Category Archives: My Transformation

One Day Can Change Your Life For Better Or Worse: How Will You Deal With It

Posted on July 26, 2013 by EvolveMyLife

One year ago today was going to be the day that signified a great day for me. It was going to sum up all of the Self-Control, Willpower, Inspiration and Motivation (S.W.I.M.), dedication and determination that it took for me to complete my transformation. It was supposed to be one of the best days of my entire life. Instead one of the worst things that could ever happen to someone, happened to me that day. No matter what I had a life changing moment that day. It didn’t just happen to me, it happened to a lot of other people

I was getting prepared for my 16 week transformation photo shoot. I had a little more than an hour before my shoot. I jumped in the shower and heard my phone ring. When I got out and picked up my phone I had a bad feeling. One of my friends, Diana had called me and followed it up with a text (Call me ASAP, it’s an emergency). Right away I felt like I knew what had happened. I called her right back and didn’t get her, so I left a message. I really didn’t want to talk with her, I was hoping that if I didn’t talk with her than what I was thinking had happened wouldn’t have happened. A few minutes later she called back. She was pretty upset when she started talking, “Where are you?” “Are you alone?” “You might want to sit down.” and then she confirmed what I thought that I already knew. “Don was in an accident. He was killed.”

Don was one of my closest friends. I had known him for almost 12 years and we talked almost every day and hung out whenever we could. I had gone to dinner with him and a group of friends including Diana the week before his death. I showed up a little bit late for that dinner and he was at the other end of the table so we really didn’t get to hang out that night too much. But we did get to talk a little. He actually had just dropped 56 pounds after finding out that he had diabetes. I was proud of him for making some changes that were going to help him stick around with us for a much longer time. Since, we really only talked at the end of dinner, we were going to try to get together again some time soon.

Don had more friends than anyone that I have ever known. He was more interested in helping others than doing things for himself. He was happy seeing other people’s joy. When one of his friends had a problem, Don was the first person that they would call and he would always be there for them. He never had a drink in his life. He had no idea what alcohol tasted like. He had never done a drug in his life. He got high on life. He enjoyed life like no other. The guy was always happy and he was always smiling and laughing. He felt like it was a waste of time if you spent your time bitching or you didn’t spend your time enjoying life. He truly got everything that he could get out of life. He even said that when he died, it would mean that his time had come and that he would have no regrets. He had even made it clear that people would celebrate his life instead of morn his death.

When I hung up the phone, my first thought was that I had to cancel my photo-shoot. I started thinking about it and I hear Don, calling me a dumbass. “You can’t do anything about it. It’s not in your control. Live your life. You spent 16 weeks on this and just about starved yourself the last few days and have drunk less than a gallon of water since yesterday.” I’m sitting there thinking that it would be selfish to go forward with it. I should just sit home and mourn him. I knew that he wouldn’t want that. The best thing that I could do is get out of the house. Stay preoccupied. I met the photographer over at my gym and let her know what had happened in case I broke down and she thought that I was crying because my photo-shoot was painful. I know now that this was the best thing that I could have done.

Over the next few months I realized that I had learned much more from Don than I had ever thought. Too bad he wasn’t still around while I was learning it. I made a choice to live the way that Don lived. I learned a lot from my transformation, but I was inspired by how Don lived his life. I had already begun to enjoy my life more, but now I think about what he would do and how he would treat people. I learned that I should take every opportunity given to me. If I want to do something than I should just go do it. Don’t wait around for anyone if you are going to miss out by waiting. Make your bucket list come through. If you want to go climb Mt. Everest, than go climb Mt. Everest. Be spur of the moment. LIVE LIFE! He made a huge difference in my life and how I live it. He may be gone but for those of us who knew him, he is still with us. When good things happen, even bad things, I still pick up my phone to call Don.

I can’t tell anyone else how to mourn, but the best decision that I ever made was to live the way that I believe my friend Don Theobald would have wanted me to live. It makes me sad to think about him not being here, but I don’t think that I really ever mourned. I live my life in tribute to his and all of us celebrated his life at his memorial just as he wanted. I feel the same way. I can tell you right now that when I die, I don’t want people to mourn my death. I rather have them celebrate my life and if I left them something that helped them, then hold on to it and enjoy your life.

