M1 | Day 39

SUPPORT......an essential ingredient in the mix of life.

No man is an island.....otherwise put, we do not operate well alone. We surround ourselves with people that we believe are beneficial to us...not in a selfish way but in a fullfillment way.

In everything we do in life we need a sounding board, someone to encourage us when things are tough, someone to clap hands for us when we win...and most of all someone to love us when we need warm arms wrapped around us.....and I don't care how tough you are, we all need that.

I am no different. This is therefore a tribute to my lady who, without her support, I might not have made it through this hugely undulating and rocky journey over the past year.

It started with her marshalling 4 children on a beach that day in between trying to rustle up a paramedic and an ambulance to the beach at St Francis and getting over eager hands away from my severely broken neck and somehow getting her landrover to a point where she could follow the ambulance....all in the space of a few minutes...talk about woman's ability to multitask.....this woman is WORLDCLASS.

We laugh now about the journey to Port Elizabeth from her view point once all the other things had been taken care of. The number of the ambulance was printed on the back and she used her mobile to call them whilst driving down the freeway at 200kms an hour. "Please can you slow down, I can't keep up." she said to the nurse. "We can't do that maam, we need to get Mr Macdonald to hospital as soon as possible, but don't worry, when we get to the hospital I'll call you and guide you in." Which she did.

Looking back now, it must have been pretty hilarious....an ambulance barreling down the freeway with a Landrover chasing it.

Karen took care of the kids, made a million phone calls to my family, collegues and friends to tell them what had happened, was at my bedside every day....a drive of 2 hours there and back from our holiday home.

Got everybody back to Johannesburg safely.. a 10 hour drive, and made sure I was airlifted back to JHB.

Arranged for my kids to visit me in hospital...spent hours there herself to the detriment of her landscaping business and her own family.

Over the past year she has made herself available for whatever I needed. She nursed me back to health at her house....cradled me in her arms when I cried, feeling that I couldn't go on. Made it very clear when I had outplayed the sympathy card. Made interminable trips back to the hospital to have dressings changed, sutures removed and so one.

And now that we are at the end of that journey she has pledged complete support for my determined efforts to get back into the best shape of my life.... Life without her would not be fun.

Florence Nightingale has nothing on this incredible woman and I am fortunate that she chose me as a partner. She has given up a year of her life for me and as she says with a wicked smile on her face when I ask how I can repay her....." 3 or 4 carats on my finger will do nicely thankyou."

M1 | Day 38

ADVERSITY.....there is no such thing

This very day exactly one year ago my life changed forever.
I was surfing a shore break at St Francis Bay, right next door to Jeffries Bay, on a beautiful sunny morning at around this time....10.45am.

I have been surfing my whole life so I knew what I was doing, but this day was different.

I'd been surfing the backline at the point earlier in the morning and had been in the water for hours so I was pretty tired. Mentally I was ready to head in to my girlfriend and her two and my two little ones on the beach. We were on a 10 day vacation at our favourite spot on the beautiful South African cape coast.

I saw a set coming through and the shore break was pretty big...I'd taken a couple of tumbles but nothing serious when I saw a decent size wave coming through.

I paddled hard, picked up the wave and stood up quickly....with a shore break you have to get up fast otherwise you'll get taken out. As I stood up I realised the wave was too steep but it was too late, I started to go over the falls...it was too late to bale out and I got dumped.

I landed head first straight onto an exposed sandbank. Bang...I hit the sandbank with a sickening, bone crunching thud. I heard and felt the bones, and cervical verterbrae shatter and I saw stars.

Immediately I knew I had broken my neck...I also knew it was very serious as I had to hold my head up since it wouldn't stand up on it's own. I was in the most excrucioating pain I had ever felt.

Somehow I got to the beach and managed to get out of the water. My girlfriend helped me to lie down and paramedics were called.

I was stabilised and taken to Port Elizabeth, a hour drive away via ambulance. Large quantities of morphine helped to dull the intense pain but I was alert enough to know I was in real trouble.

The Parademic actually told me that if I didn't lie still I wouldn't make it to the hospital.

X-rays revealed I had what is called a hangman's fracture and had badly damaged C2,3, and 4.

The neurosurgeon, a nice young man said he was sorry but no I could not go home today.
After drilling holes in my head and attaching some scaffolding I was told not to move for two days whilst I stabilised



Two days later I underwent major surgery which involved a spinal fusion and a whole bunch of titanium bits. I felt a bit like a mobile mechano set.

I was transferred to Johanesburg where I contracted Septacemia...a blood infection which can kill you in 48 hours if it's not caught in time.

Op no 2 - another 3 hours and serious pain.




Then a pressure wound in back of my head that wouldn't heal.....Op no 3....plastic surgery to fix the gaping hole left by the pressure wound.




Then persistant infection resulting in Op no 4.....to open me up and scrub me out again.

