I am a bodybuilder.

It's been quite some time since I've been able to say that. Some 30 years or so ago, it was as true about me as if to say, "I breathe the air." Every moment of every day was spent in some fashion devoted to carving and shaping my physique. Every meal was carefully crafted, every rep of every set was performed with intention. It was as if I lived for it. And I did. My whole life, my very being, centered around the idea that I was creating and sculpting my body to be its absolute best.

But, as they say, life happened, and suddenly, keeping my body in its top condition became secondary, if not less, to everything else that screamed for my attention. There were kids, jobs, wives and so many other things grabbing at my focus, that there just was not any left to devote to staying in top form. Sure, I still lifted, but it was not my primary goal. I was no longer a bodybuilder. I was just another of a nameless rabble of people who went to the gym daily and worked out. I maintained a decent condition, but that's all I did, maintain.

Suddenly, at the age of 52, I find myself in the position of being able to call myself a bodybuilder again. I have committed to compete in a contest in April 2011. Suddenly, I have a reason to be in the gym other than to lift weights. I have a focus, a goal, an end result in mind. I am carefully carving a new physique, paying attention to the way each rep produces subtle changes in the muscle. Little by little, the striations appear, the muscle belly peaks, the tie-ins tighten. Every minute and every drop of sweat spent on the treadmill has a purpose. I now have a visible goal. And every day, I am sure to accomplish something toward that goal.

I am a bodybuilder. I am proud to say that, but more so, it tells the world of my mission for the next 24 weeks.

What about you? Are you training or just going through the motions? By the very definition of the term, if you are just "maintaining," you are not progressing. Find a goal, find a reason, find a "why" as I have said before. Give yourself a real, tangible, visible reason for working out. Post motivational quotes, or pics of your favorite competitor where you can see them frequently. It will help you to visualize where you are going. Because if you are not going forward, you are either going backward or standing still. And neither of those are acceptable to a true bodybuilder.

We here at Rhino Fitness are experts in fitness, We each have certifications and lots of education and experience to back them up. We spend a lot of our free time researching new techniques, new methods and staying on top of the latest trends in health and fitness. It's our lives. Sum it up: we know what we are doing. When a prospective client comes in and tells us that they have this or that particular reason for not exercising, we know exactly what to tell them. We know all of the ways to get them through any issue with exercise. There is, after all, no excuse for not exercising.

I say all of this, not to toot our own horns, but to let you know something. All of a sudden, the Nike is on the other foot. Since committing myself to compete next year, I find that I am sitting on the other side of the table and I am experiencing all of the things that our clients and prospective clients go through on a daily basis.

I'm talking about everything from nutritional woes to lack of motivation. I now understand what our clients are feeling when we tell them we need a "before" picture of them. I now feel the pain they feel when I ask them to step on the scale or wrap their fingers around the body composition machine. There's some kind of cold reality that hits you when you see those numbers. No matter how low they may be, they never seem to be good enough. And it's painful. I know.

Taking my shirt off and having a picture taken is akin to getting slapped in the face. I don't even want to look at the picture. Just take it and hide it away somewhere. I'll look at it later, when I am in better shape. It really hurts.

I know what it feels like when I know that I need a particular supplement or gadget, or new exercise accessory but the price tag is staring me in the face as if to say, "You can't afford to get into shape!" There seems to always be a reason why I shouldn't spend the money right now.

And then there's the motivation. I know it's only my second week, but it seems like things just are not happening quickly enough. I look in the mirror and say to myself, "I don't look a whole lot different than when I started. Why is the fat not just melting off?" I want to do more to make it happen more quickly, but at the same time, I feel like I have to drag myself to the treadmill each time to get in the necessary cardio workout.

But it finally hit me. I am a client. For the first time in more years than I care to remember, I am being trained. I am no longer exercising or working out, I am training. I have a particular goal and end result in mind, and I am seriously working toward that. And, along the way, I am coming face-to-face with all of the obstacles that I hear my clients talk about. There they are, those larger-than-life hurdles, mocking me. Telling me I'm too old. I lack the willpower. It's too expensive. I'm way too out of shape to ever expect to get there.

But you know what? For the first time, I hear myself and the rest of the staff speaking in my ear and quietly reassuring me that this CAN be done. I hear things like, "Keep your focus on the goal. Don't let little things or (big things) discourage you. You CAN do this!" "Be patient and keep working hard. It'll happen. How bad do you want it?"

So, I guess I may be apologizing if I have ever given anyone the impression that I think weight loss and fitness is easy. It really isn't. I want to tell you that I feel your pain, your frustration and your discouragement. And I want to tell you that I am right there with you, literally every step of the way.

And, I want to tell you that I need your encouragement, motivation and support as well. This is not easy for either of us, but we can get through it if we are there for each other.

Deal?

Let's suppose you just bought a brand new, fairly expensive luxury car. (Whether or not this may be your taste in vehicles is not the point. Bear with me here for a moment.) So, you drive the car off the lot and into your driveway at home. What do you do next? Well, you probably grab the owner's manual and sit at the dinner table devouring the tips, how-to's and maintenance schedules. You review and memorize what type of motor oil, transmission fluid and windshield washer fluid the manufacturer recommends for your beautiful new car. You commit to memory how often you should check the levels and top off as necessary. This is your new baby, and it deserves only the absolute best of care.

