Epic Fail

Have your summer workout and diet plans crashed and burned?

I know a lot of people are pissed off.

You're out at the pool or the beach in your bikini or your board shorts…  and it's ok…

Sure you're probably in better shape than most of your friends… 

…but you just aren't as fit as you want to be.

Or maybe you have that one friend who is wicked fit, and that pisses you off even more.

One way other the other, there is a breakdown in your plan, and you want to find out what's broken and fix it.

Here is a three step process for doing that:

1.) Even Though It Feels Like "Epic Fail", it Really Isn't

Where ever you are at – you got there somehow.

You earned the body you've got with how you've moved and what you've eaten.

You aren't bad or wrong if it didn't come out the way you wanted it to, it's just that there is something missing.

2.) Identify What Is Missing

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you probably actually know what's missing.

If you are having trouble finding what is missing: Think about where you are fooling yourself, where you are rationalizing, or what you wouldn't want me to know if I was looking over your shoulder at your food journal, or supervising your workouts.

Some examples of what could be missing:

• You aren't keeping a food journal (anymore)
• Your workouts suck and you know it
• You've been doing the same workouts forever are bored with your workouts (you have to have been doing a multi-phase, structured workout program for at least 3 months to give me this excuse)
• You aren't sticking to a program (you switch to a new book or new idea more often than every three months)
• You still think the leg press is the same as squatting
• You push way too hard and your form sucks on everything
• You don't have enough structure and accountability

Those are just some examples, you'll have to look and see what's missing for you.

3.) Make A New Plan and A New Commitment

Ok, so you know what's missing, just fix it.

Seriously, people beat themselves up a lot when their workout and diet programs don't go the way they want.

I can't tell you how totally mechanical the process is for me.

If the results stop, something is missing.  Period. 

You aren't bad or wrong, there is just something missing.

You add in what was missing, and then it starts working again.

A Few Recommendations

If you are having trouble with the mental side of dieting, I strongly recommend getting The Beck Diet Solution.

Most people need some accountability to stay on track.  That can be your personal trainer, your life coach, your doctor, your best friend, your spouse, or an online coaching program, an event coming up (wedding, race, competition, vacation, high school reuinion). 

It doesn't matter who or what holds you accountable, just so long as you are accountable to someone.

If you don't have a really awesome fat loss program, then get one.  Almost everyone reading this blog already has my best selling fat loss program The Stubborn Seven Pounds, or my advanced program Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss so don't just read it – do it. 

Or get Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training, lots of people tell me they'll do three months of one of my programs, then alternate three months of one of Craig's TT workouts. 

It works out really well because our programs are based on really similar principles, yet our expression of those principles feels really different and fresh.

If you want to gain muscle, get Vince DelMonte's No Nonsense Muscle Building.

Just Fix It

I've given you a ton of options, depending on what's going on for your specific situation.

Don't waste another minute stressing out or feeling bad, just fix it.

If you aren't keeping a food journal, then start there.  I'm a broken record about food journals, because if ever there was a magic bullet, the food journal is it.