Hi folks,
As you know, I started Beachbody's new workout program, Les Mills PUMP on 2 Jan 12 and just completed week 4 and the first phase of the program. I am loving the workouts and am satisfied with the nutrition and my changes so far. Here are my accountability numbers. :)
Body Part - Day 1 and Day 28 Measurements -
Weight - 207.4 - 199.8 = 7.6 lbs lost
Chest - 43.5 - 43.5 - No Change
R Arm - 14 - 14.25 - +1/4 inch
L Arm - 14 - 14.25 - +1/4 inch
Waist - 42 - 40 - minus 2 inches
Hips - 38 - 36 - minus 2 inches
R Thigh - 22 - 22 - No change
L Thigh - 22 - 22 - No change
Summary - 7.6 lbs lost, increase of 1/4 inch on my biceps, 2 inches lost on my waist, and 2 inches lost off my hips. 4 inches lost in 28 days. I'll take it! Pics will come on day 30!
I am about to enter into Phase 2 of the program and the intensity and workouts are going to change over the next 4 weeks. My first workout tomorrow is something called Pump and Shred! My guess is that it will be the extension of the PUMP Challenge, then PUMP and Burn, and now PUMP and Shred. I am looking forward to it.
I have been increasing my weight 5 pounds each week to keep challenging my body but I believe I may drop 10 pounds to start this phase off. That way I can get the feel of the workout without losing my form and burning out before the workout is done. Up to now, the workouts have been 20-30 minutes. This phase the work increases to 35 - 50 minutes with additional moves and workous on the schedule.
I am satisfied with the 7.6 pound weight loss and I am only 9.8 pounds from my goal weight for this round. Hopefully, this phase will help me start really reducing my body fat and get my lean.
Hope you are doing something to improve your health each and every day. I can tell you, it has literally changed my life for the better over the past 2 years and I continue to live a more fulfilling lifestyle because of my improved health and fitness. If you want information on how you can get in the best shape of your life from the privacy and comfort of your own home, feel free to contact me. I will do all I can to help you get started.
Until next time, to your health and fitness,
Jim
Showing posts with label Fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fitness. Show all posts
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Week 1 and 2 Summary for Les Mills PUMP workout
Hi everyone!
I am already behind on my plan to post weekly on my progress and assessment of the new Beachbody workout program called Les Mills PUMP! Please accept my apologies for not getting it done but we all have our life challenges and I can make a dozen excuses but it really doesn’t matter. The best I can do is get back on track and give you a summary to date.
I have been doing Beachbody workouts for a couple of years and I also drink their premium meal replacement drink, Shakeology. Shakeology comes in 3 flavors now, Chocolate, Greenberry, and their new vegan drink "Tropical" that has just been released. I tried the Tropical at last year’s annual conference and it is delicious but my favorite is chocolate. I drink it every day and have been for about a year and a half. Only 140 calories packed with over 70 super-food ingredients that is patent pending so no one else can match the quality on the market. It is the best nutrition on the market today, without a doubt. Check it out HERE if you want to read up on it.
So, back to the program. I started my workouts on 2 Jan after getting the Deluxe package that includes the basic set of DVDs but also offers the barbell set with weights and 3 extra DVDs for cranking up your metabolism. The deluxe package is the full range offered by Beachbody and Les Mills collaboration to bring the Les Mills BodyPump program to your living room. Most people who get the basic program end up ordering the remaining parts of the program, so at this point, I recommend getting the whole program so you don’t have to spend the extra money for shipping twice. Plus, once you have the complete program, you will never have to waste time and money ordering the rest.
Here is my summary of the program so far:
The program is designed around Beachbody’s 90 day format with 3 phases. The phases are called “Te Wero” (the Challenge) – Phase 1, which I am doing for the first 5 weeks of the program. This phase is designed to get you started on a new fitness lifestyle and to get your body used to working out again. The workouts are from 20 minutes to 45 minutes long and include a 45 minute power walk at least once a week. Don’t let the length of the workouts fool you! Les Mills Pump incorporates a method called the “Rep Effect™” to crank up your metabolism and give you that “burn” that forces your body to burn fat and increase muscle strength, endurance and growth. By using lower reps and breaking the normal exercise range from 8-12 reps to up to 800 reps in one session, you will feel the effects immediately once you start the program.
The second phase, called “Panoni” (the Change) – Phase 2 increases the time to around 40-50 minutes and will push your body to become stronger and focuses on changing our body shape and composition by building more lean muscle mass and cutting out fat to give you a more leaned out look.
“Kia Kaha” (be Strong) – Phase 3 is the final 30 days and is designed to get you lean, ripped, chiseled, and sculpted to achieve your final body transformation and get you into the best shape of your life. The workouts in phase 3 continue to increase in duration and intensity to keep your metabolism cranking and keep your body changing and achieve your best results with the program.
After the first 90 days, the fitness guide also has an additional 30-day hybrid workout that is the Ultimate Les Mills Cross training schedule. I plan to do this right after completing my 90 day program to get the maximum results from the program.
For now I want to keep my focus and attention on phase 1 and my nutrition plan. So here is a break down of the workouts I have done day by day:
Day 1 is the Pump Challenge (20 minutes) and was the first workout. I used the bar and only 10 pounds of weight on the bar. However, you quickly find out what the “rep effect” is. By the end of the 20 minutes, my muscles were burning and I was shaking from all the reps done at the different tempo counts like 4/4, 3/1, 2/2, and 1/1. It was over before I knew it. You do the Pump Challenge 3 times the first week.
