I'm in Morristown, NJ right now at a fitness business conference...(and I hope there aren't any people from NJ offended by the 'dirty jersey' subject...that's all they've been saying here).
The elite of the elite are here and it's truly an amazing experience so far.
Tomorrow there is a bootcamp at 7am and then presentations all day.
What I wanted to let you know about is about The Good Times Lifestyle.
I have a start up newsletter and a video for you.
this is the homepage http://www.thegoodtimeslifestyle.com
I'll be back next week to start really getting into The GTL and what's it's all about.
Keep ROCKIN' IT!
Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
PS - If you known anybody who wants to learn about The GTL send them to http://www.thegoodtimeslifestyle.com. It would be very much appreciated.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Back to the basics of succesful fat loss...
Living in a high paced society, we tend to get caught up in all the new fancy gizmos and forget about the basics. Especially when it comes to exercise.
A new so-called miracle pill comes out weekly. The next great ab machine infomercial hits the airwaves monthly. The next revolutionary diet book comes out every day it seems. Listen, a pill didn’t get you overweight. It was one more bite that pushed you over the weight threshold.
So how about we blow right by all the hype for a minute and get back to the basics. Basics that will get you results.
The Ethic We’ve All Seemed To Lost
There’s a major theme associated with all the miracle pills, machines and diets out there. They tell you that there’s hardly any work involved. Claims such as “Just take the pill and watch the fat melt off your body,” or “Only 10 minutes on this revolutionary machine, three days a week and you’ll get a six pack in eight weeks,” are made all the time.
This is the part of the article in which I could go on one of my tangents about how stupid all that is, but I won’t. I’d much rather try to solve this problem of lacklustre work ethic that most of us possess these days.
As we’ve grown as a people and as a society, we’ve gotten lazier and lazier. Every new invention has something to do with making our life easier (and lazier). Now, if we come across something that requires a little sweat and persistence, we think it’s unfair and ask, “Why can’t this be easier?”
If easy got us what we truly wanted, then money would never be a problem, and hot dogs and Doritos would be the greatest meal in the world (to me anyways).
The fact is that sweating, working out when you don’t feel up to it, doing certain things you won’t necessarily like doing and eating food that might be just plain boring are all part of the process to true and lasting results.
Pure Eating
Processed foods = not good
Natural foods = good
Easy enough, right?
The only reason we think we can’t live without all the cookies, fast food burgers, pop and easy made dinners is because we’ve grown up with them. They’ve always been around us, we crave them in certain situations and they become a part of our world.
The better the food, the better it is for you. That’s the basics. Generally speaking, the longer the shelf life of something the worse it is for you.
MTAing It
Making the adjustment (MTA) is necessary for success. Listen, if you’ve gained weight by eating more calories than you expend, then obviously reducing your calories is a part of the process. By doing that, you’re going to be hungry sometimes. Here are some hardcore basic truths for you.
YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF!
It’s going to take some sacrifice and discomfort in the initial stages of your journey. Your body will make the adjustments and be successful. You just need to give it the chance to do so.
Basics Of Success For Body And Life
To be truly successful with your fat loss goals you need to have passion. That’s why I always say that your goals need big time emotion behind them. You also have to be willing to work. Understand that there is no snap of the fingers solution associated with your goal. Be focused. Surround yourself with your goals. Make sure you are always thinking about them. Be persistent. It’s not always going to be a smooth process. You might have major bumps happen that will make quitting creep into your mind. Just remember, if you quit, you can’t move forward and as long as you keep moving forward, you’re always getting closer, even if you can’t tell.
Email Dan your questions at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.
A new so-called miracle pill comes out weekly. The next great ab machine infomercial hits the airwaves monthly. The next revolutionary diet book comes out every day it seems. Listen, a pill didn’t get you overweight. It was one more bite that pushed you over the weight threshold.
So how about we blow right by all the hype for a minute and get back to the basics. Basics that will get you results.
The Ethic We’ve All Seemed To Lost
There’s a major theme associated with all the miracle pills, machines and diets out there. They tell you that there’s hardly any work involved. Claims such as “Just take the pill and watch the fat melt off your body,” or “Only 10 minutes on this revolutionary machine, three days a week and you’ll get a six pack in eight weeks,” are made all the time.
This is the part of the article in which I could go on one of my tangents about how stupid all that is, but I won’t. I’d much rather try to solve this problem of lacklustre work ethic that most of us possess these days.
