The hard and the soft way into a fitness lifestyle. How to do this?

So you have to learn what it is exactly the kind of need you have, in order to get what you want.

Getting fit it's not just getting your ass out of the bed. Which is the first step, it's about what you want to achieve and how to get there, do you want to lose fat? Do you want muscle tone? Do you like your weight but just need to have a good physical condition? Do you want something that you find fun because, right now, you think exercising is not for you? This might be, and the same with diet hack #8, life hack number #9 especially for those that have never worked out in their life. Find something you like that you think is fun and pursue it. If you find something that is fun, that you like to do, it will automatically motivate you to keep spending time at it and a great physical condition or a great body shape is the secondary reaction to it. Beauty hack #9.

The hard part is to convince your mind and start a new lifestyle. That is really the hard part. Become good at creating new habits, so every time you have to make an adjustment in any part of your life, you don’t struggle and just adapt to it. Train your mind and body to be used to change, and even if this is not a beauty hack, it definitely is a life hack that helped me adjust and adapt when I have to make changes in my life or lifestyle. I just don’t suffer and flow with it naturally. It takes years to master this. Remember, you have your whole life.

And it is also about the time in your life and the energy that naturally comes with it. after 20 plus years of athleticism. My mom started me at gymnastics and ballet (which I suggest anybody does, the earlier the better), then during my school years I played several sports, when I started taking myself seriously I had my years of a gym rat, then the years of outdoor workouts like running and hiking, I even tried surfing when I lived on beach areas, now I have my yoga time.

So, let it flow, if you feel attracted to a particular activity, go for it. Start, if you are not really into it, move on to try something different. It does not have to be an extreme sport with lots of sweat to start with this is the first thing that scares people. It even scares me like CrossFit. You can start at anything you like at a mild level, and if you find the right thing for you, eventually you will want more and more and automatically guess what.. yes you guessed it, the body of your dreams comes with it. but it has to be something you find passion bout. So, I find that when it is about being in your best shape, it is not that people, do not like or know how to work out, they just haven't found something they feel passion for. Because when you find something you feel passionate about. You don’t think about the workout or the sweat or the pain or suffer about it. You love to do it, you start slow and as you go liking it, and learning more you become better and then one day you find yourself going 100% at tit because how much you like it and the way it makes you feel. Find that “drug” find that one thing that will make you go “huh” like the song. Haha

You are not lazy

You are not unmotivated

You are not bad at sports

You are not a home person.

You're somebody that has not done the homework on finding something they like & feel passionate about. Then, slowly, make it part of your lifestyle. Don’t force it, don’t start with big changes in your routine diet. If you do that you suffer, it is painful and harder than it should, and I see most people fail because they make it so hard!. Start small, once you like it I guarantee you you will start making room in your life for it. Because you like it, because of the feel. The ones that have been there, they know, it gets to a point where, really like a drug, you want more, you think about it, you can’t wait for your next session. One day you look at yourself in the mirror and boom. You see it. The best feeling. YOU finally see a change, a difference in your body. And believe me. That day. You will want more. You don’t need any outside validation that one day, you catch yourself looking twice back at the mirror going, damn, that looks good.

That feeling has had me going in my search for the right workout for me at different times of my life.

So try dancing of any kind, Karate, Kickboxing, anything, until you find your sport, your thing, and dive in.

You have 2 choices on how to do this, as I have tried myself personally for like I said, 25 plus years.

The hard way or the soft way. Either or will require your commitment and patience which is the key to success or not. Do you want to be patient with yourself and make your lifestyle change in like over a year or year and a half? There is no rush, the rest of your life is waiting for you to do this change. So, if you want to take your time, do. But.

It will take longer to see results, so you need patience.

You need to be aware, every day of your lifestyle changes, because changing habits, as you know takes 21 days. So I don’t care if you are going at it hard or soft. Do every day something about it. Start from the small choices like food and then go harder as you preach the year of when you started.

There is less chance to fail this way because you suffer less. But you need to stay committed and I promise you will see the changes and create a new lifestyle and body over 1 year or a year a half if you don’t quit and slowly get tougher and tougher on it as the time progress. It will go fast.

