Seeing is believing...

Ten weeks in and I'm still here (insert thanks and shouts out to the BABS here). I'm stronger, my endurance is building, I have more energy, and I'm smaller...but not according to the scale. We have been so conditioned to base our progress on certain numbers and "weight" is at the top of that list. I have dropped body fat percentage, inches all over, gained muscle - all desirable outcomes from my efforts...but where are my pounds?
The truth of it is that technically pounds "don't matter", but because I'm conditioned to believe that they DO - I'm not celebrating the success I can see and feel (inches gone, clothes fitting better, more energy, etc.) I am totally STUCK on what I don't see coming off the scale. The most frustrating part is that I know I've made progress, but at the risk of sounding like a complete spoiled brat, I want what I want and that is POUNDS GONE.
With that being said, I will keep it moving. Gonna step up my water intake and my cardio and chart my progress. Sorry for being negative, but Dre said to be honest and I just couldn't drum up any funny or positive today.
Actually, I do have a positive report. I am in my third week of VN and I like it. I really like it because it makes sense. I actually appreciate journaling - it is very helpful to be able to see the breakdown of my meals. I never realized how easy it is to make a meal "carb heavy" - journaling also keeps me accountable and organized. The education part of it is really helpful too, as a matter of fact the plan's "Checklist for Client Progress, lists "decreased body weight" as #7, the last item on the "progress" check list with "clothes feeling looser" and "looking leaner in the mirror" as #4 and #5 respectively. So I KNOW I'm on the right track, I just need to de-program myself so I can believe it. Until next time...

4 weeks to go

Well here we go, 4 more weeks- im looking forward to really busting some muscle. I am ready for what the next four weeks will bring. I just keep hearing Dre, in the last month you will see drastic changes. Im so excited to see what the end result will be.
But one thing i can say is that im already on cloud nine with what i have accomplished, along with all the other BAB's. Im proud to have been given this opportunity and doing it with the ladies, and as i mentioned to you all Thank you for walking next to me on this journey.

Focus On Your Focus!!

Focus gets assassinated when you find yourself being distracted. If you find yourself disoriented, scattered, or if you have no plan, your focus is going to get nailed in the process. If your focus is gone, you will not be able to do what you need to do in order to see the goal attained. Remember, we must ‘be’ before we can ‘do’ and we must ‘do’ before we can ‘have’. If we want to have a certain benefit from a certain goal, we must do what we need to do in order to see that take place. When we become the kind of person that sets goals, stays focused, believes the goal can be hit, manages time well, organizes details, maintains a positive outlook and thinks with a solution mindset (all examples of ‘being’) we end up exactly where we want to end up.

We’ve all learned that what we believe is what we become. It’s really that simple. When we believe life will go our way, it does. When we believe it won’t, it doesn’t. BELIEVE IT AND YOU’LL BE BLESSED; DON’T AND YOU WON’T. I have learned in my years in the weight loss and fitness businesses that what you focus on can totally change what you believe. Focus controls everything. It’s amazing. What’s even more amazing is that it takes only three steps to stay focused.

Today we’ll talk about:

1) knowing what the goal is and

2) the value of revisiting it at least weekly.

Next week I’ll share step 3.

Is your goal in your conscious mind all the time? You see, when your goal is in your conscious mind all the time, you’ll stay focused on it. The way to put it in your conscious mind all the time is to sit down and write out five-year goals. Why? Because your goal isn’t a one or two month thing. It’s probably something you want forever, right? I want to live for a long time, and I want to pass on to my babies and my grandbabies a legacy of health, positive attitude, happiness abundance and energy. That’s a lifetime thing.

Sit down and do a five-year goal sheet, and from there a three-year, a one-year, a six-month, a three-month, a two-week, and a one-week goal sheet. Then, every single week, go back and look at those goals. It doesn’t take any time to look them over once a week and the effort is well worth it. That will keep them in your mind and keep you focused.

If you are focused on your goals in your conscious mind, you are much less likely to become distracted. Even without knowing it, you’ll begin to do, say and think things that will get you to that goal AND you’ll stop doing things that will prevent the goal from becoming reality (distractions). Motivation lives inside you. Writing out your goals and rereading them will help you keep tapping into that motivation. Here’s an exercise to prove this.

