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Community Corner

Is Your Beach Body Ready? Do You Need Some Motivation?

With Memorial Day right around the corner, are you ready to head from Rancho Bernardo to the beach?

Ladies, if you had to put on a bikini today, right this second, and walk around a crowded beach, how would you feel? Write down a few words that describe what your first thoughts would be.  

Fellas, if your college buddies, who are all still in great shape, asked you to join their team for recreational football or baseball or whatever, what would you say? 

Girls, if your words, pieced together, created a sentence like, “I. Would. Rather. Stick. Hot. Pokers. In. My. Eyes,” we have a problem.

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Guys, if your first reaction is, “Uhhh ... well, I uhh, gotta. Wash. Car. Grunt,” we have a problem.

Maybe you don’t own a two-piece or maybe you don’t even have friends, or a car. Whatever. The point is, things come up, usually when you least expect it. Imagine all the things you say no to because you don’t feel secure with yourself.

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You have one shot at life. You should be living with confidence and ability, not shyness and shame. Why would you spend even a second not feeling or looking the way you want?  

And they call me crazy? I mean, I totally am. But what I said above, that’s just madness!  

To ensure you stop saying no when you should be saying yes, I’m going to share one of my secrets with you. A little trick I learned in ’Nam. Nope, that’s a lie. Yes, I’m crazy and a liar! Why do you keep reading my articles?  

Anyway, I call these mini motivators. Five questions I ask myself when I’m about to deviate a little too far off the fitness track.  

The next time you’re feeling lazy and unmotivated or feel like chowing down on an entire box of Oreos and a pound of cheese, I want you to ask yourself these five questions.  

  1. Is this going to help me fit into those smaller-sized pants any faster?
  2. Is this going to help me stay active, healthy and free of illness as long as possible?
  3. Will this decision help me look better naked?
  4. How am I going to feel afterward?
  5. If an opportunity arises, will this decision help me say yes, or make me say no?

I challenge you to ask these questions before you sit on the couch or reach for that fast food or stop partway through your workout. If you don’t like the answer, then make a better decision. Do this for one month and I promise you, you’ll be ready for anything that comes your way. Bikinis, flag football, jumping out of a burning building. All of it!

Sometimes you just need to ask the right question to get the right answer.

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