To Lose, Give

One of my goals each day is to be a philanthropist. I mean that each day I try to give away my most valuable possessions. The funny thing about it is the more I give away, the more I seem to receive. Oh, and by the way, I don’t mean money, not by a long shot. And no, not a big diamond ring or a Lexus either! I believe that our most prized possessions are far more valuable than even those. Think I’ve had one protein shake too many? Well. Maybe so, but I stand by my belief anyways.

“So what are my most valuable possessions?” you may be asking.  Well, your most valuable possessions aren’t tangible.  You can’t touch them, hold them, or put them in a box.  And, sadly, not everyone realizes that they even have these treasures. But, if you do, they likely exist in vast quantities and are limitless in their depth. So what are they? Well, - love is the greatest, but there are others such as compassion, kindness and respect. Each of these are like gold coins that you should freely give away each and every day of your life. Certainly, if you have lived at all, you understand this.

Interestingly, one of the other great gifts that you have can often get lost in the treasure chest. In fact, it is usually seen as having lesser value than the rest. But, the fact is that your “word” or your “promise” is one of the most valuable coins in the chest. You see, when you give someone your word, the value attached to it is directly related to your own personal value. Remember when they used to say that you are only as good as your word? Well, it’s true.

So, why does all of this matter to you? Because, health and fitness are about more than just what’s on the outside. In fact, I believe that a complete and fulfilled life can only be achieved when you are healthy both internally and externally. There simply aren’t enough push ups, sit ups and dieting that can be done to transform you into the best version of yourself that has ever been.

So how do you make this transformation and become an amazing, life influencing, world changing person? Start by realizing that you have these internal gifts and use them –on yourself! First, give yourself your word, a promise, that you are going to change. That you are going to get healthy and ultimately, happy. Next, love yourself enough to follow through. Be forgiving when you make mistakes and respect yourself for your daily efforts. Soon, you will see the transformation taking place and you will start feeling alive again. Along with this, eat healthy and exercise often.  Life can be lived many ways, -all of them are up to you.

Want to become truly rich in life? Be a philanthropist. Give your word and hold true to it. Love without limits. Be kind to everyone, even those who deserve it least and in the end, you will find that your own life has become rich beyond belief!

 

Ron

The Moon Is Yours

On September 12^th, 1962 President John F. Kennedy spoke words to me that forever changed the way I see the pursuit of health and fitness. Mind you, I am too young to have heard the words in person; in fact, it was some 20 years after his famous speech that I first heard the words that would profoundly impact the rest of my life.

You see, President Kennedy was talking about going to the moon. He asked “Why choose this as our goal -And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain?” to which he responds “We choose to go to the moon and do the other things…not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” It is these very words that have motivated me for many years and which have also served to differentiate between those who would be wildly successful in their journey and those who never will.

Nearly every day I meet people who are at the beginning of their weight loss and fitness journey. I listen very carefully to their words. Most say “I need to do this.” Few say ‘I want to do this.” And, as it goes, I rarely choose to work with those who only claim to “need” to do this. That may seem harsh, but I think my reasoning becomes clearer when you look deeper into President Kennedy’s words.

At the time the President gave his speech, the Soviets had already made great strides in the “space race’ and were nearly four years ahead of us. Clearly the President could have made the case that we “need” to go to the moon, but he didn’t. His words reflected an attitude in our country that was greater than that. Nowhere in his speech do you hear that we “need” to go to the moon, but rather  we “choose” to go to the moon.

Perhaps an even greater treasure found in President Kennedy’s words is the reason behind “choosing” to go to the moon. Plain and simply put, he said we choose to go to the moon not because it is easy –but because it is hard. Think about that for a moment. When was the last time you chose to do ANYTHING because it was the harder thing to do? Perhaps now is your time.

Make the choice today to do something great for yourself for two basic reasons: because you CHOOSE to and because it is the HARD thing to do.  Oh, and one more thing. If you truly read this and get it, you will discover that these words apply to more than health and fitness. These are words to apply to life! Here is a part of the President’s speech. Read it then get ready to launch on your journey!

"It's hazards are hostile to us all. It's conquest deserves the best of all mankind and it's opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And many may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago fly the Atlantic? Why does rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, unwilling to postpone and one which we intend to win..."

Fall In Love Again

If you weren't a close friend of hers, you wouldn't have known of the hours and hours she had spent getting ready to meet someone special. The truth is her friends suspected that something was going on for months because she was just not acting like herself. You know how it goes, when you have someone new in your life you hardly eat, you seem to live everyday distracted by your thoughts, -we've all been there.

To many, she seemed so distracted, so occupied. Even her appetite seemed to have changed. Several months back she was the life of the party, drinking and eating like everyone else, complaining about life and well, just normal. Now, she seems to only want to eat salads and lean meats, and she rarely ever has dessert anymore. One thing we all noticed though, she seems to be happier. That was the dead giveaway. Anyone who seems preoccupied, eats less and yet still seems happy obviously has someone new in her life!