Don left behind tons of friends, relatives, a son, a daughter in law and a two-week old grandson. I’m happy that him and his grandson were able to meet. His grandson Charlie looks just like him and even has some of the same expressions.

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Posted in My Transformation, S.W.I.M. and tagged best friends die, dealing with loss, death of a friend, learning from others, mourning. Bookmark the permalink.

Remove Your Limits! And More Importantly, Don’t Let Someone Else Set Limits For You.

Posted on May 15, 2013 by EvolveMyLife

First things first. If someone says that you can’t do something or tries to crush your goals or your dreams. How would you respond? Would you listen to them? Would you forget about that goal or dream? Would you ignore them? Or would you listen to them and use it to Motivate you? The person that you are doing it for is yourself. But there is always satisfaction in showing someone who doubts you that they were wrong. It’s also nice to hear from people who do support you once you achieve your goals. For me, I didn’t really share my goals. I did tell a few people about it, but for most people that I hadn’t seen for a while my transformation was out of the Blue. However, I did obviously document it and I did write down my goals and I also registered with Bill Phillips Transformation Challenge. I set my plan and I committed to it.

Now that I have gone through my own transformation, I have a lot of people in my corner. I have a lot of people who are supportive and say encouraging things when I share my plans. But I am also in a lot of other peoples corners. Having gone through it myself and by realizing that it is mostly mental, I know that many others can make their own successful transformation. I know that you can reach your own goals. You have to be honest with yourself. You have to convince yourself. And you have to prove it to yourself. I hope that I can encourage others to set their goals and to reach them. I hope that the information that I provide will make it easier for them.

When you make the decision that you can not do something than you are putting a limit on yourself. Or if you try something one time and have trouble with it and never do it again you are putting limits on yourself. If you continue at the same pace than you are setting a limit. Do you give it 100% or 110%? If I give it 100% than I am reaching my limit. That is 100%. That is what I am able to do. I am not trying to exceed it. 110% means that I am pushing myself further and harder than my body allows. If you see it psychologically but aren’t quite there physically than you can get your body to catch up. It might take time but if you stick with it than you can achieve it.

I have a philosophy: Train with people who are where you want to be or train with people who are trying to get to the same place that you want to be. This obviously works outside of fitness as well. These people will help you remove your limits. They will help you train at 110%. After my transformation, I went to a friend of mine’s training facility in Plainfield, IL called Xtreme Speed. I trained there for 10 weeks with a number of other people. (By the way I work for myself and can work from anywhere). These guys train a wide range of people including professional and college athletes. Their training style is very intense and it takes a lot of muscle endurance to get through it. Basically, for the first several weeks I felt like I was getting a beat down every training day. I would actually reach complete muscle failure. I got to the point that I couldn’t do another rep and would have one of the other guys in my ear giving me crap for not being able to get through it. The longer that I went through these sessions the more muscle endurance that I built up. I still get beat down during the training sessions, but my gains increase after each one. I have gone a lot further and gotten my body in even better physical shape. When I trained at Emerge Fitness during my transformation. I was training at 110%. In that case I had a great atmosphere and a trainer that pushed me. Both training facilities are all about training. For me I like the challenge of trying different things.

People are capable of much more than they think. The body is a tool and your mind will usually give up before your body. However, if you can see it in you mind. If you realize that you can succeed than you can push yourself that much harder. The harder you push it, the higher level of fitness you can reach. Your gains will come from that extra 10%. They will come when you have no limits.

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Posted in My Transformation and tagged 110%, pushing limits, remove your limits, training is psychological. Bookmark the permalink.

BABY STEPS ARE A BUNCH OF CRAP. BRAINWASH YOURSELF.

