This Post is part of Dr. Ben’s “Fitness 2009″ program. To follow Dr. Ben’s progress every week, visit the main “Fitness 2009″ page.

Failure and Bouncing back……

Those are the themes of week 5 and 6.

Week 5

If I learned anything at all in week 5, it was to trust what you blog in week 4 (haha). If you remember, in the “Week 3-4 Review” post I talked about how, for my weight, it was important that I only lose around 2 lbs. per week. I warned my readers that if I lost much more than that, that I would most likely “rebound”.

Well…. In week 5 I had my worst week yet.

I started off really tearing it up in week five. I was down around 4 lbs in the first few days (which I knew would turn around and  bite me in the ass. Sure enough, I went out and ate on Saturday night (a meal bigger than my usual 300-400 calories) and by Monday Morning I had only lost half a pound for the week. Now normally, one “off” meal wouldn’t hurt my progress, but I had lost too much weight at once, and my body went into “Rebound” mode.

I was very discouraged last week. In all failures, however, we learn something.

On to week 6…..

Week 6

At the beginning of week 5 I was really bummed out because I hadn’t lost much (total) weight in the previous week. I really wanted to hit it hard and exercise like crazy and not eat much…..

But the “Smarter Me” prevailed. I decided to stick to my program and goals. I didn’t modify my exercise or diet, and instead I opted to keep going with what had gotten me this far.

I am proud to announce that at the end of Week 5 (coming into Week 6) I had lost 3 and a half pounds.  In short…I rebounded from the rebound.

I am currently at 213 lbs (I started at 229 lbs).

I am at a milestone….I am around 2-3 lbs from being the weight I was when I was in highschool. I’m pretty excited to see if I can hit it.

I’ll let you know next week

-Dr. Ben

Week 5 and 6 is a post from: DrBenAdkins.com - Serial Progress Seeker

(A few days ago, I shared with you how I doubled my productivity by using RSS. Using RSS allows me to consume a ton of information with a short amount of time/work. This post is a direct result of being able to read so much in such a short amount of time.)

So, Today I want to share with you a few secrets that will save you at least $1000 this year (maybe even this month). So What’s the Catch? You have to Spend 5 minutes of your time reading this post and actually checking out the links.

Flights and Airfare:

• Save 80% on Airfare with this Cool Trick. (Source: Shoemoney.com)
• 5 Superb Tips for Cheaper Flights (Source: Suite101)
• 10 Rocking Tips for Getting the Cheapest Airfare (Source: MichaelBluejay.com)
• 10 Secrets of Air Travel Insiders (Source: FareCompare.com)

Favorite: My favorite tip in this section would have to be from Shoemoney.com. It’s sneaky and completely legal (A wonderful combination!).

Gas for Your Ride:

• 29 Tips to Save on Gas (Source: Open Travel info)
• Use “Cost To Drive” (Source: DrBenAdkins.com previous article)
• Also Use “Gas Buddy” (Source: DrBenAdkins.com)

Favorite: “Cost to Drive” A little “information personalization” goes a long way.

Cell Phone Tricks:

• Two Keystrokes = Cellphone Savings (Source: Lifehacker)
• Priceless Cellphone Plan Tips (Source: AskMen.com)
• Use Bill Shrink (Source: DrBenAdkins.com)

Favorite: Bill Shrink Rocks….pure..plain…and simple

Food on The Cheap:

• Bulk Food, Coupon Tricks, and More (Source: Knowledge Hound)
• The Sixty Minute Plan (Source: Get Rich Slowly)

Home Bills: Going Down….

• Electricity Bill Tricks (Source: Home Away)
• Water Saver Hack (Source: LifeHacker)
• Better Home Heating (Source: Real Simple)

Miscellaneous:

• Speeding Ticket Guide (Source: LifeHacker)
• 20 Firefox Extensions that will Save You “Bank” (Source: Saving Advice)

Okay, If you don’t save $1000 in the next year, then you have no one to blame but yourself.
What are some things that you do to save cash? Send us a comment below and let us know!

Dr. Ben

Technorati Tags: save money, finance, how to save, one thousand dollars

Give Me 5 Minutes and I'll Give You $1000 is a post from: DrBenAdkins.com - Serial Progress Seeker

Have you ever wondered why these people seem to excel in everything, while others seem to fail no matter what they try? I think we’re all fascinated with people who have talents that we don’t have, but I am especially drawn to folks who seem to be able to rise to the top at anything they try. While most of the world runs in circles, these people seem to be able to move mountains. I wanted to share with you a few things that make these “mountain movers” special.

«Insane Passion»

I realized a few months back that most people spend their lives chasing other people’s dreams. What I mean by this is that they see something that is either “accepted by society” and think that’s what they’re supposed to be doing, or they see some other person’s good idea and try to emulate that process in a bid to be successful themselves.
A major key to being successful in life is to stop trying to achieve another person’s dreams. The key is to figure out what really makes you happy. I have seen a million businesses fail because the person in charge didn’t have a passion for what they were doing. They were following a formula.

The first key to success is to find something that you are insanely passionate about. So how do you do that? To start, Ask yourself the questions below (and be honest):

1. What is the one thing that would make me the most happy if it happened tomorrow?
2. What is the most devastating thing that could happen to me if it happened tomorrow?

If you can even begin to answer those two questions, then you’re on your way.

