The ONLY fruit that increases fat-loss when you eat it (article)‏ by Shaun Hadsall

• The ONLY fruit that increases fat-loss when you eat it (article)‏

A fairly recent study done in La Jolla, CA showed that consumption
of this particular fruit was found to be associated with a significant
reduction in weight.

In fact, this particular study showed that two-hours AFTER ingesting
this fruit, post-glucose insulin levels were significantly reduced 
among subjects compared to a placebo group.

So this research indicates that this may be the ONLY fruit that actually
increases fat-burning after ingestion.

What is it?

Grapefruit.
 
The study concluded that, "Half of a fresh grapefruit eaten before 
meals was associated with significant weight loss. Insulin resistance 
was improved with fresh grapefruit."

This is despite the carbs and sugars found inside this fruit.
VERY interesting stuff.

Another great benefit to consuming Grapefruit is that it’s loaded
with naringin. Naringin has been documented to inhibit certain
enzyme activity in human liver.

So what does this scientific jargon mean for you?

It means that naringin (found inside grapefruit) may increase 
the half life (extending the activity) of various alkaloids, especially 
caffeine.

Even certain fat burners utilize naringin for enhanced alkaloid effect.

In other words, the natural ingredients found in grapefruit could help you 
metabolize fat more efficiently.

A couple VERY important notes about "how" to eat grapefruit for
more efficient fat-loss.

1. Do NOT use traditional grapefruit juice from concentrate.

The pasteurization process DESTROYS the natural citrus qualities found inside
fresh grapefruits. You must either use the whole fruit (preferably organic) or
flash pasteurized juices, which are typically very hard to find.
 
2. Do NOT eat grapefruit every day of the week.

Just like any great nutrition strategy, more is NOT better. I recommend using a
1/2 grapefruit before two of your daily meals about 4 or 5 days of the week.

This will ensure awesome results without adapting to the fat-burning properties
found inside this fruit.

By the way, this is a GREAT tactic to break a plateau.

Not only will it increase insulin sensitivity, it will flood your body
with natural enzymes that will potentially help get the fat burning
again.

Of course, it’s only going to work if you’re exercising and eating
healthy.

This trick used all by itself probably won’t make that big of a
difference. But if you’re consistent with your eating and workout
habits, give this puppy a try!

And if you haven’t heard about the latest “health” food conspiracy
going on with processed grains, wheat, and other so-called fat-
burning foods, I highly recommend you check out this brand new
controversial approach below from one of my newest buddies, Sean
Croxton.

I met Sean in Orlando last month and we immediately hit it off
because of our shared values and beliefs.

Have you ever wondered why 95% of dieters re-gain their weight
and end up heavier than BEFORE they started??...

....Or what the 5% who DO lose the weight and KEEP it off do
differently?

Here’s what they know that others don’t:

==> The Dark Side of Fat-Loss 

Keep going strong,

Shaun

This ONE thing will make or break your fat loss‏ by Sue Heintze

There is a disturbing trend in the fitness and fat loss industry and
I know many of you have experienced it already. Or perhaps you
are even going through it RIGHT NOW - without even realizing.  

Let's see if you can relate...

You start a new shape-up program in a blaze of weight loss
glory. The initial drop that registers on the scale in the first
week is super motivating. Your excitement about what is
going to happen next week (and the weeks after) is totally
off the charts.

Weigh-in day arrives and you literally jump out of bed and onto
the scale, eager to be rewarded for your hard work.

But...hang ON? What’s this?

The scale hasn’t moved! In fact, it’s actually gone up!

All of a sudden you’re not so motivated anymore. After this epic
fail the novelty of the new program is wearing off. Things start to
feel difficult and in fact, all this eating clean and working out all kind
of sucks if you are really honest.

The inner voice is already saying 'it's not working'. You react by feeling
frustrated and down. You think 'it's just not worth the time and effort'.

Does this sound familiar?

Through clients I am confronted with this same issue time and again
and I thought as my valued subscriber, you may benefit from this snippet
of wisdom taken from my coaching forum.

Yes, make no mistake, week 3 and 4 of your program are the weeks that
will make or break you. I cannot re-iterate this enough.

Before you throw in the towel out of frustration you need
to understand the following...

What will make you successful is incremental steps over a consistent
period of time. Two steps forward, one step back STILL MEANS
ONE STEP FORWARD. And all that will add up to cumulative results.

You are probably aware by now, our bodies can be very stubborn.

The biggest lesson I learnt when preparing for competition (or
leaning down to very low body fat), is that you WILL succeed
if you just keep going!

You WILL feel and get frustrated because you think nothing is
changing. This is NORMAL. You need to accept it!

In every single ‘comp preparation’ I’ve reached the final
few weeks and felt I wasn’t where I wanted to be. But, simply by
trusting in the process and continuing on, I've always been successful.

Of course you must be following a suitably appropriate program
for it to work but my point is, don’t say ‘nothing’s working’ after just
3 weeks. 

