Spark the Change

Some people think working out is just about being physically attractive. Some believe it is to increase a person’s life span. I guess I’m a little different. I truly believe God has preordained an expiration date for all of us, therefore working out won’t increase your life span but it will improve your quality of life. 

Quality of life is defined as your personal satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with the cultural or intellectual conditions under which you live. A true fitness plan works on your mental and physical strength simultaneously while enabling you to be more productive in society.

When I was growing up my father was a great role model when it came to physical fitness. He was active and his interest and love of sports and competition inspired me to play sports. He taught me sports were just as much mental as they were physical, and a strong mind beats a strong body any day. All these lessons increased my quality of life in different ways. The more physical activities your family sees you involved in while inspire others to follow. Take the responsibility of being the spark that changes the quality of life for you and your family.

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Stretching

One small daily exercise that can be done to improve overall fitness is stretching. Stretching is beneficial to everyone no matter your age or fitness level. Some of the benefits of daily stretching are the following:

·         Muscles will lengthen (increasing flexibility and mobility over time)

·         Day to day activities will become easier once you start to stretch

·         Improve muscle coordination

·         Decrease tension in muscles

·         Reduce lethargy

·         Increase the blood supply to all parts of the body.

Many aches and pains can be cured or improved by daily stretching. Most people that suffer from back, neck, and knee pain will notice a fast decrease in pain from simply stretching.

Most assume stretching is something you do before and after a workout. However, stretching will benefit you even if you never do strength or conditioning training. A lot of people stretch first thing in the morning or after a warm shower. The important point is that you stretch daily. Remember some of the smallest changes will give you big results as long as you stay consistent.

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What Defines You?

What defines you? Are you defined by tangible or intangible goods? We are a society that takes everything and everyone for face value. Most believe more in what they see than in what they feel.  During the average work day, we spend 1/3 of our day working for tangible goods. So what else are you known for? What are the intangibles that you are proud of?

A lot of us suffer from a "God Complex". By that I mean some of us believe we are much holier, nobler and considerate of others than we have ever shown to those around us. Real happiness doesn’t come from the tangibles, it comes for the intangibles.

The intangibles should stay at the forefront of our minds. We should be defined by acts of kindness like helping those less fortunate, or the patience we demonstrate when dealing with children in a loving manner, or the honesty people know they will receive when we speak. People will befriend you for the tangible goods, but will stand by you for the intangibles.

Each day God grants us the opportunity to be a blessing to someone. He gives us another chance to right the wrongs of the previous day. All of the doors you failed to hold for someone, the smiles you failed to return, the chances you missed to say thank you and the love and kindness you failed to share. Let the intangibles of your life define who you are and what you stand for.

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Be an example

When I was younger I used to go to older people I looked up to for advice. I would sit and listen to their highly opinionated comments and make my decisions based off the information they gave me. As time went on I started to realize most of the suggestions I had been given were not as good as they sounded. At that point I realized one true fact: don’t take advice from a person unless they are a living testament to the suggestions they provide.
As a man, why would I take marriage advice from a man that’s never been married? Women, why do you take advice on your relationship from friends that don’t have a man? Why would I take career advice from someone with no career? It truly puzzles me. I don’t know if we are looking for acceptance or what, but if you are not a living testament to the advice you give…keep it to yourself.
Everyone has an opinion, but it is up to us as individuals to filter the good information from the bad. Fitness is no different. If you want to hire a trainer, find someone in shape. If you want to tighten up your abs, ask someone who has a six or eight pack. If you wanted to train for a marathon, would you ask a power lifter? Of course not, you would ask a marathon runner.
The moral of the story is this, actions speak louder than words. Some people talk just to hear themselves speak. If you want others to listen to you and value your opinion, let the life you live be a testament to the advice you give. So many people try to make themselves out to be what they are not. If their advice is ever in question, just use the life they lead as a deciding factor if their information is worthy of listening to or not.
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Keep it real with yourself

Sometimes I feel like an alien in today’s world. I was raised to be honest by honest people. I was raised to be truthful with my personal actions, thoughts and opinions. That’s not consistent with the world we live in. We live in a time where society has become more sensitive; the truth depends on what’s politically correct. We live in a world where leagues don’t keep score in youth competitions because they don’t want the losing team’s feelings to get hurt. As my Grandmother (RIP) used to say, “The truth is the light”, and some of us need to be truthful with ourselves when it comes to our physical shape and appearance.

