Losing Weight to Gain Muscle (Part 3): 3 Ways to Challenge Yourself

I have been working overtime since the past week and I think because of that I wasn't able to update you with new information here. Actually I'm trying to stick to a routine which will be great if I do, so that I too will be able to benefit with the information. The thing is, when I write any new post here, I get motivated more to go to the gym and workout even harder and so I try my best to write here in order to motivate you and myself. Win win situation, right?

So today's post is about challenging yourself because it helps you reach your goals much faster. Always remember

If someone challenges you to do something, you give your best shot to defeat the challenger. Why? Its deeply dug into our mind that we have to win every challenge, even if technically we are not capable of winning that challenge.

What if that challenger is yourself? How would you give it a shot to defeat yourself? Is it even possible to defeat yourself?

Yes it is possible to defeat yourself, but how will you do that?

These are the ways to do that, but you should not consider these tips as rules and so I recommend you to do whatever you feel like you are best at.

1. BE A LITTLE CHILD:

Yes, that's right. Start being a little child and be persistent about what you want and you'll usually get it. It's just like how a child is, he is so persistent at demanding things from his/her parents that they have to give it. They simply can't ignore that thing.

I want you to be that child. Be persistent and you will get what you want because no one will be able to ignore what you want. To achieve things or goals in this world, you have to demand success and respect or else you won't get what you deserve.

2. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET:

Stop thinking negative things. If you think negative, you do negative and you will surely get results that you don't desire. So make sure you change your mentality because just a little change in mentality can make you a successful person.

I used to think that I will never be able to make money online, but I was persistent and gave it my best shot because I considered it as a challenge from me to myself. I defeated myself and I'm proud of it. How did I achieved that? I just tweaked my mentality (to be a little geeky).

3. NEVER CRITISIZE YOURSELF:

Never do that and never make yourself guilty. It only makes you weaker. Instead of critisizing yourself, you should learn from your mistakes and make sure that you never repeat them again. I know failure is the biggest problem in the world and after failure many people say negative things about our goals.

You just have to ignore them because they will discourage you and take you far away from your goals. Whenever you fail, think of this like you found a way through which your goal cannot be acheived.

Whenever I went to the gym, people used to say that I look more fatter after working out and I should probably stop going. I listened to all their BS advice and never stopped going to the gym, why? Because I thought that maybe I should try to be consistent and see what happens, even if I fail, I will discover a way through which I will not be able to lose weight and gain muscle.

And here I am, giving you advices about losing weight effectively.

You see, you, yourself make things difficult by overthinking the things. You think that you won't be able to achieve your goals.

Let me ask you a question. How many times have you thought that you won't be able to become a billionaire like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg? How many times have you thought that you won't be able to build your muscles like Arnold? How many times have you thought that you won't be able to make money online?

Many times, you can't even count because these thoughts are like stamped on your mind. Whenever you think that you want that new job which is better than the current one and has more salary, you just think that you won't be able to handle that job. But in reality, you are the best person for it.

This used to happen with me when I was a person with many flabs. I just used to admire these bodybuilders and think that they have some unique or secret thing that they follow to acheive that kind of body. But in reality, hard work is the only secret.

How did Mark Zuckerberg became the youngest billionaire ever? He didn't had the mentality like us. He didn't cared about what people said about him. He worked hard and was dedicated to what he was doing, he knew that it will help him in the future. What did he get? He got to drop out of college in the second year and is now a living a billionaire lifestyle which we can only dream of.

If you enjoyed this motivational post:

Please share it! All you have to do is click one of the social sharing buttons below and will only take less than a minute to do so. And get ready because next post is about the harsh truth of humanity which might make you hate me.

