Goals Still Required

There are more than 101 different ways to lose weight and get in shape. But at the root of all programs is one very important principal.

GOALS.

Setting goals, and reading them every morning and every night will help you stay on course no matter what path you choose. Committing your goals to memory helps even more as it harnesses the power of a part of your mind called the “frontal cortex.” Quite simply, the frontal cortex is a guidance system the directs your conscious and subconscious thoughts, patterns, and actions.

Most people don’t intentionally program any specific target they want to strike, which leaves the power of this part of the mind untapped. Reading and memorizing your goals every day is like giving the frontal cortex the specific directions it needs to organize your thoughts and actions, and gives you the ability to be self-directed and in control.

When your mind is focused on achieving specific goals, you will notice reduced stress and increased clarity, satisfaction, and peace of mind. ~Bill Phillips

SELFISH VS. SELF-RESPONSIBILITY

Oftentimes people mistakenly believe that by accepting responsibility to take care of their own health and happiness, they’re somehow being selfish. And no mature, conscious person wants to be “selfish.” This is yet another obstacle we need to overcome in order to reclaim sovereignty in our own lives.

The fact is, we are being self-responsible when we prioritize, each day, doing what we need to in order to recover and renew our physical, mental and emotional well-being. That means we must choose to make time for exercise, eating healthy meals, rest, recovery and sleep. We also must choose to create at least some quiet time for self-reflection and to clear and calm the mind. We must also choose to make time for doing things which we enjoy and that bring us happiness. These can be very simple things, for example: taking an evening walk at sunset; listening to your favorite music; getting out to enjoy your favorite hobby on a weekend. Although this all sounds simple, if we perceive them as being selfish, we’ll resist and put them off.

If you are a caretaker by nature, as I am, it is important to remember that we can’t give what we don’t have–and when we are low on energy and strength, it’s time to make renewing and re-energizing our selves a top priority! Make the commitment, starting right now, to make your health a priority and I promise, you will find you have more to give others who need your help.

Wishing you the best of health,
Bill Phillips

A Personal Father’s Day Message from Bill Phillips

From: Bill Phillips
June 18, 2017

I’m writing to wish all the Dads out there a Happy and Healthy Father’s Day and I also have a personal message to share with everyone who cares about and loves their family.

Unfortunately my Dad passed away 12 years ago—he was just over 60 and had so many more years of life ahead of him. My Dad was my business partner and my best friend. When I started the company MET-Rx, then EAS, Muscle Media, and Body-for-LIFE, my Dad was in my office every day telling jokes and giving me key insight, legal and business advice (he was a lawyer and had his MBA in his early 20’s even though he had three kids by the time he was just out of high school).

Bill and BP

His name was also Bill Phillips and right before his death I thanked him and held his hand and told him it was an honor to carry his name.

My Dad’s friends called him “BP” and I called him Dad. He never got too caught up in work and never really stressed out about it. To him being successful just meant he had enough money to pay the bills and enough time to relax and go fly fishing or go hiking often in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

On Father’s Day, I don’t have a Dad to buy a gift for or take a card to. I don’t have a Dad to go to the ball game with anymore. It is instead a day I miss my Dad more than ever.

I realize each year that so much of my good luck and the success I enjoyed in my previous companies was because of my Dad. He taught me how to work hard, work smart, how to push myself to reach meaningful goals… he taught me how to find the best rivers and streams to fly fish and how to appreciate and enjoy nature. He tried to help keep me humble and grounded during my most successful years at EAS but those lessons took me a little longer to learn and probably didn’t set in until after he was gone.

My Dad was a great man who lived a simple, smart, unassuming life. I miss him very much, especially today. Yet I am very grateful for all the years we had and I know the best thing I can do to honor him is to move forward and live a good, productive, and balanced life.

Knowing what it’s like to lose my Dad unexpectedly, and long before his time, gives me extra passion and determination to help other Fathers transform their health so their family doesn’t have to go through the pain and grief that comes with losing a loved one to a preventable disease. It’s sad but true: more than 3,000 Dads have already died this weekend from heart disease alone. Most of those deaths were preventable by a few basic lifestyle changes.

