the usual personal development books that I read, I have decided to greatly expand my reading to encompass the great thinkers of the world, history, poetry, and classics of literature. The goal is to read 1 book a week until the ball drops for 2009.

7. Meditate.

I am committing to ending my morning routine with 5 minutes of meditation. Perhaps five minutes doesn’t sound like much, but Neil tells me that it’s not about how long you meditate, but more so about the routine of meditating daily.

Some of the benefits of meditation might come as a surprise to you. Let’s take a look:

• Lowers oxygen consumption and decreases respiratory rate.
• Increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.
• Leads to deeper levels of relaxation.
• Builds self confidence
• Increases the immune system
• Reduces stress and many other benefits (via Health and Yoga)

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Sticking to your morning routine for at least 30 days is vital. You’ll eventually be so good at it, that you’ll be able to zone out (if you so wish), and just get things done that benefit you without exerting much effort. If you could use each day to inch towards your life goals, which goals would you pick and how would you go about it?

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Photo by Clairity

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This weekend I was asked to review a fitness program, made specifically for training with dumbbells. The creators of this program are fitness bliss, out of Quebec Canada. If you’re interested in the companies contact info it can be found here.

In order to give a good review, I first looked through their website at blisslogik.com. While this review is only for their dumbbell program, I’m going to under promise and over deliver by plugging all the software that they are offering on this site.

1. For Fitness Enthusiasts
2. For Personal Trainers
3. For Bowflex Users
4. For Crossbow Users
5. For Dumbbell Exercises

Fitness Software For Dumbbell Exercises

The title of this software pretty much let’s you know what you’re going to get. However, in order to spark some interest, let’s take a closer look at what can be found within.

FitnessBliss Bells was specifically designed to give dumbbell users the tools needed to create better dumbbell routines. The fitness software features over 100 different dumbbell exercises, most of which can be performed using a set of dumbbells and a workout bench. On top of that, every dumbbell exercise is depicted by 2 illustrations which are printed directly on the workout sheets for quick and easy reference.

You can basically avoid going to the gym, and set up something cheap and compact at home by purchasing yourself a rack of dumbbells. Working out at home is quite convenient, as you get to both exercise whenever you want as well as save time on commuting to the gym.

Try Before You Buy

FitnessBliss offers a free demo download to get a feel for how the software operates. It took only a couple of minutes to install and the start up was also quick. You create a profile for yourself, and get exercises that are tailored specifically to you. You can create and save exercise routines, based on muscle types you want to work and equipment that you have.

They offer options to track your work out progress with easy to use print out forms. There are plenty of illustrations to demonstrate how to do each exercise, for those of us who aren’t gym savvy.

My overall impressions of this tool are that it is super intuitive, easy to use, and useful. If you’ve been thinking about getting yourself on track at the gym, and don’t have the money to invest in a personal trainer, or time to search all over the internet for different exercises, than look into FitnessBliss Dumbbell Software. You can read more about it here, or download the demo and try it out here.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Monday is Health & Fitness day at AlexShalman.Com

While conception is designed to be one of the most pleasant and simple concepts of the human (or any) species, it is becoming more and more prevalent for couples to be experiencing difficulties in this department. Before attempting expensive and time consuming procedures, such as artificial insemination or oocyte micromanipulation, consider first trying an approach that is both simple and free.

It’s true, sexual positions can influence fertility rate. The basis behind this claim is that the closer the semen ends up to the cervix during ejaculation, the higher the chance of fertilization and conception. Some sexual positions are just better at delivering the goods than others.

Let’s take a look at some of the positions as well as their pros and cons:

1. Missionary position: The pro of this position is that the semen ends up closer to the cervix. The con is that it makes it harder for the female to orgasm, thus depriving the highly beneficial cervical contractions that greatly aid in conception.
2. Woman on top: The pro is that this position makes it easier for both parties to achieve orgasm. The con is that when the male ejaculates, his sperm quickly heads south-bound, away from the cervix. The trick is for the woman to lay down quickly after orgasm, in order to ensure the semen does not escape!
3. Hands and knees position (doggy): Probably one of the best positions for conception, as it is both conducive to stimulating orgasm as well as depositing the semen in the proper location.
4. Side lying (spooning): The biggest benefit of this position is that it negates the effects of obesity and back problems as they would relate to sex. Both partners are next to each other, and neither is crushing the other. Not being crushed by your partner greatly increased your chances of conception!

This article is of special interest to me, because conception of a child falls into my 10 year plan. I might as well know the best methods to accomplishing this goal, instead of wasting my time and energy on counterproductive positions activities.

Source: Baby Making Sex

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Monday is Health & Fitness day at AlexShalman.Com

In general people who go to the gym are dominated by one concern; to get in shape in as little time as possible. To achieve a goal without proper dedication and allocated time is unrealistic. Most successful people will endorse the “No pain, no gain” proverb. The problem in this equation is that often the desire for immediate results overrides the desire for a better shape. People often say that getting started is the hardest part, however, since you’ve already done that and are at the gym, it’s time to get to the easier part. Pushing yourself is half the equation!

Safety precautions should be taken in all areas of your life, especially when it concerns exercising. Pushing yourself does not mean that you must hurt yourself. Pushing yourself is finding your comfort zone and then stepping right past it. It is important that you know what your limits are and pay extra careful attention to medical problems. Listen, we can’t all be like Rocky who climbs mountains in the artic cold to build himself up for a fight. Frankly, we don’t need to be.