What usually happens with me is that I drop a little weight, then go
back up, drop a little, go back up but generally stay around the
same until finally my body finally gives in and I drop significantly and
stay there. Then the process starts again. As long as the overall
trend is down, then it’s all good.

If you're feeling disheartened, perk up because what you're going
through is normal.

The ones who survive will not be the ones who react to the scales
by eating off plan. What good is that going to do? The ones who
survive and will be successful will be the ones who accept this,
knuckle down and continue on.

I can tell you now, it won't matter what program you do, if you cannot
get through these tough periods where your mind is playing games, you
will never lose the weight you want to. Do you really want to keep
battling for the rest of your life? Or simply knuckle down in this
tough time and GET THROUGH IT.

You CAN. You NEED to. You WILL.

Via our Body Makeover Programs and the X-Treme Results Challenge we
teach you how to navigate and get through the tough times with confidence.
Mastering that is the REAL secret to permanent fat loss and making peace
with your body.

I hope this little lesson in staying strong will help you get
through the other side next time you consider throwing in the towel.

Dream, Believe, Achieve!

The Truth About Luck and Success By Craig Ballantyne

The Truth About Luck and Success

By Craig Ballantyne

Luck has been in my corner since day one back in 1975.

I was extraordinarily lucky to be born in Canada into a lower-middle class family. Lucky enough to have been educated in the years of the first home computer, to have come of age as the first Internet generation, and to have stumbled across the convergence of direct marketing and online e-commerce before everyone and their uncle knew about it.

When I was a child I was lucky enough to have an alcoholic, underachieving, embarrassing father who gave me the first chip on my shoulder, one that compelled me to work harder, achieve more, and go further so that I could escape his shadow.

I was also lucky that my mother had dropped out of high school and spent the rest of her life working for barely more than the minimum wage, never earning more than $28,000 in a year (an amount that I’ve made in a single day in my business on several occasions). I was lucky, because of her mistakes, that she would never let me make the same ones.

And boy was I lucky to have went to grade school with patches on my knees, for this caused me great embarrassment and instilled in me the drive to do better, to excel in school, to get into the best program in college, to make the Dean’s Honour List three
years in a row, to get accepted into a Master’s program, to study until 10pm on weekends so I could earn a scholarship to help me pay for 6 years of post-secondary education- and so that I’d never feel embarrassed like that again.

It’s as though I’ve had a horseshoe made out of rabbit’s feet around my neck for these past thirty years.

I’ve also been lucky to make friends with entrepreneurs like Bedros Keuilian, a real-life American Dream. Bedros was lucky to have been born in Armenia (then part of the Soviet Union) and to have a father that gambled his family’s safety by bribing their way out of the USSR so they could arrive virtually penniless in America (legally).

Bedros was also lucky enough to arrive in America in 1980 without being able to speak a lick of English. He was fortunate that his family was so poor that he had to dumpster-dive behind grocery stores for food. Without this luck, Bedros wouldn’t have the burning desire that has allowed him to succeed and create a better life, so that as he often tells me, “My kids will never have to spend an hour of their lives in daycare.”

And I’m lucky enough to be friends with Matt Smith, another lucky young man from my generation who, like me, grew up with little more than an embarrassment of a father and a mother that spent the little money she had to take care of her children.

Among Matt’s lucky childhood experiences was the night when his mother scraped together a few dollars for a special Friday dinner of take-out pizza. That night, the Smiths were lucky to have mistakenly left the pizza on top of the car as they drove away). Eventually, the pizza fell off the car’s roof into the middle of a busy intersection – where car after car drove over it – and this was a lucky break for Matt.

Why?

Because the Smiths’ had no money to go and buy a replacement pizza. And so Matt will forever remember that night – and that feeling – as something he will never want to experience again. It’s just another lucky motivator in his drive to do better and succeed so that his children won’t have to experience that great fortune.

That kind of luck leaves a burning desire that NOTHING – not even a life of iPhones, TV’s in every room of the house, unending after-school activities, or 24/7 Internet and cable TV access – could ever top.

My luck continues. I’m fortunate to know Isabel De Los Rios, one of the world’s most successful nutrition experts, who herself was lucky enough to spend almost a decade as a sick, unhealthy, overweight, and unhappy young woman, so that she could truly understand the troubles that her hundreds of thousands of female clients go through.

Isabel was also lucky enough to be downright broke when she applied to my Mastermind Group in 2008, having to borrow the money from her fiancé. It was due to her great fortune to be in these situations that she committed to working harder than almost any other person I’ve ever coached. This has allowed her to pull herself up from financial stress and into a business where today she has over 200,000 customers that have been lucky enough to get Isabel’s help as they change their lives.

Finally, we’ve all been lucky enough to learn from Michael Masterson, our mentor that was lucky enough to grow up in a poor household of ten children. He was lucky enough to have so little that it drove him to become the entrepreneur and mentor that we all came to know through Early to Rise.

This is the luckiest group of individuals you might ever meet. We were lucky to have had the experiences we did because they taught us so much and drove us to great action. Without our setbacks, what would we have achieved? We have been part of the luckiest generations to have ever lived.

