I think you’ll get with this, for this is where it’s at.”
If the 90’s rap hit “The Choice Is Yours” by Black Sheep started playing in your mind when you read the title of this post, your next protein shake is on me homie 😉
All kidding aside, the choice to build a ripped and muscular physique is all yours. Making it a reality is a process that includes millions of choices along the way.
From the moment you decide to finally get your shit together and build a healthy physique, the choice train begins chugging along.
How ripped do I want to get? Do I want six pack abs? Do I want to be competition shredded or just carve out a beach body?
When do I want to achieve this goal by?
Why do I want to get cut and jacked?
Should I follow a Keto diet, or Intermittent Fasting, or IIFYM? Should I just eat chicken with rice and broccoli every day? Do I need to include a cheat day?
Which workout program will get me jacked? Should I do full body workouts or body part split routines? Should I lift heavy shit or go for the pump? How many sets should I be doing for each body part?
Should I be taking any supplements?
Do I need to perform cardio?
These are the immediate questions that often come to mind when embarking on a transformation journey. As important as these questions are, you shouldn’t get bogged down by them.
You can build a ripped and muscular physique by doing any of the above. There are countless ways to arrive at your destination.
What’s much more important than these bigger and broader choices are the choices you make every second of every day.
It all starts from the moment you wake up in the morning.
If you had a shitty sleep you could hit snooze a few times, get all pissed off, and think about how tough it’s going to be to get through the day.
Or you could jump out of bed and say, “Fuck it! I’m gonna own this day!”
If your co-workers bring donuts to the office you have a choice to eat them or not.
If you do eat them you then have a choice in how you respond to the indulgence. Do you beat yourself up? Do you feel guilty? Do you continue shovelling more donuts down your throat because you blew your diet anyway? Do you do hours of guilt cardio to make up for it? Do you fast the next day?
Or do you respond by recognizing that consuming the donut didn’t really have any kind of impact on the big picture at all. Immediately getting right back to your structured plan as if you never skipped a beat?
Those diet choices were my fork in the road 6 years ago when I finally said enough is enough and decided to transform my average body into a chiseled masterpiece. After 10 years of struggling to burn off over 40 pounds of excess fat I finally experienced a monumental breakthrough and it all came down to awareness.
You can probably relate to this. I’d start my diet on Monday and do really well for a few days. But that’s as long as my willpower would last. Next thing you know I was diving into bag of cookies.
After a couple cookies I’d get a little upset with myself and pause for a moment. My inner voice offered me a couple choices;
1) Stop now and get on with your day.
2) Let loose and start over tomorrow.
For 10 years option 2 won every time. As soon as I made the choice to start again tomorrow the flood gates would open. Next thing you knew the entire bag of cookies was gone.
My breakthrough occurred when I prepared myself ahead of time for these choices that I was faced with every few days.
My goal at the time was to give myself 6 pack abs for my 36th birthday. The moment I caught myself thinking, “I’ll start again tomorrow” I immediately reminded myself of the goal and how important it was to me. I was sick and tired of feeling average. I wanted to feel confident and proud.
Stopping at two cookies and putting the bag away for the first time was the biggest aha experience in my transformation journey.
The first realization was that I could eat cookies and still achieve my goal. I didn’t have to be ‘perfect’ with my diet.
The second realization was that I didn’t have to wait until I had 6 pack abs to feel confident and proud, because I felt an overwhelming sense of pride from making that decision. In that moment I became aware that there were countless opportunities throughout the day to feel proud, confident, and victorious. Each of those moments was a chance to celebrate.
After a short time the correct choice became second nature to me. The choices still go on in my mind every time I have a treat, but the choice that brings me closer to my goals wins most of the time. Yes, every once in a while I make the choice to overindulge. After this display of gluttony the uncomfortable feeling of being bloated and sluggish is more than enough to reminded of just how incongruent the wrong choice is with who I am.
Now what happens when you feel tired and weak during your workout?
Do you cut it short and head home? Do you continue pushing through the workout while feeling frustrated that you can’t hit your numbers? Do you leave the gym feeling like you let yourself down?
Or do you call an audible and go off plan? Do you decide to use lighter weight with slower and controlled movement. Do you leave the gym with a sense of victory and accomplishment for listening to your body and going with an intuitive approach?
What does your mind focus on while performing cardio?
Are you distracted by what you need to get done throughout the day? Are you focused on something that upset you earlier in the day? Do you throw on the headphones and get lost in the music?
Or do you become completely present in the moment? Are you fully aware of your surroundings? Are you aware of your breath and heartbeat?
I’m blown away by how many choices I make while walking my dog Chief every day. I’m constantly catching myself drifting in and out of mindfulness. A business idea will pop in my mind and I have the choice to continue feeding that idea or look up at the blue sky, listen to the birds, and smell the fragrance of flowers in the air.
Sometimes a conversation that got me worked up earlier in the day will creep into my head. In that moment I have a choice to allow the frustration to consume me or look down at Chief who is smiling back at me and realize how freak’n awesome life is and how blessed I am.
During a 30 minute brisk walk it wouldn’t surprise me if I had a couple dozen moments where I had to bring myself back to the present moment. The cool thing is that I experience an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and gratitude each time that I come back to my immediate surroundings.
How do you respond to the comments and criticisms of others?
When you order a chicken salad instead of a burger and fries while out for lunch with friends how do you respond when they call you a rabbit? Do you get upset? Do you question yourself? Do you tell them that you really enjoy that salad and think it tastes delicious? Or do you just brush it off and ignore the comment?
When a friend or family member tells you that you are looking too skinny do you get defensive and angry? Or do you share your goals and explain why they are important to you?
Each individual choice may not seem of significance. But the sum of these choices will have a significant impact on your physique goals as well as what you get out of life.
Are you starting to see how your choice of diet and workout program pale in comparison to the plethora of choices you are making on a daily basis? Each choice not only shapes your body, but it shapes your life.
The most important choices are those you make when responding to life circumstances.
Just recently I had a day where nothing was going my way. I faced obstacle after obstacle and challenge after challenge all day long. By 4pm it was beginning to effect my mood to the point where my wife called me out on it. I explained the reasoning behind my bad mood and she was very understanding.
But it was at that point when I realized I had a choice. I could continue sulking and have it negatively impact the rest of my day and all of the people I come in contact with or I can choose to view these challenges as something that I will benefit from.
In that moment I laughed it off, turned on the radio, started singing, and drove off to watch my daughters track practice.
I ended up having a great evening. The next day was incredible as well. Everything went in my favour. If I hadn’t made the choice to laugh it all off I’m sure the next day would have been miserable and unproductive. That negativity would have had an impact on my workout, on my relationships, and every experience throughout the day.
I didn’t choose to have all of those obstacles thrown my way (at least I don’t think I did). But I did choose how to respond to each of those challenges. Each choice contributed to the overall experience of my day.
So your homework is to become more mindful of the choices you are faced with each day. Recognize how each choice has a cumulative effect toward the outcome of your goals. Marinate in this sense of empowerment.
You got this!
Now for more importing choices, like “Which way to the beach?”
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Scott Tousignant