For over thirty years I’ve been teaching men and women from all walks of life how to incorporate an intelligent and practical exercise, nutrition, and fitness program into their way of living. It’s not a diet, a fad, a silly gimmick like so much of what is out there on TV commercials and internet marketing schemes today. My method is based on a bedrock of scientific truth, medical research, and thousands of hours of real-word experience and application.

The most up to date version of the program I teach at my Transformation Fitness and Research Center in Golden, Colorado is called “Health for LIFE” (it’s also the name of a new book I’m working on… think of it as Body-for-LIFE 3.0). It has already helped countless numbers of people lose the unhealthy bodyfat (from 25 lbs up to 150 lbs.) while gaining energy and muscle strength. But it’s not just the outward appearance that dramatically changes in our clients and students… the main benefit of the Health for LIFE plan is that you will very likely live longer — you’ll enjoy greater quality and quantity of life! Physicians even follow my program to reduce their own risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer which are lifestyle related.

Now of course, none of us have a guarantee that we will live through our 80’s and even longer. In my Father’s case, he contracted an incurable and rare form of lung disease (which went undetected and dormant for decades) from environmental toxin (not too dissimilar from asbestos) that he was exposed to working in a factory as a teenager. The important thing to realize is that even though there are no absolute guarantees in life, far too many Fathers are dying of illnesses that could be prevented with exercise and healthy eating. Please, if you have loved ones that depend on you, don’t wait until it’s too late to change your body and life.

The best time to get well is before you get sick and that is the message I’ve dedicated my life to sharing. If you’re overweight, have unhealthy habits, if you’ve been procrastinating and putting off your efforts to get back on track with your health and fitness, please don’t wait any longer! Set a goal to lose 25 to 35 lbs. this summer while strengthening your muscles, improving your heart health, and cutting your risk of dying of a preventable illness in half.

A half hour of exercise 5 days a week – a combination of strength training and aerobics – will produce excellent results if you stick with it. And the key to eating right, as I explained in my book Body-for-LIFE, is to eat a balance of quality protein foods, healthy carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. Eat smaller meals more frequently and drink plenty of water throughout the day. Take your vitamins, Creatine, Omega-3’s and a quality protein supplement to help you get better health improvements faster.

Connect with others who are making healthy changes in their lives and most of all, please realize that other people need you and love you and your family is counting on you to be there. You have to take care of yourself – it’s one of the most important things you can do for others (it’s not selfish but rather self-less!). If you’re a parent, you have a tremendous responsibility to live a healthy lifestyle. We want you around for many, many years… far into the future! It does take some work to be healthy but the rewards are more than worth it.

Last but not least, I just want to say to my Dad: Thank You, I Love You, I miss you and I know that someday (not real soon, but someday) I’ll see you again.

Very Sincerely,

Bill Phillips

P.S. And by the way, if your Father is still here be sure to contact him right away and let him know how much he is loved and appreciated today. Don’t let the important things go unsaid. You never know for sure if you’ll get a second chance.

Don’t settle for a body you don’t like and a life you don’t love!

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From: Bill Phillips
October 27, 2016

Are you happy with the way your body looks and feels?

Are you worried about the direction of your health?

Did you know that more than two thousand people in America will die of a heart attack today? And did you know more women than men die of a heart attack?

Do you almost feel trapped in a body that hurts and a body that you can’t seem to get control of?

For more than 30 years I have helped people from all walks of life transform… to change their body, to change their life. I have been out of shape myself and I know it can happen to anyone. But I also KNOW you don’t have to give up or give in to poor health.

You don’t have to settle for a body you don’t like and a life you don’t love!

You CAN Transform your health and fitness and you can rebuild and renew your LIFE. It happens one day at a time. Here are the 6 Key steps I help people learn and implement through my LIVE Video Coaching Program:

1) Exercise most days. Lift weights. Do interval aerobics. A half hour a day with intense effort is better than longer workouts with low effort. My methods are safe, sustainable, effective and efficient. Consistency and intensity are the keys that make workouts work.