Sound familiar?

Well, maybe you've never owned a brand new vehicle, but I'm sure you can identify with my analogy.

I have a question for you: what kind of food and supplements are you putting into your body? Are you eating crap and expecting your body to function at its best? Are you buying your vitamins and supplements at the grocery store and wondering why you're not getting the results you desire?

Shame on you!

I have something to tell you. You only get one body. When this one wears out, there is very little you can do. There is no engine rebuild for your body. Granted, medicine has come a long way in organ replacement, etc., but, in the long run, everything will wear out sooner or later. Shouldn't you be giving your body the absolute best nutrition you can afford? Isn't your longevity thousands times more important than the life of your vehicle? Get your priorities straight!

If you eat junk, sooner or later, your body will show it. If you use cheap supplements, sooner or later your health will suffer. I promise. It reminds me of the old commercial for (I believe) Fram Oil filters. The mechanic says to the camera, "You can pay me now, or pay me later."

I, for one, believe that it is much wiser and more cost-effective to eat properly and use the higher-quality supplements now, rather than pay a surgeon later.

And, when you are shopping for supplements, do us both a favor: read the labels. Compare the cheap with the expensive. Research the manufacturer, their methods and their quality control practices. Trust me, it all makes a difference.

Just get it straight in your head. Food and supplementation is one of those areas where you get what you pay for (most of the time). Cheap vitamins are cheap for a reason. Spend your money wisely, but be aware that cheap is not necessarily best, and may cost you in the long run.

Something came up this weekend in a discussion with my wife. We were doing our food planning for the week and trying to create menus that were healthy, delicious and most of all, convenient. This got us to thinking: how many times have we sacrificed nutrition for convenience?

I thought about the times that we got home just too late and tired to bother crafting a nutritious meal. It was much easier to hit the local eatery and grab some "food." I thought about the times that we were just plain out of anything to cook at home because we slacked on going to the grocery and getting what needed. I thought about how we really shouldn't be eating at 9:00 pm anyway. Then I really got to thinking.

How many of those times that we didn't eat properly could have been averted had we planned in advance?

And you know what? It’s really not that difficult. I used to do it religiously. And it made a real difference. It’s a matter of planning the week’s menu and getting everything prepared in advance. Maybe this means making sure you have the items you need to prepare a good lunch at work. Even if you have to pack a cooler each day, you can have everything ready to go beforehand and just drop it all in the cooler each morning.

Perhaps being prepared means having all your veggies chopped and cleaned and ready to drop in the steamer. Big zip loc bags full of a day’s worth of lettuce are really handy. Or maybe you need to grill a week’s worth of chicken or fish or whatever and have it in baggies ready to be warmed-up again.Maybe being prepared means getting yourself to the grocery store and stocking up on what you need before you launch into the week and don’t have the time to do it.

What’s important here is that you make it as easy and convenient on yourself to get a meal prepared as possible. This way, you will be less inclined to wimp out and hit the fast food. And, just as importantly, you will be able to have your meals at the proper times. I hope you don’t think I’m being too anal here. But it really does make a difference in your weight management if you seriously plan ahead.

I've got a little bit of a news flash for you. I'm not perfect. Neither me, nor any of the instructors or trainers at Rhino Fitness are perfect. In fact, we're all human, very human. We make mistakes, we injure ourselves by forgetting to stretch enough, we sometimes eat cake and ice cream, we miss workouts and guess what? We get sore. Sometimes REALLY, REALLY sore! And it's not necessarily because we push ourselves harder than most people, it's really because we are human and we get sore just like everyone else.

I'm telling you this because I want you to know that everything that you may be going through in your journey to better health and fitness, one of us or all of us have gone through the very same thing at one time or another. Maybe we are going through it right now. Did you slip up and overeat last weekend? It's happened to me. Did you miss two workouts in a row because life got in the way? Been there. How about just losing your motivation to get yourself out of bed early enough to drag yourself to the gym? Oh boy, I wish I had a dollar for each time that's happened to me.

If I have learned anything in the 30-plus years I have been in this game, I have learned that fitness truly is a journey. There is no end destination. You don't get to say, "Ok, I'm there, now I can stop." It's a non-stop drive, a never-ending expedition, constantly striving to improve oneself. And if you fall off the horse, you dust yourself off and get back on. Beating yourself up because you blew it at the buffet will accomplish nothing. You just have to commit to getting back to it.

You are human. You will make mistakes. You will slip up. You will get lazy and unmotivated. It's gonna happen (if it hasn't already). But know these things: We have all been there and we are here for you. Don't ever think that you can't talk to us about what you are going through because you think we wouldn't understand. Trust me, we do. Slipping up every once in awhile does not make you a "screw-up." Backsliding a little does not make you a failure. However, quitting does.

So, don't give up, don't stop what you're doing and most of all, if you need someone to talk to, don't forget we're here.