Without a doubt, last week was one of my busiest weeks I've ever had working in the fitness industry. On average, I will work anywhere from 38-55 hours a week on the floor training clients along with another 10-15 hours a week designing customized nutritional plans and training programs for our online clients. Add on an additional 3-5 hours of admin work, and as you can see, my schedule is never really empty or slow. And I absolutely love that! I've always considered that a busy business is a bitch-less business, and the busier we are, the less time we have to bitch and complain.

But last week was insane! I was literally waking up at 4am everyday and going to bed at 12am if I was lucky. Historically speaking, July has always been a slow month for our company. Well, history did not repeat itself this year, as this has been by far our busiest July to date. And it doesn't look as if it's going to slow down anytime soon.

Most people who are obese or who are overweight, either blame their weight issues on their genetics, age, lifestyle, and/or slow metabolism. We have no control over our genetics and aging is inevitable. However knowing and understanding your family's health history can help you prepare and sometimes even prevent serious predisposed health issues from occurring. And even though aging may be inevitable, how well you age, is really up to you. When it comes to lifestyle, I believe that the choices we make with regards to the foods that we eat and the amount of physical activity that we exert, will have a significant impact on our overall health in the long run. And as for our metabolisms - well, some people are born with a fast metabolism while others are born with a slow metabolism. And you cannot change what you are born with. Or can you?

I read a statistic the other day on Bloomberg that stated that 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. That's 80%!!!! I have to say that I was a bit taken back by this statistic as I had no idea that the level of failure was so high. Lucky for us, we have been able to remain in business for over a decade and continue to grow and expand each new year. By no means do I consider myself to be a business expert but I also do not consider myself to be lucky and fortunate to have been part of the 20% that do succeed. I don't believe there is such a thing as luck when it comes to being successful in anything. I believe in consistency and hard work. I believe in sacrifice and dedication. And I believe in drive and determination. But luck? Definitely Not!

We all want to look good and feel good about ourselves but at what cost? Do we really need to go to the gym 5-6x/week and perform endless hours of cardiovascular activity, while avoiding social functions where we might be tempted to "cheat" on our diets, just so that we can appear as if we have the perfect looking physique? Is it really necessary for us to become slaves to our aesthetics and live a life that revolves around our training schedules and what we can and cannot put into our bodies in fear of making us fat?

Have you turned your dedication to improving upon your health into an obsession of developing the perfect physique? Don't worry you're not alone.