Sunday, December 31, 2006

Resolutions

On New Year's Eve or any other day of the year, getting disturbed precedes a decision.

Get fed up and then...make a decision.

Sometimes if you ask yourself the right questions, you can think of something--there's always something--because a sign of health is knowing that one can do better.

Think of something that you've considered doing, or have wanted to get handled in your life. It should be something that if you changed it, starting today, the quality of your life would improve as a result.

The decision could be small, simply deciding to act and do something or the decision can be big, like deciding to change for the better.

New Year's Resolutions are usually not well planned:

"I'm gonna run 5 miles a day"
"I'm gonna lose 5 or 10 pounds"

How are you gonna run 5 miles a day if you injure your leg? When there's a blizzard?
How are you gonna lose 5 or 10 pounds? How are you going to go about it?

Few people stick to their resolutions because they were doomed from the start.

Better resolutions are ones which are more clear about what is the intended goal.
What are we really after? Success!

example: "Sign up at the gym and exercise for 30 to 60 minutes, 3 times a week, for a year. While there, lift weights properly (a cookbook-easy way to start: Body for Life). (Or Yoga. Or fitness classes...) Do this again and again, no matter what, and it becomes a habit."

"Outside of the gym eat clean, 6 times a day and get plenty of sleep and rest."

"...according to Time magazine, training with weights has become the number one athletic activity in the United States."(Arnold's book, p. 64)

If you don't want to think too much about how to get started right without needng to plan every detail at the beginning, or want to skip reading a book about it, I recommend Body for Life. It's all free on their website. Tools for exercise. Cardio. Workout program.

Body for Life workout program, which includes planning for cardio and rest. Follow the instructions and it will work for you in a matter of weeks, months. If not, your nutrition needs changing. If you want cookbook simplicity regarding nutrition, get the Abs Diet, from Men's Health. Otherwise eat clean and eat often (for males, it should be thousands of calories a day; 25% of calories from protein).

Experts agree, the benefits of exercise begin to wane after one hour of rigorous exertion; it's the law of diminishing returns. You don't have to go all out and give yourself a hernia or burn out early in the game. Moderation is the key; the results come with persistence, not short bursts of extreme exertion. The greatest paradox of exercise is that even though you expend more energy through your workouts, you will have more energy for your life outside the gym.

Do easy, comfortable things and life becomes harder later. Do easy, comfortable things and life becomes very boring.

Do "difficult things" and life becomes easier. Do difficult but worthwhile things and your self-esteem grows.

Once you actually do what is "difficult" and do it again and again, it becomes easy; and on it goes, to the next challenge.

I recommend taking a before picture.

2007 is going to be a great year.

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