One day she asked me to join her at the gym. Now, I may not be Mr. Unhealthy but I am also not a gym rat. In fact, it’s been years since I have really worked out with any consistency. You know, busy life, work, all that! But, I had a hunch that if I were to join her, I might see and even meet this special new person in her life. So, reluctantly I agreed and showed up at 5:30 am tired and weary to go.

We walked on the treadmill, lifted weights and just generally sweated! And, as much as I wanted to be done and leave, I also had a burning desire to see this person that makes her smile more every day. Finally, the torture was over and we headed to the water fountains. I have to say I was disappointed that “Special” didn't show. Maybe another time, I thought.

Then it happened. I saw an amazing smile break across her face. Standing right there in front of her was the person I had been hoping so much to meet, their eyes locked on one another. I have to admit, “Special” was stunning! Her special person was lean, healthy and just looked so happy! In a word, “Special” had the things we all look for in a person we want in our lives.

In just a moment, the meeting was over. My friend and I stepped away from the mirror and I knew that my friend had discovered someone really special, -herself. The “her” she had wanted so desperately to be. Lean, healthy and above all, happy! She had been eating clean and working out regularly knowing that there was someone special within herself just waiting for her to open the doors!

If you have been looking for that someone “special” within yourself, today is your day. Make the decision to start eating healthy and exercising. I assure you that there is someone special just waiting to meet you! By joining the Ultimate Body Program, we can have you back in love in about 20 weeks.  Fall in love again with yourself and see what life has to offer. You won’t be disappointed. Call me at 214-783-5440 to discuss how we can help you get there!

The Greatest Discovery

Years ago, when I went through my own body transformation, I believed I knew myself. I was the son to my mom and the brother to my brother, etc. However, I knew nothing about what I was truly made of.  There was always this belief that I was strong and that I had resolve. In a word, I believed that I could handle anything that life threw at me, but this theory was yet untested and unproven.

As I went through the process of losing weight, I found myself many, many times exercising alone, pushing the cardio machine through countless drops of sweat. There were many unhealthy meals that went uneaten. At times, I felt like I was completely alone on my mission and wondered if I would succeed. I remember many times just having to lose myself in my music in order to make it through each workout. To make matters worse, the results seemed to come so slowly.  But, I pushed on, every day, meal by meal, workout by workout.

In the end, after a collection of many workouts and multiple meals of clean healthy eating, I discovered myself in the mirror. There I stood, lean and fit and smiling. But, looking back, I realize that the true transformation had occurred on the inside. Sure, the outside looked completely different, but the inside reflected the real changes. No longer did I just believe I was strong, instead I KNEW I was strong. There was no longer any doubt in my mind that I had what it took to succeed, at anything. For me, all of those countless hours of workouts and healthy meals helped me discover myself.

How well do you know yourself?  I believe that you may be so tied up in your daily life and the routine of it all that perhaps you have completely lost touch with who you really are. Sure, you may be called mom, brother, husband or wife, but who are you to YOU?

I would like to challenge you right now to find out. Yes, I am asking you to start working out and eating healthy. And, at the same time I am hopeful that in those most difficult moments, when you just want to give up and throw in the towel, that you instead reach deep and find your strength. My hope is that you will hate always eating healthy and yet do it anyways. In the end, I am certain that not only will you have a whole new, healthy body and better quality of life, but you will also discover (or rediscover) yourself -The real you, stripped of all of life’s nonsense and instead standing there transformed and proven.

Get started today. Make a decision to be different. Make the hard choices and ultimately make this about a personal journey to discover something amazing… yourself!

Choices

I nearly choked on my turkey burger as the man walked up to the table beside us. He was a big guy with huge muscles nearly ripping through his tight fitting suit. If I were to guess, he looked like a guy named Guido. And I would tell you what color his eyes were, except that he had sunglasses on. Honestly, this guy was intimidating! So cautiously I watched. It seemed as if “Guido” had found who he was looking for. 

She was a middle aged woman, dressed in work out clothes as if she had just come from a spin class or something.  I remember her because she had been sitting next to me in the restaurant for the last 20 minutes or so with another friend who also looked like one of those work out people. I will never forget what happened next.  

You see, sitting right there in the middle of the table was a small basket of bread. Beside the bread was a small plate of butter. The whole time I had been sitting there, I noticed that neither of the ladies had touched the bread. But, clearly that was not the desire of Mr. Guido. With a stern face and a deep sigh, Guido carefully picked up a piece of the bread and spread butter on it with precision. He paused for a moment, then, with a sigh, handed the bread to one of the ladies. She looked almost helpless as she took a bite of the bread. Guido then cracked his knuckles and the lady ate faster. In fact, Guido didn’t even have to butter her next two pieces of bread; she did that herself.

I noticed that Guido hung around until dessert time when he also forced the lady to have a piece of cheesecake.  After the cheesecake was gone, Guido walked away with a sly smile on his face, stating ‘I’ll see you for dinner.”

Thankfully, this didn’t really happen; however, every single day we are faced with choices. We can choose to eat healthy, or not -it’s all up to us! Usually when we do make the bad choices, we say to ourselves “I just had to have that cheesecake…or those cookies…or that such and such” as if Guido himself were standing there forcing us to eat unhealthy. The simple truth is that the only Guido around is the one within us, not FORCING us to eat badly, but rather ALLOWING it.

