Natural Physiques Newsletter Volume I Issue 10 December 10, 2004

You are receiving this publication due to your double opt-in at our site. If you no longer wish to receive this publication, please unsubscribe via the link at the bottom. This newsletter is published the second Friday of each month. Join us on our weekly Become Your Best Coaching Call! Dial +1 646 519 5800 and use PIN BYB1# (2921#) on Mondays at 6pm PST / 9pm EST! Send an e-mail to weeklycall@aweber.com for a weekly reminder and visit www.become-your-best.com for weekly agendas and to listen to previously recorded calls. Share this issue with ten of your friends who deserve health, nutrition, fitness, and personal development information! The Natural Physiques™ Newsletter is © 2004 Golden Summit, Inc. All Rights Reserved. You are given permission to share this link and/or forward this content in its entirety provided you do not alter the contents contained herein. Please review our privacy statement and disclaimer.

New Releases:

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Table of Contents

1. In this Issue
2. Quotes
3. Editorial: The End of the Year
4. What's New
5. Training: Form - The Difference Between Bodybuilding and Lifting Weights
   
6. Nutrition: REL (Replace, Eliminate, Limit)
   Nutrition Bonus: Enjoy the Holidays Without Gaining Weight
7. Health News
8. Motivation: The Pursuit of Greatness
9. Business Development: From Making a Living to Creating a Lifestyle
10. Closing Thoughts
11. Subscription Information

1. In this Issue

Welcome to the tenth issue of the monthly Natural Physiques™ Newsletter! This is the final issue for the year 2004, and concludes Volume I. Volume II will begin with issue 1 on January 14, 2005. As always, I welcome you to contact me with your comments, suggestions, and constructive feedback. Click here to share your testimonial.

Our quotes reflect on how this may be the end of the year, but it's not a finish to what we are accomplishing. I expand upon that idea in my editorial. In addition to featured calculators, articles, and forum posts, our "What's New" section has an incredible offering of audio programs to listen to this month. In training we have a great article about form from veteran bodybuilder and established author Tom Venuto. For nutrition, we cover a strategy to Replace, Eliminate, and Limit during the holidays, and how to Enjoy the Holidays without Gaining Weight. Be sure to check out the memo relating to the debate about Vitamin E supplementation in our monthly Health News along with other late-breaking nutrition and supplementation topics. I feel it is important to close out this year by reflecting upon The Pursuit of Greatness. In Business Development we continue this theme with Jim Rohn's From Making a Living to Creating a Lifestyle.

2. Quotes

To finish first, you must first finish. - Rick Mears

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. - Louis L'Amour

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2

Click here to learn more about Christ

Holiday Bonus: No Matter How Busy You Are (by Jim Rohn)

No matter how busy you are, make sure and find some time over the next two weeks to reflect, think, give and plan.

The week between Christmas and New Year's is the ideal time for this. Try and slow things down. Spend time with the ones you love and care about. Take some time to talk with your spouse and kids about goals and dreams for the year 2004. Use this as a time to recharge your batteries (and not just by watching TV the entire time) and with excitement think about a handful of changes or additions you want for your life in 2004.

I believe you will find the act of reflecting, thinking, dreaming and planning (with your family) to be one of the most important exercises you can do that will positively impact the next 12 months.

And remember, do not neglect to commit yourself to set this time aside or you will find that the business of life can and will get in the way.

So let's all take a moment to gather up the past year of victories and defeats, growing as well as those times of stagnation and use it to wipe a clean slate and thoughtfully design the next year the way we truly desire it to be.

And on that note, have a wonderful and blessed holiday season!

Jim Rohn and Staff

This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to www.jimrohn.com. Copyright © 2001 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide.

10 Great Gift-Giving Ideas Give the gift that keeps on giving and positively affect the future of the recipient Special Pricing for a Limited Time on books and programs by Jim Rohn, Denis Waitley, Bob Proctor, Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar and more - Bonus Gifts with Purchase Click Here - 10 Great Gifts

3. Editorial: The End of the Year

Wow! What a year.

I have been truly blessed, and shared my thanks in the last issue.

As the year 2004 comes to a close, I feel it is important to reflect upon past accomplishments. This way, I can put each year in perspective and understand if I am moving in the right direction. My mentor, Ian King, taught me that life is like going the wrong way on a slow escalator. If you keep the momentum going, you'll gain ground and eventually reach the bottom and step off. If, however, you choose to stop moving, you'll find the escalator carries you back to the point where you started. So it is a constant focus on continual improvement.

I can honestly say this was the most productive year of my life. Note that I say productive, and not active - because we can all get lost in activity without having true productivity.

In the year 2003, I established myself as Director of IT for a great company that produced bilingual (Spanish) healthcare software. I built a system from the ground up, participated in some monumental product conversions and implementations, and began to wonder what it would be like to leave Information Technology and pursue my passion for health and wellness. The major step that I took in 2003 was choosing a mentor (Ian King) to guide me through this process, and becoming an independent associate for a multi-level marketing company that would allow me to start building an additional income stream part-time.

In 2004, I had to strap on my seat belt. My wife and I purchased a new home in South Dakota. I founded Natural Physiques™. I established this newsletter. I finished a project that began nearly four years earlier - my e-Book, Lose Fat, Not Faith (Become the Journey). I "fired my boss" and entered the world of free enterprise. We decided to move to South Dakota - we did move to South Dakota. I incorporated my business. I launched my first teleseminars and recorded my first CDs. I produced more of me in this year than I probably had in the 10 years of my life prior.

I share this not because it is about me - because it's not. It's about you. I knew that my passion was to connect with people and share my talents and insights. That is what free enterprise is all about - allowing your inner brilliance to shine through, because each and everyone one of you has it. You are all creative, brilliant, powerful individuals who deserve to live the life of your dreams. Many of you already are, some of you are in the process, and others have given up - decided that the world is against you and won't let you.

In this newsletter, we'll talk about how that is not true. I'm publishing my article, The Pursuit of Greatness, because I believe this will set the stage for the New Year. You deserve to realize that life is not about chance or luck, but instead is about having the courage to embrace your creative energy to truly live. To quote Thoreau, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."

Part of the process is setting goals each year, each quarter, each month, each week, and each day. It's not enough to set-goals, however. You must be a goal-getter. How do you accomplish this? You open your mind to transforming belief. Action is important, but belief is what drives action and keeps it sustainable. Learn to eliminate your bad habits and create new, good habits. Write down what you do and ask yourself what moves you closer to your goals, what keeps you standing still, and what ultimately heads you in the wrong direction. You can choose to overcome these obstacles, if you are willing to.

As we conclude 2004, reflect upon this year and imagine how 2005 will be different. More importantly, make a commitment to change. Write a contract with yourself and post it somewhere you can read it every day. You deserve to do this for yourself. Set milestones along the way - choose to make each day better than the last, each week better than the last, each month, each quarter, and ultimately, the year. Have the courage to pursue your passion and dreams. Never give up!

I wish you abundant health, peace, prosperity, and God's greatest blessings as we conclude this year and begin the new year to come. Remember, we're here for you ... don't hesitate to ask us how we can help you Become your Best!

