By David Tepera, January 1, 2020

OK, here we go. It’s not only a new year, but a new decade. When I was much younger, I’d wake up Jan. 1 with a hangover and not get anything accomplished. Now, for countless years, I’m up and ready to begin the year with my new set of goals.

If you’re in need of a list of goals, make your topics — mental, physical, occupational and spiritual. Believe me, none of these topics will be accomplished without getting into the right state of mind, thus mental.

Who do you surround yourself with? Are your friends in destructive behavior? Do you have a support system or negativity? Where does your mind spend its day? Successful people will tell you where they are going, and others will tell you where they’ve been.

Almost everyone wants to get in better shape and lose fat weight. Make your physical goals achievable. Set small goals per month where success will be attained. Don’t ever get discouraged over one bad day. Giving up on your goals because of one setback is like slashing the other three tires for one flat.

If you’re unhappy with your current occupation, what will it take to change? If you want to move up with your company, show your worth by taking on projects, getting there earlier and staying later.

Maybe, it will require night school, trade school or starting your own company because you have a unique set of skills.

When starting a new business, it’s important that your business creates a benefit or improves lives. If so, through time, you’ll succeed beyond expectation. That’s what we did at Ageless Muscle, and business is booming.

I understand many people question spirituality, and there’s multiple religious beliefs. My suggestion is if you’re not happy with current status of life, you have nothing to lose but to seek a higher power. I promise, it will change you.

Now, if you want 2020 to be your year, you can’t sit and wait for it. It’s time to get up and go after it. This will consist of all the little things like smiling more, being friendly, getting rid of all the clutter, delete negative people on social media, and just be fierce and brave.

Now, take a deep breath, get you game face on because today is a new year, new decade and a new you.

By David Tepera, December 25, 2019

Remember, when you were a kid, got a new pair of sneakers, then all of a sudden, you could run like the wind?

I received my first Chuck Taylor Converse basketball shoes in junior high. I could jump so high, that I almost touched the net. True story.

So, where is all this leading in today’s column? There are many of you receiving some type of exercise apparatus, device or apparel as Christmas gifts. Hopefully, you’re just as excited to get started as the kid with new sneakers.

Whatever the exercise gift is, take the next six weeks and give it your best. If you give full effort, I promise there should be some type of body change. This could be from losing fat weight to adding muscle. The key is consistency.

Now, Wednesday does mark Christmas holiday 2019. There’s only one week left and a new decade will follow. Enjoy all the festivities in front of you over the next week, then start gearing up for 2020 to become the new you.

It’s been an interesting holiday season for us. We’ve been attending two or three parties each weekend through the month of December. Even though we don’t over-indulge, we have enjoyed all the holiday foods and festivities. We allow Christmas time as an opportunity for non-guilt because of the special times with family and friends, and you should, too.

To me, it doesn’t matter what your religious beliefs or not, at least take Christmas day as a reminder that we are celebrating a miraculous moment in time. The birth of Christ was a new beginning for us to recognize that a Savior will help us through times of diversity and challenges.

If you haven’t already, there will be a year where the new passing of a special loved-one won’t be attending Christmas celebration. Today will be difficult, but I encourage you to reflect on all the past wonderful memories.

As most of you know, I lost my 23 year-old son Dustin many years ago. I changed my thinking to instead of missing him on holidays, to reflecting of all the crazy fun moments. I choose laughter over sorrow. Believe me, this will help you get through it.

I know I’ve been a little all over the place with today’s article, but I felt compelled to touch a few subjects. My desire was to reach each of you because today will have mixed emotions.

So, get into a positive mindset, love all those around you, and make this a very merry Christmas to all.

By David Tepera, November 6, 2019

One of the hardest lessons in life is failing. To most people, failing can be embarrassing, so we make excuses and quit. The problem is, you’re letting others dictate your life.

Believe me, there’s not one person reading this article who hasn’t failed a diet. Just because you had a bad day or two of unhealthy eating, don’t quit, and proceed back on path. Remember it took a long time to put the weight on, so it will take time to remove it.

How many times have you tried to quit a bad habit, but failure got the best of you? I know people who smoke tobacco, and everyone of them wants to quit. Sometimes, you just can’t stop the entire habit, but at least try reducing the amount of usage. Find an activity that keeps you busy to take the smoking time away.

How about learning sports? I know parents who let their kids quit because they keep striking out, fell on their face during a soccer match, got hit with a ball and so on.

There are more young adults living with their parents than any other time in our short history. Maybe, it’s because of our youth not learning to problem solve.

