I see a lot of emails and postings from people who are curious about the challenge but not thoroughly convinced if it's real, or more so if it's for them. I mean after all, it is a lot harder than taking the pill I saw advertised on TV last night where you can eat anything and everything without working out and look like a supermodel. I have to admit that that's some concept, but I have a feeling that the results you get from it are in direct proportion to the effort put in. And as I watched that commercial, I realized that even if there was a "magic" pill, I still wouldn't have bought it. Why not? Because I wouldn't have any appreciation for the physical and mental health that I now have. Because all I'd have learned is how to take the easy way out. Because the journey is where the real fun is at.

So, if you wondering if it's real. You can bet your next paycheck that it is. You can see the testimony of thousands at any time in the Body For Life guestbook.

So the real question is: Is it for YOU? Well, unless you have accomplished each and every goal that you have ever dreamed of AND you can no longer produce any new dreams, I'd say it is. And I'm not just talking physically either. I've always felt that the physical transformation is just a means to an end, and that what the contest ultimately teaches you is that you can accomplish anything if you have a goal and a plan for accomplishing that goal. It's like the old saying, "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime."

Ok, you admit that you haven't accomplished everything in your life, but maybe you think you're too old to begin working out. I see remarks from several people not sure if they should accept the challenge because of their age. If this is your story, I've got one for you. The following excerpt is from "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David Joseph Schwartz.

How to handle age excusitis

Age excusitis can be cured. A few years ago while I was conducting a sales training program, I discovered a good serum which both cures this disease and vaccinates you so that you won't get it in the first place.

In that training program there was a trainee named Cecil. Cecil, who was 40, wanted to shift over to set himself up as a manufacturer's representative, but he thought he was too old. "After all," he explained, "I'd have to start from scratch. And I'm too old for that now. I'm 40."

I talked with Cecil several times about his "old age" problem. I used the old medicine, "You're only as old as you feel," but I found I was getting nowhere. (Too often people retort with "But I do feel old!")

Finally, I discovered a method that worked. One day after a training session, I tried it on Cecil. I said, "Cecil, when does a man's productive life begin?"

He thought a couple seconds and answered, "Oh, when he's about 20, I guess."

"Okay," I said, "now when does a man's productive life end?"

Cecil answered, "Well, if he stays in good shape and likes his work, I guess a man is still pretty useful when he's 70 or so."

"All right," I said, "a lot of folks are highly productive after they reach 70, but let's agree with what you've just said, a man's productive years stretch from 20 to 70. That's 50 years in between, or half a century. Cecil, "I said, "You're 40. How many years of productive life have your spent?"

"Twenty," he answered.

"And how many have you left?"

"Thirty," he replied.

"In other words, Cecil, you haven't even reached the half-way point; you've used up only 40 percent of your productive years."

I looked at Cecil and realized he'd got the point. He was cured of age excusitis. Cecil saw he still had many opportunity-filled years left. He switched from thinking, "I'm already old," to "I'm still young." Cecil now realized that how old we are is not important. It's one's attitude toward age that makes it a blessing or a barricade.

Man, what a great story. The fact of the matter is, anyone can find a reason(s) for not accepting the Body For Life challenge, but it's the people that dare to explore who they really are or who they really could be that are going to get more out of life.