So this is a new thing.

Some of you know this already but I’m in the process of putting together a new site, Facebook page, Instagram account and YouTube channel for my personal training gig tentatively named JTFStrong. The thing about starting a fitness blog, however, is you have to have regular content and regular is something I don’t necessarily do very well on this one. While I intend to move all things fitness to the new site, during the process of building it and figuring out some other stuff I’m going to start toying with some fitness posts here. That starts today.

For me, Fridays are for writing out next week’s workout plans both for myself and my clients, putting together next week’s meal plan and writing out my grocery list for Sunday. It’s now also apparently for sharing some fitness and nutrition links I’ve checked out this week and want to share.

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Progress is Progress and Fat Loss is Not Linear from Stacey Schaedler Strength
One common misconception I run into time and time again from friends, family and clients who are trying to lose weight or get in shape is that if the numbers on the scale aren’t changing, then they’re doing something wrong. Sure, if you’re doing NOTHING, then there’s a lot of room for improvement, but if you’re doing all the right things, you’re doing all the right things. Plateaus happen. Hell, you may even GAIN weight on your journey, but this doesn’t mean you aren’t progressing. From the article: Let’s say you lost 2 lbs a week for a month and then 1.5 lbs the next week and ZERO the following…this week of stalling DOESN’T MEAN things aren’t progressing. It doesn’t mean your program needs to be adjusted, you have to drastically cut calories or that you have to do cardio. It most likely means you have to CHILL THE FUCK OUT. True dat, tue dat.

Change Your Thoughts to Crush Your Goals from Breaking Muscle
As the old Cherokee parable concludes, in the fight within yourself, the wolf you feed is the wolf that wins. This article focuses less on muscle head motivation and hypertrophe science, more on developing the right mindset to succeed in life. While we have very little control over what happens to us, we have all the control in the world when it comes to interpreting those happenings. We’re ever-evolving and it’s up to us to determine how that evolution progresses. Are we getting stronger/better/smarter? Or are we merely hopeless and helpless victims of an unfair universe? You get to decide.

A Nerd’s Guide to Mindfulness: Be More Mindful With These Steps from NerdFitness
Mindfulness is ironically something I consider a lot but never practice because my mind is often too scattered to concern myself with it. NerdFitness is a great resource for many things and one of their strengths is their 101-style posts like this one on mindfulness. If you want to explore some pretty easy ways to silence your mind and be more present, this is a great place to start.

Boeuf Bourguignon recipe from The Domestic Man
I love recipes from the Domestic Man. This boeuf bourguignon is gluten-free, paleo, primal and perfect health diet-friendly so there’s really no reason you shouldn’t make it this week like I hope to.

It Takes More than Talent from Breaking Muscle
Shut up and do the work. This article is aimed at heavy lifters with strength training coaches but there’s a lot of information here for the average Joe. I think a lot of people go into a sport or fitness in general with high hopes — and that’s fine — but when they start comparing themselves to people that have been training for years, instead of being motivated to push harder they become discouraged and quit. That’s dumb. This article addresses that. Also addressed: The simple truth that you are talented and infinitely so…But you’re not the only one. You’re special but also not. Regardless of talent, you’re not worth a shit if you don’t show up and do the work.

Disliking Your Body Doesn’t Have to be ‘Part of Being a Woman’ by Nia Shanks
Most of our clients at my Title Boxing Club are women so their well-being and confidence are a huge part of my life. This article does a great job of promoting the idea of focusing more on what your body can do as opposed to its shortcomings. While this is particularly useful for women, there’s a bit of truth to be had here for men, too, as we often have a lot of unattainable perfection forced on us in various ways.

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Finally, this may not have much to do with fitness but ever since she ran away with my heart, I’ve decided my goal in life is to be the kind of guy Lana Del Rey would sing about. I think that makes this relevant. She has a new record coming out soon and she dropped another single off it this week. Listen to it but maybe wait until you’re home to do it because you’ll have a hard time staying clothed.