Then came some recovery time during which I walked vast distances every day. I wish I was going skiing coz that's what it looked like.


Op No 5.....we decided that after 9 months on antibiotics and feeling terrible through the infection we would remove the hardware in the back of my head....dangerous op, working so close to the spinal chord but the risk was worth it so I made the decision to go for it.

It all worked out and this is what they took out of my head and what my head looked like after the op.




Now the amazing thing about all this is that the above picture taken after my last op was taken in hospital at the beginning of February.

I started gentle training about two weeks after that and then started my RTP-TS transformation.

How's that for miraculous recovery time....Less than two months after my last op I am hard at training getting visible results as is evidenced by my daily pics.

I have no mobility between my neck and shoulders and there are many things I cannot do any more such as running, riding a bike....obviously surfing is a no no, driving a car is difficult.

But....I have long since come to terms with what happened to me....and I can only see postitives. I am alive, I am mobile.....I should be dead, I am able to serve others, which gives me great joy, I am able to contribute to the shreddershphere...I have greater respect for myself and others, I value myself more....and I LOVE AND LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL.

My reason for writing this was to firstly to celebrate a year of living differently, secondly to illustrate that there is no such thing as adversity....only bumps in the road which we can easily run over IF WE SO CHOOSE.

And finally, I have a question and a challenge, for all of you. If I am able to train with incredible instensity and passion and continuously post 100% compliance......if I am able to do this with discomfort every day and limitations as to what exercises and cardio I can and cannot do.....if I am able to do this with a badly broken neck and no mobility through a spinal fusion and multiple major operations all within the space of the last 365 days.....if I am able to do this successfully, which I am...

WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE.

M1 | Day 37

I AM AN ATHLETE

A healthy lifestyle – the mind/body connection

By its very definition the word lifestyle in the statement “A healthy lifestyle” indicates that we are talking about far more than a 10 week diet and running around the block for the same time frame.

The very notion that we can – kinda, sorta, eat properly and do some exercise for the short term, is based in the word, a word that should, in my view be banished from dictionaries, DIET.

Diet always implies that there is an end in view. We all know what I’m talking about. The 28 day grapefruit diet. The 4 week south beach diet. Lose 150lbs eating only rice cakes in 10 days diet and so on.

We also know instinctively at the very least that, you cannot get to where you want to be, physically, and then go straight back to sleeping late and eating cheese cake.

So what is the solution, and how does the mind come into this?

We need to change our identity. There are two types of people who are overweight. People who simply habitually overeat at meal times and people who are comfort eaters. Since the second group is by far the majority I’m going to talk about them. Habitual overeaters simply need to understand how to eat properly. Simple to fix, not easy, but simple.

Comfort eaters however is a different group altogether.

The majority of people that come to me for help are very overweight. The first question I ask is “how did you get to look like you do”. Then begins a psychological discourse in which lies the answer to getting lean, healthy and fit, for life.

Mentally, physically and sexually abusive, parents, partners, children, friends and so on, or certain instances, and timelines are by and large the trigger for overeating on a regular basis.

At the time the incidents were occurring, eating large amount of pleasurable food i.e. ice creams, potato chips, pies, pastries etc, were responsible for soothing a traumatized emotional state. This done habitually leads to “bingeing” preceding or following a difficult situation.

After some considerable time the individual is seriously overweight, with a self image problem of varying degrees.

Now, I’m a great believer in the statement….Things in my past are responsible for the way I have become..But only I can be responsible for the way I’m going to be.

A courageous attitude, certainly, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It all starts with a thought and remember that “everything starts with a thought” and I mean everything.

How often have we said “I think I’ll go down to Durban for the weekend” or “I think I’m going to shop for new clothes on Saturday?” See what I mean.

So…although it takes time, a process of conscious/subconscious mind changing through affirmations and a firm commitment to a future healthy lifestyle through goal setting, is all that is needed to get you on the right track, forever. The Will to want to is obviously critical, but I don’t know any fat person who wants to remain where they are and get progressively bigger as time goes by, do you?

I start my clients with a simple affirmation “I AM AN ATHLETE “and I insist they repeat it to themselves many times a day and whilst exercising. It seems silly at first and they are normally embarrassed to repeat it out loud, but the miracle starts happening when, through repetition they start believing it. They start walking with more purpose, up straighter, and with more confidence. This has the knock on effect of making them want to train harder and so they progress until they reach their original goals and it’s time to set new ones.

I’ve seen this happen countless time and although this article touches the surface of my personal methodologies, used with love, kindness and caring, since I’m not a qualified psychologist, my heart soars when I see a client, now a friend, walk into the future with head held high, a strong respect for themselves, and a definite belief that “ They are athletes”

M1 | Day 36

Talk about a deer caught in the headlights, my expression in the pic is priceless...."Wasn't me Officer"

Contest deadline is getting closer and the exitement is growing...I can almost feel it down here in the Southern tip of Africa.