Day 2 is a REST day already. I wouldn’t think I needed a rest day but my whole body was sore from day 1 so I can understand why it is needed. Your body is being attacked differently from most traditional workouts where you isolate different muscle groups. Even though I could have done more, I want to follow the program strictly the first round so I can get a complete understanding of how the program really works compared to other Beachbody programs suck as Power 90 and P90X.
Day 3 is the Pump Challenge again (20 minutes) and I got another good full body workout in just a few minutes.
Day 4 was a workout called “Flow” (20 minutes) and is a short Yoga class that gives you a good stretch and overall body workout that is less intense than Yoga X but is very effective for a short workout and allowed my muscles to stretch out. After the Flow workout, you walk for 45 minutes at a brisk pace to keep your heart rate up and get in fresh air.
Day 5 is the Pump Challenge again and I already felt a lot stronger but still got the “rep effect” muscle burn by the end of the 20 minutes.
Day 6 was Hard Core Abs (20 minutes) and starts off like it is going to be easy but very quickly with the different tempos, you start to feel the burn in your core and by the end I could barely keep my form and my core was on fire! After the ab workout, you do another 45 minute walk.
Day 7 was another rest day to complete the week. I could already see a pattern emerging that incorporates the “rep effect” by the tempos mentioned above. This pattern no doubt is the key to getting a good burn with each workout. I think the rest days are scheduled to give your body time to adjust and recover from the changes in the way the workouts are designed and set up so I intend to give my body the time to recover and be ready for the next workout.
My weekly weigh in is every Sunday morning right after I get up to keep it consistent. Also, I want to talk a little about the nutrition guide that comes with the program. I am happy to say that I was able to follow the 7-day Jump Start meal plan. It is simple, easy to follow and the food is easy to find in any grocery store. It also incorporates a Shakeology drink in each day so I can stay on track with my super-nutrient intake and get my chocolate fix in at the same time. It took me an average of 20 minutes to prepare all my meals for the following day to take to work with me so it was very easy to follow. I was a little hungry the first day probably due to the reduction of the calories I am used to consuming daily but by day 2 I was never hungry and had no cravings and by the end of the week I was practically forcing myself to eat on schedule to keep my calories at around 1500 per day. I was 207.4 pounds on day 1 to 203.2 pounds on day 7 so I lost 4.2 pounds the first week. I can live with that. Plus my energy levels have skyrocketed and I have been sleeping like a baby since starting the program. I also targeted my water intake to 3 liters per day minimum and had not trouble getting that amount.
Week 2 Summary –
Day 8 upped the workout from 20 to 30 minutes with a workout called Pump and Burn (30 minutes). I also added 5 pounds to the bar because I can feel myself getting stronger. Pump and Burn is similar to Pump Challenge but adds some extra moves and is extended by 10 minutes plus some abdominal work at the end so I got another great full body workout. I can already see my strength and stamina increasing.
Day 9 was another 30 minute walk and acted as sort of a recovery day from the first Pump and Burn workout in the program. I feel stronger and could probably add another workout like Kenpo X in but then the program would evolve into a hybrid program and I don’t want to slight the PUMP program or the clients that may use it in the future. I want them to see my experience with this program as a stand along program, not needing a few other programs to get the results.
Day 10 was the Pump Challenge (20 minutes) and Hard Core Abs (20 minutes) again for a 40 minute full body workout and killer core workout to blast fat and keeps my metabolism cranking. I can feel the difference in my body already and feel strong as well as challenged. I had to modify the abs workout toward the end because the rep effect was really kicking in and it was hard to keep my form. Overall, a great workout in only 40 minutes.
Day 11 was Flow again and was right on time after the full body muscle blast of day 10. the Yoga is a very effective way to work your body and get your muscles stretched out and increase your flexibility.
Day 12 was Pump and Burn (30 minutes) again and I got another great full body workout. I can definitely feel a difference in my body.
Day 13 was a rest day and was well deserved after pushing as hard as I could to keep my body challenged throughout the week. I took full advantage of it but decided to do Hard Core Abs again, then realized I had it on day 14 so I probably overdid it a little.
Day 14 was Hard Core Abs (20 minutes) and Walking (45 minutes). Since is was really cold outside I decided to try one of the cardio workouts called Combat (45 minutes) to replace the walking and I gotta say it kicked my butt! But by the end of the workout, I was totally relaxed and the endorphins had definitely kicked in for a complete evening of relaxation and a super good night’s sleep last night.
Nutritionally, I decided to follow the 7 day menu again since it is so easy to prepare and follow. What I changed was upping my portion sizes so I got 1700 calories per day rather then the 1500 in week 1. Again, my nutrition is right on the money but when I weighed in on day 14 my weight was 203.2 again so I didn’t lose any weight but I didn’t gain any either. Most people would be discouraged with this, but I know that as I lose body fat and start to increase my lean muscle mass, I may not see a change in the scale. However, I can see in the mirror the changes in my core, especially around the front of my oblique’s and my stomach fat is slowly shrinking.
I was tempted to take measurements but decided to stick with my plan and wait until my day 30 measurements and photos. The 30 day mark will give me a good guide as to how effective the program is working for me and what I can expect. I have never really seen dramatic changes in my body composition in any Beachbody program I have used in the past. For me personally, the most dramatic changes start happening toward the end of week 6 and through the last phase of the programs I have used. It is different for everyone, but this is how it is for me so I expect the results to be similar because that is how my body responds. This phase is about setting the foundation for the rest of the program so I expect to see gains in the coming weeks and into phase 2.