When’s the last time you encouraged you kids to keep trying, instead of babying them? Yes, we don’t like our children to fail or be discouraged, but if you don’t allow them to get back in the game, they will always be quitters in life.

By statistics, there are more people with gym memberships than who actually use them. The only reason you keep your membership is because you expect to use it every day. Guess what? You failed yesterday, but make today different. Put your gym clothes in your car before leaving for work, and take the new step of getting back in shape today.

We all know daily life has its challenges. As adults, there are plenty situations that we want to throw our hands in the air and give up. I’m telling you to pick yourself up and keep pursuing forward.

Your best day could be tomorrow, so be willing to fail today, as long as you’re giving it your best. Take control of your life and punch failure in the face. Don’t accept anything or anyone to hold you from your destiny. You’re the most amazing person you know, so, remember, it’s OK to fail, but just don’t quit.

By David Tepera, October 30, 2019

Recently, I was working with one of our male clients, Steve.

He has been with us for around six months and has made some significant changes. The 58-year-old Steve was displaying before and after photos from our Ageless Muscle program. He was excited to see the muscle growth, along with fat loss.

I explained to Steve that anyone who truly starts and stays on a healthy lifestyle will never have “after” photos because the journey never ends. Physical enhancements, along with mental awareness will now be part of your daily life. This has become true with most of our clients, especially the older ones.

We understand that people must set goals, which is important, but I want you to think beyond that.

Just because you lost the needed 20 pounds, how are you going to keep it off? More than 80 percent of people who lose weight will go back to an unhealthy lifestyle to put excessive fat weight back on. This is totally depressing but don’t beat yourself up for it.

If you’re on a diet that requires eliminating certain healthy foods, you’ll eventually fail. Eating healthy is a lifestyle, not a crash course, so there’s no after photos because our bodies will continue to develop.

Pick out your favorite sport you played or competed in from your youth. How many times did you shank a volleyball learning to serve overhand? How often did you get hit by a ball learning to catch, fall off a bike learning to ride, miss free throws learning to shoot, and so-on?

Hopefully, you got mad, dug deep into your pride, and kept pursuing until you accomplished each feat. But, it doesn’t stop there because more skills were needed to compete at higher levels.

This reigns true in the workforce. Before we started our family business, I told my children that to be successful, you must find your dream job and work your way up. Start at the entry level and don’t worry about the low pay scale. Prove your dependability and worth, and I promise, promotions will happen. At each level, keep exceeding expectations, and within time, you’ll be the CEO or develop your own successful company.

So, remember, your whole life is an adventure. It’s OK to take photos along the way to display the journey because if you keep pursuing life, there are no after photos.

By David Tepera, October 23, 2019

With the baseball playoffs upon us, it’s an exciting time to be a fan. For those of you who are not familiar with the baseball term “go yard,” it refers to hitting home runs.

Think about it, the ball will travel the entire yard of the field to proceed over the fence.

We all love home runs because they are rare, plus they often make a huge impact in the outcome of a game. We spend most of our time observing strikeouts, walks, base hits and a ton of throw-outs to first base.

To me, baseball has a huge reflection of our lives. How many times have you struck out in relationships, but eventually, you found the perfect partner? How many interviews did you go on before you landed the dream job?

What new diet program have you started this time because you can’t seem to make it to home plate?

During all these life events, you were hitting foul balls, base hits and sometimes scoring runs. It’s part of the ups and downs in competition, but the goal is to win the game of life.

I’m 58 years old, and over the past few years, finally went yard with a successful business, marrying my amazing wife Tina and building a stronger relationship with God.

Now, we all live different lives but have a common denominator for desiring success and happiness. We must recognize that striking out and losing games is part of the learning process. I stopped judging myself for losing and turned failure into experiences and opportunities.

Did you know, Carlos Correa’s 2019 batting average is .279. This means he is only hitting the ball less than three out of 10 times at bat. But, during those hits, he has 21 home runs and 59 RBIs. As we all know, he’s one of the most dynamic players on the Astros.

What about 5-foot, 6-inch Jose Altuve going yard with a walk-off two-run home run to clinch the ALCS against the Yankees? His batting average for this playoff series was .348.

So, what’s the true message today? Don’t let obstacles and set-backs keep you from reaching your dreams. Don’t ever give up on life because of all the failures. You must take these experiences to mold you into a mean-lean-fighting machine because if you keep swinging, you’ll eventually “go yard.”