Posted on May 1, 2013 by EvolveMyLife

I don’t believe in baby steps. Baby steps are an excuse to hang on to some of the things that are holding you back from a healthy lifestyle. Let’s just say you are trying to lose weight and start living a healthy lifestyle. You also smoke and drink frequently. To live a healthy lifestyle you are going to have to start eating healthy, start training with weights and by doing cardio. You will have to stop smoking and drinking. I’m not opposed to drinking but I have cut way back. And by “way back”, I mean that drank about as much this last year as I did during two nights out, the year before.

Obviously, if you have not been active, it would probably be a good idea to get a physical to make sure that you don’t have anything that may become a problem if you push yourself “too hard.” But no matter what you are going to have to push yourself. The longer you continue with your training and cardio the more you should increase your intensity. You don’t want it getting too easy. DON’T JUST GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS. That is one thing that I consider when people say baby steps. They just go through the motions and take it easy in the gym and call it a work out. When I walk out of the gym my shirt is soaking wet.

When people talk about baby steps they also plan on making a few changes at a time. So they will cut certain things out of their diet but maybe keep a couple of unhealthy things in it and they also cut back on drinking from 3 times a week to twice a week and they continue to smoke. So I guess they plan on implementing their plan over the course of their transformation. So maybe by week 4 they are going to clean up their entire diet and by week 6 they will only drink once a week and by week 8 they will smoke one less pack a week. It’s all an excuse. More than likely what will actually happen is that they will push their healthy deadlines back and they won’t give up the cigarettes or the drinking. And their training and cardio will be ineffective.

For me it was coming to the realization that if I made my changes all at once that it would actually be easier. Baby Steps will prolong the “Suffering” (I never suffered. It wasn’t easy but I never suffered. If you do suffer, you need to work on “Controlling your Mind”). I convinced myself that it was mind over matter. I convinced myself that if I couldn’t succeed than I was weak. If I couldn’t control my own mind I was weak. The key word is WAS. I am STRONG enough to control my own mind. I can achieve my goals I can S.W.I.M.™ (Self-Control, Will Power, Inspiration, Motivation). When you can conquer the bad habits and the addictions all at once it actually makes you stronger. It adds to your motivation. And when you succeed you will never forget what it took to get you there.

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Posted in My Transformation, S.W.I.M. and tagged baby steps to a healthy lifestyle, brainwash yourself to a healthy lifestyle, inspiration, learn to S.W.I.M., motivation, preparing for a body transformation, S.W.I.M., self control, transformation, will power. Bookmark the permalink.

Fighting Through The Pain

Posted on April 3, 2013 by EvolveMyLife

Have you ever been a part of a team? You workout together and you play as a team. You push each other. You are giving it 100% so that you can become better and that you can succeed as a team. Thoughts run through your head when you feel like you are being beat down and you’re pushing yourself as hard as you can. You look around at your teammates and they are going through the exact same thing that you are and they are feeling the same pain. You are thinking, “They can do it. I know that I can do it too.” Next you think about the competition. “What are they doing to prepare? Are they working harder than you? I know that I can work harder than them.” Thoughts like these run through your head. This is your motivation. The human body is a tool and it can withstand much more than the mind. Take control of your mind. Be strong enough to push your body further than you mind allows. Let your mind know that you don’t have limits. That is 110%.

As an individual you may not have a team around you to push you. You might or might not have competitors. But you can still compete against yourself. If you really want to make yourself better than you will push yourself knowing that you haven’t reached your limits. You can dig down deep and find that extra 10%. In order to reach the finish line, you may need that extra 10%. You will suffer, but in a good way. Your results are worth giving it 110%.

The pain from your hard work only lasts a limited time but the feeling of accomplishment lasts for a lifetime. Learn to S.W.I.M.™

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Posted in My Transformation, S.W.I.M., Training and tagged 110%, accomplishing goals, learn to S.W.I.M., motivation. Bookmark the permalink.

Test Yourself and Make Yourself Stronger

Posted on March 24, 2013 by EvolveMyLife

It’s all about controlling your mind. I came up with S.W.I.M. (Self-Control, Will Power, Inspiration, Motivation), because it reminds these four things are what it takes to not only transform but to help you achieve all of your goals. They all come from inside you and if you listen to them you will be able to control your own mind. If you want something bad enough and you know what you have to do, you will do it or you really didn’t want it.

