Since it is the beginning of the year, I’m sure you have several goals….Perhaps fitness, financial, spiritual or otherwise. I have a question…

Are you putting your goals in writing or are they just in your head? Goals that are only in your head are just dreams. While dreams are awesome, and they are the inception of goals, there are additional steps that have and need to be taken in order to manifest those dreams into existence.

Here are a few of my thoughts and experiences regarding goal setting.

Write down your goals…There is POWER in seeing written goals. It incites action!
Revisit your goals often. This will serve as a reminder to keep you on track to achieving those goals. Don’t let them become an afterthought. You may become tired at times during this journey and you will also probably encounter distractions or deterrents.

I like to post my goals on sticky notes and place them in locations where I have to see them at least daily.(i.e. My bathroom medicine cabinet)

This helps me with holding myself accountable. In the morning, I ask myself what can I do today that he get me one step closer to reaching my goal? At night, I ask the question, what did I do today to bring me closer to my goal? If I don’t like the answers, that means that I have to work harder and be more intentional the following day.

Keeping my goals visible allows me to pray and meditate on them often as well. I usually place an inspiring Bible verse or verses near the goals. I am acutely aware that I cannot accomplish my goals on my own.

I encourage you to try this practice of writing down your goals for at least 90 days and see how it goes. I am willing to bet that if you have never done this before, you will see a significant difference in your goal achievement results.

Don’t just make a resolution and let it fade away in a few weeks. Set goals and crush them!

The summer is almost upon us, which means it is time to lean out. One of the tools that I like to utilize to help me get lean is intermittent fasting.“Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term for various diets that cycle between a period of fasting and non-fasting during a defined period. Intermittent fasting can also be used with calorie restriction for weight loss.”
There are various ways or protocols that you can use to intermittent fast. The most popular seems to be the 16/8. This is when you fast for a 16 hour period and have a feeding window of 8 hours. This is also the protocol that I use. Many people also use the 18/6 and 20/4 protocols. The key is to chose the protocol that works best for you and your schedule. I try to schedule as much of my fasted period during the time that I am asleep as I can. For example, My fasting period is from 8pm to 12:00 noon the next day. So for 6-8 of those hours, I am asleep.
It may take a little trial and error to figure out a schedule that works for you. Be patient.
Here are a few benefits of IF:
–Intermittent Fasting Changes The Function of Cells, Genes and Hormones
-Insulin levels: Blood levels of insulin drop significantly, which facilitates fat burning.
The Point:
When you fast, insulin levels drop and human growth hormone increases. Your cells also initiate important cellular repair processes and change which genes they express.
-Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Lose Weight and Belly Fat
-Lower insulin levels, higher growth hormone levels and increased amounts
of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) all increase the breakdown of body fat
and facilitate its use for energy.
For this reason, short-term fasting actually increases your metabolic rate
by 3.6-14%, helping you burn even more calories

Intermittent Fasting Can Reduce Insulin Resistance, Lowering Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
-In human studies on intermittent fasting, fasting blood sugar has been reduced by 3-6%, while fasting insulin has been reduced by 20-31%

Source:Healthline.com

I have had success in the past when I was Intermittent Fasting. I can’t really say that I have experienced a significant improvement in focus and mental clarity, which is benefit that a lot of people say that they experience. Overall I think it is a good tool and I have found it beneficial. Give it a shot!

Competing in a triathlon has always been on my bucket list.  I remember my Dad talking about them when I was too young to really understand what it was or what it entailed. Fast forward a couple of decades, I began seeing one of my good friends, Carolyn doing a ton of biking and swimming on social media. After a few weeks, she posted that she competed in a Half Ironman.  I was elated for her! I thought it was a huge and cool accomplishment.  I met up with her shortly afterwards and she began sharing with me her training journey and the ins and outs of a triathlon.  Needless to say, by the end of the night, Carolyn had convinced me to do I triathlon. I found myself signing up for my first Tri the very next morning.

For my first my first race, I decided that I should get my feet wet with a sprint triathlon. This particular race was a .25 swim, an 16 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run. I ran a few 5ks here and there, but nothing to this extent.  I have always loved swimming, but hadn’t swam competitively since I was a child, and this was open water swimming, which is a whole different ball game. As far as cycling, does casual bike riding and sporadic spin classes count???

I had about 9 weeks to train before my race.  I felt like that would give me enough time to prepare for the race, but I had to be intentional and really put the time into my training.  Then I had to buy gear, which can get costly very quickly, but if you are willing to do a little digging, there are a lot of deals out there.  Carolyn told me about a coach and triathlon group who she trained with.  After a week or two, I decided that I may need to meet with a coach to make sure that my training was on track.  That was one to the best decisions that I made.  Not only did I learn a lot and improve when it came to my swimming, but I had a chance to meet a lot of great people in the process.  The triathlon community it pretty close knit, I would imagine that it would be comparable to the crossfit community. Training was hard, but fun.  Also, it was quite time consuming, a lot of early mornings….ugh.

