[floridaorange]

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from an All-American Athlete in track and football. He said, when you are trying to get back into great shape, the goal needs to be this: "You need to get to the point where it is harder on your body NOT to workout than it is TO workout." Once you reach that flow state, diet should follow along naturally, for optimal recovery, growth, wellness, etc.

Your Purpose Must Be Greater Than Your Challenges.

[floridaorange]

...

[floridaorange]

I'd like to also add this, as I think it's really important.

I've noticed that for those who are looking to make drastic changes in their diet or exercise - they often over exert themselves to start out. Examples: going on a 3 mile run during the hottest part of the day. Or, only eating vegetables when they are used to eating garbage.

The reason they often do this is to literally make the process so excruciating, they are then able to tell themselves "see, this is too hard, it's not worth the cost, this isn't for me." Creating excuses for themselves "this is too hard" "im not athletic enough, blah blah," that's a trap, don't overdo it...

If you don't make it a fun challenge for yourself with loads of positive reinforcement along the way, it won't become a lifestyle change. Which is what you want. Slow, incremental body structural change, improving the gut biomes health takes time too.

Give yourself a YEAR to make the changes, but win each day along the way. And for f*ck sake - STAY OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY. Post reminders in your mirror - change takes time, it's not a sprint it's a marathon. You will be the last person to notice the changes. You will make mistakes along the way, just take notes and learn from them, it's part of the process.

Remember - sometimes the body follows the mind, sometimes the mind follows the body.

[JP10]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

I'd like to also add this, as I think it's really important.

I've noticed that for those who are looking to make drastic changes in their diet or exercise - they often over exert themselves to start out. Examples: going on a 3 mile run during the hottest part of the day. Or, only eating vegetables when they are used to eating garbage.

The reason they often do this is to literally make the process so excruciating, they are then able to tell themselves "see, this is too hard, it's not worth the cost, this isn't for me." Creating excuses for themselves "this is too hard" "im not athletic enough, blah blah," that's a trap, don't overdo it...

If you don't make it a fun challenge for yourself with loads of positive reinforcement along the way, it won't become a lifestyle change. Which is what you want. Slow, incremental body structural change, improving the gut biomes health takes time too.

Give yourself a YEAR to make the changes, but win each day along the way. And for f*ck sake - STAY OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY. Post reminders in your mirror - change takes time, it's not a sprint it's a marathon. You will be the last person to notice the changes. You will make mistakes along the way, just take notes and learn from them, it's part of the process.

Remember - sometimes the body follows the mind, sometimes the mind follows the body.

Smoothie recipe:
Buy:
Organic spinach - freeze it (2 hand fulls to smoothie, or maybe 3)
frozen blueberries - the smaller the better ( 2 handfulls)
Oats - I prefer gluten free (not steel coat, just normal oatmeal oats)
Canned pumpkin (organic is always better I think) (add half to smoothie
Celery - handful
Carrots - chop them up (organic) add about 3-4 to smoothie
Grapefruit (half at a time, remove peel of course)
Banana - freeze it - add half to smoothie
Ginger root - about as much as the size of your thumb, peel it, throw it in blender

Once that's all blended into an apple sauce consistency - add Protein powder - (preferably one with BCAA's in it) (3 scoops). Blend for about 5 seconds, you don't want to over blend at this point because the consistency can get weird from the powder, so just a quick mix

Add milk of your choice, blend, make enough for today and tomorrow, put the rest in fridge.

Drink plenty of water and perhaps switch coffee for green tea if you can.
Take a cutting board, cut this stuff up, toss in a NINJA blender, add

This smoothie I designed gives you a base level of nutrition to start your day, so in case you don't have time to eat a salad, at least you got your vitamins from the earth.

p.s. Don't underestimate the power of listening to upbeat music while you workout or get ready in the morning. It needs to be music that makes you want to dance in my opinion, it really helps. For me - Paul Oakenfold works. But for some it might be hard rock.

Nailed it.

That smoothie recipe sounds pretty tasty, once my vanilla powder shows up I might give it a go. Sounds like it'll produce a shit load of servings haha. We just got a Vitamix blender so I want to put it to the test!

[floridaorange]

Thanks for quoting, having some technical difficulties with editing...

I went from Ninja to Vitamix back to Ninja. And I make smoothies every other day. The Ninja blends with less speed, and actually blends quicker. I prefer the applesauce consistency vs a milkshake consistency, seems less pulverized and I don't trust the power of the Vitamix, too fast, potentially too hot from speed, less nutritious outcome for a healthy smoothie.

[JP10]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

Thanks for quoting, having some technical difficulties with editing...

I went from Ninja to Vitamix back to Ninja. And I make smoothies every other day. The Ninja blends with less speed, and actually blends quicker. I prefer the applesauce consistency vs a milkshake consistency, seems less pulverized and I don't trust the power of the Vitamix, too fast, potentially too hot from speed, less nutritious outcome for a healthy smoothie.

Yeah we had some issues with our Vitamix already. Tried to make soup in it, and eventually succeeded, but was under impressed with the volume it could handle. The thermal fail switch kept triggering hence we would have to wait for the blender to cool down. Then we had to keep fracturing the amount until it worked. I read great things about the Vitamix, but like I said, underwhelmed. It was a gift my fiance got at her bridal shower, if I had paid for it I probably would have returned it by now. I want to put it to the test with a few more concoctions first though. If it is still being problematic I might return and try the Ninja as that is what I had on our registry for the wedding.

I'm the same as you in regards to the consistency, little chunkyness doesnt bother me, with that said the fiance is the opposite.

[floridaorange]

Keep vitamix for her and get ninja for you...

She'll come around eventually and you can always sell a vitamix for good $$$.

I think it takes a lot of practice - to get right... I just prefer the ninja blade setup for my massive smoothies

[LaVitaEBella]

I do portion control, just so that I can still eat what I want and so far it is working.

[g.m00]

Small gradual changes help in the transitioning phase. Balance is key so you don't go to a point where you hate what you're doing but start loving the cleansing, changing, and that new energy it does to you.