Know The Difference

Many people don't fully understand the balance of powers that play a huge hand in our lifes. Many feel unable to control it because they think,

"You can't control everything.  Some things just happen"

Which is true

Others believe everything is left is our hands and we must choose to make the best of it or it will best us every time.

That is also true

So where's the balance? Balance is, in my opinion, will always be the most consistent thing we have to opportunity to make and keep in our life. The truth is , fate and destiny are the two ends of which they themselves reside in delicate balance and they balance on your choices

In other words;  everything always and will always come down to the choices you make with the hand that you've been dealt. (For your card players and gamblers out there)

Often times you'll feel powerless. A victim of circumstances beyond all your control, and in that state of mind you often migrate to the emotional ways of thinking, but please remember this

"Emotion isn't a thought, it's a feeling."

As this crescendos with the pile up of adversity;  all rational thought goes completely out of play and it tends to lead to a metaphorical downward spiral

Or a nervous breakdown and irrational thoughts because,  again, emotion is not a thought, it's a feeling.

And on the flip side, we ignore destiny and make fate of everything of our situations. We choose a direction;  yet without an open mind to destiny or faith in it; we choose another path out of our destiny due to impatience and lack of faith in it.

You'll hear a lot of, " it wasn't going to work anyways" to justify their impatience but you cannot base decisions off impatience because, again, that's an emotion not a thought.

If anything else, remember this,

Fate and Destiny exists whether you choose (keyword choose) to agree with it or not. Everything isn't meant to work as well as it is meant to work because no matter what; everything happens for a reason. There's a reason why you're here. There's a reason why you're in the situation that you're currently in right now but there is NO reason why you can't change it if you want to.

Just as you can choose to make your life better you can choose to make it worse.

" Balance be the key to all happiness that you bring in your life. Your intuition be your lighthouse to guide you righteously "

The Three P's of All Ailments.

Due to a conversation I had while photographing a woman in the Oil & Gas industry;  a light bulb went off as a spark of conversation turned to a inspiration piece from mere chit-chat.

All of the ailments in our life are caused of many sources, be it natural or unnatural; yet the solution of the problem, unsurprisingly, all come from many sources. Most unnatural,  and few natural. 

The Pill

The Patch

The Problem

The Pill

The quintessential piece of all Western medicine and mainstream propaganda.  The quick fix that all seek, young and old. It is this that the majority of people all live and die by. It is , for the most part, the snake oil of men.

Some so quick to down pills for everything; yet they still perish.  Why? Do the pills fix the problem? Or do they only cover it up. I, myself, have been without insurance for years. Would you care to know how many times I've been sick? Or would you rather know how often and well I choose to care for my body to avoid getting sick?

The Patch

"Out of sight. Out of mind" is the foundation that the patch as created for us. 'Lo we do hide our reality seeking eyes from the truth and seduce it with all sorts of other trinkets to mask what is ailing us so.

Does this honest do anything for us? Do we really forget our real issues when we throw a patch over it? Or do we make matters worse and merely throw it at the back of our minds to fester while it exacerbates our real issue?

The PROBLEM

The more perceptive of you have already figured it out and some of the more knowledgeable people already knew this, but here is the root of all ailments. The very stem of all that plagues us.

The problem is your choices and your lifestyle.

Your weight,  poor health, low finances,  low self esteem and lack of confidence comes from an unhealthy combination of bad choices of unpleasant lifestyles.

You cannot outrun, nor can you ignore it. Whatever pill you take, it's like a weed. Pull one, more grow.

Whatever patch you try to use to cover it; it's only a matter of time before it returns.

We are given free will to decide how we will live and what we will live with.

Nothing is permanent

Everything can change

Make the choice to change your lifestyle for the better, and the returns will be good, if not better than what you've expected. 

Happy Training

When Did We Become Copies?

There was a time during my upbringing when the undeniable desires to achieve more and believe in yourself resonated within me like the vibration of the bell above the church during Sunday service.

Now days I see that this chime has faded into the remedial and consistent 6am alarm that I hate.

Not only do I hate it , I resent it.

I resent it because it is a constant reminder of the entrepreneurial spirit is being ignored and was sold out for the overrated suit and slack combination that screams "Corporate Slaves".

When did I become a carbon copy of the failures I've subjected myself to?

When did I forget my own capabilities and ambitions?

There's NO reason we should follow the deathnail that seals our fates into a mediocre conforming coffin

There is absolutely NO reason why we should feel stuck in a rut and accept less

And there is no reason why we can't change things for the better.

Nothing is permanent

Everything can change

Once you start , all it takes is time and effort to fulfilment.

Square Pegs and Round Holes

The regressive progess I've made in this new journey is coming to an end shortly, and in this lengthy dawning of my minds once darkened set over the plains of corporate America,  I emplore you: come see as I've just seen

It is none too intriguing,  this horrible sedation of my being is constantly pinched between a penny and a planner. Astounding to myself,

"How could I endure this redundancy in this timely manner?"

No , not for me this prision is to be. But for the ones walking everlasting in Limbo , does this office hold their necks by the noose

I've merely experienced the situation for a month and here I begin to see and feel the advert effects on my being. My body has become sedentary, weakened as pains of static aches extend their bitter hands through out my spine and needle my nerves till they're intertwined

My soul is left scarce, dry and void of any viable source of humanity.  No single beat of my once lively body can't be felt in this numbing state of conformity that has bled my individuality dry and killed the spirit within to better my life

Yet ... now , the tides of change have risen high. The corporate collar is to be broken and I will run free

We are PEOPLE!

Not confused and conforming carcasses to bid the will of the corporate machine

to struggle to feed our loved ones with the pressure of the corporate thumb pressing down harder and harder on our bodies to just end in the same position as the rich and weathly

If we are to die the same; so shall we choose to live the same.