Just to clarify; the number one mistake people make at the gym is staying in their comfort zone. Well, now that we have that straight, your probably wondering what the best way to accomplish this goal is. Personally, I have battled this problem utilizing the powerful tool of visualization. I spoke about visualizing during cardio in one of my early posts (too busy to exercise).

An example of this technique would be when I’m running and I force myself to stop concentrating on the present self and instead create a different image of myself. This image is a more in shape me or what I consider to be a perfect body. I see every muscle moving in synchrony and as I flex my stomach, I see the perfect abs harden. I visualize a body that is a perfect machine which does not break down, no matter the distance. A great physiological feature of your mind is that when you visualize your muscles growing you activate changes on the molecular level, which assists in the growth.

Since then, I’ve expanded on this concept by using it for every exercise that I do. Another example applies to my muscle building exercise. As I lift in a slow, uniform manner, I keep my muscle flexed tight all the way through the extension. I hold it flexed at the top for 1-2 seconds, and slowly lower the weight while keeping tension on the muscle through the whole set. As I’m doing all of this, I am picturing the muscle fibers firing away, while the blood and energy flow through my muscles.

Each person thrives off of their own different motivation. I would love to know what works for each of you at the gym. Since this article focused on some of the mistakes people make at the gym and how to get through them, I would also like to hear what doesn’t work for you while your working out.

Could you think of any other mistakes you or someone you know makes at the gym?

Update: This article was edited for clarity. Oh, and if you enjoyed it, please give it a thumbs up on stumbleupon.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Monday is Health & Fitness day at AlexShalman.Com

One of the most prevalent reasons for human illness is stress. While everyone experiences stress at one point or another, some people get it much worse than others. The good news is that stress is not something you have to endure, rather it’s something that can be overcome.

Let’s look at the most serious dangers of stress:

• Thoughts about harming yourself
• Thoughts about harming others
• Chest pain
• Fluttering or rapid heartbeats
• Headaches unlike your usual headaches
• Any condition that you feel might cause you serious harm if not treated immediately

As per eMedicine

Let’s look at the ways to reduce stress.

1. Hack Happiness. Using each principle in Seven Hacks To Cheat Yourself Into A Good Mood will not only make you happy, but relieve stress as well.

2. Rose Colored Glasses. There is nothing unrealistic about having the green grass on your side of the fence. Just look at the bright side.

3. Control Your Finances. Since money is one of the biggest stresses in today’s society, take a look at several ways to control your finances.

• Money Management for Beginners
• Practice Frugality
• Make More Money
• Small Changes Lead To Riches

4. Eliminate Fears. Since being afraid can be stressful, use these seven questions to eliminate your fears.

5. Expand Being Stress Free. The Law of Attraction states that what we think about expands. So think stress free and be stress free.

6. Don’t Be Perfect. Trying to uphold the image of perfection can be highly stressful. Embrace yourself for what you are, and believe that looking bad looks good.

7. Establish Successful Habits. You can see an article I did on success habits, and then learn how to start a new habit.

8. Be On Time. The pressure of disappointing someone or missing a deadline can be very stressful. So avoid being late.

9. Don’t Share. Since revealing your dreams, goals, and ambitions to the wrong people is a quick way to get shut down. Avoid this by not sharing your goals.

10. Just Start. Having huge task-lists and deadlines can be very daunting. If you start now, you can get it done.

11. Don’t run out of time. Figure out how you would like to spend the rest of your life, and than use time management techniques to make it happen. (be your own personal motivator)

12. Be Honest. One of the biggest stresses comes from living a life of lies. Stay honest, especially to yourself.

13. Forgive People. Hating someone or holding a grudge only hurts YOU. So just get over it.

14. Take Breaks. Every 45 minutes or so, stand up, stretch, get some water and take some deep breaths.

15. Don’t do it. If you’re capable, delegate your tasks to an assistant. (Learn how to get a virtual assistant by reading ‘The 4-Hour Work Week‘.)

16. Bubble bath. Take a relaxing bubble bath, with dead-sea mineral salts from Israel. I love stuff like this.

17. Sleep. Being sleep deprived catches up to you, and you’re whole state of mind is diminished. Be the best you can be by making sure you are well rested.

18. Be Around Stress Free People. The bible states that “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools shall be destroyed.” The same principle applies to stress. Be around stress free people and you too shall be stress free.

19. Don’t over plan leisure. If you’re going to have dinner at a restaurant, don’t schedule something for directly afterwards. You want to enjoy a slow dinner, instead of rushing through to do the next thing.

20. Relaxing music. To relax (or study), I like to listen to classical or baruch music. Pick you’re favorite and relax.

21. Read. I find (almost) nothing more enjoyable than to curl up with a good book. (a list of my book recommendations)

22. Tea Time. Tea is very relaxing, especially with some of the special stress-reducing flavors they have now.

23. Plan for tomorrow today. This way, when you wake up in the morning, you aren’t stressed out about what to do and when you’ll have time to do it. It’s all planned out.

24. Meditate. Learn about the stress reducing benefits of mediation at the mediation blog.

25. Go Caveman. Let go of technology and schedule some uninterrupted serenity time.

There you have it, 25 tricks for stress management and stress reduction. Start now, and enjoy the benefits of a healthier, stress free mind and body. You’re relationships with people and productivity jolt will thank you for this.

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