Also if you missed the 1st and 2nd part of this series, here they are.
Losing Weight to Gain Muscle (Part 1) & Losing Weight to Gain Muscle (Part 2)

Read More»

Losing Weight to Gain Muscle (Part 2): Don’t Waste Your Time in the Gym (A special guide for Noobs)

I see people committing this crime every day. Most of these people are newbie’s who don’t know how precious their time is. I’ve also seen people who, on their very first day, start giving advices to other people about doing specific exercises the specific way. It’s like WTF, why am I here then?

I know what you might be thinking, but that’s just a total waste of time, instead of sitting and watching at that ceiling fan or giving advices to people, you should be working hard to get that chest pumped up, shouldn’t you?

So here are some tips which everyone should remember once they step into the gym. It is mandatory for everyone to follow if they want to see results:

·       TAKING TOO MUCH BREAK BETWEEN 2 SETS:

Image Credit: Truetv.com

This is the most common thing. People just sit there for 5-6mins just staring at the ceiling fan (how can that even be possible?). Brian94 at the BodyBuilding forums has given a perfect example.

“The guy occupies the only incline-bench in the gym—has turned it FLAT while there are empty flat benches available—and is taking a 7 minute zone-out looking into the ceiling. You’re wasting your time.”

According to me, one should only take a break of about 30 seconds to 1 minute between each set (for cardiovascular exercises or endurance), for hypertrophy and strength, I allow people only 2 minutes to 3 minutes rest between each set.

Taking too much break between sets will only make you lazy to go for that next set and you’ll begin thinking twice about how many reps you will be doing in that next set. So make sure you don’t think anything before doing the next set because that will only stop you from sweating.

·       YOU’RE DOING THE SAME WORKOUT FOR OVER A YEAR BUT YOU HAVEN’T BROKE A SWEAT:

It’s the second most common thing. Many people seem to be working really hard, and if you watch them, their facial expressions and sounds they make while doing reps seems like they are the most serious person around. But have you ever noticed why aren’t they sweating if they are really working that hard?

It’s simple, their body is used to that kind of workouts and because of that, it has stopped sweating. Or another more dangerous reason might be that they’re doing something wrong. Many people say that you are doing something wrong if you are not sweating.

So here’s the thing, if you are not sweating, just ask the trainer to help you out with your workout. Ask him if you are doing something wrong OR maybe it’s time to change your workout routine. Changing your workout routine will make sure that your body is getting something different which will push it to its limits.

·       YOU’RE DOING LIGHT CARDIO FOR A LONG TIME WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS:

Shout out to all people who are doing this, keep doing this and you’ll never see a change in your body. Congratulations, you’ve been wasting your time.

If you are someone who is expecting huge losses of fat by doing only light intensive Cardio, then you will never see a difference. Why? Because you need to do some very intensive cardio like 15-20 minutes of sprinting and walking or slow-jogging. Doing this kind of cardio is known to burn more fat and calories than your 40 minute low intensity Cardio which only includes walking or a combination of walking and running.

You should include some light weight training along with your cardio. Do the weight training first and then hit the treadmill. This is the best for someone who is looking to lose weight and build muscles.

So the next time you go to the gym, make sure you do some weight training first and then start your Cardio.

·       BEING PERFECTLY NEAT:

Image Credit: Daily Mail

There’s no denying that there is at least one or two guys/girls in a gym who just grabs the tissues and wipes down all the equipment’s before using them. While that’s not something to notice about, when you forget to wipe down an equipment before using it, they just stare at you like you’re the most dirtiest person.

This is the biggest waste of time. I mean, everyone knows that if a gym is maintained, then there are people hired specifically to clean all the equipment’s every week.

Or if you just did Cardio and you’re all sweaty, you probably should wait for some time before starting your weight training, or you should just clean your hands before using that dumbbells. I hope I made this point very clear and the next time you enter the gym, you will remember what you just read. If not, then read it again. PLEASE.

·       CHATTING, GIVING ADVICE, TALKING NONSENSE:

Image Credit: Daily Mail

Gym is the second best place to get a date (the first is WWE). But have some common sense and think, did you pay for getting a date or working hard to get in shape? Your answer is obviously working hard, then why do you waste time talking to other people and hoping that they will like you and date with you?

