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Back when I was in college I took a ‘gym’ class called “Physical Fitness for Life”.  Half the time we stretched in a small gym, and the other half we lifted weights and did cardio in an exercise room.   After this class I would go to my gym and work out again.   I was 20 years old and life was good.

The whole concept of the class was to build routines that kept physical activity a part of your life after college so that you could enjoy life and reduce risks of disease.   While the concept is genius, in practice it is very tough.

Building habits are very tough.   It always take time, and focus.     The truth is if you build good habits, then Physical fitness for life is relatively easy.  Whenever you encounter a stressful situation, or you have to make a last second choice your instinct is often formed by your mental habits.

For our purposes the lifestyle habits that are essential are:  Diet and Exercise.

Diet:  This is the toughest one for me.   I have never been a “proper” eater.  My diet has always been full of sugar, fats, fast food, etc.    These habits have made me develop a sort of addiction to the taste of these foods.  The salt, the sugar, the fat, the cholesterol.   Do you have the same situation?

Steps for Change: 

1. Make a strong mental decision to change the way you eat.

2. Reinforce that decision every time you find yourself eating the things you want to eat less of.  ex: At Burger king, tell yourself how bad the food is, and how you don’t need it.

3.  Slowly begin to phase out the bad foods in your diet.   Be slow, and be successful.    Going cold turkey is reserved for the hard core and those with the plan to fail.

4. As you start putting healthier foods into your diet, reinforce this decision by telling yourself how good things taste or how much better you feel.   You have to be real with yourself.

5. Keep phasing good food in, and bad food out and soon enough you will be in the Top 20% of the people in the country.

Now:  Did you notice something?    Out of 5 total steps 3 of those steps were only mental decisions.    The first two steps were initiated before any changes were actually made.   I feel this is CRITICAL.   For diet, and for life in order to make sweeping changes and become ultra successful at something you try it requires mental dedication and re-dedication.

If you take away one lesson from this post it should be:  Always commit yourself mentally before changing your actions, and if at all possible, commit yourself at least twice over.   The more positive, committed self-talk you have, the more successful you will be.

Stay tuned for the 2nd part:  Exercise.

A.D.

At the Minds of Wealth we focus on all areas of Wealth, including Physical Wealth. This is a short summary of what I went through when someone said “Got Fiber?”

First off.. what the hell is Dietary Fiber? Ok.. Fiber.. Metamucil.. Grandma’s and Grandpas.. bland.. boring. These were the first things that popped into my mind.

However according to a small site known as Wikipedia: it is the indigestible portion of plant foods that move food through the digestive system absorbing water and making defecation easier.

So in plain English: It makes you poop better. There is a whole lot more than just this, however this is the first thing you may notice.

Just don’t go diving into piles of Fiber though, or you may end up living in the bathroom for awhile. Studies have shown that most people in the U.S. do not get the recommended amount of fiber in their diet.

For most the correct amount is: 20-35 grams per day. I decided to study my own diet and check out the nutritional labels on the foods I consumed most. Uh oh.. almost NO fiber. Whoops.

The more I looked into it the more I found that I needed to get some Fiber.

There is a great article here: Fiber 101

The benefits included:

Reduced risk for heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer. These are things that aren’t in my mind at 26, but will be at 56. The best way to build Physical Wealth for the future is begin today.

In changing my bad eating habits I am starting to mix in: Peanuts, Carrots, Eggs, Super Whole grain bread, and apples. Green leafy vegetables are also on the horizon including broccoli and spinach.

If your natural eating habits need a little “American” help, then my suggestion is supplements. There are many Fiber supplements that will help you get your Fiber.

*If your body is used to consuming little to no fiber do NOT overload it!   This will cause cramping, bloating, and other bathroom issues.  So please ramp up slowly and you will have NO problems. *

How will you do it? Make a commitment!

Good luck and stay tuned for more healthy eating tips.

A.D.