What about your luck? Have you lucked out and been fortunate to have gone through similar struggles? Have you been given the inspiration to work harder than ever, to explore new opportunities to take control of your future, and that drive you towards financial independence? Are you one of the fortunate ones that were not born with a silver spoon so that you could learn the importance of adding value to the world in exchange for a fair return? Have you been lucky enough to fail again and again?

Never forget that failure isn’t bad. Failure isn’t final. Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from achieving the success you deserve. If you’re struggling, keep hustling. Keep taking at least one big action step each day.

Failure is good luck. Just listen to these experts.

“Problems are in your life so that you can discover potentials that you didn’t even know you had.”  - Barry Michels

“Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.” - Zig Ziglar

”Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit.” - Napolean Hill

”Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill

“Everybody in your situation has the same choice: you can rue your situation or you can dedicate yourself to changing it. Accept responsibility for your future. Refuse to complain, criticize, or condemn. If you want us to help you achieve your goals, then trust in and follow our advice. Stop doubting it. Stop denying it. Have faith.” -  Mark Ford

I can only hope you’ve been as lucky as I have over the years. And the old saying is true, you know, “The harder I work, the luckier I get”. So take that luck that you get and press it. Keep on pushing. It only gets easier from here.

[Ed. Note. Craig Ballantyne is the editor of Early to Rise and author of Financial Independence Monthly and Turbulence Training. He is also the co-creator of the Early to Rise $100,000 Transformation Contest that you are a part of today. Craig’s goal is to help one million people improve their lives by 2020, and he does this through his relevant and easy-to-relate-to content that he provides daily, weekly and monthly on his numerous sites. Subscribe to Early to Rise today so you don’t miss out on Craig’s motivational messages.]

The danger of living in your comfort zone. [lessons from Peru]‏ by Nisha Moodley

• The danger of living in your comfort zone. [lessons from Peru]‏

[pictured above] On the edge of my comfort zone, at the top of Machu Picchu

A few months ago, I decided to travel to Peru. It's been a dream of mine to see Machu Picchu for over a decade, so when I found out my friend Michael Costuros was leading a trip with a small group of entrepreneurs, I signed up.

As I sat on my boyfriend's sun drenched livingroom floor that day, just one click away from purchasing my flight, I paused. "Babe, am I crazy for doing this?", I asked with a nervous laugh. I wasn't actually looking for his answer -- I was really asking myself if I was ready to take this leap into the unknown...

I only knew one of the people taking the trip.
I knew I would be asked to share vulnerably with strangers.
I knew nothing about the safety of Peru.
It was a major investment.

What if I didn't like it and was stuck?

What if my clients needed me and the wifi didn't work?

What if I should be spending the money on something else?

What if I felt lonely?

 

It was a step outside of my comfort zone.

I had to say yes. 

Today, sitting on my boyfriend's sun drenched livingroom floor after having just landed back in the US, I couldn't be happier that I did. I made new lifelong friends, I have beautiful memories that will stay with me always, I had an experience of awakening that enlivens and enriches the way I move through life, and I have integrated lessons that will improve the lives of others.

When so much good happens when we take the leap, why do we stay in our comfort zone?

Sure, we won't have to face our fears. But mostly, we won't have to face our greatness.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."  - Marianne Williamson

Instead of taking the leap, we make reasons for staying in our comfort zones.
I've had many:
I wanted to grow my business, but didn't want to invest in a coach.
I wanted to travel, but was waiting until I had the money or time.
I wanted to see my family more often, but was so busy with my business.
I wanted my marriage to improve, but wouldn't spend the money on therapy.

Looking back on each of these, it wasn't the lack of time or money that was in the way, it was my reasons.

I thought I was "going with the flow", waiting for things to happen in a way that felt easy and with minimal effort, but I was actually being passive. Going with the flow is active -- it means following the whispers of our desires with curiosity, honesty and creativity.

The truth was that I was afraid to swim outside of my comfort zone, but everything I wanted was just on the other side of the boundaries I had created for myself.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. - Anaïs Nin 

 

WHAT'S AT THE EDGE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE? 

1. Travel alone: For years, I envied women who felt confident and secure enough to travel alone. It seemed so scary to me. What if I got lost or hurt? What if I can't manage to learn the language?  Worse, what if I felt the bottomless despair of loneliness? At the same time, there was something that seemed so liberating about a woman taking a trip without the comforts of what's familiar. I longed to be one of these women. A woman who would invest her time and money in herself in this way. A woman who had the courage to step into the world without the comfort of what she knows. I had no idea how profoundly nourishing traveling alone would be. As with this Peru trip, I often plan to meet people in the locations I'm traveling to, but it is a freeing experience to set off by myself. If this is at the edge of your comfort zone, take the leap, and choose a place that exhilarates you.

2. Make eye contact with strangers: My friend, Michael, who organized the Peru trip, shared the story of his friend: she realized that she had been subconsciously avoiding eye contact with strangers for years. In a gentle effort to be more willing to be seen, she committed to making eye contact and saying hello with everyone she passed on the sidewalk for one day. The exercise was so enriching and powerful for her, that she has continued it to this day, years later. Avoiding eye contact is so common, we almost never consider it. There's something simply beautiful about allowing others to see us, and seeing them. We live amongst humans. I invite you to step out of your tiny experience to experience them.

