Do you always sabotage your weight loss efforts? Read this… (plus a very limited time special offer)

Self-Sabotage

Whenever a new client joins MBT, I always ask them a bunch of questions so I can learn more about them. One of the questions I ask is, “What have been your biggest obstacles in the past when trying to reach your goals?”

And, by far, the most common response is some sort of variation of: “I’m my own biggest obstacle. I’m constantly sabotaging my own success, and I don’t know why.”

Well, I do.

And it’s why I’ve been able to help 100’s and 100’s of people of all ages, shapes and sizes throughout the US and world get the body they’ve always wanted – and most importantly, keep that body.

It’s also why MBT has been featured on Good Morning America, Conde’ Nast, Shape, Thrillist, Fox, Inc. Magazine, AOL.com, MSNBC.com, Yahoo.com, Mashable, Huffington Post and countless other national media.

MBT doesn’t just focus on the tactical part of losing weight. That’s fairly easy. At MBT we focus on the critically important mental side of losing weight.

So, if you’re interested in knowing why you constantly sabotage your weight loss efforts, and what you can do about it, email me —> adam at mybodytutor dot com with the subject line, “I want to know why I sabotage my weight loss efforts.”

Why am I doing this?

Because what I’m going to share with you is very, very good. And because I’m obsessed with getting my clients results, I want to know that you’re at least willing to take some action and email me.

Here’s the kicker though: If you email me by Sunday at midnight, I’ll also include a free 10 minute phone call with yours truly, and we’ll talk all about you and your goals and challenges.

Why am I doing this? (Well, I just got free long distance. Kidding!) I’m doing this because I really do live for this stuff. And it’s a lot of fun for me to help people.

So, if you’d like to know why 95% of this world is amazing at starting AND stopping diets, and how you can overcome your self-sabotage simply email me at adam [at] mybodytutor [dot] com right now with the subject line “I want to know why I sabotage my weight loss efforts.”

As I said, what I’m going to share with you is very good. It’s helped my clients tremendously!

I look forward to speaking with you! 🙂

15 ideas for you to survive (and thrive) this Thanksgiving!

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Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Nothing like a good meal, great company and some football!

It’s impossible to be thankful and unhappy at the same time. The two emotions cannot coexist. Thankfulness magically gets rid of every other non-happy emotion there is.

However, for anyone who values their health and fitness, Thanksgiving can be the start of a downward spiral.

Here’s 15 ideas for you to use this Thursday so you can remain on point:

1. Your life isn’t a Normal Rockwell painting

We all have preconceived notions on how Thanksgiving should be. We can’t choose our family so you might as well make the best of it, right? Try lowering your expectations. The less you are disappointed, the more you are likely to appreciate and enjoy the day.

Example, for the first time in my life (at least I don’t remember the first 4 years of it) my father and mom are going to be at the same Thanksgiving table.

This is going to be extremely awkward for my sister and me. As anxious as we are, I’m trying to go into it with no expectations.

2. Wear your best belt and your tightest pants

It’s a lot easier to stop eating when you know you’re full. One telltale clue is when your clothes and belt starts telling you. Sounds obvious, but stopping when you’re full is probably one of the harder things to do at the Thanksgiving table when everyone else is helping themselves to seconds and thirds.

It will be easier to stop if you wear very tight pants because then you’ll have to push away from the table when you’re stuffed. You’ll just be too uncomfortable otherwise.

3. Save your calories for dinner

If you want to be a great guest and enjoy the meal the most, skip the hors d’oeuvres. A good basic rule-of-thumb is don’t eat anything that doesn’t require a knife and fork.

4. Always hold a drink and a napkin

Do you really need an appetizer before a huge meal? You can’t control what your gracious host does, but you can control yourself. Make it harder to reach for something by holding a glass in one hand (preferably filled with water) and a napkin in the other.