My plan for this week is to follow the 7 day meal plan again with 1700 calories per day again. There is only 1 rest day this week so the intensity will definitely increase and I see challenges again with adding 5 more pounds to the bar. The time range is from 30 minutes to 65 minutes with the 20 minute Abdominal workout and the 45 minute walk. Since it is cold outside, I will probably add in one of the cardio workouts in lieu of walking. That is why I got the deluxe program, to have and use the other workouts so I might as well get them in the mix.
So, that is about it for this post! I am excited about the program and getting back on track with my healthy lifestyle. This is not about failed New Year’s resolutions; this is about fighting the obesity epidemic in our country. If you want to read more about Les Mills PUMP you can find the information HERE. For more information on Shakeology, check it out HERE. They only take a few minutes to find out about them so I encourage you to take a look.
Hope this post finds you and your family well. I also hope you are taking control of your health and fitness and are doing something to improve your life. As one of the instructors says on the DVDs, “The best workout is the one you do!” Find something you can do and stick to it. Your life will be better for it.
Until next time, to your health and fitness.
jw
I am already behind on my plan to post weekly on my progress and assessment of the new Beachbody workout program called Les Mills PUMP! Please accept my apologies for not getting it done but we all have our life challenges and I can make a dozen excuses but it really doesn’t matter. The best I can do is get back on track and give you a summary to date.
I have been doing Beachbody workouts for a couple of years and I also drink their premium meal replacement drink, Shakeology. Shakeology comes in 3 flavors now, Chocolate, Greenberry, and their new vegan drink "Tropical" that has just been released. I tried the Tropical at last year’s annual conference and it is delicious but my favorite is chocolate. I drink it every day and have been for about a year and a half. Only 140 calories packed with over 70 super-food ingredients that is patent pending so no one else can match the quality on the market. It is the best nutrition on the market today, without a doubt. Check it out HERE if you want to read up on it.
So, back to the program. I started my workouts on 2 Jan after getting the Deluxe package that includes the basic set of DVDs but also offers the barbell set with weights and 3 extra DVDs for cranking up your metabolism. The deluxe package is the full range offered by Beachbody and Les Mills collaboration to bring the Les Mills BodyPump program to your living room. Most people who get the basic program end up ordering the remaining parts of the program, so at this point, I recommend getting the whole program so you don’t have to spend the extra money for shipping twice. Plus, once you have the complete program, you will never have to waste time and money ordering the rest.
Here is my summary of the program so far:
The program is designed around Beachbody’s 90 day format with 3 phases. The phases are called “Te Wero” (the Challenge) – Phase 1, which I am doing for the first 5 weeks of the program. This phase is designed to get you started on a new fitness lifestyle and to get your body used to working out again. The workouts are from 20 minutes to 45 minutes long and include a 45 minute power walk at least once a week. Don’t let the length of the workouts fool you! Les Mills Pump incorporates a method called the “Rep Effect™” to crank up your metabolism and give you that “burn” that forces your body to burn fat and increase muscle strength, endurance and growth. By using lower reps and breaking the normal exercise range from 8-12 reps to up to 800 reps in one session, you will feel the effects immediately once you start the program.
The second phase, called “Panoni” (the Change) – Phase 2 increases the time to around 40-50 minutes and will push your body to become stronger and focuses on changing our body shape and composition by building more lean muscle mass and cutting out fat to give you a more leaned out look.
“Kia Kaha” (be Strong) – Phase 3 is the final 30 days and is designed to get you lean, ripped, chiseled, and sculpted to achieve your final body transformation and get you into the best shape of your life. The workouts in phase 3 continue to increase in duration and intensity to keep your metabolism cranking and keep your body changing and achieve your best results with the program.
After the first 90 days, the fitness guide also has an additional 30-day hybrid workout that is the Ultimate Les Mills Cross training schedule. I plan to do this right after completing my 90 day program to get the maximum results from the program.
For now I want to keep my focus and attention on phase 1 and my nutrition plan. So here is a break down of the workouts I have done day by day:
Day 1 is the Pump Challenge (20 minutes) and was the first workout. I used the bar and only 10 pounds of weight on the bar. However, you quickly find out what the “rep effect” is. By the end of the 20 minutes, my muscles were burning and I was shaking from all the reps done at the different tempo counts like 4/4, 3/1, 2/2, and 1/1. It was over before I knew it. You do the Pump Challenge 3 times the first week.
Day 2 is a REST day already. I wouldn’t think I needed a rest day but my whole body was sore from day 1 so I can understand why it is needed. Your body is being attacked differently from most traditional workouts where you isolate different muscle groups. Even though I could have done more, I want to follow the program strictly the first round so I can get a complete understanding of how the program really works compared to other Beachbody programs suck as Power 90 and P90X.
Day 3 is the Pump Challenge again (20 minutes) and I got another good full body workout in just a few minutes.
Day 4 was a workout called “Flow” (20 minutes) and is a short Yoga class that gives you a good stretch and overall body workout that is less intense than Yoga X but is very effective for a short workout and allowed my muscles to stretch out. After the Flow workout, you walk for 45 minutes at a brisk pace to keep your heart rate up and get in fresh air.
Day 5 is the Pump Challenge again and I already felt a lot stronger but still got the “rep effect” muscle burn by the end of the 20 minutes.