Technology is wonderful that it bring us all together as a family from many nations across the globe and in a way these relationships may be more valuable, from a phsycological point of view, than those of your closest family.

Do a little comparison in your own mind. At home...your brother,sister,mother,husband,wife etc says "umm, honey, do you really think you need another chocolate eclair." In the shreddersphere you get tough love. "OK you bluppsed, let it go and move on" in other words you get non judgemental support, and encouragement in a non threatening safe environment."

"Baby, do these jeans make my bum look big." " No it's all the chocolate you eat" Not quite the encouragement you need.

Adam Waters has created with help of Mike Groom an amazing refuge, or haven if you will where 'dreamstealers' are forbidden and where you can make your dreams come true in a time frame of your choice. Nurture as opposed to criticism...even if the critisism is an uplifted eyebrow or a disaproving look.

We have all been where we all are now, so we understand....and the interesting thing is that very often the dreamstealers closest to you are the one's for whom you become a role model and change camps from " yawn....oh another diet..." to "Babe, what's the web address of that place umm, what's it called the 'shredder board' or something." and " hey you are really looking good" and at that point 'nothing tastes sweeter than' a compliment from a loved one.

At that point your self image starts to soar. You start to trust yourself and more than anything you start to see a future with you in it as the person you've always wanted to be.

BIG UP, to all our shredders that have had the courage to take this challenge on with a determination to see it throughto the end.

Without question, you are all CHAMPIONS, already.

M1 | Day 35

The South African elections are done. Free and Fair...yes....results...The ruling ANC did NOT attain a two thirds majority.

Pheeeeeewww! Thank goodness for that. All that remains is for Jacob Zuma to decide which 1st lady he is going to introduce to the world.
(thank you Cindi)

Seriously...at least our sacred constitution cannot be tamepered with by grubby little hands wanting to change things to protect themselves.

Vent over.....it's a rest day today and I need it.
I have trained very hard this week...and at least one of my training days left track marks in the road tarmac the way I had to drag
myself to gym.

Please explain this to me someone. Yesterday right outside the door of one of the gym's I train at in a non parking area, blocking traffic, stood a shiny new, ice white convertible Aston Martin.. Well we don't all ride donkey carts to work in deepest darkest Africa you know.

Now, apart from the absolute arrogance of the owner, why would someone who is, presumably at gym to get fit and healthy, not park in a large empty parking area 50mtrs away from the front door and walk. Go figure.

Oh and while I'm on my soap box my other pet peeve is people who park in disabled parking bays. I get so irritated that I have gone up to a perfectly able bodied person before as he was was getting out of his car and told him that if he doesn't move it I'll give him a reason to park there. Since I am 6ft and weigh 220lbs, they usually don't argue with me.

Oh and also those " Reserved Staff parking" signs, I mean where are the upbeat and outgoing staff supposed to park.

And, "Disabled toilets" in gyms....why would they put a toilet in a gym that wasn't working...I mean really.

Have a really fun rest day...Till Tomorrow.

M1 | Day 34

MILK....what about about milk?

Well first off it's a very powerful movie. Went to see it last night and came away with a reminder of some of life's greatest lessons.

If there is anobody on the planet that doesn't know what it's about......an openly gay man opens a camera shop in the SanFransisco district of CASTRO in the late 60's and he and his young lover are harassed by local shopkeepers with the objective of running them out of town.

Doesn't quite turn out like that and Harvey Milk becomes a very powerful political figure in America....never mind a district in SF.

What really got me about this movie was firstly the dedication and commitment to a cause... I mean this guy was relentless, and I mean over a 8 year period...we are not talking 12 weeks here.

He recruited guys who he made sure were as committed as he was and as a gay rights activist became head of the most powerful gay rights movement in America. Over 30 thousand people attended his memorial service.

How..... He was unbelievably persistant...and demanded that from those around him....he did the same things day after day, to canvas locals and recruit followers tirelessly, consistently....He was unflinching in his belief of what he was doing...in other words his commitmentwas not even up for discussion, and he was a champion for his cause...He believed so much in what he was doing he sold, sold, sold it wherever he went.

He ended up a very powerful man....both inside himself and publicly....he also ended up dead but thats what sometimes happens to powerful people.

The take home for me, from this movie in terms of health and fitness was:

1. Find a program that you believe in and are prepared to work at. (A cause)
   
2. Do the things day by day that you need to do to get the job done (consistent)
3. Do them unflinchingly and with your best effort with the right attitude and intensity, even when you don't feel like (persistance)
4. Become a champion for the cause that you believe in...in this case health and fitness.
   

My friends, these are the hallmarks of a champion...and Harvey Milk was a champion, like him or not....he was in the game, for good.

Let's also commit to getting into this game...for good, setting an example by the way look, behave and our lifestyle, and promoting health and fitness wherever we go.