5. To drink or not to drink?

Is alcohol a trigger? Our irrational mind tends to get a lot louder after a few drinks. Alcoholic drinks are not only loaded with calories (especially the sweet drinks and the eggnogs!) but they are likely to lower your inhibitions and might trigger you to eat more than you really want to.

6. Don’t talk politics

My mom is very intense about politics. My mom can go from extremely calm to extremely angry in less time than it takes to break a wish bone. If someone says something that annoys you – let it go! If you’re annoyed, you’re more likely to overeat.

7. Focus on the special stuff

Don’t waste your calories on large portions of food you can eat everyday. Limit the variety you have. Let’s make a rule: Only two items on your plate at any one time. Having a lot of different items on your plate stimulates your appetite.

8. Is it worth it?

Ask yourself, “Is this really worth it” before you dig in. Many times, we’re just eating food simply because it’s available.

9. Don’t make a diet fopaux

Just like you wouldn’t wear every accessory you own at the same time, you don’t need to go heavy on the sauces, gravy, dressings, etc. Less is more!

10. Small seconds are better than big firsts

Some people show their love through food. Research on memory shows that your Aunt Grace won’t remember how much you take, but she’ll remember if you liked it enough to take seconds, especially, if you announce it.

Try taking a little bit of Aunt Grace’s ‘famous’ mashed potatoes. Tell her how great they are. Then go back for seconds and say something like, “Aunt Grace, your mashies are so good I’m taking seconds!” She’ll be really happy…and your body will be really happy too because you’ll actually be eating less even though you’re going in for round two.

11. Slow down!

Seriously! Slow down. Pretend you’re a NY Times food critic. Really taste each and every bite. Put your fork and knife down. Take a sip of water. Engage in conversation. There’s no rush.

12. Forget the post dinner snacks

We won’t starve if we skip the late night turkey sandwich. This is a great time to focus on the family and not on the food. Besides, are you really hungry? Most likely, you’re just bored.

13. Plan activities

The holidays aren’t only about food, are they? They are about enjoying each other’s company, having fun and laughter! How about planning a fun activity?

A football game, a big game of monopoly, or how about that game where you have to guess the word while receiving clues? You can’t say the actual word though. And there’s a timer. Got it! Catchphrase!  (See what I did there?) All these can be tons of fun.

14. Come out of the closet

Eat whatever you like but only out in the open. No sneaking.

15. Perfection doesn’t exist

Most importantly, and this is somewhat counterintuitive, don’t sweat it if you make a dietary mistake or two or three. We all will. And we’ll have the other 364 days to do it right!

Just like any other day, Thanksgiving will have its ups and downs too. There is no perfect day much less perfect Thanksgiving.

As always, if you’re consistent with your diet (and exercise) for the other 364 days you should be in great shape. If you’re not, I guarantee it’s because you’re not staying consistent with your diet and/or exercise. You might want to consider giving yourself – or someone else – the gift of MBT.

Finally, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for reading both of my blogs! Enjoy your family and friends and, of course, have a happy, healthy and fit Thanksgiving!

Why TIME magazine is completely irresponsible for saying that exercise won’t make you thin

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Recently, Time Magazine featured an article by John Cloud, entitled ‘Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin‘ that is generating a ton of buzz.

I addressed my thoughts on this in my Daily Inspiration the following day and I strongly considered doing so on this blog but I didn’t want to contribute to the buzz because it doesn’t deserve the attention.

But when I received an email from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) I felt as though it was my responsibility to address this to the world being that this is what I do and have lived since I was in 4th grade.

This is just too important to ignore. The email from them said: “Last Friday, an article appeared in Time Magazine making statements that we believe run counter to fact and the public interest. The article claimed that exercise, contrary to the research with which we are all familiar, is not an effective health tool, particularly as it pertains to weight loss…”

They continued, (addressing the fitness professionals on their mailing list):

“Your assistance is needed in getting the right health message out to the public. Also we encourage you to adapt our letter to the editor and submit it to your local news outlets, helping readers and viewers get the best evidence-based facts and information.”