Day 6 was Hard Core Abs (20 minutes) and starts off like it is going to be easy but very quickly with the different tempos, you start to feel the burn in your core and by the end I could barely keep my form and my core was on fire! After the ab workout, you do another 45 minute walk.
Day 7 was another rest day to complete the week. I could already see a pattern emerging that incorporates the “rep effect” by the tempos mentioned above. This pattern no doubt is the key to getting a good burn with each workout. I think the rest days are scheduled to give your body time to adjust and recover from the changes in the way the workouts are designed and set up so I intend to give my body the time to recover and be ready for the next workout.
My weekly weigh in is every Sunday morning right after I get up to keep it consistent. Also, I want to talk a little about the nutrition guide that comes with the program. I am happy to say that I was able to follow the 7-day Jump Start meal plan. It is simple, easy to follow and the food is easy to find in any grocery store. It also incorporates a Shakeology drink in each day so I can stay on track with my super-nutrient intake and get my chocolate fix in at the same time. It took me an average of 20 minutes to prepare all my meals for the following day to take to work with me so it was very easy to follow. I was a little hungry the first day probably due to the reduction of the calories I am used to consuming daily but by day 2 I was never hungry and had no cravings and by the end of the week I was practically forcing myself to eat on schedule to keep my calories at around 1500 per day. I was 207.4 pounds on day 1 to 203.2 pounds on day 7 so I lost 4.2 pounds the first week. I can live with that. Plus my energy levels have skyrocketed and I have been sleeping like a baby since starting the program. I also targeted my water intake to 3 liters per day minimum and had not trouble getting that amount.
Week 2 Summary –
Day 8 upped the workout from 20 to 30 minutes with a workout called Pump and Burn (30 minutes). I also added 5 pounds to the bar because I can feel myself getting stronger. Pump and Burn is similar to Pump Challenge but adds some extra moves and is extended by 10 minutes plus some abdominal work at the end so I got another great full body workout. I can already see my strength and stamina increasing.
Day 9 was another 30 minute walk and acted as sort of a recovery day from the first Pump and Burn workout in the program. I feel stronger and could probably add another workout like Kenpo X in but then the program would evolve into a hybrid program and I don’t want to slight the PUMP program or the clients that may use it in the future. I want them to see my experience with this program as a stand along program, not needing a few other programs to get the results.
Day 10 was the Pump Challenge (20 minutes) and Hard Core Abs (20 minutes) again for a 40 minute full body workout and killer core workout to blast fat and keeps my metabolism cranking. I can feel the difference in my body already and feel strong as well as challenged. I had to modify the abs workout toward the end because the rep effect was really kicking in and it was hard to keep my form. Overall, a great workout in only 40 minutes.
Day 11 was Flow again and was right on time after the full body muscle blast of day 10. the Yoga is a very effective way to work your body and get your muscles stretched out and increase your flexibility.
Day 12 was Pump and Burn (30 minutes) again and I got another great full body workout. I can definitely feel a difference in my body.
Day 13 was a rest day and was well deserved after pushing as hard as I could to keep my body challenged throughout the week. I took full advantage of it but decided to do Hard Core Abs again, then realized I had it on day 14 so I probably overdid it a little.
Day 14 was Hard Core Abs (20 minutes) and Walking (45 minutes). Since is was really cold outside I decided to try one of the cardio workouts called Combat (45 minutes) to replace the walking and I gotta say it kicked my butt! But by the end of the workout, I was totally relaxed and the endorphins had definitely kicked in for a complete evening of relaxation and a super good night’s sleep last night.
Nutritionally, I decided to follow the 7 day menu again since it is so easy to prepare and follow. What I changed was upping my portion sizes so I got 1700 calories per day rather then the 1500 in week 1. Again, my nutrition is right on the money but when I weighed in on day 14 my weight was 203.2 again so I didn’t lose any weight but I didn’t gain any either. Most people would be discouraged with this, but I know that as I lose body fat and start to increase my lean muscle mass, I may not see a change in the scale. However, I can see in the mirror the changes in my core, especially around the front of my oblique’s and my stomach fat is slowly shrinking.
I was tempted to take measurements but decided to stick with my plan and wait until my day 30 measurements and photos. The 30 day mark will give me a good guide as to how effective the program is working for me and what I can expect. I have never really seen dramatic changes in my body composition in any Beachbody program I have used in the past. For me personally, the most dramatic changes start happening toward the end of week 6 and through the last phase of the programs I have used. It is different for everyone, but this is how it is for me so I expect the results to be similar because that is how my body responds. This phase is about setting the foundation for the rest of the program so I expect to see gains in the coming weeks and into phase 2.
My plan for this week is to follow the 7 day meal plan again with 1700 calories per day again. There is only 1 rest day this week so the intensity will definitely increase and I see challenges again with adding 5 more pounds to the bar. The time range is from 30 minutes to 65 minutes with the 20 minute Abdominal workout and the 45 minute walk. Since it is cold outside, I will probably add in one of the cardio workouts in lieu of walking. That is why I got the deluxe program, to have and use the other workouts so I might as well get them in the mix.
So, that is about it for this post! I am excited about the program and getting back on track with my healthy lifestyle. This is not about failed New Year’s resolutions; this is about fighting the obesity epidemic in our country. If you want to read more about Les Mills PUMP you can find the information HERE. For more information on Shakeology, check it out HERE. They only take a few minutes to find out about them so I encourage you to take a look.