I’m not saying that you should just keep quiet and not talk to anyone, I’m saying that you should chat with a couple people to get to know them and it’s perfectly fine. But do this only in your rest time and that is between 2 sets. In that way, you won’t waste your time talking with other people.

Update: If you haven't read the Part 1 of Losing Weight to Gain Muscle, make sure you do so or you'll regret it later.

Make sure that you remember all these things before going to the gym tomorrow and I wish you will waste less time. Also comment below about how you waste your time in the gym because I’m really interested in new strategies and techniques about wasting time in the gym. 

Read More»

Losing Weight to Gain Muscle (Part 1): Set a Goal and Make an Undenieable Plan

Here’s a short story:

       Back in time when I began my quest to lose weight and gain muscle, I straight away took a year’s membership at my local gym and started doing some very serious workouts. This went on for some days and even week’s (I think for about 4 week’s or something) and then I had to attend my college party. I attended that party (which was great) but I skipped my workout for that day, and guess what happened the next day? I didn’t go to the gym. I literally stopped going to the gym and to be very honest, I had exactly this mindset, “I don’t care about what the world talks about me, if I’m overweight, people have to accept me the way I am and not try to change me, if a girl wants to marry me, she has to marry the real me and not the changed or modified me”.

This kind of mindset didn’t only wasted all my hard work I did for the past 4 weeks, it stopped me from doing a workout for the next 2 months. This made me think, how should I be consistent and lose weight? How can I gain muscle or turn this fat into muscle?

I went out to a couple of people (they were actually marketers) and took advice from them. What they said is to make some goals and create an action plan. They asked me a couple of things like:

·       How much weight do I want to lose?

·       In how much time do I expect to achieve that much weight?

·       What would I do if I didn’t achieve that weight?

·       What strategies will I follow to make sure that I don’t skip my workouts?

I answered all of them and then they told me to make an action plan and write it down on a big paper and post it on my wardrobe. I would then wake up and do exactly what I wrote down in my action plan and if I skipped something on that day, I had an alternative plan ready to be executed.

How did that affect my life and more importantly my weight? I was able to lose around 7lbs of weight in the first 3 weeks, this might not sound too much but it was a great milestone for me. In the next month, I lost around 15lbs of weight and I was already looking more muscular than overweight.

SETTING GOALS:

In your quest to lose weight, make sure you set a goal for

yourself. It will not only motivate you every day and give you something that you should work towards but it will also make you force yourself towards your goal. Why? It is just in our minds that makes us feel guilty and not capable of achieving something if we don’t achieve our goals.

Make sure you write down everything in detail that you want to achieve. I would advise you to break your goals into some mini-goals, this will encourage you to move forward towards your end goal every time you achieve a mini-goal.

I write my goals in a specific pattern that link to each other and then links to the end BIG goal. It helps me to see things clearly and then I make some kind of strategy, that I should accomplish this mini-goal first and then the next one. You too can do it this way.

MAKE SURE YOU SET A REALISTIC GOAL

Do you want to disappoint yourself? Do you want to make yourself feel guilty that you can’t achieve the goals that you set yourself? Aren’t you capable of achieving that weight?

If you don’t want to disappoint yourself, make sure you set a realistic goal for yourself. Goals like “I have to lose 10lbs of weight this month” sounds realistic and can be achieved by regular exercises and diets. But if you set something like, “I want to lose 30lbs of weight this month and compete Daniel Craig”, this sounds completely out of this world.

You can surely lose that kind of weight with the help of some medicines or going for a Liposuction but that would make you vulnerable to many diseases and might make you feel weak and will surely invite wrinkles on your skin.

If you set your goal of losing some pounds, but if you lose more than that, then you surely deserve a treat. Make sure you reward yourself when you achieve your goal or achieve more than that. If you achieve more than your goal, then it should be a grand reward, but don’t go out of the way during this ceremony.