So here I am. Never fear MyBodyTutor is here! I’m going to make this as simple and concise as possible.

Ridiculously enough, this debate made the rounds last year and the year before that as well. It’s nothing new!

Of course, the media loves stories like this because it’s attention grabbing. It makes you stop in your tracks and say, “Wait a second. What? Exercise won’t make you thin?” It’s written for people that don’t really want to change. Sadly, that’s most of the population.

Here’s the deal: To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. Energy (food) in must be less than energy (movement) out. HOWEVER (Yes, that is a big however, if you eat certain types of foods the amount of calories you consume doesn’t matter all that much. For example, our body processes chicken very differently than it does, say, candy.

[For my nerds out there:  This is what’s known as the Thermic Effect of Food. The energy used to burn the food we eat is known as the Thermic Effect of feeding. Proteins have a thermic effect of about 30% while carbs have a thermic effect of about 15%. Meaning it takes a lot more calories to process and digest, say, chicken breast than it does candy. If you consumed a serving of chicken that was 200 calories, 30% — 60 calories — may be required for digesting it. Not to mention, we feel a lot more satiated when we eat proteins. Plus, our ability to regulate ourselves is greatly increased when we eat certain foods. Where as when we eat, say, cookies, the combo of salt, sugar and fat can make it very hard to control ourselves.]

When we exercise intensely – it can make us very hungry, even ravenous. There in lies one of the problems.

It’s called overcompensation. If you exercise say for 30 minutes at a moderate pace – you may burn 200 calories. And you’ll (most likely) overestimate how hard you worked. (Most people think they worked out harder than they really did. Most people also think they eat better than they really do.)

And if you think it’s now okay to eat a donut** just because you exercised you just negated your entire workout for purposes of weight loss. (I’m not even going to mention the gazillion and one benefits exercising has on our health, fitness and over all well being. This is just about weight loss right now as was Time’s ridiculous article.)

[**With the right plan you can absolutely enjoy donuts and still lose weight. BUT, you have to build it into the plan. That’s a big part of what we do. Never eating your favorite foods isn’t sustainable. We help our clients lose weight while enjoying their favorite foods guilt free!]

(Ugh. I can’t resist. Here’s a few benefits of exercise.)

Or, why not slog down a Gatorade to aide in your recovery. Whoops! There goes your workout. (Sports drinks are only necessary when you are running marathons and the like!)

Which leads to the real problem at hand:

Food (or drink) as a reward.

This is the problem we all have. While you’re working your tail off exercising, you might be thinking about how hard you’re working. And because you’re working so damn hard – you might feel you deserve a reward – a food reward.

In fact, exercising might make you feel that you deserve food as a reward a lot more than if you weren’t exercising at all. After all, you’re working your butt off! “I’m working my butt off and I can’t eat junk?!?” you say to yourself.

That will make you feel deprived.

Because you still believe food is the reward! It’s not your fault. We’ve been conditioned to think of food as the reward since we were infants. But when food is your reward that leads to bad news!

So all of this brings me to several important points:

1. Food isn’t a reward. It’s fuel. Sure, it can be a source of love and joy. And if it has to be one – let’s make it about fresh food. Indulge yourself. But with real food!

Tip: How else can you reward yourself besides food?

2. If you exercise (and yes, of course it’s worthwhile for so many reasons!) don’t throw away all of your hard work with poor eating. You literally can negate a hard work out with 10 bites!

3. The best exercise of all: Keep your mouth shut. (I know this is a lot easier said than done. The rationalizations and justifications we come up with are brilliant! We will always fool ourselves. Enter MyBodyTutor!)

4. Thinking about how intensely I exercise makes me want to eat healthfully because I know how hard I work and I don’t want to waste my time. I want to get all of the benefits that exercise yields.