I will not be contained

I will not be denied

I'm free

I am alive.

Inside vs Outside; what you can't see will kill you

The age old expression,

"Never judge a book by its cover"

Carries more water in relevance to life than I had once thought. As a fitness expert;  I am often amazed at peoples responses to taking action in assuring their personal health is up to par and their results are flourishing.  While I deeply enjoy the success of my clients, I also am burdened by some of their ignorance.

You see some people think just because they are a certain weight or a certain dress size that they're healthy.  A lot of times that will be the affirming motivation for them to make a change and I understand that. There was once a time when I wore a size 54" waist jean/shorts and XXXL shirts and it crushed me every time I looked in the mirror. Although that was bad, it wasn't as bad as some doctor telling me that at 13 years old I was already on a bad path with my health. Bad weight, pre-hypertensive and on the verge of diabetes.  Throw all that together and you have COUNTLESS reasons to exercise and ZERO excuses.

When I hear someone talk about their weight/size in such a manner that it seems relevant to their personal health, I shake my head every single time. Sure, the outter shell can tell a lot about your work ethic regarding your fitness, but what does the inside have to say?

Do you think Hypertension doesn't exist if you fit in a size 2 ladies?

Do you think diabetes gives a damn about you being able to fit in a L shirt guys?

Do you think high cholesterol cares about you being able to bench press 300lbs?

I'll give you a hint

It doesn't

Looking amazing in clothes and being able to lift some heavy weight is only PART of what it is to be healthy.

It's also about getting your inside in check as well as your outside. There is no set weight or clothes size that reflects what is healthy and what isn't.

Don't worry about the weight you have, only the weight you've lost.

Don't worry about the size you are, only focus on the inches you've dropped

And don't put all your faith in what the mirror shows you, because it is what you cannot see that can kill you.

Get a check up with your doctor every 6 months - 1 year and make sure your vitals are in check.

Diabetes

Hypertension

Cholesterol

And the list goes on.

Effort Yields Results

It has been OBVIOUS. Painfully obviously that everyone wants all the result without putting in the effort. They want to "Get fit quick" way or the magic diet or pill to bring their body to greatness and avoid all the work. 

That's the problem, people don't want to work for it anymore. It's not entirely the fault of their ignorance; other sources are to blame.

The advertising companies who have the nerve to say"This person lost all this weight with Jenny Craig and you can too"When they know DAMN well that person had a personal trainer, worked out 5-6 days a week for a few hours at a time and ate right ALL the time.

It's the fault of the companies who make such things as: BowFlex, Ab Ripper, The Shakeweight & The Perfect Push-up that are seriously trying to get the ignorant masses to believe you can get a perfect sculpted body by doing "Perfect Pushups".

 It's those weight loss remedies who claim you can lose up to 20lbs in a month taking this pill when their models have either been airbrushed or had liposuction/gastric bypass.

Get the hell out of here with that nonsense!

The only true method of gaining is WORK. Work day in and day out, put in your time and you get exactly what you gave. Dont half-ass your input and run your mouth complaining and whining about the outcome when you know damn well you skipped workouts, you ate garbage and you didn't do your cardio.

 Now if you're happy being fat, depressed, unhealthy, ugly, weak, pitiful or all the above then more power to you

But ....

If you aren't satisfied then it's time to shut the hell up and get your self to the gym and get satisfied!

Reality Check

You know what kills me more than anything in my career field? It's not when I see someone having a hard time with their goals, or when someone gets discouraged. It's when someone gives up completely.

When you give up completely all you are doing is saying, " I can't do this " or the following:

"I don't want to lose 20lbs anymore"

"I am okay with being fat"

"I'm okay with not being able to physically help myself if I need to"

"I don't care about myself"

All of these and more are exactly what you're saying when you say "I can't do this" or "I don't want to workout" and in lieu of this, you consciously or subconsciously find a way to make an effort on a far smaller scale.

You immediately go to the latest workout fad, buy P90X, go to Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers and at the end of the day, it still didn't work?

Why is that?  Because not only did you try to take the easy way out of the hard work you need to put in but you also went to some "Lose weight fast" scheme thinking it would do all the work for you.

The result isn't in the method or in the venue;  it's in the work ethic and the work ethic alone.

Your excuses will only keep you fat:

All of your lame excuses for not working out are doing nothing but keeping you fat and ugly. You have not a single excuse that justifies your lack of dedication to your personal health and fitness. You have time. You have the money. You have the ability. You choose not to do it and waste your money on other means of short term satisfaction and still wonder why your clothes are tight and why you look the way you do.

If your friends aren't helping you; they're hurting you:

If your friends aren't encouraging you to take a look at yourselr in the mirror and do something about yourself then you need new friends because if they aren't encouraging you; they are only keeping you down.

Oh, you got problems?

That sounds familiar, but we all have problems and while you may not be able to solve them all right now; I guarantee working out will relieve some of that stress and keep other problems from forming! Like:

Weight Gain

High blood pressure

High cholesterol

Poor sex drive

Depression

And the list goes on.

If you still look cute after your workout,  you aren't done yet!!

If you aren't covered in sweat and on cloud 9 by the time your workout is done then I'm sorry to say but you have WAY more work to do. There is nothing "cute" about working out. You'll grunt, you'll sweat,  you'll smell and you'll feel amazing as hell doing it. Those little 20 min walks on the treadmill aren't going to cut it unless you're there to kill time or boredom.

I've seen people completely change their lifes by changing their bodies and I've seen them throw it all away due to their worthless excuses and lack of support and guess what;  they're right back where they started if not worse. Don't be that person. Don't waste your time and your money. If you're going to whine and cry , that's fine but you still need to work out and push yourself.