I enjoy jogging and I jog every weekend. I use the time to get in tune with myself and at the same time keep myself fit and healthy.

While I was jogging last weekend, I came out with an idea for this post. I found that there are lessons for us to pick up in a simple morning run and I decided to come out with this article. Who says learning only takes place in school? Here are the 7 life lessons I picked up from my morning run.

1. Keep Moving Forward, Don’t Quit and You Will Achieve Your Goals

I believe many (if not all) of you have goals that you want to achieve. (If you have not set your goals set, please proceed to do it now.) Some goals will be harder to achieve and there will be many who fail to achieve their goals.

Most people fail to achieve their goals simply because they gave up too fast. It comes down to whether your goals are something that you really want.

I don’t believe that you will give up on something easily if you really want it badly. I don’t think Tony Robbins or Richard Branson treat their goals lightly. They see it as something that they really want and their goals are something important to them that they will not give up pursuing them.

To be frank, it isn’t hard to complete a marathon. I know, I know. Some of you may think that I am a little crazy to say that and not everyone is a runner. However, I saw people who didn’t train much for a marathon end up completing it. Completing a marathon is 80% mindset and 20% fitness. If you want to reach the finishing line no matter what, you will definitely reach it.

To complete a marathon may seem daunting. However, you can easily complete a marathon if you decide to show up on the starting line, keep moving forward and promise yourself that you will not give up no matter what. This is the magic formula.

This philosophy works the same for your life goals. If you have something that you want badly enough and you decide that you will show up, move forward and don’t quit, you will definitely get it.

Most people quit too early. Don’t be someone who quits, be someone who persevere and you will definitely achieve whatever you want to achieve.

2. There Will Be Obstacles – Choose The Right Thing To Focus On

I ran from the north to the south of Singapore last weekend and it is a great experience.

During the journey, I met several obstacles.

- Lack of water checkpoints
- I got lost (I wasn’t particularly good with directions and iPhone saves the day)
- Aching foot
- iPhone running out of battery

I understand that life journey is filled with obstacles. However, every obstacle comes with challenges that will help you grow and every problem comes with solutions.

I know that there isn’t any water check points that I can find in official marathon competitions so I got my own bottle and plan my own route where I can rest and fill up my bottle.

I’m not good with directions and there is always the possibility of getting lost. However, the GPS function in iPhone really helps me with my direction. I wouldn’t leave home without my iPhone if I were to go for a long run.

During my run, I also experience pain and discomfort with my foot. It may be due to the stress on my foot due to hours of running. I wanted to give up at the half way mark, but I didn’t want to fail what I set out to do.

I modified my running style a little to help alleviate the pain and I did some stretching to see if it helps. It did and I am glad that I didn’t turn back during the half way point.

As you can see, there are always solutions to every obstacles and problems that you face. However, you will fail to notice the solutions if you choose to focus on the obstacles and problems instead.

3. Focus On The Present

Whatever you focus on will expand. If you focus on finding what is good about a person, you will be able to find all the positive traits of the person. However, if you had a quarrel with the same person, you will immediately find all the negative traits of the same person. Same person, different focus. This is why relationship always seem great at the start (you see everything great about him/her) and it goes sour as time goes by if you start to focus on the negative traits of your partner.

Whatever you focus on is your reality.

We should always be aware of where is our focus and choose to focus on things that empower us.

If you are trying to complete a marathon, you can choose to focus on the future (how far do I need to go?) but it is disempowering. Imagine focusing on you still have 20 miles or 40 kilometers to go. Suddenly the journey seems so far and arduous.

It is the same if you are trying to achieve your goals. If you want to turn your life around and you choose to focus on the future, you will think about how much it sucks to be in the present. Negative emotions don’t help to inspire you into taking action.

What you can do is to focus on the present. Focus on the moment and think about what you can do now to improve your current situation instead of thinking about tomorrow, which isn’t even here yet.

4. There Is Always Help Along The Way – Just Ask

I lost my way a couple of times during my run and sometimes it is much easier to ask for direction than simply trying to figure it out with my iPhone map.

There isn’t anyone who refuses to help me until now and I think it is good to know this. Most people won’t refuse to help you if you ask for help.

It may be fear that holds you back. Perhaps, it is the fear of rejection. If you fear being rejected, think about this; if you don’t ask, you have a 100% chance of being rejected. Asking for help means that you have at least 50% chance of getting the help that you want.

Do the maths. The odds work in your favor.

5. Have A Destination In Mind

I don’t run without a destination in mind. I don’t feel good running aimlessly and it is hard to get motivated if I were to run without a direction.

Destination gives you clarity. It gives you something to work towards to and knowing the destination means that your mind will actively search for ways to reach it.