3. Try a forbidden food: My friend and client, Alexandra Jamieson, recently "came out" as no longer being vegan. For someone who co-produced the documentary Super Size Me and wrote 3 books on the virtues of veganism, this was definitely a leap off the edge of her comfort zone. She was afraid of the backlash she would face, but she was more afraid of hiding in the shadows and never expressing her truth, so she had to jump. All of this was precipitated by Alex's willingness to try "forbidden" foods, because her body was asking for them. Most of us have foods we're afraid to try, either because of the taste or our fear of what effect they'll have on us. Are you willing to expand your palette to experience more of life?

4. Share yourself authentically: One of the biggest fears we face is of being seen exactly as we are -- for people to bear witness to our innermost insecurities. We slap on makeup, spray tan and a smile to show the world that we're okay, and unconsciously create stock responses to common questions. "How's married life?"... "Oh, you know. Relationships are hard, but we're working on it every day!" What does that even mean? I invite you to step out of your comfort zone and tell someone what's really going on in your heart. The key here is to watch out for the pitfalls of shaming, complaining and commiserating. Rather than making this about how someone or something else is bad or wrong, share how you feel and what you desire.  To do this authentically, make it about you.
Today, choose one of the above and stretch yourself to do it, even if you have reasons why you can't. You're smart and creative -- you can find a way. Do it in the name of expanding your comfort zone. Even if things don't go how you want them to, see it as a success because you went for it.

When you stay within the cozy confines of your comfort zone, life becomes dull, uninspired, small.  Rather than evolve into possibility, you shrivel into predictability.

 

When you swim out of your comfort zone, you become thecreator of your life in a world of possibility. {tweet it}

"With passion pray.With passion work.With passion make love.With passion eat and drink and dance and play.Why look like a dead fish in this ocean of Love?"- Rumi

Join the discussion in the comments on the blog, and share what you will do today in the name of expanding your comfort zone.

 

Fiercely devoted to your freedom,

15 minute post workout secret DOUBLES calorie burn (NO exercise required)‏ by Shaun Hadsall

• 15 minute post workout secret DOUBLES calorie burn (NO exercise required)‏

There is a simple 15 minute post workout ritual you can use
weekly, that requires absolutely NO exercise, yet it can help
you nearly DOUBLE your calorie burn after a workout.

It's something I try to do at least 4 or 5 days every week, and
after reading this, I'm confident you'll want to join me.

And just so you know - I've never used this 15 minute secret
to intentionally get these added benefits.

I personally use this method because it helps me KEEP
my sanity in a busy, fast paced world full of technology,
interruptions, and distractions.

In other words, it can help you escape the chaos of everyday
life, cultivate your mind to be more productive...and just be a
"happier" person.

However, I've been conducting a little investigation and I've
uncovered some other VERY interesting facts you should
know about...

Of course, this is in addition to all the "hidden" fat-loss and
calorie burning benefits.

Intrigued yet?

So before I reveal how easy this ritual really is, it's critical
to understand the bonus side effects of this daily ritual.

Here they are...(Pay CLOSE attention to #6)

1. Flushes toxins. This ritual can help reduce levels of unwanted toxins
picked up from the environment. These toxins have been proven to
increase BAD estrogen levels in the body, which can negatively alter
hormones...and have all kinds of other nasty side effects.

Additionally, the toxins that we breath, eat, and drink on a daily
basis have been shown to BLOCK your body's ATP (primary energy
system) production.
 
2. Helps rinse and cleanse your skin's epidermal layer and sweat ducts.
Cleansing of your pores gives your skin a soft, beautiful appearance.

Nice!
 
3. Studies have shown this can help improve your sleep patterns. This
will keep cortisol (stress hormones) at bay, help with exercise recovery,
overall weight-loss AND productivity.

4. Provides focused and productive recreation or what I call "Re-Creation".
In other words, it will help you "re-charge" your mental battery to deal with
the stresses of daily living so you can operate at your peak potential.

5. Helps improve recovery time by soothing and relaxing muscles, aches
and soreness.

6. As I stated above, sometimes you can nearly DOUBLE your calorie burn
using this method because it elevates your heart rate (WITHOUT exercise),
which automatically enhances the post workout "after" burn.

Also, in theory, this should help accelerate the burning off of free fatty acids
(i.e. residual fat) inside the blood stream.

7. It will also help you FEEL better and relieve stress so you'll be happier!

Ok, ok...what in the HECK is it??? :-)

Deep sweating in the dry sauna.

Just look at my results from this morning wearing 
my heart rate monitor. 

• Exercise 7am: Intervals/bursts followed by 20 minutes of steady state
• Duration: 35 minutes 
• Calories burned: 493 
• 5 minute transition to the dry sauna (with a book, meditation audios, and
  my personal journal) 
• 20 minutes in the dry sauna (I went a little longer than 15 minutes, which
  easy to do once you get accustomed to the heat.) 
• Additional calories burned while inside sauna: 264

On my ride home I looked at my monitor and it showed 
that I had burned a total of 757 calories!

