The sun has yet to rise; however, I'm feeling hopeful in the early-morning darkness.

With a hot cup of coffee to my left, medium roast to be exact, I began to type these words.

That’s been my routine for the better part of the last decade and I would be darned if anything is going to get in the way of that.

Every morning there are three things I’m certain of.

I’ll read, I’ll write, and I’ll drink some coffee.

If one of those things don’t happen, well, it’s going to be a rough day.

However, I’m pretty certain that they’ll happen most days.

Why? It’s my routine.

Just like I have my routine, you have your routine.

I challenge you to look at your daily routines. What are your habits?

Think about the routines that you may have put on the back burners, and insert them into your day to create certainty.

It’s a fundamental human need to have certainty.

As you map out your next week, look at the routines you enjoy, the “non-negotiable” things in your life that are important, and put them into your planner so it creates some certainty for you.

Doing this not only allows you to get those things done, but helps with your stress and anxiety by creating something you can count on.

It could be as simple as the morning cup of medium-roast coffee or working out at a scheduled time.

The task, the thing, is not as important as the routine of it. The certainty of it.

Give it a try this week and let me know how it goes.

How Sarah Lost 10 Pounds

You know I'm a big believer in celebrating your successes.

So today I'm celebrating my friend, Sarah.

She lost 10 pounds in just 6 weeks.

How? She followed a proven plan and there was a method to the madness.

Sarah was sick and tired of delaying her success with another trial-and-error approach.

She was done with procrastination.

No need to reinvent the wheel.

In our talk you can learn EXACTLY what she did.

Are you constantly reinventing the wheel?

If yes, stop now.

Focus on the fundamentals and ditch the complex.

Remember fat loss doesn't need to be complicated.

Simplicity always wins when it comes to getting lean and strong, having more energy, and having less disease risk.

Nothing about getting lean and strong needs to be rocket science.

Not in its most basic form.

Does it make sense that you can eat "unlimited amounts" of something, just because it's your "cheat day," and it will have no effect on your bodyfat levels?

Let me explain with some simple math.

Say you calculate your macros and determine you need 14,000 calories for the week, to maintain athletic levels of bodyfat.

It's your last meal of the week, on Saturday night, and you're at 13,500 calories.

Technically you have 500 calories remaining to stay within your weekly energy requirements.

(Remember that a calorie is simply a unit of energy.)

For your cheat meal, you proceed to eat an entire large pepperoni pizza (around 4,500 calories) to celebrate a week of mindful nutrition.

This puts you at 18,000 calories for the week (a surplus of 4,000 calories).

Do these extra calories magically disappear?

Of course not.

Your body simply stores them for future use.

When your liver and muscle glycogen stores are full, everything else gets stored as fat.

Bottom line: Calories matter, just as they always have.

In fact, by the time most folks get to 40 years of age, you've probably dabbled in more complicated exercise-and-diet plans than you'd care to reveal.

Keto, intermittent fasting, and detox diets are popular approaches to losing weight.

Once again, Sarah is a good example of someone who had great success by skipping the fad diets and focusing on the basics.

As a result, she lost 10 pounds of bodyfat in 6 short weeks.

In our talk, Sarah shares how much of the good stuff (practicing mindful nutrition, training smart) is actually simple.

But that doesn’t prevent most folks from messing it up, of course.

Way too many people, when presented with a proven system to get lean and strong, simply refuse to take action.

And, as a result, do not accomplish their priority-one goal.

Others do it unconsciously, because the "I’m not worthy" demons are relentlessly busy encouraging chaos and negativity.

I’ll bet some readers are experiencing this right now.

Maybe even you.

Want to avoid overwhelm?

Want to create the leanest, strongest version of yourself?

Today is the perfect day to sprint to your goal.

All you need is an Internet connection and a good attitude.

If you'd like to work with me to become the leanest and strongest version of yourself, you can apply to learn more.

To your success,

Coach Joe

Joseph Arangio helps 40+ men and women get leaner, stronger, and happier. He's delivered over 100,000 transformation programs to satisfied clients around the globe. If you want to lose weight from home, with the best online personal trainer, or you want to visit the best personal trainer in the Lehigh Valley, you can take a free 14-day trial.