Summer is almost here.

The reason why I enjoy this time of year?

Because we can see family and friends we haven’t seen in awhile.

Typically, once a year, we fly out to Europe to spend time with my wife’s side of our family.

We’ll be in East Europe for 6 weeks.

We’ll also be driving up to New York to visit my side of the family in a few weeks.

Yet, just because we’ll be on the road for awhile and then flying over the pond, doesn’t mean my fitness needs to fall apart.

In fact, I look forward to travel seasons like these.

Why?

Because it lets me test my current health & fitness systems as I travel.

As James Clear says: ‘You don’t rise to the level of your goals; you fall back onto the level of your current systems’.

Every time I travel, I'm able to put the pedal to the metal.

You can do the same.

Next time you travel or go on a trip this summer, test your current systems.

If you find your fitness gets worse every time you travel, it’s a good sign that your current systems need improvement.

If you find your health improves or retains your current state when you travel, it’s an indication that your systems are working well for you.

There’s no right or wrong here.

Just feedback.

Use the feedback that you’re receiving from the outcomes you’re seeing and tweak your systems if needed.

Keep it simple.

Keep it sustainable.

Lesson: We live in a feedback loop each day. If you’re not happy with the results you’re seeing in your life - change your behaviors to create new results.

Here's Your 5 Minute Friday:

#1.) The Best Way To Measure Your Fitness Progress

Tracking your progress is important.

It’s also motivating.

However, most tracking systems suck.

They don’t capture the whole picture of physical and body composition transformation.

Which is why we teach a 3-tier system inside of VFR and our coaching programs.

The 1-1-1 system is how we guarantee we get at least 6 data points from our students without relying on faulty data or making inaccurate decisions.

How it works:

1 - weekly track your body weight (first thing in the morning, same time every week, before you eat and drink)

1 - weekly track your body measurements (first thing in the morning, same time every week, before you eat and drink)

*Track hips, waist, thighs, and chest.

1 - weekly track your photos (front, side, back; in underwear or bikini, good lighting, clear background, and use the same place each week)

Expert Tip: Progress photos are a requirement EVERY week for our students.

Why?

Without consistent and VISIBLE data on your progress - it’s difficult to see or note specific body composition changes occurring.

Schedule your weekly photos, body weight, and measurements into your calendar every week recurring if you’re up to challenging yourself to track your results WITH your health & fitness behaviors.

Remember: behaviors leverage results.

Focus on your actions.

And results will follow.

#2.) Reduce Your Nutrition Tracking Time by 50%

When it comes to tracking nutrition, things can get complicated.

Most people track their nutrition inefficiently.

If you want to save more time tracking and live your life, here’s what to do:

1. Create a database of 6-8 meals that you eat consistently
2. Save those meals on MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, or your preferred tracking tool
3. Once your meals are saved as templates inside of your tracker, commit to using similar meals each time you eat (*if you’re cutting body fat OR building muscle, having a systemized plan for your meals will dramatically reduce your tracking time)
4. Each time you track, use the meals you’ve saved as templates and adjust the grams per ingredient (if needed). For example, if your meal template is lentil tofu stew, but on Monday, you added more tofu, adjust the grams for the extra tofu for that particular meal.
5. Bonus step: If you use Cronometer (which I recommend or our VFR App which tracks meals as well), you also have the option to set up your meals as RECURRING. This is a gamechanger since your meals can already be saved to your next day as recurring indefinitely. This means you only need to go in and tweak any grams per meal (if needed).

You’ve saved over 50% of time tracking your meals.

Reinvest that saved time in your quality of life, workouts, or time with family.

You might even get some extra sleep.

A closing thought here:

Tracking your nutrition especially at the beginning of your health journey can be an eye-opener.

There are studies showing that even tracking your meals for a short period of time can bring a higher level of awareness to your eating habits and choices.

Structure and direction are important when establishing new habits.

Over time as those habits take hold, you can use less structure and be more flexible.

But if you’ve been struggling to drop body fat or build muscle, tracking your nutrition to start, will change your results.

Create a foundation that’s built to last.

#3.) Listen To This Audio Program Everyday

Our minds run on autopilot.

95% of what we do is unconscious.

So how do you rewire your unconscious behaviors and take more ownership?

By creating new belief systems.

If you’re struggling with motivation or self-sabotage in your health, I’ve found that using the right audio programs can make a positive impact when it comes to changing long-term behaviors.

Working with high-level athletes, leaders, and high-achievers over the past 10+ years has taught me an important lesson:

You can never stop learning about yourself.

With that said, I’ve tested and used dozens of mindset and subconscious rewiring programs over the years.

Many are great.

A lot don’t do much.

This particular audio program has changed my life.

The creator Dr. Chris Walton is also the author of the book the ‘Gamma Mindset’ which I recommend reading as well. 🙂

The premise behind his book and programs is going to the root of our subconscious mind and using a method called EFT (emotional freedom technique) to help release stored emotions within our body and energy field to access more of our potential.

Considering that only 2% of humans ever reach full maturity - we’re ALL leaving a massive amount of potential on the table.

Trauma and suppressed emotions lead the way with blocking much of our innate abilities including higher level mental, emotional, and even psychic faculties.

As with all things in life - repetition is key.

According to the Gamma Mindset about page:

“The Gamma Mindset is a scientifically validated Energy Psychology Technique that is based on the new science of personal change.

The Gamma Mindset Technique uses the head, the heart and the body in the change process which creates a unique brain signature that puts your mind and body in a state of coherence.

This allows you to make rapid and profound changes to your thinking patterns and emotional reactions and gets all of you moving in the right direction with clarity, confidence and purpose.”

​Check it out here to learn more (no affiliation with this audio program; just sharing a great product).

One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

According to Earl Nightingale, the opposite of courage isn’t cowardice.

It’s conformity.

We do things because other people do them too.

And that’s why we get the same results as other people.

Carve out your own path in life.

Or not.

The choice is yours.

- Gabriel

P.S. It's been so busy today that I didn't even have time to remind everyone that TODAY was the deadline for our scholarship giveaway.

So since I dropped the ball and didn't remind everyone, I’ve extended the deadline for 24 hours only.

We started with 21 scholarship opportunities:

🏅10 Partial Scholarships to our top program 1:1 premium coaching program VFR Accelerator 2.0 (Up to 40% off)

***We have awarded 6, leaving only 4 left…

🎖️10 Partial Scholarships to our group coaching program VFR Gold (25% off)

***We have awarded 4, leaving 6 of these…

AND…

🏆 My team will vote to select 1 of those partial scholarship recipients to receive a FULL RIDE scholarship to our top level premium coaching program. 🤯

They are going fast so if you haven't sent me your submission yet, you have until the end of day tomorrow (Saturday 06/01) to send it to me to start the process.

After that we are cutting it off so we can focus on the submissions we have already received and take them fully through the qualification and interview process.

Just as a reminder, to send in your submission all you have to do is send me a message here with a detailed paragraph answering the following 2 questions:

1. Why is this the perfect fit and the perfect time for you to accomplish your goals?

2. Why will you be our next success story?

Looking forward to chatting. 🙂

Whenever you're ready, there are three ways I can help you:

#1 Join our free high-performance fitness FB group to get access to dozens of live trainings recorded along with a tight-knit group of leaders who want to get healthy, lean, and strong.

#2 Are you a high achiever who wants to be lean, strong, and lead by example? Apply for private 1:1 coaching and get in the best shape of your life (2-week waiting list).

#3 Want to fuel your fitness curiosity and follow along with the latest findings, insights, and evidence-based practices? Let's be friends on Facebook and Instagram. :)