I read something outstanding the other day. It moved me, and it inspired me to write the following:

You are going to die.

Accept it. Let it scare you. Better yet, USE IT to your advantage.

Make it be your motivating factor everyday. Who knows what happens on the otherside, all you know is that you better achieve every freaking goal on that bucket list of yours.

Because you need to have that sense of urgency. You need to have that sense that today is the day to make it happen. Everyday you inch closer – inch by inch. You want that life of your dreams you start clawing for that inch.

And best yet, regardless of where you are in your life. You can take action. You can take action. You can take action! (repetition for emphasis)! Afterall, every day is another day gone forever and “if you’re looking for the past, you have your back to the future” (I’m not perfect and I have to heed my own advice more as pointed out by a bootcamp member today – don’t worry, I wasn’t claiming perfection).

Quick question: What would you want your legacy to be when you have no more days left?

There’s only one thing that gets in the way of that legacy and it is fear. What is fear? I like to think of it as False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear is just a manifestation of bullshit made up in our head, that has made its way into our reality by our environment and our experiences.

Please, for your own good, use fear to your advantage. If fear controls your life, you will live a life full of regret, and that is a life wasted.

I know you have bills, I know you have obligation, I know you have dreams, I hope you don’t have broken dreams….(I was talking to a 20 year old kid the other day who said he couldn’t be an actor because he was too old…he was 20!) What is happening to the world! Stop listening to others, start listening to yourself! (Well I suppose you can still listen to me… 🙂 )

Here’s what I would do. Write your goal down on a sheet of paper. Now break it down step by step, what you are going to do to acheive that goal. I write myself goals, notes, and to do’s everyday, I write my to do list for the next day the night before….

I like examples, here’s an example:
Goal – Lose 10lbs

Now break it down into small steps:

• Full body workouts at least 3x/week (at least 3x!) Even better if you can do 4-5x/week. (If you are a Bootcamp Effect member and reading this…you have no reason why you shouldn’t be attending bootcamp at least 3x’s week).
• Eat healthy! – Women definitely need to consume more protein to rebuild muscle fibers broken down through training.
• And repeat!
• Be self aware, use feedback, and change accordingly – the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results. We tend to get a bit random at bootcamp if you haven’t noticed…Wasn’t bootcamp baseball great? That epic 20-20 match demands a rematch I say cause that damn pitcher intervened on that one play (sorry Sheene)!

Here is a sample of what you should eat in a day if you want to lose weight. Yes, you should be eating every 3 hours. My body is now programmed to be “raving lunatic hungry” with no food afer 3 hours, and with these sort of body mechanics, your body can’t help but want to lose weight – couple this with some muscle and you’re golden.

Daily Meal Plan Sample:

• Breakfast (upon waking) – whole grain bread and 1-3 eggs (alternate for the quickie breakfast person –  oatmeal with fruit and yogurt) 
• Snack (3 hours later) – almonds and blueberries
• Lunch (3 hours later) – grilled chicken with salad greens and vegetables (dressing – olive oil) (alternate for the quickie lunch person – sliced turkey)
• Snack  (3 hours later) – can of tuna and apple
• Dinner (3 hours later) – salmon with asparagus and mushrooms
• Snack (3 hours later) – plain low fat yogurt used as dip for veggie sticks (carrots, celery, peppers)

Now that seems like a lot of food, but if you did the calorie count it would be under 1500 calories a day, and that is guaranteed depending on your metabolism, bodyweight, and muscle mass to have you lose at least 1 pound a week from your diet alone.

The most important thing I have said here though (especially for women) is ……EAT MORE PROTEIN!!!!!!

You will have to do this, so strap in, dig your feet deep, draw that line in the sand and don’t you budge an inch – lose an inch!

“Memento Mori”
Remember your mortality

Josh Saunders, BSc, CSCS
The Bootcamp Effect
www.thebootcampeffect.com