After reading these words, practice this exercise. Look around you and find a point on the wall or a point anywhere in the room, and focus on it. Find a point and really stare at that point. Stare at it hard. Don’t look away. Are you focused on a certain point in the room? Now focus on the center of that point. Don’t look away; stay focused on the center of that point. Don’t look at anything else. Really stare at that point. Now focus on the center of the center of the point. Do you see it? Do you see the center of the center of the point? I want you to keep your focus on the center of the center, and raise your hands to shoulder level, and shake them, but keep your focus on the center of the center. Okay, focus back on this article.

Could you tell that what was moving was a set of hands? Not if you were focused on the center you couldn’t. You saw a little movement, but if you were focused on the center of the center of that point, you probably didn’t see much. When you’re focused you don’t see the distractions.

When you focus on your goals, the distractions of life are less likely to take you down and keep you from reaching your goals. When we’re focused, many times we don’t even see the distractions. If we do see the distractions, we don’t give them so much attention that they take from us the ability to keep focusing on the goal. It’s our goal we see the most when we’re focused. The five-year plan, the three-year plan, or even just a one-year plan will help you maintain your focus

By Donna Kresch

Need motivation?!?!?!

4/11/11

Hola D3 Fam!
Need some motivation today?

If you think you are too old to be in the best shape of your life, think again. Check out this link about this beautiful lady that is 74 and bodybuilding, and she looks better than most people I know in their 30s!!!

http://hubpages.com/hub/ernestineshepherdfitness

Absolutely amazing! So what's your excuse?

See you in class,
Bea

5 more weeks to go

I can't say it enough.... this is a GREAT JOURNEY !! I'm proud of all the accomplishments that I have made and the bond I have created with the BAB's.

For years I've had the following quote on my wall which has carried me through marathons, triathlon and now this figure competition: If you only do things you know well and do comfortably, you will never reach higher goals.

Challenge yourself to a higher goal :)

Conquering Fear

Needed to share this as I am working on conquering all my fears! Dre

A Story About Fear

Some years ago, I went to an amusement park with my mother. At first, she was somewhat afraid of the roller coaster, but eventually relented in the name of adventure. As we boarded the roller coaster, I could see the tension in my mother’s body, undoubtedly caused by the adrenaline coursing through her veins with each hearbeat. I was probably feeling the same way, but since this is another one of those situations over which you have no control, it didn’t really bother me that much. Hey, if this was my day to die, then it is my day to die - might as well enjoy the ride before the accident!

As I finished my thought, the roller coaster started moving slowly. I could feel the weight of the metal that was going to hurl me at whirling speeds in a few minutes. My mother’s grip tightened with each passing second. I can only imagine what was going through her head right then. It probably contained some images of her flying through the air diving towards the ground.

Pretty soon, we were at the top. You could see my mother tensed and ready for a battle to the death. I, on the other hand, was as relaxed as I possibly could be, eagerly waiting to see what kind of strange sensations a couple extra gs would bring.

Before long, the roller coaster went over its apex and started accelerating downwards. At that time, I haven’t ridden a roller coaster in a while, so some terrifying sensations was definiately expected, Strangely, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d thought. The upwards “pull” feeling on my stomach wasn’t nearly as strong as I’d remembered. Maybe it has something to do with growing up and having a bigger body. Anyway, the random motions still seemed interesting, jerking me back and forth. I sat there, looking around at stuff at weird angles. I could probably have had a sandwich and read a book without it bothering me too much.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I caught a glimpse of my mother. She was completely bent over, with her head in between her arms, in one of the most terrified positions a person can be in. I couldn’t help but notice the irony of the situation. It reminds me of those cartoons where two guys fall off a roof, one guy lands on the floor, while another guy is grasping desperately onto the lowest ledge, only inches from the ground. The first guy taps the on the shoulder of the second guy, kind of saying, “Hey eerr, you know you can let go right?” This is exactly what I tried to do - I leaned over and gently tapped on mom on the back, seeing if she’ll relax. She barely acknowledged me, completely paralyzed by her own fear. Later, as we were getting off, she told me that she sprained her neck on the ride.

I am reminded of this experience every time I see people make a really big deal out of not so bad situations. For example, we hear of college students committing suicide because of the pressure of getting good grades. It’s so tempting to tap them on the shoulder and say, “You know - all that piece of paper says is you don’t know it very well right now - it’s not like you can’t just learn it later!” This is an example of something that could just be ignored, but instead is blown up into ridiculous proportions, just like Jack and Bob in The Key To A Healthy Relationship.

