Before you read this post:
I am dedicating this post to someone I hold very special. Someone who always has, and always will have a place in my heart. Never to be replaced. That is Tupac Shakur. Pac. Ever since I was young, i've just felt this connection to him and his music. Though he passed when I was really young, I always heard him on the radio, and after the first time i heard "Dear Mama" I had to find more. More Tupac. More of his soul. I'm really not a crazy spiritual person, but my connection to this person I never knew personally makes me feel crazy. I call Tupac my spirit twin. Whenever I'm about to get into my heaviest lift, or toughest set during a workout, I turn to him. My heaviest deadlift thus far was driven by his song "Only God can Judge Me." I did dumbbell chest press with 35s the other day for the first time , and did 7 reps with "Keep ya Head up" on my iPod. June 16, 2012 would have been Tupac's birthday. We celebrated his 40th last year, but I know he would have made this year just as special. His brilliance and perseverance are responsible for his ultimate legacy, and he is the greatest rapper ever to have lived, in my opinion. I love you and miss you.
If you're like me, you read tons of different articles, blogs, magazines, etc. Different minds, writers, sources, etc have their own strengths and weaknesses. One capitalizes on what another may lack. THAT is exactly what it is important to read what LOTS of people have to say. But that's where the hard part comes in:
WHO THE HECK DO YOU LISTEN TO?
Its hard when one magazine column written by a PhD advocates whole grains and exercising moderately 6-7 days a week, and then the hottest fitness model is saying to eat straight up green veggies and protein and train like a monster 5 days a week, and then some holistic nutrition freakazoid is boasting about the benefits of standing on one toenail to cure hunger pangs and solve world peace.
Okay, maybe not so much the last , but you get where I'm going with this, ... right?
This is where YOU come into the picture! It's the FUN part. experiment with different techniques, diet staples, combinations of cardio and strength. I'd skip the whole standing on one toenail thing though, it sounds particularly damaging if you've had a pedicure recently.
Take ME, for example. How amazing is greek yogurt for you? What bodybuilder would say you could build muscle quick and well without whey protein post-workout? What health freak DOESNT eat almonds? What kinda figure and bikini girl lives without tilapia and grilled chicken and tuna packets? What raw food enthusiast goes a day or week without drinking their beloved anti-oxidant, fat burning green tea?
WELL....I'm ALLERGIC to dairy and most nuts, I can't BEAR to go near tuna or tilapia after BAD experiences, and I simply out-chickened myself like 8 months ago and got sick.
And look at me! I've done pretty damn well!
And the reason I've done well, is because I WORK MY ASS OFF damn near every single day. While I can't eat anything dairy related, I down the nastiest vegan protein powders mixed with water and have even grown to LIKE them (or at least not want to gag..). Sometimes I have to eat egg whites 4-5 times a DAY just to get enough protein in my body. Thankfully, i LOVE eggwhites.
The same advice applies for finding your own exercise groove. Some swear by treadmill sprints and metabolic workouts to stay ripped and lean. Others prefer a mix of olympic lifting and steady state cardio. Some people strictly pump iron. Some do pilates and yoga and look great. Guess what? If you really apply yourself to ANY well-rounded fitness routine that engages and challenges your entire muscular system, and revs your heart rate, you're going to be healthy, strong, and LOOK that way too. Of course there are always exceptions: If you want to be skinny and always wear a size 00, I would advise you to not squat 200 pounds and do tons of heavy leg work. On the contrary, If you want a sexy BIG rounded set of glutes, you might want to quit your 10 mile runs in exchange for sprints, plyos, and heavy leg training. If you want to look like a bodybuilder or physique athlete, you must train like one and eat like one. But most people do not desire such goals for themselves, nor really understand the TRUE work and dedication that goes into building that body.
The point is: If you stick to something, it WILL work. regardless. Changes in diet and workout WILL show changes in your physique, appearance, and mental stability and confidence. YOU control whether those changes are positive or negative. Everything ultimately goes back to the pinnacle of this lifestyle: COMMITMENT. The small changes like keeping protein powder and nuts or rice cakes stashed in your car instead of rolling through the drive-thru while in a rush, switching your pepsi for a bottle of water, grabbing a 30 minute HIIT workout instead of sleeping in, having greek yogurt for dessert instead of ice cream.
THAT SHIT WORKS.
It doesn't matter if you eat a whole avocado at lunch with your mixed greens and lean protein. It matters if you just eat lo-mein and white rice because your co-workers are ordering that. It doesn't matter if you accidentally eat 2 apples instead of 1. Better than stopping at Cosi or McDonalds and ordering processed crap.
Whether you decide to go all-out vegan, raw, paleo, bodybuilder, pescatarian: stick to your whole and natural foods, balance your macronutrients properly, and you will have success.
You must always follow what YOU need to follow. NOT what the hot fitness model does. NOT what Dr.Oz tells you to do. NOT what I say is best to eat. Synthesize all the information you read and soak it up like a SPONGE, but do NOT attempt to apply it all at once!
Have a great weekend, and here are some quotes from the late great Tupac:
--I think I'm a natural-born leader. I know how to bow down to authority if it's authority that I respect.
--There's no way I can pay you back, but the plan is to show you that I understand.
--Before we find world peace. We gotta find peace and end the war on the streets. Tupac
--Can't close my eyes cause all I see is terror. I hate the man in the mirror cause his reflection makes the pain turn realer.
--I think it's time we kill for our women, try to heal our women, be real to our women.
Now here's a story bout a woman with dreams
So picture perfect at thirteen, an ebony queen
Beneath the surface it was more than just a crooked smile
Nobody knew about her secret so it took a while
I could see a tear fall slow down her black cheek
Sheddin quiet tears in the back seat; so when she asked me,
"What would you do if it was you?"
Couldn't answer such a horrible pain to live through
I tried to trade places in the tragedy
I couldn't picture three crazed ni**az grabbin me
For just a moment I was trapped in the pain, Lord come and take me
Four ni**az violated, they chased and they raped me
Even though it wasn't me, I could feel the grief
Thinkin with your brains blown that would make the pain go
No! You got to find a way to survive
cause they win when your soul dies
[2Pac + H.E.A.T.]
Baby please don't cry, you got to keep your head up
Even when the road is hard, never give up
Baby don't cry, you got to keep your head up
Even when the road is hard, never give up
Baby don't cry, I hope you got your head up
Even when the road is hard, never give up {never give up}
Baby don't cry, I hope you got your head up {never give up}
Even when the road is hard, never give up
Baby don't cry
