TransformJournal.com

So Day 1 and I weighed in a lot heavier than I expected I would … not an issue … we all start at the beginning, eh?  But it’s staggering when you see it on paper (and even worse when you see the pics!).

Now, remember in 2000, I weighed in at 149#/7% bodyfat at one point … not bad … about 10.5 # of fat and 138.5# of lean muscle mass.

Now, it’s several years later and I HAVE PUT ON 60# of FAT! (212.5#/33%/142.5#/70#)

Does that sound HEALTHY?  To hell with how my clothes fit, that’s not right at all … and the cholesterol levels aren’t good … imagine that?

So, we have about 50 # of fat to lose and I wouldn’t mind gaining a significant amount of muscle … maybe 15 - 25# over the next year.

So, let’s quantify the next 90 days … let’s set a 2 # fat loss goal per week, rounding it to 25# loss.  That would be significant.  It would put me half way to the goal and significantly change my appearance.  And let’s gain 1 pound of muscle per week, rounding up to 15 pounds.

That puts me at 153.5# lean muscle and 45# of body fat … for a target of 198.5#/22% roughly.

Good solid goal quantified !  Step one done …

Workout - A+

Eating Plan - C

Journaling - A

Accountability - C

So my roommate and I hit that wall.  You know the one … where you INTEND to get up, you PLAN to get up, but you just DON’T get up …

So, the initial thought was that of  “OMG, we’re slacking … WE HAVE TO FIX THIS.”

So, we first thought, “Well, we’ll make the person who doesn’t get up on time pay the other a dollar.”

But here’s thing:  making someone pay you money is negative reinforcement.  While that might work for someone, it doesn’t work for me.  (I’ve tried it once …)

The only negative mental construct that works for me is when people tell me I can’t do something.  And even then, if I think they are just doing it to manipulate me, then I am just as likely to not do it because of that awareness of the manipulation. (You really need to know your internal motivators to make a true transformation.)

I don’t think there is a tweak to be made for us.  There’s a small subtle trap there and here’s what it is:

Missing workouts happens … if you focus on trying to create a system that prevents it, you’re dooming yourself to eventual failure which creates negative consequences.  Take the failures as part of organic growth and don’t worry about it.  This doesn’t need to be “managed”.  Focus on progress, not perfection - just like Bill Phillips says.

It just means we’re mentally “tired”; it means the initial motivating factors are changing.  The newness has worn off and now it feels like “work”.  It happens.  This is the breaking point that most people go through.  This is the point where you need to incorporate mental exercises and really get into your “Reasons Why”.

So, now, results are still coming in, but we’re cheating and slacking off.  This is part of the process - it happens.  So, now we ramp up the mental exercises, which will introduce a higher level of mental commitment.  Once that happens, it will take us to the next stage with good results.

This stage is where most people fail.  At this point, they don’t accommodate a lessening motivational position and they let themselves slack just enough to let the results suffer:  they put the plane on auto-pilot before they are at cruising altitude.  CRASH!

So, we won’t be worrying about what happened.  We won’t be creating anything new as an incentive or punishment.

We’ll simply make ourselves accountable to the FULL system we planned.  We make each other accountable to each other without any “games”.   Just write down what we say we will do and then write it down and review it weekly.

PLAN, DO (OR NOT DO), and REVIEW …

P D R …  It’s simple.

We’ll review on Sunday nights and keep it to a 15 min session.

Here’s the thing:   I have always heard the saying, “Plan to Succeed”.  What I always thought about this was that the act of planning prepares you for success.  Not true.

“What??”, you say.

Yes!  Here’s how it works.  Just planning isn’t enough.  Yes, you do need to know what you INTEND to do … but sometimes there is a STEP ZERO.

i.e.  I planned to have a workout today.  Last night, I had planned it - but I didn’t take step zero.  What I needed to do was make sure that I had gotten in bed early enough so that getting up in the morning (my intention) was as easy as possible.  THAT encourages success - removing the impeding barriers to success …

So, don’t forget that step zero is the real key to effectiveness - not necessarily a good game plan alone.

Be well!

Monte

So,  I did miss my Wed workout … no excuses … well, an excuse exists, but I won’t be using it.  No matter how tired I am, I should be able to accommodate a workout of some kind … but my body wasn’t listening to my mind (yet).

Workout today was fantastic … and my workout partner is catching up to me quick … REAL QUICK.  The kid’s strong naturally.  You know the type, lean and wirey - the kind of guy who can eat 50 burgers and still burns it off somehow.  But I heard him say something to a friend of ours today that registered a thought …

He said, “Every day I go to the gym and you don’t, I get one step closer to beating you in the gym.”  Awesome statement and it made my regret missing my Leg day …

See, friendly competition is HEALTHY … for your mind and your body … it fuels the drives that get you to excel.

So if you’re stuck or not motivated, pit yourself into competition with a friend and see your drive increase!

Be well!

Monte

Day 1 Completed!!

Even though I had pulled an all-nighter for the project that I am working on, I still managed - with the help of my workout partner - to make it into the gym.  A workout buddy is the BEST way to motivate yourself.

Task-wise, I still need to revise my mindset goals and post them.  I also need to take new measurements and pictures (ugh!).

Also, here’s some thoughts:

I think that when you choose to help someone transform, your role should be the role of the guy who holds them accountable to their goals … not the results - the goals themselves and the ACTION PLAN to make it happen.  You can decide where you want to take things from there.  Don’t be a judge here, consider yourself something like an accounting auditor.

Here’s a breakdown of what I think is important to success in long term changes in your physical lifestyle.  (Again, I am not talking about short term results, I think just about anyone can get in the gym and put on 15 pounds of muscle - that’s pretty easy.  I am talking long term gain where it stays on.)

