Transforming Your Health for Life
We’re living in exciting times. Never have more people had more opportunity to pursue the life of their dreams; a life rich with extraordinary personal and professional achievements.
For me, this day and age represents a time which I have hoped and prayed for -- a time when men and women everywhere are waking up to this unprecedented opportunity to experience their full potential to be healthy, strong, and to live with vibrant energy.
The opportunity is here now for us individually and collectively to make the transformation from worst to first -- literally from the worst shape of our lives, to the best. And for us, as a nation, to make the change from the most unhealthy modern nation on Earth to the most healthy, in every way.
Over the years I’ve discovered five essential steps to begin and sustain this process of transforming your health for life.
Essential #1: Accept Your Ability and Responsibility
We have the ability to create stunning changes for the better in our bodies and lives.
It’s exciting and empowering to consider the scope of this ability; however, it’s not always as exciting to accept that along with our ability to transform comes the responsibility to do so. Until that responsibility is accepted, the ability lies dormant.
Making a conscious decision to accept responsibility for our health and well being is an essential first step in this transformation process.
Do you accept both your ability and your responsibility to be healthy?
Essential #2: Make Being Healthy a Priority
Over the past 20 years of working in the world of well being and fitness, I’ve discovered that when people highly value their health, they do what has to be done to become healthy. So when I see people who are overweight, underweight, or who are suffering from entirely preventable illness, I know something right away about them. And that is, they do not yet place a premium value on their well being. In many cases, this includes people who are achieving successful results in their business endeavors and other areas of their lives. Here’s what else I know: Achievers make progress where results are highly valued, because that’s where we focus our time and attention.
No matter how successful you are in other areas of your life, making your health and well being a priority is something which is akin to raising the water in the sea -- every other boat in the water rises as a result of it -- every other aspect of your life is lifted to the next level when you become healthier.
Do you highly value your health and make it a priority in life?
Essential #3: Set Specific Health and Fitness Goals
I’ve learned as much about becoming healthy and strong from Denis Waitley and Brian Tracy as I did from Jack LaLanne and Arnold Schwarzenegger. As an entrepreneur and health coach, I’ve studied both the fields of personal development and fitness, extensively. Once I learned the fundamental facts about exercise, nutrition, fat loss and muscle strengthening, I needed proven strategies of how to put that knowledge into action, and that I learned from practicing the art and science of setting and achieving goals.
In my experience, the vast majority of intelligent men and women in America already know enough about exercise and nutrition to be in great shape. Unfortunately, many of them do not yet understand that to cross the bridge between knowing and doing, it’s essential to set specific, measurable health and fitness goals, with a timeline and deadline.
“Get in great shape,” is not a goal. It’s a wish, a dream, an idea. “Within 12 weeks, I will lose 20 lbs of fat.” And “Within 12 weeks, I will reduce my LDL cholesterol by 20%.” Those are goals. They are specific, measurable and challenging. It’s goals like these that empower and motivate action.
Continually setting and achieving health and fitness goals not only improves your physical condition, it lifts your confidence, character and courage. That adds up to a sustainable source of motivation for life!
What are your two most important health and fitness goals right now?
Essential #4: Keep Your Plan of Action Simple
It’s not at all necessary to put together a complicated program with undue emphasis on diet and exercise idiosyncrasies in order to achieve your goals. What works better is a simple combination of strength training and aerobic exercise combined with balanced and smart eating.
For example, I work out with a basic set of free weights and an exercise bench three days a week at my home for approximately 20 to 40 minutes. No more than that. I do exercises like bench presses, biceps curls, shoulder presses, lunges, sit-ups and push-ups. For aerobics, I do 20 minutes, three days a week, on a stairclimber or treadmill. And when I can get outdoors and exercise, I jog, hike, bicycle, swim or play tennis. All total, the time I spend working out is roughly three hours a week. That’s less than 2% of the total time available to us each week.
I’ve tested all types of exercise programs and I can say that this routine, which I explain thoroughly in my book Body-for-LIFE, allows maximum benefit with minimum investment of time.
As far as nutrition goes, I recommend eating six small meals each day. These are not typical American meals, they’re “nutrient rich, calorie sparse” meals. For breakfast that might be an Eggbeater omelet with a piece of whole wheat toast. For lunch it might be a chicken breast sandwich on whole wheat bread. And for dinner, a serving of salmon, brown rice, and a salad. For my other three meals I have protein-rich nutrition shakes that are also fortified with vitamins and minerals. And, to help keep my appetite satisfied and my muscles hydrated, I drink 10 cups of water a day (five 16-oz bottles of Fiji), along with a couple cups of coffee and an occasional diet Coke. One day a week, on my “free day,” I forget all the diet rules and nutrition guidelines and I eat whatever I want -- pizza, pasta, or a nice big New York steak and a baked potato with butter and sour cream. When you enjoy your favorite foods once a week, your long-term results are much more sustainable because you’re not sacrificing and suffering.
This simple method, practiced consistently, is a powerful prescription for good health. It’s basic and it works.
Do you have a simple plan of action to help you achieve your important health and fitness goals?
Essential #5: Prepare to Succeed Every Day
Anyone who’s achieved success in any area of their life can attest to the fact that it was more than a matter of mere luck. For me it’s essential that I do the work of preparing to succeed, every single day. Abraham Lincoln’s quote, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four hours sharpening the axe…” is something which comes to mind often for me.
When I prepare to succeed by consciously scheduling my workout time in advance, and I commit to it just as I would an important business or doctor appointment, I find it easy to follow through; no “thinking” is required. I do the same with my meals. When I schedule what I’m going to eat, what time and in what quantity, before the day begins, I don’t waste any time or conscious energy figuring it out on the fly.
My experience is, the more we plan, the more we prepare, the better we all do.
Do you consciously prepare to succeed each day in advance?
Wrap Up
These five essentials constitute a practical and powerful method for becoming healthier, stronger, and more energetic. When practiced consistently, this is a surefire way to realize your true potential to transform your health and enjoy a richer quality and quantity of life.
5 Essentials to Transform Your Life
#1: Accept Your Ability and Responsibility
#2: Make Being Healthy a Priority
#3: Set Specific Health and Fitness Goals
#4: Keep Your Plan of Action Simple
#5: Prepare to Succeed Every Day