Please join us on a very special call the evening of Monday, December 27th, 2004 at 6pm Pacific Standard Time (9pm Eastern Standard Time) as we close out the old year and prepare ourselves to usher in the new. In the United Stats, dial 1-646-519-5800. From the United Kingdom, call 00+1* 646 519 5800 (this will be 2am Tuesday your local time). If you are in Australia, use 0011 1* 616 519 5800 (in Western Australia, the time will be 10am on Tuesday, and in the Victoria/Queensland areas it will be noon). If you are in another country and are interested in dialing in, don't hesitate to contact me and I will give you the appropriate call in information - and as always, we will post the recorded call to our Become Your Best Coaching website.

Jeremy Likness

Stocking Stuffers for Those You Care About

These books changes lives. Invest in them for yourself, and stuff the stocking of a friend who you feel deserves positive change.

• Think and Grow Rich
• Mach II with your Hair on Fire
• Spiritual Marketing

4. What's New

FREE AUDIO

We have tons of free available for you - in fact, to make it very easy for you, we've included them all right here so that you can conveniently listen to each topic!

Play	From	Description
	Healthy for the Holidays	8-minute introduction to the Healthy for the Holidays seminar audio.
	Lose Fat, Not Faith Audio	Jeremy discusses the emotion, Fear
	5 Keys to Healthy Eating	Jeremy introduces the 5 keys to healthy eating.
	Maximize Your Cardio	An introduction to cardiovascular exercise and the debates/challenges associated.
	Resistance to Overcome	How to design balanced workouts.
	Threedom (Mind, Body, Spirit)	Discussion of the "victim card" and how successful people don't play them!
	Become Your Best Coaching Call	Jeremy hosts weekly interviews - this excerpt has him being interviewed by Joe Kasper from CallForYourHealth.com

Featured Calculator:

This is the time of year people tend to become more focused on goals, especially with New Year's right around the corner. Use the goal-setting calculator to learn what it will take to reach your goals! This calculator works in two ways. You may either enter your goal body fat and a number of weeks to reach that goal, and find out how many pounds of fat you must lose per week, or you may enter your goal and the rate you feel comfortable losing fat to find out how many weeks it will take!

Featured Articles

• This month was a slower month with production of articles, as we focused on our Products and Services, producing several CDs, seminar audios, and the weekly Become Your Best Coaching Calls.
• Jesse Cannone is back with Nothing Seems to Get Rid of My Back Pain, What Now?
• The World Natural Sports Organization brought us a great article called Food Basics 101 by Karen Lisa Borders

Forums at a Glance

We have a very active online community dedicated to sharing information and inspiration with each other. The following is a snapshot of some of the discussions our community engaged in during the month of November. Please note that use of these forums is subject to our terms and conditions.

The Miracle of Nutrition

Has anyone here had a medical symptom - say back pain, wheezing, colds, anything that diet and exercise has improved? I'm asking because I'm working on a nutrition and exercise chapter for a self-help book to be published by HarperCollins in early 2006, and I need some examples ... (More...)

Advice for an elliptical?

Hello Everyone! Could anyone recommend a good source for used exercise equipment? I'm looking to purchase a ... (More...)

An idea or challenge for the holiday season..

Maybe it's just me but the next 6 weeks always seem to stick about 5 pounds back on me. I gotta sweat till March trying to get the giblet gravy back off my frame, so I thought this year I won't let it beat me to begin with. I thought it may be useful to have a mini challenge or something ... (More...)

Looking for Input on my new weight training...

I am in the process of pricing out a new home gym setup. It will at first only contain an Olympic Weight set, a Olympic bench, and some dumbells. Here is my proposed workout routine ... (More...)

Transformation Journals

We continue to receive consistent journal updates from our community members! (More...)

Stepping out of the Box

This is a very new thing to me. I’ve never really been part of a forum before, so if there are certain etiquette issues, please feel free to educate me ... (More...)

Hello everybody...

Hello everyone, I thought that I would post under the introduction eventhough I have made a few other posts ... (More...)

Need Help re: Daily Calorie Intake

Hi guys I am new here and hope someone can give me a bit of help. I have been using diet power for a couple of weeks and love it ... (More...)

Training twice a day question

Hi guys, I have an event coming up in on January 8th. I really want to be sure that I hit my short term goals of losing about 10 lbs of fat and increasing my endurance substantially by then ... (More...)

350+ Pounder Club question

First, I want to thank Jeremy for his generosity on other websites, where he conistently takes the time and effort to help strangers; it's the reason I signed up here today ... (More...)

5. Training: Form - The Difference Between Bodybuilding and Lifting Weights (by Tom Venuto)

It was back day. I had just chugged my favorite pre-workout beverage (a Grande Starbucks), which I used to wash down a couple of those ephedra "thermo" capsules. My heart was pounding, the adrenaline was flowing and I was ready to pump some HEAVY iron! I was pacing back and forth across the gym floor, psyching myself up for a big set of close grip lat pulldowns. I took a few deep breaths and strapped into the bar. The pin was set at 250 lbs. - the full rack. With a mighty grunt, I pulled the bar down to my chest, leaning back slightly with just "a little" swinging and momentum. I repeated eleven more times and then released it, exhausted but exhilarated. Twelve reps with the whole stack! I was pretty happy with myself.

I started psyching up for my second set. This time I had the full stack plus a 25-lb. plate pinned on for a total of 275 lbs. I started the second set feeling even stronger; one rep, two reps, three reps... Then, even through the Metallica blasting into my headphones, I heard a voice from behind me say, "What the hell are you doing?" Trying to maintain my near-hypnotic state of concentration, I continued for the fourth rep, ignoring the blatant interruption. Then I heard the voice again: "Venuto, what the hell do you call that?"

That blew it - my focus was ruined. I stopped mid set after just four and a half reps. I turned around and saw that the offending intruder was Richie Smyth, my trainer. Defensively, I answered his question: "I'm going heavy today – I need more mass on my lats and you have to go heavy for that." Richie replied, "You know what I’ve been telling you for all these years; if you want a big back, it's not how much weight you lift; your form is more important than weight." I insisted that my form was good, but Richie just disapprovingly shook his head.

Deep down, I knew he was right. Usually when I work out on my own, I go a lot heavier than when I train with Richie. Even though I grow like a weed when he trains me, it just seems like the weights are too light. So when I train on my own ( when he's not looking) I sometimes slap on the plates for "ego food." This time, he caught me in the act.

Richie had a cancellation that day, so he kindly "volunteered" to take me through the rest of my back session. He then gave me a humbling dissertation on proper form. Basically, he taught me the exercise from scratch. First he dropped the weight down - a lot. "How much is that?" I asked, looking down towards the weight stack. "Don't worry about the weight," he scolded. I noticed that the pin was somewhere near the middle of the weight stack - I was feeling wimpier by the minute.

