Ground Zero

The Renaissance man: with wide-ranging intellect: a man who has a wide range of accomplishments and intellectual interests.

We have now found ourselves flawed! Admitted to ourselves that something went wrong along time ago, and it deserves fixing. It doesn’t matter the what, it only matters that you’ve admitted it must exist.
Attitude: personal view of something: an opinion or general feeling about something a positive attitude to change. 2. bodily posture: a physical posture either conscious or unconscious, especially while interacting with others 3. challenging manner: an arrogant or assertive manner or stance assumed as a challenge or for effect.
There are several factors that affects ones attitude. Stress: subject somebody or something to strain; to cause somebody or something to experience mental, emotional, or physical stress. This is one of the most damaging factors in any persons daily life, and it causes many physical dilemmas from heart conditions as well as emotional and mental ones, that lead to over-indulgence of many things including food, alcohol and drugs!
We have all heard the over-weight person complain they have a thyroid problem! They continue to assert to others that they hardly eat and yet they continue to gain weight. I would be remiss in not addressing the fact that these issues do occur, but they are controllable. Go to a doctor! If this is truly an issue, he will prescribe the proper medicines to control this disorder. But, if this turns out to be a non-entity, then you must look deep within yourself….
Now this is not a how to lose weight guide, but if you are to change you must admit to yourself that health plays a definitive role in how you view yourself… so for all intent and purposes, we will start here!
I believe that a good, healthy diet and workout routine is paramount in overcoming emotional and mental issues that plague many people throughout the world. This does not mean that it is the sole reason certain people attain their perfect 10’s, but it helps. What it does, is assist in laying a foundation that is needed to begin the metamorphoses!
Okay, ground zero! To begin this transformation we must look (honestly) into our daily habits, and the best way to accomplish this is to log everything you do including; food and drink consumption for an entire week. There are many sites on the web that give examples of workout and food logs, if this works for you… then do it. I have found that a small notebook carried religiously throughout the week, ensures that nothing is missed, and then before bed each night, I log it all into a master book or computer.
　
This transformation is not going to happen overnight, so you must adhere to a strict no variance policy when evaluating your baseline. For example, if you are in the market to purchase a new digital camera, but know absolutely nothing about them…. You do the research, right? If you don’t, then you are left to the devices of marketing strategies by either buying one because it’s cheap or buying one that does more than you need it to. Cheap leads to frustration in workmanship, and purchasing one that is more than you need leads to frustration in operation. So do the research!
Evaluate your baseline with complete honesty and scrutiny!
Log your diet with regards to; amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats(so if it’s a Happy Meal, log everything in that meal). Most restaurants have nutritional information on their menu items, if not then ask them to get one or look it up on the internet. When eating at home you will have to approximate the amounts, it’s not hard but be honest with yourself on the amounts.
Log your liquid intake; this includes everything you consume, if it’s a 2-liter of Mountain Dew a day(we pray it’s not) log it.
Log your work schedule; this includes everything dedicated to your entire work schedule, from the time you wake, transportation to and from, what you did during your day as well as any stress related issues during that day(did the boss get on your ass, customer complaints…)
Log your free time; this includes (and again be honest and diligent) everything you did when you weren’t working. If this is taking care of three kids, log the exact amount of time it took. If it’s watching Law and Order or playing endless hours of Halo, log it!
If you are to get to the root of the problem, you must be completely and brutally honest with yourself. You cannot expect to create a better foundation if you’re having a torrid love affair with Little Debbie or Sara Lee while cruising the web for your perfect 10!
It’s now the end of the week(7 days), and your list is compiled… Now what to do with this incessant scribbling. First and foremost, let’s look at what you ate over the course of this week. Break it down! You are going to want to know; fat content, sugar or carbohydrate content and protein content. If you logged everything right, you should be able to look at the amounts you consumed, and break it all down. This may take some time but it is paramount in determining your baseline, and the changes you must take to change it.
Log in the liquid consumables, ie: alcohol, water, soda(or pop for your Northerner’s), coffee, tea…. It doesn’t matter what it was, you just need to know the amounts and their caloric values. Look at the amount of time you spent working and plug it in. Free time, plug in the hours you spent idle doing absolutely no exercise(using a remote or typing on a keyboard does not constitute exercise) and log it!
　
Now that it’s all compiled, you will be able to see exactly what needs to be changed in regards to your goals! This starts the next phase in your quest, evaluating what goals you are going to set forth for yourself, and be realistic! You will never become an Adonis if you are drinking a couple of two liters of soda a day while consuming a those two large pizzas as well as a box of Ho-Ho’s! But if being an Abercrombie and Fitch model is your goal… now you know where it is you need to start.

Watch for the next article… setting your goals!