Today is the day
You feel bad about yourself. Too much of everything bad: Junk food, alcohol, staying up late.
You realize that you can't get away with what you used to get away with when you were 18 years old, when you could eat everything and stay in shape.
Or you just have lost your focus and you need a kick in the butt, something to get you going. But you need it to be simple. And you don't have much time to get it done.
I am here to tell you that now is the time. Not tomorrow morning, not Monday, not after that special occasion or holiday. There will always be a special occasion, always an excuse to cheat on your diet or not get your workout in for the day.
You don't need a special class or a dvd that promises you the world or a guru to help you or specialized equipment.
You may need a good pair of walking shoes, and you need a barbell and some dumbbells, a squat rack and a bench. If you have a recumbent bike, great. If not, you can just walk.
The plan here is to just do a little each day, nothing that takes longer than an hour at the most. Sometimes you can get away with a half hour. You definitely have the time for that, a half hour.
Lets start with the cardio portion first. Walk fast for a half hour 6 days a week, or ride a bike or walk on a treadmill or the elliptical or something similar. Try to do it as soon as you wake up in the morning. Slug down a cup of coffee or a shot of espresso (or 2) and just get going. If you are out walking, put on an audiobook or some thrash metal or any other type of music that motivates you to move. Just work up a sweat, don't kill yourself. Just start, just start, just start. Slow at first. And then when that caffeine kicks in and the sweat breaks, you will get going just fine. And if the half hour is too much, get in 15 minutes minimum, 2x a day. That is not complicated, right?
For the lifting? Three days a week.
You must perform these exercises once a week, 5 sets per exercise, 6-12 reps.
squats or leg press or front squats
press
bench or incline bench press or dumbell bench press
bent over rows or one arm rows
pushups or dips
deadlifts or trap bar deadlifts
lat pulls or chinups
curls
pushdowns or triceps extensions
So if you are running short on time because had a meeting that ran over, and you have to pick your kid up from daycare by 6 and its 5:25, walk into the gym and squat and leave.
Then on Saturday morning when you have 45 minutes , pick more exercises and take more time.
How about the weight? You can go up in weight each set, or you can pick a weight and stay at that weight for all of the sets. It is up to you. It is important that you up the intensity, that you progress in weight. Even if it is 5 pounds every other week, the weight must increase some.
Also, there should be no fooling around. Many folks say that they don't have time but they end up talking instead of training. Force yourself to focus on the task at hand. Everything can wait. You must be in deep concentration. Once you do that a few times, you will look upon others with disdain because of their lack of commitment. This is one of the most important things I can leave you with: Focus, focus, focus for just that short period of time.
Diet? Nothing magical here. If you are trying to lose weight fast, lower carb is the best way, but for most it isn't the easiest way. If you can handle it, go the Atkins way. If you can't, and I want you to be honest with yourself here, then eat with some basic rules in mind.
1. Eat your bodyweight in grams of protein each day(chicken, beef, turkey, fish)
2. Eat 3 servings of veggies each day minimum
3. Eat a small serving of "clean" carbs at every meal(rice, potato, sweet potato, grits, fibrous fruits, etc)
4. Never let 4 hours go by without eating
Don't say that you don't have time to prepare the food. Throw some rice in the microwave and buy a few pounds of turkey, a rotisserie chicken and some apples and you are set for a few days.
If you screw up, just start again. It isn't the end of the world. Just hop back on and don't feel guilty about it. Eat a small junk meal once or twice a week. Try to control yourself when it comes to junk. After you eat it, you will realize that it wasn't that great anyway.
You can do it, tons of people have, and they are no better than you are, they don't have some magic that you don't have. If they can do it, you surely can do it. Why not you?
Commit. And keep me updated on your progress. You can and you will do it. Now.
You feel bad about yourself. Too much of everything bad: Junk food, alcohol, staying up late.
You realize that you can't get away with what you used to get away with when you were 18 years old, when you could eat everything and stay in shape.
Or you just have lost your focus and you need a kick in the butt, something to get you going. But you need it to be simple. And you don't have much time to get it done.
I am here to tell you that now is the time. Not tomorrow morning, not Monday, not after that special occasion or holiday. There will always be a special occasion, always an excuse to cheat on your diet or not get your workout in for the day.
You don't need a special class or a dvd that promises you the world or a guru to help you or specialized equipment.
You may need a good pair of walking shoes, and you need a barbell and some dumbbells, a squat rack and a bench. If you have a recumbent bike, great. If not, you can just walk.
The plan here is to just do a little each day, nothing that takes longer than an hour at the most. Sometimes you can get away with a half hour. You definitely have the time for that, a half hour.
Lets start with the cardio portion first. Walk fast for a half hour 6 days a week, or ride a bike or walk on a treadmill or the elliptical or something similar. Try to do it as soon as you wake up in the morning. Slug down a cup of coffee or a shot of espresso (or 2) and just get going. If you are out walking, put on an audiobook or some thrash metal or any other type of music that motivates you to move. Just work up a sweat, don't kill yourself. Just start, just start, just start. Slow at first. And then when that caffeine kicks in and the sweat breaks, you will get going just fine. And if the half hour is too much, get in 15 minutes minimum, 2x a day. That is not complicated, right?
For the lifting? Three days a week.
You must perform these exercises once a week, 5 sets per exercise, 6-12 reps.
squats or leg press or front squats
press
bench or incline bench press or dumbell bench press
bent over rows or one arm rows
pushups or dips
deadlifts or trap bar deadlifts
lat pulls or chinups
curls
pushdowns or triceps extensions
So if you are running short on time because had a meeting that ran over, and you have to pick your kid up from daycare by 6 and its 5:25, walk into the gym and squat and leave.
Then on Saturday morning when you have 45 minutes , pick more exercises and take more time.
How about the weight? You can go up in weight each set, or you can pick a weight and stay at that weight for all of the sets. It is up to you. It is important that you up the intensity, that you progress in weight. Even if it is 5 pounds every other week, the weight must increase some.
Also, there should be no fooling around. Many folks say that they don't have time but they end up talking instead of training. Force yourself to focus on the task at hand. Everything can wait. You must be in deep concentration. Once you do that a few times, you will look upon others with disdain because of their lack of commitment. This is one of the most important things I can leave you with: Focus, focus, focus for just that short period of time.
Diet? Nothing magical here. If you are trying to lose weight fast, lower carb is the best way, but for most it isn't the easiest way. If you can handle it, go the Atkins way. If you can't, and I want you to be honest with yourself here, then eat with some basic rules in mind.
1. Eat your bodyweight in grams of protein each day(chicken, beef, turkey, fish)
2. Eat 3 servings of veggies each day minimum
3. Eat a small serving of "clean" carbs at every meal(rice, potato, sweet potato, grits, fibrous fruits, etc)
4. Never let 4 hours go by without eating
Don't say that you don't have time to prepare the food. Throw some rice in the microwave and buy a few pounds of turkey, a rotisserie chicken and some apples and you are set for a few days.
If you screw up, just start again. It isn't the end of the world. Just hop back on and don't feel guilty about it. Eat a small junk meal once or twice a week. Try to control yourself when it comes to junk. After you eat it, you will realize that it wasn't that great anyway.
You can do it, tons of people have, and they are no better than you are, they don't have some magic that you don't have. If they can do it, you surely can do it. Why not you?
Commit. And keep me updated on your progress. You can and you will do it. Now.
