Taylot

Next few weeks are going to be crazy for me as well, with tons of travelling, etc. However, almost every weekend I am here I am hanging out for a few hours during the day at a park (near Woodley Park) in DC doing a bodyweight workout (on the bar, and I bring rings). If there's people in the area that don't mind this heat, I'll post when I happen to go over that week.

Ah! Booked this weekend but will hit you guys up on the next one!

1 pm works for me!

I think I'll actually be in town for this one

Nice! Just got back in town myself, definitely down for the next one!

Leaving for two weeks on Monday! I think I'm going to miss this one too - bummer.

Woo! I was out of town for the last two, but hopefully I can make this one. (Out from Aug 11-20!)

AH! So I had planned to be there but I'll be heading to the Austin meetup instead this weekend. I'm in for next time!

WooO! you guys are awesome.

Are you tired of doing way too much and not seeing results? Are you sabotaging your own efforts to get healthy? Are you sick of reading these questions and want me to stop? It's time to knock it off! Today, we're going to look at some of the top mistakes made when trying to get healthy; things that hold us back from succeeding. Although changing habits isn't an overnight process, simply making yourself AWARE of these behaviors is a step in the right direction towards improving. So, seriously. If you're doing anything below and you hate doing it...this is my doctor's note that tells you it's okay to stop. Onward! Stop doing that exercise! Stop doing crunches and sit ups. I know you want a flat stomach, but you won't get there with 1000 crunches and sit ups every day. It doesn't work that way. Believe it or not, sit ups can mess up your lower back, as can crunches. They're also an incomplete exercise, as they don't work out your entire core (stomach AND lower back). But that's missing the point: a flat stomach is made in the kitchen, and 90% of your results will come from clean eating. My favorite "ab exercises?" Squats, deadlifts, pull ups, and eating right. Yoga, handstands, planks, push ups, and other full body exercises all contribute to a strong core. In order for you to see those stomach muscles though, you need to lose the fat on top of them! Stop doing side bends. Boy, I'm ripping both side bends and situps to shreds? Sir Mix-A-Lot is NOT going to be happy. Doing side bends might make you think you're getting rid of your love handles. Nope. You're building up the muscle UNDER your love handles. Want to get rid of the love handles? Make better food decisions! Stop doing "power curtsies" (half-ass squats), . If you're going to squat, do it right! Not in a Smith machine. Do it with a bar across your shoulders, and dropping until the tops of your legs are bellow parallel! Squat deep, or it's a "power curtsy," which is an incomplete exercise. In my 13 years of training in a commercial gym, I have probably seen less than twenty people do a proper squat. By simply putting in a bit of effort and learning to squat properly, you'll be ahead of 99% of the general public. Stop doing exercise you hate! If you don't like running, get the hell off the treadmill! If you don't like gyms, get the hell out of there! If you don't like weight machines or picking up weights, get stronger with just your bodyweight or yoga. I get my exercise from basketball, yoga, strength training, hiking, and walking. You might get yours from Yoga, playing with your kids, walking your dog, and rock climbing. Life is too short to spend time doing stuff you don't enjoy! Stop doing the wrong exercises for your goals: Are you trying to look like Daniel Craig by running 30 miles a week? Are you spending your time in the weight room training for a triathlon? Make sure you are doing the right exercises for your goals. If you're trying to build muscle, then build muscle. If you're training for a race, then train. If you're just looking to look and feel better, then get started with the basics that will get you there. Far too many people spend their time and energy on the wrong exercises for the goals, simply out of habit...or they try to fix and improve everything at the same time! Keep it simple! Boring gets results. Stop over-complicating your exercise: Despite what the fancy trainer tells you, you don't need to be doing all your exercises on a bosu ball. Most of the time beginners overcomplicate a simple exercise or workout routine by adding in unnecessary complications. Instead of barbell squatting on the bosu ball, do a normal squat and focus on form, increasing the weight each week. Instead of coming up with a routine that looks more like an interpretive dance, just stick to the basics: whole body, compound movements that build the most strength (and burn the most fat) in the least amount of time. Not sure what I mean? Start with the training routine here. Stop multi-tasking and wasting time: Instead of spending 90 minutes in the gym reading a magazine while working out, checking your phone and talking to people, why not get your workout done in 30-45 minutes and get home to your family/friends/Xbox One/PS4?! If you look like NF Team Member Staci having some fun here while working out...you're doing it wrong Seriously, stop freaking out! Stop weighing yourself every freaking day. Definitely don't do it more than once a day. The scale can lie, and it's a SMALL part of your progress. Depending on how you ate the night before, the day of the month, or how much water you've retained, that scale can fluctuate worse than bitcoin's value (current event reference FTW!). Saintand Staci both GAINED weight towards the ends of their transformations. Joe didn't step on a scale for 6 months. THAT NUMBER DOES NOT DEFINE YOU. Stop freaking out over calorie totals! Not all calories are created equal. Who cares if you eat 2050 calories when the Daily Plate says you should eat 2000? Your body is a finely tuned piece of machinery that can handle a tremendous amount of fluctuation. We're all for educating yourself on macronutrients and figuring out how much food you are eating, but don't become neurotic about that amount each day. If you find yourself eating too much one day, eat a little next the day next. Our body doesn't reset our stats each day after going to sleep! Don't feel like counting calories? Cool, me neither! Just fill yourself up with the right foods, and make adjustments as you go based on your goals. Stop calling it a "cheat meal!" The term "cheat meal" assumes you're cheating and doing something wrong while on a 'diet.' You are being a bad person by cheating from the norm and thus are in danger of falling apart or beating yourself up. Guess what, I eat bad food without guilt. This past weekend I ate pizza and drank beer with my dad while watching football - my stomach didn't like me very much, but come Sunday I got RIGHT BACK on track. It wasn't a 'cheat,' it was a conscious decision to eat something outside of the norm...and then get right back on track. Stop letting one bad decision ruin everything! Who cares if you had an unhealthy breakfast? That doesn't mean the day is ruined and lunch and dinner are lost causes. Who cares if you missed yesterday's workout? That doesn't mean the week is ruined. One bad decision will not derail your efforts. One bad decision is only a problem when you let it dictate the rest of your day/week/month. No more "eh, I'll just start tomorrow/next month." Start now. When you make a "bad" decision (and it's only bad if you make yourself feel guilty about it), just don't make it two days in a row. Stop perpetuating that mindset! Stop saying "I can't." When you say "I can't eat that" or "I can't do that," you are telling your brain to focus on that one thing you can't do. "I can't eat cake" is making you think about the one thing you're depriving yourself of eating. Besides - the . Instead, say "I don't." When you do this, ! It's science. Stop collecting underpants. There's no perfect moment. More information at this point isn't going to help. You read Nerd Fitness, which puts you in the top 1% of potential superheroes on the planet. Take action. Try stuff. Learn as you go. That's how we all do it. There's no master blueprint for everybody to follow. It's trial and error, self experimentation, and adaptation based on results! Stop going on 'diets.' Congrats! You never have to go on another diet for the rest of your life. A diet assumes you're making non-permanent, drastic changes that you don't like to quickly achieve a goal before going back to your old ways. Stop that! You don't have to be miserable. What you're going to do instead is make a series of teeny tiny, lifelong adjustments. Over time, you're going to gradually shift your eating habits to line up with the goals you're interested in. Stop thinking that it's all or nothing - Small changes lead to big results. You don't have to hop on a nutritional program and revamp your diet overnight, eating radically different for the next 30 days. This is a recipe for failure. Instead, try starting by just drinking one less soda tomorrow. Wait until that change feels normal before making another one. Stop making excuses - It's amazing what we can justify to ourselves when we don't feel like exercising. "Well I only have an hour, and I need 70 minutes for my workout...I'll just go tomorrow." "But it's cold out!" "I had a really bad day at work" "But there's a zombie apocalypse." Identify what your priorities are, and MAKE THEM A PRIORITY. Stop using "I deserve this" to sabotage your efforts! "I worked out for 30 minutes today! I deserve these six donuts." "I worked out three days in a row! I deserve this pint of ice cream." Stop rewarding your good behavior with bad prizes that send you back three steps! Reward yourself with things that reward you back. What you should doing You should start. . Find a way to be better each day...just a little bit. Big simple movements. No overreacting and beating ourselves up over a bad day. No self-sabotage. Small changes. Experimentation. Constant improvement. Every change counts. You got this. Be honest: What's one thing you need to STOP doing? What's one step you're going to take to help you stop doing it? Me: I need to stop getting distracted online and pushing my workouts back by hours, thus messing up my schedule for the rest of the day. Solution: Over the past two weeks, I put my workouts IN my calendar and my phone alerts me when it's time to exercise. That one change alone has forced me to get to the gym sooner than I usually do. Your turn. No judgment. -Steve ### photo source: stop gate, stop button, stop sign, start, [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelsk/2552101096/]eyeore