By David Tepera, October 16, 2019

I must begin today’s column with a sincere apology. I had a misprint in last week’s article regarding the title of my guest. It should had referred to him as the chair for the board of Moody Gardens. Even the Daily News reached out to me to confirm, but before I had caught the mistake, it went to print.

This mistake solely lies upon me — the columnist. I corresponded to my humbled guest who clearly didn’t think much of it. But, I must truly apologize to the Moody organization and family members for an honest mistake. Your value to our society has been astonishing.

Now, this did make me reflect about different types of mistakes we all encounter throughout our lives. There are many people who are known for their mistakes more than their accomplishments.

For example, how about the baseball player who hit multiple home runs and RBIs to get his team to the playoffs but is best known for their strikeout at the bottom of the ninth inning? What about the quarterback who threw countless touchdowns but is only known for the interception in the last game?

Also, we all know people who can never admit their mistakes. For some reason, they only want to blame others for their failures. Just remember, next time you point your finger at someone, look at your hand because there are three other fingers pointing back at you. You get my drift?

Not too long ago, I came home from a long tiring day from work. I was upset with my son Dylan for leaving a dirty cooking pan on the stove. I verbally expressed my disappointment without letting him speak. Dylan respectfully apologized and went to his room.

Once I started looking around the kitchen, I noticed he had put away all the clean dishes, folded the towels from the dryer, and the dirty pan was from meals he cooked for the entire family.

I called Dylan back to the kitchen where we sat down, with tears in my eyes, I apologized for being not only short-minded, but not giving him the credit and respect a fine young man deserved.

You see, even as parents we must admit our mistakes to our children. I promise, this will make them better parents, too.

So, as you head out the door today, how will you treat your family, coworkers, coaches or teammates? But, more importantly, how will you treat people in our society.

Just remember, once you can own up to your mistakes, you’ll be able to keep moving forward.

By David Tepera, October 9, 2019

If you’re from the Galveston county area, or a Galveston native (B.O.I.), you’re familiar with the name Moody.

The Moody family has impacted many lives through their real estate and development that goes beyond just Galveston. My family enjoys the festivities and weekend getaways at Moody Gardens throughout the year.

A fine gentleman named Doug McLeod, is the chairman on the board of directors for The Moody Gardens. Even though McLeod is a well-accomplished attorney, he has been an executive for the Moody’s most of his adult life.

Recently, after many email responses, McLeod and I finally had the opportunity to meet over lunch. You see, besides all of his accomplishments, who sat across from me was a tall handsome, well-groomed, athletic 78-year-old man with enormous amounts of energy. McLeod was talking a mile-a-minute with a profound zest for life.

Since most Ageless Muscle clients are active seniors, I was curious to know McLeod’s fitness background because he’s clearly an inspiration to us all.

In McLeod’s youth, he excelled in track and swimming and was a letterman at Ball High. After his freshman year in college, he served in the United States Marine Corps for six years. McLeod proclaims the training and discipline was rugged but is prouder of that service than anything else in his life.

In the 1960s, during college, McLeod and some buddies started fooling around with some light weight training. It was during that era coaches started realizing the benefits of lifting weights.

Along came the early 1970s, and McLeod took up jogging because of the dramatic improvement in athletic equipment and shoes, along with three trips per week to a fitness center. Doug continues his same routine of cardio and light weight training to date.

McLeod sadly said his commitment to a lifetime of health and fitness came from losing his 31-year-old brother from a sudden heart attack, and within the same year, lost his mother because of heart disease.

I asked McLeod for his best advice to people of all ages. His reply was simple.

“You must do everything in moderation,” he said. “This pertains to eating and watching your weight. Just stick to your routine because good habits are just as hard to break as bad habits.”

By the end of our lunch, it was clear to me that McLeod was one of Galveston’s finest and fittest.

By David Tepera, October 2, 2019

If you’re a basketball fan like my son Dylan and I, you’re familiar with Karl Malone.

His most famous nickname was “The Mailman.” This name was created while playing college ball at Louisiana Tech University because he always delivered.

Malone played 19 years in the NBA, 18 of which were with the Utah Jazz. Most of us enjoyed watching the chemistry between John Stockton and Malone. It was poetry in motion.

Malone was a 14-time NBA All-Star with record-setting career points of 36,928, including the most free throws attempted and made.

Malone took his nickname to heart by playing in 97 percent of all games throughout his career. All the fans and teammates knew he would deliver.

How many of you are someone we can count on? Do you show up for work each day and give it your best? Are you the role model for your children because your actions will affect their drive for success?