Hope this post finds you and your family well. I also hope you are taking control of your health and fitness and are doing something to improve your life. As one of the instructors says on the DVDs, “The best workout is the one you do!” Find something you can do and stick to it. Your life will be better for it.
Until next time, to your health and fitness.
jw
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Day 1 PUMP and my numbers and pics!
Hi everyone!
I got through my first day of Beachbody’s Les Mills PUMP workout and I must say even though it was only 20 minutes long, my legs are sore! It is not that the workout was so hard, but the tempo and number of reps you do makes it challenging. Not sure how the rest of the program will be, but if the first workout is any indication, I am in for a real treat and expect to get in great shape over the next 90 days.
I weighed in on Sunday and am embarrassed to say that I am at 207.4 pounds starting this program. I started my first Beachbody workout on 5 Jan 09, lost 41 pounds by Oct of 09 and maintained a weight of 195 for nearly 2 years before falling off the fitness wagon in Aug 11. As you can see, you have to continue some sort of a program and continue to eat a healthy diet if you want to maintain good overall health. The great thing is that even though I’ve has a setback over the past 6 months, I have the solution that will get me right back in shape in only 90 days! I am looking forward to the results I get between now and 31 March when this round ends.
Here are my numbers and pictures I took on my new Day 1.
Weight – 207.4
Chest – 43.5
R Arm – 14
L Arm – 14
Waist – 42
Hips – 38
R Thigh – 22
L Thigh – 22
Now for the bad and the ugly –
OK, its out there for all to see. I have no where to hide. Now, I HAVE to do something about it!
These photos are a good example of how easy it can be to get off track and lose those hard earned gains over a short period of time. I’m not talking about being some bodybuilder who lives and breathes exercise. I am talking about improving your health and fitness to a level that allows you to cope with stresses and live a more fulfilling lifestyle. Good health and some sort of fitness will enhance every area of your life.
Decide what you want, commit to achieving it, and you will succeed!
To your health and fitness,
Jim
I got through my first day of Beachbody’s Les Mills PUMP workout and I must say even though it was only 20 minutes long, my legs are sore! It is not that the workout was so hard, but the tempo and number of reps you do makes it challenging. Not sure how the rest of the program will be, but if the first workout is any indication, I am in for a real treat and expect to get in great shape over the next 90 days.
I weighed in on Sunday and am embarrassed to say that I am at 207.4 pounds starting this program. I started my first Beachbody workout on 5 Jan 09, lost 41 pounds by Oct of 09 and maintained a weight of 195 for nearly 2 years before falling off the fitness wagon in Aug 11. As you can see, you have to continue some sort of a program and continue to eat a healthy diet if you want to maintain good overall health. The great thing is that even though I’ve has a setback over the past 6 months, I have the solution that will get me right back in shape in only 90 days! I am looking forward to the results I get between now and 31 March when this round ends.
Here are my numbers and pictures I took on my new Day 1.
Weight – 207.4
Chest – 43.5
R Arm – 14
L Arm – 14
Waist – 42
Hips – 38
R Thigh – 22
L Thigh – 22
Now for the bad and the ugly –
OK, its out there for all to see. I have no where to hide. Now, I HAVE to do something about it!
These photos are a good example of how easy it can be to get off track and lose those hard earned gains over a short period of time. I’m not talking about being some bodybuilder who lives and breathes exercise. I am talking about improving your health and fitness to a level that allows you to cope with stresses and live a more fulfilling lifestyle. Good health and some sort of fitness will enhance every area of your life.
Decide what you want, commit to achieving it, and you will succeed!
To your health and fitness,
Jim
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Ready for 2012 with Les Mills PUMP workout!!
Greetings and salutations!
So 2011 is coming to a close and I have been reflecting on my overall health this year and making plans for 2012. One thing I am sure of, time will keep rolling along whether I have a plan or not. For 2012 I have decided to take a little break from my primary workout program, P90X, and try a new program just introduced by Beachbody called Les Mills PUMP.
As you may know, I was in terrible shape by 2009 after suffering from the ravages of two heart attacks in my early 40s and spending years listening to doctors about how the next one could be the one that does me in. As a result of basically zero physical activity, I got a stent implant, my weight climbed, I was put on blood pressure medications and my health steadily declined for almost a decade. I had to make a change in my lifestyle so I started using Beachbody workouts to get back into shape and take control of my overall health and fitness. I don’t have time to go to the gym every day so the in home workout programs are a great way for me, and so many others, to get and stay healthy with our busy schedules. I was 234 pounds, had high blood pressure, poor eating habits, and was generally on a downhill slope headed for type 2 Diabetes when I made my change.
I stared using a workout called Power 90 (P90) and lost 18 pounds by doing that 90 day program. Then I moved to the Power 90 Master Series workouts as a continuation of the P90 program and lost another 8 pounds. I could have lost more but my diet frankly sucked and I wasn’t really paying attention to it. Then, I felt I was ready for the big leagues and decided to give P90X a try. By the time I was finished with my first round of P90X, I had lose a total of 41 pounds and was taken off my blood pressure medications and was taken off the risk for diabetes! I went from 234 pounds on 5 Jan 90 to 193 pounds in Oct 90. I also won $1,000 in the Sept 09 Beachbody transformation contest. Since then, I have maintained a weight of about 195 pounds using P90X as my primary workout program doing 4 to 6 days a week.