As we’ve grown as a people and as a society, we’ve gotten lazier and lazier. Every new invention has something to do with making our life easier (and lazier). Now, if we come across something that requires a little sweat and persistence, we think it’s unfair and ask, “Why can’t this be easier?”
If easy got us what we truly wanted, then money would never be a problem, and hot dogs and Doritos would be the greatest meal in the world (to me anyways).
The fact is that sweating, working out when you don’t feel up to it, doing certain things you won’t necessarily like doing and eating food that might be just plain boring are all part of the process to true and lasting results.
Pure Eating
Processed foods = not good
Natural foods = good
Easy enough, right?
The only reason we think we can’t live without all the cookies, fast food burgers, pop and easy made dinners is because we’ve grown up with them. They’ve always been around us, we crave them in certain situations and they become a part of our world.
The better the food, the better it is for you. That’s the basics. Generally speaking, the longer the shelf life of something the worse it is for you.
MTAing It
Making the adjustment (MTA) is necessary for success. Listen, if you’ve gained weight by eating more calories than you expend, then obviously reducing your calories is a part of the process. By doing that, you’re going to be hungry sometimes. Here are some hardcore basic truths for you.
YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF!
It’s going to take some sacrifice and discomfort in the initial stages of your journey. Your body will make the adjustments and be successful. You just need to give it the chance to do so.
Basics Of Success For Body And Life
To be truly successful with your fat loss goals you need to have passion. That’s why I always say that your goals need big time emotion behind them. You also have to be willing to work. Understand that there is no snap of the fingers solution associated with your goal. Be focused. Surround yourself with your goals. Make sure you are always thinking about them. Be persistent. It’s not always going to be a smooth process. You might have major bumps happen that will make quitting creep into your mind. Just remember, if you quit, you can’t move forward and as long as you keep moving forward, you’re always getting closer, even if you can’t tell.
Email Dan your questions at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.
Monday, May 11, 2009
How to be High Energy All Day!
My youngest brother, Mark, got engaged Sunday to his girlfriend of 2 years and asked me to be his best man for the wedding. So before anything else I want to give a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the two of them.
Isn't it funny how news like that puts a whole new perspective on the day. I was up until 3am the night before working on a new project and his phone call came at about 10am and I was still tired and in bed (which is really late for me to still be in, but anyways). Once he told me the news my energy sky rocketed and the rest of the day was one of the most energy filled days I've had in a while.
I know for a fact that if he didn't propose Sunday morning, he never would have called me about it and my day wouldn't have been as upbeat probably. Not saying it wouldn't have been a good day, but with all the projects and deadlines I have coming up my focus would have been on them and maybe the pressure of some of them would have played a role in my energy throughout the day.
But with the news I just worked on my projects like it was no big deal. Funny how it all works, eh?
All that happened was a mindset shift that turned my day into and high energy and high productivity day. It's the difference between positive vs. negative news.
Mark's news was obviously very positive. If he called me to say that this whole 'Swine Flu' thing is really scary and he's afraid to travel, that would have been negative and it would have probably wrecked some of my energy for the day.
The point is (and I didn't even plan on writing very much to you today) be positive and forget the negative. The negative is moslty in our heads.
There was a point where I didn't read the newspaper, watch the news on tv, or turn on my radio in my car. I did that for 2 months. 60 days with no news (trust me, if it's that important, you'll hear about it).
Then one day, I started watching the news just to see how it would affect my mood. Within 3 minutes of watching about some killings in Iraq, I literally starting feeling sick to my stomach and had to turn the tv off. It was incredible.
My mind just wouldn't have it.
The message is simple, BE POSITIVE!
If you are negative or just quit something then it's officially over.
If you're positive and keep working, at MINIMUM you are at least giving yourself a shot to move forward. With negativity you don't even give yourself that option.
Now like I said, I wasn't even going to write anything to you today but something inspired me to just keep typing (I'm not going to read through it so I hope it all makes sense :) ).
Joan, my newsletter subscriber who gives me recipes on a weekly basis gave me the simplest breakfast ever yesterday, so I tried it out this morning and loved it.
It's over at the website at http://www.gymsuperstar.com/myths.html
What do you do to keep yourself positive? I'd love to know.
The "Good Times" Lifestyle is coming.....keep your eyes wide open.
Keep ROCKIN' IT!
Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
Isn't it funny how news like that puts a whole new perspective on the day. I was up until 3am the night before working on a new project and his phone call came at about 10am and I was still tired and in bed (which is really late for me to still be in, but anyways). Once he told me the news my energy sky rocketed and the rest of the day was one of the most energy filled days I've had in a while.
I know for a fact that if he didn't propose Sunday morning, he never would have called me about it and my day wouldn't have been as upbeat probably. Not saying it wouldn't have been a good day, but with all the projects and deadlines I have coming up my focus would have been on them and maybe the pressure of some of them would have played a role in my energy throughout the day.
But with the news I just worked on my projects like it was no big deal. Funny how it all works, eh?
All that happened was a mindset shift that turned my day into and high energy and high productivity day. It's the difference between positive vs. negative news.
Mark's news was obviously very positive. If he called me to say that this whole 'Swine Flu' thing is really scary and he's afraid to travel, that would have been negative and it would have probably wrecked some of my energy for the day.
The point is (and I didn't even plan on writing very much to you today) be positive and forget the negative. The negative is moslty in our heads.
There was a point where I didn't read the newspaper, watch the news on tv, or turn on my radio in my car. I did that for 2 months. 60 days with no news (trust me, if it's that important, you'll hear about it).
Then one day, I started watching the news just to see how it would affect my mood. Within 3 minutes of watching about some killings in Iraq, I literally starting feeling sick to my stomach and had to turn the tv off. It was incredible.
My mind just wouldn't have it.
The message is simple, BE POSITIVE!
If you are negative or just quit something then it's officially over.
If you're positive and keep working, at MINIMUM you are at least giving yourself a shot to move forward. With negativity you don't even give yourself that option.
Now like I said, I wasn't even going to write anything to you today but something inspired me to just keep typing (I'm not going to read through it so I hope it all makes sense :) ).
Joan, my newsletter subscriber who gives me recipes on a weekly basis gave me the simplest breakfast ever yesterday, so I tried it out this morning and loved it.
It's over at the website at http://www.gymsuperstar.com/myths.html
What do you do to keep yourself positive? I'd love to know.
The "Good Times" Lifestyle is coming.....keep your eyes wide open.
Keep ROCKIN' IT!
Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
Sunday, May 3, 2009
3 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is So Critical
Zig Ziglar tells a story about a man named Howard Hill. Hill was one of the greatest archers in history. He could hit the bulls eye perfectly in the centre from 50 feet and then split the first arrow with his second shot. Ziglar goes on to say that he can teach you how to be a better archer than Howard Hill in less than 20 minutes, provided that he blindfolds Hill and turns him around a few times, so he doesn't know where the target is.
Now, obviously you can say, “Well how can Hill hit a target he can't see?” And that's a great question. But Ziglar likes to ask a question back.
“How can you hit a target you do not have?”
Goals are important; I would say that they are critically important. I believe we were all built for purpose and accomplishment.
What's your purpose? What are you going after? What do you want to accomplish in your life?
Here are three reasons why setting and having clear goals can change your life.
Improve Your Self-Image
Most people wonder how having goals will improve their self-image, and I'm with them. It took me a while to understand it too.
A lot of people don't set goals because deep down, they don't feel they deserve to have whatever it is they want. Through years of negative conditioning, it has been cemented in their minds that they can't do or have certain things.
I remember being told in high school that I couldn't play baseball in the USA. My good friends were even telling me this. Fortunately, I had a clear goal of what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to play the highest level of college ball there was.
If I didn't have that goal and I was just playing on a hope and prayer that I would somehow get to that level, I would have never gotten there. I wouldn't have had confidence in my purpose. I would've folded like a lawn chair at the first sign of real pressure or the first time I hit a bump I couldn't see past.
I would have had a poor self-image when it came to believing what I could or could not do. I had a clear goal, however, and I believed in it. That's what got me through all the hills and valleys on my way to my goal of playing NCAA Division I baseball.
Are you trying to get the body you want on a hope and a prayer or do you have a clear goal of the body your want?
When you know exactly what you want, the confidence to go after that goal is a lot easier to find.
Get And Stay In Focus
You can't hit a target you don't have. That's pretty simple.
Having clear goals gives you that target to focus on. Without a target, you also can't plan how to reach it. With a target to shoot for, you can set up a plan of how to reach that target.
