The Confidence Factor

The Confidence Factor

Confidence is one of the most undervalued gifts we can give to ourselves, but it can be so powerful in our everyday lives.  As we grow up, most of us go through long stages of insecurity and never really feel comfortable in our own skin.  Too often do we let other people's opinions influence how we should feel about ourselves, what we should wear, what we should do, and what we should look like.  It's unfortunate that it takes most of us over twenty years of our lives to finally feel good about who we are and not care about the mass population's opinions; however, some people struggle with it until the day they die.

Health and fitness is one of the most undervalued gifts we can give to ourselves for the same reasons.  Everyone deserves to feel confident and happy and at least for me, fitness assists in this greatly.  The ripple effect that it sets into motion can be so powerful, and no one should miss out on that.  When you feel great about yourself, anyone you come into contact with can pick up on that.  The better you feel about yourself, the more positivity you will put out into the world.  The more people you will attract and the more opportunities.  Being healthy and feeling good about how you look can not only skyrocket your confidence level, but it can also change your life. 

The wall that most people run into with health and fitness is that when they don't gain immediate praise, satisfaction, and encouragement from the people around them, they give up and feel that what they're doing isn't working.  Here's the bottom line: you can't rely on other people to fuel your progress.  If you want to get healthier, lose weight, gain muscle, look and feel better and you are making every effort in your power to do so, then you should not get discouraged at all if no one notices what you are doing right away.  Getting healthy takes time, and seeing results takes time.  Be patient with it and don't get discouraged so easily.  Get healthy and in shape for YOU; not because you want to gain satisfaction from others when they see your accomplishments.  So many people waste their time wanting to impress others that they become extremely dependent on praise and compliments. 

Confidence comes from within when you finally realize, that no matter where you are in your physical, mental, or emotional journey, that you are good enough and you deserve the best out of life.  Truly realizing that you deserve the best and believing that you will get it is the greatest sense of relief because you no longer seek the approval of others.  You just do what you want to do and those who truly care about you will support your journey and love you for it.  Your health and fitness is a very personal thing.  It's about you getting in touch with your body, your mindset, and learning your limits.  It's about seeing what dedication and commitment can do and proving to yourself that you're capable of more than you thought you were. 

I encourage you all to find yourself, push yourself to your limits, and gain satisfaction from within rather than others.  Set small goals and celebrate each tiny success.  You'll be amazed at how much it can do for your confidence and how much it can influence the other aspects of your life.

Feature Friday: Barry Tsang

What is Feature Friday?

Every Friday, I will be featuring an amazing individual.  This person could be someone who has seen life changing results through Nutritional Cleansing, or someone I follow for fitness advice/tips.  Today, I will be shining the spotlight on Barry Tsang. 

His Testimonial:

"Being a personal trainer and overweight most of my child and young adult life, I’ve tried many products and “solutions” out there. I was beyond skeptical of a system that could take the weight off in such a short amount of time. After one week, I was hooked on the system. Not only did I lose 8 lbs in the first week, but I had so much energy. The program has changed my life physically and financially. In the last few months, I have been able to achieve physical milestones that I was never able to reach and I get to design a life that I can spend with my family."

When Should I Start Getting in Shape for Summer?

The short answer to that question would be yesterday.  In fact, the sooner you start, the better.  However, it all depends on your goals and what you're trying to accomplish.

If you're someone who only has about 5-10 lbs to lose and that's all you want to do, you will probably be fine if you want to start getting back into shape a few months before summer starts.  However, if you have more specific goals in mind such as getting those 6-pack abs or shaping your glutes and arms, it's better to start working out as soon as possible.  I'd even go as far to say you should have started back in September.  

After all, we all have our good days and our bad days when it comes to working out.  We all have our cheat days and downfalls.  But by starting to train a whole year in advance, you give yourself more time to accomplish your goals and when you do have cheat days, you don't feel so guilty because you know you have many months to make up for it and to continue to make progress.  