DEAL or no deal...I'm in

M1 | Day 33

Today was my chance.....to test my own rhetoric.

I went to bed pretty late and woke up really early. First thing I thought about was training.
As I lay in bed I thought....I really don't feel like training to day...I mean I really don't feel like it.

I don't feel like getting up to have a protein, oats, shake....I don't feel like.....well I just don't feel like doing anything.

For the first time since I got out of hospital I just DID NOT feel like it. I just felt completely flat.

OK so now I have a choice......actually I didn't even need to go that far, automatically I started thinking about you, the shreddershphere, my PRW's, my commitment to myself and the heavyness started dissipating.

I got out of bed dog tired but I went to the gym and completed a solid workout.

Now I really know for sure, that the program works and accountability is everything.

When it came to weighing up - not training - with all the other stuff mentioned above, the scales were heavily weighted on the side of " No Brainer "

I actually enjoyed being in the gym and although I'm still really tired I'm about to eat my 3rd meal, I've done my training and my compliance is still 100%

Job done, self image intact.

See, thing is , if you you have all the tools in your arsenal at your disposal, nothing can go wrong when days like this come along.

M1 | Day 32

Today I sadly bid a fond farewell to and kissed autumn goodbye as I felt a bite in the air stepping out into the cold breeze at 4.30am.

Another summer is gone....It seems to be that time speeds up every year....I remember a client saying to me in December last year....Boy this year has gone quickly, this time last year it was only October.

My beautiful boy who is just days away from his 14th birthday will be able to vote in the next election...man, that woke me up.

There are 24 hours in the day and as far as I know that's not about to change. Once they are gone, they're gone.

So....we have 24, to make a difference....to our lives and the lives of others...then, phhhhht, gone.

If you are struggling with fluctuating emotions....lack of will, or rather, won't power....not feeling like training or eating properly....and we all go there....and are generally feeling pretty negative about life right now....try this.

The concept is simple really....we can only feed our souls and make them happy....when we are doing for others. I believe we were put on this planet to give...not to take....and when we are not feeling great emotionally it is because we are only thinking about ourselves .

Never mind the analysis of this....if you are feeling down today...try this, open the address book in your mobile and call the person whose name jumps out at you...give them a call and tell them that you just wanted them to know that you are thinking about them and you love them....wouldn't try this if it's your boss...and see what happens to your mood.

Once you have proved that this simple little thing is guaranteed to lift the black cloud above you then start doing it every day...then add other little things that you can do for others.

Pretty soon as all this becomes a habit you'll find that the black cloud will disapear for ever and your life will have changed.

Going to gym and eating properly then become so much easier to commit to long term.....you see folks, " Health and Fitness are a prerequisite to happiness. " said Joseph Pilates, and once you get how the cirle of life works....it becomes so much easier.

Do it now and you'll be smiling for the rest of the day.

YES YOU....GO ON, N O W

M1 | Day 31

Choices.....it's all about choices

22nd April 2009 will be remembered in South Africa.....We are voting in a new president today.
Our 4th democratic election is taking place today in our young democracy and whilst we know who the Pres is going to be we need to choose to vote to not let the ruling party get a two thirds majority. If that happens our constitution remains intact.

When 23 million go to the polls on a chilly autumn morning they will have a choice to make.

Which reminds me....we all have choices to make and whilst we have made the basic choice...to take on and complete the RTP - Transformation System we will have many choices to make along the way which will make us or ......well you know the rest.

Like....going out for dinner and choosing the baked salmon or the nachos with extra chedder.
You think that's a no brainer...one tip...don't go to the restaraunt starving, coz chances are you'll go the wrong way.

Choosing to skip a workout coz, you have to watch some paint dry....again another no brainer...unless...you are absolutely ehausted from a tough day at work and 3 hours at home with screaming kids....then it's easy to sink into the lazyboy...umm..girl, with a double martini and watch desperate,desperate,desperate housewives.

Choosing to not push as hard in the gym as you could....ah well I did do the workout so what if I didn't so as hard as I could...tick it off as done.

Making bad choices has effects far more reaching than just in the now. Your self image which may be shaky to start with takes a little knock and you consider yourself a little less trustworthy every time this happens.

Try to plan ahead for things that may trip you up. Think forward and...eat a little protein shake before you go out for dinner....phone hubby/wife and ask them to look after the kids...you have a workout to do....walk into the gym and hit a mental switch the minute you walk in the door " This is going to be the best workout ever, I am thinking about nothing else but this workout."

So there it is...success is all aboput the choices we make.....now if you'll excuse me I have the best cardio workout I've ever done, to go and do."

M1 | Day 30

There is only one perfect person....and he does not live on this planet.

For us to succeed in transforming ourselves permanently we have to start by letting go of the perfection complex.

Which means what exactly?