Similarly, in life, if you do not have a goal/outcome in mind, you drift aimlessly and it is hard to achieve anything.

If you are reading this article and you have not yet set your goals, please do it now. Go write down your goals on a piece of paper and the deadline that you want to achieve it. It helps you gain clarity and it tunes your mind to search for ways to reach it.

6. Reward Yourself And You Will Work 2X Harder

I reward myself with a good breakfast after my run. I think about my rewards before I begin my run and this helps to motivate me to reach the desired destination.

Sometimes I reward myself with a good walk at the nature reserves to enjoy the scenery or/and I will buy myself a good breakfast after my run.

I look forward to these rewards. This reminds me of a donkey chasing a carrot. It may sound silly to some but having a reward system helps you to stay motivated.

The next time when you are out to do something, always set a reward system in place. It can motivate you more to take action and reach your desired outcome. Tell me how it works for you.

7. Constant And Never Ending Improvement

There are always things that we can improve in our life. For me, I want to improve on my timing for my run and maybe my sense of direction.

Whenever I run, I find ways to improve my speed, timing and distance covered. The constant and never ending improvement attitude will help me get better, faster,  stronger and healthier.

I picked up from Tony Robbins this important philosophy. Having this attitude can help us to achieve breakthroughs in our life.

Think about how much difference it will make in your life if you always strive to improve 1% every single day. Each 1% improvement adds up and it can snowball into major breakthroughs in your life.

Productivity Ebook

I am working hard on writing the productivity ebook. It is hard work to write an ebook, especially with the deadline looming near. However, I believe it will be worth it to write this ebook because I believe it will be able to help many to learn how to take massive action in their life and be truly productive so that they will be able to achieve success in the things they set out to do.

There are some hiccups and obstacles along the way but I’m trying my best to get the ebook launch by the end of October. I need some help in naming my ebook. I receive some great responses from the subscribers of HMS and if you have not done the survey yet, help me choose the title of my upcoming ebook by doing the survey through this link.

Click here to do the survey.

Wish me luck everybody and once again, thanks for reading this article and if you have any constructive feedback, do drop me an email or leave a comment below. I know there is always room for improvement. Enjoy the rest of the week and all the best to you!

Cheers
Vincent

Post from: Health Money Success

7 Life Lessons I Picked Up From A Simple Morning Run

Related Articles

• Result Of My 30 Days Challenge (11)
• 30 Days Challenge to a Healthier Body (35)
• Are You Neglecting The Most Important Thing In Your Life? (11)
• Day 18 Of 30 Days Challenge (8)
• Week 5 Fitness Update: Why I Abandoned My Colleagues And Ate My Lunch In My Own Cosy Cubicle (5)

Image courtesy of lusi

In order to achieve my desired results in this 16 weeks time, I had decided to pack my own meals last week. I prepare three of my meals to bring to work every day and consume them at every 2 – 3 hours interval.

I think this is a great decision because my lunch with my colleagues always consists of eating processed food (carbs like white rice and noodles) which is making it difficult for me to lose weight. I believe eating these processed foods can slow down my progress and may even stop me from achieving my desired results.

Some Of My Fears

I thought it would be hard to stop going for lunch with my colleagues. Some of the things I fear are…

1. Colleagues think that I am a weirdo
2. Endless question about why am I packing my own lunch
3. Colleagues sympathizing me
4. People think that I am too poor to afford lunch

In fact, making this decision does not turn out to be that difficult. I was focusing on my desired outcome and I just decided to abandon my colleagues and eat my own lunch at my cubicle for the sake of getting my desired results.

My colleagues may find me a weirdo but I do not really care as long I get my results at the end of the day. There are still lots of questions from caring colleagues as they were puzzled by my decision to skip lunch. I just tell them honestly that I am on a diet to shed the extra pounds. In fact, more people talked to me than usual, asking me about why I skip my lunch etc. Therefore, I guess that skipping my lunch improves my networking ability.

Most of the fears are illusion in the mind. I find that most of them do not really matter when I finally decide to take the action to skip going for lunch with my colleagues. This is the same for most situations when fear tries to prevent you from doing something. The surprising thing is most of your fear will be so insignificant when you decided to take the action. Most of the fears you have in your mind doesn’t happen anyway.

Conclusion

Eating my own packed lunch is giving me some great results. The last week I had mentioned that I had gained a bit of weight. I lost it back when I started to eat my own healthy lunch. I also feel better now because all my meals are clean. One meal does make a difference.

Vincent
Love His Bento

P.S: Do you eat lunch with your colleagues? Are they stopping you from losing weight? Do drop your comment below and share with us. Remember to subscribe to my blog to receive my latest articles in your inbox.