I'm down!

This is a post from NF Team Member Taylor. "Just start Starting Strength!" "This 14 week workout plan is all you need!" "Bro, get on this sick 5-day split!" When we hear from newbies who feel completely overwhelmed, this is often the advice they've been told: "start this plan and don't look back!" Or worse, they're told "start this plan" by 10 different people from 10 different sites with 10 different plans. We get a lot of "I'm so freaking confused! HALP!" emails. Don't feel bad. We've all been there. It's just like playing a brand new video game: We run through the tutorial levels, get out of the newbie zone, and only THEN do we venture off into the world and grind to level 50. Fitness is no different: If you're a fitness newbie, you probably have no idea what you need to do or where you need to begin. So, rather than following the strategies employed by level 10s, level 20s, or level 50s, we need to understand the mechanics of the game first, and put the right strategies in place that work for us at OUR LEVEL. Here's how to stop worrying about what plan to begin, and how to START having success and see positive changes from day 1 of "I'm going to get Healthy." What video games teach us about habits Whether you are looking to revamp your diet, rethink your sedentary lifestyle, or go on an epic adventure around the globe, you start at level 1. If you're playing Super Mario Bros or Halo, you don't get to start on an expert level unless you already know what you're doing. Try to start on hardcore or legendary while you are still trying to figure out the controls and it won't be long before you end up . None of us start out playing like If you're BRAND NEW, you need a tutorial level! That "newbie island" of sorts to learn the ropes in a safe environment. Once you get your bearings, you can start upping the difficulty and fight more bad guys. "DUH! I know I should not jump into a big program!" you might say. Are you sure? The entire fitness industry is so polluted that you may not even realize. Take a look at some of the best selling fitness programs or DVDs and you are bound to find complicated programs with TONS of exercises. I won't name any names, but I bet if you think of some popular fitness programs off the top of your head, you'll realize that the programs many people choose end up throwing beginners right into the game. On hard mode. Starting with a workout routine with 20 new exercises is ! You'll have poor form, struggle, probably not have a lot of fun, and potentially even hurt yourself. Being Level 1 isn't exciting in video games, but it's essential. You kill rats because you know that by doing so you'll eventually end up slaying dragons. Being Level 1 isn't exciting in fitness either, but it's essential. You need to be boringsometimes and "kill rats" because that will allow you to one day do handstands, pull ups, and . Ideal World vs Reality In an ideal world, once someone realizes they are unhealthy, they immediately stop eating crap. They start eating healthy, nutrient rich foods to perfectly support their goals: muscle gain, weight loss, or to become the next TV superhero. They make sure they are regularly eating a deficit for weight loss, or eating a surplus for weight gain. In reality, we we go on crash diets and rebound. We try the recent fadand find that we're miserable, unhealthy, and back where we started. In this ideal world, once someone decides they want to gain weight or lose weight, they immediately get on a great program, designed for beginners, and find something that meets their goals. They would then stick to that plan, 3-5 days a week, for months and months. They earn a "perfect attendance award." In reality, the average person looking to start has been filled with fitness "knowledge" from the mainstream media, commercials, fitness magazines, and infomercials which tells women they get bulky if they lift anything more than 1 lb and encourages guys to "get huge" by doing this sick 95 day split with 19 bicep variations! We follow the plan handed to us by a bodybuilding magazine or a trainer who is far too advanced, essentially setting our difficulty level to "Legendary" and then getting dropped into a world full of monsters. In the ideal world, newbies quickly upload all the information they need to be successful...straight to their brains. Yep. From gym etiquette, to fitness jargon, to how to perform every exercise with perfect form, they are now the masters of health and fitness. In reality, the gym is #*%)@*% intimidating. Habits are hard to build. And just deciding you are going to try to get healthy or put on muscle is a freakin' victory in itself. We aren't in a dream. We aren't in the Matrix. We aren't in a video game. And worse, in real life the situation is often more dire than complete ignorance. Often, many of us are starting from a deficit: misinformed and demotivated. Maybe there's a better way... Starting a "plan" might not be the best bet OK, so we know that when starting something, whether it be saving for your future or getting healthy, you need to start by getting your feet wet...not by jumping in face first. This may work for cold pools and oceans, but you'll have no such luck with new health and fitness habits. The number one reason most people don't get healthy isn't because they don't know what to do, it's because they can't follow through. It's not that they don't have the perfect program, or they aren't doing the right exercises, it's that they aren't doing anything consistently. The good news is, there's an easy fix. Instead getting overwhelmed with a huge new program, get with started small IMMEDIATELY, and then learn more as you go. What does this mean for you? 1) If you are more or less sedentary, don't go from working out 0 days a week to working out intensely 5 days a week. Show yourself FIRST that this isn't something you are just going to do for two weeks and quit. It would be far better to stick consistently with a tiny 10 minute workout, than start a 5 day a week program and quit after two weeks. Before you start your new "ideal" routine, create your new identity: the you that makes fitness a priority and works out regularly. Try out some basic bodyweight exercises - The Beginning Bodyweight Workout is a great start. If that's all new to you, start even smaller, with some and bodyweight . Do them every other day. Just do something and keep getting better at whatever you small thing you choose. 2) If you are a runner looking to get into strength training, start making small changes in your routine to incorporate your NEW routine. Don't jump overnight from spending hours and hours outside running to only going to the gym. That's jarring, and for many people, a recipe for failure. Cut back on some of your running and add in basic bodyweight exercises. Maybe at the end of your new shortened runs, do some circuits of pushups, pull ups, and squats. 3) If your diet is out of whack, DON'T jump into a HUGE dramatic change overnight. Whether you are trying to gain muscle or lose weight, don't make these changes overnight. You can't jump into that "perfect plan" that everybody is recommending. That's just not how we humans are built. Say no to crash diets or the quixotic 14-small-meal-muscle-building diet plan. Even with big changes like a Paleo lifestyle, get started slowly. NF Team Member Staci, who's been "playing" the Paleo game for 3 years can now jump into "expert" paleo mode, but she didn't start that way. Celebrate small wins and get yourself to make nutrition a priority. What Your Levels Might Look Like So you just hit start on the Game of Life, and you're itching to get started. Before we can get you to level 50, we need to get you to level 2 first. And then level 3. Here's an example: Beginner zone: Kick your soda habit. Ramp down from 6 sodas a day to 5, then 4, then 3... Complete a hard hat challenge to prove you can follow through. Start walking to Mordor. Work on doing a push up. Fix your sleep Easy: Start a basic body weight workout, like this one. Begin to learn the form for squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses. Eat a healthy for lunch every day Cut back on processed carbs. Cut back on all sugar from your diet. Medium: Gym 3x a week plus and walk on your off days. Work on building good form with only a few big compound exercises. Eat a healthy lunch and dinner during the week. Work on some skill based bodyweight exercises, like handstands. Start to eliminate grains, outside of foods like rice and oats. Hard: Consider moving to a more advanced strength routine. Incorporate some assistance exercises into your routine to support your main workout. Add a new activity to your week, like yoga or a team sport. Try going full Paleo or completely eliminating processed carbs and sugars. And your "legendary" mode? If you're into strength training, perhaps instead of powerlifting you explore olympic lifting, strongman, or gymanstics. A runner? Check out some Ironman races. Try out for Ninja Warrior. Who knows what you can become once you build a solid foundation. Don't go it alone Games like the World of Warcraft aren't fun because they let you grind incessantly to get better levels; they're fun because they let you grind incessantly to get better levels WITH OTHER PEOPLE. You have friends that: Ask you to join them on raids. Are slightly higher levels than you that can tell you the best places to hunt. Are slightly lower than you who you get to mentor through the next cave Yell at you when you're not there to play. Who is in your guild/party in real life? Do you have these people who are yelling at you when you miss a workout with them? People that are there to help you when you struggle? Do you have people that YOU'RE helping? Life isn't a single player game - it's a massively multiplayer real-life role playing game. Don't be afraid to get started. To pick your class. Stumble and fall down. Get back up. Try new things. Find friends who are close to your level. And get weird. What's that you say? You don't have any real life friends who want to join your exercise party? Welp, now you got about 22,000 friends waiting to help, support, and push you. Game on! Train smart Don't spend time and energy building the PERFECT routine. There is no such thing. The best workout plan is the one you actually do. If trying the "all in" approach has repeatedly failed in the past, why not mix things up and try small victories and incremental levels instead? After all, the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Don't let a fancy program overwhelm and intimidate you. Just get started with something now, and after you find yourself heading to your workout like a robot, then hop on that awesome program. The worst thing you can do is to continue to collect piles of underpants and sit on the sidelines, waiting for that perfect moment or that moment of clarity. It doesn't exist. Hit start. Put one foot in front of the other. Do something. If you are currently afraid to get started, what's holding you back? Leave a comment and we'll talk through it. If you broke through the clutter and began, how did you do it? -Taylor PS: A few more days left on our big eBook Sale! They're gone for good at Midnight on Monday December 9th, so grab one if you're interested before then. Cheers! ### photo source: Mario, DK, Matrix, Mario Family, Notebook, Chess