(remember, I only exercised for 35 minutes)

This means while I was meditating, praying, and cultivating
my mind for success I not only got ALL the added health
benefits...

...I also burned an additional 264 calories!

Wow.

Long story short, this ritual or habit can also help you
restore your mind, body, and soul, which can have ALL
kinds of positive effects on your life.

When you find a quiet place to relax without distractions, 
you'll improve the quality of your life automatically -- without 
even trying.

Make sure you test out this method first by using 10 minutes
at a time and drink LOTS of filtered water afterwards.



Keep going strong.

Enthusiastically,

Shaun 

Getting Others to Accept Your Changes By Leo Babauta

Getting Others to Accept Your Changes By Leo Babauta It is a curious phenomena that when we try to change our habits -- simplify our clutter, eat healthier, start exercising -- the other people in our life don't instantly want to be changed in the same way. It's as if they had their own minds! Horrible as that might sound, it's the reality we have to deal with if we have a family (or friends, roommates, coworkers, etc.). They often resist changes we make, or their possibly unhealthy habits stand in our way. You're trying to eat only whole foods, and yet your daughter eats goldfish crackers and pizza and Oreos. And she doesn't seem to want to munch on asparagus instead! So what's a habit changer to do? Abandon all attempts at change? No. Force change on family members? Tempting, but not effective. The answer is that there is no simple answer. I'll share what has worked for me, but that won't work for everyone. When you're single and living alone, it's easy to make whatever changes you want to make -- but if you're married, you have to make compromises. You live in the space that is common between the two of you, and that is negotiated space. When you add kids to your life, you now live in a space that is common between all of you, also a negotiated space. What works? Let's take a look at some strategies. Try one, try two, or try them all, and figure out what works in your negotiated space. Getting Others On Board Here's a common scenario: you've read about some interesting challenge or change someone else has made, or perhaps read a magazine article or book on the topic, and have been giving it some thought, and finally arrived at the decision to make the change ... and then you spring it on your significant other or entire family. They somehow aren't as enthused as you'd like! That's because you have gone through an entire thinking process to arrive at the decision, and they are being asked to come in only at the end -- after the decision has been made. That's not fair to them, because they haven't had time to go through the same thinking process, to consider the reasons, to find the motivation, to be included in the decision. I've found a more effective method is to get all the people who will be affected in on the thinking process as early as possible. Don't talk to them about it when you're near the decision-making point ... talk to them when you first hear or read about the idea. Talk about why it's appealing to you. Get their input. Ask whether they'd consider that kind of change. Talk about your motivation. Include them every step of the way, until the decision is made, and even after. What people don't like is being forced to change, against their will. So never make people feel that way. Don't ask them to change ... ask them to help you change, once you've gotten to the decision. Say that their support is really important to you, and while they are welcome to join you (you'd love that!), they don't have to change. Just help you make your change. Ask them to be your accountability buddy, someone to call on when you're having trouble, someone to report problems and successes to. Setting the Example While not everyone will be instantly on board with your ideas for change, I've found the best method of persuasion is being a good model for change. When I started exercising, most of my family wasn't doing it. I tried to convince people, but I wasn't as good at persuasion as I thought. When they saw me exercising, at first they thought I was a bit kooky. Then they saw the changes in me, and how much I enjoyed it, and I would share how great it was, and over time, it inspired some to think about it. That's what you can do -- inspire people to consider something they wouldn't normally consider, just by setting a good example. No one else will do yoga with you? That's OK ... keep doing it, and share your experiences. Do it in front of them as they watch TV. Try not to be annoying, though. Making Changes on Your Own If others won't get on board with your changes, ask for a minimum amount of support: ask that they give you the space to make the change on your own, without their help. This isn't a small thing sometimes -- often people are threatened when someone in their life makes changes, or they don't like the disruption of their routine of doing things with you (eating junk food together, for example). You doing something on your own is a big change for them. Ask for the space to do it alone, and ask that they not criticize or otherwise make it hard on you. If they are resentful, this makes it more difficult, but you'll have to make an effort to show that this is something that will make you happy, and you will do your best not to disrupt things for them. If that means you don't spend mornings together because you are out running, then try to create other time together, like in the evenings or on weekends. When you make changes on your own, without the support of others, it's more difficult. You need to find other encouragement -- I've joined running groups online, a smoking cessation group, and other similar groups. Facebook and other social networking tools can also be helpful in finding online support. Often there are groups in your area where you can meet people in person who are going through the same changes. Family Challenges One of my more successful strategies is creating challenges for my family. They aren't required to do the challenges, of course, but sometimes people like the opportunity to rise to a challenge. And they like making changes with others. My wife and I have created eating challenges to do with each other (we call them Lean Out Challenges, usually after we go on a trip and gorge ourselves on unhealthy food). With the kids, I've challenged them to do pushups, handstands, running, vegetarian experiments, daily drawing, and more. Challenges are fun if you do them together. It can be fun to do it as a competition, or to offer rewards for people who complete the challenge. Notes on Eating Habits Eating changes can be especially difficult if your family isn't doing it with you, because they can be eating junk food right in front of your face as you try to much on celery. Tough stuff. Here are some notes from my experiences: If you do the cooking, cook food for the family, and cook your meals separately. Eva & I often cook our healthy food in bulk and eat the same food for days, while the kids eat other things. For some reason they're not big kale and quinoa fans. Kids. Kids can change their taste buds, but slowly. They won't instantly like big green salads, but you can introduce vegetables slowly, in soups and other dishes they might be used to. Dice carrots and kale can be added to chili and spaghetti sauce if you cut them small enough and add them when you're cooking onions/garlic. Kids will eat nearly anything if you add some baked fries to the dish. If the kids are going to eat something especially tempting (pizza), I try to make myself scarce so I don't have temptations. It's too hard to avoid junk that I enjoy eating, if it's right in front of me, so I'll go for a run or go to my room to do some work -- keep busy. We try to find restaurants that has healthy food that the kids will like. When I went vegetarian, Eva & the kids weren't vegetarian. I did get them to try some dishes, which they generally liked, and then would just eat my food separately from them. If I made my food especially delicious, it would be tempting for them to at least try. Kids will go to any restaurant if there's dessert at the end. Many people don't like the idea of vegan food, even if they've never tried it. Making delicious vegan cupcakes will often win them over, at least to try it. Truly amazing. Supporting Their Changes If you want others to support your changes, you should also support theirs. When my kids or wife express a desire to make some change, I do my best to help them achieve that: I share my experiences and what worked for me, and how I overcame some obstacles. I share websites and books that help with that change, and often will buy books to help them. I'll do a project with them, or create a challenge we can do together. I run and workout with my wife, and created a workout log to help her track her fitness. I share vegetarian recipes with my wife (who is now vegan), and with my daughter, who decided to try vegetarianism There are more possibilities, but these are a few examples. When they see you supporting them, they now have a model for how to act when you want to make changes in the future. It's not an overnight change that you'll see in your family, but slow gradual long-term changes. Play the long game when it comes to changing the culture of a family. Learn by Teaching The best way to make changes yourself is to help others. That means supporting them when they want to make changes, sharing the changes you've made and teaching them what you've learned, showing someone how to do something cool after you've learned how to do it. You are teaching by making changes and sharing those changes with your family. They might not care about learning at first, but they will, over time. And when you teach, you learn more and more. As I am now, sharing with you. What changes are you going to help others with today? Rate today's article [Ed. Note. Leo Babauta is the owner of ZenHabits.net, a website devoted to providing clear and concise wisdom on how to simplify your life. He's also the author of, The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential, in Business and in Life.]