Richie continued with his instructional diatribe: "First of all, keep your body completely vertical. Don't lean back at all. Pull only with your lats. F-e-e-l the lats as you pull down. Hold it and squeeze. Now release slowly, fight the negative, let it back slowly, lean forward and stretch…now pause, hold the stretch, hold it, keep holding it. Ok, now pull, no momentum, don't lean, just pull with your lats. Pull straight down, squeeze, hold the squeeze, now slowly let it back, lean forward and stretch. Concentrate. Focus on the muscle not the weight."

I heard everything he said, but I guess I still wasn't doing it to his satisfaction because he stood right behind me and stuck his hand between my shoulder blades (so I couldn't lean backwards). When I got into the extended position, he pushed me forward and said, "drop your head, lean forward, and S-T-R-E-T-C-H! I felt a tearing sensation in my lats under my armpits like the muscle was going to rip right off the bone - I had never experienced anything like it. I grimaced in pain while Richie smiled sadistically. Rep after rep we went on like this.

On the last rep, he made me just hold the weight in the stretched position while he stood there counting the seconds on his watch. Finally, I couldn't even hang on anymore and I had to let go of the bar like it was red-hot molten steel. I rubbed my aching lats as a burning sensation shot through muscle fibers I never knew existed. Then I looked at the weight stack - it was set at a humbling 170 lbs. That meant that the other 80 -105 lbs. I was originally lifting was from pure momentum - or pure cheating I should say.

And that was just the beginning of a 40-minute "torture session." Richie continued the pain with close grip chin ups (his way), dumbbell pullovers (his way), T-bar rows (his way) and some kind of heinous backward incline bench pulldown exercise I had never even seen before (not even in Bill Pearl’s massive encyclopedia of exercise variations). There were slow reps, supersets, tri-sets, descending sets, ascending sets, isometric holds, loaded stretches and a variety of other tortuous intensification techniques. Every exercise was done with moderate or even light weights with the same fanatical attention to slow speed, perfect form, stretching and squeezing.

The very same night, my lats got so sore I could barely put my shirt on. And with God as my witness, I swear by the next day, they grew out an inch from that one single workout.

The moral of this story is simple: heavy weights are not always necessary to build muscle. What’s most important is that the weight you are using "feels" heavy to the muscles being worked. I know this statement may sound blasphemous to bodybuilders who are sold on the "heavier is better" mentality, so please allow me to elaborate.

If your goal is simply to lift a weight from point A to point B, then you would want to use every trick in the book to accomplish that. Powerlifters are a perfect example: In a bench press competition, powerlifters speed up their reps, wear bench shirts, arch their backs, tuck in their elbows, push with their delts and tris, drop the bar low on their chests and do anything else they can think of to get the weight up without seeing a red light. By the time they've used all these tricks, some barrel-chested, short-armed powerlifters only have to move the bar about 6 inches! Their concern is not exhausting the pectorals – it is lifting the weight. But that's not bodybuilding!

Form is the difference between bodybuilding and simply lifting weights. Poor form with too much weight takes the stress off the target muscle; momentum moves the weight, not the muscles. Bodybuilding is accomplished best with strict form, controlled tempo, optimal tension, and total concentration.

If muscle size is your number one priority, you must do everything in your power to make the exercise harder, not easier. You must select the path of maximum stimulation – which also happens to be the path of most resistance, effort and pain. My trainer Richie put it this way; "When you are child, your parents tell you to keep your hands off the stove - they tell you not to put your hand into the flame – because if you do, you’ll get burned. If you’re serious about bodybuilding, you have to un-learn what you were taught as a child. When I train people, basically I’m telling them to put their hand right into the fire and keep it there. I have them train into and beyond the pain zone. That’s what makes you grow."

Most people are on a constant search for the path of least resistance. A drug, a supplement, a "breakthrough technique" a new machine, a shortcut in exercise form - anything and everything they think will help them reach their goals with less effort and in less time. This is typical human nature. Unfortunately, this is also faulty thinking and you will NEVER become a champion with this type of attitude.

What follows are six ways you can use better form to develop more muscle mass. All of these techniques have one thing in common: they all involve ways to use better form to make the exercise harder, not easier. Use these techniques faithfully and you’ll be amazed at how much muscle mass you can develop without ever needing super-heavy weights.

1. Eliminate extraneous body movement and momentum

Extraneous body movement – or "cheating" as it is so often called, is responsible for more injuries than perhaps any other cause. At the same time, it provides little stimulus for new muscle growth.

Take the popular barbell curl for example: The way some people do a barbell curl looks more like a lower back exercise than a bicep movement. Watching some people do cheat curls, I often wonder if their biceps are working at all.

To get a jarring realization of just how much your cheating contributes to the weight moving and just how little biceps force is actually being generated, then take the "post curl" test. Stand against a post with your heels, butt, and upper back all touching the post. Now see how much you can curl without losing contact with the post. Don’t be surprised if those 45 lb plates get reduced to 25’s or even 10’s!

Controlled cheating, done occasionally, is a legitimate way to shock complacent muscles into growth by allowing you to use more weight than you normally would. However, cheating should be the exception, not the rule. It’s all too easy for "a little cheating" to turn into totally sloppy, injury producing form. The general rule for bodybuilding should be to avoid most extraneous body movement. Let the muscle move the weight, not momentum, swinging or bouncing.

2. Think "Squeeze" & ‘Contract"

With every rep you perform in every exercise, you should mentally incant to yourself, "stretch and squeeze." Many bodybuilders habitually shorten their range of motion and completely miss two of the most important parts of the exercise: the contraction (the "squeeze") and the extension (the "stretch").

Using the technique of constant tension without locking out can be very effective on certain exercises (as you will learn shortly). The majority of the time, however, the bodybuilding rule of thumb is to take every exercise through the full range of motion from full stretch to full contraction.

The "squeeze" is especially effective on "peak contraction" exercises such as standing calf raises, concentration curls, tricep rope pushdowns, cable crossovers, and Leg extensions. On these types of exercises where the maximum resistance is placed on the muscle in the contracted position, pausing to "squeeze" the muscle will give you a much stronger contraction.

The stretch is most important on exercises where there is still a full load "pulling" on the muscle in the stretched position. Lat exercises like pulldowns or cable rows are an example. If you skip the stretch on these, you are not getting the full effect of the exercise (as Richie painfully demonstrated for me on close grip pulldowns).

3. Leave your ego at the door

If it's true that the most muscle growth occurs by using a weight that allows perfectly strict form, then why don't people cut back the weight and use perfect form more often? The answer is a simple three-letter word: EGO!

In his book Get Buffed, Australian Strength Coach Ian King wrote, "I would say that most load selection in strength training is based upon what impact it will have on those watching, not what impact it will have on the body. If you were more serious about your body than your short term ego, you would take off 75% of the load and perform the movement in a manner that had some lasting impact on your body!"

Fellow strength coach Charles Poliquin echoed King’s sentiments when he said, "Trainees who use proper form usually have high levels of self esteem. They show it by their interest in progression not theatrics, and by lifting for themselves, not for others. They are not concerned about what the other guy thinks of him lifting somewhat lighter loads. Successful bodybuilders feel the muscle not the weight."

Yes, it’s nice to have an audience see how strong you are by watching you hoist up ponderous poundages, but remember – you’re in the gym to grow, not to show off! Keep your ego in check.