Post from: Health Money Success

Week 5 Fitness Update: Why I Abandoned My Colleagues And Ate My Lunch In My Own Cosy Cubicle

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• Week 4 Fitness Update: Isn’t A Great Week (5)
• 30 Days Challenge to a Healthier Body (35)
• 7 Life Lessons I Picked Up From A Simple Morning Run (8)
• Gymboss Interval Timer Review – Increase The Intensity Of Your Workout Now (3)
• Week 3 Update: Beware! This Article Is Filled With Photos (2)

Gymboss Interval Timer Review

As promised last week, I am going to write a review on the Gymboss interval timer that I am using for my workouts.

My workouts consist of circuit and interval trainings. Circuit training consists of doing a set of exercise in a specific amount of time. There are no set numbers of repetitions in each of the exercises. All you need to do is to do as much repetition as you can in that fix amount of time.

I prefer doing circuit trainings as compared to doing exercises with fix repetitions. Our body can get used to the fix amount of repetitions and this can delay muscle growth and weight loss. Circuit trainings is the solution to this problem and it keeps your intensity level high during your workouts.

I used to use my digital watch or iPhone to time myself (45 seconds exercise, 15 seconds rest) when I am doing my circuit training. However, I find it too troublesome to keep an eye on my stopwatch and press the start and stop button for every 45 seconds.

Doing this affects the quality of my workout. It is impossible to be 100% focused and concentrate on your exercises when you are worrying about when are you going to hit the stop button at the 45 seconds interval.

Gymboss Comes Into Play

This gadget comes in handy for situation like this. Gymboss Interval Timer has 3 main settings; auto, auto with number of times to repeat and manual setting.

1. Auto: It will continue to beep for the amount of time that you set. (example:beep every 10 seconds until you stop it)
2. Auto with number of times to repeat: 2 timings are involved here. For example; beep at the 45 seconds (you can change the timing) mark and beep again at the 15 seconds mark.
3. Manual: Instead of auto restarting itself when it reaches the time that you set, you need to press the start button to restart the countdown again.

Gymboss Interval Timer is hardy and it can take any of your rigorous workouts. It runs on a AAA battery and it has a clip that you can use to clip the it on your workout gear.

Check out more about Gymboss Interval Timer in this video that I did.

The Gymboss Interval Timer Is Suitable For…

If you are currently doing interval training or circuit training (or you want to start one soon which I recommend if you want to lose weight), the Gymboss Interval Timer is highly recommended.

However if you are doing a fix amount of repetitions for your workouts or long distance running, this gadget isn’t for you.

If you decide that Gymboss Interval Timer is the right gadget for you to get fit and healthy now, you can get yours by clicking here.

I had written this article right after my workout. It is time for me to take my well-deserved rest and I will talk to you soon.

Vincent
Fan of Gymboss Interval Timer

P.S: I will post the update (week 5) of my 16 weeks fitness challenge next week. If you have not read my previous update, you can read it here. Remember to subscribe to my blog to receive my latest updates.

Post from: Health Money Success

Gymboss Interval Timer Review – Increase The Intensity Of Your Workout Now

Related Articles

• 7 Life Lessons I Picked Up From A Simple Morning Run (8)
• Week 5 Fitness Update: Why I Abandoned My Colleagues And Ate My Lunch In My Own Cosy Cubicle (5)
• Week 4 Fitness Update: Isn’t A Great Week (5)
• The Relationship Between Physical Exercise and Success (9)
• Are You Neglecting The Most Important Thing In Your Life? (11)

Image courtesy of lusi

Previous Updates

If you have not read my previous weeks update, you can read it here.

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3

Week 4 Update

I have a confession to make.

I missed 2 of my workouts this week. 2 interval trainings to be exact. It has been raining for quite a few days this week and it makes it harder for me to grab my kit and go out for my training. Okay, I know it sounds like some excuses and yes, I admit it is. It is still possible for me to go out there to climb the stairs or find other alternatives but I didn’t really make the effort to do so.

On the brighter side, I completed 4 days of workouts. I must give myself a pat on the back for completing my first month of training.

What I Am Doing Now

I started doing circuit trainings this week.

Example of circuit training:

- Do as much push up as I can in 45 seconds and rest 15 seconds. Repeat.

My resistance workout right now consists of 8 exercises. I will go through all the 8 exercises in the above format (45 seconds followed by 15 seconds rest) and repeat them for a total of 3 sets.

Circuit training is a great way to ensure growth and prevent my body from plateauing. I am currently using my Gymboss Timer to time myself. I will show you a video on how to use it on my post on Friday.

My Weighing Scale Is Fooling Around With Me

I am facing one problem right now. Instead of losing weight, I am gaining weight! I am somewhat shocked to see that my weight is increasing instead of decreasing. However, I did my research and I found out some possibilities:

1. I am gaining more muscles that weighs more than fat.
2. I am taking in too much calories that caused me to gain weight.