This is the time when people think that their hard work is over and they should start doing everything they feel like they should be doing. This will only wipe out all the outcome of your hard work and will bring you back from where you started, and as the statement of the Physics goes “If you return from where you started, then work done=0”. So make sure your work does not count to be 0.

MAKE AN UNDENIEABLE PLAN:

You should or you WILL HAVE to create a master plan to follow. Without a plan, you ain’t going nowhere. This master plan will make sure you do everything as per your planning and don’t go out of the way. This is like a Mission Impossible, you have to follow the plan in order to survive in this world. So make sure you survive because it is important for you and everyone out there.

Create an alternative plan. Why? What if you failed to follow your master plan? There should be a Plan B to back you up which will make sure you achieve your daily milestones. These small milestones are what makes your end goal, so make sure you take them seriously.

Synchronize all your plans with your to-do task list in your Smartphone so that you never forget. This happens many times at the start because you don’t have a habit of doing what you will be doing. Always include your calorie counts in your Master-Plan and your Plan B. This will help you keep a track of how many calories you are losing and how you should balance it with protein and carbs.

You will have to limit your carbs, but make sure you provide the daily required carbs to your body to keep it functioning. Do you want to die losing weight?

Protein is very important and so limiting it will only make matters worse. 

Below I have mentioned some action plans and diet plans which will surely vary according to your body type and weight. Consult a nutritionist to create your own diet plan, but if you follow mine, it will do the thing.

DIET PLAN:

Week 1 –

Breakfast: peanut butter and banana shake, tomato and omelet, oatmeal (prepared with water), low fat vanilla/any flavor yogurt, cooked turkey bacon/wheat flour tortilla, blueberries, wheat English muffin, medium sized apple (you can make a combination of these or eat one item in one day but make sure you stay in the limits or else it will stop you from reaching your goals.)

Snack 1 (optional) – 15-25 almonds, 1-2 medium apples, 5-6 whole wheat crackers, ½-1 cup green grapes, 1-2 slice sprouted wheat bread, 1-2Tbs dried cranberries, 1-2Tbs sunflower seeds.

Lunch – 1 hard boiled egg, 1oz whole wheat pretzels, 2-4oz roasted turkey breast, ¼ cup chopped tomato, 2-3Tbs diced avocado, lemon juice along with 1Tbs olive oil, 4-5oz turkey burger (cooked), 2-3 cups mixed greens, 2-3Tbs grated Parmesan cheese, 2Tbs sliced almonds, an Asian ShrimpSalad.

Snack 2 (optional) – 3-6oz non-fat fruit, yogurt, 1 medium banana, 1oz whole wheat pretzels, 10-15 almonds, 1 hard boiled egg, ½ cup low fat cottage cheese, 1oz walnuts, ½-1 cup blueberries, 1-2 slice whole wheat bread, 1Tbs natural peanut butter.

Dinner – 3-5oz grilled chicken breast, 3 cups chopped lettuce, 1 cup cooked penne pasta, 3-5oz grilled flank steak, ¾ cup cooked whole wheat couscous, 1 large baked sweet potato, 1Tbs low fat plain yogurt, 2 cups broccoli, roasted with 2 tsp olive oil, 3-5oz grilled salmon, 1 cup sliced cucumber, 4-5oz cooked turkey cutlet, 1 cup steamed green beans, 1 cup cooked brown rice, ½ cup cooked quinoa

Snack 3 (optional) – For this snack, you can make a combination of snack 1 and snack 2 or simply follow snack 1 for one day and follow snack 2 the other day.

This is the first post of the series in which I will explain how you can lose weight and gain muscle the correct way. Make sure you comment below to give me some tips and I will include it in my next post.

Update: Here's the Part 2 of Losing Weight to Gain Muscles

Did this post help you? Help others by sharing this post.

Read More»