4. Always think "More Tension"

Always look for ways to maintain or increase tension on the muscles you are training. In other words, DON’T LET THE MUSCLE RELAX OR REST during the set!

The easiest and most common way to maintain tension is to simply avoid locking out. Here’s an example: In the barbell squat, the top position provides close to zero resistance on the quadricep group. The weight on your shoulders is being supported by your entire body with bone on bone while the quadriceps remain relatively relaxed until knee flexion takes place. If you want maximum growth of the quads (as compared to pure power or strength) you need to keep the tension on the quads continuously for the duration of the set

Another way to maintain tension is to stay in continuous motion by eliminating the pause at the top and at the bottom. Pausing at the bottom of a barbell curl or dumbbell lateral raise, for example, has absolutely no purpose whatsoever. You are simply resting between reps.

The next time you do biceps or shoulders, try a few sets of barbell curls and dumbbell lateral raises with no pause whatsoever. Do not stop moving until the set is finished. You will be forced to reduce your weight substantially, but remember, form is more important than weight. The combination of continuous motion with not locking out will give you a killer workout you won't forget!

5. Use a slower negative (eccentric movement)

Just slow down! Yes, it’s that simple. A slow repetition, by its very nature, is a strict repetition and a strict repetition is a more effective repetition. This one little change in technique will go a long way towards improving your form and increasing your muscular development.

An entire system of training called "super slow" was developed based on this concept. While it wouldn’t be wise to do super slow to the exclusion of all other repetition speeds, I do recommend that you incorporate more slow movements in your training on a regular basis as a means of improving your form.

A conventional repetition is usually performed with a cadence of one or two seconds on the concentric (lifting) movement and three or four seconds on the eccentric (lowering) movement. So how slow is a "slow" rep? The sky’s the limit: You can experiment with extending your eccentric movement for five seconds to as long as thirty seconds or even more! Ellington Darden and Arthur Jones of High Intensity Training (HIT) and Nautilus fame, used to recommend the one-minute chin up as method of increasing biceps mass quickly. (That’s right – thirty seconds up and thirty seconds down!)

6. Use a slower positive (concentric) movement

You’re probably very familiar with the advice of slowing down the negative portion of your reps, but have you ever considered slowing down the concentric movement? If you think slow eccentrics are hard, wait until you try slow concentrics.

Slowing down your concentric can be equally if not more effective than negatives – they literally force you to maintain perfect form. When slowing down your concentric movement, you will notice the biggest difference in exercises where you usually use momentum to get the weight started. By removing the momentum you are forcing your muscle to generate more force - and thus more tension – just to get the weight started.

Barbell Curls, for example, are often started with a big heave that comes from the hips and lower back. "swinging" the weight up launches the weight off your thighs but robs you of much of the benefit. By performing a slow concentric curl, you get the maximum benefit possible from every inch of the range of motion, including the bottom portion which is usually "wasted."

Using perfect form with less weight can be a humbling experience at first, but if you’re interested in pure muscle growth – if you’re a bodybuilder, not a weight lifter - then concentrate on strict form first and weight second. Bodybuilding and weight lifting are not the same thing. Bodybuilding is visual, not quantitative. A magazine article with the photo of some 270 pound monster curling 110 pound dumbbells and a headline that says, "Go Heavy or Go Home" makes for very entertaining reading, but it has very little to do with reality for the average person. Yes, heavy weights are great – the heavier the better – but only if you can keep the muscle under tension by handling the weight with a strict, controlled movement and good form. Then and only then should you add weight to the bar. If you're willing to swallow your ego, slow your movements down, stretch, squeeze, control the weight, and concentrate, you’ll be able to take your physique to new heights and do it injury free.

This article was provided courtesy of Tom Venuto and www.burnthefat.com. Tom is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, personal trainer, gym owner, freelance writer and author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle" (BFFM): Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models.

For more information on how Tom's fat-burning system can help you lose fat quickly and easily... even if you've tried everything and the flab doesn't seem to budge... then click here NOW and find out how to get rid of that excess weight for good: BFFM.

6. Nutrition: REL (Replace, Eliminate, Limit) (by Robyne Arrow)

Dear Friends,

Thirteen years ago I became quite intrigued with the idea of LOSING WEIGHT DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON. Even knowing the chances of finding success with this idea was highly slim I was nevertheless still intrigued.

Please note, When I refer to, "LOSING WEIGHT DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON" I am NOT referring to:

1. Avoiding family and friend get-togethers,
2. Avoiding all other meals to splurge during dinner,
3. Limiting my meals to five pounds of plain turkey and maybe a heaping tablespoon of mash potatoes or stuffing. (Not trying to be sarcastic--just being truthful),
4. Taking supplements or DIET pills of any kind.

* Here's What I Did... This Is Where I Found Success...

In the beginning, thirteen years ago, I simply began deciphering which foods I was going to eat for the holidays versus the foods I really needed to stay away from like those scrumptious tasting butter rolls served at the beginning of dinner.

RESULTS: Weight loss didn't take place the first year. But I didn't gain weight either. What I really enjoyed was this pre-planning approach especially the greater sense of feeling and being in control so I continued my efforts and after many years of enhancing this concept I created what's known as the Replace, Eliminate, Limit (REL) Theory.

REL

* The REL Starts With REPLACING Foods. It Works Like This:

After making a mental note of the specific foods that may be available at the dinner table, start deciphering what foods to REPLACE and what foods to REPLACE them with.

ASK YOURSELF

» What foods can provide me with the same fullness yet without all the carbs? (TIP: The more creative you can be the better the results.)

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» What FOODS would I be willing to settle for?

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EXAMPLE:

» Would I be willing to REPLACE the potato salad (major carbs) with regular salad (low in carbs) --maybe I could put more croutons on my salad... more cheese... maybe even splurge with some good ole Ranch or honey french dressing on the top.

» Write down the FOODS you would like to REPLACE:

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» As you begin deciphering which foods to REPLACE begin asking:

Which foods should I ELIMINATE? Certainly there must be ONE food TO ELIMINATE, Just for control purposes, if anything else.

» List of foods to potentially ELIMINATE:

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» If you are a newbie at the REL concept perhaps ELIMINATE one of the heavy carb ladened foods: rolls, potatoes, rice, noodles, breaded foods, etc.

» What one Food would you like to ELIMINATE:

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» If you are a die hard REL user and/or want an awesome challenge then eliminate all desserts and replace with fruits. OR perhaps ELIMINATE just one or two types of desserts; pumpkin pie, fruit pies, chocolate cakes, nut pies (Pecan), etc. It's your choice.

NOTE: You can make your own rules too. For instance you may want to ELIMINATE all fruit pies and instead limit your desserts to sugar free fruit pies.

» I am feeling challenged and want to consider ELIMINATING the following food choices:

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» And lastly, foods to LIMIT.

» When it comes to LIMITING foods simply acknowledge those foods that fill you up quickly. Visualize the food on the table to help decipher which foods to limit and then explain why.

For instance:

I am going to LIMIT the stuffing so I can enjoy more of Mom's favorite Gooey Butter Cake?

