Category: Motivation and Lifestyle

We all have things we want in life, and sometimes we get frustrated in trying to obtain them. I know some of you out there are thinking life isn’t all about obtaining things, and I agree. However we all have dreams, aspirations, and goals.

These things could be anything from getting in better shape, taking a vacation, creating a business, or starting a family. Whatever your goals might be, there will be a process in achieving them.

The success of reaching these goals and aspirations come down to several factors. However there is one factor that will play a huge role in the outcome. Your attitude.

When I say attitude, I am describing it as “a way you think about something”. How you think about something will begin to influence your beliefs about something, and will then influence how you act, based on those feelings.

If your goal is to get in better shape, make sure your attitude towards exercising and eating better will support your success. If you look at those things as an inconvenience or a chore, good luck getting into shape and sustaining it.

So how do you develop the right attitude? The first thing you need to do is stay away from people who have negative ones. The thing about attitudes is that they are infectious. If you’re around people who have negative attitudes toward something, you will develop that negative attitude.

The good news is if you get around people with positive attitudes, they will influence you. Meet positive and supporting people, read about them, listen to them speak, study their material. It’s your job to find the people you want to be influenced by. If you cannot find any, you aren’t looking hard enough, they are out there.

Once you cut out all negativity, and surrounded yourself and your conscious mind with positive people and messages, start governing your own thoughts, and your own words.

Your words and your thoughts are two things you have complete control over. Start becoming aware of how you think and talk about things. The words you speak can influence the thoughts you think.

Let me give you an example.  I’m coaching two individuals, Jim and Billy. Their goals are both to lose weight and get in better shape. I put them on a plan to start improving their eating habits. I tell them both to eat a salad with grilled chicken for lunch. The next day I ask them both how it went.

Jim responds with, “It was really plain. I hated it.”

Billy’s response is different. He asks, “Is there something I can do to give it more flavor?”

Jim has just verbally reaffirmed to himself that grilled chicken on a salad is plain and that he doesn’t like it. Billy, does not acknowledge that he didn’t like it, but instead chooses to focus on how he can improve it.

Who do you think has a better chance of improving their eating habits?

Your words can empower you, or they can hold you back. I never say the words ‘can’t’, ‘try’, and ‘realistic’. I find that they put limits on things, limits set by our own mind. Instead, I use the words, “how can I?” and “I will”. Your circle of influence, your thoughts, and your words are huge contributors to your attitude. Your attitude is either supporting your success, or it’s not.

The great thing about all this is that you are in complete control. You decide what you think. You have the power to be positive, to be optimistic, to look for improvement, for opportunity. Be the leader of your own attitude, and make sure it’s supporting you and your success.

As someone who coaches a lot of people on improving their body composition, there are certain thought processes I encounter on a daily basis. The first of which, on the subject of Good vs Adequate.

The idea of good, hard, healthy, and strong are just that, ideas. They are all completely subjective. There is no definition for a “good diet”. When I used to bring a tupperware full of broccoli with my lunch to work, my co workers told me I was “too healthy”. However now I live in the town of Mill Valley, and the fact that I grocery shop at Safeway instead of Whole Foods, some consider me “unhealthy”. It’s subjective, and sometimes hilarious.

If I ask 10 people who want to get in shape, about their diet, 8 out of 10 will respond with the phrase, “I already eat good.” Or, “I eat really healthy.” When I first started coaching people I was pretty blunt, and not so smooth with my words. So my response to this would usually be, “Well, it’s obviously not because you’re overweight and not losing any.” I was quite charming.

Now that I’ve refined my communication a bit, I don’t have to be as harsh on my clients. The first thing I do is find out what their goal is. This is the most important step because everything else is based off of their desired outcome, or goal.  If your goal is to improve your body composition, meaning to minimize fat and sustain or build lean muscle, the recipe calls for two main ingredients:

1. Adequate Training

2. Adequate Nutrition

Notice I did not say “hard” training and “healthy” nutrition.

The definition of Adequate: As much, or as good as necessary for some requirement or purpose.

Your nutrition, just like your training, should be based on your goals. And the evaluation of how “good” or “healthy” something is should be based on results, not the process. You say you eat good and train hard, yet your not getting the results you want.

In other words, your training and/or your nutrition are inadequate to reach your goals. Regardless, they need to improve in order for your results to improve. When it comes to fat loss, the greatest factor is nutrition, hands down. The reality is, training without adequate nutrition will only yield limited results.

So if your goal is to lose fat, assume your nutrition can improve. If you say you don’t want to lose fat, but just flatten your stomach or “tone” your flabby triceps, you’re probably misinformed and the answer is you want to lose fat.  And whats the most effective way to lose fat? Yeah, nutrition. Not motivational spin classes, barbell classes who take pride in making you puke, triathalon training, or any other training program designed by myself. It’s good ole unsexy nutrition.

So what do you do now? These are four steps I use to create the results I want, and the results my clients want. These apply to nutrition, training, and just about anything. Here they are:

1. Plan. Set up a gameplan. Set up a plan to follow, and follow it for a set amount of time. For nutrition, I like the two week mark. Set a two week diet, writing down what you will be doing, and all the details, servings, meals per day, etc. This isn’t a log, its a plan of action.

2. Execute. Simple right? Just do what you said you were gonna do. Easier said then done. How many times have you heard someone say they’ll start eating better tomorrow? I actually say that every cheat day. But that cheat day is part of my plan. And I stick to my “non” cheat days as they are laid out. A  plan is useless if you don’t execute it the way it is intended to be.

3. Evaluate. After you’ve gone your given timeframe, evaluate your results. Did you see the results you were expecting? Did you even follow the plan? Did you set up a plan nearly impossible to stick to? Was it miserable? Did you feel better executing it? Did you lose weight? Did you lose strength? How did you feel?

4. Adjust. Only if necessary. If you’re happy with the results, continue on. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But if you’re not satisfied, make adjustments set for another time period, and repeat. You can endlessly repeat this process until you reach the results you are looking for.

At the end of day, there is one thing I find very empowering. You can take control of this. When the goal is to get a certain result, remember that it is just that, a result. Results are byproducts of our decisions. So before you get frustrated as so many of us do, apply the four steps I’ve listed above. Decide to make it happen, to continue on until you reach your goals.

I’d love to hear your comments below. Let me know your thoughts.

-Jonny Chai

Make it Happen, Live the Dream

Happy New Year!! I’m sure you’ve all heard more than enough of that by now. It is still mind boggling to me how fast 2012 flew by. As I’m sure many of you have your resolutions for the year, perhaps even more of you are apposed to the whole resolution thing. I want to share what I have found to be the case with my Health and Fitness Resolutions, and how I have approached them for the greatest benefit.

To me New years day is a day that gives you the feel of “A fresh Start”. There is something about starting fresh that is so redeeming. You’ve probably said it yourself before, “I’ll start training hard again Monday” “I’ll start my diet next week after the parties and happy hours are over” “When I get back from my trip it’s on, full swing in the gym” “This is the year I finally get in the best shape of my life” etc. You know the lines.

I’ve thought these so many times myself, and hear them on a daily basis. Rest assured this type of thinking is a sure way to set yourself up for failure.  Which is probably why so many rolled there eyes when “New Years Resolutions” came up last night. Some people have come to associate new years resolutions with failure.