Breakdown:

Mental exercises/goal setting/accountability:  80% of your focus/effort/long term gains
Meal plans:  15% of your focus/effort/long term gains
Workouts:  5% of your focus/effort/long term gains

I think most people think that working out and eating right is 80% of it, but that’s where most people fail.  That would put you at about 5 - 20% of our target activity to make long term changes.

The important things to learn are not just how to workout, but eating well, daily journalling and the mindset exercises.  After that, you have learned all the skills needed to succeed.

More thoughts:
The eating plan that I subscribe to requires daily upkeep of a food journal and Gyminee is a simple way to keep up with that.  It takes me less than 3 minutes to enter the info when I eat something.  If you’re planning to enter it at the end of the day instead of when you eat something, then I would suggest that you are dooming yourself to the procrastination zone.

Being able to watch my calories go up during the day as I eat has been a transforming experience for me.  I would find myself challenged to keep a daily consistent caloric net loss without this tool.

If you don’t do the journaling and mindset exercises, in the short term, you won’t notice any differences - but trust me on this one - this is how you cripple your long term gains.  I put 15 pounds of muscle on in 11 weeks and everything looked fine.  Who needs mental crap, right?  ooooooohhhhh, was I wrong.

To your health!
Monte

So, Andy, my workout bud and I have started our workouts. We are taking it slow until Monday. These next couple of days won’t count toward our “official” challenge.

I started an eating plan on March 31st and I am already down 14.5 POUNDS of fat. Now, of course, I have a lot more than that laying around, so I had it to lose - BUT DAMN IT FEELS GOOD.

So, we’ve kicked each other in the rump and given ourselves the excuse of “getting each other into the gym” - lol - really??? But, it’s worked for me before and it’ll work again.

There’s nothing like getting to the gym with a fresh mind and kicking it out with a good friend.

So, here’s our plan for day … let’s call it T-Minus -4 … and countdown begins …

OK, here’s today’s “homework”:

Try to eat lean, clean and green:  one fist sized portion of protein and one of good carbs, plus one side of green veggies … you are right by Walmart, so no excuses … WITH one glass of water before you eat and one glass after you eat.

Get some ibuprofen and some hall’s self defense with vitamin C.  Take this as soon as you can.  Like noon.  This will greatly reduce the soreness and hopefully prevent something called DOMS.  Don’t worry it goes away after the first week or so.

Go to gyminee and enter your workout info.

Here’s the most important part:  enter EVERYTHING you eat into gyminee.  If you “cheat” and drink some juice, put it in there.  If you eat a big fat snickers bar, put it in there.  We need to determine your baseline for your energy needs and this will help.

That’s it other than this exercise - 4 MINUTES -  answer truthfully and honestly:

>> From Bill Phillips’ transformation.com …

Brainstorming Exercise

If you don’t have a strong future mindset already, how do you get one? One way is to write down what comes to mind when you answer this question: What would you want to have accomplished within the next year if nothing were out of reach?

Start scribbling down words that excite you. The things you really want will come to mind quickly. Now put those thoughts into affirmative, narrative sentences. What you are doing is developing a “future-mindset statement.” After you’ve written your paragraph, reread it. The words should conjure up emotion and make you excited about your future. Read your future-mindset statement first thing in the morning, and again at night, every day. Recite this statement as if you were describing your own future to someone else. Speak with confidence and excitement! Remember, you are creating your future-mindset reality.

When you do this, eliminate fear, negative emotion, and doubt from your thoughts. Also, don’t describe your future success as things you “hope” to achieve—describe them as things you will accomplish.

>>>> Andy, read this next part … this was my mistake …

Hope is not a strong enough emotion to create the mindset you want.

>>>>

You must believe, with certainty, that what your imagine is your future reality.

You may upgrade or modify your future vision every month. Feel free to get creative and imagine the best future you possibly can. If your progress is hindered by simple things, the problem is not that you’re too busy, or have poor discipline—the problem is you don’t really want it because you haven’t yet developed an exciting vision of your future self.

Once you commit your future-mindset statement to memory, your mind will lead you toward this future-based vision—you will develop a burning desire to make it a reality. You will feel and be in control, maybe for the first time ever!

By practicing this skill—by teaching yourself to believe in your future vision—you don’t just accomplish one thing; you accomplish everything. When things don’t go your way, you’ll pick yourself up, because more powerful than any failure is this vision you have. Eventually, you won’t even have to plan each day’s activities because you will do the things you should be doing—you’ll be moving toward that vision. Deep down inside, you’ll know, one day you will get there—it’s a faith and a feeling that whatever happens will happen, but you know, in the end, you will get where you want to go.

Most people never develop a strong future-based mindset; hence, they never harness their true potential. If they aren’t focused on their futures—if they’re not consciously creating their lives, they’re living accidentally, not intentionally. They’re merely reacting to life.

We could sit back and let things just happen to us and live, day to day however we please. But we were meant to grow—to elevate ourselves. When you determine what you want your future to be, you have decided to grow—to live—not just exist! The ball is in your court—the power to succeed or fail is yours—no one can take that away.

Excellence in Action: Take four minutes and complete the mindset exercise above.

You’ve found the 2009 transformjournal.com Transformation Challenge!  Stick around and subscribe to this in order to learn and watch this transformation take place.  Here the Challengers will be posting up their weekly videos and daily pictures to show the world just what amazing changes are taking place in their lives.

Stay.  Take part in the challenge and submit your posts and comments.  This is ours to do what we like.

Welcome and get ready for the change!

In fact, as Bill Phillips puts it, BE THE CHANGE!