I could probably (just maybe) LIMIT the cream peas and fill up on some of the scrumptious salad.

Or I could choose to LIMIT both stuffing and sweet potatoes so I could have both versus splurging on just the one.

» Write down Food(s) to LIMIT:

» List of FOODS TO LIMIT:

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*** Who knows? I was once told I think too much. Maybe thats the reason why REL works so well; Doing more thinking then eating --- LOL

CONCLUSION:

I find that when we walk into the holidays blindly or should I say without a plan we tend to find ourselves gaining weight. This can be avoided and many cases weight loss DURING THE HOLIDAYS can be a reality. So the first goal is to have an REL PLAN.

Use the REL theory if you like - it's pretty fun actually. You may even find yourself looking at the dinner table thinking maybe I'll replace the green bean casserole with the stuffing. No maybe I'll eliminate the potatoes all together and instead treat myself to a small piece of the scrumptious hot pecan pie.

THE REL Theory has been taken from the highly popular book: The Medium Carb Diet.

QUESTION:

Have you ever thought as to wonder why the REL works so well?

ANSWER:

All to often all we need is that one second distraction to prevent us from acting on those last minute, "sounds good" ideas.

Sure we may want this and we may want that but if we have a focus... a plan... we tend to not reach for just anything and/or everything OR those foods that are surely to put the weight on us. I know there is a lot of information this time around - but I really want you to feel comfortable and complete this holiday season while managing your low carb regimen.

This REL thought process is generally all thats needed to prevent one from reaching out for all the fattening stuff.

RESULTS: REL has helped thousands of people succeed not just through the holiday seasons but every day of the year. Try just one of the ideas and I assure you'll feel more in control and happier with self as you look at the up and coming New Year.

Happy Holidays,

Robyne Arrow

Robyne Arrow, a successful 23 year veteran of the Low Carb lifestyle is the author of eight books including "Cooking Low Carb with Flavor" and the popular "Medium Carb Diet." She has helped thousands of individuals overcome the many hurdles to low carb lifestyles.

Visit her site to find out how you can get a free subscription to her e-zine, "Move Over Mr. Cheat, Ms. Flavors Moving In..." at www.cookingwithflavors.com or send an e-mail to: robyne@cookingwithflavors.com.

If you find this information valuable, please pass it on to a friend.

With cookingwithflavors.com, you'll discover how easy it is to:

• Learn how to create flavorful low carb meals,
• Learn how to create low caloric, low fat, low carb meals,
• Learn how to use everyday ingredients versus wayward, hard to find ingredients,
• Learn how to read the new food labels,
• Learn secrets to losing weight on low carb diets,
• Learn about the new MEDIUM CARB DIET,
• Learn how to entertain low carb guests,
• Hone your low carb cooking skills,
• Set realistic eating and healthy weight loss goals.

6a. Nutrition Bonus: Enjoy the Holidays Without Gaining Weight (by Lynn Bode, CPT)

The holiday season is undoubtedly a time for rejoicing. Unfortunately, the average adult does a little too much celebrating during this time of year, which leads to extra baggage when the New Year rings in. Festivities that include indulging in extra helpings, snacking on seasonal treats, and little to no workout time all contribute to the increase in dieters in January.

So, this holiday season buck the trends and avoid the Seasonal Seven (the average weight most of us will gain between Thanksgiving and the New Year). That's one trend you don't want to participate in!

Even though this time of year may bring upon additional stresses and challenges, there are ways to find balance and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Though at times it may seem impossible to bypass the season's traditional foods, there are many ways to partake in the fun without increasing your pant size. The festivities don't have to be eliminated or avoided. You can have a fabulous time while also maintaining your weight and your fitness regimen.

Moderation is the word of the season. It's the secret to achieving a fun but also healthy holiday time. With a moderate approach both to what you eat (or don't eat) and how much exercise you do (or don't do), you can avoid packing on weight AND also partake in all the fun of this time of year. So this season, get a head start on the New Year instead of starting January with extra pounds to lose.

Here are some tips to help you during those hectic holiday weeks:

• Create a plan ahead of time. Before the holidays sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating fitness and good nutrition into your daily routine. Evaluate your holiday schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically have available to devote to working out.
• If you work in an office setting be prepared for the deluge of guilty treats your co-workers and other business associates will graciously want to share. Stash your own healthy snacks in your desk so you won't be tempted to overindulge when your grumbling stomach demands a 3:00 snack time.
• Don't put your fitness goals on hold until the New Year. If you can't exercise as often during this time period as you normally do, adjust appropriately. Don't use the excuse that since you don't have time for your full workout you just won't workout at all. Instead accept your limited availability and simply reduce the frequency and/or duration of your exercise. It's much better to cut your fitness time in half than to completely eliminate it.
• When attending a holiday function, try to eat ahead of time to lessen your hunger. If the party is in the evening, eat breakfast, lunch and a snack before hand (just as you would on any other day). Since you have eaten meals earlier in the day, you'll be less tempted to go overboard and eat everything in sight. However, if you instead starve all day long attempting to "save up" all your calories for the party, you will be so famished by the time it begins that it will be difficult not to overeat.
• Schedule your workouts. Mark them on the calendar and set-aside time to complete them. Consider them as important as any other appointment or event you have marked on your calendar.
• At holiday dinners, skip the gravy, dressings, and high-calorie condiments.
• On days that you really lack motivation or simply do not have time for your complete exercise routine, commit to do just 10 minutes of exercise. You'll probably end up doing more than that once you get started. Even if you only end up completing 10 minutes, that is still a lot better than zero minutes.
• When at a party, scout out healthy food options rather than doing a grab and run on all the unhealthy selections. For example, vegetable sticks (without dip), fruit pieces, plain chicken pieces, etc. Then move on to some of the less healthy (but yummy) offerings. You will be less likely to overindulge on these foods if you have already filled-up on some of the healthier items. Yet, you will not feel deprived or unsatisfied.
• Exercise at home. You'll be more inclined to follow-through on your exercise commitment if you don't have to drive somewhere to do your workout. Plus, you won't waste any time on driving, parking, the locker room or waiting to use equipment. Working out at home requires very little equipment (it even can be equipment-free) and is quite inexpensive.
• Avoid wasting calories on alcoholic beverages. The average alcoholic drink contains 150-200 calories per glass. Indulge in just 2-3 drinks and you've drunk the equivalent calories of an entire meal. If you partake in these beverages, choose wisely. For example, instead of having a full glass of wine, try mixing half a glass of wine with sparkling water or with a diet soda. This will help cut your calories in half.
• When running errands or shopping, be sure to pack some healthy snacks to have on-hand. Then after you work-up a big appetite, you won't be tempted to grab something at the mall food court or the fast food restaurant on the way home.
• Don't linger at the buffet or in the kitchen. If you loiter in close proximity to all the guilty temptations, you'll struggle to keep from unconsciously shoveling food into your mouth.
• Focus on socializing. Remember one of the great things about the holidays is spending time with friends and family. During get-togethers spend the majority of time sharing conversation instead of sharing desserts.

Hopefully these tips will help you find a balance between staying fit and also enjoying the fun of the season. Remember, moderation is the key. Have a great holiday season!

