Good morning my faithful fitness followers and Happy 4^th of July!  It’s time to get serious about those fitness and fat loss goals and get ready to go full steam ahead into the 2^nd half of the year.  As I’ve mentioned before, around this time it’s very easy to get complacent with your nutrition and exercise.  Lots of BBQ’s, pool parties, vacations and the like can steer you on the wrong track and away from all the progress you’ve been making.  Check out the following quote, let it sink in and keep at it!  And don’t forget to leave a comment below if you enjoyed it!

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

-          Robert Louis Stevenson

So have you done an inventory on how the 1^st 6 months of 2011 have gone for your health and fitness goals?  I hope you are absolutely kicking ass in all departments and achieving the balanced lifestyle and fit physique that you desire.  However, if you have at least made some progress, don’t get down on yourself!  As Stevenson said, don’t judge every day and expect to see crazy amounts of weight loss or bodyfat loss.  Instead, be mindful and aware of the changes that are happening in your life.

Perhaps some of these examples hit home: You don’t eat out as often, you make better choices when you do eat out, you drink less alcohol, you have smaller portions for your meals, you exercise more often, you push yourself harder than you have before, you have stuck with a program longer than you have before, you have lost weight, you have lost bodyfat, you don’t eat as many sweets, you don’t crave carbs as much as you used to.

These are just a few that come to mind but I’m sure you can come up with tons more!

The fact is that the habits that you want to get rid up didn’t get created overnight.  The weight and bodyfat you want to lose didn’t happen overnight either.  So if you can constantly stay focused on “planting the seeds” and as my man Stephen Covey says, “keep the end in mind” then you will achieve absolutely incredible success.

I leave you with a reminder of my favorite quote which is quite fitting for our topic today and from Mr. Henry David Thoreau:

“If you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams and endeavor to the live the life you have imagined you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Happy 4^th of July and let’s kick some butt for the 2^nd half of 2011!!!

Dedicated to your success,

John Heringer