Whether the relationship is a marriage, courtship, parent – child, or siblings, people have an issue with being real about one another’s physical shape. For example, women, why do you ask your mates how you look when clearly you know you have fallen off physically? If you're told the truth your feelings get hurt, so lies are told. Does that lie make you feel better? You know before anyone else when your body is changing. So why ask questions you don’t want to hear honest answers to? Men and women do the same thing. A lot of times people ask questions to feed their egos rather than to hear the truth. The sad thing is that if more people were more open and honest about each other’s physical shape, the obesity rate wouldn’t be so high in our country.

When our sugar-addicted children are gaining weight and heading toward obesity, parents don’t want to say anything because it might hurt the child’s feelings. What’s more hurtful, letting a child’s health decline because you’re afraid to hurt his/her feelings, or telling them the truth so the proper changes can be made to get or stay healthy?

 Each morning take an honesty look in the mirror. You know your mental and physical strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else. Accept how you look and accept that the responsibility is yours and yours alone if you want to change. Tell others the truth, but not out of a spiteful or malicious state of mind, yet from a place of love because you truly care about them and their well-being. It is our responsibility to keep ourselves healthy. Don’t be the person that only accepts that you need to make a change once you are in the doctor’s office. Be proactive for yourself and loved ones so that doesn’t become their reality.

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The 3 Essential Laws to proper eating for the average person

Proper preparation prevents poor performance. The meaning of this statement is simple. If you don’t prepare for success, then you are preparing to fail. This statement holds true in every facet of life, especially fitness.

A very common excuse people give for bad eating habit is “I just don’t have the time”. If you have time to fill your stomach with high priced synthetically enhanced, sodium-injected fast food, surely you have time to enjoy fresh, natural foods that are essential to a healthy lifestyle.

There are three essential laws to proper eating for the average person.

1.       Buy the right foods. When shopping, try to purchase products located around the outer perimeters of the store. Normally the fresh produce, proteins, milk products and bread products are located in these areas. Processed goods are located in the middle of the store (which is a marketing tactic but that’s for another blog). 

2.       Preparation and portion size. You have to plan to eat right. For example, cook 3 big meals in one day at the start of the week. Freeze the leftovers in single portion sized bags. That way you save money and can better control your food choices. For those that often eat at sit-down restaurants, there’s only one main point to remember. The portion size that most restaurants give you is minimally, double of what you should actually be consuming in one meal. Therefore, if your restaurant serving looks to be twice the size of a meal, eat half of your dish and eat the remainder a couple of hours later. Also try avoiding food fillers (such as breads). That way you don’t stuff yourself, and a single big meal is turned into 2 small meals, which is much better for your metabolism and digestive system.

3. Always remember don’t eat until you are full; just eat until you’re no longer hungry. And avoid waiting to eat until you are starving. There is a big difference in the amount you will consume when you fail to follow these principals.

Again, proper preparation prevents poor performance. These are just three small changes that will give you big long term results. Each day you have to prepare for success. Prepare to be fit, prepare to make good meal choices, and prepare to provide the type of healthy food that you and your family need.

Embracing Change

I embrace change like a cup in the country collecting spring rains,

Tapping on the door of success like drops on a stain glass window pane,

The struggle to stay sane is easier said than done,

Glorifying the origin from where my strength comes from.

I run daily, inhaling pain and exhaling love,

Replacing angry looks with handshakes and bear hugs,

A man that gains the world but in turn loses his soul,

Will find himself alone in the days as he weakens and grows old.

Hold on to your soul cause it will lead you through troubled times,

Makes bad thoughts transparent and unable to block righteous ways in your mind,

Some say I’m lead by a powerful force, many say it’s divine,

But I define myself as a Work In Progress,

Just trying to help my fellow man deal with his daily stress,

Trying to keeping his head raised so he can see that he’s blessed.

-Cmac 2012