The Addictive, All-Or-Nothing Personality: Your Strongest Tool Or Your Worst Enemy? "Harnessing the Power"- Part 4

BY Phil Stevens

From reading the first three installments you have a fairly broad and clear understanding of the traits a person with this type of personally faces, the good the bad and the ugly. In this final installment I will give some recommendations on how to harness those traits and make them work for you.

Explain how you can twist even the proposed negatives and learn to control them to work in your favor. How to harness your natural ability to make things happen along with a tendency to go over board. Give a few systems you can use alone, or combined, to reach even greater heights, and do so with no, or minimal personal damage.

"You can't"

Love it, enjoy and relish in your ability to prove this statement wrong. Just the simple realization that this is your on signal your gas pedal is the number one thing we must do. We can then learn how to manage ourselves and that not every single time we are challenged do we have to prove this wrong. Though I believe many or most times it can be a very positive thing to, but just be sure and..

"Pick your Battles"

Have your goals clear in your mind. Write them down. We know how to accept the negative in any situation and live with them. So be sure that you are not taking on a something out of line with your greater goals just do to being challenged. We have a tendency to get a bit ADD and take on multiple goals at once thoroughly convinced in our own head we will win them all at the same time even if they compete against one another.

We need to learn to be a bit more laser sharp with our power and focus and put it into one or a few related goals at once, only take on so MUCH. Pick a few things and Knock them out of the park prior to moving to the next one. A bit of management will allow you to make even greater progress, even faster, and more enjoyable due to.

Managing Your Stress"

Remember we thrive on this but have a tendency to load on to much of a good thing at times to the point of being over whelmed, That's when we act, and often do our best, When we are on the verge of breaking we really tend to make things happen.

Try and learn to manage this a bit more and act a bit earlier, just the act of choosing your battles like above will help this as you wont have varied competing goals going at once, but as well even If you have multiple glass try and learn to act a bit sooner, Let your skills shine prior to being overloaded and a BIG one..

"Have a Release Valve"

We tend to get very laser focused and jump head first into thing and drop all other parts of our lives and people we know and love. That's largely OK but try and schedule a bit of a breather. Give your self at least one escape hatch, maybe it's a night a week, a day you can try and let stuff go. Then its BACK at it.

We cant drop our whole selves we work best when we are loaded and focused on a goal, Knocking things down left and right living to beat what it is we have taken on, That shouldn't change but if we take a simple step back her and there for even a few hours or one day it can keep us with even greater charge and fire to keep attacking and likely will keep those around us, friends family a bit more sane.

We have a tendency to be misinterpreted by those close to us due to our ability to block things out and our laser focus. People have a tendency to feel shorter, say we are cold, or feel we don't care and that's not it at all. Its simply who and how we are this is how we attack our day, our goals and they need to realize that and that just because we are 100% focused on some goal at this point does not mean they aren't in our heads as well, or we don't care.

Its very much the opposite but this is just how we work. We have to be around strong and or understanding people. Those that understand your type and if we give that or those small release valves and then Back at our goal the majority of our days we and they will both be in a better place to making progress with les grief.

We as well by default are very strong people and don't let a thing get to us, but I don't care how strong you are you at some point need a break, need a release as well. You have to have that person, that time, or place that you can go and not be needed to act. That you can relax as all other parts of your life are action.

Again you have to have some strong people around you as well that don't always need, but you all can just be, relax and refuel. We have a tendency to take on so many things, tasks and people in need, helping working, building that these small releases in time and with people are a must or you'll start to overheat.

Cycle Your Extremes

Learn to be all go and then learn to shut it DOWN and have times you coast and recharge. We can have a tendency to try and turn a sprint into a marathon. The two are like oil and water. Learn to cycle your training your life, and your attacks at Large long term goals. Periodize them. Take sharp sprints up the mountain then take some time to make slow progress, set camp and rest then UP again.

You cant go all out to long before you crash and burn, and man do we ever have a tendency to do that. We hit it in passing gear, pedal on the floor and never let off, and not just to the point that the cars smoking a bit, we keep her pegged Long past that and will rap it out tell she blows. Then we just end up on that yoyo or roller coaster.

That path you see many do out of choice the path that NEVER gets anyone to any great goal. That perpetual gain. Lose, gain lose, two steps forward to back approach. You don't want to ride that coaster, Those people are usually right next to most of the people that try and make that Very slow calculated progress.

Trying to slowly skate a few lines at once and make gentle gradual progress on tow or more goals. They usually end up maybe half way up and or all those roads, or little better and never really reach anything great as they don't concentrate on one or give it the passion or attention it needs.

Let it rip, hit the gas, take a NICE big step out of the comfort zone, but learn to shut down the afterburners down prior to over heating and keep a more sane and gradual climb up the road to your goal going while the engines cool for another big Thrust. After a nice big shot out of the norm take a minute to get used to your advances prior to Hitting it again and then short pit stops along the way after you reach some heights you had set.