I made a couple of attempts to do another Beachbody program called Insanity, but I have bad knees and shoulders and have only been able to get through about 4 weeks before I have to stop the program due to pain in my knees and feet. Insanity may well be the most intense workout ever put on disc for home use. Fortunately, I can continue to keep my body in pretty good shape and I have enough programs to mix things up every month or so to keep my body guessing and stay in pretty good shape.
I was due an annual physical around Aug 11 and at the same time was assigned a new doctor in my “government ran” health care system. As a disabled veteran, I still have to see doctors in the TriCare system for military and veterans. I made the visit in Aug and had some blood work done prior to my appointment. When I showed up for my appointment, my doctor said he had found some issues with my blood and I would have to start chemotherapy IMMEDIATELY!
Needless to say, this freaked me out but being a good airman, I followed orders and started that day on a medication called Hydroxiurea. It is a chemotherapy medication you take orally twice a day and it is designed to kill cells in your body, the good ones and the bad ones. If I refused treatment, I would lose my insurance benefits so I followed the program to the letter.
To make a long story short, the drug wreaked havoc on my system. I experienced most of the side effects including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight gain, and overall feeling of sickness. I was supposed to do 90 days of chemotherapy but within a couple of weeks I was crapping blood and going to the bathroom 6 or 7 times a day. Ironically, I gained 13 pounds while on the medication. My blood count got so low that I was barely able to function but had to wait an extra week for the doctor to get back from a conference he attended before he reviewed my blood work and determined I didn’t need to be on the stuff in the first place! The Lab had just made a mistake with my test and he misread the results! He took me off the medication immediately once he saw photos I emailed him of the clotting you could visibly see on my skin all over my body.
Finally off the medication in Sept 2011, it took me about 7 or 8 weeks to recover from the experience. By then I had gone from 195 to about 208 pounds. I was very weak and still feel weaker than when I started the treatment. I tried to get back to my workout by doing a round of P90X “Lean” starting in Oct and finishing in Jan 2012 but was only able to do about 4 to 6 days a week throughout the program due to no energy.
Since I am older than most people using P90X, I guess my body doesn’t recover as quickly as someone in their 20s or 30s. This is natural and since I abused my body most of my life, I am lucky to be able to recover at all in my humble opinion. I’m pretty sure I would be in much worse shape if I hadn’t been working out and eating better over the last couple of years. So, you never know what might happen to cause you to need good health to get through a tough challenge.
At least I have been drinking my Shakeology
every day and ate mostly clean through the holidays, except for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve. I managed to lose about 3 or 4 pounds since Oct. Now I am ready to move forward and cut my losses, so I will be doing the new workout starting Jan 2 with a Facebook support group of about 288 people and counting!
If you have been to a gym lately, there is a very popular gym program produced Les Mills International, called Les Mills Body Pump. Well, Beachbody has partnered with Less Mills International to create an in-home version of the Body Pump called Les Mills PUMP. It looks like a great program for me to get back on track with my fitness and I am so stoked about getting started. I ordered my program on 22 Dec and hope to get it by 29 Dec.
I plan to do the program as it is designed and not add workouts or exercise not scheduled in the program, at least for this first round. I want to see how effective the program will be doing it as designed. From my past experience with Beachbody workouts, I know they are designed well and I will get great results if I just FOLLOW the program.
I also plan to blog about my experience with the program so others can see my progress and the challenges I face going through it. I will post at least once a week with my weigh-in on Sunday mornings. This will help me keep on track and stay accountable to myself and to you if you follow this blog.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a very happy and prosperous new year! Remember, you only get one body in this life. Do whatever you can to take care of it. Check back if you want to follow me through my program.
To your health and fitness,
Jim
So 2011 is coming to a close and I have been reflecting on my overall health this year and making plans for 2012. One thing I am sure of, time will keep rolling along whether I have a plan or not. For 2012 I have decided to take a little break from my primary workout program, P90X, and try a new program just introduced by Beachbody called Les Mills PUMP.
As you may know, I was in terrible shape by 2009 after suffering from the ravages of two heart attacks in my early 40s and spending years listening to doctors about how the next one could be the one that does me in. As a result of basically zero physical activity, I got a stent implant, my weight climbed, I was put on blood pressure medications and my health steadily declined for almost a decade. I had to make a change in my lifestyle so I started using Beachbody workouts to get back into shape and take control of my overall health and fitness. I don’t have time to go to the gym every day so the in home workout programs are a great way for me, and so many others, to get and stay healthy with our busy schedules. I was 234 pounds, had high blood pressure, poor eating habits, and was generally on a downhill slope headed for type 2 Diabetes when I made my change.
I stared using a workout called Power 90 (P90) and lost 18 pounds by doing that 90 day program. Then I moved to the Power 90 Master Series workouts as a continuation of the P90 program and lost another 8 pounds. I could have lost more but my diet frankly sucked and I wasn’t really paying attention to it. Then, I felt I was ready for the big leagues and decided to give P90X a try. By the time I was finished with my first round of P90X, I had lose a total of 41 pounds and was taken off my blood pressure medications and was taken off the risk for diabetes! I went from 234 pounds on 5 Jan 90 to 193 pounds in Oct 90. I also won $1,000 in the Sept 09 Beachbody transformation contest. Since then, I have maintained a weight of about 195 pounds using P90X as my primary workout program doing 4 to 6 days a week.
