Bringing in the New Year

As I was in the grocery store the other day, I noticed most of the magazine covers gracing the shelves contained some type of promise, that usually claimed something like this:

• 30 Weight Loss Secrets Inside!
• Add 5 Pounds of Muscle Today!
  
• Washboard Abs in 2 Weeks!
• Fat Loss made EASY!
• Your dream body in 28 Days!

Now, it is not abnormal for magazines with these types of claims to appear year round. However, it particularly hit me this time as I realized that most people tend to specifically focus on body transformation at the turn of the new year.
"This year I'm going to remain consistent in the weight room."
"This time I'm actually going to eat healthy for a year straight."
Statements such as this are certain to be floating around New Years' cocktail parties, or inside people's heads as they write out their New Years' resolutions. Not to mention, any gym I have worked at, or been a member of, always experiences an influx of people signing up with the certainty that "this year" they will be consistent.

Now, I certainly don't mean to make light of resolutions made by many at the onset of a new year. I have made them myself in years past, and I know that most people truly believe they can change. However, what I do want to make clear is that changing the way we behave, especially with regards to body transformation (be it fat loss, muscle gain, or both), is NOT EASY. Many people spend copious amounts of time and resources searching for the one secret they can apply to achieve the goal of their dreams. Unfortunately, there is NO SECRET.

Now, are the basic principles of fat loss and muscle gain a lot more simple than most of the "internet experts" or magazines (ex. always promising the "latest and greatest" information) make them out to be? Sure. But it's not easy. It takes a lot of hard effort, time, and consistency. What I hope to convey to people I work with and those I converse with is that body transformation is not the easy (or quick) process that the media tries to tell us.

This is not news to most of us, but we live in a fast-paced society which makes it increasingly difficult to have patience with goals that take time. With the internet providing immediate access to information, and microwaves popping out meals for us in a matter of minutes, we begin to subconsciously believe that there must be a quick-fix to everything. The reality is:

Good Sleep + Hard Work + Consistency + Time = Results

(I believe that sleep impacts all of the other variables, which is why I placed it first) Now, I understand that many of us need guidance in these areas. My hope is to provide weekly (at minimum) updates on how to effectively channel our hard work in order to see (and feel!) results. Whether reaching for increased performance on the playing field, or achieving a desired body transformation, all it really comes down to is "Eat clean, and move around more". My job is to communicate this in a way that gives people practical, and effective, ways of doing so.