Phitness Advice from High School Musical

What? Yes, I can hear all your incredulous responses! What am I talking about. The answer is this...

"Bop, bop, bop, bop till you top. Slip and slide and ride that rhythm"

Yes, there you have it. How to look PHAB and PHIT from High School Musical!

Get out! Dance! Move those legs and arms and bootie! Shake it, but don't break it! And soon - you'll be amazed at how much exercise you've gotten and how great you'll feel!

Now get out there and bop to the top!

To your phitness and well being,
Phillip

PS A post doesn't have to be LONG to be valuable!

You are the measure of my success!

I have decided to become one of the next "big" internet personalities, because my goal in life requires the scope of reaching thousands and thousands of people.

Part of that goal is to make everyone I come in contact with realize how awesome they are and to motivate them to be the best they can be. To break out of whatever box they're living in and experience new and fulfilling vistas in life.

In order to do that, I need to know what I can do to best serve you. I would like to start with the friends and build. How can I make your life so much better, help you to feel so incredible that you are willing to refer me as a person and persona to your friends? What can I do that will make you so excited? What value can I offer you? Let me know and help me to help you while reaching the world!

- Phillip (a.k.a PhillyMac)

The Mind Matters

Hey Phitties!

I've been planning to post for a couple of days - but I thought exercise was more important. Not that I don't love ya :-) Thanks for waiting till I got back.

So, you see the title. The mind matters, and in exercise as well as life, it always does. Because exercise happens in the mind first before it happens in the rest of reality. Why is this so? Just because it's how we're made. But the truth is, that where ever your mind or heart is set - you will follow. Sound airy-fairy? It's not.

From a spiritual perspective it was said clearly in the New Testament. "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also." But it isn't just a spiritual principle - it's a principle of life, success and it's provable by science. It's a fact that our mind is a goal achieving mechanism. It works to help us reach that which we have set in it. But you don't just have to believe me - you can read about it in the classic book Psycho-Cybernetics. This book is the foundation for a lot of "self-help", "positive thinking" literature. The difference between this book and a lot of other books is that this book as testing behind it - not just rah rah!

So - about that goal seeking mechanism. One of the things that studies have found is that we can't do things by force of will alone. If that was so, most people wouldn't have any bad habits. But, we CAN accomplish whatever we want when we essentially program our mind (put in the goal), then let it help us towards our goal. The bad news is that this works to our good and bad. It's like the old computer standard GIGO (pronounced with a long I) - garbage in, garbage out. If we seed our mind with crap, the thought that we're tired, or we just don't want to exercise - our minds will help us facilitate that. However, if we put in our minds the urgency of our need to exercise, we graphically imagine the benefits of the exercise - then our mind will help us to exercise! Instead of providing excuses for us not to exercise - it will provide reasons FOR us to exercise. And, there are times when that can even help us to overcome our tiredness or desire to sit on the couch with a bag of chocolate chip cookies. (Yah - like I'm the only one who likes to do that right?)

So, take a minute or two before you go to bed tonight and program your mind. Put exercise in, put emotion around the benefits to you of doing that exercise. Then let your marvelous mind make the difference. The results are in folks - the mind matters!

Remember - you ROCK. Now get out there and do something amazing!
- Phillip

PS Next post: how to find the motivation you need to succeed.

Exercise before bed - Phit and Phinish!

I know - you think I'm CRAZY! You're right! Crazy to be PHABULOUS. And if you want to be, you can too. So, what kind of exercise? The kind that keeps burning calories while you sleep! What's that you say? Burn calories while you sleep? You're high! NO! I'm not! And what is this miracle exercise?

Well... it's not "an" exercise. It is SEVERAL. Anything that builds muscle! Crunches, squats, pushups. But here's the secret. Don't do big routines - do one exercise till exhaustion. Fatigue yourself. Then, if you need to take a shower. Go to bed. Let your body rest - build muscle and burn calories and fat! Trust me, you'll be phit sooner than you think!

And, for you married type couples, there is a GREAT exercise that you can do before going to sleep too. :-D And guys, one particular variant is a killer ab workout that makes my abs burn every time.

Why mornings are great for exercise!

1. You get it done.
2. You jack your metabolism straight away.
3. You get it done.
4. You now have the opportunity to supplement what you've done during the rest of the day (yes, do more/other excercise).
5. You get it done.
6. You have a feeling of accomplishment.
7. You get it done.

Getting back to that feeling of accomplishment. Don't brush that off to quickly. Why? Simply because we respond to our mind's images of ourselves. That's not just theory or self-help tosh, it's scientific. So, when we accomplish something, we feel better about ourselves, see ourselves in a different light and we think more positively. Sure, positive thinking isn't everything - but it sure beats NEGATIVE thinking - which is never anything but poison to our minds, hearts and spirits.