This spikes and gradual climb approach will have you making very fast and consistent progress up what ever mountain you choose and by managing the stressors of those sprints you'll end up hitting your top speed more often and for a longer total time reaching those goals faster, our with the car in closer to one piece then had you put her to the floor the whole trip.

Lastly.

"Smash the Squirrel, Stop for the Deer"

Its OK if on the road you blindly run down a squirrel or two, but keep an eye open for those larger critters you might be losing sight of or ignoring they can make a wreck of your road in a hurry. Learn to use and control the power you have to turn things off. To ignore pain, pleasure, physical, emotional and tangible objects or people. Much like picking your battles, try and be a little more in tune with what your blocking out.

Make sure your empowering you and not falsely empowering and actually giving that something power over you. Make sure your not ignoring something in the long term that is actually leading to great damage that you have not first recognized, and accepted, as a something that's needed to reach your goals, and therefore made a none issue. It can be easy to lose sight or let your power to ignore get out of hand.

That's it. It covers the bases and basic of a very powerful set of personality traits

I hope this strikes some good dialogue and can be good for both those with these personality traits, and those who seek to adopt a few of these. Giving you some pointer in how to use them what they are and what to look out for.

So I'll just leave you with an empowering "You Can't"

Now go prove me wrong

Originally Published on StaleyTraining.com

The Addictive, All-Or-Nothing Personality: Your Strongest Tool Or Your Worst Enemy? "No Problem, its Done" - Part 3

By Phil Stevens

In this third installment I am going delve into the positive aspects of having this personality trait. Explain the powers it lends those of us who have it.

What is it that causes the fast rises, the "never say never" ability to reach goals that may seem unattainable to others. Oddly enough you're going to see a TON of overlap in the negative traits and the positive traits. They are almost, or at times are identical.

Our strong headed ability to put the blinders on our own mind, emotions, feelings, and physical well being in order to reach a goals we have set for ourselves, can be a positive or negative at times. Its all in how we use them. In this installment I will ID those positive traits and in the next installment show how we harness them learn to skirt that fine line with some examples.

"You cant.."

Again, this cant be stressed enough the power of these two simple words to us "You cant." The two most powerful words in the world for us. They mean a challenge. To prove others or our selves wrong, push the boundaries once again and light hat fire in us that keeps us rolling. Keep us aimed and shooting for something and you keep us happy, never one part of us sitting idle for to long and even when we are we are just planning and resting for our next assault on something we see as great.

"Stress sweet Stress"

Be it physical mental what not it is the root of our fuel. We have learned to thrive in stressful situations to the point at we seek it in what we do to be at our best. Not just a tad of stress but we pile it on until there is nothing left to do, no time for long drawing out thinking, its only time for physical action and spilt second decisions.

We plan yes but our planning stages are also simply times when we are pilling up a large mass of bricks to be laid. It's what Dave Tate calls the two speeds he has, Blast and Dust. We build it up. Let things strategically compile and then its go time. Enough stressors have built its time to take the bull by the horns. When things around us are seemingly at the worst and we are in the most stressful situations we always appear calm and collective.

"Turned On"

It's at this point we turn it on, and have that innate ability to turn off anything else in our way, our lives, lose days, hours, months and years if needed to get the job done. If a bit of the stress is gone and we chip away some of the barriers we have more we stack on to take their place. "BRING IT" its in the go times we are seemingly unstoppable. Nothing can get to us physically, mentally or emotionally enough to wave us from our destination.

The path has been chosen and we will NOT fail. It doesn't matte how bad things look, how dismal, or impossible. In our heads no matter what the world or other people throw at us No question, we made out decision, no question we will do it.

"Spite"

The BIG one. Spite. Throw spite at us and now we got fuel. Its directly related right back to the "you cant". You wont, etc. If someone else has it in their head to tell us we cant do something, Watch the hell out. It's time for a whole new gear.

Oddly enough however most of us, my self included, though we may do things in spite and because people say we cant, we wont hurt anyone but ourselves directly in our pursuits. We may crush our selves but in the majority, what Ive seen, we are also the most caring and giving people. Those who would put our true friends and family before our own selves our own lives.

Many times the missions and stressors we chose directly help better others, or causes we care for. We would give the shirt off our backs and step in the line of fire, into emotional and physical pain for our loved ones. We don't care about mental, physical, or emotional pain and stress on us, as we again have that ability to make it a non issue. What doesn't exist in our world, in our plan, doesn't matter, doesn't get felt or even recognized. Even physical pain. We have skin thicker then steel, but hurt, disrupt, or even threaten one of the few we do call true friends or loved ones and you better watch the hell out.

"We Don't Mind, Cause It, or You, Don't matter"

Much like our ability to falsely empower things we have the ability to simply make things not matter at all. No matter what or whom it is if its in our way. Trying to work against us in any fashion we have a unique ability to make it disappear. Usually not by actual removal, but by just making things not exist in our world. it's a great and liberating ability and one everyone should practice, placing all the power in your own hands. The realization that NOTHING not a damn thing out side of you has any more power over you then you allow it.