5. When we eat sugar, fat and salt we get a temporary rise in dopamine. But of course, it’s very fleeting. (Which is why once you start, it’s hard to stop. We want more and more!)

However, it’s been proven that we get the same feeling of reward and pleasure from exercise. So if you can look at exercise for the immediate short term benefits of pleasure – like you might do for junk food – it becomes a treat to workout. Not a sacrifice.

6. Going back to point 3 – who wants to workout and workout and not see any changes in your body? I see so many people in the gym that look exactly the same month after month – even with a personal trainer!

Obviously their diet is lacking. And of course, they’d be even bigger if they didn’t exercise. But what a waste!

In short: Exercise is critical in helping you to lose weight because it burns lots of calories. It can help to create a calorie deficit. But only if you don’t overcompensate!

In fact, diet is 70-80% of the battle. If you can’t control yourself like John Cloud, you’re not alone. Most people can’t.

But he shouldn’t make ridiculous claims.

Instead, he should admit that he needs help. Sadly, most people can’t do that. And that’s the first step to getting in to the shape you want to be in.

Sadly, most people can’t admit when they’re totally wrong either. And in this day and age, when 2/3 of the American population is overweight, the last thing we need is messages like this being put out there. There is enough conflicting information.

So John can you admit that you need some help? I’ll tell you what. I’ll work with you for free. All I ask is that instead of making bogus claims like exercising won’t make you thin – you tell the world that what they really need is daily and personal accountability.

A very hopeful,

-Adam Gilbert
Chief Body Tutor
MyBodyTutor, Inc.

The Economy, Thrillist, and Caroline with crazy before & after pictures!

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MBT is doing very well thankfully, despite the economy! In fact, I hate to say it but the economy is actually helping my business.

I think it’s partly because everyone understands the transformative potential of eating right and exercising and everyone knows that exercising and eating right pays off big in their quality of life.

I think it’s partly because although MBT is the perfect compliment to a personal trainer, and as helpful as a personal trainer is, most people don’t need someone to hold their hand in the gym for $60-225 per session. But what people do need is someone to make sure they get to the gym.

I also think it’s because people are starting to realize that 70-80% of their results will come from what they do in between their workouts outside of a gym setting! You know those people you see in the gym with their trainers month after month looking no different than when they first started? Clearly, their diet is what’s holding them back.

And I think ultimately, it’s because MBT solves a huge problem. Businesses that solve problems have advantages over businesses that don’t in tough economic times.

As I’ve said, getting in shape is about 3 things. Eating right. Exercising. And doing those two things consistently!

Unfortunately, the consistency part is very hard and is a huge problem! Because it’s very easy to make excuses and it’s even easier to rationalize those excuses.

And I know if I solve that problem – and I believe I have better than anyone else in the world – success for my clients is inevitable!

As a client just wrote to me, “Thank you so much for your Daily Inspirations! I can’t tell how much they help push me in the right direction each morning. Also, it’s so easy to make excuses and just to know that I have you to answer to (so to speak) on the Daily Feedback each night really helps me stay on track. Thank you! I’m so excited for my new way of life!”

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Once in a while, I’ll meet someone who doesn’t understand the value of MBT. They are hoping for the secret pill or the magic formula. 9 times out of 10 that same person will say, “Oh I know what to do! Eat xyz….!”

But of course – they aren’t doing it…consistently! And they aren’t in the shape they want to be in. And they hate how they look and feel. But hey, they know what to do!

This is why I’m so hesitant to write a book. We don’t need another book telling us what to do. We don’t need another book telling us why we should be eating right and exercising. What we need is a book that nudges and persuades us on why we should keep on going because that’s the hard part! And most people don’t want to actually change. They want to talk about changing which is very frustrating.

That’s why my wall is covered with before and after photos. That’s why writing a post like this where I can highlight a client who has truly changed her life is so much fun to write. To remind me that there are people who really do want to change how they look and feel.