How committed are you? by Melissa Kathryn

How committed are you?  by Melissa Kathryn of  by MelissaKathrynMakeover.com

This week I was with my business coach and mastermind group and we discussed the word commitment and what that meant. I committed to this group of women, to my coach and to myself almost a year ago to show up everyday and stand in my fears, stand in uncertainty, stay consistent and hold myself accountable to continue pursuing my dreams with my business, the person I aim to be and the life I’m here to create. I’m not going to lie to you, it has been really hard. I have had to face every fear (I still do), I have had to find a level of faith; faith in myself and God and trust that life is always supporting me. I have pushed myself and am always outside my element and comfort zone. It’s scary and it’s amazing all at the same time. Going after my dreams, staying committed; my determination and motivation waivers day to day, but I stay committed. I hold myself accountable. Why? Because I have not only committed to myself but I have FULLY committed to you! Earlier today when we talked about commitment, it got me thinking about the areas of my life where I am committed, and the areas where I say I am, but haven’t been fully showing up; meaning really giving it everything I’ve got to succeed. This is true commitment – when you have pushed yourself, when you stay true to your voice, to your goals and take consistent action, no matter the circumstance. (Tweet it.) Often times, we declare we want things. We claim we have tried and tried but can’t succeed. But are we really committed to making them happen? Are we REALLY doing everything possible to fulfill our desires or are we hiding behind our fears and finding excuses or blaming others? Excuses allow you stay stagnant, to stay in your comfort zone. When this comes up for you or you feel overwhelmed and it seems like A LOT of work…PUSH THROUGH IT, TRY AGAIN, ASK FOR SUPPORT, FIND STRENGTH FROM WITHIN. I don’t know about you, but I want more for you and for myself than to allow my fears to hold me back from having the body and life of my dreams – We ALL deserve that! Life is scary. Hard work is not always fun, but the rewards are worth every moment. The feeling of self-satisfaction that only you and hard work can bring yourself is priceless. (Tweet it) Goals are goals because they are something we strive for and work towards. When it comes to your health, your body, your weight… How committed are you?  How committed are you to your goals?  How committed are you to your success?  How committed are you to yourself?  How committed are you to your happiness? Are you doing everything you can to succeed or are you making excuses for why you can’t instead of finding ways for why you CAN? Take time think about your goals. What are you truly committed to? What do you want in life? Are you really doing everything you can to make it happen? Be honest with yourself, because excuses aren’t doing you or your body any favors. It’s time to make a change and that change needs to start now and it needs to start with you!