«A Plan with A Timeline»

Ask yourself this: “How long it’s going to take to become successful at this?”
If you can’t answer this question, then you have some problems coming your way. A successful person not only has a plan, but they have an idea of how long it’s going to take for that plan to work. You can tell the “successful” person from the “always running circles” person just by talking to them.

• A Person who is doomed to fail says something like this: “I would like to (insert anything here) someday”

• A Person that is going to be successful says “I am going to (insert passion) in the (insert time period) by doing (insert your plan).”

A Successful Person has a plan and they have an exit strategy. That Exit Strategy includes what they will do if they are successful and what they will do if they aren’t.

«No Fear of Failure»

Okay, let me back up…Everyone fears failure…I don’t care who you are. There is a key difference between the people who are successful and those that aren’t. The successful people don’t let their fear of failure paralyze them. You show me any person that has had great triumphs in their life and I’ll show you at least one time when they “fell on their face.” “Failure” is empowering. “Failure” makes you smarter. I find that most of the people that never achieve what they want in life are the ones that never put themselves on the line. “Success” and “Failure” are two sides of the same coin. You can’t be afraid of flipping it!

«An Unorthodox Definition of Success»

This one is simple. The folks that measure their success in unusual ways, usually achieve success in the usual ways.

Barometers for Success

Usual- Money, Power, Respect
Unusual- Independence, Ability to Help Others, “People Not Always Knowing What I’m talking About”

Let me clarify that last “unusual barometer”. I consider myself successful in my job if people don’t always understand what I’m talking about. Part of my job is staying ahead of the curve, and if it takes the average person a little longer to catch on to what I’m doing…I know I’m doing something right (usually…haha).

«A Fear of “Standing Still”»

The Scariest thing for a motivated person is not moving foward. If you truly have a goal and a plan to achieve that goal, then you will do everything possible to keep that plan moving. Complacency is something that will never take you anywhere in life. “Complacency” creeps up on us and cuts giant holes in our plans. The successful person makes concrete plans, and gives themselves “outs” so that there will never be a time when they have to “stand still”. You have to rely on others to be successful (“No Man is an Island”), but sometimes other people can stall your plans as well. The key is to take precautions to prevent a “total stall” of your plans.

So how do you compare to the points above?

Is there anything that jumps out right away as something that may have been holding you back all this time? Let us know!

Send us a comment below.

Dr. Ben

Technorati Tags: success, failure, passion, timeline, plan

Why Some People Are More Successful Than You is a post from: DrBenAdkins.com - Serial Progress Seeker

The key to saving a little extra money is not necessarily giving up on the things we love to buy, but finding ways to get those things that may seem a little foreign to us (at first). I’d like to show you a few ways that I save money everyday, without “going without”.

1) Music
My entire day is centered around music, but a few years back I realized that it was getting very expensive for me to buy the music I liked in stores (and I don’t advocate stealing music online).
This is going to seem like such a silly thing for those of you who already do it, but to those of you that don’t: “Stop buying CDs at Retail Stores!”

• The average CD is costing you an extra $5 each.
  
• The extra raw materials used are hurting the enviroment
• Bands today would rather you buy their CD over the Internet (It’s Much easier on them…believe me).
• You save Gas

Start purchasing your Music on Itunes, Rhapsody, or any of the other great services that are popping up online. It may be intimidating to use these services at first, but the monetary savings will be huge.

2) Phone Service
Ditch the Home Phone. I know I am going to have alot of people disagree with me on this one, but I promise you that this one tip has saved me a fortune. Phone Bills will make you Poor…and fast. I recommend getting a cell phone for each person in your house and being done with it. There are some amazing cellphone plans out there right now and there is absolutely no excuse if you’re still paying for long-distance.
If you do need some sort of phone line at home I would suggest learning about Skype. The cool thing about Skype is that it uses your internet connection to provide you with super cheap phone service.

3) Groceries
Here’s something that Grocery Store owners know that you don’t: Impulse buys make up between 50-70% of your total purchases when you go to the grocery store. For some people, that’s ok because that’s how they like to shop. For most of us, however, this is a great area for us to save a few bucks.

One Solution is to practice “Once-a-Month-Shopping”. It take a lot of planning, but it saves you alot of money if you do it right. If your interested in learning how to get started with “Once-a-Month-Shopping”, check out the article that the Get Rich Slowly blog did on it (Read it Here).

4) Manage Your Credit Cards Better
Credits cards are evil. I recommend getting one for emergencies and online purchases, but that’s it. Do not….I repeat….DO NOT…..have more than one credit card. There are a few things you need to know if you use a credit card (that most people don’t). If your educated about how credit cards work, then you’ll never let it get out of hand.


5) Chart Your Spending
I’m not talking about keeping a ledger in your check book (That’s Beginner’s Stuff!….but a good start). I’m talking about really managing and understanding how you spend your money. In was using a service called Wesabe to manage my money (Click to Learn more about Wesabe), but when I moved recently, Wesabe didn’t work as well with my new bank.

Now I just use a custom Excel Sheet to track my bills and total monthly expenditures. It’s amazing to see how much money you spend on certain things over the course of the year. If you’re curious about how I set my Excel Sheet up, send me a comment and I show you how. It took us five minutes to set up and it’s been a priceless source of information for us.

Technorati Tags: money, saving, finance, tips, phone service, music, groceries

5 (Easy) Ways I Save Money Without "Going Without" is a post from: DrBenAdkins.com - Serial Progress Seeker