It's also, as explained in the last installment, a tough task. One that itself can lead to some self destruction, or negatives. If you don't walk that fine line, keep ties on your own self , and surround yourself with people who realize and accept who you are, the kind of person you are, it can be a hell of a head ache for you or others. Though again it is a very powerful ability and possibly the most powerful one a person can have. Self, positive empowerment.

That will cover it for this installment. I hope this strikes some good dialogue. I feel this can both be good for those with this personality.

Those who have experienced many of the same things or those who are at risk of it. As well informational for those who don't have this trait of simply making anything they desire happen. Possibly some people can ID these skills, learn them. And in the next installment how to harness the good and the bad to work for us.

Until the next installment. ID some of these traits practice them, make something positive happen, no questions asked. Allow yourself to Kick ass.

Originally Published On StaleyTraining.com

The Addictive, All-Or-Nothing Personality: Your Strongest Tool Or Your Worst Enemy? Part 2

By Phil Stevens

“Out of Control”

“You cant….”

“You cant…” are the two most powerful words in the world for us. This rings true for both negative and positive actions. It’s all that it has taken for me time and time again to do the opposite and “DO IT.” A challenge. We are content and happy as long as we aren’t bored, as long as there is further to go, more hill to climb, places others or few have been. Parts of us can sit idle but most of our being has to be striving for a goal, pushing the limits and proving everyone and ourselves wrong.




















Those words are it for us. They are the on switch, the final straw. I’ve seen it in myself and in others like me. Those simple words muttered at us by someone else, or even ourselves, is all it takes to set us in action.

If you didn’t read the first part of this series (click here to read that) I gave a rough overlay of being a strong willed, type A personality. What I call the “addictive, all or nothing personality” and that we can be both our best friend and our worst enemy.

In this second installment I am going to continue to pull from the long learning experience of my own life. My looking back at myself honestly and viewing the pinnacles Ive reached, hurdles I've overcome, as well as, and the topic of this installment, the falls Ive taken. The rock bottoms Ive hit, and why. What is it that caused the falls. Where are the some of the seemingly very fine lines we walk between great positive success, and success at huge personal cost?

ID some of the major ones for you, and show where, and how, people like us can be at one minute on top of the mountain due to our abilities, and the next sliding out of control. Sliding due to again our own ability. Our strong headed ability to put the blinders on our own mind, emotions, feelings, and physical well being in order to reach a goal we have set for ourselves, or to simply prove others wrong, or even just in spite of others : ).

‘Stress and Goals, our Ying and Yang”

And often though we live on these we allow them to get WAY out of balance. We have the ability to get out of control. Not so much the world around us getting out of control, as we are excellent at controlling our surroundings. Even micro managing it with relative ease, but our own selves getting out of control. We can lose hand of our own selves. Get so focused on a goal we snowball. Inner stress builds. As a trait we thrive on stress. We seek it, and it’s the fuel for the fire in our furnace, but it to can get out of hand. It’s a fine line between healthy and harmful levels. When we don’t have stress we tend to put more on our plates, shove more cola in the belly of the stove to the point of overload. Then Due to our strong will and ability to make things happen we can continue on. We don’t unload but we do what ever it takes, and that can cause serious bodily harm, or even death.

To reach extremes we go to extreme’s

And largely you MUST. I have said it and will continue to say it time and time again. I don’t care what you do if you aim to do something MORE then average your going to have to do two things accept some negatives, to go to extremes in anything other things will suffer by Alaskan King crab and all the finest appetizers and drinks at the same to. To be the best or even above average at anything you will have to let other things suffer, and you’ll have to go to extremes to reach extremes.

Where we differ is we go to EXTREMES!!!!!! and sustain those extremes for LONG periods of time. We use the American mentality to everything. If a nice big dose of something is good, then a BOAT load must be friggin awesome. Like training, Man look that guy broke the world record and he used this training program for this amount of weeks. If I take that same thing ramp it up a bit, tack on this and this and this and then also take that deload week out, extend it from 8 weeks to 16 and end at even higher volumes and intensities. MAN How friggin yoked will I be then SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!! DO IT, No quit, suck it up and get it DONE.

Same thing in reverse if a lot of something is Bad then, then to hell with that crap, NONE of its good. I’m never touching a carb again, they are PURE evil. If a person loads up on highly processed carbs for long periods of time as a basis of there diet Look, they are signing the death warrant. That means they are EVIL, and I shall never touch one again be it sugar, or apple or potato, NONE.

“False empowerment, or hatred”

Oh Boy but we do it. In our quest to reach goals and sites we have we tendency to slip off the ball and actually lose control when were not careful. We end up giving power to inanimate objects that don’t deserve it power. In our quest to control more of our surroundings we label them and give them the ability to be hated, rise emotion, and hell even fear. You see it all the time people doing this to a carb, a fat, a group of others with goals opposite of your. It’s a fault that can be slipped into and you must watch for. Others having cravings and whine and piss and moan about his or that. We have a tendency to make those same things a point of evil or disgust. We give them as much power over us in a negative controlling and limiting way as those who seem weak to us, but just in a different sense of the term.