And that’s why getting recognized for my concept/idea in national media like Thrillist is so rewarding. Check out what Thrillist had to say about MyBodyTutor here. I must say it’s pretty cool being featured in a publication you read. And when they reached out to me I was, well…thrilled! (It also made the best of the best for the month of May!)

Part of helping people stay consistent is helping them overcome any issues that prevent them from staying consistent. Caroline knew it would take time. She understands that losing weight is all about consistency. That it’s repetitious. Doing the right things meal by meal. Workout by workout. Day by day!

And I guess that’s why this means so much. Because people are finally starting to realize there are no shortcuts. There are no get rich quick schemes. If you set out to get in shape in a way that you don’t see yourself doing 6 months, 1 year, 5 years from now why bother starting? It’s not sustainable!

Caroline is now a model. Look at her pictures! If you want to read her case study check it out here. Just like all of the other case studies featured on my website she’s brave and courageous for not only starting a journey to a better Caroline but for also sharing it with the world!

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Why I’ll probably never write a bestselling health and fitness book

First off, writing a bestselling book has nothing to do with writing. In fact, I can confidently say my writing is better than 99% of the health and fitness books out there.

Not because I’m such a great writer but because they’re all co-written. And co-written books (famous person’s name with…) are products. Not books!

They are created quickly to take advantage of the popularity of that ‘famous’ person.

Smart move indeed, as that’s obviously what people want.

See, most people want to talk about being healthy and fit, how they’re going to start exercising next Monday, about the ‘latest’ fad diet or exercise contraption, and how they’re going to really stick with it this time and finally lose that weight!

But, sadly and unfortunately, most people don’t want to actually do any of those things!

Talking about it with your friends and family makes you feel better. It creates a sense of forward motion. We’ve all done it. We do it with all the things we don’t want to do.

I’ve read countless ‘diet’ books. And I still go to Border’s and spend hours reading, all while shaking my head in amazement. I’m not amazed at the ‘famous’ people for putting their names on a book and selling it. I’m amazed at all of the people who constantly fool themselves by buying these books!

And although I get a kick out of reading the same book over and over in between different covers, I get the biggest kick out of reading the reviews.

In my opinion, the measurement of a good book is if it changes you for good. Who cares if you ‘see the world differently’ for the 5 hours after you’re finished reading it? The real question is if it changes how do you things indefinitely.

Like I tell my clients, I couldn’t care less if someone loses weight and then gains it all back. My goal is to help change my clients. I want to help them get and stay fit!

But most people are searching for that hidden secret and don’t want to work for it.

You want the secret? Here it is! Free of charge for the entire world to read and share: Eat right. Exercise and do those two things consistently!

If you can do those 3 things you’ll be in great shape. No question about it. Of course, that’s so much easier said than done and exactly why I started my company.

Do we really need more tactics? Do you really not know that fast food isn’t good for you? I’m sick and tired of all of these books telling you what you already know. We all know what to do (for the most part)!

That’s not the problem! The problem is that we don’t do it! Or, we don’t stick with it! And that’s the key to successful ‘dieting’!

And even though I hate the word diet, because that means it’s not permanent, it’s the truth. If you start something and feel you won’t be able to do it in 6 months, 1, 3, 5 years from now IT WON’T WORK!

It will not be sustainable. And you’ll find yourself being one of the 95% of people that quit.

The trick is of course to let go of your ego and admit you might need help, start something that is sustainable…and…wait for it…keep going!

And that’s exactly what my book would be mostly about. To nudge, push, and persuade you on why you should keep going! (Because if your thoughts don’t change, you’ll never change!) It would also be about why it’s so hard to keep on going! Without the right mindset and psychology, it’s impossible to make a “diet” a permanent lifestyle.

Not so much the tactics.

I’m also the first one to say that the only way to change how you look and feel is to change what you do. However, many people don’t want to actually change.