I feel like . There are so many exciting things to announce that I have to yell them as I type them. Seriously, I yelled while typing today's title. On January 1st, we'll be OFFICIALLY launching the future of Nerd Fitness: The Nerd Fitness Academy! A few months back we launched a beta version of the program to just Rebel Women, but on January 1st we'll be launch to men, women, robots, aliens, zombies, and whoever else is interested. [insert trumpets and fireworks and confetti here] On top of that, we're having a great sale for all Nerd Fitness eBooks for the next week (details below)! Oh, and we announced this little thing called Camp Nerd Fitness! Let's get to the good stuff. Cyber Monday Sale As previously stated, we'll be launching the Nerd Fitness Academy on January 1st. As The Academy is the Future of Nerd Fitness, we'll be taking all Nerd Fitness eBooks off the "shelves" starting at 11:59PM PST on December 9th. Now, these are resources that have helped thousands and thousands of rebels get started on a path to a leveled up a life: people like Joe who lost 130 pounds in 10 months and Ryan who lost 115 pounds. If you're new to this whole "get in shape" thing, you're a fan of Nerd Fitness, and you're looking for a lifelong philosophy to follow, these are the guides for you. We're going to leave them up for one week only in case you've always wanted to buy one but have been on the fence so far. With today being Cyber Monday, I figured why not do a final kick-ass sale to go out in style? Starting today, you can buy any eBook in the Nerd Fitness store: Rebel Fitness Guide Rebel Strength Guide Rebel Running Guide At a great discount: Buy one, get it at 20%. Buy one, get a second ebook 50% off. Buy two, get the third ebook FREE. Consider checking them out, picking one up, or sending one to a friend for Christmas. Here's how you get the discount: Simply click on the links above, add the guides to your shopping cart, and then use one of the codes below on the checkout screen to receive your discount! [Note: you can only use one coupon at a time.] If you want to mix and match basic versions and deluxe versions (If you're buying all three guides), make sure you pick the right code below! SULU - 20% off 1 guide MCCOY - Buy 1 get 1 50% off SPOCK - Buy 2 Deluxe or Two Basic, get 1 Basic FREE (All 3 can be basic, or 1 deluxe 2 basic, or 2 deluxe 1 basic) KIRK - Buy 2 Deluxe versions, get 1 Deluxe version FREE (If all 3 are deluxe) Up and at them! The Nerd Fitness Academy Class will soon be in session. Back in October, we launched a beta version of the Nerd Fitness Academy with our first course: Women's Fitness 101. In that first week, over 1400 rebel women enrolled, and we've been working hard on working with them to improve the course ever since. On January 1st, we'll be officially reopening the Academy with two courses: Men's Fitness 101 Women's Fitness 101 These self-paced courses will contain everything you need to build healthy habits, start exercising properly, and effectively adapt your diet and level up your life. Each course comes with its own "path" to follow, high-definition exercise demonstrations, months and months of exercise programming, nutrition advice based on your goals, a special community for "students," and more. Right now, feel free to check out the sales pages for each course (Men's Fitness 101 and Women's Fitness 101), with all of the information you need, and an email sign-up at the bottom of them to make sure you get all the info and can be one of the first in the course to join up! Spending the past two months with the Rebel Women who have joined The Academy have made me so excited for the future of this platform. It's a perfect medium for us to help people and provide specific advice that we can update and improve on the fly. I'm confident that starting on January 1st, we'll be able to help out the Rebels of Nerd Fitness in a more technologically advanced and interactive way. The future is bright! Camp Nerd Fitness Now, I figure while I'm talking about going back to "school," we might as well all go to "camp" too, right? In case you missed it last week, we announced Camp Nerd Fitness, a fitness retreat/NF Rebellion meetup/convention/conference all rolled into one epic long weekend. Camp Nerd Fitness will take place at the Kaplan Mitchell Retreat and Conference Center on September 18th, 2014, where we will have exclusive use of the ENTIRE property for our time at Camp Nerd Fitness: it’s a GORGEOUS campus up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains just two hours north of Atlanta. Also, it’s surrounded by the Chattahoochee National Forest. It has state of the art facilities, bunk cabins and hotel-style rooms, award-winning dining, plenty of meeting space, and every outdoor activity you can imagine. There are epic running trails, a beautiful pond, a ropes course, climbing wall, a baseball diamond, a gym, tons of meeting space, a library, and everything we’ll need to cover every epic adventure on our agenda. You can read more about it over on the Camp Nerd Fitness site. Space will be limited, and we'll be announcing details and sale information to our interest list first, so make sure you sign up for the list at the bottom of any page on the CNF site! Stay Strong! We have one month before 2014. This is the month when most people slack. When they say "it's too cold outside" or "it's dark" or "I'll start later." These people let this month get away from them, and then they wake up disappointed on January 1st, wondering what happened to all of the work they put in during the year. Not Nerd Fitness Rebels. Rebels look at this month as a momentum builder. Rebels look at this month as an opportunity to pick a new Hard Hat Challenge. Rebels understand that sacrificing what they TRULY want in life for what they want RIGHT NOW is a losing proposition. Rebels make good decisions in December. Rebels work out when others are sleeping. Rebels are okay with being the "weird one" by making healthy choices. Rebels have fun, but not at the expense of throwing away everything they've fought for up to this point. Rebels put on their hard hats, and go to work. I'd love to hear from you: What's one goal you hope to accomplish in this final month of the year? BE SPECIFIC. I like giving away stuff, so we'll pick 3 winners at random who leave a comment and hook them up with a Nerd Fitness shirt of their choice. Comments must be in by 11:59pm PST on Dec 9th. Now, go do some push ups! -Steve ### photo source: [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/koisny/5403867723/sizes/l/in/photostream/]lego, confetti

