10 Quick Hits for Weight Loss

Here are 10 things that you can do every day to lead to weight loss:

1.  Eat breakfast - this is the single, and simplest thing to jump start your metabolism
2.  Take the stairs
3.  Park farther away - a couple hundred yards away from the door will burn more calories and will only take a   fraction longer than it normally does - plus, it will protect your car from dings and scratches from others.
4.  When you wake up in the morning, do some push ups, sit ups, and squats.  Performing these exercises will  wake you up and burn fat due to your empty glycogen stores.
5.  Cook your meals, don't eat out - I can pretty much guarantee that home cooked meals are going to be healthier than eating out in most circumstances
6.  Take an evening walk - Taking an evening walk after dinner with the family is a great way to wind down after a day's work, connect with your family, and burn calories
7.   Eat a big breakfast, fairly large lunch, and a smaller dinner - basically the opposite of what most families do today.  You'll need the extra calories during the day and won't need as many at night when you're sleeping.
8.  Get off the couch.  You won't burn any extra calories watching TV, and people tend to eat more while watching TV then eating with the TV off.
9.  Drink water - sometimes feelings of hunger are misinterpreted as dehydration - be sure to drink plenty of water during the day.  The best part - water has 0 calories!
10.  Cut down on one bad habit a day - if you have 2 pops, drink 1.  If you have a Caramel Latte, get it with skim milk and sugar free sugar.


Doing the little things on a consistent basis with turn into healthy weight loss in the long run.

Setting Yourself Up for Success

If I had my way I'd wake up to the waves crashing against the beach, a morning full of training, an afternoon with the family, and plenty of time to enjoy my hobbies of cooking, writing, and guiding other athletes to success.  All this, plus a heavily padded bank account.  Life is good.

But that is not reality at this point. In the words of my favorite artist, Dave Matthews, 'We'll make the best of what's around'.  This brings me to the topic of my blog, Setting Yourself Up for Success.

1.  Eliminate negativity in your life.  Negativity has a way of dragging us down and not allowing ourselves to be at a higher level to reach our potential.  Turn off the news,  be careful what you're reading on the Internet, and take a look at the people in your inner circle. Also, be careful of your 'inner voice' - replace the negative with the positive.

2.  Set goals - I realize I beat this to death, but I think it's instrumental in achieving success.  Here's an blog post all about goals

3.  Evaluate your time - Is watching 2-3 hours of sitcoms going to help you achieve your goals?  I'm going to guess no.  Just be careful that your time is not spent avoiding work vs unwinding.

4.  Keep Going - In order to be successful you need to keep going and be consistent day in and day out, whether you're training for a race, creating a business, or striving for your dream.  The journey is the best part.

5.  Never Give Up - There are times when quitting is going to seem like a good option, or the easy option.  Why not just "settle' for average?  It took Thomas Edison over 10,000 attempts to invent the light bulb - an inspiration for perseverance. 

6.  Get Uncomfortable - We don't grow standing still, we grow by going beyond our perceived boundaries, both in athletics as well as in our lives.  Get our of your comfort zone and stretch yourself.  Don't be held back by your perceived boundaries.