The Battle in the Brain

Hey all,

As promised I'm back with my weekly update. I had this post scheduled for later on the calendar but a phone call with a friend yesterday made me realize how important the topic is, not only to weight loss, but to everything we do in life.

So this weight loss battle that I've been doing. This time it has been unbelievably easy as compared to other times I've tried. I owe it all to a couple of things but number one to finding the right system. The system includes putting the right things into the body and getting the bad things out, it also includes a support system and a road map to get things done. It also includes coaching from others that have gone before. But the biggest thing that is required, is the belief that you too can accomplish it. (hence the battle in the brain).

I related the image above of Bugs Bunny fighting  Homer Simpson to today's subject.From what I know of Homer he is always down and believing that the world is against him and Bugs, well Bugs just goes through life getting what he wants. I don't know the outcome of this boxing match but I'd put my money on the rabbit.

I'm sure Homer had a teacher in life or a father figure that taught him all of his lovely habits. You see Homer let his subconscious mind rule his world vs Bugs who was a guy who took control and didn't listen to the status quo.

The point I'm trying to make is that we all have our demons. Most of us have not been taught the proper way to think and many of us have had other people in our lives who have drug us down. This stuff gets embedded into our brains and our brains control our world. I've read that your subconscious brain is the size of an elephant compared to your conscious thoughts that are the size of an ant.

(Read the Ant and the Elephant by: Vince Poscente)

The good news is - if you try really hard by getting around the right people, reading the right stuff and telling yourself the right things. Your ant can kick your elephants butt and start to turn things around for you. 

I'll use my weight loss as the example because thats my current mission. Many times through out the day, my elephant says "its time to get something to eat" and then my ant says "but you aren't even hungry you fool". If I would let my elephant control my life, I would fail once again. (old bad habits)

So be aware of your thoughts, when they are headed in the wrong direction make a conscious effort to change them and life will get better soon. 

The Transformation Project

Hey all,

For those of you that have been watching my posts lately you know that I'm on a new mission in life. Well, that is, an added mission to everything else that I am into.

Earlier this year I had just had enough. Enough of the feeling fat, enough of the feeling bad, enough of the clothe not fitting, enough of the Dr. telling me to lose weight. Anyhow you get the picture.

And I think that's what it takes sometimes, you just have to be fed up with where your at in life. I've heard that you either hate change enough to stay where you're at or you hate where you're at enough to change.

And that's when my own personal "Transformation Project" began. I knew I needed help because I had tried before and I was serious this time so I finally gave in and asked for help.

Thank goodness I found the answers I needed.

I'll post a before picture here and a current picture. I don't know how long this is going to take, a lifetime I guess but here are my results from about two months in.

March 15, 2016 - the day I started.

May 20, 2016 - today.

I hope you all will follow me on this journey. When I began it was all about me but as I go forward I see where so many others need the answers too. 

Just over two months ago a family member introduced me to a nutritional rebalancing system and that has been the key to date. I drink two meal replacement shakes a day that give me all the natural nutrition that I wasn't getting before and I eat one good meal a day, and lots of water. We also cleanse out the bad toxins once a week. I'm learning that its 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. 

You see before I would go to the gym 3 or 4 days a week and spend an hour and a half on a treadmill or bike just literally killing myself and 6 months later I would be down 5 pounds if I was lucky. I just didn't have the answers or the will power to eat the right stuff and the time at the gym was boring.

Today I can say I've lost 22 lbs and I'm down a pant size and I feel better than I have in years. I know what I'm going to eat and when I'm going to eat it and I'm learning new habits that I hope will last a life time. The coolest part is that I only joined the gym two weeks ago for $10 a month. 

So here's the deal - get the right stuff in, cleanse the bad toxins out , do the 30 minute express work out at the gym 2 -3 times a week and continue on with the project.  

I hope you'll all follow along with my transformation and watch the progress. Better yet if you want to join me, shoot me a message and I can help you make "the I'm fed up change" too.

Until next time...

How Much Time Do We Really Have

I've heard that time is our most valuable commodity and for the most part I guess I would agree. It's funny though because time after time I hear people say, I just don't have time for that, I'm guilty of it myself. I guess we all assume that time is infinite here on earth and that we'll get to that special task or things that are important to us, "someday".

The older I get the more I realize that even if everything goes right that my time is getting shorter. It makes me more aware of what I'm spending my time on and what is really important to me. After all, tomorrow isn't promised.

Hence some of the changes I've decided to make recently. When I think about time I ultimately come back to "quality time" because its very easy to spend time doing whats not necessary or even enjoyable. The more I think about it, the more I believe it really comes down to "healthy time". I mean, you could give me another 100 years, but if I'm not healthy is it really going to be time you want to spend?

And then there is my biggest thought, they tell us to work 45 years of our life and pinch and save so you have something when you "retire" for when you actually have time to do the things you want to do. I don't know about you but if I have to wait until I'm 65 or 70 to start enjoying life, I dag gone want to make sure I'm healthy to do it.

What about you, what do you think? Will you be healthy enough to enjoy your retirement?

My thought was that it was time to find a way to finally get healthy and to maybe create some more time to enjoy it and today I'm counting my blessings because I believe I may be on the right track.

Believe it or not, I believe I may have actually found a way to do both. (more next time)

Here's another "If I can do it you can too" Moment

Wow - the first one was huge, the moment that is.

The moment when I realized I was no longer the selfish, mean, do anything to anybody to get what I wanted kind of person. (for more on that story just read some of my past blog posts) and as my cousin says "are you sure your still allowed to live in this state. lol"

That change in my life was monumental and probably the biggest that will ever occur. But then again maybe not, this current metamorphosis has to do with my physical change, not my mental change. And without your health first, I guess you really have nothing.

You see a few months ago I went in for my 50 year tune up (physical) and I was pretty sure what the doc was going to tell me. Even back a few weeks before that I was out shopping for some new jeans and I just couldn't make it work. I have consistently been going up in size over the years and when I got to this latest benchmark the answer was - no way, Jose.

Anyhow back to the doctors appointment. When I stepped on the scales I was heavier than I have ever been before and over 50 pounds heavier than the day I got married. I have some health issues that have been affected because of my weight and the doc says - "Jim, its time to loose that 25 lbs we've been talking about".

Whew, ok I get it but how in the world am I going to do that? I'm a class A certified junk food junkie who works from home and scavenges the fridge and cubbards every other hour. And trust me, there's nothing good going in. I've tried the gym, you kill yourself on the treadmill for an hour, four days a week for six months straight and you lose maybe three pounds.

I knew it was time for drastic measures, I knew it was time to ask for help, I knew the eating had to change and that's when I called for help. Praise God I made the right call this time.

I'm happy to report that I'm only two months into the journey at this point and I'm down over 20 pounds and feeling the best I have in ages, the best part is that I've just recently hit the gym for the first time.

In the past I've quit smoking, quit drinking and literally changed my lifestyle but I never thought I could pull this off and I consider myself very strong mentally.

How you ask? We'll get to that next time around. I'm off to the gym for the second time in this journey and actually enjoying that too.

Check back next week and at some point I'll share the secret to my success.