Sleep. Something we all need more of, but never seem to get. (If only we had more time, right?) If you told me a year ago that I would be getting my work done during the daytime hours and getting plenty of sleep, waking up early without feeling like grumplestiltskin, and actually being uber-productive before noon, I would have called you an idiot. Sorry for calling you an idiot. I finally feel like I have a grip on my life thanks to an improved sleep strategy and today we're going to cover how you can do the same. Don't worry, I won’t go too deeply into the science behind why getting enough sleep is important; you're probably well aware that you function much better when you are well rested. However, as we've learned from Morpheus in The Matrix: "Sooner or later you're going to realize, just as I did, that there's a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path." Let's take a trip to , shall we? Why sleep is awesome Sleep is freaking important, and you should get more of it! Article over, I'm going on break! Kidding. Before we cover why sleep is important, let's talk about what happens when you don't get enough. For example: If you manage to only get four hours of sleep, a sleep deprived body can actually act similarly to an intoxicated body. Getting less sleep than average regularly? This is correlated with increased bodyfat percentage, more issues with insulin sensitivity, and even a disproportionate decrease in lean muscle mass when eating a caloric deficit. We all know missing sleep can make us grouchy, miserable, unfocused, and unproductive. I know I'm going to have a crappy day in the gym when I don't get enough sleep the night before. I know not sleeping enough AFTER a workout day can further hinder the muscle building process. So, what else happens when you don't get enough sleep? As so eloquently pointed out by Mark Sisson: "One study found that skipped sleep led to a shrinking brain. Bye, bye gray matter! The heart and kidneys also take a beating as does your blood pressure. You, in fact, put yourself at continually increased risk for a whole host of lifestyle diseases, including obesity and diabetes. The logical extension of this pattern? Numerous studies link partial sleep deprivation/disruption and increased mortality risk!" Conversely, let's talk about the awesomeness that is sleep. Here are the benefits associated with getting enough shut eye: Sleep will enhance your memory performance and creative problem solving skills. You know, those things that make you smart. Sleep can boost your athletic performance. And we all know appearance is a consequence of fitness. Sleep triggers the release of human growth hormone (HGH), which plays a huge role in muscle and cellular regeneration. Sleep cuts your risk for the common cold and other basic illnesses. Less sick days at work=more productivity, more awesome, more leveling up. Sleep makes you more resilient to daily stress..aka more willpower! Moral of the story: Sleep is awesome. Yes, some adults can function perfectly on only five hours of sleep, while others need 9-10 hours of sleep to thrive. Most people will fall in that 7-9 range for sleeping needs. So let's get to the root of the problem for most: “I know I need to sleep more, but my day is too busy and I just can't get to bed sooner or wake up earlier.” First and foremost, you're not alone. According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly a third of all working Americans get six hours or fewer of sleep a night. Does any of this sound like you? I am always freaking tired, and I need five cups of coffee to get through the day. Even on days when I get enough sleep, I wake up groggy. I get to 'bed' but I toss and turn and it takes me forever to fall asleep. I hit snooze half a dozen times before miserably crawling out of bed. Let's see if we can fix these issues. A perfect night of sleep Let’s imagine a perfect night: You go to bed at a time that you’re happy with. You’re not stressed out because you didn’t just watch The Walking Dead, you’re reading a good fiction book in bed that’s putting you closer to sleep rather than checking your smart phone or screwing around on the internet (damn you Twitch.tv). You sleep uninterrupted through the night. You have kickass dreams. When you wake up, either naturally or with an alarm...you immediately get out of bed, without a single snooze, and you feel damn good. You then crush your morning routine and dominate your day. If you’re looking at your screen and laughing right now, you’re not alone. I’d guess this is a pipe dream for a huge majority of our society because they're not sure how sleep actually works, and thus have NOT made sleep a priority. It's time to start looking at sleep as one of your most important tasks. What are types of sleep? Like the Indiana Jones movies, sleep can vary in quality. Some types of sleep can be great, while some sleep can be crappy (and ). Let's take a quick look at the different stages of sleep first. We have Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep, and Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep: Non-REM Sleep Stage 1: Where you're kind of asleep...but not really...but working on it. This lasts about 5-10 minutes. Non-REM Sleep Stage 2: Your heart rate slows, your body temperature decreases, and you start to drop further into slumber...this can last about 20 minutes or so. Non-REM Sleep Stage 3 and 4: also called "slow wave sleep," and each can last up to 30 minutes. REM Sleep: This is the deepest form of sleep out there, and the most important for mentally functioning the next day. It takes about 90 minutes to get to REM sleep. Focus on the two big steps: non-REM sleep and REM sleep. As WebMD points out, "during the deep stages of NREM sleep, the body repairs and regenerates tissues, builds bone and muscle, and appears to strengthen the immune system." The body can go from Stage 2 to 3 to 4, back to 2 and to 3, and then finally onto REM. When your body kicks into REM sleep, this is when your brain has increased activity and leads to dreaming, while your body is the most 'paralyzed' and knocked out. Some studies say that REM is most important for restoring brain functions. What's crazy is that your entire morning can be dictated by what stage of sleep you were in before waking up. If you've ever only slept a few hours and woke up feeling great, or conversely slept plenty of hours but woke up groggy, this could explain it! Don't worry, I'll explain exactly how to stop this from happening below. How to get better sleep We have a circadian rhythm (a daily biological clock) that ebbs and flows throughout the day. Our body uses outside stimuli and our own activity to produce certain hormones at certain times to make our body more prepared for the required functions at that time (alertness vs restfulness). Look at it from an evolutionary perspective - way back in the day (which was a Wednesday): When the sun rose, our bodies are signaled "the day has begun! get cracking!" We reduce the hormones that make us sleepy, and produce more hormones that allow us to do the things that need to get done. As the sun went down, our body starts to produce more melatonin, which produces that sleepy feeling and encourages us to rest/recover. Our only option for light back then was a candle or campfire. If that went out, we'd have moonlight and nothing else. While sleeping, our bodies knew to