When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps

Rant and Tip for December 20, 2011

Quote: “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” Confucius

The internet is a funny tool. When I search for quotes I usually come across the same sites over and over. Today I found a new site and this quote jumped out at me. If you feel you goal is unobtainable then maybe you do need to change your approach and not your goal. While losing your body fat can be a science it also contains many variables and you will need to adjust things as you progress on this journey. When you hit a plateau with muscle growth or weight loss it is time to change things up a bit.

For dieting it may be several things but you will need to keep track of what you are doing. You may need to increase your carbohydrates or maybe increase you healthy fats. Remember what I said yesterday though about the different types of carbs and if you do increase them make sure they are complex carbs or fibrous carbs you are ingesting. Also if you are exercising it may be an issue of not getting enough calories. This happens to many people who exercise regularly. They will make the comment I am exercising so much but I am not losing weight. In this case it is probably the calories. If you do not eat enough you are putting your body in starvation mode and the body wants to hold on to the fat it has in case you need it later.

Exercise is another area where you can hit plateaus and stalls in muscle gain. Being the efficient machine you body is it can get very use to an exercise routing. This is why it is important to change things up whether it is a new exercise of just increasing the reps of an exercise you are currently doing. You can also increase the poundage you are using and see how that may help you. I recently picked up a new book and in it there are some of the elite lifters and bodybuilders of the last few decades. I will be quoting this book as I continue to write myself.
The book is the “Purposeful Primitive”. Hopefully I will be able to share a lot more information with you that we can all use.

Have a great workout

Tip: 5 days left to Christmas and only 4 for shopping. Get out there and get some exercise in walking and shopping. I think during Christmas you can almost call this a cardiovascular event.