The No More Excuses Diet (2 page)

The first step in realizing your fullest potential is to make a
choice.
We make a thousand choices every day that either help or hinder us in becoming successful in reaching any weight-loss goals. After all, we know eating fried and sugary foods is unhealthy, we know physical activity is vital, and we know we can really make fitness fit into our lives if we truly want it there. Busting your excuses boils down to figuring out what you really want. Why is this endeavor important to you?

It’s important because this is your own path and your own body. This vehicle isn’t going anywhere until you get into the driver’s seat. Once you know your
why
for wanting to attain your best body, figuring out how to do it becomes easy. You need to identify the reasons that will keep you disciplined in this journey, and then make it your choice to prioritize your goal, no matter what obstacles arise.

And obstacles will arise. All of a sudden, it’s pizza night at home. It’s a lunch potluck at work. You feel lack of personal support. You catch a cold or burn the midnight oil working. Your life gets busy, your efforts become half-hearted, and your results—well, there’s not much in the way of results. I have been on this path more times than I can count, but I’m here to tell you that
you can break away from that path.

I want to help you develop your own No More Excuses plan to take your life to the next level. This book isn’t (just) about how to eat right and exercise. It is also about learning how to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself, no matter what else is going on in your
life. It’s about believing in your abilities and giving yourself permission to succeed. It’s about getting to know YOU: your strengths, your weaknesses, your excuses, and, most of all, your
motivation.

Motivation is the
key principle
in this journey. If you examine the lives of those who are in incredibly good shape, you will see an invisible
energy constantly pushing them to stay disciplined and train harder. That energy is motivation. They might be motivated because their career depends on their physical body and beauty, as is the case with so many celebrities and models. Or maybe they’re motivated because their personal identity is tied to having a fit body (the way athletes need to be incredibly fit to succeed). For us “normal” people, though, motivation comes from setting higher expectations for ourselves and in believing we can meet those expectations.

Over the course of this program, we are going to examine what motivates you, and we are going to clear away the distractions that get in your way.

Some of you might want to look amazing in an outfit, or be able to walk confidently into a room without feeling physically insecure. Others might want to get healthier to avoid diseases or escape the torment you felt as a child for being overweight. No matter what motivates you, the first step in achieving your goal is to take action and identify your motivations, whatever they may be, and create a way to hold yourself accountable. This is not about shame or guilt; nobody is going to scold you if you don’t succeed. This is about understanding your motivation, embracing your goals, and realigning your world to succeed.

Let me tell you about some of the things that have motivated me. In my early twenties, I feared childbirth would destroy my body. I was a young and athletic personal trainer who won several beauty and fitness contests. At the gym, older women would
constantly react to my fit physique by saying, “Wait until you have children.…”

So after I gave birth, I was motivated to prove that motherhood didn’t have to change me and I could even make myself better. I created a flexible but disciplined workout and diet plan, executed with persistence and reflected on weekly—and it worked!

Another motivation was my desire to feel confident in my skin. In my mid-twenties I struggled with binge eating and I watched my weight balloon. My metabolism was damaged from years of yo-yo dieting, and my weight no longer responded to any diet or exercise program. It was exhausting to run, my clothes didn’t fit, and I was embarrassed to go swimming. I wanted to feel sexy, firm, and fit again. I was motivated to achieve the firm body I’d had in my early twenties and avoid the frustration I felt in being overweight by my mid-twenties. I was motivated by the pleasure of success and the pain of failure.

You need to be, too.

Imagine how confident you will feel, how healthy you will look, and how happy you will be when you create for yourself the body and health of your dreams. You set out with a goal in mind and you achieved it. I
know
you can do this. Why? Because I’ve done it and I will show you how to do it, too.

There are three cycles to this program. They are cycles because you can repeat them or move from one to the next as you’re ready:

The S.P.E.E.D. cycle is your liftoff. Within the first three days of the program, you will create a game plan complete with goals, a
timeline, a reward, and a map. This is when your motivation is high; you will develop a fitness and diet program specific to your body, your lifestyle, and the goals you want to achieve. With S.P.E.E.D., you are setting the goals, planning the journey, envisioning the outcome, executing the plan, and delivering the results on a weekly basis. The goal is to get to the finish line quickly and efficiently.