So, get out, get it done, reap the rewards. Walk taller, happier and more confident because you ROCK!

Work - Workout

You don't always have to go to the gym to get a workout. Get one right in your cube - especially your abs! Seriously. Try this. Take a deep breath, then blow it all the way out, even using your abs to get every last oxygen atom out. Then, hold your tummy there and squeeze for 2-5 seconds. Do that a few times every 30 minutes and you'll have a pretty good ab starter workout for the day.

And remember - tight abs make you feel uncomfortable if you eat to much - so their helping you with that appetite too!

Instant Motivation

Would you like instant motivation to get fit? Want to have fear struck into your heart? Need that last jolt to get over the hump and take care of yourself? Go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart.

Oh STOP. Here's my point before you go all PC on me. When I went in to pick up a few items - healthy items mind you, frozen mixed fruit for my smoothie, stevia for my coffee (yes, my vice) and my green tea - I just could not believe the general state of the people that were grocery shopping. Don't misunderstand me, these people weren't a few pounds overweight. They were fat. Obese. Multiple spare tires. And what was in their grocery carts? Junk. Processed snacks, high density no nutrition carbs, loaded with saturated fat meat products. And that wasn't the worst of it. You're probably saying, what could be worse?

Their KIDS. All miniature versions of the parents. It was like watching the adult Michelin Man with a kid version coming down the aisle. And it was SAD! Pathetic even. These parents were not only dooming themselves to half existence's because of their poor choices - they were dooming their children!

So, why is that instant motivation for me? Here's why.


See those four girls? My behavior impacts their lives. My eating habits impact how healthy they will be. My choices determine if they will or won't have an active, loving involved parent - or some sack of spare parts that just exists on the couch.

So, go to Wal-Mart. See what your future might look like. See what the future of your children might look like. That should give you some *instant* motivation.

Note: This post does not imply that the people I saw shopping are "bad". It does say that for 98.5% of them they have made horribly BAD choices regarding their diet. They may be caring, loving and concerned people who contribute to their communities and their work places- BUT - regardless they are killing themselves, condemning themselves to shadows of the existence they could live due to their eating habits. My hope is that they also start to notice that Wal-Mart has a great produce section and is expanding their line of organic products and that they'll help themselves and their children by making better choices in the future.

Phab Phitness - The importance of abs

Hey Phitties!

This is a critical one for you while you're trying to get phit - do your abs! Yes, there are a bunch of reasons to work your abs, many of which I'll cover a different time. For now I'm going to tell you one that is a little thought of secret - it keeps you from eating!

"Huh?" you say. "Really!" I say! "But why?" you ask, "is abdominal work an appetite suppressant?" No! Not as in a chemical one anyway :-) But it does help! Here's the deal - especially when you first start and your abs feel the burn. During the day as your stomach gets stretched in the normal course of eating - you feel it. Your tummy will even hurt - not in a stomach ache kind of way - but in a "HEY!! You're stretching me out!" kind of way. Ironically, you may even feel kind of bloated - even though you're not anymore than usual. And, you could even wonder why your pants feel tight - only to go and check them and find out they aren't! It's your abdominal muscles my phab one! They're working for you!

Now here's the even cooler thing - it's mentally re-enforcing your work too! It's giving your brain signals, and you start thinking - "man, I'm not having that bag of M&M's because I'm not going to undo this!" Watch and see - you'll know it's true!

Tomorrow my Phitties!

- PhillyMac

Phab Phitnees - Measurement

Measure! Measure again. Yup. Why? Because when you measure you can see where you're going. You can see (in most cases literally) if you ate to late last night. For example:

My starting waist size was 38 1/4. This morning it is 38 1/2. Why is that? Usually with me it's because I had too much after 8:00 (gotta lay off the soy milk). Of course, I could be bloated too. But that's why you track it. Find out your tendencies. Of course - it's also great to rejoice when you see it go AND stay down!

Now get out and exercise!

PS (my weight was down a 1/2 pound though - more about weighing yourself, how and why l8r!)

Phab Phitness - Last Tip of the Day

Don't eat anything else! Stop now! If you want to gain weight, then you eat right before bed. But... if you want to look phabulous? No late night eating! And even better - stop by 7:00-8:00 somewhere. You'll be glad you did!

Phab Phitness - Get a great start

Hi. First, I'm not really doing a "day by day" thing here. It's more that I want to provide what you need to do starting day one. And, I'm not doing something critical right at the moment (because it's 3:13 am and I'm awake!!).

So, first things first.

For day one of getting into fabulous shape

* sleep the night before. especially so you can get up early.
* morning: measure! Measure everything you can. Weight, body mass index (if you have the tools to do it), inches (waist, but hips - especially if you're a female), thighs, chest (and bust as necessary). Write it ALL down. This is critical. Don't do it and you won't succeed.
* exercise!