When I started my transformation, I was tested every day. It could be walking through the Super Market and passing by the bakery. In the past I would check to see if they had any cookie samples that they had set out. I’d grab a handful of cookies and eat them as I walked around the store. It really didn’t matter whether they tasted good or like crap, I was already planning on circling back, for seconds, thirds or fourths. I love free stuff, even crappy cookies. It’s funny how I can walk by these samples and look at them and even if they look good, know that I won’t be munching on them while I walk around the store.

Another big test is going out to a bar with friends and sticking with water as your drink of choice for the night. I use to drink once every week or two and if I went out-of-town, it was almost every night. I decided that I wouldn’t totally cut drinking out but I didn’t want to be spontaneous. I didn’t want to drink every time I had the opportunity too. By spontaneous, I mean that I will plan it out several weeks in advance. If friends ask me to out with them this coming weekend, I will probably go. I’m not going to become anti-social. But I am not going to drink. Usually, people try to get me to do a shot or drink a beer. It almost becomes a game. When I head home, I actually feel like I accomplished something. There are a lot of advantages for me when I do this: I save money. I have no hang over. Most of all I am strong enough to control my mind and continue with my healthy lifestyle.

Eating out can be difficult because I don’t usually know what will be put into my food and there will be bread and appetizers brought to the table that I would have scarfed down in the past but now I bypass most that. I do try to find things that will work within my nutrition guidelines. If I can’t find them I usually try to order something that I can make a lot of changes too. I also think about what a restaurant might do to my food. Such as adding steak butter to my steak and ask them not to add it. Check out my video on ordering breakfast in a restaurant.

At the beginning of my transformation I started running in Obstacle Course Races. These races have tested me physically and mentally. They provide me with a new way to compete against others as well as myself. They force me to push myself. Climbing ropes, going across monkey bars and running 9 miles are only some of the challenges that I face on these races. They are also things that I would have never thought that I would do at the age of 46 especially since I haven’t done anything like it for over 20 years.

I don’t really feel like I am missing anything. And I do take a cheat meal once in a while and I will drink a beer once in a while. But more than anything I feel stronger by walking into the fire and not getting burned.

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Posted in My Transformation, S.W.I.M. and tagged inspiration, learn to S.W.I.M., mind control, motivation, obstacle course racing challenges the mind and body, S.W.I.M., self control, test yourself, will power. Bookmark the permalink.

Getting Prepared For Your Transformation

Posted on March 20, 2013 by EvolveMyLife

I wasn’t going on a diet, I was going to start living a healthy lifestyle. I needed to prepare for this so that I had set goals. I had motivation to reach them and that I had a plan to get me there. Be prepared.
Before you EVOLVE, you must Learn to S.W.I.M.™

Set your Goals and write them down. Post them somewhere that you can see them everyday.

Write down your weight

Write down your measurements (waist, neck, arms, legs, chest)

Write down your body fat

Take BEFORE Pics

Plan your healthy lifestyle (nutrition and training)

I also wrote down everything that I planned to eat. I would write down next to it what I actually did eat. (It is ok to switch something healthy for something else healthy). I did this for the first 7 weeks. At that point I realized that I wasn’t going to cheat and that my nutrition plan was working for me.

Make sure that you can enjoy your food. Be Accountable.

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Posted in My Transformation and tagged be prepared, plan your healthy lifestyle, set goals, take after pics, take before pics, take measurements, transformation, weigh yourself, write down goals. Bookmark the permalink.

Changing Atmosphere Can Give You The Edge That You Need

Posted on February 27, 2013 by EvolveMyLife

Sometimes you need a change of atmosphere. When I first started my transformation, I had already been working out. My biggest change would be my nutrition. But I really wanted to feel like I was starting over and wanted someone else’s input. For that reason I decided on a change of atmosphere. I wanted to make sure that everything around me was positive and that it was all about accomplishing goals and training. My decision was to train at Emerge Fitness for my change of atmosphere. Once I reached my goals I went back to my old gym. I was revitalized and continued with a great workout routine and even incorporated some of the things that I picked up at Emerge into it.

