13 Ways To Make Your Life Better

We all love to talk about change.  Because let's face it, change is usually a good thing, and we all want it.  Whether it's in the mirror or in the gym or on the field, we want to get better.  The one main problem with this is that we all too often have NO IDEA HOW TO GO ABOUT CHANGING our lives around.  I'm not saying these 13 principles are the answer, but I can promise if you implore them in your life they will start to help YOU MAKE  CHANGES.  So, here we go.

1) Write a mission statement every sunday night for your upcoming week, monday through sunday.  

-Include in it what you want to get accomplished, what your work outs will be, when they will be, where they will be, what you will eat, what 'to-do' lists you want to check off, and even things like planning how much (or even better how little) TV you want to watch, what you want to read, what chores you need to get done around the house, etc. When you do this, this leads to the most important part of change, ACCOUNTABILITY.  This mission statement (or decree, or goals list, or timeline) will help create accountability to something every day you wake up and set your path for that day.  As the saying goes, "if you stand for nothing, you fall for everything." If you have no goals, you reach no goals, you have no direction.  That is not a fun place to be.

2) Make it a point to eat 5-6 times a day. 

-Eating the right portions is a great start.  Eating OFTEN enough gets you the results.  Your body runs on fuel just like a car.  If your body has no fuel in it, it conserves the little bit it does have for later, because it's not expecting another pit stop any time soon.  That is when your metabolism slows down.  You should never go more than 3 hours MAX without eating.  Start with a big healthy breakfast at about 400-600 calories and start working your way down from there. Every meal should have about 200-400 calories, your dinner maybe a bit more, around 500, and then your bed time snack around 200.  Watch your metabolism skyrocket and your body fat burn!

3) TURN OFF YOUR TV!

-Watching TV is one of the worst things you can do for your body.  It puts our bodies in a metabolic resting state equal to sleep, aka burning no calories.  If you want to watch TV make it a point to get up during every commercial break and do some push ups and crunches or some sort of sprint up and down the stairs. If you have a show you love every night try to schedule something active you can do while watching it like standing up and folding laundry, cooking, ironing your clothes for the next day, and if you're real up to it, find a treadmill that has it and watch it on there while you jog.  2 birds with one stone?  


-But really, try just turning your TV off for 2 days and see how your productivity levels increase!  This also goes for computer usage as well!

4) Cut out liquid calories.

-Your body relies on water for everything and pretty much every bodily function.  Keep it hydrated.  Your goal should be to drink half your bodyweight ounces of water every day.  Also before meals, studies show that if you chug 16oz of water right before sitting down to eat, you will eat 15% less than you would otherwise.  

5) Pack a lunch.  

-Eating out is expensive. Eating lunch out 4 times a week is roughly gonna cost you in the neighborhood of about $35.  If you do that 52 weeks a year, you are spending $1,825 alone on just lunches!  The worse part is, when you're hungry and go out to eat, you are more likely to make bad food decisions because your brain literally cannot think straight when its hungry and thats when you settle for that buffalo fried chicken sandwich with fries rather than a grilled chicken caesar with dressing on the side.  Saving money and eating health BOTH REDUCE STRESS. It shouldn't be a hard choice friends.   

6) Take 10Min-1Hour every morning to be still (not with your eyes closed laying under your covers.)

-One of the guys I really look up to in the fitness industry is Todd Durkin, http://www.todddurkin.com/ , and he recommends taking time to 'meditate' every morning before you get your day started.  Call it whatever you want, I prefer 'quiet time', but make sure that becomes a priority in your day.. Here you can tune out every other distraction and focus on important things.  Read, pray, sit quiet, stare at a point, do whatever you need to do.  The purpose of this time is to focus your body and as TD says, "Get your mind right." With the right mind you're prepared to take on anything.

7) Invest in a foam roller. 

-Self myofascial release is one of the best ways to pre-gen and re-gen your body for workouts and to recover from them.  Most of us experience pain especially in the lower back and hips not because we have injuries to those parts of the body but because our bodies are wound tight and we never take time to massage out our connective tissue (fascia). Make it a point to spend 10 minutes a day foam rolling, or using trigger point gear (tptherapy.com).

8) Adjust your rear view mirror.

-When we get in the car, we are more than likely putting our bodies into one of the worse anatomical positions possible because of laziness and poor posture, aka the gangsta lean.  We spend a lot of time in our cars so to help with posture to avoid more fascia problems, adjust your rear view mirror so that in order to see out of it correctly you have to be sitting tall and straight.  This will avoid that slouch and drastically improve posture head to toe.  

9) Go on a date.

-Spending time with other people is one of the best ways to avoid depression and developing unhealthy habits.  Being in good company will encourage you to be better.   This leads me to "point B" of number 9 and that is to surround yourself with good people.  "BAD COMPANY CORRUPTS GOOD CHARACTER."  Spend time with the people that will encourage towards your health goals and build you up in the things that you believe. 

10) Journal.

-Journaling is a great stress relief.  This isn't a diary.  This is a journal.  This is not for writing about how that cute guy at the gym kept looking at you today.  This is for you.  This is to help keep you accountable to your fitness goals.  I like to journal during my quiet time because I feel that I get distracted pretty easily.  I write about where I want to go, the direction I want to head.  This is not a negative journal. These are all positive direction thoughts and I would suggest you do the same.  Negative thoughts are like a disease.  THEY WILL corrupt you and take you down with them.  Eliminate them, start by doing so on paper and training your mind into positive thought processes. 

11) Read good books.

-Some of the best encouragement comes from books.  Fill your head with positive things to read about.  Find books by experts in the field you are trying to get better in.  For example, I like to read Todd Durkin's books and publications because he is doing some of the most advanced things in the field and trains some of the most elite athletes in the world. 

12) Be aware of what you're listening to.

-Music had an incredible amount of power over us whether we want to admit it or not.  It affects our mood, the things we think, the way we talk and how we act.  Please please please choose music that will encourage you and spur you on to being better.  I don't care what music that is, just commit to making good music choices that will continue to lead you on the path you want to be heading down, not music that will hold you back by pulling you in a different direction. 

13) SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP SLEEEEEEP!

-I can't really even begin to explain the importance of sleep in your life.  Your body requires it and it requires the RIGHT AMOUNT.   In your goals for the week, one of them should be to get to bed by a certain, reasonable time every night.  Mine is 11 at the latest, 9 if I have early morning sessions and I'm out the door by 5:30 am.  You need your 8 hours.  That was not something your parents lied to you about.  Make sleep a priority in your life.  Proper sleep will lead to energy throughout the day and decrease the need for naps.  Your workouts will be more efficient and your body will definitely reap what it sows. 

I REALLY HOPE THESE HELP, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE FEEDBACK!