They want to talk about changing. And make themselves feel like they’re changing.

But not actually change.

Why get rich quick schemes don’t exist and how it affects you

I am amazed by how impatient we are when it comes to results for our health and fitness goals.

In fact, it’s scary how fast we expect results!

As we all know (but like to think otherwise) consistency is the key to any kind of success. Of course, it’s also tough to maintain.

That’s where MBT comes in.

We all know this though. Our rational mind doesn’t really believe losing 30 pounds in three days is realistic. (Of course not!)

However, our irrational mind likes to think so. In fact, it’s the same irrational mind that will fall victim to get rich quick schemes.

Get rich quick schemes don’t work!

For as long as there have been (and are) people who want to get rich there will be get rich quick schemes.

But here’s the thing: Get rich quick schemes (as well as diet schemes) exist because people want to believe they exist.

For as long as there are people who want to believe in ‘too good to be true’ claims they’ll always be around.

[When I say diet schemes I mean anything that makes you think it’s too good to be true! Alert: If it feels that way in your gut it’s because it is too good to be true!]

Don’t you think if get rich quick schemes actually existed the seller (who was entrepreneurial enough to buy airtime to share his secret with the world for a small fee of 10 easy payments of $89.95) would instead just hire 1000’s of people at minimum wage to follow his very own ‘step by step full proof method’ and become a billionaire himself?

Think about that? If it was that easy and it required so little work, and work that could be replicated over and over, he’d be able to hire anyone. And just have them follow his method.

But of course, he doesn’t.

There is no such thing as getting rich quick. Nor is there such a thing as losing 30 pounds in three days.

The only way to get rich quick or to lose weight or to accomplish anything worth accomplishing is day by day.

Like I tell my clients: Meal by meal. Workout by workout. Day by day.

Very unsexy but very true.

If you put together 9 ladies it still takes 9 months each to have a baby (and patience).

How come no one questions anything else that takes time and patience and effort? Law school, medical school, grad school, high school, and on and on?

Interestingly, without your health and fitness none of the above means anything.

Get in shape day by day.

Meal by meal, workout by workout, day by day!

[This happened to be yesterday’s Daily Inspiration.]

5 easy and fun to use MyBodyTutor tricks for you on this Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Nothing like a good meal, great company and some football!

It’s impossible to be thankful and unhappy at the same time. The two emotions cannot coexist. Thankfulness magically gets rid of every other non-happy emotion there is.

Of course, celebrate the great holiday, but let’s try to mindlessly eat a little less than we otherwise would.

Here’s five ideas for you to use this Thursday:

Wear Your Best Belt and your tightest pants! It’s a lot easier to stop eating when you know you’re full. One great clue is when your clothes and belt starts telling you. Sounds obvious, but stopping when you’re full is probably one of the harder things to do at the Thanksgiving table when everyone else is helping themselves to seconds.

It will be easier to stop if you wear very tight pants because then you’ll have to push away from the table when you’re stuffed. You’ll just be too uncomfortable otherwise.

Save your Calories for Dinner. If you want to be a great guest and enjoy the meal the most, skip the hors d’oeuvres. A great basic rule-of-thumb is don’t eat anything that doesn’t require a knife and fork.

Focus on the Special Stuff. Don’t waste your calories on large portions of food you can eat everyday. Limit the variety you have. Let’s make a rule. Only two items on your plate at any one time. Having a lot of different items on your plate at once stimulates your appetite so therefore don’t have 20 different things on your plate.

Small seconds are better than Big Firsts. Some people show their love through food. Research on memory shows that your Aunt Grace won’t remember how much you take, BUT she will remember if you liked it enough to take seconds. Especially, if you announce it. Take two small helpings of key foods over one medium/large portion.