Starting early also helps to create lasting habits that won't just end when the summer hits.  The mindset of only working out during the 3 months before summer starts shouldn't even exist.  Those short 3 months will not outweigh all the pigging out that you do during the Fall and Winter holidays and summer vacations.  It's inevitable that you are going to probably eat more than usual on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, New Year's, and any other holiday parties you usually go to.  These events do not sneak up on you.  They are expected to happen every single year, and yet we still make excuses for why we can't get in shape until after they are over. 

The holidays should not be treated as a road block, but rather, just something that happens like any other normal day.  Think about it this way.  Pretend for a minute that you had three birthday celebrations to go to in one month.  Would you say to yourself, "Well, I know I'm going to eat a lot this month because of those three celebrations, so I'll just wait until they're over to go back to the gym."  Absolutely not!  That would be ridiculous.  They are just events that will inevitably happen and you know you might eat a little more than usual, but it doesn't stop you from going to the gym or doing what you want to do the rest of the month.

The holidays should be treated the same way.  Just a natural occurrence.  You know it will happen, but it shouldn't prevent you from doing what you want to do and deter you from your goals.  Fitness is a marathon, not a race, and change doesn't just happen overnight.  If you're willing to commit to fitness for the long run and make incremental changes over time, then the holidays won't be something that throws you off your game.  The truth is that people who use the holiday excuse generally just don't want to change.  They don't want to put in the work and effort required to look and feel better.  They want to stay stuck, and that's fine, but life should be about moving forward. 

If you want to look and feel great this summer start now! Every day you delay yourself is one more day of progress that could have been utilized.

Here are some small tips to get back on the right track again:

-Drink water!  Many people don't realize how many of their calories they actually drink.  Drinking water will keep you more hydrated throughout the day, start to decrease your cravings for sugary beverages, and also help to decrease your calorie intake.

-Start Small.  If you haven't been back to the gym in a while, don't go hard and kill yourself on Day 1.  Start with some light cardio or take a fun class to get your body familiar again. Even if you only start off by going once or twice a week, remember that any progress is better than sitting on your ass.

-Nutrition First: Did you know that molecules from your food may control up to 30% of your genes?  That's a significant amount!  In fact, "cooked plant foods like rice, wheat and potatoes can collect in your blood and tissue, leading to a number of potential health problems..." possibly even cancer.  Limiting carbohydrates from grains and potatoes, and instead focusing on carbs from vegetable sources will not only boost your immune system, but it will be more in line with what your body and DNA requires to function properly.  Most people think that going to the gym will solve all of their problems, but nutrition is the #1 most important factor when it comes to your health and getting faster results.  Focus more on proper nutrition, and you will definitely see faster results in the gym.

Source


I hope this helps!  If you have any questions or remarks, feel free to leave a comment below!

Feature Friday: Tara Romano

What is Feature Friday?

Every Friday, I will be featuring an amazing individual.  This person could be someone who has seen life changing results through Nutritional Cleansing, or someone I follow for fitness advice/tips.  Today, I will be shining the spotlight on Tara Romano. 

Her Testimonial:

"I have been in fitness for over 10 years and still struggled with maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Working 3 jobs plus school I used every excuse in the book.  I was a, "Do as I say not as I do" instructor.  Fast forward to today I am happy to say I have maintained my success with Nutritional Cleansing for over 4 years.  I don't have 3 jobs anymore, I look and FEEL better at 35 than I did at 25 and I've never been happier.  I also don't say no to pizza or wine if I want it.  I have found the tools for a healthy LIFESTYLE!  I had to share because this entire program changed my life physically and financially so if I can help one person do the same I'd be happy."

She is currently living out her dreams in California where she teaches Zumba.

Check her out at the links below:

Get Your Fit On With Tara

YouTube

Facebook

The Importance of Switching Up Your Routine

Are You Gym-a-phobic?