Well it's that old thing that we do of starting "diets" on monday blowing them with a bad meal on wednesday evening and baling on the whole thing until monday again.

Eventually we bale on the thing altogether...."Oh this is useless, I'm not going to "diet" anymore I'm just going to let go and eat whatever I want".

6 Months and 10kgs later we are worse off than when we started.

So....we need to let go of ' perfection '. There is no such thing.

We HAVE to adopt the mindset that, if we have a bad meal, or slip with an easter egg, or steal our daughter's M&M's we ARE ONLY ONE MEAL AWAY FROM GETTING IT RIGHT again.

Don't blow your whole plan for one slip.

Make that decision TODAY, that if something goes wrong, your very next meal, will be PERFECT.

M1 | Day 29

For some reason my compliance sheet takes an absolute age to down load as opposed to the pic so in future I'm going to leave it out. I am still filling it in of course and if anybody wants to see it I'll be happy to make it available. I'll score my compliance on this blog and my shreddersphere blog going forward. To date my compliance is 100%

I came across an interesting scenario this morning whilst training a young female client.

She's been with me a week or so and we have been doing upper body one day and lower body 2 days later. Rep range 10-15.

She said to me today that friends of hers say she should be doing very high reps with little weights coz she's a girl and she shouldn't be pushing heavy weight.

Excuse me.....

Obviously I told her very diplomatically that she was paying me the money to get her into shape and not her friends so perhaps she should not be listening to her friends, none of which as far as I know are certified personal trainers or in particularly good shape.

Now this is not a unique scenario.....I think all of us at some stage have been told by someone in the gym that we're doing the wrong thing....notwithstanding that the person doing the telling looks as if they just finished the afternoon shift at milky lane.

Point is....you have a world class program designed by three of the best on the planet...don't get sideswiped by people who have no clue what they're talking about.

Say thanks very much....and do the next set. Later perhaps you can drop a hint to them like
RTP Blog 2.0 - Adam Waters Real Time Physique Transformation Blog

Dreamstealers abound...some well meaning, some trying to derail you. The tall poppy syndrome...gently move away from them and keep walking the path your are on....It IS THE RIGHT PATH.

M1 | Day 28

28 days......reminds me of the Sandra Bullock movie of the same name. For those that havn't seen it...a very funny but poignant movie about a young woman who is an alcoholic and checks into rehab for...you guessed it...28 days.

Why is 28 days significant...because that's how long it takes to ingrain a habit with a few days extra thrown in for good measure.

In one scene she asks her doctor when she can start dating again. His answer. Buy a plant, when you have kept it alive for 6 months, buy a pet...when that is still alive after 2 years you can start dating.

Point is.....28 days ago those of us who started transforming made a decision that hopefully will affect the rest of our lives. We decided that enough was enough and today was the day we wopuld change forever.

We have now ingrained certain habits that will stand us in good stead forever...but...we are not there yet.

We still need to keep the plant alive and the 84 days of the transformation challenge will help to reinforce that.

At the end of the next 84 all of us will be in a position to positively affect others...by the way we look, talk, move and act... let's all make a goal to use our transformation as a role model to those who are in need of transforming.

SHOCKING FACT - THERE ARE MORE OBESE ON THE PLANET RIGHT NOW THAN THERE ARE STARVING PEOPLE.

Let's all use this time to be a catalyst for eradication of obesity...A noble goal I'm sure you'll agree.

M1 | Day 27

What are you thinking about today?

It's a beautiful crisp sunny autumn day in Johannesburg and everything is still and quiet.

The occasional vehicle disturbs the peace as it whoooshes past.

It's early...for a saturday and a dog barks, breaking the silence.

Peace again....tranquility....every body alone with their own thoughts.

The clouds move gracefully across the sky interupting the impossible blueness up there.

Suddenly from out of no where....There is a scream, followed by loud raucous whooopp whooooppping, and then crazy laughter...the silence is broken...people sit up straight in their chairs dropping the morning daily....Coffee is spilt down the front of an elegant blouse.

What on earth is that....is the exclamation collectively around the normally quiet neighbourhood.

Oh don't worry....it's just Dougal... GETTING REALLY EXCITED ABOUT COMPETING AGAIN.

M1 | Day 26

Exitement mounts as the contestants ready themselves for battle.......

What an interesting scenario. In a few days from now the inaugural RTP - TS competition begins or should I say entries close and this thing kicks off for real.

So, for the first time in history contestants in a transformation competition will be able to witness..live...the progress of their competitors online via words and pictures.... and what do you think that will do?

It will drive everybody to be the ABSOLUTE best they can be...in the early stages ...and as some contestants start drawing away from the pack it is possible that some....may give up thinking that they have no chance and lose momentum ending up disapointed again.

CAUTION negative thinking ahead. Remember my post about my client who made zero and I mean zero progress over the first seven weeks and then sprinted out of the blocks making an exceptional transformation by week 12.

