Dec 022011
 

You are the hero of your life.

 It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

—Teddy Roosevelt

Nov 282011
 
This post is unedited material I’ve written for The Sexy Beast Diet. Constructive criticism is appreciated, after all everyone needs an editor. Just click the “Add Comments” link at the top right. Thanks!

Chapter Two: First Things

Let’s get started.

Habit number two of Stephen Covey’s famed The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is “Begin with the end in mind.” Good advice, let’s take it.

Set goals you can meet

I admit, as Sexy Beasts, we shudder at the thought of handcuffing ourselves to any one course. We are free-souls meant to satisfy our every whim and wanderlust.

Of course, there are times when handcuffs may come in handy. If the bedposts are…but wait, I digress.

On the other handcuff…uh, hand, knowing where you are headed has its advantages. For instance, how would you know when you arrived if you didn’t know where you were going?

With this in mind, let’s set some dieting goals. Our goals need to be both firm and reasonable.

The firm part is easy because, as Sexy Beasts, we are decisive beasts, confident in our ability to self discipline.

The reasonable part is a bit harder for us. Let’s face it, there have been times when we’ve bitten off more than we could chew. This isn’t, in itself, a bad thing. Always good to shoot for the moon and all that old chap, but with our dieting we have to be reasonable or we stand the chance of becoming dispirited and a dispirited Sexy Beast is ah…dispiriting.

Let’s set two goals: how much and how soon.