It’s important to realize that when you’re on the clock at work, don’t just walk through the day, put a kick in your step and be the person who brings energy to the whole workplace.

When you get home from a long day of work, you must catch a second wind to shower your family with enthusiasm and love.

At Ageless Muscle, we take pride that all our clients know we are not just accountable but will deliver results with energy. Our training days start at 4:30 a.m., which means we are up before 3 a.m. Just know, on most days, we work until 8 p.m. Yes, these are incredibly long hours, but we love changing people’s lives.

We placed this same accountability on our clients. We understand people have busy careers and personal lives. But, to get results, you must stay consistent.

Just like everything in life, if you only give 50 percent, you only receive half the reward. The clients who don’t miss training days have transformed their bodies.

One client came to us to strengthen leg muscles because she was scheduled for a knee replacement within three months. Well, it’s been almost eight months, and her knee replacement has been put on hold. That, my friend, is giving a 100 percent each and every day.

Now, today, as you’re getting ready to head out the door into this wonderful world, put your game face on and become “The mailman.” We need you to deliver.

By David Tepera, September 25, 2019

Recently, I was leading a discussion with a small group covering diet tips.

As each person gave their dieting failure testimonies, it became obvious there’s more going on than just bad food choices.

My question to the group was, “What are you feeding your brain?” It seemed like everyone had a bad attitude toward life and others. My mission for the rest of the session was to bring uplifting and inspiring suggestions.

Now, let’s turn this question to each of you, “What are you putting into your mind throughout each day?” Why are you wasting time with negative thoughts? There is so much good in this world, but we can’t seem to find it or focus on it.

I’ve stopped watching news and political channels because of all the negativity. We know there’s evil in this world but choose not to get caught up in it. The only way to stop it is within ourselves. I can’t control the actions of others, but I sure can control mine.

I often get asked how I come up with so many different inspiring topics each week for this column. It’s easy because my mind has been trained to love everyone, plus finding the good each of us has to offer.

Just know, when we meet, I see only beauty, not ugliness. The only way you can turn me away is if you treat others with disrespect.

I love coming home in the evenings to see my family because we all have the same positive attitude. My family is full of love and laughter. Why don’t you be the one in your family that makes everyone happy.

If you’re still struggling to find happiness, maybe you should reach for spiritual help. There is always a higher power waiting on you. It’s just a prayer away.

So, remember, as you start putting things into your body, don’t just reach for healthy foods, include creative positive thoughts, including love through spiritual being.

It might take some time to develop this new habit, but I promise, it will change your life.

By David Tepera, September 18, 2019

I’m sure about everyone reading this column has failed a diet or two. Today’s dieting world is extremely confusing because of the variety of programs thrown at us each day.

I’m not here to say anything negative about any diet. I’m only going to share a simple system we use, along with some of our clients. Even though we are professional physique competitors, this system works for all body types and genders.

Now, if you have a medical condition, you should check with your doctor before you start any diet or exercise program. Most of our medical clients are sent to us from their doctors, and we take great pride improving their lives.

OK, here it is. It’s all about carbohydrate manipulation. Now, you’re probably saying, “What? That already sounds complicated.”

Look, carbs are your friend or your enemy. It just depends when and how much you’re eating. You must remember, carbs are your energy source. Just like a car needs gas to run, your body needs carbs to maintain energy through the day.

The simple system is this: load carbs for breakfast, have a moderate amount of carbs for lunch and a small portion for dinner. If you need to lose a significant amount of weight, no carbs for dinner. Eat all the protein and veggies you want.

Notice, I didn’t mention anything about skipping meals, starving yourself or taking anything out of your daily diet. Just know, we eat at least six meals per day.

Instead of snacking in-between meals, we eat a full meal. It’s definitely recommended to eat healthy snacks between meals, but don’t worry if your snack is unhealthy at this time.

As for today, it doesn’t matter what your diet consists of, try to manipulate your carbs as I described, and the weight will start to fall off.

All our meals consist of meat protein, green veggies and carbs. Yes, we are carnivorous. Don’t judge others. If you use plant-based proteins, good for you.

Just to name a few carbohydrates that we incorporate into all our daily meals: rice, potatoes, oatmeal and sweet potatoes. Notice what you didn’t see: bread, pasta, sugar or dairy products. We save those for the weekends when we are not dieting. You must reward yourself on the weekends.

If you need example meals or want weekly dieting and exercise tips, like our Facebook page Ageless-Muscle to get on our list. We help people all over the country with simple, easy tips.

So, my message today: If you need a simple and easy system, try carb manipulation and watch the pounds melt away.