Day 63 Pics: Live Every Day As If It Were Your Last

12 Week Fat Loss Challenge

Start: November 8, 2006
Finish: January 31, 2007

Day 63 of 84

Status: Round 7: Phase 1: Day 3

G'day,

I feel that today's post will be the most important I have made since I started this journey 63 days ago.

If you have ever read any self-help book you will have noticed a common theme. A lot of books tell you to live every day as if it were your last. I too have read this before and until today I never realized how powerful that statement was.

First, let me backtrack a little and tell you what happenned to me today. I didn't have time to squeeze in my panned workout today at my scheduled time of 11.45am becuase I had to go to the bank and pay rent. My rent falls due the 10th of each month which is the same as my pay day.

This had to be my priority today as my landlord is very unforgiving when it comes to late payments...even one day late. Last year when I arrived home from an overseas trip on the 11th of that month I went straight to the bank to pay rent.

By the time I got home they had already jimmied my lock so I couldn't enter my house! This was for being one day late! After a couple of frantic phone calls they came over and installed a new lock. They then charged me $100 for the privalege of opening my door.

So, today I went to the bank to pay rent and re-scheduled my workout for the evening at 5.30pm after I got home from work. Fast forward to this evening, as I was riding to the gym mentally preparing myself for the workout ahead I had a flashback to yesterday. I remembered seeing the sign out the front that said the gym would be taking a holiday on the 10th, today!

For the second time in 3 days my workout plans were dashed because of gym scheduling (and my own memory). This may sound melodramatic, but I was shattered. With only 21 days to go until I finish this 12-week challenge every single day is of critical importance.

I actually treat every session at the gym as an "event." My whole day is planned around my workout. This includes nutrition, supplementation and mental preparation. Transforming your physique is a 24-hour a day committment. You must schedule your 8 hours sleep, your 16 hours of nutrition and supplementation, and your mental preparation with absolute precision.

However, the centrepiece is your gym session. It is here where you provide your body the stimulus it needs to begin the process of that day's transformation. When I plan my day the night before I always start with scheduling my workout with the time I have available and work backwards from there.

As the clock counts down to my 84-day deadline every missed workout really does makes a difference, because if you don't make progress every single day when are you ever going to? Hopefully now you understand the importance of each and every day. This is not being melodramatic, this is the truth.

Anyway, back to my story, as I was riding home I made a decision to make this day count. As soon as I got home I went up to the 6th floor balcony and did 15 minutes of high intensity skipping in 0 degree weather conditions. I was freezing to begin with but I generated enough body heat within 5 minutes that I shed two layers of clothing and ended up skipping in a t-shirt.

While I was skipping I slipped into a meditative state and began to ponder what I would write today's blog entry about. In a flash it came to me, "Live every day as if it were your last."

I have been doing exactly that for the last 63 days. If I were to leave this planet tomorrow I am sure my soul would be happy to know that at least for the last 63 days I did live life to the fullest. I would be going out on a high note.

Of course I do not want to leave this planet just yet. There are so many things I have left to accomplish, so many dreams I have yet to fulfill. I really want to make a difference. I feel the knowledge and experience I have gained throughout this journey could potentially help many people. I'm not just talking about physique transformation...I'm talking about life.

So, how about you? Are you living life to the fullest? Do you even want to? It is my fervent wish that you do. I hope that my words here can inspire you to live every day as if it were your last.

Now if what I say still hasn't sunk in yet I'll leave you with a story that might. A few days ago my close Japanese friend informed me that one of her co-workers was found murdered at his workplace.

This story has been all over the local news here in Japan. He was killed by another co-worker in the heat of the moment. It was a petty dispute that blew out of all proportion and ended in a stabbing death.

Need I say anymore? You just never know when your time will come. RIGHT NOW you can make a choice. Would you rather live every day joyfully and energetically as if it were your last? Or would you rather die old in your rocking chair full of regret about what might have been?

Peace, AJ

P.S. Here are Day 63 pictures for January 10, 2007