This is a 12 week competition....give yourself a real chance...by NOT saying, half way in, Oh I can't win so I'm going to back off. If that has been you in the past, NOW is your opportunity to change such a limiting belief. The TRUTH is you DON'T KNOW what is going to happen so at least give yourself a chance.

In any situation where that voice in your head starts putting you down, always ask yourself IS THAT THE TRUTH...9 times out of 10 you'll be able to answer emphatically NO and you can move on.

I have a friend who is one of the top 5 IronMen triathletes in the world and I've seen some amazing things happen to him. One example...he was racing in the US in a half ironman distance race and doing well on the bike he had a blow out.

Now these guys don't carry puncture repair kits so he felt that was it for him until the service van appeared and gave him a new wheel. (allowed) He continued with not much enthusiasm and his carbon fibre wheel actually shattered.

In his mind he was really done now and he sat down on the side of the road to mourn his fate when the service van reappered and gave him another wheel.(also allowed)

Reluctant to continue having lost so much time he wanted to bale, when his wife appeared and ordered him to get his backside back in the race (as wives do). Back on the road he gave it huge effort and...short story...he ended up coming second and winning some nice prize money.

NEVER EVER GIVE UP UNTIL THE RACE IS OVER. Unless you are able to see into the future you have no way of knowing how things are going to turn out.

Don't allow your future to be dictated by something that hasn't even happened yet.

M1 | Day 25

What's it going to take?.........to win the Transformation competition

10 tips that will help to get you into good enough shape to win

Have I lost my mind...I am also a transformation contestant. Do I want to win....YOU BET...so why would I let you into my mind and tell you how I'm going to do it.

Because you are my shredder brothers and sisters and I want to share anything I can with you that will help you to get to where you want to go.

Am I competitive...absolutely, but I've been around this business a while so anything I know that will give me an advantage I am prepared to pass on to you....unconditionally.

Then we start from a level playing field which is only fair.

The most important thing to know is that you MUST have the mindset going into this thing.
No good saying....ummm I'll give it a shot because it's there, if I don't win, no worries.
Wrong. If you have entered or want to enter you obviously want to meet Adam Waters and Tom Venuto in NYC really really badly...so you need to cultivate that mindset.

As Vince Lombardi said"winning is not everything...it's the only thing"

1. Build a desire in your heart that rages like a massive brush fire muscling it's way through the Cape-Town mountains like a high school bully.
   
2. Go back to the first 7 days of the RTP-TS and do them again until you really get it.
3. Make absolutely sure that your nutrition is perfect
4. Make sure that you understand your training and make EVERY session count. If you are training upper and lower body on alternate days 3 days a week do you realise you only have 18 sessions...make every one of them count. Develop a winning mind set in the gym
   
5. Believe in your PRW's with all your heart
6. Your visualisation techniques are all important and are as important as the physical stuff.
7. Adam's Transformation competition letter was written specifically you. Read it everyday and make it yours. Internalise and imagine it as if it were absolutely real. Manifest it....Make so powerful that when you get to NYC it will be deja vu...You've seen this before because you've lived it every day. This is so powerful that you really need to own this.
8. Don't forget to create your dream body...also a critical visualisation technique. One of the original body-for-LIFE winners used this to such good effect that he ended up looking better than his dream body pic.
9. Think about every post your write...make them count...plan so that you have time to give them substance.
10. Finally....there are NO excuses. When it comes down to the judging there will be no...Aaah I had to work late so I couldn't train. Porter Freeman who now runs Body-for-LIFE said that the only time he could train was 3am when he got off work since he was working in a club...and his transformation was one of the best I've seen and the man was nearly 50.

If you do all these things and refuse to allow yourself to get sidetracked the worst that's going to happen is that you will be in the best shape of your life....and after all isn't that why you bought the program.

M1 | Day 24

We are the authors of our own best seller.

I recently watched an interesting program on the box that asked the question of us that we have asked ourselves a thousand times.

“ Who am I”.

How do you know ? How do you find out ?....or, why do I need to know that.

If you don’t know and want to know, maybe this’ll help you.

Once again nature provides the answer.

Imagine if an apple tree didn’t know it was an apple tree….how would it produce apples ?

Well it does know it’s an apple tree and so produces wonderful fruit every season.

It has understood what it’s mission in life is and is therefore very happy. You can see that in the fruit.

It doesn’t say…”Is this all there is” or “I’m sure there is more to life than this.” It knows what it’s supposed to do and does it.

I believe we are all able to do that if we search our spirit.

How do we search ourselves to understand how to be the best we can be.

Once we understand who we are and we do what we are supposed to, we realize that no one is bigger or smaller than we are.

As a successful apple tree are we any smaller than the mountain…no because we are both what we are supposed to be.

I remember when I decided to help clients recover their lives through health and fitness the first thing I did was create a personal mission statement.

