Never Settle For Less

1 - Poor Mindset

Many people see fitness as something only fit for athletes, personal trainers, celebrities, and “fitness freaks” (a group that doesn‘t include them). As a result they are never fully comfortable with what they are about to do.

They say they’re going to work out. They say they’re going to eat right. They may even do it for a little bit until they are inevitably called a “fitness freak”. In my experiences being called a “fitness freak” is a good thing. Normally, the person who throws that out has been bitten by the green eyed monster and they admire your results.

Being fit is for anyone who chooses to live a fit lifestyle. Not just athletes, personal trainers, celebrities, and the “fitness freaks” of our world.

2 - Quick Fix Strategies

I cringe whenever I hear someone say they are on a health kick, “diet”, or anything else that implies a short term solution. Quite frankly that’s not going to get the job done. You can’t fix a 1000 year old problem in 5 weeks. I’ve never seen anyone get significant, long lasting results from a health kick or a quick fix diet. Neither of those methods train you to get weight off and keep it off.

In order to successfully go through a body transformation you must mentally commit to a lifestyle change. Once you’re truly ready to do that you can then change the way you look. Until then you’re just spinning your wheels.

3 - Meal Frequency

When I began trying to lose weight I was convinced that I could eat however I wanted and still lose weight. The idea of eating six small meals a day was too foreign to me. All my life I’d been trained to eat 2-3 large meals a day. I, like most people, was very resistant to change. After about a year of getting nowhere fast I changed my tune and got with the program. Incredibly I started to lose weight!

I’ve written a blog with specific information on how to eat 5-6 times a day. Follow this link for more:

http://blog.bodybuilding.com/iamstr8fire/2007/11/20/how-to-eat-like-a-fitness-model/

4 - Refusal to Drink Water

Recently I’ve done some research into human nature and the results are astounding! People who want to lose weight hate the toilet! Those 30 short seconds at the toilet can apparently make or break the day of the strongest spirit.

Trust me, I understand that it’s slightly inconvenient to run to the toilet 5, 6, or maybe even 7 times day. However, it shouldn’t be a deal breaker that keeps you from losing weight.

After struggling with this issue for a while I finally found a way to get people to drink water. It’s worked like a charm.

Our bodies are 65%-75% water weight. Simple logic says that if you’re getting rid of water (65%-75% of your body) you’re getting rid of that unwanted weight. So every time you pee you’re LOSING WEIGHT. So HOLD ON TO THE WEIGHT IF YOU WANT TO!

5 - Eating Too Much

Working out does not give you the all access pass to eat whole chickens and gallons of yogurt at a time. A common mistake amongst people trying to transform their bodies is overeating. Flawed logic leads people to eat more as they work out more.

Wrong…Wrong…Wrong

If you eat too much you’ll never get to that caloric deficit required to lose weight. Overeating after an intense workout session will only serve to keep you where you are. It may not seem fair but its 100% true.

6 - Intensity Plateau

The act of just going to the gym is not enough. Once you begin to lift weights and perform cardio your body will respond and adapt.

Let’s say your normal cardio routine is 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer at level 10. In your first week of training that 20 minutes feels like 2 hours. You sweat profusely, your thighs burn like sand in the desert, and you stumble off the machine at the end. Over the next 2 weeks you do this 6 times and the weight melts off.

In week 3 you mount the machine and to your delight the workout is considerably easy. You sweat lightly and the burning sensation in your thighs has subsided. The next day you eagerly hop onto the scale and realize you haven’t dropped an ounce.

What happened?

Your body has adapted to your current level of exercise and it doesn’t need to burn as much energy anymore. Since you’re not working as hard you’re no longer losing weight.

The human body is smart and responds quickly. The moment you stop challenging yourself is the moment you stop seeing results. Your muscles respond to pressure and intensity so keep it coming.

7 - Making Direct Comparisons Between Yourself and other People

This may be the death trap of all mistakes. It is human nature to compare ourselves to others (that‘s how we set standards). It’s not so easy when it comes to people and their bodies.

People fall into 3 broad categories when it comes to body types

Ectomorph - thin, lightly muscled, trouble gaining weight

Mesomoprh - athletic, muscled body, gains or loses weight easily

Endomorph - soft body, round body, trouble losing weight

No one person is strictly one type. I exhibit traits of both the endomorph (round body) and mesomorph (muscled body). Eating right, pushing myself in the weight room, and paying attention to what I’m doing are all vital if I want to drop an ounce.

One of my best friends blends the qualities of an ectomorph (skinny) and mesomorph( muscled body). He drops weight at will. If I compared myself to him in terms of losing weight I’d be in big trouble.

Many people do exactly that and it drives them so crazy that they give up.

The only person you can truly measure yourself against is yourself. There are too many factors that go into comparing yourself to others to ever make a good comparison.

8 - Too Much Rest In Between Sets

The goal of working out is to challenge your body. Sitting around for 2-3 minutes between sets allows your body to toally recover from what you‘ve just done.

One of my friends works out at the office gym. Whenever she feels tired or begins to sweat she gets off the machine for 5 minutes and “collects herself”. One day I saw her in the halls during her scheduled workout time. When I asked what she was doing she said “taking a break because I started sweating”.

She’s three months into the workout now and still hasn’t seen any results. Don’t let this happen to you!

9 - Listening to Negative People

It’s surprising how much misery loves company. Especially when it comes to getting in shape. I’ve seen husbands, wives, coworkers, and friends turn on each other. It’s a disgusting trend of human nature.

That’s the bad news.

Here’s the good news…

You don’t have to listen to any of it. When I started taking my body transformation seriously I had people make negative remarks. People said it was “stupid”, “impossible”, and “unrealistic”. I went on with my workouts and eating as if they never said a word. Today I advise them on methods to lose weight and gain muscle. Ironic isn’t it?

Let people make all the remarks they want. It’s your life and your body. You don’t need anyone else to co-sign your goals. In the end your results are all that matter.

ConclusionLet’s recap the list

Poor MindsetQuick Fix Strategies

Not Eating Frequently Enough

Not Drinking Enough Water

Eating Too Much

Intensity Plateau

Comparing Yourself to Others

Too Much Rest Between Sets

Listening to Negative People

Those are the 9 most common pitfalls I see when people attempt to create the body of their dreams. Avoid those and you should be well on your way to creating the body you want and deserve.