I do not know the reason that caused my weight gain, hence I decided to get a caliper to measure my body fat percentage. Using the caliper is a much more accurate way to check the progress as compared to the weighing scale because it normal to gain weight when you gain more muscles. This can be rather misleading.

It is demoralizing to see yourself gaining weight when you are supposed to lose weight. A caliper helps to get a clearer picture of what is happening so I can decide whether I need to make any changes to my plan.

Fitness Tip Of The Week: Fit Your Workout Into Your Schedule First

If you fail to fit your workout into your schedule first, you tend to miss it.

Keep this in mind. I missed most of the workouts when I had slotted them last in my schedule. This means that I left my workout to be the last task for the day. I am usually rather jaded by then and motivation itself isn’t enough to get me to start exercising.

In order to complete your work out successfully, prepare your environment and schedule to make it easy for you to get into action. Dress in your work out gear so that it is easy for you to start your exercises. Make your workout one of the most important tasks in your day.

If you have the mindset that your workout is an important task that you must complete, you tend to complete it. Make your work out one of the most important tasks for the day and schedule it as the first task for the day.

It is hard to miss a work out when you scheduled it as the first thing you need to do. Wake up earlier if you need to. Working out in the morning on an empty stomach is also more effective as your body will draw the energy from your fats when it has no energy to burn.

Before I leave, I have one question for you. How do you keep yourself motivated to exercise when you don’t feel like doing it? Share with us in the comment section below and I will talk to you over there.

Vincent
Working Out

P.S: If you have any questions, you can drop me a mail by clicking here. I will be glad to help.

P.P.S: Remember to subscribe to my blog to receive my future updates.

Post from: Health Money Success

Week 4 Fitness Update: Isn’t A Great Week

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• Week 5 Fitness Update: Why I Abandoned My Colleagues And Ate My Lunch In My Own Cosy Cubicle (5)
• 7 Life Lessons I Picked Up From A Simple Morning Run (8)
• Gymboss Interval Timer Review – Increase The Intensity Of Your Workout Now (3)
• Week 3 Update: Beware! This Article Is Filled With Photos (2)
• Week 2 Update: 16 Weeks Challenge To 6 pack abs (6)

My new Gymboss Timer.

Previous Updates

If you have not read my previous weeks update, you can read it here.

• Week 1
• Week 2

Week 3 Update

It is a great week. I completed most of my workouts faithfully but I missed one of my resistance training. I intend to cover it up on Sunday.

I just got my Gymboss Timer, and I will be using it for both my interval training and resistance workouts. I’m going to post a video to show you what the Gymboss Timer can do, so remember to subscribe to my blog to receive the latest updates.

I am thinking about creating a newsletter to share with you my fitness tips, nutrition advice and my workouts. It will be a document of everything that I did for the 16 weeks challenge. It will be a totally different newsletter from my current Unleash Your Maximum Potential newsletter.

The new newsletter will be focusing on fitness and health. This is an interesting topic because I believe health is the foundation for any success. As the old saying goes, without health you are nothing. I totally believe this.

Some Pictures For You: My Meals

Breakfast @7am. Oatmeal + honey with one big orange.

Snack at 10 am. One big apple with chicken breast.

Dinner at 6 pm. Poached salmon + potatoes + broccoli.

I usually have my lunch at 1230pm and one tea time meal at 3.30pm. The EAS meal replacement shake is what I have at 3.30pm and it can keep me full for the next 3 to 4 hours.

My lunch is the most problematic meal for me. I usually eat out with my colleagues, which make it hard for me to eat clean. I usually have rice or noodles for my lunch and it isn’t the best choice of foods if you want to lose weight. I picked up a lot of nutritional tips from the ebook Truth About Abs by Mike Greary, and avoiding processed foods is one of the keys mentioned in his book.

I do not want to be labeld as anti social hence I join my colleagues for my lunch break. The best I can do is to pick healthier food choices. However, if this is jeopardizing my results, I may just pack my own lunch to work.

Fitness Tips For The Week: My Little Experiment And Adding Protein Into Every Meal

In my previous post, I had mentioned that you need to eat 5 to 6 meals (every 2 to 3 hours) a day. I actually did an experiment and missed one of my meals to see what happens.

My appetite increased dramatically when I missed one of my meals and I ate a huge dinner afterwards. You do not want to be in this scenario if you want to achieve that dream body of yours.

When you are eating regularly, your body will feel full and you tend to eat lesser at every meal. The normal eating habit of having three meals a day causes you to overeat on every meal. I know I’m repeating myself but this point is so important and I want to stress on it.