When you go the hard way. It will not go fast, every day will feel hard. Because informing yourself about an 80% change in your life, ALL OF IT, all at once, it has been one of the most stressful and painful things I have ever had to endure in my lifetime. And after trying both techniques, several times BTW, I can tell you, that was absolutely unnecessary.

Now, I am a committed, intense person, when I say I am going to do something I do it. And I don’t stop until I get it. I am a winner. I win my own battles. I reach my own goals. I am competitive with who I was yesterday. I have that fire inside of me. And I understand if you are not a go-getter, an achiever, yet.

Finding something you really feel passionate about, will change that.

And if you are able to commit with yourself until that mirror exam point I am telling you about, then you will never stop again. once you look and go, damn, I use not to look like that and I love it. You want more. Reaching that point changes you for life because that is just the begging of the best you… then you actually go for more, motivation to do more and go harder comes out of nowhere, and then boom. One day you are buying clothes for your new body!

So, how to get to that first mirror glance that will propel anything else as a snowball?

How you approach your life will change.

STORY. Right after my teeth accident, I was spending the crazy amount of like 4 hours working out a day (I was at that stage of my life), then life happened that force me out of working out and in bed for 3 months. When I was finally able to start working out. A lot of things got combined on what happened with my body as not only was about the 25 kilos I gained, as I was over 30, 34 to be exact, the change attended too, my hormonal levels. Which was going to make, my weight loss even harder. And by no means doctor would allow me to go back to work out as hard as I used to, I had to do this progressively as my body was still healing.

3 different kinds of doctors were working with me to achieve all my goals at the same time, heal from my mouth and face wounds and go back to my regular shape.

So I had a very strict regime and schedule that 3 different doctors got together and assigned for me. Oh man, that was hard, so much stress, that was also preventing the change that I was working so hard to achieve.

It was so hard and torturous, every time I take a run since then, I remember what it felt like running with 25 kilos on top of my shoulder. I think now, how much harder, even if I am in a great physical condition now, how much harder it would be if I would be carrying a bag with 25 kilos on top of it.

That is how much harder it is to start at that level. So, be mindful of it. You are starting at the worse point, at the hardest point that you could possibly start.

So, if you are starting your fitness journey in a scenario like this due to sickness or whole life of bad food choices (for any reason, family, tradition, budget, you did not know better et, I am not judging huh?!?) then, be aware, you are starting at this point.

After 3 months nothing was changing I was frustrated, tired, stressed, angry, looking terrible, ugh feeling everything at the same time. Then we got harder and added doctor-regulated medicine to trigger the change and help me, as they knew my discipline was on point. Otherwise, I always suggest adding supplements to help you achieve your goals, not drugs.

To be very clear. It has been the only time in my life I ever used drugs to help me achieve my goals and maybe this is part of the secret to why, the results have been, long-lasting.

It took another 3 months to start seeing the difference. It was such. Frustrating, stressful time of my life. All the dietary restriction and forcing myself to eat at a time when I was not hungry, and food that were not tasty, so I never felt full which had me in a bad mood all the time, and my normal problems were making it all feel even worse. So I feel for you if you are enduring a battle like this or about to get on one. It took time. But I guarantee you. It starts working, slowly. And then boom. You achieve the first glance in the mirror of like, hey, that used not to look like that.. and I like it! It finally is starting working! And from then on you have reached the point that I mentioned before. The moment that you change. forever. Because now you know it is doable and you want more and more. The right “drug” point that I was referring to before.

Going back to my point, both techniques ended up working. The hard one and the soft one. So, if you're not having to do this due to sickness or other external reasons, then just being at your best you, then please, try the soft approach, give yourself a year, a year and a half, maybe 9 months… it is up to you.

But do commit to change, stick to it, learn about the right choices, how to organize your schedule and the right food intake what, when and the right amount or portion.

This is for life. Once you reach this goal is for life. And you become better and better at it. Until I found my hacks #7 and #9 and my life experience has been the best possible.

