Mental fitness first

Scott Schwab:
The daily battle is one outside the gym! Let me be clear with that, it is still important to get our exercise, but depending upon how we do outside the gym, will determine our effects inside the gym.
It is so important to hydrate our bodies and get the proper nutrients for our daily battle. More than anything, planning is essential and we can win or lose the battle by just changing a couple of things that we are currently doing or not doing.

1. Pack a lunch- Making a healthy lunch gives you control of the nutrients that you put inside your body. Your body will also respond better to healthy foods, because of the message that is sent to the brain while we are eating that the food is good and that it is healthy (this assumes we are eating healthy).
2. Drink plenty of water- I know we harp on this a lot, but it is one of the best things to do if you are looking to lose weight, have better skin, have healthier joints, etc. If consumed throughout the day, we can have many of the toxins from our body flushed out of our system. The rule of thumb is to drink half our body weight in ounces each day. Start the first thing you do when you wake up and be done before 6pm.
3. Avoid foods and drinks high in calories- This is one area that is hard, especially for our society of get it now. Labels are misleading and it is important that we use the model that if we didn't prepare it, we don't know what is in it. Processed foods, sugars, additives, and a host of other evils find their way into our food, and our bodies don't know how to process them. Do your body a favor and make the choice to avoid eating out as much as possible, fast food, and the daily soda. If you were to do nothing else, doing this one thing would help change your health lifestyle dramatically.
4. Do a cleanse- There is not a perfect set time for a cleanse, but our bodies will respond very well to them. We encourage challengers to start with a cleanse. It helps the body deliberately eliminate harmful toxins from our body and will allow us to get into shape quicker.
5. Avoid stress- Although some stress is good and deadlines are beneficial to our health, we cannot lose weight if we are stressing about what we eat, what we drink, how much we exercise, etc. All things in moderation is the best way to maintain health and happiness. There is a chemical called cortisol that is released into our bodies when we stress. Cortisol, does not allow our bodies to lose weight and will hold onto fat.

In short, we need to get our mind right with our goals, challenges, and accomplishments. If we spend the time creating a process for achievement, visualize our successes, and then put into action our plan, we can win the daily battle. Let us not look at a lifestyle change as an event that is going to take X amount of time. Look at it from the way that you implement the best practices of eating, drinking, and preparing your body through your mind, to get results.