“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”
- Abraham Lincoln

Ask most people who have worked hard to make drastic changes to their physique and health, and they will tell you that spectacular results come from unspectacular preparation. There’s no immediate glory in preparing a healthy meal and there’s no spotlight shining on you when you come away from a grocery store with healthy food choices. However, in order to achieve your goals one key aspect is vital, even though it’s rather mundane and often overlooked — preparation.

In particular, I’d like to focus on meal preparation, and how attacking your diet with a gameplan can bring about the results you’re after.  One doesn’t want to walk into a grocery store and think they are going to get great results by just stocking your shopping cart with items that say “Low Fat” or “Low Carb” or buzzwords like “Healthy” and “Smart”.  If it was that simple, then we would all have great bodies and extraordinary health.  Just like going to the gym, you want to prepare and plan what needs to be done in advance.  It is extremely helpful if you put together a tentative menu for yourself or your household; this way you can effectively shop with a grocery list.  If you’re a newbie when it comes to healthy eating, then you may feel very tempted to grab that bag of Doritos or chocolate chip cookies out of your favorite snack aisle.  Having a list will keep your grocery cart from making a wrong turn.

Most of us work and a lot of us work a lot.  With very little free time in our busy schedules it is hard to prepare your 5 -7 suggested meals and snacks throughout the day.  Now that you have all the proper foods that you need, why not prepare some meals in advance? Cooking in bulk can be a great time saver and it also helps to prevent overeating or making the wrong choices.  We have all been guilty of grabbing the first thing in sight when we are starving and don’t want to spend time cooking.  Throw a bunch of chicken and steak on the grill keep it in the fridge for a few days (just make sure you clean out your fridge on a regular basis so you don’t end up eating old food!).

A lot of healthy recipe books have different low calorie cassoroles and chilis that can even be frozen.  The good thing about a lot of these books is that they even give the breakdown of protien, carbs, fats, and calories.  Some people may like to portion out there food in advance to save even more time.  It wouldn’t hurt to have containers of Tupperware sitting in the fridge with already prepared meals in them.

Remember, perfection doesn’t come over night — it may take you a while to form these healthy habits, but over time healthy meal preperation will become like second nature along with looking and feeling great!

Some studies say that it takes at least three weeks to develop a habit. Once you start a new routine, and you continuously practice this new behavior on a regular basis without thinking about it, then it has become a habit. When you make a conscious decision to start something new it is important to try your hardest to be very consistent at first. Initially it may be more of a challenge, but eventually it will become easier. I wanted to discuss some tips on how we can create some new healthy habits and keep them.

Healthy habits like going to the gym, eating healthy, taking vitamins/supplements, and drinking enough water are just some of the simpler routines that one should develop for life. I often hear people say how hard it is for them to keep up with what seem to be simple tasks; things that are a normal part of my everyday routine. Then I realized it was because these things had not yet become a habit in their lives. Many people do well with these things for a short period of time and then ending up giving up when it doesn’t stick right away. Working with many people with different goals and different personalities types, I began to notice a few common things that helped everyone develop and keep their healthy habits.

First and foremost, we all need to realize that we are all human and no one is perfect. If you are striving for perfection right away, then you are setting yourself up for failure. Chances are it may take multiple attempts before you get it right.
Second is to learn from your mistakes. Try figuring out why you didn’t accomplish what you set out to do the first time and try not to repeat this pattern. If you are aware of what your challenges are and where your typical stumbling blocks lie, then you may be able to avoid them in advance. When you see yourself starting to slip, you can nip that behavior in the bud.

Third is to praise yourself when you succeed. Take time to be proud of yourself once you accomplish a new goal and a new habit is set in place.

Lastly, consistency is the key, so don’t limit yourself and don’t ever give up. Sometimes we may be afraid to fail when it comes to accomplishing a new goal. The only limitations we that we have in life are the ones we create for ourselves.

Lets all start today by breaking old habits good and setting new and healthy ones in their place that will allow us to live a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life!!!

Now that we’ve discussed alot of ways we encounter stress and how it can affect your health and fitness levels, let’s talk about some ways to cope and possibly even overcome stress itself.



• Focus on one thing at a time - Often times, we try to pile too much onto our plate, and instead of getting anything done we end up focusing all of our energy on worrying on the amount of tasks we have in front of us. Instead, just pick one thing, focus your energy on on that, and get it done. Getting that first thing crossed off on your to do list will get the ball rolling towards succeeding in alleviating that stress.



• Let off some steam - Just like a volcano, when enough pressure builds up inside of us, we have the tendency to erupt in a self-destructing fashion, like lashing out at loved ones, angry outbursts, or withdrawing from others. Prevent the build of that pressure by letting off some steam at the gym. Working out in general is a stress reducer, and what better way to focus some of that pent up energy than to use it to fuel yourself while lifting.



• Laugh - Laughter is the best medicine. That saying didn’t come out of nowhere, it’s based on a bit of truth. When we get bogged down by the negativity of a stressful life, sometimes a bit of laughter is all we need to put things into perspective and change our mood. Watch a funny movie or surround yourself with light hearted people and just see the stresses of everyday life start to disappear.



• Meditate - Let go of all the negativity racing around in your heart and your mind and try to find peace with yourself. If you’re able to do that, it’s like shaking an Etch-A-Sketch and starting over from scratch. With a clean slate, you’ll be able to focus on resolving the sources of your stress instead being crippled by the effects of it.



• Focus on fixing what you can control - Sometimes instead of focusing energy on ourselves and the situations we’re in, we try to change everything around us. That often leads to disappointment and a feeling of helplessness when the outcomes aren’t what we had hoped for. Remember, the only person you have full control over is yourself, and the only situation you have control over is your own. Once you can gain full control of your own life and the choices you make, you’ll be able to deal with stressful situations in a much healthier way.