I think that will cover it for this installment. All encompassing of the negative in which we must watch for, maybe not but it surely covers the largest categories and the one in which I know if you avoid you’ll be well on your way to new heights without the self inflicted pains as prior. I hope this strikes some good dialogue. I feel this can both be good for those with this personality.

Those who have experienced many of the same things or those who are at risk of it. As well informational for those who don’t have this trait of simply making anything they desire happen, and possibly showing that they to can learn these skills where we have to learn to harness them they selectively can adopt them

Until the next installment. Go kick those negative traits in the virtual junk , ID them and make something positive happen.

Originally Published on StaleyTraining.com

6 Tips For Cutting Fat

BY Phil Stevens

I don’t like Cutting Fat! Who does? But it ain't as bad as people make it out to be.

Restriction, dieting, eating less then you need to sustain yourself, your training, your strength and hard earned muscle. No, its not fun, but in reality it isn’t that darn hard.

Not as hard as many make it out to be, and really unless your looking to get to extreme leanness its pretty damn easy and anyone who has been in the game any amount of time can tell you it’s a far cry easier then putting on an above average amount of lean mass or strength.

It’s not an experience I would call enjoyable by any enjoyable stretch of the imagination but I will share a few tips that I have employed and you can to make your next phase of cutting some pudge a lot easier and hopefully as well a lot more productive and in turn shorter.

It's Just Food...

Mind set / a back bone. The number one thing I hear, and I just HATE hearing from people when I am cutting fat is “Gawd How Do you Do that? How do you stay so committed?” How do you not have the cake at a birthday party? How do you go from cramming anything and EVERYTHING you want plus some in your pie hole one week getting ready for a meet to not even a taste the next. Oh!!!! I cant do that the cravings are just too bad, I can't handle them I have to have a little of this or little of that. To calm my nerves and what not.

COME ON!!!!!!! How weak are you. It’s friggin food, it not like you’re a crack addict. Show some spine, some will power. Food is an inanimate object and people have some how given it more power then it deserves. Social power, and in some cases physical power. Are you really going to sit there and tell me a HO HO has more spine then you? You had a craving and Just couldn’t resist the UNRULY all-powerful snack cake or cookie.

First thing you got to do is simply want what your goal is commit to it and just accept it. You don’t have to label the food BAD, or EVIL. “Bad Bad cookie” Just label it what it is food, and if its not on your menu right now for the goals at hand you just say?? Um NO and you don’t have it. It's that easy, try it next time. Instead of dwelling on a simple mass of calories and letting it waste minutes of your day and cause undue stress from so called craving honestly ask yourself if you're going to let a snack cake have more power over your actions then you.

Get your Protein and Stay Hydrated!

This is nothing ground breaking and don’t claim it to be. I won't waste your time going into all the specifics of why one should eat protein and stay hydrated if one needs to know that there are literally thousands of documents and articles written on the importance of each by myself and those much smarter then I in the field of nutrition. Look a few up, or ask some direct questions on the forum or the next Iron Radio Broadcast (www.ironradio.org) What I will do is give a suggestion I have used that couples the two habits of getting your protein in and staying hydrated.

A 1 Gallon diluted protein shake. Plain and simple every single day when I am cutting calories below my maintenance I make a HUGE 1 gallon diluted protein shake and sip on that all day long. I know the importance of getting a steady small stream of protein to keep amino rich blood and halting undue muscle catabolism, That and hydration need is increased even more so due to the lower general carb intake it is of vital importance to keeping as much lean mass as I can. Let alone the facts that both habits keep you satiated and performance up, waste products flowing out etc..

Just take a gallon container. I use an empty milk jug and add 3-5 scoops of your favorite protein dependent on your protein needs. The drink away al day to keep both these staples of dietary habits in check. As an option I add a bit of pure sucralose and stevia for sweetness and salt to keep one of my crucial electrolytes in balance during the periods of HIGH hydration and loss of sweat from adding activity.

Start Green

Going Green is the latest craze as I’m sure you’ve heard and it should be when dieting as well. But Im talking about a different green. Im not talking about recycling your used tampons so they can be used to make a new space aged coating for the space shuttle so it moves through the sky more efficient and doesn’t burn so much precious fossil fuels I’m talking Veggies.

Once again people give food, fuel too much power and they label certain foods as breakfast foods and certain ones NOT, and in general somehow veggies are in the not category. I say a food like veggies that we know is a great food for when trying to shed fat due to its high fiber and micro nutrients content then it should not only be a breakfast choice but a breakfast staple. We should start out one step ahead and have a nice big serving at the first meal of the day. Yeah, it aint hash browns, biscuits and gravy, or captain crunch but it is serving a HUGE purpose in or current goals eat it.

How I don’t care eat it as a side item like at dinner, or get creative and put it in a shake, an omelet or other. It really doesn’t matter just start he day with a BIG serving of the green stuff and see how it helps you shed the lbs.

