Back in the days I too used to reason like a baby about food, dieting, what I had to do to look like what I wanted, it was unfair I had to do more cardio, eat less carbs, rest more, train more. But then, thank GOD I got over it, stopped complaining and just embraced and loved my “To Do´s”.  I´ve been there, done that. It´s really true that those who are “always” in shape LOVE their lifestyle. I´m convinced you can get results by just sticking to a plan you don´t enjoy or accept as a part of your life for good, but KEEPING those results so they become natural to you, THAT I don´t see with a lifestyle you don´t find is fair or right.

When I talk to clients and they tell me they want that wine, those drinks or some chips too many times a week, I ask them why. It´s not a stupid question to ask WHY. Why? Because the reason behind those cravings tell you what you really think about the whole fitness life. If you struggle to stay motivated wondering if it is all worth it,  your mind will try to convince you it is not by giving you cravings. Your mind will find “perfect moments for a piece of chocolate cake”.

When you really feel you WANT to be lean, fit, muscular and not just for one day but for all the days, you have an easier time letting those cravings drift away since you actually don´t want them anymore. Not only that, you want to achieve your goals more than you ever want that cake or cookie or cone of ice cream.

It´s funny how the brain tells you this is the only time you will be able to have this treat, next day it will be gone. When the truth is it´s always advertised and pushed in our face who HAPPY, how WONDERFUL we will feel if we just indulge a little. The commercials are so bad, have you noticed how food is glorified and given so much power….How come the actors though sit around eating KFC and they are all very lean and in great health. why not have morbidly obese people showing how to eat and eat big instead. Let´s get real here!

I write about how to strengthen the mind because that is constantly on my own priority list. It all starts with what we think. It all ends up with what we think and how we reason about issues, difficulties and challenges.

I always considered myself a couch potato, I pretty physically lazy person who just exercise out of vanity. In school I detested most of the PE, I did not pass the grades some seasons. I remember the 800 meter runs and I just stopped after a quarter leap.

I got interested in exercise because I liked the way athletes looked. I did not start training because I loved the feeling of exerting myself. No way!! I still look at those who really enjoy exercise and don’t care for aesthetic improvements that CAN come from regular exercise with envy. You know those fitness junkies who just LOVE doing spinning classes, aerobics, run triathlons, participating in sports. When I sometimes watch FitTV I get all worked out from merely watching those super aerobic ladies who kick butt and look all happy enjoying the moment. Wow, I think, what an energy they’ve got!

So, have this in mind. I fell in love with weight training and intense exercise because it made me look a certain way and feel great AFTER working out.

Weight trainers who want to be lean do cardio for aesthetical reasons. There is no way around it, especially not if mother nature intended to have you a bit thicker than YOU like (I am one of those). And if you are a woman and drug free too, well, let me comfort me you are going for ONE long road uphills that never stops! But don’t give up here, because you CHOSE this. Nobody told you to be this or that lean.

I constantly remind myself when I get going nagging about “oh poor me I need to do THIS much and MORE than everybody else, and it is soooo unfair, why do I have to do THIS and this girl is all lean from doing less or why did I not have a higher metabolism or there got to be an easier way, oh damn me, why…” that I, I Pauline Nordin decided to look a certain way that most people find overzealous or too much or too hard. I tell myself of course I will need to do MORE and have MORE perseverance than most people because my GOALS and my STANDARDS tend to be higher than average. Either I can settle for less which is fine OR stop nagging, stop complaining and take one day at a time and be happy I am physically capable of doing this. It would be horrible if I sat in a wheel chair and wanted to be leaner than ever. I should be grateful I got two strong legs and one strong heart.

So then I shut up. And just do. Because once again, I did not follow some order from some president I have to do this much and abstain from this or that or look a certain way. Only I am responsible for that decision. And in some way it gives me a HIGH knowing that I am stronger than most people and that I inspire other to be even stronger. Gotta be tough on yourself to improve and keep the morals up!

Well, then you should buy the FD book and the Sample Week. You won’t go hungry. And you will have your favorite carbs. All you need to do is follow the rules and enjoy the ride!

I strive to look my best every day of the year. I don’t slack off 6 months of the year followed by months of whipping my butt back in shape to stand on stage for 5 minutes. To push hard for a project, a goal with a time frame or a deadline is easier than being committed day in day out.

When you strive for a daily high standard you are committed on a whole other level. Because this is the ultimate test on how much you want it, how much you desire to be your best you can 24/7. You need passion, you need to love it you need to want it way more than anything else or you end up miserable.

Do I turn down sweets, alcohol, cookies because I feel I need to deprive myself?  No. I turn them down because every time I do I renew my “vows” to myself about what my mission is. It reaffirms my life, my motives.

If you’d get away with robbery without facing consequences, would you do it? Would you consider it ok? So, I know I can eat this or that and still obtain whatever physical goals I have, but it’s not the point. The point is I get stronger by sticking to my beliefs! I condition my mind every time I actively choose to stay true to what I believe is right. And not fall for pressure from people whose opinion is I am depriving myself and that my road to happiness really lies in the eating a cookie!

To me it’s important to always follow through what I set up for myself. It does not matter if it is about food, about how to be to other people, how I train, how many minutes I endure on the stepmill, how I reason and react. Every time I can choose to slack or to execute. It’s always better to DO than to be passively waiting for things to happen. I make options. I say yes or no. It’s not deprivation, it’s actively choosing what I believe in.

You strengthen your muscles with weights, you strengthen your heart with cardio, you strengthen your mind with commitment, discipline, dedication, perseverance. And you get that by sticking to what you believe is right. It’s really simple.

