· THOU SHALL LIFT HEAVY SHIT
Here’s the deal. Whatever the goal – fat loss, muscle gain, getting all toned and stuff (whatever kind of crazy douchebaggery that is) – one shall go to the gym and lift heavy shit. Nothing will get you to your goal faster than getting strong.
We’re not talking about lifting four kilogram dumbbells; nor are we talking about lifting cars. But a large part of your training should be strength based.
Increasing strength and building muscle will improve your metabolism, minimise the amount of body fat you possess, increase energy, improve your mood, improve your self-confidence and allow you to do awesome things like carry your shopping from the car to your front door in one trip and perform totally cool press up tricks in front of your mum.
· YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY
Not that kind of adultery. Although you shouldn’t do that either. No, that’s bad. Very bad.
But here’s what people do: They start a ‘diet’ or ‘workout plan’, crush it for two weeks, see results, then suddenly don’t see results, ditch their old plan and jump onto the next new shiny ‘diet’ or ‘workout’ they see calling them from the horizon.
Yep they outright commit adultery on their initial plan. And, boys and girls, life lesson here, they always end up worse off than they were before.
Jumping from diet to diet or training programme to training programme is a recipe for disaster. For the Ten Commandments clearly state you must choose a diet or plan and stick with it for a prolonged period of time. Even when you feel like throwing the towel in, like things aren’t working and a sexy new programme dressed in provocative clothing is calling your name, you must keep going.
· THOU SHALL BE PATIENT
In an era where everything happens incredibly fast and almost at the click of a button, people now expect things that usually take a long time to happen at the same pace.
You know that time frame you’ve got in mind for you to achieve that magical physique you envisage yourself displaying?
Double it. Hell, even triple it.
For the whole of 2017 shall be about patience. It shall be about thinking of the bigger picture and not throwing your toys out the pram when your abs aren’t showing after two weeks of training, you’ve incorporated a bit of broccoli into your dinner and added in a couple of protein shakes to your diet.
· YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOUR’S HOUSE
You see the girl across the gym? The one elegantly performing her squats in her perfect leggings, with her perfect figure and perfect kale-and-kiwi-smoothie life. Yeah, don’t be jealous of her. Ever.
Here’s the thing: while it’s easy to believe everyone else, and the girl with those amazing damn arms, is doing better than you, losing weight quicker than you, eating better than you and finding everything so much easier than you, it’s so important to keep in mind – they’re not. Definitely not.
Remember. Everyone has their breakdowns, their binges, their moments of despair, their struggles, their injuries and their burning desires to look and be like someone else. Everyone else has to work hard at getting their nutrition on point, their training up to scratch and their lifestyle to align with their goals.
Everyone was like you once. So it’s time to ignore that girl. And focus on what success looks like for you.
· HONOUR YOUR CALORIE AND PROTEIN INTAKE
The mother and father of the nutritional epicentre that engulfs us, overall calorie and protein intake are the two factors one must honour above all else.
It’s time to ditch the constant worries over carbs, sugar, meal timing, meal frequency, supplements, whether you put the milk or coffee in the mug first and any other media-hyped BS that plagues the industry and focus on the two most important parts of fat loss.
If you want to get lean (which you do), then make sure your overall calorie intake is less than you’re expending. Make sure you also prioritise protein (meat, fish, eggs, whey protein) in your diet.
Oh and eat some damn vegetables for goodness sake.
· YOU SHALL SLEEP AND DE-STRESS
Moses slept for a long time before he received the Ten Commandments. And took lots of naps along the way too. And so should you.
Sleep deprivation isn’t good. It totally destroys willpower, triggers cravings, ruins productivity, increases distractions, negatively influences your metabolism and wreaks havoc with your mood.
2017 shall be the year of sleep and de-stressing. Forget the extra episode on Netflix or latest GIF showing puppies being, you know, cute, and focus on getting at least 7/8 good quality hours of sleep every night.
· THOU SHALL PREPARE AND PLAN AHEAD
‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. God that’s annoying.
Even more annoyingly, it’s so damn true. Getting in from work to a daily cyclone of pandemonium when the kids are painting the walls and the cat’s shat on the floor is the last thing you need when you just want to get to the gym to lift heavy shit (see what I did there), cook a nutritious dinner and focus on finally getting things right.
Having a go-to plan though – your dinner has already been prepared, your gym kit is by the front door or you’ve arranged someone to look after the kids for you, for example – is the best way to succeed.
So do The Ten Commandments a favour and start drawing up a weekly plan of your meals, start preparing your food, get yourself a gym plan and get planning ahead.
· THOU SHALL UNDERSTAND FAT LOSS IS LIKE REALLY HARD
Let 2017 hit you with a good old fashioned dose of the truth: You can’t get abs in six weeks. Fat loss isn’t effortless. And there’s no ‘easy’ way of dieting.
These lies set people up for failure from the off. When people then inevitably stumble across the struggles, the hunger, the pains, the life-sized chocolate bars chasing you down the street in your dreams and the constant difficulties they get confused. ‘This wasn’t meant to happen to me? Why am I finding it so hard when others are finding it so easy?’
What do they then do? Quit.
So remember. You are going to get frustrated at times; you’re going to feel like you’re giving it everything and nothing is happening, you’re going to struggle with the hunger, you’re going to find exercise hard and you’re going to feel like throwing the towel in. But this happens to everyone and it’s going to happen to you.
· YE SHALL WALK. A LOT.
You’re a NEAT kinda person. You go gal. NEAT being – non-exercise activity thermogenesis.
Say what?
You know, non-exercise activity thermogenesis. All the movement you do that isn’t exercise – walking, fidgeting, playing with the dog, picking your nose. The crazy thing about this little nugget is that it counts for around 30% of people’s totally daily energy expenditure. That’s a lot.
So ye shall harness the power of NEAT. By simply being more active throughout the day – taking the stairs, walking (a lot), interspersing periods of sitting and standing – you can artificially ‘speed up your metabolism’ and automatically give yourself a better chance of looking better.
· THOU SHALL STOP WORRYING AND START ENJOYING
Seriously, stop worrying. Yes we all want to look good naked and be ‘beach body ready’, but at the end of the day there are a lot of things in life that we can also enjoy; spending time with your family, going out with your friends, going on nice holidays and eating the damn ice cream for dessert because ice cream is great.
So while you shouldn’t be eating the world and his dog or sitting on your butt all day, please don’t agonise over a lack of abs, the thigh gap you want or the desire for a cheeky bicep. Embrace your flaws, value your health and focus on becoming even more healthy, strong and awesome than you already are.
This Article Was Too Long and I Didn’t Read It – Can You Summarise It Please
· Thou Shall Lift Heavy Shift
· You Shall Not Commit Adultery
· Thou Shall Be Patient
· You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbour’s House
· Honour Your Calories and Protein Intake
· You Shall Sleep and De-Stress
· Thou Shall Prepare and Plan Ahead
· Thou Shall Understand Fat Loss is Like Really Hard
· Ye Shall Walk. A Lot.
· Thou Shall Stop Worrying and Start Enjoying
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