Get Moving

Cardio, NEPA, whet ever get your butt moving do more then you were yesterday. Plain and simple start doing more simple activity then you were prior to trying to lose fat and it will add up. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be the next greatest cardio craze that promises to rip the fat off you, just do something. Preferably something you enjoy, find fun. If you can lose time, laugh and enjoy what your doing al the better and al the more effective it will be.

I prefer to mix it up, Play a sport, go for a simple walk, a hike, a bike ride, a swim, row, throw things, drag things. Take part in anything that simply has your doing something. It all counts, doesn’t have to be complicated and again it doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t SUCK. If I have something planned and dread doing it, or really hate the thought of it, FINE, I’ll do something else. Its OK, just do something, whatever you find the least Crappy.

Now if your just being a wuss and making excuses, then sure sometimes you have to just suck it up and do it and get it over with, It wont take long and wont be the end of the world. Likely once your done it wont seem like that much and you’ll be glad you did, but Just do a little more then last week, it doesn’t have to be a ton, it all adds up.

Kiss a Fish...

Or smell like you did. Taking fish oils will be the last little tip I recommend. Again, by now this shouldn’t even be something I have to suggest, and I definitely wont go into great detail as that’s be done again and again. When cutting fat even more so then in your daily routine I suggest you really load up on the fish oils, for a good size male I say 10-15 grams a day. I personally take 12-15 that’s aside from any fish I eat.

The benefits are vast from general health on the cellular level, to really aiding aches pains and lubricating joints while your on a hypo caloric diet. They also have the effect of aiding in fat burning, cognitive function possibly helping when you would be a bit cloudy from the lowered energy intake and raised expenditure. Thinning the blood a bit getting nutrients flowing in and out of bodily tissues more readily and aiding in cholesterol.

Get a BIG tub and start them TODAY make it a habit and if you have a fat loss phase planned you might think about starting to load up a bit higher a few weeks prior to get a bit ahead of the game.

Training Choices

I am going to keep this very brief and simple. Im my experience you have 1000’s of choices in how to train when you want to shed body fat. Literally any program can be used for both training to lose fat or pack on mass the biggest difference is the diet and your NEPA / Cardio. That said in my opinion you have two choices that are best and will lead to the greatest fat loss to lean mass preservation.

#1 GO heavy, brief and frequent. Get in pick one maybe two BIG compound moves do it hard and work up to the 90% zone or higher and get OUT

#2 Go Heavy, Go Long, But very infrequent

Get in the gym Hit it HARD again big compounds lifts work up to heavy sets in the 85%+ range. Hit he whole body and hit it hard. Then rest. Two simple bare bones but hard sessions a week is Plenty with this route.

These two are by far the best. Why? #1 you need to go heavy. Nothing is going to convince your body that it is a MUST to keep the precious lean mass that you have built like lifting near maximal loads. You don’t have the energy intake for lots of long hard sets and tons of reps, let alone the fuel to recover form such sessions. Blitz the body give it a reason to hold onto mass but do minimal muscle tissue damage and get out. Use the diet and moderate cardio and NEPA to target the fat loss.

Conclusions

These tips are easily applied real world basic bones tools anyone can use when they are looking to shed some body fat and they want to sway the success a bit more in their direction. Most people don't need to worry getting caught up in the minutia that they do over complicating things and breaking things down to exact calories and exact macros. If they employ simple good nutritional habits and add on a few tips and tools like these they can make great success and likely make it further and faster toward their goal then if they had went a more invasive route.

The Addictive, All-Or-Nothing Personality: Your Strongest Tool Or Your Worst Enemy?

BY Phil Stevens

I've been taking a look at the past ten years of my life as of late— all the changes and transformations I’ve been through, and all the hurdles I’ve conquered. And— the good the bad areas of health mental and physical that go along with them.

My latest little hill to climb was this short "cut" I did that was seemingly just another easy, painless, and very effective transformation for me.

In reality however, while physically it was very easy, it was another huge mental milestone for me in the past ten years of change. Ten years that have seen me go from a blubbery 300+ pounds at probably 40-50% bodyfat to a literally sickly 165 pounds.

From a fish swimming in alcohol and 3 pack a day smoker from the age of 9, to totally dropping alcohol for a time, and finally not smoking. From one eating disorder (stuffing my face) to a “seemingly” great relationship with food, then transitioning to another eating disorder and literally getting to the point of starving myself, deprivation, binging and purging, all of that.

From a state of anything goes, to a brief period of being in control happy and healthy, to never thin enough. Less, less, less, no body fat is good. If a lot of something is bad then ANY is evil. From not training to three times a week. Then to twice a days. Then to twice a day weights every day, to that plus twice a day running every day.

Add on to all of that making every second, every minute, and every activity about burning calories, dropping fat, building muscle. Hours and hours spent weighing, measuring, stressing every macro, micro, ounce, pound, inch, mile and minute eaten, lifted, walked or ran. From bad health and obese, to even worse health, literally near death, hating life, but defined as hot by visual standards, by women, and of course mainstream media.