About the author: Lynn Bode is a certified personal trainer specializing in Internet-based fitness programs. She founded Workouts For You, which provides affordable online exercise programs that are custom designed for each individual. Visit: http://www.workoutsforyou.com for a free sample workout. Fitness professionals take your business online, visit: http://www.trainerforce.com.

Editors Note: Click here to learn how you can have instant access to nearly 100 minutes of a powerful seminar devoted to keeping you strong through the holidays and beyond!

7. Health News

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HIGH-DOSE VITAMIN E MAY INCREASE ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY?

Recent news stories have reported on a vitamin E study presented at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans by Edgar Miller and coworkers. The study warns that high-dose vitamin E supplementation may increase mortality in adults. After reviewing a draft of the full paper, which will be published in January 2005, we believe the research is flawed, and we see little or no evidence to support the authors' conclusions.

The current study is not a new clinical trial, but a statistical analysis (meta-analysis) of many diverse and dissimilar studies.

• Many studies that could have been included in the analysis were eliminated because total mortality rates were low.
• Many of the studies included in the analysis were conducted with older adults who had an advanced chronic degenerative disease. In other words, most studies were not conducted on normal, healthy adults.
• Many of the studies were small, involving fewer than 1000 people. More importantly, only the smaller studies showed significant effects. None of the larger (and therefore more powerful) studies, involving several thousand subjects each, showed a statistically significant impact on mortality of vitamin E supplementation.
• One study in particular (The Heart Protection Study) skewed the results of the meta-analysis toward a conclusion of increased mortality, even though the original research paper for the Heart Protection Study concluded that vitamin E supplementation did not have a significant effect on mortality.
• Miller and coworkers state that high dosages of vitamin E are dangerous and that death rates increased with dose. However, their own secondary analysis showed that differences in death rates were statistically insignificant, and that at the highest dose, risk of death was actually lower.

In short, we find no strong and compelling evidence in the paper to support the authors' conclusions that high-dose vitamin E supplementation may increase mortality in adults.

That said, we want to make several related points. First, in most of the studies included in the meta-analysis, vitamin E was given as a stand-alone nutrient. USANA has never advocated taking high doses of any single nutrient. Rather, we promote a complete and balanced approach to supplementation, as evidenced by our Essentials, which contain over 40 active ingredients provided in a balanced formula.

Second, it is important to note that there is a wealth of clinical and epidemiological research supporting the health benefits of vitamin E supplementation. This research has linked elevated intakes of vitamin E with improved cardiovascular health and reduced incidence of multiple chronic diseases. These results, from dozens of studies, are at complete odds with the conclusions drawn by Miller and coworkers.

Finally, we believe that the press response to the Miller study is overblown... one that is largely designed to sell newspapers rather than to inform the public in an objective way. Our experience with these sorts of situations leads us to believe that if the Miller study had reported a 5% decrease in mortality (a health benefit) due to high-dose vitamin E supplementation, the authors would have concluded that the result was clinically insignificant and that much more research was necessary before any conclusions could be drawn. And the findings never would have ended up in the newspaper.

We firmly believe that optimal nutrition is a key to reducing the risk of chronic degenerative disease. High-quality, comprehensive and balanced supplementation, including vitamin E, is an important element of any program promoting true health.

John Cuomo, Ph.D.

Tim Wood, Ph.D.

Russ Barton, M.S., C.N.S.

For additional comments on this study, go to the following links:

http://www.crnusa.org/PR04_1110CRNAIM.html
http://www.lef.org/news...1297
http://www.lef.org/news...1296

Carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin help prevent cataracts

The carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin have been shown to offer protection from age-related macular degeneration, a disease of the eye that can lead to blindness. New research now reveals that these nutrients may also help prevent cataracts.

In a recent study, reported in the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, human eye cells were treated with several concentrations of lutein, zeaxanthin or vitamin E, and exposed to ten seconds of ultraviolet-beta radiation (UVB). UVB radiation is a wavelength of sunlight that is believed to be responsible for cataract formation. Pretreatment of the eye cells with lutein and zeaxanthin inhibited markers of UVB damage by 50-60%. Although vitamin E had a protective effect in this study, lutein and zeaxanthin were nearly ten times more powerful.

Along with the many environmental, lifestyle and genetic risk factors associated with cataracts, exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight and oxidative stress appear to be a significant risk factor in cataract development. In addition to protective enzymes and compounds like vitamins C and E, it appears that low concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin in the eye lens may help shield the eye from harmful effects of UVB radiation, reducing the risk of cataract development.

Calcium reduces the risk of colorectal cancer

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition investigated calcium intake and risk of colon adenoma. Adenomas are benign growths that are often associated with early stages of colorectal tumor development. Since previous research has shown that calcium intake reduces the risk of colorectal tumors, evaluating the association of calcium intake to the risk of colon adenoma may be useful in the prevention of colorectal cancer.

The researchers compared the total calcium intake of 3,696 participants with verified adenoma of the colon with the calcium intake of 34,817 control participants in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

After adjustment for known risk factors, adenoma risk was 12% lower for participants with the highest total calcium intake than for participants with the lowest calcium intake. The protective association between total calcium and colorectal adenoma was largely due to calcium supplement use, with a 27% decrease in adenoma risk for participants taking >1200 mg/d than for nonusers of supplements.

High calcium intake, particularly from supplements, is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal adenoma.

Selenium and colorectal cancer risk

A recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has found that selenium intake may be related to a decreased risk of colorectal cancer. Researchers combined data from three randomized trials - the Wheat Bran Fiber trial, the Polyp Prevention Trial, and the Polyp Prevention Study - which tested the effects of various nutrients for colorectal adenoma prevention among patients who had recently had an adenoma removed. Although adenomas themselves are not cancerous, they are generally predictive of colorectal cancer incidence. Analysis of this combined data showed that the group of individuals with the highest blood selenium levels had a significantly lower likelihood of developing a new adenoma compared with those in the lowest intake group. The association between higher selenium levels and reduced adenoma recurrence supports previous research indicating that higher selenium levels may be related to a decreased risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Cardiovascular benefits of magnesium are similar to statin pharmaceuticals

A review published in the October 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition has found that many cardiovascular benefits of magnesium parallel those of statin drugs. Statins are a class of drugs commonly prescribed for individuals with elevated cholesterol levels, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

The researchers discuss the fact that both statin drugs and magnesium can inactivate the enzyme responsible for the first step in cholesterol formation and improve the function of blood vessels, reduce inflammation, and provide other cardiovascular benefits. Magnesium, however, is also involved in the activity of another enzyme known as LCAT, which helps elevate beneficial HDL cholesterol levels while reducing unhealthy LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. In addition, magnesium is necessary for the enzyme that converts linoleic acid and linolenic acid into compounds that reduce inflammation. Furthermore, optimal levels of magnesium within the cell are a natural calcium channel blocker, which helps dilate the blood vessels.

Because of its many cardiovascular benefits, relatively low cost, and good safety profile, the researchers suggest that increasing magnesium could be a viable alternative for those who cannot or choose not to take statin drugs.

