JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST -- The Ultimate Fighting Championship Fit Tour stopped at Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst's Fitness Center and challenged Airmen and Soldiers to step up their physical game during a workshop June 25.
The workshop is an Air Force Recruiting-sponsored event promoting physical fitness and healthy lifestyles.
UFC Fit Coach Mike Dolce and former interim welterweight champion Carlos "the Natural Born Killer" Condit discussed ways to improve fitness through dieting, setting goals and discipline.
Dolce said it takes daily goals and dedication to optimize your potential.
"Without specific goals, how can you (become the best that you can be)?" he said. "You can't without a clear and defined goal for each day."
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So when you hop out of bed in the morning, you should have a very clear idea of what you are going to do with this day. How you're going to make this one day special," he continued. "How are you going to use your wisdom and experience from all of your days prior to make this day better?"
Dolce recommends starting out with small achievable goals, writing them down daily and expanding as on those victories.
For diet, Dolce skips the calorie counting diet and instead focuses on four basic rules.
1. Eat earth grown nutrients - that means wild/organic foods.
"If it runs on the earth, grows from the earth or swims in the sea, then you can eat it," he said.
2. Eat every two to four hours and portion your food based on what you just did and what you are about to do.
3. Eat until you're satisfied, not until you're full.
4. Stay accountable for your actions.
"I have never had a craving that I couldn't beat," he said. "Put your greatest challenge in front of you. Don't run from it. Don't hide from it. Face it head on and overcome it."
Condit agreed with Dolce's approach and said he's seen it work first hand in his career.
"I grew up eating the same as, probably 90 percent of America. Fast food, processed food," Condit said. "So when I started competing, I wasn't eating right. I didn't know how to. That was a big part of it. I had been eating a certain way my entire life."
Condit tried measured diets recommended by various trainers, but the preciseness and rigidness of the food portions and the focus on caloric intake really turned him off.
When he teamed up with Dolce, he saw a big difference.
"As I started focusing on what I was eating and my lifestyle, my career really took off," Condit said.
Dolce said his ability to help other people achieve their potential is what really motivates him.
"Best thing in the world is to lift people up," he said.
After the workshop, the two took questions from the crowd, signed autographs and took pictures.