Hell, no wonder we're so confused! It’s a fine line we walk— those of us with type A and addictive personalities. Obsession can be our best friend and our worst enemy. We can literally do ANYTHING we set our minds to. We just have to chose it and then make it happen. We are revered for what we do, our ability to make things happen.

But sadly many times it’s the things we do that are the worst for ourselves that are looked up upon by others as our greatest achievements. Which brings about the bad thing about our ability. That we can make things, anything, happen. Anything we set our mind to, no matter what, no matter how bad it is for us mentally, physically, emotionally. No matter the physical and mental pain, we just turn it off and make it happen. It’s just pain, keep going that shit can't keep you down. You just cope and GET IT DONE!

Again this latest little cut was a huge step for me. Another step in showing myself that I'm in control. Learning how to harness my ability in a positive way. That I can, at anytime, just make “it” happen, but also proving to myself I’m in control of the one thing in this world at times I fear I’m not in control of, Myself.

That once I start something I won't stop no matter what its doing to me. That no matter the cost the stress and pain I'll just keep going and take it extreme. Not have the ability again to stop my self, stop making “it” happen. That I’ll cut till I’m near, or maybe this time actually dead. Or eat until I’m a blubbering mess or mass of humanity. The self is our biggest battle.

On Sunday, the last day of this cut, I was really reflecting on all of this. Upon talking about it with a good friend, as usually happens for me, article ideas come about in real world lived experience and conversation, I decided this would make a good article series.

So the next few articles, now that I’ve covered the backbone, the meat and taters of the addictive, all or nothing personality. I will cover in more detail from my own experience; first where things can go / went wrong and how you can become your own worst enemy. Then on to how you can be your best tool and learn to harness that power for positive transformations and goals.

I hope this strikes some good dialogue. I feel this can both be good for those with this personality. Those who have experienced many of the same things or those who are at risk of it. As well informational for those who don’t have this trait of simply making anything they desire happen, and possibly showing that they to can learn these skills where we have to learn to harness them they selectively can adopt them

Until the next installment, go make something positive happen!

Is Your Chosen Path Healthy or Irrational?

By Phil Stevens

So a couple of weeks ago I’m sitting at my computer working away. As my usual I’d throw up a tid bit here and there on face book about what the “wombat” is doing for those endless fans that just cant get enough.

Just so happens during this time I was smack dab in the middle of a VERY seldom cutting phase. Actually doing a 4 week Body comp contest with Charles and a few clients.

So multiple times a day I post about the training I’m doing, odd food concoctions I’m eating etc. Well next thing I know I get a reply back from an old friend, Her reply was a simple:

“You're Obsessed”

Funny enough that simple two word reply really stuck a cord in me, it made me both laugh and think.

Obsessed? Such a negative term, am I obsessed?? Is it bad to be obsessed?? The exact same term has been used to define people such as Tiger Woods, Michelangelo, Michael Jordan, Steven King, Lance Armstrong, and nearly any and everyone who has ever reach, worked for and obtained greatness through hard work, laboring, some planned and accepted sacrifice and dedication to reach their goals.

So is obsessed bad? Why is it that the nearly ALL of the most successful people are usually labeled “Obsessed”, and usually labeled so by those less successful then themselves. Is it faulty to be obsessed? Do I care? Or is it simply a case of the wrong word being used to describe a situation by someone who has not taken the time to really look fully to educate and get an understanding of the situation of the individual they are labeling obsessed is in and has chosen to take on. Take these people wrongly, and ignorantly (meaning: Showing or arising from a lack of education or knowledge: an ignorant mistake)

Labeling someone “obsessed” who is actually more correctly defined as, I don’t know? Driven, dedicated, devoted, committed, and who’s actions, habits, traits more times then not are highly successful.

Obsessed? Again am I? I know I have been in my past, but its surely not the correct term to be used now is it? Lets take a look at obsessed.

Obsessed = To have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic

Possibly?? But what is excessive? Who gets to classify how much time we should devote to thinking about something we Love, find Pride, Joy and Happiness in? Is it wrong for Tiger woods to spend Hours and Hours each day laboring at hitting golf balls? His sport and job that he loves, and is arguably the best at? In turn is it wrong for me to spend hours thinking and implementing actions of training and nutrition. Striving to be the best at the sport, Job, and life I have chosen? A life I am having great success, have set numerous state, regional and National records in. A passion I have dedicate a ton of time and thoroughly find joy out helping others reach their goals? I say no.

To me obsession stems from something negative, something stressful, usually emotional. As well obsession to me bread lack of success. The obsessed person is laboring away endlessly, making no head ground, no progress and full of sadness, madness, stress yet they keep it up. They despite the fact they hate what they are doing, hate what it does to them cant stop it. Cant walk away, cant do anther thing. The action or obsession actually pain and stress more so then it causes Joy, I’ve been there. I’ve hated life, my results of my actions and lack of progress and yet couldn’t stop my own actions. The two are very close, it’s a fine line, but there are greatly different as well.