I made a couple of attempts to do another Beachbody program called Insanity, but I have bad knees and shoulders and have only been able to get through about 4 weeks before I have to stop the program due to pain in my knees and feet. Insanity may well be the most intense workout ever put on disc for home use. Fortunately, I can continue to keep my body in pretty good shape and I have enough programs to mix things up every month or so to keep my body guessing and stay in pretty good shape.
I was due an annual physical around Aug 11 and at the same time was assigned a new doctor in my “government ran” health care system. As a disabled veteran, I still have to see doctors in the TriCare system for military and veterans. I made the visit in Aug and had some blood work done prior to my appointment. When I showed up for my appointment, my doctor said he had found some issues with my blood and I would have to start chemotherapy IMMEDIATELY!
Needless to say, this freaked me out but being a good airman, I followed orders and started that day on a medication called Hydroxiurea. It is a chemotherapy medication you take orally twice a day and it is designed to kill cells in your body, the good ones and the bad ones. If I refused treatment, I would lose my insurance benefits so I followed the program to the letter.
To make a long story short, the drug wreaked havoc on my system. I experienced most of the side effects including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight gain, and overall feeling of sickness. I was supposed to do 90 days of chemotherapy but within a couple of weeks I was crapping blood and going to the bathroom 6 or 7 times a day. Ironically, I gained 13 pounds while on the medication. My blood count got so low that I was barely able to function but had to wait an extra week for the doctor to get back from a conference he attended before he reviewed my blood work and determined I didn’t need to be on the stuff in the first place! The Lab had just made a mistake with my test and he misread the results! He took me off the medication immediately once he saw photos I emailed him of the clotting you could visibly see on my skin all over my body.
Finally off the medication in Sept 2011, it took me about 7 or 8 weeks to recover from the experience. By then I had gone from 195 to about 208 pounds. I was very weak and still feel weaker than when I started the treatment. I tried to get back to my workout by doing a round of P90X “Lean” starting in Oct and finishing in Jan 2012 but was only able to do about 4 to 6 days a week throughout the program due to no energy.
Since I am older than most people using P90X, I guess my body doesn’t recover as quickly as someone in their 20s or 30s. This is natural and since I abused my body most of my life, I am lucky to be able to recover at all in my humble opinion. I’m pretty sure I would be in much worse shape if I hadn’t been working out and eating better over the last couple of years. So, you never know what might happen to cause you to need good health to get through a tough challenge.
At least I have been drinking my Shakeology
If you have been to a gym lately, there is a very popular gym program produced Les Mills International, called Les Mills Body Pump. Well, Beachbody has partnered with Less Mills International to create an in-home version of the Body Pump called Les Mills PUMP. It looks like a great program for me to get back on track with my fitness and I am so stoked about getting started. I ordered my program on 22 Dec and hope to get it by 29 Dec.
I plan to do the program as it is designed and not add workouts or exercise not scheduled in the program, at least for this first round. I want to see how effective the program will be doing it as designed. From my past experience with Beachbody workouts, I know they are designed well and I will get great results if I just FOLLOW the program.
I also plan to blog about my experience with the program so others can see my progress and the challenges I face going through it. I will post at least once a week with my weigh-in on Sunday mornings. This will help me keep on track and stay accountable to myself and to you if you follow this blog.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a very happy and prosperous new year! Remember, you only get one body in this life. Do whatever you can to take care of it. Check back if you want to follow me through my program.
To your health and fitness,
Jim
Monday, October 17, 2011
My 90-Day Beachbody Workout Goals
OK, so I am ready to commit for 90 days through the holidays to improve my fitness and health. I know from past experience in all areas of life that if you want to achieve anything, you have to have goals. Not only do you need to have goals, but if you don't write them down, you will never achieve them. So here is my 90- day plan starting today.
Starting weight - 206 pounds (weighed in on 16 Oct 11)
90-Day Goals
Complete each workout as scheduled for 90 days
Log my food intake for 90 days in myfitnesspal.com
Lose 15 pounds in 90 days - finishing goal weight 191 pounds
Sleep 7 hours per night
Decrease body fat percentage from (TBD) to (TBD)
Maintain lean body mass
Weekly Goals
Complete 6 scheduled workouts (one per day and optional X-stretch on rest day)
Log my food intake in myfitnesspal.com for 7 days
Log each workout in the Team Beacyhbody WOWY Super Gym for a chance at daily prizes
Provide a weekly blog post on my progress, each Sunday after my weekly weigh-in
Lose 1.5 pounds
Weigh-in Sunday morning
Make adjustments to nutrition as needed weekly
Daily Goals
Complete 1 scheduled workout
Log my workout in WOWY
Log my nutrition in myfitnesspal.com
Sleep 7 hours
Help wife clean house daily
Note: I will be doing the Lean version of P90X this round, focusing on improving my core strength and losing excess body fat.
So, what do you think about my plan. I would love to hear any suggestions you may have!
To your health and fitness,
jw
Starting weight - 206 pounds (weighed in on 16 Oct 11)
90-Day Goals
Complete each workout as scheduled for 90 days
Log my food intake for 90 days in myfitnesspal.com
Lose 15 pounds in 90 days - finishing goal weight 191 pounds
Sleep 7 hours per night
Decrease body fat percentage from (TBD) to (TBD)
Maintain lean body mass
Weekly Goals
Complete 6 scheduled workouts (one per day and optional X-stretch on rest day)
Log my food intake in myfitnesspal.com for 7 days
Log each workout in the Team Beacyhbody WOWY Super Gym for a chance at daily prizes
Provide a weekly blog post on my progress, each Sunday after my weekly weigh-in
Lose 1.5 pounds
Weigh-in Sunday morning
Make adjustments to nutrition as needed weekly
Daily Goals
Complete 1 scheduled workout
Log my workout in WOWY
Log my nutrition in myfitnesspal.com
Sleep 7 hours
Help wife clean house daily
Note: I will be doing the Lean version of P90X this round, focusing on improving my core strength and losing excess body fat.
