Category: nutrition philosophy
Competence, Confidence, Commitment for Goal Achievement
It’s been a while since I’ve written on here so I went onto my facebook feed to look for inspiration. Usually, on Facebook, I can find something to talk about since a lot of my friends are fitness professionals, personal trainers etc. In this case, Kevin Yates one of my facebook friends had posted a video about setting and achieving goals and how it plays into our self-confidence when we unknowingly set ourselves up for failure.
“How to lose weight” it gets around 550,000 google searches a month and yet there is no shortage of articles out there making the same promise of “do this, lose weight easily”. Despite the plethora of information, people continue to gain weight. You can read more about the increasing rates of obesity in this document by the CDC.
In truth, it’s easy and it’s not. It really depends on what you make of it. You see, it might involve more than you think it does and that’s why you need to be committed. Those people that say “I’m watching what I eat” never really get anywhere because they quite simply aren’t committed to the result. If you aren’t committed, you settle for less. Sometimes the result you want takes more than you may think and you have to do more, but at the same time, it may not be as hard as you may think.
One of the big things when it comes to training, nutrition, and fitness is how much of a mental game it really is. When I sit down with potential personal training clients for a goal assessment interview, I ask them to rate their level of commitment to their own goals. If they aren’t committed enough, I will turn them away for the simple fact that if they aren’t really committed, then none of the “how to’s” I show them will ever be enough. The mindset drives all.
Sometimes people seek me out because I’m a professional “motivational speaker”. This isn’t completely accurate. I’m actually an “inspirational speaker”. You see motivation really has to come from within. I can’t make someone want something they don’t want. I can, however, inspire by example. I train like this, look what it’s done for me, look what it’s done for my personal training clients, it can do the same for you. Hopefully, that sets the spark which ignites the fire that burns inside you to take charge of your health. Along with accountability and self-discipline, if that fire burns hot, that will provide the mental fuel you need to get through the times when you just don’t feel like training.
The other part is that confidence and competence are intertwined. There is something called the competence/confidence loop. Basically, what it boils down to, the more competent you are, the more confident you will be. The less competent you are, the less competent you will be.
And confusion will stop an action before it ever gets started.
This is where guidance and support come in. When you know what to do, then you simply do it. As you do it, you get better at it and as you get better at it, you start to enjoy it a little bit. Success is fun. Getting stronger is fun. Getting closer to your goals through the process can sometimes be a drag, it’s fun when you know you are getting somewhere. Having someone there to support you makes it fun. On those days when you don’t feel like it, use the discipline and the social pressure of having someone there expecting you to come in, to carry you through.
If you are committed, and you simply need guidance, support and accountability to get you to your goals, take advantage of my trial membership offer by texting me at 973 476 5328
Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker, and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.
What we want to achieve vs. what we do to achieve it.
Often times following one of my strongman performances, when people find out I have a personal training studio they make the mistake in assuming that the clientele I typically work with are up and coming strongmen.
My demo vid so you know what I’m talking about.
This is not the case. It used to be that when people wanted me to teach them some of the classic feats of strength, I’d tell them “Do a Turkish get up with 100lbs, then come back to me and I will teach you.” Now I just send them to my coach Hairculese Chris Rider, because quite simply in my opinion he’s way better at teaching it than I am. And by the way, he’s coming to my studio on September 9th to run the Break Through Strength workshop.
The kind of people I work with aren’t normally up and coming strongmen, bodybuilders, or professional athletes. They are usually recreational exercisers that simply want to look, feel and perform better in life. There is a difference between “fitness” and “health” but that’s another topic for another day.
When I sit people down for the goal assessment interview, I dig into their goals to try to figure out what it is that they want to achieve. It’s quite simple really.
- Find out what they want to achieve.
- Figure out where they are, compared to where they would like to be.
- Based on the first 2, determine the actions necessary to bring them from where they are to where they want to be.
And when we’ve determined which actions are necessary to achieve said goals, then you simply do the things. And that’s the hard part really.