The Power of Active Visualization By Robert Ringer

The Power of Active Visualization

By Robert Ringer

As a teenager, my favorite sport (after basketball) was fast-pitch softball. I was a catcher, slow afoot but determined. If you’ve ever played fast-pitch softball, you know that the ball is on top of you so quickly after leaving the pitcher’s hand that you can’t afford to blink. Which is why I almost never hit the ball out of the infield the first year I played in an organized league.

When I came to bat during one particular game, the second baseman for the other team yelled to the outfielders, “Move in. This guy’s an infield hitter.” Sure enough, I hit a dribbler to the right side of the mound.

But the second baseman’s remark really ticked me off – so much so that it made me determined to do something about my meek infield hitting. I began by spending hours thinking about my hitting stance and how I swung the bat.

The first mistake I realized I was making was that I was putting my left foot “in the bucket” – stepping toward third base instead of toward the pitcher. When your first step is away from the mound, it gives you a head start on getting out of the way if the pitch ends up coming straight at you. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to hit with power when your pivot foot is preparing to head for the hills.

Second, I realized that I wasn’t swinging the bat with authority. (Experienced Major League scouts often categorize players as having a “quick bat” or “slow bat.”)

Third, I was making the mistake of taking my eye off the ball, a result of focusing on getting out of the way.

Fourth, I was hitting the ball with a stiff swing – i.e., I wasn’t “breaking my wrists” at the moment of impact.

These four steps are a lot to concentrate on when the ball is coming at you from 50 feet away at breakneck speed. But I was determined to become a good hitter, so I started practicing them in my backyard every evening.

You might ask how I could practice hitting a ball … without actually hitting a ball. Well, I did it by using something I now call “active visualization” – the conscious attempt to influence the outcome of events by vividly picturing those outcomes in advance. This is a very powerful concept that can produce truly amazing results for the person who is willing to concentrate with intensity.

I got down in my batting crouch hundreds of times during each of my practice sessions and, with intense concentration, visualized the pitcher going through his windup and letting go of the ball. As I pictured the windup, I focused on stepping directly toward the pitcher with my left foot, which was a bold psychological statement that I intended to meet the pitch head on.

In step two of my practice, I swung the bat as hard as I could – initially in slow motion, then working up to full speed. For the first time, I was attacking the pitcher.

In step three, I practiced keeping my eyes glued to the end of the bat and visualized it making contact with the ball.

Finally, at the last instant, I sharply broke my wrists.

Each evening, after practicing these four steps in slow motion, I would begin to gradually increase my speed until I was swinging at full throttle. And I would mentally count the steps in order to give myself a rhythm.

I still remember the first game in which my 1-2-3-4 visualization practice produced positive results. The other team had a very fast left-handed pitcher who was pretty wild – just the kind of pitcher that would have scared me to death prior to my visualization practice.

I don’t know exactly how to express what I felt the first time I came to bat, but I distinctly remember there being no doubt in my mind that I was going to hit the ball hard to the outfield. I had visualized and practiced it so many times that I almost felt as though I had an unfair advantage.

In fact, I played a mental game with myself and pretended I was practicing in my backyard. When the pitcher went into his familiar windmill windup, I knew the instant I stepped directly toward him that I was going to make solid contact with the ball. And I did – a cannon shot that almost took his ear off.

I went three for three that day, all line drives to the outfield. After four straight games of great hitting, the manager installed me as the cleanup hitter, and I remained there for the rest of the season.

Instead of weakly dribbling the ball to the right side of the infield, I now pulled everything to the left, because I was always way out in front of the pitch. So much so that I hit a lot of line drives down the left-field line that went foul, and teams actually started shifting both their infields and outfields toward the left side of the diamond when I came to bat.

Little did I realize at the time that my successful experiment with the power of visualization would be one of the most important tools I would frequently employ years later in the business world. Before business meetings, I would play out in my mind every possible objection, question, and scenario I could imagine. And I would think through and practice how I would handle just about any obstacle that was placed in my path.

Preparation through visualization takes an excruciating amount of mental effort. But once you begin reaping the benefits of your efforts, I think you’ll find that the results are worth it. What it gets down to is paying the price out front … and enjoying the benefits down the road.

[Ed. Note.  Robert Ringer is the author of three #1 bestsellers, two of which have been listed by The New York Times among the 15 best-selling motivational books of all time. Through his books, articles, speeches, and seminars, he has helped more people transform their aspirations and goals into reality than perhaps any other author in history. His articles appear regularly in Early to Rise, A Voice of Sanity, WorldNetDaily, and numerous newspapers nationwide.

