Goal 1: 6 Weeks

As I stated in a previous post, my goal is to be 12 pounds leaner and arrive at 28% body fat. At first glance that seems pretty ambitious and pretty impossible. Well it comes out to a two pound and half percent body fat loss each week. When you look at it that way, that seems a lot more reasonable. Still, it is a very good challenge. My body may not necessarily cooperate with a consistent loss each week, so I may not even get there.

At the moment though, I have great conviction that I will arrive at my goal. I can do anything because I am unstoppable. Plain as that.

The workouts I am doing are entirely MDB/Beachbody workouts. I am a coach for a few of their customers. While they provide great nutrition information and advice and their workouts are rock solid, at least for me, it is not the total package. Last week, I joined Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat Inner Circle (BFIC) because I had read his book Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle and found it fascinating, especially since the first chapter starts with goal setting and the purpose behind that. Like my old typical self, I glazed over that one to get to the meat and potatoes of the book, to the good stuff. I realize now not setting clear goals is what has been hindering me all these years.

A number of his additional ebooks focus on goal setting, the science behind it, and how to set a positive image for yourself. In one of his mp3s on his site, Tom talks about how the mind doesn't accept negativity. It doesn't understand loss or "not" talk. For example, "I will not eat that donut", the mind only understands "eat donut" so what usually ends up happening? Most of us eat the donut that we weren't supposed to. The mind doesn't like to lose anything so by saying "I'm going to lose 20lbs", you make it a bit more challenging to get done. You have to get clever. Instead, say "I am going to bypass the donut and I am going to feel great for it." You wind up nipping any inkling of a craving. And like I said earlier. I am not going to lose 12 pounds. I will be 12 pounds leaner. At least for me, saying loss makes me feel a little down. Saying I'll be leaner, makes me feel strong and empowered.

By the way, what I like about Tom's site is that he's upfront in saying he's not trying to convert you to an exercise program or total package deal. He has sample workouts in his book, but he comes right out and says even if you're doing programs like Turbo Jam or Power 90 (both MDB programs), BFIC can compliment it. You don't have stop doing it. That made me feel good because it made me feel like I wasn't or didn't have to give up the virtues of what MDB provides.

Anyway, as part of my fitness journey, I'm also training and reprogramming my mind to think more positively, to talk more positively because it's not the cookies, the ice cream, the white bread, and pasta with creamy sauces that get in my way or sabotage me. It's me. It has been all along. I mean, every time I make great progress, I mess up and slide back into gaining the weight I had lost. Not this time. This time the story is different. One of Tom's ebook's cover this this and I'm going to read it again shortly.

I am strong of mind and of body. That is why I know I will reach my goal.

I shall return later to report on Day 3