We all experience criticism in our lives, and while it can be hard to take, constructive criticism can be one of the best learning tools we have. The people who really care about you and your training will give you the feedback you want and need. But then there are those OTHER people. The people who see their own flaws too clearly in the reflection of your achievements. While they may not consciously want you to fail, their actions and statements can be a blatant attempt to subvert the efforts to better yourself. I’ve recently had a heavy dose of this directed toward me, specifically toward my efforts at being in the best physical shape I can be. This is nothing new to me, and I am sure it is quite common to thousands of you out there in the blogosphere. Typically I take it with a smile, and brush it off. But I have reached my breaking point. I have lost all tolerance for negative people, and the virus of self-doubt that they spread.
It seems so innocuous at first. The friend who insists that you don’t need to stick to your diet when you are spending time with them, or even the family member insisting that you are only going to hurt yourself if you continue to workout like you do. What is really happening here is they are encouraging you to remain the way that you are. They know you the way you are, and they are comfortable with that. They are afraid that the positive change you are making in your body will make their body that much worse. While they may not be purposefully trying to hurt your efforts, they are and it is a selfish act.
Tim
To go along with a highly effective workout plan, you need a highly effective diet. I know I’ve talked about diet in the past, and I think I have a fairly good grasp on what is needed to eat right and lose weight. That being said, I like to keep things simple. Erin had decided to go back onto the weight watchers diet plan. I figured that instead of us working on two difference diet methods, we may as well team up. Erin has done weight watchers in the past, and she had seen good results from it. I’d never done it myself, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to try something new. Continue reading »
I admit, I’ve been a little lax on my blog updates, and overall fitness for that matter. Just like any normal person in this world, the things in my life can have their ebbs and flows. During this particularly snowy, wet and cold winter I did my fair share of hibernating. But, I’m happy to say that the sun is out, the snow has melted, and I’m back working out. On the advice of my friend Brian, I decided to try the Beachbody Insanity Workout. I was on the fence between this and P90X, and what pushed me toward insanity is that you don’t need any equipment. It is a 2 month program that has workouts 6 days a week. The workouts are entirely body weight and cardio driven. So, you want to know if it really is insane, right? A resounding YES is the answer, but in a good way. The workouts so far have been a very high quality routine based on the use of proper form and high intensity intervals. Shaun T, the main personality of Insanity, Is not just another super buff guy. He’s encouraging and seemingly quite knowledgeable. Watching these DVD’s for two months straight with an annoying talking head COULD be an excruciating experience but I don’t find him annoying at all (in fact, He’s funny).
The workouts: Did I mention this is a 2 month program? That probably sounds a little strange to you if you are used to dealing with 90 day programs, but this workout is seriously intense enough that with proper nutrition you can get in unbelievable shape. There are 14 different workouts included in the program. So far, I am just 1 week in and I have done some of the workouts twice already.Not a big deal for me. I looked forward in the schedule, and there are looks to be an entire set that I will not touch until the second month of training. I plan on uploading some before and after photos, as well as program reports. I will also touch upon my current food plan in my next post.
