Ok, we all want low body fat.

Low body fat is healthy. Our bodies naturally want to be lean and muscular. Body fat holds toxins and the poisons of the body. It is unhealthy. It doesn’t feel good or look good on our bodies.

We eat as clean as we possibly can. Focusing on healthy, nutritious foods that help us reduce our body fat level. We strength train, and do intense cardio workouts. All in the effort to reduce our body fat level.

When I completed my first round of P90X I weighed 168 pounds. I was super ripped! I was also a little on the skinny side and not anywhere as strong as I wanted to be.

After my first round of the X ended, I started filling out because I started taking in more calories and my sole concern wasn’t weight loss and extremely low body fat.

I started concentrating on gaining strength and additional Fitness goals.

This brings us to today. I weigh 182.6 pounds and I am stronger than I have ever been in my life. I have decided on the best combination of strength, body fat level, cardiovascular conditioning, and flexibility that I really enjoy. I am so much stronger in my general strength workouts. Its not even close.

Thanks to the INCREDIBLE Insanity Workout System, my cardiovasular conditioning & muscular endurance is light years ahead of what it was.. Also, I am MUCH more flexible now. All of these things are VERY important to me.

Shaun T, the creator of INSANITY, tells us to DIG DEEPER during Insanity. You HAVE TO if you want to complete Insanity workouts! They harden your mind as well as your physique! Insanity is about physical performance. It brings out your inner Athlete. Insanity is all about functional, real world Fitness. That is why after 2 full rounds of Insanity it still forms the core of Tami’s & my workout hybrid.

Look at a competitive Bodybuilder on contest day. They look like a million bucks! They look so strong and are so ripped. The truth is they are VERY weak because they have depleted themselves to achieve the ultra ripped look for their contest day.

To attain that super ripped look, you would have to really deprive yourself of nutrients. You would have to deplete yourself with extra cardio, and forget about gaining strength. ;-)

We all need to decide, and be HONEST with yourself, what level of body fat we can live with for the rest of our lives. We can be VERY muscular, have six pack Abs, and be very lean without suffering and depriving ourselves of food to attain a certain “look”.

Shaun T is a perfect example. He carries a very impressive amount of muscle & he is still lean and muscular. He has a “six pack”, yet he doesn’t deprive himself to get super ripped. He enjoys the foods that he wants to because he works HARD when he works out. He is an awesome example for all of us.

Set a realistic body fat level folks. One that will allow you to have the best combination of strength, cardio, and flexibility. Its a very important, personal decision. Give yourself a mental break by deciding today what your realistic goal will be.

People ask Tami and me all the time, especially this time of year, “What do I do with my nutrition during the Holidays?” Tami and I enjoy Birthday’s and all the Holidays without guilt. We eat cake, cookies, ect on the specific Holiday, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, ect. How are we able to do this? We work HARD on our nutrition and workouts, while making treats the exception rather than the rule. Its that simple.

I’ll give you an example. This Sunday is our Oldest Son’s, Gabriel’s, Birthday party with Tami’s Folks. I am going to eat cake & ice cream. I can do this because I worked so hard on Insanity Pure Cardio today, I nearly puked. I will work HARD over the next 4 days so I earned that cake & ice cream on Sunday. One small cheat meal that will be a choice rather than an impulse. Thus, I retain my nutritional discipline. Right after the Birthday Party, I will be back to 100% clean nutrition.

Would I give up the combination of Fitness attributes I have right now just to look more like a ultra ripped Bodybuilder? I think you know the answer to that question… ;-)

Live Strong ~ Live Lean

Mike