It was this:

“ To empower 5 million people to find and fulfill their purpose through health and fitness.”

Now if I buy into that 100% which I do, then I am doing what I’m supposed to be doing on this planet…..and I am, and I LOVE IT.

Try a little test on yourself. On Sunday afternoon take note of your feelings about going to work Monday. Are you thrilled or does it make you feel nauseous. If you are thrilled hang in…you’re cool. If it is the other, use your new found commitment to get healthy to find out what turns you on and find a way to make it your career.

Here’s a hint….make it something that serves others. Before you can have…you must become.

Getting fit and healthy empowers you…It gives you confidence, it strengthens your self image, it gives you the courage to take steps to do what you really want to do.

Adam Waters has successfully done that and I guarantee there is nothing he would rather do, than what he is doing.

It’s like the voting posters proclaim “If you don’t vote, don’t complain.”

I am also an “ APPLE TREE “, are you ?

M1 | Day 23

Trust is a word that is thrown around with careless abandon and with the explosive proliferation of the internet it's hard to know who to trust.

Of course, I'm now talking specifically of Internet Marketers and so called health and fitness professionals.

When you put yourself in the hands of an expert whether it be real time or internet based and you pay across your hard earned shekels you better have tested the stuff coming out of the guys mouth or out of his pen....umm, make that, keyboard.

When you've done that and you are up and running you just have to trust.

Personally I'm pretty stoked by my results thus far and I reckon my progress is bang on target because I trusted what I was doing, because it comes from someone I trust.

In the beginning you just don't know do you. You throw the recomended level of food down your throat every 3 - 4 hours and just hope for the best.

Well, you shouldn't... you should do is trust what you're doing from the get go, after all you are responsible for what you've taken on. I did with everything I have...and it's paying off.

I figure, if I trust what I'm doing and I visualise that ernestly, add 100% compliance to the pudding and ....HOW CAN I LOSE. The proof of the pudding is definately in the eating.

If you don't trust on the other hand and you just groove along thinking "well, let's give it a shot and see what happens" you are going to be wasting precious time because your sub conscious will accept any message you send.

Give your transformation 100% of your focus and TRUST and your results will be commensurate.

You are a unique, special, precious human being...there is NO ONE like you gracing this planet...YOU therefore owe it to yourself to TRUST in what you're doing and give yourself a 100% of winning.

M1 | Day 22

Global training today. I wonder whether I’ll feel any different with all this collective shredder consciousness going on.

I’m looking forward to it and I’ll certainly give every effort and focus to the session for my fellow shredders.

The web is such an amazing communication medium that it enables us to do this.

Someobody mentioned yesterday how incredible it is that we are a family, a pretty close knit one but we are scattered on all parts of the planet. It is just that, incredible.

How cool would it have been if we could have had web cams set up in each gym so that we could actually see each training virtually together…and encourage each other etc.

I’m off to do my session shortly, I’ll comment when I get back from the gym.

M1 | Day 21

M1 | Day 20

When I woke up this morning and opened the living room curtains, the two beautiful white boerbulls (large dogs) on the patio sat up expectantly and looked at me with love in their eyes. Not for me but for the large meal they were about to get.

It got me thinking about our own lives and how we are dependant upon others. Everybody wants to be part of a community of like minded individuals, hence the runaway success of the Shreddersphere.

We cannot operate successfully for any extended period of time without support, encouragement, love and expert guidance from others.

Maslow in his hierarchy of needs has stated that once basic needs have been met, air, food etc then the most important need is NOT money but recognition.

If you’ve ever been to a network marketing rah rah seminar….well, havn’t we all….you’ll notice a huge amount of backslapping and hail fellow well met, going on….the place is overflowing with bonhomie.

Because….we want to belong.

That is why this forum is SO important….Firstly, and this is mostly for the females, since men are generally uncouth and don’t really care, you trust enough to show complete strangers photographs that you wouldn’t even show your husbands.

Why….BECAUSE HERE THERE IS NO JUDGEMENT.

We also know that we can rely on our Shredder family for 100% support when things get tough.

We build friendships, we ask advice, knowing that we’ll get the best.

Your shredder friends are sincere and you know that you’ll get the truth.

Mmmm….we think we can be an Island unto ourselves AIKONA…that means…not going to happen.

Put another way….dogs live in isolation…imagine how incredible THEY would be if they had a shreddersphere.

M1 | Day 19

We are not judged by what we begin, but by what we accomplish. Even by ourselves.
Every time we begin something with great expectation and do not complete it we erode our self image and self belief.

Every time this happens a little bit of us gets left behind along with the project we have just abandoned.

And...over time our self image diminishes to the point......where we find ourselves....right here right NOW.

Isn't that funny. I don't mean ha ha funny I mean in an enigmatic kinda way. The reason every one of us starts or started THIS program is because we were unhappy about the way we looked and felt and it was affecting our entire being. Our way of operating, our interaction with others, our feelings for ourselves. Until we get to this point where we say... this far and no further. Last stop before we hit the wilderness.