But wait I train HARD, and at time I have injuries, I cause pain to myself. I Eat HARD, I labor at usually stuffing my face with much more then is comfortable. I consistently get under a bar at least ¼ ton of weight on it and move the damn thing. Or at times I’m holding back, I’m hungry. Yet I still going to train, I hit the road to do cardio to shed fat.

I am in a constant state of repair, anywhere from small to large but NEVER 100% pain free. Or rarely without having to Give MORE then others feel possible, or take less then others.

I put up with extreme’s. But I do so to reach goals. Is that not obsession?? It is the path away from average.

The difference is These thing I go through, I put up with, and subject myself to are chosen. They are parts of an activity, and passion and life I love and I actually get joy from. They cause 3 fold the happiness then they cause pain and stress. And I can turn it off for moments if I choose and do things briefly that may not fit my goals BUT I do so by choice.

I am in control, not being controlled.

The difference is the fact I recognize, I know, and I accept fully what I have to give up to reach my goals. I am not blinded, worried or haunted by them or my actions. I have accepted what I have to put up with, or give up. I don’t stress, fret or worry over my actions or my losses, what I am missing. What I give up, and what I put up with non issues. They are simply accepted or hurdles that must be hopped to reach an extreme goal.

ANYONE who has the inclination to do something greater then simply exist, and/or be average MUST, Give up and also accept negatives.

If you want to be THE BEST or great at something you will have to give up, let suffer, or accept other pains, hardships. Plain and simple, I don’t care if you want to be the best stay at home mom, the best actor, actress, play write, chess player, or athlete. It’s the same thing, to be the best you must accept the negative to the goals you have and move on. They will be none issues then as will anyone who cares to question your chosen path.

Its those who continue to labor, and usually make little or no progress, that are obsessed. Those that claim to, but don’t truly love their chosen path, that are obsessed. Those who are by the majority living by “I should’s” instead of “I wants,” that are obsessed. Those who are continually in a state of questioning, stressing, and trying to self justify their chosen actions, that are obsessed. And Lastly, Those who are consistently worried and fretting over what others think, or feel, about their actions and goals. Those who feel the need to continually justify there actions to others who are obsessed.

Are You Obsessed? Or are you Striving for greatness on your OWN self chosen path regardless of what others may think. Ask yourself Honestly.

Originally Published on StaleyTraining.com

Dietary Basics

BY Phil Stevens

Something that came up in conversation today with Charles, myself, and a client...simple dietary basics. Meaning, just fundamental habits. It is easy to forget that a large part, or the majority, of the population simply doesn’t know, register, or use, simple solid habits.

Its easy to lose sight of this when you're around, and dealing with people that have been in the game a long time. Even then many of us lose sight of things and try and make diet and training more complicated then it has to be.

Honestly. In a world obsessed with speed and results. Wanting them from little to no work. Its amazing we have both lost a grasp of simple basics and also developed a society that sweats the smallest of minutia and detail that is meaningless and un-needed for the VAST majority. If everyone were to stick to a few very simple rules then honestly 99% of people lives, and for 99% of the goals they have, there is NO need for such stress, confusion, and time wasted on small details.

Unless your looking to get to the VERY extremes of body composition and or strength and performance, there is NO need to complicate things further then they have to be. Even when reaching for the extremes you MUST have a firm and comfortable foundation in the basics and those are still where you spend 95% of your time.

So what are the basics of nutrition?? And why are they so elusive to the whole?

Do a Google for search for diet basics and your inundated with 893,000 hits most of which are loaded with the next magic pill or potion.

Hoodia Gordonii - The latest and greatest weight loss supplement?

Whittle that down and you find several thousand that actually take the time to give some pertinent information on dietary habits, yet still loaded with minutia that many people don’t need, want, will stick to, or it is simply outdated, or blatantly ignorant claims.

For efficient weight loss you must comply to the ten fold principles of balancing your macros in a very scientific pattern, along with proper micronutrient intake and…….

With further investigation you then begin to uncover some solid plans and habits that continually pop up time and time again. We begin to get to some nice solid foundations. Broad habits that can be built upon. Yet some are still a bit to broad, or incomplete in my opinion and can be even further filtered to core habits of dietary intake.

• Eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Reduce intake of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol.
• Limit sweets and salt.
• Drink alcoholic beverages in moderation, if at all.
• Control portion sizes and the total number of calories you consume.

With that I'd like to give is 3 very simple suggestions for dietary habits that again EVERYONE should base their intake on. Habits to reach ANY goal. Core simple principles that simplify things. You can make it to a very high level without getting wrapped up in the minutia at all. Without stressing over the exact macro levels, weighing food, or even counting calories.

Only after making marked progress and making core simple principles habit, and building a solid and indestructible nutritional base that you can seamlessly and stresslessly live should you even worry about getting more complicated. I don’t care what anyone claims, solid dietary habits that will produce VERY legitimate, impressive and advanced physique and performance results are not rocket science its only the past fee decades that it has been popular thought.