For every meal, you should add protein into your diet. Protein can help to keep your body metabolism rate high. It is harder for your body to digest protein and it takes much more energy to digest it. When more energy needed to digest the foods, it means it burns more calories in return. Protein can also sustain you for a longer time, which means the likelihood of you being hungry is smaller.

You don’t necessary need to get protein powder from your local GNC. There are healthier alternatives such as…

• Tuna (canned tuna is fine too)
• Salmon
• Chicken breast
• Turkey
• Legumes
• Eggs (One of my favorite)
• EAS meal replacement shake (comes in 3 flavours: Chocalate, Vanilla and Strawberry)

This is all for this week and I will give you an update next week. Do remember to subscribe to my blog by clicking here. This will ensure you will not miss any of my updates and I will thank you in advance in joining the HealthMoneySuccess community.

Vincent
Keeping Fit And Achieving A Body For Life

Post from: Health Money Success

Week 3 Update: Beware! This Article Is Filled With Photos

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• Week 4 Fitness Update: Isn’t A Great Week (5)
• Week 2 Update: 16 Weeks Challenge To 6 pack abs (6)
• Week 1 Update: 16 Weeks Challenge To 6 Pack Abs (13)
• This Is Why You Need More Energy – My 16 Weeks Challenge To 6 Pack Abs (18)

My meal replacement shake from EAS.

Previous Updates

If you have not read my week 1 update, you can read it here.

• Week 1

Week 2 Update

It is week 2 of my 16 weeks challenge. Time flies and I only have 14 weeks left to achieve my goal.

I have missed one day of work out (interval training) this week. However, I know these types of things are bound to happen. I am not going to take it too hard and I will just keep moving forward. It is the same for achieving any goals of yours. Whenever you missed your workout or a task that you need to do to reach your goals, you don’t stop and immerse yourself in feeling guilty.

This can only make you feel worse and cause you to feel bad about yourself. Do not even strive for perfection in the first place is my advice to help you keep moving on.

I know that I will miss some of my workouts in the upcoming 16 weeks. I’m going to do my best to ensure that I follow through everyday even if it means that I need to work out at 6 am in the morning or 12 in the midnight. However, even if I missed one of my workouts, I will not take it too hard and keep on progressing with my challenge.

It is going to take 16 weeks for me to achieve my desired body. The number of days dedicated to achieve my desired body may seem long and that alone can deter many to start their own challenge. However, do remember that even if you do not proceed on to take action, time is going to past anyway.

If you focus on how long it takes to complete the challenge, it will be hard for you to complete it. However, focusing on what you are going to do every day will make life much easier for you.

Yard by yard it may be hard. Inch by inch, anything is a cinch.

Fitness Tip Of The Week: What You Need To Look Out For In Your Diet

It is possible for you to work out like crazy yet you can’t see much results. Even though you are getting ripped, it is impossible for you to see the results when you have layer of fats above your well toned muscles.

Working out is not enough for you to achieve that dream body of yours. You need to modify your diet to ensure that your body turns into a fat burning furnace.

The first thing you need to do is to stop eating junk food so regularly. Notice that I didn’t say stop eating junk food forever? It is hard for some to discard the food that they love. It is ok to eat them, really. I still plan to eat chocolates during my 16 weeks challenge, however it is recommended that you only take them during your cheat meal for the week.

You are supposed to eat clean food like vegetables, meat and grains during the normal days but you are allowed to have one cheat meal per week. This means that you can eat everything that you crave during your cheat meal day. This will help you to get through the 16 weeks much more easily as you still get to eat your favorite food at least once a week.

Another thing you need to take note of is you need to start eating more regularly. The 3 big meals daily plan is the norm for most of us. However, if you really want to shed the extra pounds off your waist, you need to eat more regularly in smaller portions (5 to 6 meals a day).

This can aid digestion and ensure that you keep your body’s metabolism rate high. You will burn more fats and calories when your metabolism rate is high.

Example Of My Daily Meal

• 7 am – Oatmeal with a spoon of honey and one orange.
• 10 am – Chicken breast with a big apple.
• 12.30 pm – Rice with seafood. (This meal differs daily for me, as I usually eat out for my lunch break at work.)
• 3 pm – Meal replacement shake (Chocolate flavor) by EAS.
• 6 pm – Cabbage with omelette. (This meal differs daily)

Always plan your meal so that most of the times you will be eating clean food that helps you burn fats instead of adding on fats.

This will be all for today and stay tune for the next update next week. Remember to subscribe to my blog to ensure that you receive your updates weekly.