2) Plan your meals ahead of time and follow your plan. You can’t go wrong with eating a balance of healthy foods, smaller meals more frequently throughout the day and an occasional off day or free day gives flexibility and practicality which are key for long-term results. Take vitamins and supplement with quality proteins if you can’t get in enough healthy whole-food meals each day.

3) Connect with a support group to give and receive encouragement and accountability. Transformation is a Team sport so to speak. Connect with a community of other people who are also trying to make healthy changes and you more than double your results in the short and long term.

4) Think it through! We get out of shape by not paying attention to what we are doing. We get in shape by taking the opposite approach which is to pay attention to our health! Don’t take your eyes off the road! Take a few minutes each evening to review how you did that day, give yourself feedback, make note of several things you did right that day and identify one thing you can do even better the following day. THINK, plan, prepare as a daily habit.

5) MINDSET is key! Set your mind in the right direction–cultivate a positive, healthy mindset by seeing your progress as success. Heck just making an effort to improve your health is success! Be proud of even trying because most people don’t! Success must be measured by the completion of key daily action steps and not just by the scale. Measure your success by what you have accomplished, not by what you haven’t. Focus on progress, not perfection! Progress = Success.

6) Develop a long-term Vision for your Health (your vision is guided by your values). Set mid and short term, measurable, specific GOALS which are aligned with your Vision and Values… goals can be behavior or performance based (I Will Workout at least 60 times over the next 12 weeks) as well as result based (I Will be 30 lbs. Lighter within 6 months). Use your goals to answer the question, “What can I do between now and this time tomorrow to take a step in the direction of my goals and vision?” Remember that human beings are motivated by the prize more than the penalty… reward yourself in some personally meaningful way for the achievement of goals and you will get inspiration to set new goals and work to achieve them too. Momentum is a powerful force.

You CAN Change — There is Living Proof

I have seen so many people lose fat and gain muscle, transform their health, and change their lives over the long term with the approach I just described. Now, is that the only way? No. There is more than one right way. But when you decide to change your health and improve your life, how many proven effective ways do you need? One! So pick one that works and stick with it for goodness sake!

Accept the fact that you CAN change; YOU have the ability; and with that ability comes the RESPONSIBILITY. It is up to YOU to own that responsibility. No one is going to do this for you. You are the one your new body and life is waiting on! Make the decision to transform and doors will start opening for you!

When you change your health and life for the better you inspire others to do it too. Your change makes a difference. And Lord don’t we need it now in this country more than ever before! You can change the world around you by changing yourself. It’s true. And with the right method, it is pretty simple… I didn’t say EASY, I said simple.

++ Join my LIVE video workout club and I will be your personal trainer and nutrition coach for 28 straight days. I will show you exactly what exercises to do and I will do them with you, LIVE. I will show you the right foods and meals to eat, everyday. No guess work! You will lose fat, gain muscle strength and energy. You will transform your health and develop the key habits you need to be successful in the long term.

I CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED!! Learn more and sign up with me today: www.BillPhillipsLIVE.com

The deadline to enroll is 5:00 pm MT on October 28th, 2016.

Can You Really Transform for Life?

BP1Can You Really Change? Is long-term Transformation Even Possible?

Recent news reports about overweight and obesity have sent the message that no matter what you do, it is very unlikely that you can change your overweight body into a fit one… and stay that way.

Yes, most people do regain weight after they diet. Most lost weight is found, true. But does that mean you can’t succeed? No it doesn’t and YES you can make lasting change for the better. You must have the right knowledge and you must put that knowledge into action. You must also have the right support and you have to understand that it is lifetime recovery through daily action steps that are repeated to the point they are permanently ingrained habits. Those habits must form routines. Those routines must become a new, healthier way of living… a new style of life… a new LIFESTYLE.

