You are off for a weekend with the family and sometimes the food portion of the getaway results in a “Getaway” from the plan. Worth it? You tell me through this example.

Three meals, zero snacks.  We are walking around a lot today so we can justify this.  IHOP, the host restaurant at the hotel.  We haven’t eaten there in years.  I will stay tight and have an omellete and maybe just a few pancakes.  Cheesecake Factory, a restaurant that is not in our area when we are back home.  We absolutely need to eat there.  I just won’t eat the bread or have dessert.  For dinner, what can we say, we are on vacation.  I will have a salad and a potato and keep the meat lean.

What’s the damage for the day according to the picture’s stated calories? 7000+ Calories.  This is not including the beverages or any little munchies that you don’t calculate throughout the day.

Thats enough calories for an average person for 4 DAYS.  

That’s JUST ONE DAY of holidays.

We can justify anything. Yes you are on holidays, but if you define your enjoyment by overindugence and then expect a lean healthy body, that’s just wishful thinking that will never be realized.

That’s the BOTTOM LINE!

ONCE YOU LEARN TO QUIT, IT BECOMES A HABIT.

– VINCE LOMBARDI

What’s the end result of your constant quitting?

Never following through?

Short term pleasure over Delayed Gratification.

This picture will either resinate with you 25 years from now….Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda….

OR YOU WILL MAKE SOMETHING SPECTACULAR OF YOUR LIFE.

Struggling with your program? Need motivation? Looking for the next quick fix? You can’t seem to get motivated? Waking up in the morning is difficult? Boredom setting in? Not hitting your goals?

This video is not for the faint of will.  Step up or Shut up?

You have one life to live.

You have dreams, or maybe you had dreams and you stopped believing in them because

LIFE HIT YOU TOO HARD

or perhaps it didn’t.

Maybe, just maybe…. some of the challenges you’ve faced have been

DELIBERATELY INTERPRETED IN A WAY THAT HAS LED TO SELF-SABOTAGE.

Does it really come down to your perspective?

This powerful vid may just provide that answer.

I dictate my direction in life.

I don’t follow the pack. I control my environment, not leaving things to chance.

I take full responsibility for my actions knowing by blaming others, I relinquish control of the ability to change for the better.

When you really want to start living, you stop blaming people for everything that goes sour, and you OWN UP to your actions. The moment you do that, there’s a power that comes with it.

You grow up. 

Watch what happens when you become the “Driver” of your own life.

THE FIGHT THAT I WANT TO SEE HAPPEN, MCGREGOR VS MAYWEATHER….. WHY?

Because they WILLED it, the fans want it, irrespective of the organizations they represent. Both athletes are known celebrities who put people in the seats and help to make the events great.

What does this have to do with Natural Bodybuilding? Simply this…. WE the athletes have a HUGE say in what we want to see happen within our sport. Mayweather understands this and puts on his own events. McGregor understands this and explains this and pushes the envelope in spite of the UFC.

So many of my peers have talked about a SuperBowl of Natural Bodybuilding…. some of us almost begging the organizations to come together to some sort of consensus. We have talked about this for 5 years only to see the sport get more and more convaluted and fragmented.

Do you know when the Super Bowl of Bodybuilding will happen?

When we the athletes actually converse Mano a Mano, just like McGregor and Mayweather, and say “Promoters…. the 6, 8, 10 of us want a Contest….. who’s willing to put together the biggest event?”

Do you know why it won’t happen? Athletes have their own agendas, interests, sponsorships, friendship ties to various organizations, drug testing related loopholes, proximity, etc, etc.

I’ll be the the first to say it:

 I challenge any truly natural pro competitor, criteria being: 

• Lifetime drug free
• Will submit to a random drug test at any given point during the full year around the contest
• The athlete is not politically linked to a sponsor, promoter or judge
• All testing is WADA style similar to the major sports organizations.

Do I expect to win? I don’t really care…. I just want to compete, and at the highest level with ZERO GREY AREA. The criteria will weed out most. What’s left, bring it!

What will the interest level be? 

Most if not all organizations will have zero to do with the full criteria list even though hundreds of pro athletes would accept these conditions.

AND

You would only have a few athletes say yes to such a proposal either because they don’t agree to the terms (which would speak volumes) or because Natural Bodybuilding has become more of a club where athletes are seeking acceptance within an organization than actually competing. Let’s not tick off the hands that feed us for fear of wrecking our placing or status.

Again, I go back to Mayweather and McGregor. The fight WILL happen. 2 men getting together to make something HUGE work.

My fellow competitors, let this be a seed planted. That’s the Bottom Line.

“But I can’t eat eat that way all the time”

“I need variety in my food”

“The pizza was so tempting though.  How could I say no?”

“It was my birthday.  I wanted a special dinner” (AKA stuff yourself like there is not tomorrow and then still try to claim a refuel day on Saturday)

When I hear this kind of talk, what I really hear is a person who leads a boring life.  Everyone should enjoy their food and pick their spots where they sensibly enjoy some “fun”foods, especially if you have worked out hard over the course of the week.

SERIOUSLY THOUGH,

IF YOU NEED PIZZA TO SPICE UP YOUR THURSDAY NIGHT???

THEN MAYBE YOU NEED TO REVISIT SOME OF THE PASSIONS YOU’VE BEEN NEGLECTING OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.

People often stray from their plans out of

BOREDOM OR ESCAPE

from the pressure of the daily struggles.

IF THAT’S YOU,

WAKE UP CALL!

YOU NEED TO CHANGE SOMETHING.

THERE’S MORE TO LIFE THAN EATING.

GET EXCITED ABOUT SOMETHING………

START LIVING LIFE.

…….or else……well, you know the rest.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a person committed to a worthwhile fitness goal and following through for all of the right reasons.

Every once in while someone will say all the right things:

“You have my word signed in blood and sweat”, “I’m doing this to set an example for my family”, “I know I need to change my lifestyle NOW before its too late”, “I will be your best student ever” BLAH BLAH BLAH.

However, if you say you are going to do something, COMMIT! FOLLOW THROUGH!

I have no problem with someone who, half way through the journey  says, “Hey look, I’m having a tough time….can you help me work things out” THAT’s a sign of courage.  I will give of myself to help you.

I’m also ok with the person who states all of the reasons why he needs to follow through yet says “Honestly, I’m gung ho but a little nervous and maybe a little doubtful”. At least you are real and owning your fears.

That’s real talk and it’s addressing the core of what holds people back. How can you not want to work things through with a person who is trying?  Hang in, you are going to make it.

BOTTOM LINE: 

However, your word is your worth, and when you fall short on a meaningful promise to yourself and others, you are the one who will need to live with the pain of regret, the disappointment in the eyes of others, and all of the other negative consequences of quitting. That’s a nasty price to pay.

If you do, in fact fall short on your word, don’t despair.  It’s a message that you have some weaknesses.  OWN THEM.  STEP UP! That takes courage and it’s the easiest and best way to redeem yourself.