So here’s the play: Take a little bit of Aunt Grace’s ‘famous’ mashed potatoes. Tell her how great they are. Then go back for seconds and say something like, “Aunt Grace, your mashies are so good I’m taking seconds!” She’ll be really happy because your making her feel good…and your body will be really happy, too because you’ll actually be eating less of them even though you’re going in for round 2.

Forget the Post Dinner Snacks. We won’t starve if we skip the late night turkey sandwich. This is a great time to focus on the family and not on the food.

Most importantly, and this is somewhat counterintuitive, don’t sweat it if you make a dietary mistake or two or three. We all will. And we’ll have the other 364 days to do it right!

Bonus! Want to make everyone laugh at the table? Cut out aluminum foil in the desired shape. Wrap the turkey and cook normally. And when it’s done and ready to be served it’ll look like the picture above. Not only will everyone laugh, a lot, but it’ll also remind you that, before we know it, bathing suit season will be here!

Also, from the bottom of my heart I want to thank all of my amazing clients for allowing me to do what I love doing. I don’t take it for granted, for even a second, that without them I wouldn’t have a business! I also want to thank you, my loyal reader, for reading my blog!

Enjoy your family and friends and, of course, happy Thanksgiving!

[Some really nice comments over at BrazenCareerist.com!]

How to feel like a rock star!

Below is my Daily Inspiration that I wrote for my clients yesterday morning. I write a Daily Inspiration every single morning for my clients. This just happens to be one of them…

One of my idols growing up was Michael Jordan. He says, “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.”

Indeed.

If you don’t expect yourself to stay consistent with your diet and exercise then you won’t. If you don’t expect yourself to get that promotion or to land that new client then you won’t.

If you don’t expect things of yourself before you can do them, then you will never, ever, do them.

In my opinion, expecting things of yourself comes from self confidence. And I believe the best way to gain self confidence is to actually do the things you really want to do.

All of those little promises that you make to yourself (and me). When you really make good on your own word, it feels incredible. And you start to really believe in yourself. You start to really trust yourself.

The feeling of having been lied to by yourself (which we all do) is not a good one. You start thinking you’re a fraud. And that your own word means nothing.

You don’t believe yourself anymore. You don’t trust yourself anymore and you don’t take yourself seriously anymore.

Some people will promise anything to other people and never break their word because they want other people to think they are full of integrity.

Some of those people will never keep their own promises though. How about some personal integrity folks?

Here’s a thought:

Imagine if you kept every promise you made to yourself. Imagine how you’d feel and look.

Imagine where’d you’d be.

So that means…

Really working your butt off at the gym. Not just going through the motions. (If you’re going to spend your precious time there then you might as well get the most out of it!)

Stop snacking on those treats (we both know they aren’t good for you) and you’re only fooling yourself.

Waking up a little earlier.

Eating a little healthier.

And countless other promises we all make to ourselves.

Imagine. Do.

Repeat.

You = feeling like a rockstar.

-A

I’ve been writing a Daily Inspiration every morning for my clients since March of 2007. I wake up and whatever comes to mind I write it. My clients love it. Thankfully!

My program is based on 4 key quotes. I’m a big fan of quotes if you haven’t realized. The idea of having a Daily Inspiration was inspired by this quote. (Actually to be honest, I found this quote way after I started writing the Daily Inspirations but it’s precisely the reason why I write a Daily Inspiration!)

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar

The other 3 quotes that my program is based on or I should say that go hand in hand with my program follow:

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” Richard P. Feynman, Nobel Prize – winning physicist

“In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics you get shortsighted, if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end.” – Tom Seaver

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Albert Einstein

[Some really nice comments over at BrazenCareerist.com!]

17 fabulously easy tips and tricks to stop mindlessly eating

1. Finishers: We love finishing things! That’s why it’s so hard to leave things on our plates; like that last bite we don’t even want. Our clue that we are done eating is that our plates are clean. Try always leaving a piece of food on your plate.

2. Perception: In a study when people thought they were drinking “cheap” wine, they ate less and stayed at dinner shorter. But the group with the “good” wine (they were the same exact wines) stayed longer and ate more and said the meal was better.