I have been teaching and practicing and researching and learning about this topic for three decades. There are a lot of myths out there and a lot of misinformation. A lot of ignorance, even among the so-called experts. And there are a lot of lies being intentionally told by a disreputable diet and fitness industry. Sweeping away the surface swill takes time and skepticism; research and study; trial, error, practice and persistence. Having poured myself, wholeheartedly, into this process for years and years, I have come to some basic and fundamental principles that work. Perineal truth that stands out and endures over time. Protocols and programs that I have formulated have been replicated with positive results; outcomes are predictable certainties. What worked twenty years ago works today and will work twenty years from now.

Okay, so What Really Works?

Weight loss and fitness transformation is a process of lifetime recovery. You never ‘get there’ to a point where you are done and no longer need to pay attention to it. That is the biggest diet myth of all… the myth that once I lose the weight and get fit, well then I’m done. It does NOT work like that.

At my 3-day seminars, workshops, “camps” the first emphasis is on getting the right knowledge. The second emphasis is on putting that knowledge into ACTION. Basic daily action steps, repeated over and over again, is where the abyss between knowing and doing is crossed. The habits must be practiced, reinforced with reward and feedback, and done with conscious intention every day. It is not complicated when you have the right method to follow.

Transform for LIFE one day at a time, one action step at a time.

1) Exercise most days. Lift weights. Do interval aerobics. A half hour a day with intense effort is better than longer workouts with low effort. My methods are safe, sustainable, effective and efficient. Consistency and intensity are the keys that make workouts work.

2) Plan your meals ahead of time and follow your plan. You can’t go wrong with eating a balance of healthy foods, smaller meals more frequently throughout the day and an occasional off day or free day gives flexibility and practicality which are key for long-term results. Take vitamins and supplement with quality proteins IF you can’t get in enough healthy whole-food meals each day.

3) Connect with a support group to give and receive encouragement and accountability. Transformation is a Team sport so to speak. Connect with a community of other people who are also trying to make healthy changes and you more than double your results in the short and long term.

4) Think it through! We get out of shape by not paying attention to what we are doing. We get in shape by taking the opposite approach which is to pay attention to our health! Don’t take your eyes off the road! Take a few minutes each evening to review how you did that day, give yourself feedback, make note of several things you did right that day and identify one thing you can do even better the following day. THINK, plan, prepare as a daily habit.

5) MINDSET is key! Set your mind in the right direction–cultivate a positive, healthy mindset by seeing your progress as success. Heck just making an effort to improve your health is success! Be proud of even trying because most people don’t! Success must be measured by the completion of key daily action steps and not just by the scale. Measure your success by what you have accomplished, not by what you haven’t. Focus on progress, not perfection!

6) Develop a long-term Vision for your Health (your vision is guided by your values). Set mid and short term, measurable, specific GOALS which are aligned with your Vision and Values… goals can be behavior or performance based (I Will Workout at least 60 times over the next 12 weeks) as well as result based (I Will be 30 lbs. Lighter within 6 months). Use your goals to answer the question, “What can I do between now and this time tomorrow to take a step in the direction of my goals and vision?” Remember that human beings are motivated by the prize more than the penalty… reward yourself in some personally meaningful way for the achievement of goals and you will get inspiration to set new goals and work to achieve them too. Momentum is a powerful force.

You CAN Change–There is Living Proof

I have seen so many people lose fat and gain muscle, transform their health, and change their lives over the long term with the approach I just described. Now is that the only way? No. There is more than one right way. But when you decide to change your health and improve your life, how many proven effective ways do you need? One! So pick one that works and stick with it for goodness sake! Don’t settle for a body you don’t like and a life you don’t love!

Accept the fact that you CAN change; YOU have the ability; and with that ability comes the RESPONSIBILITY. It is up to YOU to own that responsibility. No one is going to do this for you. You are the one your new body and life is waiting on! Make the decision to transform and doors will start opening for you!

When you change your health and life for the better you inspire others to do it too. Your change makes a difference. And Lord don’t we need it now in this country more than ever before! You can change the world around you by changing yourself. It’s true. And with the right method, it is pretty simple… I didn’t say EASY, I said simple.

 

Bill Phillips Birthday — 51 Years Young Today

billcollage

Very happy and grateful to become 51 years young today! I was putting together some snapshots that show a quick reflection of my life today and I thought I would share it here with my blog readers.

