If I said this was easy for me, I’d be lying. Knowing exactly what must be done and actually doing it are two completely different things. A plan is nothing without good execution.

There’s a lot of moments when I feel like I want to give up. Why does it matter if you quit no one will know, I think to myself. And then I start to think about what kind of person that would make me. I don’t want to be the guy that only does the right thing when it’s convenient.

Determination, perseverance and sacrifice are traits I’ve always admired. In many ways developing myself physically has been a test of character. Each time I overcome my moments of weakness I gain more faith in myself.

“No man is ever whipped until he quits in his own mind.” — Napoleon Hill

Turns out the world agrees with me. Regardless of culture or race, women from around the world found the V shape males to be the most attractive, these males had a very specific shoulder to waist ratio, 1.618 to be exact, also known as the golden ratio. And yes I realize my name is the symbol for the golden ratio.

Based on my calculations *pushes up nerd glasses* my ideal proportions are 48.5in shoulder and 30in waist.

I still have quite a ways to go before I reach my goal. Here’s where I currently stand.

So I need to gain about 3 inches on my shoulders and lose 5.5 inches on my waist. I’m currently sitting at 19% body fat, as I lose the body fat my waist should drop to 30 inches eventually. As for the shoulders, I’ll have to build more muscle in that area to gain the additional 3 inches.

Besides shoulder to waist ratio, the only other aspect I’m looking at is muscle tone. I don’t want to be ripped, just good definition. Besides trying to maintain a ripped body sounds like a nightmare, keeping yourself at 7% body fat is no trivial task.

After reading numerous articles on the subject, I decided to take a break and watch some YouTube videos to improve my exercise technique. I came across a military instruction video on how to perform the perfect pushup. As I was watching I started thinking about how the military takes dough boys and turns them into rock solid men.

I did more research and found that the military has the soldiers on a calorie deficit, while performing cardio in the AM and strength training in the PM. So the person would lose fat and build muscle at the same time. Of course the rate of muscle growth wouldn’t be as fast as a body builder bulking. But the idea of simultaneously building muscle and burning fat was too appealing to pass up.

So I decided to make an adjustment to my current workout routine. The strength training will still be mon, wed, fri. But now I’ll include 3 mile runs in the morning mon through fri. And try to eat bout 1700-2000 calories a day.

I performed my first run this morning, my cardio was good, I had no trouble breathing or cramps. I experienced some slight pain in my left lower leg. But I don’t think it’s anything serious, I’ll be sure to include lots of calcium in my diet to help strengthen the bones in my legs.

There are many variations of the 20 squat program, I decided to start out with three key exercises.

Pull-ups
Push-ups
Sit-ups

The idea is to boost the testosterone levels in your body before performing the training circuit by executing 20 squats. The circuit is completed three times and that’s it. Definitely easier said than done. After the initial 20 squats I felt light headed and dizzy, squats are so demanding on the body. The only other exercise that matches the squats in that respect is the deadlift.

I’ll perform this routine 3 times a week for about 8 weeks. I’m expecting to plateau near the end of my 8 weeks then I’ll find another routine to perform.

I went a little fitness gadget crazy. I ended up buying a fat caliper, food scale and cup/spoon for measuring food.

It’ll definitely be challenging to stick with the workout routine, keep track of calories and eat healthy. I’ve done it before, I know I can do it again. The idea isn’t to live like this for ever, simply to reach your goal and go into maintenance mode, which is easy peasy.

Sheena Iyengar studies how we make choices — and how we feel about the choices we make. At TEDGlobal, she talks about both trivial choices (Coke v. Pepsi) and profound ones, and shares her groundbreaking research that has uncovered some surprising attitudes about our decisions.

Can happiness be bought? To find out, author Benjamin Wallace sampled the world’s most expensive products, including a bottle of 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc, 8 ounces of Kobe beef and the fabled (notorious) Kopi Luwak coffee. His critique may surprise you.