Motivation and Commitment

Settings goals is no small piece of the puzzle when it comes to building a healthy body.
Keeping motivated by those goals is another. Your goals are so critical because they not only keep you motivated for your workouts but also help you when you're standing with the refrigerator door open wondering what to feed you body.

If your goals are not enough to keep you motivated to keep working out and to eat right then the goals you are aiming for are:
1) To broad
2) Too difficult to achieve in the near term (and therefore you give up)
3) or not what you really want

I began working out during my wife's pregnancy. My ambition was to be in good shape when my daughter was born so that the stage would already be set and I'd be in the habit of exercising regularly (because children imitate what they see). I wanted to ensure that I'm the best role model possible. It was a promise I made to my unborn daughter.

Unfortunately, many of you know, that my daughter passed away just hours after her birth. But my promise to her still stands. Here or not I have to set a good example for her.

My goals have been small ones over time though. For the first the first 4 months it was to get in the habit of working out. I had no fat loss or muscle gain expectation. I just wanted to get into the habit.

Once my daughter passed away my goal was to keep my promise (again no real fat loss or muscle gain expectations). I also used working out as a way of relieving stress. Living through the loss of a child is no small feat let me assure you. I was fortunate enough that I didn't fall into bad habits as crutches like smoking, drinking or drugs as a way to cope. Instead I used weight-lifting as a crutch and let myself get fully addicted to it.

Today I stand here 55 pounds lighter and significantly more muscular but that is a by-product only. Don't get me wrong, I love it but it was NOT my intent.

I have no doubt if I had set out to watch the scale every day then I would have stopped. Instead I choose to exercise each day because I know it is the right thing to do. I let me body decide how to react. I just stand back and watch in amazement and begin setting new goals every so often.