cut back on urine production, decrease body temperature, decrease heart rate, and muscle activity. Our brains are still highly active during our sleeping. Unfortunately, these days, our bodies aren't tied to the rise and fall of that giant ball of gas above us. Instead, we can use electricity, alarm clocks, computer screens, smart phone screens, and all other sorts of outside stimuli to adjust our natural sleeping schedule. This means that our bodies often have no effin' clue what time it is! Here's how we can get back to our roots (not to be confused with ): Trying to get to bed sooner or fall asleep sooner? Limit your exposure to the blue glow of your computer screens, TV screens, and phones later in the evening. Our bodies look at blue light and think "Sun is up! Sky is blue! Energy! WEEE!" Conversely, lights with a red/orange hue are more reminiscent of a campfire or candle. If you are somebody who has to spend time on your computer at night, consider installing a program like F.lux - it syncs with the sunrise and sunset in your time zone, gradually shifting your screens hue from Blue and bright to red and dim. I've been using the app for over a week now and have quickly adjusted to it. Purchase old-man blue blocker glasseswhich limits the colors your eyes are exposed to after the sun has gone done. +2 Charisma for style too. Hat-tip to my buddy Anthony for this tip - consider purchasing red lightbulbs to install in your bedroom. Consider getting black-out curtains for your bedroom windows, especially if you live in a city. Living in downtown Nashville, there's always something bright and shiny happening outside my window - it wasn't until I purchased super dark curtains to cover up my windows that I noticed an improvement in my 'fall-asleep time.' No TV in bed. This might be incredibly difficult for you if you’ve been falling asleep to TV for years. Instead of falling asleep with the blue glow of a TV at the foot of your bed, read a book - trust me, it will put you right to sleep. Get in the habit of reading fiction. Reading puts me to sleep within a few minutes most night, though only if I'm reading fiction. When reading non-fiction, my mind starts to race with all of the new ideas and things I could be working on. Either read real books or read on a Kindle, no iPads! Buy the right TYPE of Mattress for you: I slept on a soft mattress with two mattress pads for a few months years ago and wondered why I woke up with lower back pain every day. Turns out, my back was jacked up, and the soft mattress made things even worse. Since switching to a firm mattress, I wake up without back pain. Lesson learned here: I'm not smart. A lot of this can depend on HOW you sleep!Are you a side sleeper? Back sleeper? Stomach sleeper? Turns out there's some evolutionary reasonswhy some styles work better than others! Personally, I use the "half-military crawl position" outlined by Tim Ferriss. Have allergies? Try a hypoallergenic pillowcase! Your allergies could be affecting you while you sleep, and having the proper pillowcase can make a world of a difference. How to get more sleep So we've covered how to get BETTER sleep, what if you also need to get more of it? In order to start getting more sleep, sleep must become more of a priority. If you constantly stay up too late because things need to get done, evaluate how your time is spent after work. Seriously, think about it! Are you doing the important tasks first? Or are you messing around on the internet and not starting your tasks until late in the evening. Are you watching late night shows long after they've become enjoyable, simply because your DVR records them? Are you checking your smart phone while in bed, watching Vine videos, or using your laptop to watch more shows you don't really care about on Netflix? Yes, I understand we have parents who read Nerd Fitness and have to stay awake and function on minimal sleep (I commend you, and wish you luck!). However, for many of us, less sleep is often a result of disorganized priorities and poor use of our time. Here are the best practical tips for giving you the greatest chance at getting into bed earlier: Don't drink caffeine after lunch if possible. Caffeine can have an effect up to 6 hours after consumption. We love caffeine for many reasons (in moderation); however, you want to make sure its not consumed too late or your body will revolt. Turn off the electronics sooner. I have to enforce a "laptops closed by 11PM" or a "TV off after 10PM" rule on many nights or I never get to bed. I get lost in internetland far too easily. Putting in actual barriers really helps. If you find yourself checking Facebook and Twitter and other sites incessantly, BLOCK YOURSELF from those sites after a certain time. Stop watching crap TV shows! DVRs can be helpful, but it's so easy to record shows without second thought...and then we end up spending WAY too much time watching TV. I recently cut out 3/4ths of the shows I was recording on my DVR. Now, when I go to it, there are only the shows I actually enjoy (Parks and Rec, The League, The Walking Dead), and my TV watching time has dropped significantly. Shift things by 15 minutes every week. If you want to get to bed sooner, don't just try to get to bed an hour earlier than normal. You'll probably lie in bed for that whole hour wondering why you can't fall asleep, stressing yourself out and making things worse. I shifted my pattern by waking up 15 minutes earlier and getting to bed 15 minutes sooner. Then I repeated that process over a series of weeks. Eventually, you can shift your bedtime by an hour or two, but do it gradually! How to wake up better [Feel free to listen to NEEDTOBREATHE's " " or Avicii's " " during this portion.] Is there any more annoying sound in the world than the "beep beep beep" of an alarm clock? Well, maybe . But you get the point. So here you are, dreaming about riding a dragon with Daenerys Targaryen, doing , and playing poker with Iron Man and Spock...and that damn alarm clock wakes you up. You are now incredibly groggy and miserable. Here's what's happening: Remember earlier how we talked about different sleep cycles? Depending on which cycle you were woken up during, your body can struggle to move from "asleep" to " ." (If you thought we were going to make it through this section without a Katy Perry reference, you don't know me well enough.) Wake up in the right phase and you can feel energized and ready to go. Wake up in the wrong phase and you will feel lethargic and sleepy. Because we're often waking up at times when we're not ready to wake up, we need to use technology to our advantage. This is why ! Instead of snoozing, set your alarm for 30 minutes later and SKIP snoozing entirely. If this is an issue for you, put your alarm across the room so you need to physically get out of bed to turn it off! I've been using the Sleep Cycle App to wake up and it's been really interesting. You simply put the time in which you want to wake up, put your phone on your bed, and it will wake you up slowly and quietly in at the best point in a 30 minute window. Because it also tracks your sleep incredibly accurately, it's probably the best 99 cents I've ever spent on an app (other than our PALEO CENTRAL APP! HEYO! Ahem.) Try a dawn-simulator alarm clock. I've yet to use one (though will be picking one up for testing purposes), but the concept makes complete sense to me. If