Vincent
Keeping his eye glued to his goals

Post from: Health Money Success

Week 2 Update: 16 Weeks Challenge To 6 pack abs

Related Articles

• Week 5 Fitness Update: Why I Abandoned My Colleagues And Ate My Lunch In My Own Cosy Cubicle (5)
• Week 4 Fitness Update: Isn’t A Great Week (5)
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• Week 1 Update: 16 Weeks Challenge To 6 Pack Abs (13)
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Image courtesy of jerryonlife

It is near the end of week 1 of my 16 weeks challenge to 6 pack abs. I will update weekly (Friday Singapore timing) to let you know about my progress and provide some tips that you can incorporate into your work out.

What Have You Been Doing Vincent?

I jumped into this challenge without much planning and that is why right now I am rather disorganized. I did not have a very specific plan that I am going to follow yet and I am still designing my workout as I go along. Here are some of the things that I did last week.

1. Read books on fitness and health. (Truth About Abs, Body For Life)
2. Invested in a Gymboss timer.
3. Studying about supplements and invested in meal replacement shakes
4. Having an outcome in place and designing a plan to gain physical prowess!

1) Read books on fitness and health. (Truth About Abs, Body For Life)

The first thing I did after I decided to start my 16 weeks challenge is to find some helpful fitness and health books. The first book I got was Truth About Abs by Mike Geary, which is one of the most popular book online on fitness and achieving 6 pack abs. I just want to see what the hype is all about and it did not disappoint me though because I picked up some great information about nutrition and working out.

The next book I got was Body For Life, by Bill Philips. This book is an inspiration and the number of people who turn their life around by losing their excess weight amazes me.

I will do a review on each book at a later date, so remember to subscribe to my blog to make sure that you receive the updates.

2) Invested in a Gymboss Timer

I need a timer that can help me time my run during my interval training (short sprints). My digital watch have the stopwatch function but I find it troublesome to sprint and look at my watch at the same time. Doing this distracts you from giving your 100% during the sprint and Gymboss Timer comes in handy in this situation.

I set the timer to beep at certain timing and all you need is to set the interval that you want and listen out for the beep. I have not receive my Gymboss Timer yet, but once I do I will create a video and post it up either at my blog or through my Twitter account.

3) Studying about supplements and invested in meal replacement powder

My previous 16 weeks challenge helped me lost a total of 13.2 lbs. However, there are still fats around my abdominal area that is hiding my abs. I did not consume any supplements at that time and right now, I think I need to pay more attention to this area to help me achieve better results.

I need the extra protein to build muscles and I am planning to have 5 to 6 meals a day. Consuming small but frequent meals can help to keep our metabolism rate constant, hence burning more fats in the process. Having a higher amount of protein in your diet can help to keep you full for a longer period. It also has a higher thermic effect which means more energy is needed to digest it.

Preparing 5 to 6 meals a day is troublesome and hence having a meal replacement shake can be helpful. I am currently using EAS Original Shake(Chocolate flavour) and it tastes great. This can easily help me to replace one or 2 of my meals daily and it saves up lots of time for me.

4) Having an outcome in place and designing a plan to gain physical prowess!

Having a clear outcome for what you want to achieve is the first step to success. I already know my outcome, which is to achieve a healthy body and experience abundant energy. Not forgetting my 6 pack abs too which can help me to look good and feels great!

I had also taken some “before” photos that I can refer back after my 16 weeks challenge. I am somewhat surprised when I look at my photo, because I did not realize that I was out of shape even though I am training regularly for my marathon. I thought my body is fine(self denial) until the photo brought me back to reality. I highly recommend everyone who wants to start exercising to lose some pounds and look good to take a “before” photo of their body.

The photo can help you to see where you are now. Taking a photo every 2 to 4 weeks can help you to keep track of your progress, and not to forget it can keep you motivated when you see the progress that you made.

My workouts consist of one day of resistance training followed by another day of interval training (sprinting). To lose my fats efficiently, I need to gain muscles that can help boost my metabolism rate. This is the reason for including resistance training in my workouts.

From my research, sprinting is a more efficient way to help me keep my metabolism rate high for the rest of the day as compared to long distance running. Since I am training for my half marathon at September and a full marathon at December, I will include one long distance run and 2 interval trainings in a week.

This is all for today as I seem to be getting a little long winded . Remember to subscribe to my blog to stay updated and receive regular personal development and fitness tips! If you have any questions for me, do not hesitate to drop a comment at the comment box below. I respond to each and every comment and your comment will definitely be replied by yours truly.

If you want to start your own 16 weeks challenge but do not know where to start, drop me a comment or contact me by clicking here. I’m glad to help if you are willing to ask.

Vincent
On A Mission

Post from: Health Money Success

Week 1 Update: 16 Weeks Challenge To 6 Pack Abs

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I am working on a time management system to help me increase my productivity level. If you want to achieve your desired success in life, you will need to be a master in utilizing your time. I see time as a currency that is more valuable than money and whoever can get the most out of it will achieve more results in life.