I believe one of the hardest things to start and stick with is exercise. There are millions of excuses as to why someone might not have the time or drive to exercise, but let’s face it, exercise is important. I have even heard people go as far as blaming their genes for the reason they do not exercise. This is malarkey. Anyone and everyone should have an exercise program of some sort in their weekly routine. Notice I said weekly? The reason for this is because people have this misconception that they have to work out seven days a week, eight hours a day to stay healthy and fit. This is not the case my friends and I personally am living proof.

By no means am I an Arnold Swartzeneger, but there was a time when I looked at myself as a physically fit person. Because of my unhealthy eating and exercise habits I have noticed a decrease in my energy as well as my physique. Honestly to tell you the truth I used my girlfriend and friends as an excuse as to why I was no longer going to the gym and for why I was eating the way I was. Since the beginning of the year I have looked back and realized that this had nothing to do with my girlfriend or friends but instead my own self talk. Constantly telling myself, “It’s O.K., you can go to the gym next week or next month.” started to really get to me. I was the only person holding me back.

This is why I finally joined a gym and started back into my workout program. Guess what? The girlfriend even decided to join with me as well as my partner Adam. This time though I have decided to do something different as to not get bored again with the work out routine. I have come up with five simple steps that I use to make sure that my workout is done throughout the week.

Step 1 - Workout 3 Days a Week

This may sound simple, but believe me you have to program yourself to realize this goal. The way I did it was to tell myself every Monday that I had seven days in which to squeeze in three, one hour workouts. This programmed that information into my subconscious and everything else fell into place. Knowing that all I had to do was work out three times in seven days was somewhat of a relief. That meant that I would still have four days worth of free time. Some exercise professionals say that you should work out every other day, well that might not be the right routine for YOU. I say do what you got to do as long as you are not working out the same muscle groups two days in a row. Remember that your muscles need at least a day to rest and rebuild. Also your heart and respiratory system need a bit of a rest if you just decide to do cardio.

Step 2 – Change It Up!

Simply put, every time you go to the gym do something different. What I did was observe other people’s work outs and copied them. I learned all kinds of new work out tricks and best of all my muscles never got used to my routine. Not sure if you know this but your muscles have memory. If you continually go to the gym and do the same work outs day in and day out your muscles will get used to it. This translates into lack of muscle growth. So every time you go switch it up a little and fool those muscle groups. You will be impressed the next morning when you are a little sore and when you start noticing significant changes in your physique.

Step 3 – Acquire a Workout Partner

Make sure you pull a friend or relative to the gym with you. Believe me you need this. When you have someone else holding you accountable for going to the gym it’s pretty hard to stay home without being convicted. You will not want to stay home because you will be worried about the other person looking better than you. This is what goes on in your mind anyway. It’s a lot of fun to induce some competition during the workout. After a while both you and your friend will be thankful you started working out together. This will give you both time to catch up and do a little bonding. Oh yeah, did I mention that you will start to grow muscle? So after you read the following two steps get your butt up, find a friend and get to that gym.

Step 4 – If All Else Fails Bring Music

Believe it or not there are actually times when I have to go to the gym by myself. In the event this happens, I bring some music. MP3 players and getting cheaper and cheaper by the day and they provide a lot more than just music. If you buy an MP3 player you can buy or download audio books to listen to while you work out. This is a wonderful time to learn some Spanish or catch up on a book you have always wanted to finish. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

Step 5 – Keep a Journal

Finally we have step 5. Go to the nearest store and buy a small notebook. Take this to the gym with you and write down everything you do. On top of that write down your weight AFTER you are done working out. We do this for one reason, GOAL SETTING. If you have track records to look back on you have something to measure and analyze. This will provide insight on what you did in the past and possibly things you can do to improve in the future. I usually look back at my book every month and look at how I gradually increased the amount of weight I lifted and how much weight I gained. REMEMBER: Muscle weighs more than fat so this is a good thing. By simply writing down what work out you did and how much weight you lifted you will start to see drastic improvements.

So like I said in Step 3, get off your butt and do something for the good of your health. Grab a friend and MAKE them go to the gym with you. You will both thank each other in the long run and on top of that your health will improve. Here is to your success!