you've used one, would love to hear from you in the comments with your experiences. Rather than waking yourself up in the pitch black with a disgusting beeping noise, why not gradually rise as if there was an natural sunrise in your room? Feel free to sing the first line of " " at this point. I just did. Still feeling groggy? Go for a walk first thing. A mile every morning, if you can. Heck, do it while walking to Mordor! Walking outside and seeing that blue sky can trigger your body to release the hormones that encourage you to feel more awake and alive. Consider blue light therapy. Tim Ferriss swears by it, and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, so I'll be testing one out during the winter months to see if my mornings are marked by increased energy. If you've used one and had positive/negative experiences, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Am I night owl or lark? According to studies, about 1 in 10 people are true morning people ("larks"), while 2 in ten are considered "night owls." The rest fit somewhere in the middle as "hummingbirds." What this means: Some of us are more alert at certain times of the day and naturally want to rise earlier or stay up later. Here's a great article breaking down the differences between the two, along with a quiz you can takeif you're interested in getting "proof" about your biological clock. Now, the difference between the two extremes isn't as DRASTIC as we've made it out to be. Humans can never be truly naturally nocturnal - we don't have night vision (yet...). We're not programmed to operate during the middle of the night. But, we CAN use our natural tendencies to help us be more efficient and productive during certain parts of the day. We can change and adapt. Just like those who successfully work a night shift job (tips on that here), many who consider themselves a night owl may find they can become a morning person if they set themselves up for success. I used the excuse for years of being a "night owl" to screw around all day and work from midnight to 4 AM each night, when it really just required a shifting of my priorities and productivity hacks. What this all means: Identify your biological clock and try to adjust around it if possible. However, if your job requires you to get up early or stay up later, most of us can make an adjustment. Don't let your poor habits blame "being a night owl" like I used to. What about naps? Although generally not part of a day here in the states, we're actually programmed to desire a quick nap in the early afternoon. In other countries, naps are more socially acceptable (Siesta? Si, por favor!). If you feel bad that you get tired in the early afternoon, it's not because you're lazy. It's because you're naturally wired for naptime. Now, you might still be lazy, but it's not related to your nap schedule. So, behold the power of the power nap: Didn't get enough sleep last night? Only have 20-30 minutes for a quick break? Try the caffeine-fueled power nap. Fun fact: If you've slept less than normal, taking a 90 minute nap the following day could lead to an increased amount of REM sleep in that nap. What about second sleep? Biphasic Sleep is sleeping in two distinct periods. We're gonna go back in the day again: during winter months, night time could last 12-14 hours. With our bodies production of melatonin (the "sleepy time" hormone) kicking into high gear when that sun drops, people had nothing else to do (no TV, PS4, or iPads)and would fall asleep early. Then they would wake up for an hour or two in the middle of the night to read, pray, or think, and then fall back asleep for another 4-5 hours before waking up for the day. If you've ever gone to bed at a normal hour, and then woke up in the middle of the night without being able to fall back asleep for an hour or so, you know what I'm talking about. Here's the thing: this is actually quite natural! Rather than freaking the heck out and lying in bed wondering why you can't fall asleep...consider it something that is more common than our current sleep schedule. Don't be afraid to turn on the light and read a book or use the time for meditation until you can fall back asleep. This one 'mental shift' alone can keep your stress levels down and let you get back to sleep faster and provide you with BETTER sleep. Sleep hacking tips and tricks Clear your mind, Neo. I often spend my nights in bed thinking and worrying about all of the things I need to do the next day. Instead of stressing out about it, take a minute and write down the things you need to do the next day, and then set it aside. A notebook, a post-it note, an Evernote file, whatever. Do a brain-dump and clear your head so you can focus on reading A Game of Thrones without thinking about the next day's tasks. Want to control your dreams? It's called "Lucid Dreaming," it's possible, but requires work. I've only been able to do it once, but haven't given up hope that it can become a more common occurrence! Ultimately, this allows you to live out a real life version of Inception. Sleep apnea? Keep reading Nerd Fitness and lose weight! Being overweight is a big cause of sleep apnea for many. Luckily, you're reading the right site On top of that, try a different sleeping position (like the aforementioned half-military crawl position to keep your passages open). Have way too much time on your hands and not constricted by societal norms? Try Polyphasic sleep or the Uberman sleep schedule, and then tell me how it goes It didn't work for Kramer, but it might work for you! Stop sucking, start documenting! Like, anything, that which gets measured gets improved. Now, if you're somebody that isn't really detail oriented, just start by picking ONE or two changes above, and focus on building that Hard Hat Habit. However, if you like to nerd out about certain details, why not nerd out about your sleep? Starting tomorrow morning, when you wake up, recap the previous day with a journal entry: What time did you wake up, and what time did you actually get out of bed? How many times did you hit snooze? After work, how much television did you watch? After you finished watching, did you go right to bed? Did you fall asleep with the TV on? How long did you lie in bed before actually falling asleep (obviously this will be tough to tell, but you can estimate). A quick recap on what to do: Change one or two things about your current strategy. Turn off the computer 15 minutes earlier. Stop watching TV in bed. Read fiction. Limit the amount of blue light at night. No more snoozing. Set the alarm clock across the room. Go for a walk in the morning outside. If you want to use technology: F.Lux for your computer, red bulbs in the bedroom, Sleep Cycle for your mobile device, Sleep Cycle or a Sunrise alarm clock for waking up without disturbing deep sleep. I'd love to hear from you: What questions do you have about sleeping? How have you learned to be better at it? What are you still struggling with? Have you tried sunrise alarm clocks or blue-light devices? What are your favorite sleep aids or sleep hacks? Let's hear it! zzzzzzzzz..... -Steve ### photo sources: Sleeping Lego, Sleeping Puppy, Sleeping Baby, Sleeping Cat, Sleeping Koala, Sleeping Bunnies, Side Sleeping Lego, Sleeping Kitty, Owl, late alarm clock, Sleeping Tiger, [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/hippie/2475849569/sizes/l/in/photostream/]Notepad

