It's NOT ok

It's not OK to be overweight. It's not OK to wake up feeling like crap everyday. It's not OK to smoke or drink alcohol to excess. It's not OK to be broke. It's not OK to steal. It's not OK to drink and drive. It's not OK to be on blood pressure medication at 29 years old. It's not OK to eat fast food....

It's just NOT OK.

So why is society so accepting of behaviors that are just plain NOT OK?

Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it's some political correctness. Nobody wants to hurt anybodies feelings. We all want to have rights in our free society.

Yeah, man, it's cool. You have the right to be healthy because you are an AMERICAN. Nobody is going to make you eat right and exercise. You have rights!

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.... and FREE HEALTH CARE. That's what this country is all about? Right?

We accept these type of behaviors from people because it's apparently OK.

We don't judge people. We don't want to put other people down. We don't want to stand in the way of other peoples "rights".

It disturbs me to no end that liqueur stores will gladly sell booze to a homeless person that just collected nickles and dimes for hours on the street corner. What is wrong with that picture?

It disturbs me that a morbidly obese person can walk into a McDonald's and order a super size Coke with their fries, burger and dessert.

How about a doctor giving medication for blood pressure to a person that smells like cigarette smoke?

I could. Go on. All. Day.

I am here to tell you that it is NOT OK to abuse food and drugs. It is not OK to steal, drink and drive or not workout. It's just not OK. Stop accepting this type of behavior from those that you love. Don't accept it from yourself. If you are doing these types of things you are BURDEN to those of us that do not.

Health cares costs are SKY HIGH because people don't workout or eat right. SKY HIGH. People die, MANY people die because they CHOOSE to drink and drive, smoke and do so many other harmful things.

I just don't know why. I just don't know.

It doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter that excuse that you have used in the past. It's time to stop accepting this bull shit from yourself and from others.

Enough is enough. Take control and take responsibility. Remember my new friend Brittany that I introduced to you the other day. Girl needs to lose a lot of weight and she is still in her 20's...

Guess what?

She chooses to no longer accept being who she way. She has taken life by the horns and knows....

So...what say you? Are you pissed off? Did I offend you? Good. Get to work and show me that you can do it. Today is the day. There is no tomorrow. 

Teresa and I are starting a group 24 Day Challenge VERY SOON. Send me a quick email and I will help you get signed up if weight loss is your goal. 

You are a champion. Thank you for reading. Please share if you find value. THANK YOU!

To your success! 

Rick Copley | Your Best Fitness Coach  | "Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

 Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page |Rick's No Excuses Blog

Instagram: @rickcopley 

352-989-6795 | rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

My Top 7 Rules for Eating Out

Who doesn't LOVE to eat out. We all do. It's so easy to go out and not have to worry about the dishes and the food press or anything for that matter.

Getting waited on is an added bonus.

"Would you like more water?"

"Why yes...I believe I do want that bad boy topped off."

But there is a catch.

Eating out is SOOOO unhealthy.

Or at least it can be.

In today's short blog post I am going to tell you what my top 7 rules are for eating out. Do whatever you want but if you are trying to maintain or enhance your physical results then you need to stick with these 7 rules. Or just be over weight and unhealthy. Your choice.

RULE #1: Stay away from fast food and buffets. You may NOT ever pass through the doors of Long John Silvers, KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, Golden Coral, 5 Guys etc. If you EVER do pass though those doors you CAN NOT make any good choices. I would say this also goes for the chains like Applebees, Red Lobster and Outback. Go to local places to get better food.

As a matter of fact, if you frequent the "franchise" establishments then you have already make up your mind that health is not a concern for you or your family. Harsh? Yes. Truth? Yes. Is 2/3's of America fat because they are getting burgers at Burger King instead of salad. No. We are fat because our mindsets are wrong.

Change you mindset first. Make good decisions second.

RULE #2: Drink only water. Quick trivia. You order Coke. How many calories? Answer: Who the hell knows because likely you will have like 6.

Drink water only. That right there is a rule that you must abide by. Again, do you want or need to be more healthy. Suck it up. Drink water.

RULE #3: Don't order anything that is "creamy", "breaded" or "fried" or has the word "pasta". These are horrible food choices. When you are eating out your good choices are going to be hard to make. Look for chicken and fish. Look for veggies.  Speaking of dressing....

RULE 4: Dressing on the side. Don't get salads unless the dressing can be on the side. Oil and vinegar or Red Wine Vinaigrette are good choices. Ranch and thousand island are not. Do I need to list the ingredients of salad dressing? Or the calories. I think not.

RULE #5: Pass on the appetizers and the bread. Yeah.... it's gonna be tough at the OG. Nachos are out. Remember number 4? The words "fried" and "breaded" are going to be in a lot of appetizers.

Want to get ill? CHICK HERE to see the calorie content of Applebee's foods. Yeah, Cheeseburger Sliders 1200+ calories. Gross. Just gross.

RULE #6: Pass on desserts. The meal choices are hard enough. Why flub everything up by ordering a pricey dessert that is 4 bites and 1000 calories? That is dumb. Enjoy your meal. Dessert does nothing for you but add fat to your butt. Trust me.

RULE #7: Eat out no more than once every 2 weeks. Repeat after me: "I WILL EAT OUT NO MORE THAN ONCE EVERY TWO WEEKS."

Can you make decent choices eating out? Sure. Are there good choices. Well.... kinda.

Who needs that kind of pressure? Seriously. Who else goes into a restaurant with the best of intentions then some waiter walks by with Supreme Nachos.

"I'll have what they are having...." 