Note: If you are currently taking a statin drug to lower cholesterol, do not discontinue its use except on the advice of your physician. This information is not meant to imply that magnesium supplements should replace all statin drugs. However, adequate magnesium is very important for cardiovascular health, especially for those at risk for coronary artery disease.

A Note on Pharmaceutical Grade Supplementation

It seems every day a news headline flashes by and demonstrates how powerful antioxidants are for general health. Unfortunately, most people are not well-educated regarding the benefits of multivitamins and therefore "settle" for far less than what their body deserves. Research is typically performed in a quality environment where the ingredients tested are high potency: when the research reports a specific amount, you can be certain that is well within the range of what was indicated. Are supplements that you take off a supermarket shelf subject to the same standard of quality? The answer is NO! The supplement industry is only loosely regulated, and many manufacturers choose to avoid quality control processes. Some use their own, proprietary techniques that are not verified by third parties. Often when they embrace what is known as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), they adhere to the "food" standard, which is far less demanding than the "pharmaceutical" standard. You can read more about these standards by visiting Current Good Manufacturing Practices and USP.org.

There is a great guide to multivitamins called the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements by Lyle MacWilliams, B.Sc., M.Sc., FP. Lyle is a former Canadian Member of Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly for British Columbia. His book not only introduces the importance of antioxidants, but has several chapters explaining how they impact health. It covers the research behind vitamins and minerals. Most importantly, Lyle pulled together a panel of leading nutritionists (all doctors) to find the recommended levels for optimal health. This was called the "Blended Standard" and over 1000 multivitamins were compared against the standard. Only 500 made the cut, and of these, only 5 ranked in the 90th percentile or higher! Lyle published the scores for these top 500 in his book.

If your vitamin scored in the top 10%, that is fantastic! Congratulations for taking steps to protect your health - the monthly investment in a pharmaceutical-grade multivitamin is, in my opinion, a true health insurance policy. If your multivitamin is not superior quality, or if you are not currently taking a multivitamin, then I encourage you to read this to appreciate the value of the multivitamins that I sell (it took me four years to find a company with this level of quality and integrity), and then contact me or call toll-free 1-888-472-2829 to place your order and get started right away! Your health is precious, and I would not ask you to invest in something so important without offering the opportunity risk-free. Our products adhere to pharmaceutical-grade GMP, come with a potency guarantee that what is on the label is in the bottle, and are backed by a 100% 30-day money-back guarantee.

8. Motivation: The Pursuit of Greatness (by Jeremy Likness)

On June 3rd, 1948, a blast rocked the Black Hills of South Dakota. Ten tons of stone were dislodged from the mountainside and tumbled to the earth below. Earlier that day, a man named Korczak had ascended the mountain and single-jacked four holes at 6,740 feet above sea level.

Single-jacking is the practice of placing a drill-bit against hard rock, slamming it with a four-pound sledge hammer, then rotating the drill and banging it again until the hole is finished. It is a labor-intensive effort and a single man might only drill six to eight feet over the course of a day.

Over the following years more than eight million tons of rock would be blasted away. What was once a silent silhouette in stone began to take on a new shape. It would not be until over a decade after Korczak's death – a full fifty years after he single-jacked the first holes – that the face of his muse, the proud Lakota warrior named “Crazy Horse,” would emerge. What Korczak had begun in obscurity by constructing his own 714-step stairway to the summit (one he ascended and descended multiple times in a single day) is now known throughout the world. Over 10,000 hikers converge for the annual hike to the top of the mountain to view the face that alone is taller than Mount Rushmore.

One billion postage stamps with the likeness of Crazy Horse have been issued over the last few decades. It all started with a single hike up the mountain by man who was humble enough to begin the project by himself but had a vision large enough to believe he could transform a mountain into the noble image of a native war hero declaring the extent of his lands. It was a vision of greatness.

How did something so monumental begin with such humble roots? Perhaps the greatest clue left behind is the quotation found on the various knick-knacks in the gift shop next the mountain. I was moved when I heard the phenomenal story of the Crazy Horse project and bought a souvenir not to remind me of where I had been, but to encourage me to keep forging ahead to where I want to be. The beautiful swirl of agate was not what commanded the most of my attention – it was the words that spoke to my own dreams. It reads:

When the Legends Die
The Dreams End
When the Dreams End
There is No More Greatness

Korczak insisted that it was not important to know when the monument will be finished. What was most important was to continue the dream. And continue the dream he did, through three separate operations to remove six discs. After quadruple bypass surgery, he was back on the mountain supervising his children as they painted the outline of the massive horse's head. Crazy Horse, when completed, will be the world's largest sculpture, taller than the great pyramids and overshadowing the Washington Monument by eight feet.

Seven of Korczak's ten children continue the dream to this day along with his wife. Korczak himself rests peacefully in a mausoleum he built with his children before his death at the base of the mountain.

It is said the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first footstep. Just as the act of carving Crazy Horse's face from living rock took fifty years, the quest to sculpt your own physique will not be fulfilled overnight. Why is so difficult to hold onto the dream of living a healthy, fit life? Have we lost our Legends, and let the Dreams End? You may be amazed to learn that every ordinary person in this world is destined to something extraordinary – if they are willing to stop trying to make it happen and instead able to search deep within to let it happen.

Are you ready to let success happen?

A pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories. I must admit, it was daunting to me when I began my journey and realized I had 65 pounds of fat to lose. Sixty-five pounds of fat boasts more than a quarter million calories. In our fast-paced world of instant gratification, I wanted the fat to disappear immediately. I did not want to single-jack those four holes and blast away the first ten tons out of eight million ... instead, I wanted the entire sculpture to reveal itself overnight. Where was my magic bullet?

Crazy Horse is in the Dakota Territory, which was first made famous to other Americas through the journals of Lewis and Clark. Many of us today dread stepping onto the treadmill or out into the cold morning air to run a few miles. The Lewis and Clark expedition crossed the entire country from St. Louis to the west coast and back again. The majority of this was on foot, dragging boats laden with supplies upstream against the aggressive current of the Missouri River.

One journal entry shared an extraordinary fact: each man consumed nearly twenty pounds of meat every day in order to supply the calories they needed to survive. In stark contrast, when they were struggling through a hard winter in the Rockies, they managed to drag equipment, supplies, guns, and tools over treacherous mountain passes while subsiding on nothing more than roots. The entire journey traversed over 8,000 miles and lasted several years, but the men and woman set forth knowing only what they wished to accomplish and focused on achieving it one day at a time.

They took their first steps without any knowledge of the land they were about to enter – it was terra incognito. Is a healthy physique “unknown territory” to you? It is easier to overcome fear of the unknown when you are in pursuit of greatness.

What does it take to step onto the treadmill to run a few miles? What courage is necessary to enter the weight room and force several pounds of iron to move against the will of gravity? The small excuses that keep you away from your goals are the dangerous ones. They are the little dream-stealers, attacking greatness. Living healthy is about more than simply losing weight or looking great on the beach. It is about excellence.