When you do EVERYTHING right and yet your body’s rebelling, doing the opposite of what you want it to do, resisting you, punishing you by showing up puffy, tired, bloated, nagging, you name it, well in those times frustration gets the best of you. Those days despair and stress and disappointment all build up and make you go crazy. “what’s WRONG with me????!!!!” you ask and if you could give yourself a beating you would. Because that is how unfair it feels and how angry you are with your body. What is there to do? What is to be done? Well, I’ve learned that staying calm and being patient are all you CAN do. You got to just wait around for your body to accept what you want from it, let it come around. Your body is your best friend and companion but also your worst enemy when you two collide. When there is a battle between who is the stronger leader and commander, you have no idea how strong that “person” is who you’re fighting which is yourself. You can only keep thinking positive thoughts…. So here is my little talk to MY body when it’s not doing what I want…..;

Dear Body, I know you and me don’t always agree upon how things should be done around here, I know you feel I don’t give you enough time to relax or to just take it easy. I know I usually rush you up, push you so hard and I know, usually you go with it, let me have my way…. I understand your need to show you don’t agree on what I set up for us in the gym with training. I know you send me those signals and I am a bad listener, but then why do you keep on delivering those results I just love if you don’t like it that much?

Why do you have to rebel upon me and just blow up and get all puffy, huh? Did I do something you did not like? Could you not just warn me a bit for like a day and then get back to normal again? I hate that sometimes I swear at you, I pinch you and I look at you with disgust. I know you have your good and bad days too and you are not a machine…. I know I have high demands on you and you think it’s unfair that all other bodies out there you see on a daily basis seem to have a better time than you do. I hear you… But when you show up in your best way, when you pop, when you just SHINE, you make me feel like a star, I feel you and me are a winning combo! And I love when I wake up and you are RIGHT on, it gives me so much energy! Do you know how much I love you when you are like that? But then, some weeks you are just so weird acting… Like…getting all FAT! We did not feast on junk, we did not munch on crappy food, so how come you wanted to prove to me you are in charge… Because I believe that is why you do this to me: you want to tell me you are the boss and if you wanna have a FATSO week being all jiggly you WILL, end of story. And I get all worried, I train more, I push you even more, I try to stress you out so you say “OK, ok, I get the point, I will behave!!!!”. Sometimes you let me win, sometimes not. And you know what I really hate? It’s when you PICK those occasions when I really NEED to look my best and you deliver the opposite. Like every time we go to Vegas you wanna get all puffy. I can FEEL how you soak up all water and salt throughout the traveling to sin city. Everytime same thing! Why do you do that? You know how much stress that is put on me?

I know that since I demand more of you 365 days of the year and not just for a competition I know you get a bit more tired sometimes and you relax, getting a bit comfy under the clothes there… But hey, I got used to being able to see abs, striations, tie-ins etc every day, so when you refuse to give that to me, you make me feel this frustration….. So please….can you please let me have more good days soon…. I do care about you, you know that… But I want this. And you should know that by now. So be with me or we will need to fight about it forever.

hope this made you smile!!!!

Lean but not scrawny, buff but not fat. To reach that perfect combination means bending rules. It’s just like politics: most theories have their points and flaws, some make more sense, some are outrageous but work anyway for some reason. The more I do what I do the more “yeah but..” and “..”until..”, “on the other hand..” I make when I talk to people about how to lean out.

Getting lean has some pretty basic rules that set the game for the masses: exercise and eat healthily. That takes you pretty far especially the fatter and out of shape you are to begin with. As you get leaner your body will try to resist you more and more, so for once it’s actually easier in the beginning when it comes to fatloss. Everybody can lose the first pounds easy, but after that, well, not that easy anymore.

I am sure you’ve heard those comments from the chubby gym people quite often: “yeah I get shredded so fat when I diet”.  But some how you’ve never SEEN those amazing results they are referring to since they never took place. Why? Well, they just yoyo dieted for a week, then added all back and started over. So of course that looks like a good track record for losing weight fast.

Anyway, so you ask me why I need to do this and that when I am already so lean etc. The reasons are plenty:

1. My metabolism is naturally slow. Look at me: my stature is short, I am pretty sturdy AND I am a female.

2. My body WANTS to weigh way more than I consider to be nice.

3. Since I need to do a lot of training to keep myself in shape my body gets very efficient at it and I burn less calories with time. I thus have to keep on “shocking” it or challenge it to keep the fat away.

4. I don’t take any drugs so I don’t have a metabolism of someone ON drugs (meaning higher).

5. I am not a big person, I don’t burn a lot of energy. But my appetite is big:-), it takes some discipline to keep the calories down regularly.

Sometimes my body rebels. It goes in cycles I’ve noticed. I suddenly blow up 4 lbs and it can be due to being a female with female hormones flushing around but it can be stress too or just a sensitivity. I guess I have all three of those causes from time to time. So when I suddenly gain this water “fat”, I get angry and I exercise even more. It’s not wise, it’s not common sense, but it keeps me sane. And I keep doing that until the “fatty days” disappear.

So, when I say ” I’m fat” I don’t literally mean I gained fat, I mean I am holding a lot of water. Because what you don’t eat cannot make you fat. That is one true thing in my world I keep on repeating!

Sometimes I do marathon long sessions of cardio, yes on an empty stomach too sometimes, Sometimes I do 10 minutes of cardio per day, sometimes I work out with weights two times a  day, sometimes I eat three meals, sometimes 8.  So, you see there are rules and then there are times to bend them. or break them.

When it comes down to it, whatever brings me to where I want to be is what I will do. And since I’ve chosen to stay drug free I will always have to work way harder than if I chose the easy road.

It’s not a tough decision at all btw, I would NEVER consider drugs. It’s worthless for the long term, the side effects are not worth it and I would never ever put my body through that kind of stress. No way, I am too protective of this one body I have. And I hope you are too.