Whatever outcome we want to achieve, the first thing that we need to invest is time. Other factors such as money and labor are secondary issues. If you are able to invest more quality time into your desired outcome, the chances of achieving it are much higher.

Time And Energy

In order for you to invest more quality time into achieving your goals, you need to have an adequate amount of energy. You can have the greatest GTD (getting things done) or time management system but there is no point in having one of these systems when you do not have the energy to execute your action plan.

I have started working recently and I find that I need a time management system to help me utilize my time more efficiently. On top of working, I am still studying part time in college and I have to work on my personal projects over here at HealthMoneySuccess and my niche marketing sites.

If I am not able to manage my time and energy, efficiently and effectively (this is where a time management system shines), I am not going to achieve any of my desired outcomes (goals). In order to make your time management system effective, you need to have a remarkable amount of energy to work on your essential tasks.

The Plan For Manifesting Remarkable Amount Of Energy

If you start your day feeling full of energy, will it make a difference to your productivity level? Of course! A higher productivity level means that you will be able to complete more tasks that are important and move faster towards your goals.

However, most people do not feel this way every morning. I am not excluded too.

Here are a few bad habits that rob me of my energy.

• Sleeping too late.
• Eating processed foods that depletes energy level.

If you have attended one of Tony Robbins seminars, you will be amazed by his energy on stage. That guy can speak for hours without breaking a sweat and he seems like he is able to speak for one full day without taking a break! Check out one of his presentation at TED over here

Think about what changes will happen in your life if you have the same amount of energy like Tony Robbins? I bet you could tackle more things in life and that will lead to better results and fulfillment in life.

I am going to start a 16 weeks challenge. I had previously completed a 16 weeks fitness challenge and a 30 days healthy living challenge and lost a total of 13.2 lbs. I had gained a few pounds back and I think it is time to put a plan in place to get some amazing results.

The main objective of this challenge is to increase my energy and fitness level. I will also make use of this challenge to kill off some of my bad habits that have been robbing me of energy. I will also replace them with healthier habits.

Even though I had lost 13.2 lbs previously, I did not achieve the goal of having 6 pack abs. This time round, I will spend more time to research on what I can do to achieve this outcome. I will also update on my challenge every week over here at HealthMoneySuccess, so remember to subscribe to my blog so that you will not miss any of my updates.

My current weight is 158.3 lbs. Let us see what will happen at the end of the 16 weeks challenge.

I am going to give you an update of the plan that I am going to use and what I will be doing in this 16 weeks challenge next week. So see you then!

Cheers,
Vincent

P.S: I welcome anyone who wants to join me in this 16 weeks challenge. You can blog about it too and we will see what will happen at the end of the 16 weeks challenge. See you at the finishing line.

Post from: Health Money Success

This Is Why You Need More Energy – My 16 Weeks Challenge To 6 Pack Abs

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Oscar from FreeStyleMind

Exercise is one of the most important activities to integrate into our lifestyle. Aside for the almost infinite list of health benefits you get by exercising, something that probably not everyone knows is that exercise is also one of the best ways to do a mental workout.

The reason is that your brain loves movement, and it performs better when you are in a good shape. Thus, the more you exercise, the more you’ll be able to learn, and the more successful you’ll become.

It doesn’t matter what your goal is, you’ll get there faster if you are in a good shape.

There’s a strong scientific background behind this claim. Scientists have proven that children who do physical activities perform better at school, and when the same students stop to exercise, their scores drops as well.

The relationship between exercise and success is even greater as you become an adult. Especially if you do a sedentary job, starting to exercise regularly will sharpen your mind, which in turn will help you to generate new ideas.

The good news is that even if you did not do any kind of exercise until yesterday, it’s not too late. We know from science that you can boost your mental performances in a matter of weeks or months, regardless of your age.

It takes nothing to do a ten minutes run, yet is enough to get you started. And it turns out that getting started is indeed the biggest obstacle people find, usually because they think they’re not good enough, but the truth is that is through exercise that you’ll eventually become good enough, not the other way around.

Below are some tips that will get you started with physical exercise.

• Start slowly. You need less than 30 minutes per day to be in a good shape. If you are just starting out, some jogging, pushups and squats is a good workout to do. You can start with 10 minutes three days per week, and then upgrade until 30 minutes per session when you feel comfortable.
• Don’t buy anything. You may be tempted to buy some expensive equipment which promises to assist you in your endeavor. Don’t. You really don’t need anything except your body, and you can save the money for later.
• Expect results, but don’t be obsessed. Beginners especially, will see faster improvements, however don’t be obsessed by them. For example it will take only a few weeks to move from 10 to 30 minutes of running, but don’t be obsessed by it. Goals are important, but having fun is more.
• Notice small improvements. Be happy when you reach a new result. If you can run just for just 5 minutes or less initially, be grateful when you’ll be able to run 10 minutes. These small achievements are a signal that your body is growing.
• Take a challenge. If what you need is motivation, perhaps a 30 days challenge is the best way to start. Commit yourself for exercising 3 days a week for 30 days no matter what. After these 30 days, you can then decide if it’s worth continuing or not, but at least you tried.