It was finally race day.  It was a hot typical Florida summer day, the waves were a lot more choppy than I expected.  All in all the race went well. I came in under my goal time, which was to finish before two hours.  I could’ve probably done a little better, but I was a little too conservative on the bike portion of the race, so I wouldn’t be spent when it came to the run. It was a great experience, and I can’t wait to do it again. I met and formed relationships with a great group of people, pushed my body further than I had before. I have put my competing and training on hold for the moment.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, while I was in the midst of training, my wife announced that we were pregnant! We later found out with twins!! So needless to say time is very limited at the moment, and not conducive for “Tri” training with everything else I have going on, but I’ll be back out there soon, running through a neighborhood, swimming in an ocean, or cycling through a town near you…

How do you take your coffee? How many of you like your coffee black? For years, I couldn’t understand how people could drink coffee black, ugh.

Coffee has many health benefits that can aid in weight loss. It has caffeine, which could be used as a pre-workout. It could be an appetite suppressant, especially helpful, in my opinion, with intermittent fasting. It has a thermogenic effect as well.

This is all, if you don’t load it with sugar, milk, creamers, etc. I’m not coming down on people who use those; I was one of them for many years. I was the type of person who added a little bit a coffee with my creamer and sugar. The lighter the coffee shade the better. After realizing how the additives in my coffee could be hurting my gains, I slowly transitioned to drinking black coffee. Here’s how I did it.

First, I started measuring how much creamer and sugar I was putting in my coffee (i.e. 2 tablespoons of creamer and 2 tablespoons of sugar). Then, I would gradually reduce the amounts from there. Getting to 1 tablespoon of each soon. Next, I was able to get rid of the creamer altogether. Then, I transitioned from sugar to a sugar substitute. I used Stevia. I drank black coffee with Stevia for a little while, then I decided that I didn’t like the taste of Stevia. So I transitioned to Sugar in the Raw in the packets. By using those packets, I realized that I didn’t need quite so much sugar. So I was down to using half a packet or less of Sugar in the Raw in my coffee. Then the day came, I was able to go all black. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought, and I made another discovery. I could actually taste the differences in brands and types of coffee. I had always masked the coffee with so much creamer and sugar I actually couldn’t even taste the coffee.

Nowadays, black is my preferred way to drink coffee. If I can do it, truly anyone can do it.  Don’t get me wrong…occasionally I will add just a dash of Sugar in the Raw or enjoy the occasional specialty coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts. This is usually when I am traveling. I hope this has helped. Give black coffee a shot and be patient with yourself. I would love to hear from you on how it is going with your transition. Also, what shade are you?

Lately, apple cider vinegar has been popping up a lot a sure fire way to lose weight.  There are all kinds of ACV detox diets out there.  While ACH does have quite a few health benefits, I wouldn’t quite call it a miracle elixir.  Let’s look into it a little bit deeper.

Can apple cider vinegar help you lose weight?  The answer is yes and here’s how. There are studies that show, that ACV can lower blood sugar levels and decrease insulin levels, which could aid in fat burning.  It is also said to reduce belly fat storage and can be used as an appetite suppressant.  ACV has even been shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

When you purchase ACV, you want to make sure that it is organic and has “mother” in it. The organic version has more “good” bacteria in it and living nutrients.

When and how should you take it? Well, make sure that you don’t take it with caffeine. This may slow down the absorption process. I have seen a lot of recipes that call for it to be mixed with honey, water, and a few other spices.  As far as when to drink it, you can drink it anytime.  Some people suggest right before a meal to help with curbing your appetite.  I personally like it first thing in the morning or before bed.

How often should you take it? 2-3 times a day would be optimal, remember that it is an acidic substance and too much of anything can be bad.

All in all, apple cider vinegar has several health benefits and could possibly aid in weight loss.  However, it should not be used as a substitute for exercise and a healthy diet.

I would say give it a shot and see how it works for you.

I have a question for you…
Whatever your goal may be, whether it is to get in better shape or if it is to become debt free do you actually visualize yourself achieving that goal? If not, I would encourage you to start. When you do this, don’t make it a brief exercise, make it detailed and really become engrossed in your thoughts. For example, think about what would your body look like if you were in better shape? Would it be to have a body like Sylvester Stallone, Tyson Beckford, or Jillian Michaels? Maybe it would be seeing a certain number when you step on the scale or a certain number when you log in to check your bank account balance. Imagine the feeling that it would bring. What you you do once this particularly goal was achieved? “A study published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine in 2011 found that people who saw themselves as the person they would like to become as a result of exercise burned more calories than did those who imagined themselves only working out or getting ready to do it. ”

Visualization is a powerful tool that has been utilized by athletes for a very long time. Science says that this technique works because neurons in our brains, those electrically excitable cells that transmit information, interpret imagery as equivalent to a real-life action. When we visualize something the brain fires an impulse that signal our neurons to perform that particular movement.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to begin incorporating visualization as a tool to help you reach your goals. Try this out for a few week or even a few month. I would love to hear about your results.

We will leave you with these 3 things:
-Get clear on what you vision is.
-Be consistent and in depth when visualizing your goals.
-Execute, make sure that your actions are bringing you closer to obtaining your visualized goals.

Also, “Vision” just happens to be one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Universe. (We just wanted to throw in that bonus info..)