Next I decided that I wanted to train at a higher level so I went to Xtreme Speed in Plainfield, IL. I trained there for about 10 weeks 3 days a week. The atmosphere definitely breeds success. The opportunity to train with other people who work hard every day and train at a high level of intensity, not only motivated me but opened the door to a different style of training that I was not use too. I thought that I knew what High Intensity was until I met these guys. Trying out different types of training is great for developing the body and it is also a great way to stay engaged.

Around the holidays I ended up back at my gym and was incorporating Xtreme’s training methods into my own workouts at home. A couple of weeks before the Super Bowl I was feeling like I was overtraining. The overtraining was not due to what I was doing in the gym, it was due to the amount of cardio that I was doing. I set a goal of running 1,000 miles this year. I was running about 25 miles a week which wasn’t really something that I was use to. It was close to 10 miles further than I had been running a week. I got to the point in which my joints were sore, I was running slower, I was losing strength and my mind did not feel right. My memory was not what it had been a few weeks before and I was feeling agitated. I knew what was going on but I was hoping that I would work through it. I finally smartened up and decided to take a break. The way I finally saw it was that my Cortisol levels were too high and the only way that I could get them under control was to take off. Initially it was going to be one week but I decided to take a second week off. I listened to my body and it was telling me that I wasn’t ready. I almost worked out at the end of the second week because I started to feel like I needed to be in the gym. Kind of like I was getting withdrawals.

Two weeks off after a couple of weeks of lame workouts. Now what? Do I start-up slow? Nope, I left on Sunday for Plainfield, IL and would workout from Monday to Wednesday at Xtreme Speed. Once again I wanted to fire it up again with the right atmosphere. It’s not like I hadn’t fallen out of shape again so I felt great getting back in there. They still kicked my ass. First and third day are upper body days and the second day is a leg and cardio day. After the second workout it felt like a fog had lifted. I feel awesome and my thought process seems like it getting back to where I was before I was losing my mind.

Although I needed the rest, I also needed a change of atmosphere. That atmosphere has to be positive. It can be the physical place and it can be the people that you train with. It can even be the workout. Finding a group of people with a high level of intensity is what works best for me.

I also learned that if you set a goal that is not going the way that you wanted like I did then you better change it before it is too late. Don’t let your pride get in the way of a mistake.

For me healthy life style is not an ongoing battle. It is about getting in tune with your body, learning and reaching your goals. I have a passion for this new phase of my life, so I choose to spend the time on myself and also on helping others figure out what works for them.

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Posted in My Transformation, Training, Uncategorized and tagged body transformation, cortisol, decrease cortisol, healthy lifestyle, lower cortisol, overtraining, road blocks transformation, transformation, xtreme speed. Bookmark the permalink.

Who Is Your Biggest Influence?

Posted on January 29, 2013 by EvolveMyLife

I knew this guy that had a great deal of influence over me. Whenever, I wanted to get out of doing something all that I had to do was listen to him. We would go out of town and he would convince me that I should stuff my face with all kinds of food that I knew was going to have a negative affect on me and my body. I would tell him that I can’t eat like that and he would say, “man you can work it off at the gym tomorrow.” Next thing you know, he would drag my ass out all night to a couple of different bars and we would get loaded. I’m not against drinking at all. I still do it once in a while. I just don’t have this guy around to convince me that I should do it a couple of nights a week or every night that I am on the road. For me to reach my goals I do have to keep drinking to a minimum. This is the same guy that has told me in the past to give up and to quit. When I started doing mud runs and obstacle races he said to me, “why do you want to do this stuff? You already workout. You don’t need to run through the mud and over obstacles trying to kill yourself. Your days of playing sports are over. You’re closer to being an old man than a kid.”