Let’s take for example someone who wants to lose 50lbs. It’s quite simple really, the super secret yet effective combo diet and exercise has produced more success stories for weight loss than any other way of doing it.
Here’s how; train with an intense yet safe program consistently over time and follow a diet that works. I personally do intermittent fasting but for most people, I recommend the slow carb diet popularized in the book the 4hour Body by Tim Ferriss for most people (google it).
If you follow those actions consistently, you’ll lose weight. If you aren’t losing weight, or any other goal for that matter, then it’s time to look at the actions you’ve taken.
Were you training hard enough, often enough?
Did you follow your diet to the T (as in, all the rules all the time)?
Fat loss requires a full-time commitment which is a pain in the ass. I know, it’s a big commitment to do all the actions that it takes to achieve your goals which is why I ask people to rate how committed they are. On a scale from 1-10 if I get anything less than an 8, then it’s simply not enough and I send them away.
However, if someone simply wants to be all around healthy and strong, strength training and eating generally healthy foods can work wonders. This is a goal too, although not a very specific one and the program needed to achieve it is not nearly as harsh in its execution.
This is where most people are. Most of the ones I work with are along these lines. They simply want to know how to train safely so they can move through life stronger, a bit leaner and healthier without having to live inside of a gym off of nothing but boiled chicken, steamed broccoli and protein shakes.
What are your goals? Do you need help with them?
If so, give my trial membership a go by texting me at 973 476 5328. Just tell me who you are and what you’d like to achieve and I’ll see what I can do to help.
Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.
Getting Results, Nutrition and Advice from Bobby Flay Fit
I enjoy cooking and recommend others learn to cook as well, particularly when going through a body transformation program. For one thing, cooking gives you power because you are in control of what you put into your body which is very helpful for body transformation. When you depend on others to cook for you, you are at the mercy of what they cook which may or may not be in line with what your goals are.
“But my mommy/wife/whoever doesn’t cook that so I can’t lose weight.”
Yes, I hear that excuse, and of the excuses I hear, this one probably annoys me the most because it is whining defers responsibility. Well, maybe the one of “but I can’t give up xyz.”
Recently I picked up The Bobby Flay Fit book (which I do recommend). The way I see it, I want my family to eat well and having good tasting healthful recipes can pay dividends long term. Pick a recipe, practice it with the intent of mastering it, eventually you’ll have a delicious healthful dish that your daughter turns down in favor of chicken nuggets that are shaped like dinosaurs.
Of the recipes I’ve made, 2 out of 3 were successes. The rest have a lot of ingredients that I didn’t have readily available. So I guess the recipes are good, but some of the fitness advice I take a bit of issue with.
Here is a piece of advice I take issue with;
Once you’ve hit a groove, mix things up. Not only can doing the same thing day in and day out get boring, but your body needs to be challenged in new ways or it can become used to a workout. There’s no better feeling than being sore from a new workout and knowing you’re flexing new muscles.
Uhm, no. Admittedly, this is an opinion of mine but there is no better feeling than actually hitting a new personal record and accomplishing a goal. That’s the part that lets you know that what you are doing is actually working, not being sore.
And the way you do that is you fluctuate the intensity (percentage of your max weight), your sets and your reps…not your exercise selection. Do something similar, but not the same. There are many different ways to do this.
You probably won’t be sore, but that’s not a bad thing because soreness is not an indicator of progress. It’s just soreness. Progress is in actually getting closer to your goal, and it’s measurable.
Second, and this part is fact, you won’t be flexing “new muscles”. You already have all the muscles you’ll ever have and in fact already have muscles capable of lifting a car. They just don’t know it yet. Gaining muscle is actually developing muscle fibers that are already there and you can train them faster but doing it the smart way.
If you need help with this and you happen to be anywhere near Boonton Township, give my personal training one week trial membership a go. We will know quickly whether or not we are a good fit to work together. Text me at 973 476 5328.
Eric Moss is a world record holding professional strongman, author, speaker and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is in Boonton Township New Jersey with Lewandowski Chiropractic and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, and Parsippany New Jersey.