I’ve actually known the college student mentioned above personally. We played chess together at one point in high school and I knew him to be one of the smartest people in the school. Yet, from what I’ve heard, he jumped off a bridge from the pressure of graduate school and because his best friend also did the same.

The Obstacles That Our Fears Create

In both of these situations, the person in question created a seemingly unsurmountable obstacle that exists solely in their imagination. In my mom’s case, she was so sure that she was going to die on the roller coaster that day, that she did everything she could to avoid the experience. As a result, not only did she not enjoy the ride, she had a sprained neck to go along with it. In the case of the student jumping off the bridge, he probably viewed certain accomplishments in graduate school as the ultimate achievement in life. Because he thought that if he didn’t achieve this, his life would have no meaning, he ended his life just to avoid “failing” at this imaginary task.

Looking around, there are numerous instances of fears that keep people from getting what they want every day. A guy standing next to a girl who likes him but he’s afraid of asking out. So he walks away, leaving himself and the girl disappointed. A guy who wants to start a business but sees all the problems before they even manifest. Ultimately, he decides against it because these problems seem so unsurmountable, leaving himself and his potential clients unhappy. Every day, many people are prevented from accomplishing their dreams due to these imaginary obstacles. I am sure that I have had my fair share of these unjustified fears. Here’s a few tips for combatting them:

Recognize Your Fears - First, you need to recognize that this is indeed one of the fears you have. If you already accept this particular fear as the absolute truth, then there is no way to face that particular fear and hence no way to overcome it. For example, say you want to start a business, but you are afraid of taking risks. Every time someone talks to you about starting a business, your immediate response is “Oh, that’s too risky for me”. In this instance, you have so internalized the fear of taking risks that you don’t even recognize it as one of your fears anymore. In your world, it becomes an absolute truth that starting a business = bad. You no longer recall why or how you came to that conclusion, just that it is.

This is an extremely dangerous mode to get into because not only are your fears limiting your progress, you don’t even know that it is! This is the very situation that the graduate student who committed suicide got himself into. He became so obsessed with doing well in school and feared failing so much, that failing = the end of life for him. Once he saw that he couldn’t accomplish what he wanted, he figured he was going to “die anyway”, so he might as well do it earlier.

You should always very carefully examine the reasons why you choose not to do something. As long as something doesn’t kill you or permanently injure you in some way, you can do it! Start by making a list of anything you want to do. If an automatic thought crosses your mind stating some reason you can’t do it now, that is the result of some sort of fear. For example, let’s say you want to start a business but you can’t do it now because you don’t have enough money, that is the result of the fear of going broke, the fear of being hungry, the fear of having no shelter, etc. Or maybe you are not talking to the guy or girl you like because now is not a good time. That is the result of the fear of being rejected, the fear of not belonging, the fear of being inadequate, etc. Write down the reasons you have and the fears associated with those reasons.

Once you have recognized your fears, you can now work towards defeating them. These are the things that are holding you back from exploring more possibilities and limiting your growth as a person.

Understanding The Root Of Your Fears - With your list of fears that are holding you back, you can now try to figure out where these fears come from. For each item on the list, examine whether this fear is the result of some other fears. Your goal is to consolidate your list to as few fears as possible, so that you can better understand where the root of your all your fears are coming from. For example, say one of the items on your list is the fear of being poor. Ask yourself, why am I afraid of being poor? Maybe it’s because being poor limits your freedom. Maybe it makes you insecure about your ability to support yourself. From that one fear, you have actually expanded your list to two fears. Continue this process and ask yourself why you are afraid of having no freedom and why you are afraid of being unable to support yourself.

When you start this exercise, your list will probably grow bigger and bigger as your discover more and more of your fears. However, like finding bugs in software engineering (and then fixing them), you eventually will hit a peak and the number on that list will start to decrease. Try to find as many common base fears as possible, so that you have a smaller number of fears to have to work on. I also find this excerise to really help with knowing yourself better.

When I finished this process, I only had one fear left on the list - the fear of not existing.
Overcoming Your Fears - Fear, as far as I can tell, is the result of uncertainty about a situation. We fear death because we don’t know what happens after it. We fear losing our jobs because we don’t know if there is another way we’ll be able to support ourselves. We fear asking a person out on a date because we don’t know what the other person’s expectations are and whether they would say yes or no. In all of these instances, fear comes from not knowing what we would do should some particular situation happen.