3. Eating: The first bite is always the best so just reduce the portions. Out to dinner? Tell them to pack up 1/2 of your food for home even before they bring out the plate to your table. Say no to bread. This way you don’t even have to look at it. If you have to constantly look at it, you have to constantly ask yourself the question, “Do I want a piece? Do I really not want a piece?” Save yourself.

Put food in the back of cupboards. Make it harder to get to. Thank God for places like Costco. But take Costco size things and put them in smaller containers (then hide them in large bins.) In general, when food is out of your site – it’s out of your mind.

4. Awareness: Are you really hungry when you eat? If you’re not hungry but choose to eat anyway — say out loud, “I’m not hungry but I’m going to eat this anyway!”

5. 20 percent: Try adding 20% more veggies to your plate and take away 20% of the entree.

1/2 plate: Try making half of your plate veggies. I find that eating veggies and salad with each meal really helps me to feel full.

6. Forgotten: There was a great study where 1 group of people ate chicken wings and their bones were kept in front of them. In the other group, the plates were cleared every 15 minutes or so.

Who do you think ate less? The group who saw all of their bones.

Bonus: You can do the same with wine. Always serve new glasses of wine and be sure to leave the old glasses out and the bottles too!

*Bonus – bonus: This actually applies to anything.

7. Just cut it: Mindless eating is when you eat and are no longer hungry. The “I’m full but I can eat more.” Be satisfied and just say, “Done!”

8. See all you can eat: Like the chicken wings – serve yourself in the kitchen and try to eat in another room. With snacks always pour or put the snack into something. Otherwise, the hand always reaches into that bag.

Continue reading “17 fabulously easy tips and tricks to stop mindlessly eating”

How to get in amazing shape, Rule #2

Continuing with my ‘how to get in amazing shape’ series (Part 1 here), the next rule is something that many of my clients are (delightfully) surprised at. The key isn’t to starve. Actually, that’s exactly what you don’t want to do. Rule #1 is to never let yourself get really hungry.

What you want to try and do is to eat something every 3 – 4 hours.

Think back to the caveman (sorry Geico cavemen!) days.

Back then, there were no supermarkets to get whatever you wanted, whenever you
wanted it. There weren’t bodegas on every corner like here in NYC either.

The caveman didn’t know when his next meal was coming. He only ate when he
made the kill and would literally stuff himself until he couldn’t move! Why? Because
he knew that he might not eat again for days or even weeks!

This made our bodies very bad at processing food. Since our bodies didn’t know
when we were going to eat next, they were forced to revert into something known as
“survival mode”.

Whenever you eat, your digestive system converts most of your food, especially
large amounts of carbs to glucose (blood sugar). It’s a very complex process but
basically anytime we eat we’re in ‘survival mode’.

Because of this our body converts most of the glucose…in conjunction with the
hormone insulin…to fat!

This is why people who constantly starve themselves can gain weight while eating
only one meal per day!

We’d all like to speed up our metabolism. Unfortunately, over thousands and
thousands of years our bodies haven’t changed much from the days of the
caveman. Every time we eat, our bodies are already automatically going to convert
what we eat to fat…even if it’s fat free!

So the million dollar question is, “Adam, how do I change my body from a fat storer
to a fat burner?” It’s all about proper nutrition.

The answer is simply this: 4-5 portion-controlled, balanced meals every 3-4 hours
throughout the day.

By eating this way, you’ll effortlessly speed up your metabolism. Think of this way. If
you have a campfire burning and you don’t add wood to the fire, eventually the
campfire will burn out!

But if you add a little wood every few hours, the campfire will continue to burn. And
burn hot!!! So, as you see, our metabolism is like the fire…never or rarely feed it
and it will slow down. Feed it every few hours and it has no choice but to speed up!

Burn baby. Burn.