I’m telling you, with fitness as a consistent part of your lifestyle you don’t have to look bad, feel bad, and become overweight and unhealthy as you age. With just a half hour of exercise a day, and relatively healthy eating most of the time (and taking my vitamins and creatine) I stay at about 8.5% body fat and my muscles are almost as strong as they were 15 years ago. I can’t do everything I could when I was much younger, but I can do a lot and I am grateful for that. My doctor says that fitness has kept my heart health excellent and that is a benefit of working out I really value these days.

I am so lucky to be married to a beautiful and smart woman…Maria is my best friend and love of my life. Her and I have both been through health transformations of our own a few years ago. We know what it’s like to be out of shape which makes being fit feel that much better. Maria and I get to do the work we love — helping others rebuild their bodies and renew their lives at our Transformation Fitness Center here in Colorado. We keep work balance though — we take plenty of days off to travel and enjoy life and our time together.

Life isn’t perfect of course… but it is very good and I feel so lucky to have made it to 51 years and to still be going strong. Thank you so much to all the friends who come to our Camps and who allow us to be a part of your lives. And thank you to everyone who has wished me well today (there are so many kind and thoughtful people in the world today). And thank you Maria for making everyday worth celebrating. I am looking forward to many more years of living life! ~Bill Phillips

A Personal Fathers Day Message from Bill Phillips

I’m writing to wish all the Dads out there a Happy and Healthy Father’s Day and I also have a personal message to share with everyone who cares about and loves their family. (I posted this story last year and I was so inspired by the changes some of you fathers made since then. I hope it helps motivate a few more fathers this year–you are all VERY important people and your family needs you more than you know so please, take care of yourself, for them!)

Unfortunately my Dad passed away 10 years ago—he was just over 60 and had so many more years of life ahead of him. My Dad was my business partner and my best friend. When I started the company MET-Rx, then EAS, Muscle Media, and Body-for-LIFE, my Dad was in my office every day telling jokes and giving me key insight, legal and business advice (he was a lawyer and had his MBA in his early 20’s even though he had three kids by the time he was just out of high school).

His name was also Bill Phillips—his friends called him “BP” and I called him Dad. He never got too caught up in work and never really stressed out about it. To him being successful just meant he had enough money to pay the bills and enough time to relax and go fly fishing or go hiking often in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Make no mistake; a great deal of the success I enjoyed in my previous companies was because of my Dad. He taught me how to work hard, work smart, how to push myself to reach meaningful goals… he taught me how to find the best rivers and streams to fly fish and how to appreciate and enjoy nature. He tried to help keep me humble and grounded during my most successful years at EAS but those lessons took me a little longer to learn and probably didn’t set in until after he was gone. My Dad was a great man who lived a simple, smart, unassuming life. I miss him very much, especially today. Yet I am very grateful for all the years we had and I know the best thing I can do to honor him is to move forward and live a good, productive, and balanced life.

Knowing what it’s like to lose my Dad unexpectedly, and long before his time, gives me extra passion and determination to help other Fathers transform their health so their family doesn’t have to go through the pain and grief that comes with losing a loved one to a preventable disease. It’s sad but true: more than 3,000 Dads have already died this weekend from heart disease alone. Most of those deaths were preventable by a few basic lifestyle changes. For over thirty years I’ve been teaching men and women from all walks of life how to incorporate an intelligent and practical exercise, nutrition, and fitness program into their way of living. It’s not a diet, a fad, a silly gimmick like so much of what is out there on TV commercials and internet marketing schemes today. My method is based on a bedrock of scientific truth, medical research, and thousands of hours of real-word experience and application. The most up to date version of the program I teach at my Transformation Fitness and Research Center in Golden, Colorado is called “Health for LIFE” (it’s also the name of a new book I’m working on… think of it as Body-for-LIFE 3.0). It has already helped countless numbers of people lose the unhealthy bodyfat (from 25 lbs up to 150 lbs.) while gaining energy and muscle strength. But it’s not just the outward appearance that dramatically changes in our clients and students… the main benefit of the Health for LIFE plan is that you will very likely live longer — you’ll enjoy greater quality and quantity of life! Physicians even follow my program to reduce their own risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer which are lifestyle related.

