What kind of body do you really want?

Think about it for a second. Ask yourself, “What kind of
body do I really want?”

Women often say something like, “Oh, I just want a nice,
toned body. Not too big, but firm.” Toned and firm, you say?
Okay, sounds good to me.

Men usually say something like, “I want to be big –
muscular and lean.” Well, I’m with ya. That’s
a noble goal.

You know what you want to look like. You can picture it in your
mind. You know exactly what kind of body you want.

Now brace yourself and ask yourself honestly, “Why don’t
I already have the body I want?”

“Why don’t I look the way I want to look, right now?”

“What’s holding me back?”

Ask: “What’s holding me back?”

Well, let’s consider the possibilities . . .

Is it a lack of motivation? Maybe. In my experience,
however, the people who actively seek out solutions to their problems
have motivation enough. You don’t need to move mountains to
get in the best shape of your life; you just need to get started,
and everyone can do that. If you can start, you can finish –
as long you do the right things! You see, once you’ve started
to change your body, you don’t need motivational slogans and
pep talks. What you need are results! Results are the true motivation.
When you’re doing something that works, you just look in the
mirror and say, “Damn, I look good – this stuff really
works.” It’s positive reinforcement of what you’ve
been doing, and you keep doing it. So the problem isn’t rah-rah
inspiration. It’s something else.

Poor exercise habits? Sometimes, especially if
you’re completely sedentary. If your daily activity involves
nothing more than moving from one piece of furniture to another,
you’re simply not going to get that body. Looking good naked
requires exercise, and probably more than you’re told is necessary.
(30 minutes three times a week? I don’t think so.) But even
then, I work with lots of people who are already exercising with
highly skilled trainers and coaches – and even then, they
don’t always get the results. So what else could it be? What
is it really?

Bad genetics? Look, this is a definite NO. A complete
cop-out. You know what bad genetics are? Being born without legs.
A propensity to gain fat around your midsection is NOT bad genetics.
Sure, each of us has certain genetic limitations; for instance,
you may not be equipped to play quarterback for the Patriots, play
center for the Celtics or win the Boston Marathon – in other
words, you may not have the genetic makeup to reach the upper limits
of human performance. But you can always lose fat or gain muscle.
In ten years of working with people of all stripes, from office
managers to elite athletes, I’ve yet to see a single case
where we couldn’t make significant body composition change
– and that’s what you really want, isn’t it? So
if you’ve been using the old “bad genetics” routine,
stop shaking your fist at the heavens, and look a little closer
at the real problem.

So what is the real problem? Ask yourself again: “Why don’t
I have the body I want?”

What’s really holding you back.

Look, it’s not your lack of inspirational posters. It’s
not the set/rep scheme you use in the gym, and it’s definitely
not your genetics.

Make no mistake about it, your limiting factor nearly always resides
in the 160+ hours per week that you spend outside of gym.

And what do you think is the most important factor in those 160+
hours? What, in that time, has the greatest impact on your body
composition, health and performance?

Answer: Nutrition.

Whether you want to gain muscle, lose fat, or just live
healthy, the limiting factor is almost always nutrition.

Poor nutrition is what holds you back.

And good nutrition is what will move you forward. Good nutrition
is what will feed muscle and shed fat. It’s what will improve
nearly every health marker you can measure. It’s what will
drastically improve recovery and mood, so you can work harder, longer.
Good nutrition is what will get you the body you never thought you
could have but what if the nutrition you need is not available?

Change your nutrition, and you’ll change your body entirely.
Change your nutrition, and you’ll quite literally change your
life.

Just look at people who have made major changes to their body –
and I mean major changes, the type of changes that make people take
notice when you enter the room. The common denominator is that they
all completely changed their nutrition.

“Well, great,” you say, “I understand the importance
of nutrition to my body – and I do want to change –
the question is how!”