If you listen to someone like this long enough, than it makes the excuses easier. But why do you want someone who is always negative in your life? I’ve had other people tell me not to do something or tell me that I wouldn’t be able to do something before. I usually never listened to those people. In some cases I removed those people from my life. But with this guy it was different. For whatever reason I let him control me. I couldn’t remove him from my life. I wasn’t strong enough to make the right decisions. I couldn’t help but listen to him.

I realized that he was my misery and misery loves company. I made the decision to remove him from my life and the funny thing is that not only is my life better for it but even other people see me in a different light. I rather listen to someone who is SUCCESSFUL.

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In case you are wondering who would let someone control their life that way. Here is his picture. Seriously, this is the guy that I let control my life. Now I scratch my head and wonder why I let that happen. I was the one who was holding me back.

Transform your Body, Transform your Mind, Transform your Life.
Learn to S.W.I.M.™

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Posted in My Transformation and tagged healthy lifestyle, transformation, what influences control you, who can help you transform your body. Bookmark the permalink.

Setting Your Healthy Lifestyle Goals For The New Year

Posted on December 30, 2012 by EvolveMyLife

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Every year people set up their New Years Resolutions. Some of the most popular Resolutions include: Stop Drinking Alcohol. Actually make that Drink Less. Eat Healthy or Go on a Diet. Stop Smoking. Lose Weight. People obviously are concerned with their health but in many of the cases the New Years Resolutions become a bad ongoing joke. How many people have the same resolutions every year? How is it that the obesity rate in the United States increases every year even though some of the most popular resolutions include living a healthy lifestyle? The answer is easy. People can’t stick with it.

When setting up my goals it is always more effective for me if I write them down. When I write them down they will not look like this: Eat Healthier, Lose Weight….
Instead I will write it down in a way that makes me want to set out to do it. I will show intentions.
I Will Eat Healthier
I Will Lose Weight

Not only that but I want to be able to set measures and set a date for my goals to be accomplished.
I Will Lose 25 LBS by March 21st.

In some cases it may be an ongoing goal. I am actually living a healthy lifestyle.
I Will Eat 6 Healthy Meals a Day. Each with Carbs and Protein.

Next I will put it in a place where I can see it each day. The bathroom mirror. The refrigerator. The constant reminder.

When it comes to weight loss. You can measure it in ways other than weight loss. Take measurements of your waist, neck, arms, chest and legs. Check your body fat, with calipers or in another way. I had times where my weight actually went up over the course of a week. It could have been water weight, muscle or I just weighed in at a different time of day and there was a difference. I noticed weight loss just from not being able to keep my pants up with my oversized belt. I found at least one change each week. It may have been minor but it was a change.

Toward the end of my 12 week Transformation, I realized that I was not going to reach my actually goals without cutting carbs out of my diet. I didn’t want to make that kind of change to my diet, (I don’t think low carb diets are healthy) so I added 4 more weeks on to my Transformation. There is nothing wrong with not meeting your goal on time. I’m not done until I’m finished. Funny thing is. I am still not finished.

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This year my goals will center around the competitive side of me. I ran 8 obstacle/mud races last year. The first was in April. This year I have decided to finish 12 races. The goal is very doable but I want to make sure that I commit myself to it. Notice how I said, I Will Finish 12 not that I will Run in 12. If I don’t cross the finish line it doesn’t count. I will also run 1,000 miles this year. There are plenty of people who do a lot more than that. I don’t think that I have ever run that much any other year. I want to set a number to it this year. This will make sure that I don’t get to settled in with how fit, that I think I am. I don’t want to start thinking that I don’t need to do any cardio. I will track my miles by day, week and month. Less than 20 miles a week. For all I know, I already ran that much this year. Both of these goals are something that will take the entire year to do. I am add a simple one day goal of 1000 push ups in a day. When I wrestled in High School we did a lot more than 1000 in a day and we did it almost every day. But now I do push ups in some of my workouts but nothing even close to 1000. I felt like I wanted a quick goal. I also added something that is more of a Bucket List Item. I have always wanted to go Sky Diving, so now I have decided that this will be the year that I go Sky Diving. I Will continue to live my life in a way in which I accomplish what I set out to do and do the things that make me happy.