Every time I lose my fit shape or I know I have been lazy for a while, it is easy for me to go back in shape. When I have been working out but not hard on it, it just takes me a month or 2 of the hard regime and I shred six-packs. I just try new work out and I can see the result of a different kind of body in just a few weeks.

My body has been super slim, healthy fit, muscular, and chubby, I have gone through all sizes from 0 to 6 at my heaviest. I have weighed the most in my life and had the best body curves of my life.

I know my body so well and I have had enough years of experiencing different kinds of sports and workouts that I know, what I like, what I don’t, and how to achieve it if I desire so. It also gives me the room, as I mentioned before not to have to stress so much about my diet and enjoy life at the same time. I found balance. You will too. But you need to get started. And this goes for the people that know me and see me eating everything I want and think I go liposuction every time I go back in shape when I really never let myself go too far to the point of no return. I just have had the fitness bikini body lifestyle and it is way too extreme for me, so I settle for a medium fit body with good food habits, which include cheating once in a while. And mostly, if you see me eating all day, are snacks that in the past got recommended by my nutritionist so, I know, I can eat as much as I need to feel satisfied and calm down craving times.

Craving items is just your mind being stronger than you telling you you need to eat something. First, yes, you have to learn to control yourself and your eating habits start to form the quantity of the food you intake. You have to learn to tell yourself no.

No, I am not going to skip the gym

No, I am not going to Cheat on my diet.

No, I am not going to save that money and I am going to buy the right foods, supplement,s and visits specialists until I learn how to reach my goals.

It all starts with your mindset. Can you tell yourself no and stay quiet? Like a dog.

Can you pass that test?

Have you seen those videos when people put some food on the pet's face and order not to eat it? Some do, some don’t. But the question is if you be going through the same test, would you be able to stay quiet and do not eat the food? It is pretty much the same thing.

Can you control yourself? Sometimes, I would even recommend starting from this first and then hitting the gym. It does not matter how long it takes you. Can you train yourself to say no to food when you want it? And especially the food that you are craving? Snacks will help, but that is a substitution, not a change.

And mostly this is the principle why I recommend doing this the soft way, this step is so hard when you're working your butt out at the same time and you get hungry!!!!!! And then your options are limited and when you eat they are food that you don’t find tasty nor fulfilling

But if you first dress this point. Your food intake and your self-control. No, you won’t lose weight, well maybe a little. But it will be half the battle already won and you don't even know it.

Because physically you can’t see it.

Stressing about working out and then stressing bout dieting is so hard and torturous.

I change my eating habits first and go through that pain, slowly, softly, but surely successfully, and then I start my fitness regime.

Because you will find yourself very frustrated after going to the gym for weeks and really really working hard and sweating your ass off, and all that goes with no change.

Why is that, well mostly.. due to your diet, and the stress that is shocking your body.

I remember always being a big fan of reality tv shows where people lose weight. And that is the perfect example of doing it the hard way. And believe me, if it looks torturous while you are sitting on the couch watching, it is even more torturous being the person on the other side of the TV.

All that people could have done it the soft way. But sometimes you need the tough love to achieve your goals, that is absolutely valid and as you have read all over my book, I always recommend getting help, all the help you need and the right experts on your side. And this is not the exception. I just mean, that is more about training yourself and making the change from within, and when you do it that way, you can do it the soft way too and achieve the same results. It all boils down to achieving the same goal.

If you are at the beginning of your fitness junky, it does not matter how old you are. We all have been there.

I remember working out on my first gym membership for weeks only on the cardio side as I was embarrassed by asking how to use the machine weight side. this could be you.

NEVER be ashamed of asking 1000 questions, if you do it right, you only need to do it once or twice and then you know your shit. From there it is like everything else, now just about mastering it.

My advice is if you are doing this the hard way (for any reason life has given you).

-make your mind that it is going to take time. do not expect any results any time soon. Stop the excessive mirror watching or scaling until a fair amount of time has passed on your new regime. And I mean weeks, please. Yes, weeks even if you're going hard.

-cheating on your food, schedule, commitment, etc. will cost you and you're prologuing the torture. Haha.