Having goals keeps you focused. Sure, wanting to lose 10 pounds is a great goal, but there's a reason that goals must be specific. There is not a definite focus needed to lose 10 pounds. You can lose 10 pounds over the course of a few months or a year. You can gain some weight here and there and it wouldn't really matter too much. Sure it would be discouraging to gain weight, but there's no urgency to really fix the problem causing it.
Set a date and then set a plan. When you have a time limit for a goal that really means something to you, staying focused is a lot easier to do.
Live With Purpose
Without a purpose, what are you really doing?
When you have kids, you have a purpose to raise them and take care of them, so that's what you do. When you need a secondary education to get in the career you want, you have a purpose and you get the secondary education needed.
But what about your health?
We generally don't have a serious urgency to worry about things until we are diagnosed with something or a doctor says, “If you don't fix your health, you're looking at an early grave.”
What's your purpose when that happens? To live longer, right?
Should that be our ultimate purpose? Sure, of course it should be. But right now, it could be about building your shoulders or getting a lean stomach. Having a clear goal means something to you gives you a purpose.
So, what's your health purpose?
Emotional Push
Setting goals is great, but having goals with huge emotional ties behind them is life changing. Putting more emotion into a goal literally catapults your odds of success astronomically. Once you have the emotion, all you need is action, action and more action. And never ever give up on your goals.
Questions? Email Dan at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.
Now, obviously you can say, “Well how can Hill hit a target he can't see?” And that's a great question. But Ziglar likes to ask a question back.
“How can you hit a target you do not have?”
Goals are important; I would say that they are critically important. I believe we were all built for purpose and accomplishment.
What's your purpose? What are you going after? What do you want to accomplish in your life?
Here are three reasons why setting and having clear goals can change your life.
Improve Your Self-Image
Most people wonder how having goals will improve their self-image, and I'm with them. It took me a while to understand it too.
A lot of people don't set goals because deep down, they don't feel they deserve to have whatever it is they want. Through years of negative conditioning, it has been cemented in their minds that they can't do or have certain things.
I remember being told in high school that I couldn't play baseball in the USA. My good friends were even telling me this. Fortunately, I had a clear goal of what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to play the highest level of college ball there was.
If I didn't have that goal and I was just playing on a hope and prayer that I would somehow get to that level, I would have never gotten there. I wouldn't have had confidence in my purpose. I would've folded like a lawn chair at the first sign of real pressure or the first time I hit a bump I couldn't see past.
I would have had a poor self-image when it came to believing what I could or could not do. I had a clear goal, however, and I believed in it. That's what got me through all the hills and valleys on my way to my goal of playing NCAA Division I baseball.
Are you trying to get the body you want on a hope and a prayer or do you have a clear goal of the body your want?
When you know exactly what you want, the confidence to go after that goal is a lot easier to find.
Get And Stay In Focus
You can't hit a target you don't have. That's pretty simple.
Having clear goals gives you that target to focus on. Without a target, you also can't plan how to reach it. With a target to shoot for, you can set up a plan of how to reach that target.
Having goals keeps you focused. Sure, wanting to lose 10 pounds is a great goal, but there's a reason that goals must be specific. There is not a definite focus needed to lose 10 pounds. You can lose 10 pounds over the course of a few months or a year. You can gain some weight here and there and it wouldn't really matter too much. Sure it would be discouraging to gain weight, but there's no urgency to really fix the problem causing it.
Set a date and then set a plan. When you have a time limit for a goal that really means something to you, staying focused is a lot easier to do.
Live With Purpose
Without a purpose, what are you really doing?
When you have kids, you have a purpose to raise them and take care of them, so that's what you do. When you need a secondary education to get in the career you want, you have a purpose and you get the secondary education needed.
But what about your health?
We generally don't have a serious urgency to worry about things until we are diagnosed with something or a doctor says, “If you don't fix your health, you're looking at an early grave.”
What's your purpose when that happens? To live longer, right?
Should that be our ultimate purpose? Sure, of course it should be. But right now, it could be about building your shoulders or getting a lean stomach. Having a clear goal means something to you gives you a purpose.
So, what's your health purpose?
Emotional Push
Setting goals is great, but having goals with huge emotional ties behind them is life changing. Putting more emotion into a goal literally catapults your odds of success astronomically. Once you have the emotion, all you need is action, action and more action. And never ever give up on your goals.
Questions? Email Dan at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.
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