This blog is especially written for all those who are new to Body for Life, and are sick and tired of being sick and tired–who are getting ready to do a transformation the first thing in this coming year.

I am begging you, for your own sake, PLEASE don’t start on January 1, please! Why? Well, the answer is in these two fabulous quotes from Bill Phillips in the full length movie he produced about this contest, “Body of Work.” Here they are:

“I think bodybuilding should be about structure, organization, discipline, and making a committment.”  And,

“Half of getting what you want is knowing what you have to give up to get it.”

See, so many folks begin a challenge in the midst of huge excitement, but without an ounce of preparation. And the excitement wears off darned quick when you find yourself in a few days so sore you can’t lift your arms, or having a major headache that won’t go away, or just totally confused about how to do this because you didn’t plan, prepare and execute properly.

Don’t be one of those people! Take some time right now, and go and find a copy of the book, and read it–really read it, don’t just scan it. And don’t make the mistake of thinking that Body for Life for Women, or Eating for Life or the website are complete substitutes for carefully reading Body for Life. They aren’t!

Watch the movie, Body of Work. You can order a whole set of DVDs from EAS for about $10. It has so much inspiration in it that it ought to be worth ten times that much. But you really need to watch them, all the time during your challenge!

Motivation comes from without, and inspiration comes from within, but neither one of those is a suitable substitute for complete committment, planning and execution. I can tell you from personal experience that at 5 A.M., in a cold, dark and lonely basement gym, cardio is pretty much uninspiring, but it’s still a necessity. What will keep you going in those moments, the 5 A.M.s of life, is not inspiration, but commitment.

So, take the rest of the holiday season, and get your reading and your preparation done. Plan your entire challenge day by day, looking cleqr out 84 days, so you won’t be blown away when all of a sudden a major business trip or lengthy vacation suddenly looms in the middle of your challenge. Think very carefully about your goals, and then set them in writing. Be specific.

“Get in shape” is not a goal, guys, it’s just a thought that can mean a million different things. Get specific with pounds, inches, and strength measurements!Ladies, you always focus on the scales, don’t you? But before you get too generous with your goal of pounds to be lost, keep in mind that if you eat and exercise right you’ll gain some density and leanness in your muscle mass that will make you look like you’ve lost a lot more pounds than you think you need to lose. Many women have lost 2 or even 4 sizes without actually seeing a scale change at all! Set all kinds of goals, mental and spiritual as well as physical. If this twelve weeks doesn’t change you emotionally as well as physically, you’ve really wasted your time.

And be patient. This is a twelve week race to the rest of your life! It’s not a 6 weeks sprint, so don’t expect to see anything for several weeks. Your body has been handed a lot of abuse, and it takes weeks to adjust to a healthy environment.

Start on a Monday. That makes free day a Sunday, usually an unstructured day for most people. It also makes for a very easy to visualize plan, with resistance training on M/W/F and cardio on Tu/Th/Sat.

Last, don’t forget to have fun. Dream big–work hard–and have fun!