Why Are You Doing This?

I want you to put your “thinking cap” on and answer an important question.

Clarifying your thoughts can make all the difference in the world when it comes to reaching your goals, fitness or otherwise.

In working with hundreds of clients, we know that those who have this question settled in their mind succeed more rapidly and more often than those who do not.

Why Are You Doing This?

What is the deep down in your gut reason you want to lose weight and get in shape?

Do you know?

It is important to have a great big WHY…

It has to be big because there are going to be times when you don’t FEEL like getting out of bed to train. There are going to be times when you don’t FEEL like doing your meal preparation ahead of time. There are going to be times when you are going to FEEL like eating a dozen donuts and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. There are going to be times when you haven’t lost any weight in 2 weeks and you are going to FEEL like throwing in the towel.

I know, because I have been there, and truth be told still go there at times.

And then I think of WHY I started the life-long journey of better health and fitness I am on.

My great big WHY happened when my 3rd child, Derek, died of SIDS.

I know many of you have heard the story before, so please bear with me, because the thought is as valid today as it was 7+ years ago.

For me that was an enormous wake up call. Life is short, and I was wasting it as “Fat Dad”. I think back to the days when I was 270+ pounds, pre-diabetic, and miserable. Part of my misery was because I felt like garbage, but another part of it was because I realized I had settled for far less than I needed to. I wasn’t who I wanted to be on many different levels.

That in a nutshell is my “Why”…

So what is yours?

I want you to take action right now on getting that question settled. Take out a piece of paper and write down all the reason WHY you want to lose weight, or look better, or get stronger and faster.

It might look something like this:

“I want to lose 50 pounds because….”

and then list as many reasons as you can think of…don’t skip anything that pops into your head, it is ALL valid.

Now I want you to narrow the list down to the top 3 reasons that will make you get your butt out of bed in the morning, and write them on a 3×5 card.

Put that card somewhere where you will see it EVERY day.

Resist the urge to tuck it away somewhere when you are having an ugly day.

Resist the urge to ignore this advice.

Will you do it?

WHY?

Make It Happen!

Dean

***

Beef and Veggie Fettucini

From Precision Nutrition Volume 2

Servings: 1 large or 2 small

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Prelude: Once again, if you love pasta but don’t eat it often due to its high carb content, you can simulate your favorite fettuccini dishwith vegetable fettuccini.  In this recipe, we use veggies to do so and cover it with a delicious meat sauce.

Ingredients:
“Fettuccini”
½ cup carrot
¾ cup zucchini
¾ cup broccoli stalk (imperfections trimmed)

Meat
Olive oil cooking spray
6 oz (170g) sliced sirloin or stirfry beef

Sauce
Olive oil cooking spray
¼ cup onion (finely diced)
¼ cup coconut milk
¼ cup yogurt
1 tablespoon miso paste
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 pinch of pepper
2 tbsp water or vegetable stock

Instructions: Peel the outside layer of the carrots and discard.  Now use the peeler and peel the carrots, zucchini and broccoli into strips and then set aside.  This is the “fettuccini.”  With the zucchini peel down until you reach the seeded soft center and then either mash up and add to the sauce or discard.

Sauté beef until brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

Preheat a small pot on medium heat and lightly coat with spray. Add the onion and sauté. Mix in coconut milk, yogurt, miso, nutmeg and pepper, bring to a simmer and stir until miso is completely dissolved. Remove from heat..

Clean pan if necessary, pre-heat and re-spray.  Add the carrot and broccoli “fettuccini” to the pan and sauté for 3 minutes.  Add 2 tablespoons of stock or water and then add the zucchini and sauté for 2 minutes more.

Add the sauce and toss until warm.

Transfer to the fettuccini to the centre of a plate, top with the sautéed beef.