Meet Ben, a 44-year-old fundraising and software consultant and father of two! Just earlier this year, Ben was living a sedentary life. At 280 lbs, classified as "morbidly obese," Ben found he was unhappy with his current track, out of energy, and in need of a change. As someone who worked out of a home office, he spent much of his day at home on his computer, and very little time moving more and eating better. He was lost, and looking for a home to help with his weight loss journey. Ben decided he wanted to get healthy, found Nerd Fitness, and over the next 10 months lost over 100 lbs. He started strength training, ran a half marathon, and more. How did he do it? Let's find out. Ben's story Steve: Hey Ben! Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions dude. What got you motivated to start? When did you make a change? My wife was pregnant with our second daughter (born in April 2013). I realized that I’d be 62 years old when she’s a high school senior and at the rate my health was declining due to weight gain, I might not even make it that far. I needed to do this for my family. That, combined with the fact that I was feeling uncomfortable in all my clothes and embarrassed about how big I had gotten prompted things. Steve: That's quite the wake up call. The old you spent a lot of time your free time at home on the computer. What about the new you? The early morning gaming/internet time has changed to exercise time, usually running. I hit the gym at lunchtime 3-4 days a week, and even spend a lot more time planning my meals out than I used to. Steve: What about your exercise strategy? I started off just trying to get moving. I knew that I wanted to do 3-4 days of 30+ minutes cardio and 3-4 days of strength training per week. It wasn't until I found NF that I truly learned what a quality strength program looked like. On the cardio side, I was terribly out of shape and couldn't jog slowly for more than a minute without getting terribly winded. So, for the first week or two my cardio workouts consisted of one minute jogging followed by three minutes walking, repeated 8 times (like Interval Training). It never occurred to me that less than 6 months later I'd be able to run the distance of a half marathon without stopping. Steve: Give us and example of a workout! As I gear up for a race in March, I run 3 days per week, approximately 4 hours total. Strength training is at around 3 hours per week. One of the big takeaways I got from Nerd Fitness was that to achieve the goals I set, I needed to work on both cardio AND strength train. I do two days upper body and just one day lower body strength training. Upper body is typically alternating between push and pull, something like this: dumbbell bench press dumbbell row pushups low-bar inverted rows dips pull-ups Lower body is pretty straightforward: squats, lunges, and leg presses. Steve: What about your diet? Did you use a specific strategy or just look eat healthier overall? I haven't followed any specific diet strategy, though I've certainly pulled elements of several different ones. Overall, my diet has evolved to be what I consider to be extremely “clean,” though I realize that proponents of various diets might disagree. Basically, I now view all food as fuel for my workouts and daily life, and I want to perform as well as I can, so I try to use the best fuel that I can. Here are some of my go-to foods: Pre-Run Snack: a grapefruit, some strawberries, or a homemade protein bar made with blueberries, flax seed, rolled oats, steel cut oats, safflower oil, raw honey, and whey protein. Breakfast: Usually one of two options: Greek yogurt, granola, and berries, or steel-cut oatmeal with cinnamon, apples, and blueberries. Boiled egg(s) Lunch and Dinner: Usually 6-10 oz. of lean meat (flank steak, grilled chicken breast, grilled salmon or tuna, smoked turkey) with one or two sides such as broccoli, grilled mixed veggies, short-grain brown rice, quinoa, black beans, homemade guacamole, sweet potatoes, baby spinach salad topped with olive oil and vinegar Steve: How exactly did your diet evolve - what were some of the first changes you made? Very early on, I just focused on reducing my caloric intake. At that point, I didn't really look at the quality of food I was eating or macronutrient content. It was purely "you have a budget of ~2100 calories per day to lose 2 pounds per week. Eat ~2100 calories per day." I mean, I pretty frequently ate pulled pork or ribs with sugar-sweetened BBQ sauce in January and February of this year. As I started to read Nerd Fitness and other sites and gain some experience, I came to realize that healthier foods (especially leaner proteins) would help me feel more full because I could eat more of them, and they'd also help increase the rate of fat loss. What I didn't realize until it started happening for me was how much eating healthier would help with fitness performance. Once I saw my lifting numbers increase and my running times decrease rapidly with better nutrition, I was hooked. Here are some of the major things I've learned: Prepare as much of my food as is possible at home. Fat isn't to be feared, especially when it comes from healthy sources such as nuts, eggs, seeds, and avocados. Carbs should be viewed as sources of fiber and fuel for workouts. Look to minimize sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars. Lean protein is teh awesome in every way! Steve: What was the toughest change for you to make? I was in fairly good shape when I was younger, so my ego made it difficult to get back in the gym as a fat guy. Several of my early trips were during off-peak hours when I knew that few/no people would be there. I did get over that rather quickly, though. But really, success breeds success. Once I started seeing results from doing what I was doing, it became easy to ramp it up further. I actually lost weight more rapidly in months 3 through 7 (12.6 pounds per month) than in months 1 and 2 (9 pounds per month), as the momentum helped me make more changes. Steve: How did you track your progress? Did you take any other measurements? Let's just say that I put the "Nerd" in "Nerd Fitness" when it comes to tracking. I record my weight daily. I also track several body measurements monthly (waist, chest, biceps, thigh, calf, etc.) My heart rate monitor comes with a fitness test that I administer monthly and record. And all of my strength training weights and cardio training times are tracked using various apps. Steve: What was the most important change you made that helped you succeed? I believe the most important change has been around nutrition, both in how much I eat and what I eat. There are those who preach calorie count and others who espouse clean eating. I do both. Steve: What kind of support system did you have? Friends and family? My wife has been a massive help, both as a cheerleader and in taking on more of the burden with our kids in the mornings when I'm running. I started posting on the NF Message boards back in April, and I learned a crazy amount about strength training. I've also enlisted the support of social media by blogging, and my scale auto-Tweets my weight every morning. For me, weighing daily and having it automatically tweeted is what keeps me in line more than anything else. Steve: Have you tried and failed to get healthy before in the past? What made this time different? I've tried and failed to "lose weight" in the past. This is the first time that I've focused on "being healthy" and that shift in thinking alone has been a big part of the difference. The other major difference had been that I've eaten a significantly *larger* calorie count this time than ever. I'd never counted calories before January of this year, but now that I've been doing it since then, I'm acutely aware that I weighed over 200 pounds and frequently ate only 1000-1500 calories per day when I was dieting. No wonder I would crash and binge! It's very rare for me to eat under 2000 now. Steve: What would you tell somebody who's tried and failed but ready to try again? I'd recommend that they get moving, be ok with starting small, and make sure to eat both enough food and healthy foods. What are you excited to do now that you weren't physically able to do before? Any activities in particular? While it's neat and impressive-sounding to be able to go out and run 15 miles, more than anything else I'm just glad I have much more energy to play with my daughters. Just being able to keep up with my off-the-chain 4-year-old daughter is huge. Beyond that, the biggest change is that I'm much more acutely aware of the importance of good nutrition. I wouldn't be surprised if I never eat a fast food burger and fries again, and that's something I wouldn't have said as recently as March or so. Steve: Favorite video game of all time? Steve: Do you have any nerdy passions or pursuits? Does running a message board for a text-based football game count? ;-) I have been the head geek at Front Office Football Central for 10+ years. and I am very active in the text-based sports simulation community overall. Steve: Yes. That counts. Hahahaha! If you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be, and why? Mind-reading. I'm generally fascinated by people, so actually knowing their thoughts would take it to the next level. Steve: Tell us something interesting about you! My daughters--ages 4 years and 4 months--share April 4th as their birthday. Why Ben was successful Ben found a recipe for success that worked for him. In less than a year he became a whole new man, down 100 lbs, with a completely new lifestyle and outlook. Let's take a look at some of the things that made him successful: A focus on nutrition: Ben went from knowing almost nothing about nutrition, to carefully crafting a style of healthy eating that worked for him. He realized that fat is not the enemy, that you can't outrun your diet, and that carbs should come from healthy sources and be used as fuel for workouts (specifically his long runs!). Ben preferred to track his calories closely AND eat incredibly healthy. While many Rebels have success following a specific style of healthy eating (e.g. Paleo) without worrying too much about calories, Ben found that completely nerding out over his diet was what worked for him. Tracking, tracking, tracking! Ben tracked EVERYTHING. Not just his weight, but his lean mass and fat mass. Not just his 3-mile time, but his VO2 max. On top of that, he took regular photos and even took measurements. Because Ben had so much data, he didn't need to freak out when one specific thing looked off. If his weight went up one week but his other indicators still improved, he could easily see, through other measurements, that he probably just gained some muscle. It's easy to tell that Ben enjoyed this process, as he was able to geek out about his progress and throw himself in this new game - life. A great reason: Ben had a great reason to get healthy. Above all else, it was his family and his daughters that motivated him to make a change. He knew he needed to change something if he wanted to be around for the major moments in their lives. So, he got started and took practical steps in place to keep him moving forward and achieve his goals. He had a great reason and motivation to get started, and put in place a great system to keep him on track. Accountability: Ben mentioned his weight gets tweeted automatically. EVERY DAY! Talk about accountability. Not only that, Ben set up a blogwhere he reports his progress and shares his experience, allowing loved ones and acquaintances alike to check up on him. Some people may only need a workout buddy to stay on track, while others need their progress automatically tweeted every day. Whatever the case, make sure you have a way to stay accountable. Become the next success story Before starting, Ben had a long way to go. So he focused his energy on that: STARTING. He didn't become an Underpants Gnome...he just took action and figured the rest out along the way. His workouts changed drastically, and his diet is radically different from his previous lifestyle, but both of those changes happened gradually over the course of 10 months. He put on his hard hat and went to work every single day. And just like Optimus Prime, Ben made sure his slow transformation resulted in dramatic results. Ben, thanks for sharing your story with the Rebellion (now over 120,000 strong!) - good luck in your next race, and take care of those kids. What questions do you have for Ben? -Steve ### photo source: success