Why Ladies NEED Muscle By Sue Heintze

Why Ladies NEED Muscle

By Sue Heintze

When you start on a fat loss program, what do usually do? Make a bee-line for the cardio equipment in order to start burning calories? Drop your calorie intake to create a calorie deficit for fat loss to occur? Drop your carbs completely? Because everyone knows low carb diet work, right?

If this sounds like you, you’re making some big mistakes.

The best way to guarantee that you not only lose body fat but stay lean year round is to actually switch the focus from purely a fat loss viewpoint to one of lean muscle gain. It’s something many women still shy away from.

So let’s go over the reasons you need lean muscle mass and how it’s going to help you build the body of your dreams.

Muscle Tissue Is Metabolically Active

Lean muscle mass is the most metabolically active tissue.  The more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll be burning every single second of every single day.

This is a big reason why men seem to have a much easier time losing body fat compared to women. Men are quickly able to burn up excess calories due to their greater level of lean muscle mass, thus they create the calorie deficit required for fat loss with ease.

Building lean muscle mass is not only going to boost your fat loss results, but it will be the best way to prevent future fat gain as well. The higher your metabolic rate is, the less strict you’ll have to be with your daily diet in order to stay leaner long-term.

Muscle Tissue Serves As Carbohydrate Storage

The second reason to focus on building lean muscle mass is because lean muscle mass is going to act as a carbohydrate storage house.  If you don’t have much muscle on your body and aren’t depleting the glycogen (glucose) storage in the cells, when you do take in extra glucose in the form of carbohydrates, they’ll immediately get stored as body fat.

If however you have more muscle tissue and are constantly working out, you’ll have partially depleted muscle glycogen stores.  This means that the excess carbohydrates you eat will first go to the muscle tissues for storage and only once they are fully saturated will you begin to convert the excess carbs to fat.

So by having more muscle, and working out more often, you can eat more carbs on a day to day basis.

If you dislike low carb dieting, building more muscle is your solution.

Muscle Tissue Enhances Insulin Sensitivity

Another great thing about having more muscle is that it will also increase your insulin sensitivity.  This means that your body will be better able to regulate its blood glucose levels and when you do eat carbohydrates, you won’t notice as great of a blood sugar spike followed by crash.

This can help to decrease your risk of diabetes as well as decrease the chances of fat gain over time.  If you aren’t instantly storing carbohydrates you eat as body fat (like you will if you have poor insulin sensitivity or ‘insulin resistance’), this makes it easier to sustain the lean figure you’re after.

Muscle Tissue Makes You Stronger

Finally, adding more muscle makes you stronger overall. If you want to improve the quality of your life and make day to day functional movement easier, building more muscle is the way to do this.

Those who have more muscle mass will be able to keep up with the activities they enjoy better, so by nature you may also end up more active on the whole.  This again increases your daily calorie burn, making weight management easier as well.

Summing up, if you want to see noticeable changes taking place in your body, step away from the cardio machines and focus on the free weights section.  Building more lean muscle mass through a proper resistance training program is the number one way to both lose fat initially, as well as combat fat gain over time.

So ditch the cardio machines.

Pick up a free weight.

That’s where your results will be found.

Get Physical (and a picture)‏ by Briana Borten

• Get Physical (and a picture)‏

This last month was an intense time in my life.  Lots going on, a bunch of personal inner work, and honestly – I had a difficult time maintaining my cheery attitude.  I was grumpy with my husband about little, unimportant, stuff, I cried a lot, and my vision for my future was foggy at best.

 

I feel fortunate to have a lot of tools at my disposal to help me out of funks like this.  And boy did I implement them – regular EFT, meditation, processing conversations, picking up my attention and putting on all the good in my life, being grateful and journaling.  Did it help?  Well…yes, but not as epically as I was hoping.

 

I was still feeling down.  Then both my sister and my loving husband reminded me, “Briana, you’ve got to friggin’ exercise.”  To which I replied with little joy, “I am exercising.”  

 

You see, last August I made an agreement with myself to exercise every day for a year.  I’m big on agreements and was sticking to it!  But, in reality, I was counting a leisurely walk as my exercise, or half heartedly lifting weights while watching New Girl.  Not enough.

 

So, with a little cajoling from my family, I worked out.  Hard.  

 

The result?  Emotional transformation.  

 

All pain is caused by stagnation.  This applies to physical pain and emotional pain.  When blood and energy aren’t moving it’s going to hurt on some level.  We’re fully connected – our thoughts, emotions, and bodies, so when we get sluggish on one level, it can lead to stagnation on another level.  And, the inverse is also true: if we get shit moving on any level it tends to promote flow on all levels.

 

Get physical before getting philosophical. – Tweet it

 

By moving my body intensely, I was able to free myself from my rut and get enough perspective to implement my other tools more effectively.  But, it wasn’t a one time thing – it’s mental maintenance – I’m re-invigorating my commitment to exercising every day for year with gusto.  Wanna join me?

 

Here is a picture of me hiking near my house.  Exercise can, and should, be fun!
 

I’d love to hear from you in the comments on my blog.  Tell me what you do to get out of mental funks and then let me know if you’re on board with working out with me every day for a year?

 

Back in the flow,

Briana