Let me start off by saying that exercise should not feel like a chore EVER.  It shouldn't be something you wake up and dread doing every day.  If it is, then sorry but you're probably not doing something right.  Exercise should be something you look forward to every day.  If you work an office job full time like I do, then you should definitely look forward to finally getting to the gym to get your body moving again.  I look forward to going to the gym because not only does it make me feel great afterwards, but it makes me feel confident and happy when I get through a workout.  I wasn't always this way.  In fact, it did use to feel like a chore to me and I never had enough motivation to get to the gym ever.  I think part of the reason for this was that for my whole life from the age of 5 up until my last year of high school, I relied on after school sports for my exercise.  I never really stepped foot in a gym until I got to college.  

When I finally did attempt to go to the gym in college, I would usually just run on the treadmill and maybe get on a couple weight machines.  After 2 weeks of doing the same thing I lost motivation and stopped going altogether.  The truth was, I really had no clue what I was supposed to be doing there.  Throw me into any sport, and I'd be happy to do it and have fun doing it, but the gym was a whole other animal I didn't want to face.  It wasn't until I graduated college and moved back to my home town that I decided to give it another try.  A friend of mine who is a personal trainer had just opened up a small gym close to my house, and I decided to go train with him once a week.  He specialized in strength training and taught me how to properly warm up, do squats, dead-lifts, and other various strength training exercises.  Not only did that help me feel more confident to go to the gym and duplicate those things on my own, but it helped me determine where I was physically and where I wanted to be.  He advised me on what I should be doing on the days I didn't train with him, and after about a month or two of training, I felt good enough to just go to the gym on my own from then on.

Today, I still see a trainer once or twice a week, but now, I don't dread going to the gym on my own because I actually feel confident and know what I'm doing when I go there.  If you're something like me who has rarely stepped into a gym in the past, I would highly recommend hiring a trainer for a month or two or however long it takes you to feel confident enough to go on your own.  With that being said, the gym shouldn't be your only source for exercise.

Switching it Up

Switching up your exercise routine is just as important as switching up the foods you eat every day.  Think about it; if you ate chicken and rice every single day for dinner, you would get tired of it pretty quickly right?  The same thing can happen when you work out.  If you have the same exact routine every day, chances are you will get extremely bored, and going to the gym won't be exciting for you anymore.  Even something as simple as working out your arms one day and your legs then next can be enough to switch it up and make things a little different.  I used to be someone who tried to do a full body workout every time I went into the gym (arms, legs, abs, everything).  Not only is this unnecessary, but it's completely BORING!  

There are so many ways to incorporate exercise and still make it fun.  If you enjoy more extreme/adventurous sports like I do, plan out some days to go snowboarding or skiing in place of your workout during the winter season.  Maybe go rock climbing or try a kickboxing or a parkour class.  Try new things you've never done before.  You never know what you might end up enjoying.  If you have a more low key personality, maybe go for a hike or bike ride one day.  You could even try some dance or yoga classes.  Another fun thing I've done before is go to the Sky Zone Trampoline Park.  They have some great fitness and aerobics classes that are super fun.  Never limit yourself when it comes to physical activity.  It's easy to lose focus and motivation, but if you keep things exciting and fun, chances are you will stick with it longer and look forward to doing those things every day.

What do you like doing to switch up your routine?  Let me know in the comments below :)

Feature Friday: Aristotle Polites

What is Feature Friday?

Every Friday, I will be featuring an amazing individual.  This person could be someone who has seen life changing results from Nutritional Cleansing, or someone I follow for fitness advice/tips.  Today, I will be shining the spotlight on Aristotle Polites.

About:

Aristotle is not only a business partner of mine but a personal trainer as well.  He is definitely someone to look up to for any workout/fitness advice whether.  He has dedicated his life to the fitness world and has seen amazing results over the years just with a few simple changes in his habits and lifestyle.  Even after training with him myself for the past month, I have seen changes and progress that I am very happy with.  He currently trains at City Fitness in Philadelphia, so if you're local to the area, don't be afraid to hit him up!  

You can also follow his fitness videos and tips on YouTube:  Aristotle Polites

Check out the video above from a few weeks ago; the message is perfect for this time of the year when all of you are eager to start your New Year's resolutions and get back in shape for the spring and summer.

He always delivers great content, so whether you're looking to gain muscle, lose weight, or just be healthier, he's someone who can offer some great advice that's personalized for you and your goals.