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Posted in My Transformation and tagged body transformation, fitness goals, healthy goals, healthy lifestyle, new years resolutions, transformation, weight loss, weight loss resolution. Bookmark the permalink.

The Power Of Mind Control

Posted on November 30, 2012 by EvolveMyLife

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The most important part of my transformation has been the psychological aspect. That is how I came up with the acronym S.W.I.M. (Self-Control, Will Power, Inspiration, Motivation). Honestly once I figured this out and thought about what it meant it made my transformation that much easier for me. It allowed me to set a psychological goal if that makes any sense. It was tough at first but after a little while it became easier. At this point it’s almost funny. I figured out how to control my own mind. I looked at how many things I did out of habit or temptation. I was addicted to food. I felt peer pressure. If I went out to dinner, I would eat anything that hit the table. Not just a slice of bread but usually about 2 loaves. How many appetizers could I cram down my throat before my main course? If there was calamari, I was probably eating two appetizers. If I went to a bar, I drank. What else would you do in a bar? (I’ll still go to bars once in a while but rarely drink). If I walked into the supermarket I would walk by the cookie section about 10 times for the free samples. I would buy 3 boxes of Oreo cookies to save for my “cheat day”. I would than convince myself that I was just going to eat one and save the rest for later. Within 3 hours the first box was gone. The next two might make it for about 3 more days. I would travel and convince myself that I needed to stay out of the gym during the entire trip.

I took at look at how my lack of self-control had made me feel crappy about the way I looked at myself. I realized that it was a weakness. I was WEAK! I couldn’t control my own mind. I felt like I had an addiction and had no control over it (I actually did). How could I be that weak? It was embarrassing.

Once I became honest with myself and could actually look in the mirror and say that I need to lose 40 pounds not 10. I need to realize what else is affecting my life. What do I need to do to make this transformation? 5 days a week in the gym (already doing that), running 5 days a week (right now I run 4 days a week. 2 days are light and 2 are tied into my workouts). Stick with a nutrition program that I can live with, without cheating.

It’s amazing how many situations I end up in where I pass on things that I would have jumped all over in the past. I actually feel really good about myself when I sit down to dinner with friends and don’t touch the bread, which I use to gob with butter. I don’t need it. I wanted it. My health is more important and the truth is that when you can control your mind over things like this you can also control it over other things. I chewed tobacco for over 20 years and every time I quit I constantly thought about it. I needed it when I drove, drank, or had stress. I had a lot of stress. I could not even tell you the day that I quit. It is irrelevant to me. It really doesn’t matter since I don’t think about it. I almost forgot to write about it in this post.

It is important that you enjoy the food that you do eat. 6 healthy nutritious small portioned meals a day that include both carbohydrates and protein. Be creative with your food. There are plenty of things that you can eat that taste like they are bad for you because they taste so good.

Being able to control my own mind influences many other aspects of my life. It also makes me consider how my actions may affect other people. I rather be a positive influence than having a negative influence or no influence. I have also realized that I can do much more now at 46 then what I ever thought that I could. I don’t set limitations for myself anymore (this will be a future post).

I would challenge to try something next time you go out to dinner with friends. When bread is brought to the table don’t eat any for the entire meal. See if you can resist it. If you don’t like bread try using this with a similar situation. Pass on cake at a party at the office. Don’t bother getting some just to bring home and eat later. Just pass it up. This is less about your nutrition than it is about being able to control your own mind.

If you thought that this post was about bending spoons or controlling someone else with your mind, sorry to disappoint you but the truth is that if you can learn how to do this than you will change your life for the better. You will accomplish more.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE AND LEARN TO S.W.I.M.™

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Posted in My Transformation and tagged body transformation, dieting and self control, Healthy Living, inspiration, mind control, motivation, S.W.I.M., self control, will power. Bookmark the permalink.

Evolve My Life ™

Category Archives: My Transformation

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Getting Prepared For Your Transformation

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The Power Of Mind Control

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