To get rid of the fear, simply figure out what you will do in each of the possible scenarios. For example, for the fear of asking someone out on a date, figure out what you would do if he/she says yes, he/she says no, he/she says yes with a smile, he/she says no with a smile, he/she throws a glass of water at you, etc. Once you know exactly how to handle every single situation, there is simply nothing to be afraid of anymore.

Of course, it’s not always easy to plan out exactly what to do in every situation. How do you even go about doing that? There are infinite number of situations that can come up, so there is no way to “memorize the correct action” for each particular situation. This is whereknowing your purpose in life helps tremendously. When you have a definite purpose that encompasses all situations, then you will always have something fall back on if you don’t know exactly what to do.

For me, that purpose is existence. In any situation where I am unsure or confused, I will pick the option that maximizes my existence. Dying? No problem, I will just create as much stuff as possible (could be things or ideas) while I am alive and my existence will become these things. Asking for a date? if yes, we find out more about each other. If no, I go back to my happy single life and possibly try again at a later time. Losing my job? I will try to find some other way to increase my existence. Sure, I may still be afraid from time to time since I haven’t worked every single thing out, but given a bit of time, I will always know which path to take.

Having this purpose is like having a giant compass whenever you are lost. You may not know where you are now, but you will always end up at your destination if you follow the general. Knowing this, what is there to be afraid of? You will get what you want, you are heading the right way, and you do know what to do when you are lost. Since this is an internal thing, this sure seems like a good saying: “For all problems, look inside yourself”.

Figure out your purpose and fear will never control you!

BY AN INTJ

Get Up and Go!

Hey All, We're counting down and I'm super proud of what we've all accomplished!! This has been really incredible and I can't say enough how much you learn about yourself while going through this. I've said before that this soooo started with wanting a bangin body. But it's completely morphed into some sort of exercise in discipline, determination, and dedication to self...Wait, did I just hit the 3 D's...damn, that Dre is good :-) That woman and her jedi mind tricks...you see what's she's done to us..we're completely indoctrinated!!! I don't know how she does it, but Dre has tapped into a deep-seeded well of "get up and go" I thought was about dried up. Sometimes I'm mad as hell and often tired as all get-out, but I keep giving it what I've got. I'm up at 5am now at the gym, dissing chicken wings, eat salt-free food (I mean, NO salt)...I mean, this is madness. I'm not quite certain about the bangin body part yet, but I'm grateful for the support of my family, D3 and the BABs team! It means a lot. And I'm especially grateful that Dre is so resolute in her mission to improve the lives of others through fitness. I'm not being dramatic when I say I am forever changed and that alone, has been worth every foul mood, hunger pang and sore muscle!! "I may not be where I wanna be, but I'm glad I'm not where I was!" Chutttchhh!!!

Spring is in the air!

4/3/11
Spring is here! Whoo-hoo!!!

I am so excited that we got a taste of Spring today. I am soooooooo over the cold weather and the last week of March was not easy! I was a happy camper driving around town today with my windows rolled down and my left arm sticking out feeling the breeze. Ahhhhhhhhh! It’s the little things that bring me so much joy.

Well like Elena mentioned, we are down to the wire – 6 weeks to go. These 6 weeks are going to fly by. I’m feeling the pressure man. It’s a bittersweet feeling. I am so proud of the progress I’ve made since starting on December 1st but at the same time extremely worried about not being ready in time. All I can do is push on and take it day-by-day. This journey has required a ton of time, dedication and sacrifice. Every challenge has been worth it when it’s shopping time and buying smaller sizes. I am excited to see where I end up when this journey is over. We all need a good kick in the ass and concrete goals to keep us motivated and this has certainly fit the bill.

I came across this quote recently which has really struck me and is so powerful to me. It’s so simple but oh so true. “IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS DONE, THEN YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN.” If we want change in our lives, we gotta work for it. Like Dre says, you gotta have a made-up mind.

See you in class,
Bea

6 more weeks

Well, here we are countdown to show time. I cant believe its coming soon! I know i mentioned a couple of weeks ago, that I feel dizzy, tired, hungry etc. But when i notice a different rip on my body, It totally motivates me to keep going. Well for the longest time, i have admired people that have great looking calves (upside down heart). Well I now have noticed mine are coming in :). And yes that will keep me going, Im excited and looking forward to more rips here and there.
And i want to say thank you to all at D3 that keep letting me know, that they see the changes. Because sometimes we are so hard on ourselves, that we dont notice it. So thank you.
And as always thanks to all the BAB's that keep me laughing and motivated throughout the workouts.