It's early Monday morning, and I hope everyone's weekend was as awesome as mine.  Not only was my face melted by Eric Church at Country Fest on Friday, I decided yesterday that I should go for one of my 2012 goals: the 400 pound deadlift. 

Now, I should preface the following by saying that it's not a good idea to consistently test your 1 rep max as it's extremely taxing on your body and central nervous system.  Plus, the risk of injury is always going to be higher when you're pushing yourself with heavier weights.  I'm a big fan of getting a "sort of" max every few weeks or months to see where you stand, while still keeping a rep or so in the bank.

In my elementary school, secrets were against the law.  Well, maybe not of the misdemeanor kind, but more of the "sit in the hallway until the teacher forgets about you, while you try to see how many times your can tie your shoelaces in a minute" variety.  (Not that I would know....after all, I like to believe I was an angel.)

Fast forward to real life, and secrets STILL are for losers.  As such, I wanted to share the secret so many people ignore that could instantly improve their overall health: learning how to cook.

Diet fads really come and go.  Today you have countless people trying to lose weight with any of the following: Paleo, Intermittent Fasting, Carb Backloading, and do I dare say Atkins?  Next you have all the “carb dogmas” of low carb, no carb, or all carb – the latter being my rebellion against all this uncommon sense.

As Thanksgiving is only a week away, we’re entering one of the happiest times of the year.  Yet, if you’re someone looking to shed a few pounds, or maintain your progress from the past few months, the thought of holiday eating may cause an immense amount of stress.  If you’re a part of that crowd, you may have already devised some sort of plan that will control your eating/drinking during this time. Not to say that your plan is bad, but when it comes to holiday eating, it’s time for the wise words of Mr. Mike Tyson:

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face."

You may not realize it, but like you, there are times when I have trouble finding motivation to work out.  Yes, it happens to everyone, even those who love (and I do mean, love) to lift heavy things.  But, let's not get crazy, as the number of workouts I've missed over the past year can be counted on a single hand.

So, how do I manage to drag myself into the gym and under a stack of weights even when I'm not feeling "in the mood?"  Here are a few of my tips, and they're all pretty simple.  But believe me, they're not easy.