The
S.T.R.I.V.E. cycle is your operative phase. This is the period where you will not only be creating new habits for a healthier life, no matter what, but you’ll also be following a diet and exercise schedule that you’ve tailored to your specific goal. S.T.R.I.V.E. is not just about stepping up your lifestyle to attain a goal; it’s also about developing the technique to stick with the plan no matter what. Once the initial motivation dissipates, attaining goals becomes more difficult. This is natural to the process, so do not be discouraged by it. Instead, S.T.R.I.V.E. will teach you to push through it!

During this cycle you will be mastering your ability to look challenges in the eye and not give up. You will overcome addictive foods and come face-to-face with the excuses that are preventing you from following through to achieve your dream. I provide strategies to help you bust down those excuses so that you can rise to greater heights than you thought you could achieve. With S.T.R.I.V.E., you are seeking the issue, tackling the problem, reflecting on failure, identifying the cause, visualizing a new route, and engaging in a new action. Your goal is to keep pushing until you reach your objective.

The
S.C.O.R.E. cycle is your success phase. You’ve maintained your three-day momentum, then spent three weeks developing healthy habits, and now you’ve reached the three-month mark—and have officially hit your target. This isn’t the end, though; this is the beginning of other goals to reach that lie just over the horizon.

Many people lose weight only to regain the weight slowly afterward. That won’t happen to you with the No More Excuses program
because this third cycle combats complacency and adjusts your life to a new normal. With S.C.O.R.E., you reflect on what made you successful and celebrate your journey. This is also when your program is in operational mode and you are rejuvenating after the hard work you’ve put in these past three months. When you achieve your goal, it’s a time to reflect, rest, and evaluate where you go from here. What’s your new goal going to be now? It’s to make fitness an official lifestyle so you can proudly improve your best body, every year of your life.

I will help you understand how your body works and aid you in developing a fitness routine that blends strength, cardio, and flexibility training, so that you get the most out of each minute. These easy at-home workouts include different levels of fitness, depending on your experience and your energy level, so that you have options, no matter what else is going on in your life.

I also provide a balanced meal plan based on a 30 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein, 30 percent fats, and 10 percent flexibility philosophy that will help you make sure every meal you eat is well balanced and fills your body with the ingredients it needs to function and stay energized. This plan encourages you to consume balanced meals throughout your day. I haven’t eliminated major food groups, and I even leave room for a couple weekly treat meals.

Oftentimes, we allow our family, our job, or our responsibilities to overwhelm and distract us from caring for ourselves. This No More Excuses program will bring you back to yourself. You will uncover your internal warrior in this weight-loss battle. You will learn how to balance your life, prioritize your health, and feel whole again.

Can you imagine how amazing your body will look and feel in just three months?

Getting fit requires desire, discipline, and dedication. If you
are ready to forfeit your excuses and take the plunge, this book is for you. You will achieve your fitness goals if you make a personal promise to not give up until you get there. This mentality makes success a matter of “when” you will reach your goals and not “if” you will reach them.

I’m not going to coddle you. This plan isn’t easy. It takes effort. It will take time, too, but I guarantee you: You will become healthy if you make the choice right now to never give up. No More Excuses!

PART 1

I wasn’t always fit. I never played a sport, and I grew up eating sugary cereals, boxed dinners, and fast food. I don’t have superior genes, either. As the eldest of three daughters, my heavier frame always mimicked the bone structure of my overweight mother. While my mother was a charismatic, vibrant, and successful businesswoman, she didn’t apply that same drive to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. She became a diabetic in her twenties, experienced strokes in her thirties, and had heart attacks and a kidney transplant in her forties.

Watching her suffer made me vigilant about protecting my health. At twelve years old, I purchased a cheap Reebok workout video by Gin Miller at my local store, and I used old phone books as my fitness stepper. I read the many diet books that my mother had around and began following a diet comprising foods with no fat, such as candy, breads, and pasta. After slowly gaining weight in my teens, I began to experiment with other diets. I attempted a juice fast—that lasted only one day. I attempted the Atkins diet, but after three weeks of beef patties, bacon, and no bowel movement, I quit that, too. I tried diet pills and weight-loss shakes, with no success, either.