-do not hurt yourself, then you will have to stop, and start all over again. Listen to your body and do not push to the limits.

-it is scientifically proven that stopping eating is not the way to lose weight. It actually created the complete opposite effect. investigate it.

-you will feel hungry. Learn your cheat snack that will help you ease your mind with this, and do not use other food to compensate for this need. No sugars, lollipops, chewing gum, cigarettes, etc…good snacks, natural popcorn, almonds, dried fruit… ask your nutritionist and keep this info with you forever.

My advice if you are doing this the soft way.

-make sure you re-tracking your calendar. As if you're not committed to your goal. A year and a half goal can easily become that extra weight you've been trying to lose since the holidays of 2015.

-Make one change at a time or try 2. Diet. Day schedule. Workout routines. Adding budget slowly to your new lifestyle, supplements, organic foods, experts face like personal trainers, nutritionists, etc. hire a life coach if you need it.

-Do not waste time trying new things you have to make real research. Wasting time is the best way to fail in your new fitness lifestyle.

-Do not buy a big amount of gear on something until you're sure that this is your thing and you're ready to go full-on with it. Then buy slowly, please. Waste of money is another one I see people complain about when they do not achieve their goals.

-the vibe of the place where you work out it is important. Visit different places until you find the right one for you. Is shower important to you? Only women? Weight and cardio? Or classes and a swimming pool? A/C, Etc… the coolest please I have found, were far from home, but they rower esophagus cool and I was so excited to go workout that I would totally take the extra time and work out there. This little push in motivation is always welcome. Find your cool spot. Besides by now, you already found your cool sport so this should be easy to find and compromise. Sometimes they are far, sometimes they are a little more budget than you wish to, or the schedule does not fit yours very well so you have to work it out. There is always something to compromise, the key is to remember it has to help you get excited about getting there and get your fit session going. Almost like “I can’t wait to get there”…

-if you find yourself running around stressed about achieving your scheduled calendar appointments, then this routine is not for you. Go back into the dashboard and reset, stat all over again ur planning.

-this should not be adding extra stress to your life, that is why you are doing it smoothly. The idea is to find a way to make the change using the path of least resistance. It does exist. Find it.

-I like the soft way because it gives time for your skin to shrink with you, you still get marks due to the weight loss, but a lossless and with the right products you can even reduce this even more.

We will all. Have to go through this fight at least once in our life. Sickness, life, accidents, or just a poor past healthy lifestyle. One way or the other one day, you will be forced to face this challenge, some of us, several times. So, my recommendation, start as early as you got a hand in this book. Then follow through the rest of your life.

It has absolutely made a difference in my sick times. Being in great shape always makes doctors feel encouraged and sure about results. They count on my metabolism and immunity levels to get the results they expect from my body as I am a very healthy person due to the way I take care of myself overall. So should your doctors feel the same way too and you should also have that confidence in yourself that you have put in the hard work before tough times comes, the confidence you prepared the best you could for it. For this peace of mind, I prepared the best I could and also ease your mind while you endure sickness if it ever comes to you. Please, prepare yourself for life, and do every day, the best you can. Hopefully, with this advice, you will live a long healthy life, but in case it is not like that. You can always tell yourself “I did my best, I prepare myself the best I could” and it actually is true, you count on a healthy body to fight and win any health battle that comes around. So, Is like being the best canvas possible for a doctor or a treatment. Because sickness and life might happen, babe, it’s more about how you've been preparing yourself your mind and body for it. This, you have to create, work on it, and be aware of it every day of your life.

Adopting easy new regimes, rituals, costumes, and little habits should become easy for you. Train yourself for it. It has been a life hack for me because I don’t stress about what life throws at me anymore, I just go through it. And “stressed” is the opposite of beauty.

-If something happens in your life and you have made drastic changes, like getting fired or the passing of somebody close to you.

-Getting diagnosed with an illness.

-Heartbreak of any kind.

-After a life-altering accident.

-Worldwide pandemics and threats. Haha like covid. How did you cope with this change that got enforced on all of us in such a quick time?

Love,

Jay Rodriguez

The Beauty Designer