Well I was driving home last night in the dark from the gym and I was suddenly aware of all the lights that seemed to be so much more intense than usual and that was because for me...there was a message.

The traffic lights.... red, green, amber....the vehicle lights, bright, searing, flashing wildly, those lights that are immediately in your face as a vehicle turns a corner and heads towards you " A veritable cacophany of lights " in your face and your head continuously all the way home. ( and yes I know what cacophany means, I just like the descriptive nature of the phrase because it is almost as if you are invaded by the sounds as well)

Then...Bam....I suddenly got what it was telling me. DO NOT BE DISTRACTED FROM YOUR MISSION BY EVERYTHING GOING ON AROUND YOU.

Now if this resonates with you, cool, if it doesn't, grunt and move on to the next blog....but there are people reading this that are having that problem right now...don't know who you are but....keep your focus. If you feel that it's all getting too much...go sit in a quiet place and remember where you are and why you are doing this. FOR YOU, and what's INSIDE of you.

This may be your last chance. If not this.....then what.

You absolutely can do it, you can achieve your dreams.....you just need to get out of night traffic for a while.. know what I mean.

M1 | Day 18

Nearly the end of week 3 and as we approach the easter weekend I have no fear. In years gone past I would have relished the opportunity to break out some junk food, eat lot's of chocolate, and generally make myself feel sick.

I'll get back on the bus on tuesday would be the mantra.

NOT THIS YEAR....I am so focused, so committed and so driven to succeed that nothing less than 100% will work for me.

It will be a challenge since all around me I will be hearing...have this, eat that, try this, have a bite of that, have a sip of this and so on.

Shredders all around the globe will be facing the same challenges and this is what I will be doing to sidestep the dreamstealers, wellmeaning as they may be.

Although I have my eating plan sorted this may not work as I will not necessarily be in the normal weekly routine, and going to the same places I normally do.

So...I intend to spend quite some time tomorrow planning where I will be and then organising to have the correct food available so that I do not get caught out.

Don't let your resolve and dedicated attitude be derailed by a lack of planning, and let's rather focus on what Easter is really about and not for all the tasty junk food we can smash into our faces.

M1 | Day 17

TIME.....something over which we have no control...not in this dimension anyway and I wanted to illustrate how patience and time go hand in hand since a lot of us are impatient to witness magnificent results as quickly as possible. Often times we don't have the patience to trust, and we end up sabotaging our efforts.

When I became a professional in the Health and Fitness industry some nine years ago I had achieved a measure of success in the South African Body-for-LIFE competition and it had such a profound effect on my life that I left my corporate business behind took a huge leap of faith into training full time. I had such a desire to help people get fit and healthy that I wanted to do that for the rest of my life.

I'll never forget, as I started off, I had a phone call from someone who had seen my picture in a magazine and said to me " This body-for-LIFE thing.....I want one."

I went around to his house and chatted to he and his wife. We discussed goals and time frames and they decided they wanted to enter the international BFL competition.

So we started...7 weeks later after training hard and eating well he was doing great and his wife was about to quit. Nothing had happened, I mean nothing. No weight loss, no fat loss nothing.

Now I KNEW that the BFL program worked...if it worked for thousands before, why would it not work for her.

I was very new at this and really had no answers for her...all I knew to calm her down was that the BFL program was a 12 week program and I managed...fortunately...to convince her to complete the program with no changes. ( I know now that sometimes when your metabolism doesn't trust you because of years of bad eating it takes a long time of healthy regular eating with minimal results before your metabolism says, OK I trust you, let's get rid of this lard)

In week 8, she dropped 2 dress sizes and by the end of week 12 her results were extraordinary...so much so that she one night at midnight she got that memorable phone call from Porter Freeman from BFL headquarters in Colorado....

Manfred and Ashna, this is Porter Freeman from Body-for-LIFE in the US....I wanted to call you personally in South Africa to tell you that you have placed 2nd runner up in the couples category in the international BFL competition.

I got the follow up phone call which awoke me from a deep sleep at 1am and heard an hysterical female screaming down the phone. I thought a murder had been commited. WE WON WE WON WE WON.

Point is, if you take on a transformation program like RTP - TS, you owe it to yourself and the producer Adam Waters to see it through. It is absolutely pointless to pay for it, and give up half way through or earlier. Your spirit will take such a knock you'll struggle to complete anything thereafter.

I know enough about this program to give you my personal guarantee. If you do the program with all your heart and soul exactly as it is laid out and you don't achieve staggering results I will personally refund the money you paid Adam for the program.

Finally if you don't believe my story about Manfred and Ashna follow the link and take a look at their competition entry pictures.

http://www.bodyforlife.com/challenge/champions/2002champions_2runner.asp