Wouldn't weight-loss be easy if it were just a “thing?” We do “things” every day. We brush our teeth, go shopping, and prepare dinner. These “things” are part of our daily existence, and are as easy as watching the rain. So why is living healthy such a struggle to many? Perhaps it is because you are chasing something more than a number on the scale. Maybe you feel that if you burn that fat, you will find your true self underneath. During the chase, you are not really losing weight – whether you like it or not, you are pursuing greatness. It is who we are.

According to Jim Rohn, “the ultimate expression of life is not a million dollars or a bank account or a home.” It is living a good life. Jim Rohn once lied to a Girl Scout because he did not have a single dollar in his wallet to buy cookies from her. He vowed he would never be in that position again, and is now America's foremost business philosopher – a millionaire who has spoken to hundreds of thousands. Jim shares that a good life includes productivity, good friends, culture, and religion. He tells us not to miss anything – not the game, not the opera, not the movie. What are you missing?

How hard is it to live the good life? We Americans are numb to our present condition. We are programmed to sit in front of the television set to absorb a constant stream of negative news, then punch the clock at a job that is high-stress and low-pay with little time remaining to live the good life. We are exhausted, so we slump in front of the latest sitcom to find pleasure in someone else's life because we don't have the energy to live our own. Dr. Myron Wentz, who was born on a small farm only a few hundred miles north of Crazy Horse in North Dakota and is now pursuing greatness as a leader in the fight against degenerative disease, described the situation eloquently by stating “Most people die too long.”

It took me nearly a year to lose sixty-five pounds of fat. I was not an overnight success story – I had to work at it. It was a struggle and sometimes I would backslide. When I'd stand on the scale to see that I had taken two steps in the wrong direction, I'd dust myself off, face the right direction, and keep moving forward. Many people who were attempting to lose fat with me gave up when they did not see their six-pack after a few weeks of sweating hard and eating clean.

Not content with being ordinary, I stubbornly refused to give in. Perhaps I can attribute some of my success to my birth in Sturgis, South Dakota - a small town nestled just inside the border of the Black Hills where many legends have roamed. I do not consider myself a legend, but I could relate to Korczak when I'd rouse myself early in the morning after only a few hours of sleep to step into the cold basement and onto the unrelenting treadmill. I did not want to die too long – I was ready to live.

You see, I did not know how long it would take to reach my goal. I was unhappy and dissatisfied with how I was living my life. For things to change, I had to change. I was not ready for just any change – I wanted to do something great. Korczak had his mountain, I had my treadmill. What we shared was the resolve to look beyond the next day and become part of a greater vision. I might have only burned a few hundred calories per day, but those emptied fat cells would never cause me grief again. It doesn't matter when you reach that magic weight or fit into that special pair of shorts. What matters is keeping the dream alive every day. Live the good life. Strive for excellence. Excellence is not perfection; it is the pursuit of greatness – it is perfecting the process of becoming your best. I remind myself of the dream to be my best each and every day, because I know when the dreams end, there is no more greatness.

Are you merely chasing the scale, or do you choose to pursue greatness? Never forget your dreams.

9. Business Development: From Making a Living to Creating a Lifestyle (by Jim Rohn)

Excerpted from The Day That Turns Your Life Around

After having struggled for so long, it took a shift in attitude for my family and me when success started to happen. When I started making a little extra money at age 25, Schoaf taught me to also let it serve as a new inspiration for lifestyle. To take my family to dinner after I'd had 2 or 3 pretty good weeks and it looked like it was going to continue. I would say, "Today we get to order from only the left hand side of the menu, we don't have to look at the right hand side". Didn't cost much, just a little extra. But you can't believe the effect on the family, wow, that these are new days.

It's called changing your life as well as changing your skills and earning more money. It's best to invest some of that early money in lifestyle. Go to the movies. Take two vacations instead of one. Just some little extra things that now the family gets inspired by this new commitment to earning more and becoming more and learning more, taking some night classes, whatever you have to do. Now you make it more worthwhile for the family by thinking of lifestyle changes that now become very exciting. Go to the concerts. My parents said don't miss anything. Don't miss the play, the music, the songs, the performances, the movie - whatever is happening.

When I started making some extra money I opened up an account for my wife and I called it the "No Questions Asked Account". I said, "here is the checkbook for a new account and it's called no questions asked". I'll just keep putting money in there and you spend it for whatever you wish. It was life changing. It wasn't a fortune. But she didn't have to ask for money any more. I could sense that it was a little embarrassing at times when she had to ask me for money. I thought, that's not good, so the first time I get a chance, here's what I'm going to do. And sure enough, I did it. The "No Questions Asked Account". You can't believe what that did. It was absolutely amazing.

With that little extra money, work at creating lifestyle. Social friendships, church, community, country. All those things that make a composite of our overall life. Start furnishing that with new vigor, vitality, money, whatever it takes to expand your life into what I call the good life as well as economics.

And it doesn't always take a lot of money. How much is a movie? Even for a person of modest means. $8 or $10? It might cost $60 million to make it and it only costs $8 to see it.

When I discovered those kinds of concepts at age 25 you can imagine it was hard for me to sleep nights that first year. I got so excited about changing everything. And one discipline leads to another. One change leads to another. Feeling good about yourself and starting to make the turn to do something you've never done before, then it starts to work, wow, and then you get excited about changing other areas of your life as well.

Now after you have made your fortune, the money and extravagance might not seem as big a deal. And fortunately you can then create even more powerful opportunities, in particular, opportunities for benevolence, philanthropy and giving.

Now I'm certainly not saying to focus only on external pleasures and rewards. Your relationships, health and spirituality are all of more consequence.

But in the beginning, when the rewards of your hard work begin paying off, make sure and treat yourself and those closest to you to a new world of lifestyle and celebrations.

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to www.jimrohn.com. Copyright © 2001 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide.

Could today be the day that turns your life around? Call 1-888-284-9344 or visit this page and take a look around. This is definitely not for everyone, but if you feel you are one of the few who qualify, leave me your contact information and we'll set up a time to talk! - Jeremy

For more business development and motivation articles, visit MLM-Secret.com - the site dedicated to entrepreneurs!

10. Closing Thoughts

This concludes a year of the Lose Fat, Not Faith e-Zine (formerly the Natural Physiques monthly newsletter.) I am working on compiling Volume I - 2004 into an e-Book that I will make available as a convenient way of referring to the numerous articles and content that we published throughout the year. It has been an incredible journey and I thank you, our loyal subscribers, for being a part of the process that is our mission and vision to share health and wellness with the world. In 2005, we look forward to many changes. I will be enhancing the calculators to include international units of measure because many of our honorable guests are from overseas, and deserve to see those calculations in kilograms and meters. I am going to be going on the road to conduct seminars in major U.S. cities, with the goal to take these seminars overseas in 2006. If you feel your area will benefit from a seminar and you are willing to help with coordinating this event, please, contact me. This concludes the final archived issue for 2004 - we look forward to providing you with incredible content to kick off 2005! As always, I look forward to helping you Become Your Best™.

Your partner in health,

Jeremy Likness
CEO, Natural Physiques
A Division of Golden Summit, Inc.
1-888-472-2829

11. Subscription Information

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