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I’m a quotes person, America…have been for years!  During my Master’s program I took an Advanced Sports Psychology class.  Our instructor, Professor Colleen (Cole) Hacker was big on quotes.  We picked that up from her.  At the beginning of the semester all of us students decided to see who could find the best quote.  We spent literally the entire semester finding quotes.  At the end of class we determined that there was no winner as we all had some really great quotes, inspirational (notice I didn’t say ‘motivational’) sayings, and stories.  Everyone got copies of each others findings.  Over the years I’ve collected thousands of quotes and sayings.  I get them from TV, radio, and movie lines.  I ‘steal’ them from other people and signatures if I like them.  I’ve written and developed my own over the years.  I’ve got several books that are just quotes.  I’ve reached the point to where I now have my own personal quotes collection.  A little book by Michael Jordan, “I Can’t Accept Not Trying”, is full of good Michael quotes.  Another great book, John Wooden’s, “Wooden: A Lifetime Of Observations And Reflections On And Off The Court” is absolutely fantastic.  When I blog on the Mac it randomly rotates through 25 quotes in my signature (the PC uses the same one unless I manually go in and change it).  My gym is full of inspirational sayings.  I’ve got my personal favorite on this laptop…as I said, I’m a quotes person.  But every single show, when I reach a certain point in my contest diet (and it varies from show to show…), quotes kinda take a back seat and it becomes sheer drive, discipline, determination, grit, and grind!  I’m at that point!  I can pull quotes out of my glutes to explain what I’m doing – Nike’s “Just Do It”; Yoda’s “Do or do not, there is no try”; even the Bible’s James 1:22 – “Do not merely hear the Word and so be deceived, but rather do what it says”. 

I remember Cole saying something along the line of “Quotes are a great source of inspiration if you use them correctly (I learned to not like the ‘motivation’ word from her as she was the one who taught us that motivation falls by the wayside quickly, and then it’s your commitment, determination and discipline that gets you through anything).  But they are simply a tool that, if used properly, will aid in achieving your goal.  But do not for a minute believe that a quote can win anything, or put you in a position to win, for that matter.  It will ALWAYS be your work ethic that ultimately leads to your success or lack thereof.  Use all the other tools to your best advantage, but never forget that your work will ultimately define you.”  I’ve never forgotten that.

So why am I bringing up quotes, especially since I use them and love them?  This past weekend one of my non-bodybuilding clients from Portland came up for her monthly visit – body comp, workout, going over foods, etc.  It wasn’t a good session, as the numbers weren’t what she wanted to see.  But as we talked, it came out that she had arbitrarily made some changes to her plan without consulting me – she second-guessed me and herself.  Part of the conversation went something like this…

“So what are you eating for dinner?”

“Well, I have my 5 oz of chicken, and I’m not having any starches like you said, but it’s difficult to get my veggies in.”  I just find it hard to eat them all.”

“Hmmm…so are you having anything else with your protein?”

“Well…sometimes when I’m hungry later in the evening I’ll have either some Sugar-Free Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt, and maybe a few of those cheese-flavored fish crackers.”

I just looked at her.  “Know what I think?  I think you deliberately skip your veggies to justify eating the ice cream, yogurt, and fish crackers.  How often do you have them?”

“Ok…I can’t lie to you, Dave…pretty much every night.  And you know what?  I think…no…I know you’re right!  I could eat [the veggies] but I choose not to because I want the other stuff.  But is it really hurting me that bad?”

“What do your numbers say?”

“I can’t believe that making such a small change like that can make such a huge difference.”

“Y’gotta remember that this is only one part of the equation.  You aren’t pushing yourself hard on leg presses anymore, you’ve backed down to your old cardio intensity to where you might as well sit in the chair…what did you expect to happen?  As the sign over there says, “Results Achieved Are In Direct Proportion To Energy And Effort Expended” – you get out of this what you put into it!”

“I need to write down all of your sayings you have in here.  Maybe they’ll help me to stay on track.  I don’t know why I keep doing this.”

This was not the first time she’d sabotaged herself, but she was now starting to see her pattern as we had enough of a track record to point out the obvious.  “I can give you all the quotes you want, but there’s nothing magical about them – they’re just words on paper.  What you need to focus on is what’s in your head.  So I have one simple question to ask you…What’s more important to you – the foods you eat or the way you look and feel about yourself?  When you can answer that question you’ll realize that the magic is not in the quote or saying, but rather within you.  Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, when the good witch, Glenda, told her, “It’s in you, Dorothy.  It’s always been in you.  You just have to believe!”

We talked some more and I sent her on her way.  Our conversation kept playing itself out in my head so that let me know I needed to write about it.  Use your quotes, America, but make sure the work is first and foremost.  My favorite quote is, “Find out what is necessary…and do the necessary well!”  Not very inspirational is it?  Nothing profound, but when I look at it, it speaks to me.  It says, “Dave, if you’re gonna play this game, then you need to play it well.  You’ve gotta learn everything you can about it.  And once you learn it, then you’ve gotta apply it!  And after you apply it, you’ve gotta live it!  And when you live it, you’ll never have a problem with your weight – EVER!  How’s that for a quote, America?  I ain’t sayin’ nuthin…I’m just sayin’ what I’m sayin…Peace!

The Dr.

David “Dr. Buff” Patterson

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

 www.personaltrainingsystems.net 

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