If you aren’t willing to make sacrifices, you aren’t willing to make the necessary changes to work for results.  How do you know you’re ready?  It comes down to motivation, an “IT” moment that fuels you to make a change.  For me, it’s having a baby and finishing four spots out of regional competition.  For Wick, it’s returning her figure and performance to pre baby status.  If you’re not motivated to do something you’re not going to do it.  

Here is another tough pill to swallow.  There isn’t a one size fits all plan that will help everyone regarding diet, performance, weight loss or improving any other aspect of health or quality of life.  Just because Susie Cue lost 15 pounds eating hot dogs and sucking grapefruit juice doesn’t mean it will work for you.  Jon Boy might have a 500 pound dead lift and 6% body fat eating cheetos but we all aren’t that lucky.  Each person has to work hard to find the results and means to most efficiently accomplish their own fitness goals.

Here is a challenge for anyone and everyone if losing weight, gaining lean mass, increasing performance, or improving any aspect of your quality of life or health is important.  By the way, if you’re happy with how you look naked, could care less about making a change, and feel healthy that’s awesome, cool, and just keep this in mind for when the time comes.  Test your will power, take something not so great and somewhat marginal in terms of its nutritional value out of your diet, and for good measure make it something that you really enjoy.  For me it’s dairy.  I love ice cream, milk, and melted cheese on my pizza; oh and butter in my eggs and heavy whipping cream on my gluten free pancakes.  But, dairy has some issues, especially for adults.  Did you know humans are the only mammals that eat dairy into adulthood? And for that matter it’s the milk of other species (cow, goat, sheep)!  Dairy can potentially irritate your gut and digestive system similarly to the way gluten can, pending on your individual sensitivity (otherwise known as  autoimmunity to it).  I am utilizing the R method (Shitty Britches term): “Remove item for 30 days, Reintroduce item & Record the bodies response to said item.  I am taking dairy out of my diet.  Completely out.  Super strict people.  At the end of the month I’ll drink some milk, add some butter to my gluten free honey-cinna-lemon-coco-macnut and raisin bread (Shitty Britches Invented it and its flipping fantastic), and go to cold stone and “Gotta Have It” to death with my favorite flavors (mint, chocolate, coffee).  If my stomach turns inside out, I feel terrible, and my squat numbers just don’t add up then it probably means I have an autoimmunity to dairy and every time I eat it I’m weakening every system in my body.  If I bring dairy back and everything is business as usual then dairy is something I can surely stomach.  You can do this experiment with any food, food group or supplement.  My awesome wife is cutting dairy and limiting her fruit intake to one day a week over the next month.  Here are some suggestions for you to try; Dairy, Chocolate, Brazil Nuts maybe a whole group of vegetables like Nightshades (sweet and hot pepper, tomatoes, eggplant).  You can be as specific or as broad as you want.  This experiment/challenge will help you a few ways: 1) you’ll find out if you have the will power and desire to change your life 2) you’ll find out what is best for you 3) you’ll learn something about nutrition 4) you can dub yourself a pseudo-scientist (especially if you take some before and after measurements – which is also highly suggested).

By the way, Gluten isn’t on the suggestion list because I already know that answer.  Anything Wheat derived: white flour or whole grain is simply making every aspect of your life just a little more difficult.  Sorry if that stings, it’s just the truth.  On that note, big ups to my Sis (Lindsay) for getting herself and daughter off the glue, Eliza for giving something new a try and kicking gluten to the curb, and the Brujita Crew in S.A. for sipping Gluten free suds.  I’ll keep you posted on mine and Eliza’s progress; experiment starts Midnight, 5-16 Hawaiian, anyone else interested in joining the fun?  Let me know what you’re cutting and I’ll hold you to it.  And, if your gluten free let me know, you’ll get a shout out next time I talk nutrition.