Don't get me wrong. I love eating out. You know what? Check this out. For the last few months we have gone out MAYBE once every three weeks and we notice a difference in the way we feel. 

It's the God's honest truth.

Eating out every so often isn't going to kill you. Enjoy yourself and enjoy the company. Make good choices but don't beat yourself up over bad ones. Proactive the 80/20 rule. Do your best and in the end you will be fit and healthy if you live a fit and healthy lifestlye.

Going out to eat every so often can, and will, fit into that lifestyle. 

While going out to eat can be tasty and fun so can eating in! 

The challenge that many of us face is that we just don't know what to make for meals at home. 

Actually MOST of us face this dilemma. 

Well, Teresa has done something for you that can change your life if you do it. She has created the "30 Day Clean Eating Challenge." Let me tell you. It is awesome. 

Here is the lunch that we had today:

She has created a 30 day meal plan that is out of this world. We had originally released this program and closed the registration. Because of the popularity and the amazing feedback from those in the program we have opened it up for a limited time. 

DETAILS HERE. http://yourbestfitnesscoach.blogspot.com/2014/06/30-day-clean-eating-challenge.html

LINK TO REGISTER HERE. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/30-day-clean-eating-challenge-tickets-12176164235

If you see value in any part of this blog with you please do us the honor of sharing. There might be someone out there in your world that is in desperate need of help that we can provide! 

Remember on Independence Day that freedom isn't free. 

Thank you and Happy Independence Day! 

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach 

JOIN OUR TEAM! 

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page 

P.S. Have you had a chance to visit's Teresa's blog? She posted a new powerful post yesterday. CLICK HERE to read Lady Gurus Fit Kitchen! 

Persistence

Persistence is important.

You don't need to read the blog of some random fitness professional to know that, right? It's pretty obvious that you need to keep at it long term to get the results that you want out of life. This is true with fitness, your career, your relationships.... pretty much everything.

I remember my favorite quote when I was young was, "He who persists shall conquer."

Yawn.

Those are all just words and mean nothing because... you know what... it's a bunch of crap.

Do I have your attention now?

Go ahead a take a survey. I bet 10 out of 10 people will tell you that if you persist you shall conquer. Of course.

How many of those 10 will persist and thus conquer?

A couple maybe.

Let's take a whole new look at a LAME quote that has no real meaning because there is no ACTION attached to it.

"He who persists shall conquer."

In my mind the real problem is the word "persist". The reason that most people don't "persist" is because they don't know just how hard it is going to be.

I once wrote an article called "Riding in the Rain" where I talked about hitting that point in a journey when something got hard. I mean, like REALLY HARD and the suffering was unreal. I knew it was coming but when it got there I was shocked about what it was really like.

People in general don't want to be uncomfortable. It's EASY to say that you are going to persist but it's also easy to make excuses and sneak away into the night what thing get hard.

You say that you will persist but most times you don't. The reality is that things just got to hard and you lost site of your goal and you lost focus on your purpose.

So what do you do?

STEP 1: Define a purpose that is so strong that if you are woken up in the middle of the night out of a dead sleep and asked, "What is you purpose??" that you speak with complete clarity exactly what you purpose is. It may be to keep up with your kids or to do an Ironman or simply to go to bed happy every night. Your purpose is your purpose but it has to be STRONG.

STEP 2: Let your purpose be known to EVERYBODY. This way when you want to quit you will have someone there telling reminding you of your purpose.

STEP 3: Believe. I would keep your daily plan simple. For one I would have your purpose printing on an index card and read it at least 3-4 times per day. You can also put it in strategic places. How about on the refrigerator if your purpose behind weight loss is spending more quality time with your kids. Do small actions everyday that bring your closer to who you want to be. Have MUST DO's instead of SHOULD DO's. This can go for almost everything in life.

STEP 4: Plan your day. This is key. Do you go to work everyday? Do you have a routine at work? Do you do certain things at certain times? Of course! Plan your life like that! Your boss at work isn't go to tell you to exercise or stop eating from the vending machine! You have to do that!

STEP 5: Do not accepts excuses and do not place blame. Whatever it takes for YOU to become the type of person that takes responsibility and REFUSES to give up. Use steps 1 through 4 to create a solid purpose and action plan so that when things get tough (and you KNOW things will get tough!) you are ready and you punch fear in the face!

I hope this message helps today.

I am so deeply saddened all the time when I see people struggling. In all my years doing what I do I have figured out that until someone makes a decision to start living a life by design he or she will continue to be pushed around by the bullies of life.

Make that decision. Step blaming everyone else for your lack of persistence and get to work creating the life you want.

Stand tall and DARE life to through an obstacle in your way.

Be persistent. Be a champion.

Is health and fitness your main goal? If so then I have a couple of resources that may help you.

#1: Teresa's blog. That's right. After many requests she finally gave in and started a blog. It is called "Lady Guru's Fit Kitchen". It's had a great response so far. Click here to check it out: http://ladygurusfitkitchen.blogspot.com/

#2: Zumba! Zumba is a great addition to your workouts. It's fun and it really gets your heart rate up. Having fun and getting fit should go hand in hand. ASM Fitness now has Zumba on Monday and Wednesday nights at 7:15pm. Come check it out! ASM Fitness is located at 34 Ohio Blvd in Eustis. It's off Orange Ave across from the "Pic and Go". https://www.facebook.com/events/667780329935657/

If you got value out of today's post we would appreciate it if you shared this by clicking the Facebook icon at the bottom of the post. Thank you!

To your success,

Rick Copley, AdvoCare Gold 3-Star Independent Distributor

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-6795

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page