#1 Eat Real Food

Above all simply base intake on real food, things that you can find in nature. Foods that grow, walk, swim, fly, or come from things that fly. Beef, fruits, eggs, veggies, milk, beans, poultry, fish, nuts, seeds, whole grains, spices, oils. Basically eat things that you could go outside in nature and find. Base your nutrition on those things, they should be the foundation to each and every meal. Your staples.

The day there is a Twinkie tree, blowing pastures of spaghetti, or you can hunt a wild flock of Tofurkey, and drink from flowing streams of Pepsi is the day these should be the staples of your diet. (While on that topic why do vegetarians always process and craft their foods to taste and look like meat? They are vegetarians, accept it and eat the vegetables how they look? If not eat the damn cow instead of making some weird vegetable voodoo doll)

I guarantee you will have to try DAMN hard to get fat if you simply changed to real whole foods. Foods that have not been ran through the wringer, stripped and then refortified with Junk. Foods that are hard to digest and loaded with macro and micro nutrients. These foods will have your metabolism burning like a nuclear reactor, give you energy and the building blocks of a healthy life.

Again this is a BASE principle. A part of your foundation. You then adjust to your goals. Someone looking to lose weight would stick to this simple habit 90% + of all the food eaten. Someone Looking to put on, or hold a Large amount of body mass, or an athlete with a high energy expenditure will adjust to a greater % of simple foods that are easily digested and pack a caloric punch. But they still have real food as a base

#2 Eat Protein with every meal

Plain and simple every meal should contain a complete protein source. Anytime you put something in your pie hole there should be protein to go along with it. I don’t care how much or how little your getting. If you eat it at every meal, every snack in some form you will go a long way in the right direction to having enough or even a little excess without having to stress over the macros. As well we all know protein has several very desirable properties that we can tap into by having consistent intake of it.

It has a High TEF, meaning simply digesting it is hard costly and makes your burn more fuel to consume it. Numerous amino acids ( the building blocks of protein) are vital to a simply healthy life. We MUST get them through ingestion as we cannot create them (much like EFA’s). Amino rich blood is muscle sparring, or has a high potential to be the building blocks for anabolism. Meaning we WANT them in abundance no mater the goal be losing fat of gaining mass, they have great benefit.

If it was my choice each meal would be of a complete protein, meaning things that walk, swim, fly, crawl, make noise and move under their own power, or things that come from them like eggs and milk. That however would complicate things. So by all means be a vegan or base your protein intake on soy, bean rice what have you, that leaves more of the good stuff for people like me. Just get your protein in.

#3 Eat as MUCH as you can to make progress to your goals

One of the most common mistakes I see is also one of the most problematic as far as health and reaching one goals and staying there. Making healthy continual major progress for the long term. It is people eating like birds or starving themselves. Even when on so called mass gaining phases men eating like a 12 year old girl from Ethiopia.

Eat as MUCH as you can to make progress to your goals be it losing, gaining or maintaining weight. Most often people decide to drop weight and go on a “diet.” What do they do? Starve and deprive themselves. They go from pig to chicken in one swoop. This massive dropping of calories give and instant reaction to scale weight but the positive benefits are short lived.

Soon they begin losing energy, catabolizing expensive muscle mass that the body feels is a detriment to its survival and storing life’s fuel, body fat. The metabolism further drops, the very life processes being to slow, and a never ending cycle of having to eat less to get the same results begins.

Same can be said for many people trying to gain muscle. I see it time and time again. A person wants to Get HYYYUGE!! And strong and they want it NOW. but they don’t want any body fat so they train like a demon and add a few hundred calories to their diet. They make little to no progress. 5 years later these are the same people you run into still sporting there extra small shirt touting how they made 4 lbs of 100% lean gains. Leaving out the fact it took them the whole of 5 years to do it.

Eat as MUCH as you can to make progress. Only drop your calories as low as you need to see body comp change in the right direction when looking to shed fat. By keeping intake UP you will preserve as much strength as possible and as much lean mass as possible. Your health will stay up, your metabolism wont crash, you will have greater energy for training and you will assure as much of your loss as possible will be fat.

For gaining, bite the damn bullet shovel some food in and train HARD. The extra intake will speed recovery and growth. Any fat gain will be negligible and easy to take off later. The amount of mass your able to gain in even months will eclipse what you would have in years trying to do it 100% clean.

There you have it. Its not an exhaustive list, its not complicated but honestly from my experience, and experience with those I’ve worked with and trained around I firmly believe it shouldn’t be. That these simple core habits will allow people to stop over thinking things, and reach a very high level goal set in a short amount of time. Half of which would be do to just simple time and stress saved from not sweating the minutia.

Please by all means chime in. Get some good dialog going on. What do you feel are the basics? How simple can we get it? Must we honestly go into macros, and micro processing of daily diet on a year or life long basis to make success in your opinion? I’m all for trying new things and toying with the vast sea that is nutrition, but I’m not sold on it being a must or need for even the vast majority.

Originally Published on StaleyTraining.com