Archives for June 2016

This is bullshit advice.

Writers write.

If you are writing, then you are a writer.

Exercisers exercise.

If you are exercising, then you are someone who exercises.

There is no separating the “doing” from the “being”.

Saying that you’re faking it is a complete lie and robs you of your power.

Give yourself some credit, make improvements when you can, and get after it.

 

 

 

To save you the mental gymnastics of having to imagine a 21 year old Rog wearing a traffic vest doing who knows what, here’s a little gem from The Vault of Adorability & Delight (ok, fine – it’s just my iPhoto collection).

At the time, I weighed 165 pounds soaking wet with a hearty meal in my belly. I was new to exercise and one factor that propelled me forward was the desire to look mad sexy.

Despite my neophyte status, do you know what that didn’t stop be from doing?

Jumping to a new exercise plan every two weeks (I’m being generous with past Rog here), thinking that I needed an advanced program that Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stephen Hawkings and the entire team at NASA designed just for me.

Spending $200+ a month on supplements like fat burners, meal replacement powders and superfoods and pills I couldn’t pronounce the name of if you held a rocket launcher to my face.

Scouring magazines, message boards and obscure Geocities websites for any zany and exciting nuggets that I could add to my battle plan. To say I was deep in the information creep is an understatement.

Looking back, it’s no wonder that I spent a long time frustratedly spinning my wheels while the results I was looking for evaded me like Neo did bullets in The Matrix.

I thought I was a special, precious and unique snowflake.

I thought I could shortcut the process by adding more complexity into the mix. If less was good, a boat-load of more was way better in my mind.

Real foods? Nah, son, gimme that stuff where the ingredient list sounds like I’m trying to cast a magical incantation on my entire family.

If you see a little bit of yourself in my experiences, you’re not alone. I deal with people on a weekly basis who are struggling with their own unique variation of the same common pitfall.

The more that I interact with and learn from high level performers, the more I see that one of the most important factors in their success is that not only have they mastered the basics that give them a strong foundation to build upon, but they execute them consistantly on an extremely high level.

So, what are those basics when it comes to taking control of your health while building the body you want?

• Commit to showing up and persisting despite any setbacks you make. Without this, there will never be lasting success.
• Eat mainly whole foods that you like, but don’t lose your mind if you eat something that’s off your plan. You stressing about it will do more damage than the food ever will.
•  Lift heavy things with your body. Lift light things with your body. Do this at least 2 times a week and work towards increasing the challenge as you become stronger.

• Go to sleep. Minimum of 6 hours. 8 hours is even better. Recovery is sexy as hell, necessary and you’re less likely to do goofy things and put a lot of dumb stuff in your mouth.
• Drink water. If it’s good enough for most of the Earth, it’s good enough for you.
• Take your self-care seriously. Be kind to yourself and decrease your stress levels wherever possible.

• Move daily in a way that you enjoy. Wanna know a Rog fact? I LOVE me some Zumba. There, I said it.
•  Go outside and let the glorious Sun snuggle the shit outta you for at least 20 minutes.
• Have that GOOD sex life. Even if you’re single, you can still get your solo freak on.
• Surround yourself people that make you laugh until you literally feel like you’re gonna die the true death as well as with people that make you think and call you out on your nonsense.
• Sing loudly and horribly to your favorite song at least once a day.

There is one mantra that I want you to walk away with and start applying today: when it comes to building the body you want, you are not special.

The sooner you let this sink into your DNA, the faster you can begin focusing all your efforts on taking the actions that will bring you the biggest return on your investment and letting every other distraction fall to the wayside.