What if you don’t have time? I have heard this question a lot of times. If you really can’t find 30 minutes three or four times per week, then there’s something wrong in your lifestyle. Exercising is important and if you really don’t have time, you have to make it. Maybe you can avoid watching television in the evening, or maybe you can wake up 30 minutes earlier, you decide.

The time you spend exercising is nothing compared to the benefits you’ll get from it, and it’s your choice if you want to switch your habits or continue with your old lifestyle. Remember, you don’t have to train a lot, 3 times per week will do. Have fun.

Author’s bio. Oscar Del Ben writes about personal development and lifestyle design. He’s always trying new things and he blogs about his experiences at FreestyleMind.com.

Post from: Health Money Success

The Relationship Between Physical Exercise and Success

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Image courtesy of nexus_icon

I believe the majority of you who read this blog have goals that you want to achieve. Having goals is fun because it gives us something to aim for and to look forward to. However are you doing all you can to achieve your goals yet you are neglecting something that is the base for your success?

Health

The health is the base for your life.

Health is the base for our success. You cannot be anything when you are seriously lacking in the health department. It acts as a base or springboard for success to come into our life. There are people who would do anything to get the results they want and kudos to them for their tenacity. However if they forgo the health department in their life, any success they had achieved will be short lived. How can you truly enjoy the fruits of your labour when you are sick and feeling miserable? Or worst, you don’t even have the time to enjoy your success. Basically, without health, you are nothing.

I was hospitalized some time ago and that incident knocks some sense into me. I was working almost every day and earning money is the priority at that time and health had taken the second seat (maybe not the second, somewhere near the last few seats). I had never even given health a thought because I felt that I was in my prime of my life and health isn’t an issue to me. (Being young can spare me from diseases, am I right?) But I knew I was wrong when I find myself ended up in the hospital for a week and a half.

Neglecting our health is also the same as trying to saw a tree with a blunt saw. When you push your body too hard and don’t take care of it, your energy level drop drastically and you will feel tired easily. If you feel tired easily, how are you able to harness your maximum creativity, energy and passion into doing something for the best result?

Healthy Living

Healthy living isn’t about eating supplements all day. It is about changing your lifestyle. In our time now, we search for immediate results and speed. We want fast food, ready to cook food, immediate weight loss diet or anything that doesn’t takes up a lot of our time. Our time is precious and we want to save up those times to do things that we want to do. But adopting an unhealthy lifestyle only shortens the time you spend on earth alive. Contradicting.

The first thing you will need to do is to start out my taking note of your diet. Are you eating processed food, fast food, refined carbohydrates, canned food or any other junk food daily? If you are, you will need to start making it a habit to cut those foods out of your diet. You do not need to eliminate it completely and minimizing the intake of those foods is a great first step. To fight off your cravings, substitute those foods that you minimized with natural food such as vegetable and fruits. These are real foods that are packed with nutrients for your body.

Do hydrate yourself adequately daily. I start out my day with 2 cups of water with slices of lemon to help alkalize the body. It is also recommended to drink around half your body weight in ounces.

(Formula: [Body weight (lbs)/2 ] = Answer (A). Take Answer (A) X 29.57 = Amount of water to drink daily (mL)

Lastly, you will need to introduce exercises back into your lifestyle again. If you are watching more than 3 – 4 hours of TV programs per day, you need to get your ass out the couch and start moving again. This reminds me of what Tony Robbins said at his last UPW seminar in Singapore.

Motions = Emotions

Which means your physiology and action will in turn lead to how you feel. Most likely you will only feel tired after seating at the couch for hours.

These aren’t rocket science and everybody is able to do it. Everyone have the knowledge of living healthier but they just chose to ignore the knowledge and go with the flow and only do what they feel like doing. By the way, did I mention that if you go with the flow in life, you may end up at somewhere that you do not want to be at?

To your healthier living,
Vincent

P.S:What do you think you can do to have a healthier lifestyle? I would love to hear your thoughts.
P.P.S: In the next post, I will put up a list of top 10 healthiest foods which are part of my daily diet. Enter your email below or subscribe to my RSS feed so that you will not miss the next article.

Post from: Health Money Success

Are You Neglecting The Most Important Thing In Your Life?

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