So do this. Next time you are faced with an unhealthy food option, realize that there is no one forcing you to eat it. Make the healthy food choice instead and watch as Guido gets a puzzled look on his face and quietly slips away. Oh, and don’t forget to tell him he’s not invited to dinner! Success in health comes one meal at a time so make each one count!

If you see me around town eating, pull up the empty chair and join me. Guido doesn’t need it anymore.

Time to Grow Up

“A Powice Man” I replied when my mom asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Of course, that was over forty years ago. Crazy how time flies by, isn’t it? So let’s do this. Let’s pause time for just a moment and take a look at ourselves. How? Like this. Stop. Reread this very sentence slowly three times then move on. Now, breathe. Breathe slow and deep. Slow your mind down. Pause again here. Ok. Now, here we are. You might ask where. –“In front of the mirror” I would reply. Sure, it’s an imaginary mirror, but what it shows you isn’t imaginary at all.

Take a good look. What do you see? A face, eyes, what? Look closer. See all of the wrinkles? That’s not something we want to see, but they are there. What else do you see? How about the gray hair? Remember when gray hair was just something that your grandparents had? It seems like life is moving so fast; in fact, maybe too fast.

Look a little deeper. In fact, look into your own eyes. What do you see there? Lots and lots of life lived. Sure, your eyes may look tired and even a bit bloodshot, but look past that. Look into the years of life that those eyes have witnessed. There was a time when you were younger that some in your family really wondered if you would ever make it. Guess what? Here you are. You made it. Take another breath and think about that. Here you are in the midst of your day, all grown up and living life. Yes, you did make it.

What else do you see when you look deep into your own eyes? Let me tell you what I see in you. First, you are unique. There is no one else like you, anywhere! You are an amazing collection of life experiences, wisdom and emotions. You have seen pain, and joy. You’ve experienced life and death. You have been deep in the valleys and you’ve kissed the sun from the summit of life’s mountains. In a word, you are amazing. Yes, amazing!

All too often we define ourselves by what we see on the outside when, in fact, the real “us” is on the inside. We are even known to determine our self-value by what we look like on the outside. For example, if you are overweight, you feel like you are flawed in some way and often live depressed and unhappy. Because we don’t see our true inner selves, we can never fix our outer selves and so weight loss, joy, happiness and all good things seem impossible.

Do this instead: Stop judging yourself by what you see on the outside. Look within at the amazing person that you are. That beautiful, loving and amazing person within you really IS you. Once you believe and accept that, then and only then will you be unchained and able to change the outside. Learning to see the real you “within” is what I call “growing up” and it’s NEVER too late to do that.

What do you want to be when YOU grow up? Remember, Powice Man is already taken! 

Perfect

When I was five years old, my kindergarten teacher told my mom that she (my mom) must be a perfectionist. Curiously, my mom asked “Why?’ to which Ms. Lawyer replied, “Because your son is.” Apparently, in everything I did, from coloring to cutting construction paper, it HAD to be perfect! In fact, if it wasn’t perfect, I would just give up and stop trying altogether. While every other kid proudly displayed projects scribbled in crayon and looking like they had been cut out with a butter knife, I had nothing. At five, perfection didn't get you much.

About ten years ago, I decided that it was time for me to go talk to someone very close to me about being a perfectionist. I was going to share my own life experiences with him and see if I could get him to understand how much he needed to change; to stop being such a perfectionist. So, on that day, I went home, found a mirror and started the conversation. Wow, not easy.

   

Fast forward to today and you would discover, oddly enough, that I still believe in perfectionism. But, I’ve modified the definition. In fact, you might say that my new definition of perfection is PERFECT. First, the old definition: Perfection (n) -the quality or state of being perfect. Now, my new definition: Perfection (n) -the quality or state of being perfect ENOUGH. How’s that?  

If you apply the old definition to your life, it’s easy to see that you end up without a job, without someone to live life with, without a home, without a car, without anything important. You see, perfectionism STILL gets you nothing. So how does this apply to you? Easy! Stop searching for PERFECT and instead search for PERFECT ENOUGH. How? Let me tell you.

First, stop searching for perfection in what you wear. Throw on some flip flops and a t-shirt and be seen in public! It’s ok. And you know that yard you work so hard on making perfect? Let it go some. It’s ok if you have a few wilted flowers now and then. Oh, and then your better half. PLEASE stop looking for perfection there. I mean it. You won’t find it. But guess what. THEY LOVE YOU. Isn't that perfect enough?

And you know what else? Stop striving for perfection in your health and fitness goals. You will NEVER achieve it for any length of time. But, you can achieve “perfect enough” for a lifetime. Yes, you should set goals and eat healthy. Just don’t stress out and fail when you end up eating something less than perfect. Try to exercise daily. But, if you miss a work out, it’s OK. 

Imagine the possibilities this new key can open up for you. Endless best describes them.

Think about this a while and see how it works for you. Remember, not perfect, perfect enough. Got it? Perfect! Now hand me another sheet of that construction paper. I have some projects to do!

Ron