Now of course, none of us have a guarantee that we will live through our 80’s and even longer. In my Father’s case, he contracted an incurable and rare form of lung disease (which went undetected and dormant for decades) from environmental toxin (not too dissimilar from asbestos) that he was exposed to working in a factory as a teenager. The important thing to realize is that even though there are no absolute guarantees in life, far too many Fathers are dying of illnesses that could be prevented with exercise and healthy eating. Please, if you have loved ones that depend on you, don’t wait until it’s too late to change your body and life. The best time to get well is before you get sick and that is the message I’ve dedicated my life to sharing. If you’re overweight, have unhealthy habits, if you’ve been procrastinating and putting off your efforts to get back on track with your health and fitness, please don’t wait any longer! Set a goal to lose 25 to 35 lbs. this summer while strengthening your muscles, improving your heart health, and cutting your risk of dying of a preventable illness in half.

A half hour of exercise 5 days a week – a combination of strength training and aerobics – will produce excellent results if you stick with it. And the key to eating right, as I explained in my book Body-for-LIFE, is to eat a balance of quality protein foods, healthy carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. Eat smaller meals more frequently and drink plenty of water throughout the day. Take your vitamins, Creatine, Omega-3’s and a quality protein supplement to help you get better health improvements faster. Connect with others who are making healthy changes in their lives and most of all, please realize that other people need you and love you and your family is counting on you to be there. You have to take care of yourself – it’s one of the most important things you can do for others (it’s not selfish but rather self-less!). If you’re a parent, you have a tremendous responsibility to live a healthy lifestyle. We want you around for many, many years… far into the future! It does take some work to be healthy but the rewards are more than worth it.

Last but not least, I just want to say to my Dad: Thank You, I Love You, I miss you and I know that someday (not real soon, but someday) I’ll see you again.

Very Sincerely,
Bill Phillips

P.S. And by the way, if your Father is still here be sure to contact him right away and let him know how much he is loved and appreciated today. Don’t let the important things go unsaid. You never know for sure if you’ll get a second chance.

The only way to truly fail is to quit trying

I was at a book signing at a Barnes & Noble store in Wichita, Kansas. A healthy 34-year old woman named Kimberly introduced herself. Somewhat sullen, she asked if I could write some encouraging words in her book, explaining that she’s tried several times to complete my 12-week Program but had “failed” each time. “Failed?” I replied. “You look wonderful!” She explained that through her efforts she had lost 15 lbs. of bodyfat and increased her muscle definition and energy. But again she explained that she had “failed” because each time she tried to complete the 12-week Program, something would come up and she would fall off track. What I explained to Kimberly, and what I want to share with you, is that as long as you keep trying, you will never fail. The only way to fail is to quit trying. Setbacks offer opportunities to learn and grow and improve. And I need you to see PROGRESS as SUCCESS. Focus on what you have achieved not on what you haven’t. Give yourself credit where credit is due — celebrate any and all progress and build momentum from each little step forward. Keep your chin up and have faith in yourself and my program. You can and WILL succeed as long as you keep trying… that much I can promise you! ~Bill Phillips

Planning overrides Procrastination

What I’ve discovered is that one of the reasons people put off, procrastinate, and postpone is simply because they’re not prepared. Quite often, that’s what it comes down to. And while the stereotypical advice, “Stop Procrastinating!” certainly has merit and may be offered with the best of intentions, the solution is conspicuously absent. How do you stop procrastinating? How do you “Just do it!”? Procrastination is a side effect of a lack of preparation and planning. By “preparation,” I mean gathering the essential information and acquiring the knowledge you need to accomplish your goals. And by “planning” I mean deciding how and when you will apply the information you’ve acquired. When you are prepared, and you have a plan, you will not procrastinate. You will move forward and you will ‘just do it,” because you’ve prepared to do it and planned to do it! ~Bill Phillips