So, what do you think about my plan. I would love to hear any suggestions you may have!
To your health and fitness,
jw
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Ready for P90X2? Pre-order NOW if you want it before 2012!!
Click HERE then click on the Shop Tab in the middle of the page to pre-order your copy of Tony Horton's next Extreme workout! Warning!!! This is not for the faint of heart. You must be in good physical condition to attempt this workout.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Get Fit and Make Money doing it! It is simple and only costs $39.95 to get started. Then your monthly web site operating charges are only $14.95 after your first month. You get a 25% discount on everything Beachbody offers and you earn a 25% commission on anything you sell from your sites! My business has paid for itself within 6 months of getting started and now I get a extra paycheck every Thursday from Beachbody. It is great part-time income. Want to find out more, just click HERE and join today. You get a iron clad 30-day money back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose by joining and taking a close look at this opportuinty. It very well may change your financial future for good!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
My Health and Fitness Journey and My Why
In Jan 2009, I made a life decision to improve my health and fitness because my health had declined since retiring from the military and I was on the verge of becoming a type 2 diabetic. I was warned by my family doctor that I had to exercise and eat better or be put on diabetes medication. This was a turning point for me.
I decided to order a in-home workout program called P90X, but during my research and subsequent failure of the “fit test” I decided to start with the Power 90 (P90) boot camp workout. I set a goal in Jan 2009 to lose 30 pounds. Fortunately, I was able to lose 41 pounds from Jan – Oct 2009 using 3 Beachbody programs including Power 90, Power 90 Master Series, and finally P90X. I was able to keep that weight off since Oct 09 until just recently when I let my priorities go haywire. I fell off my program of exercise and nutrition and have declined in my health and gained back 8 pounds of body fat! Yikes!
During this time, I decided to become a Beachbody Coach. My reason at the time was to be able to get the 25% discount on the products offered by the company. I had no real interest in building the business; I just wanted to save money. However, I told my brother about signing up as a coach and he was excited and said he had thought about becoming a coach also, so he decided to let me sponsor him as a member of my team. Once he signed up, I signed my wife up and became what we call an Emerald Coach in the business plan.
Becoming an Emerald coach is the first step to being successful in the Coaching business. The reason is because Beachbody has a unique marketing business model where they give Coaches paying customers once you qualify as an Emerald coach. That is, the company gives you new paying customers every week. Whenever these customers purchase anything in the future from the company, you get a commission. It’s just that simple. I have about 385 customers at this time. The commissions I get from these customers have allowed me to pay off both of my 2010 vehicles, one in 10 months and the other in 14 months. Both vehicles were financed with no money down from the dealers. We have also paid for several vacations in the past 2 years that cost us very little. As an example, my wife and I went on a SCUBA diving trip in the Bahamas in May 2011 and only had to pay for the diving. Everything else was paid with profits we made from our Beachbody business. Even better, two of the trips we have taken are almost totally tax deductable so my total tax liability is greatly reduced. That’s a secret the wealthy have been hiding from the rest of us!
Don’t get me wrong, I have built my business up to what is called a Diamond level business. I get additional bonuses from what the coaches on my team produce. I average anywhere from $400 to $1200 dollars per month doing my business part-time. Not bad for a $39.95 initial investment. That may not seem like much, but it really comes in handy and gives me the freedom to buy things I want, when I want them. I don’t really need much, but it’s good to know I have the extra money if I need it. I do, however, work my business and treat it like a business, not a hobby. Too many people start a Beachbody coaching business and wait around for something to happen. The problem with that strategy is that when you are President and CEO of your own business, if you do nothing, you make nothing. It’s the same as if you invested $500 thousand dollars into a franchise and never showed up for the training or work. You will quickly be out of business and a half-million poorer if you don’t take action. You get out of your Beachbody Coaching business exactly what you put into it.
Fortunately, I’m in an established career and make a fair sum of money, so money doesn’t need to be my primary focus for my business. I want to help others be successful and help them lose weight and get fit and healthy. If they want to make some extra money, I can help them do that also. One of the main reasons I joined the military was to serve others. Being a Beachbody Coach is a natural extension of that desire to serve. I am also competitive by nature and want to achieve what others have done in the business. However, lately I have found myself trying to “sell” our products and the business opportunity. In my effort to achieve “success” in the business, I have lost track of what is really important to me.
My own health and fitness MUST come first. Then second, I want to help others lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. Then, if they want to find out about the business opportunity and learn how to make some extra money, great. If not, that is great too. Not everyone can understand how, or is willing to do the work necessary to build personal wealth. The Coaching opportunity might not be what they want to do. Fortunately, there is still unlimited opportunity in our society for industrious people to make extra money.
I will say one thing though, whatever you do, make sure you are working for yourself instead of someone else. Working for others even part time is building their wealth on the back of your labor. Jim Rohn said it is better to work harder on yourself than you do on your job. This is the way to build a solid financial future, by working for you. But it will take commitment and effort on your part, or nothing will happen. If you’re not willing to work as hard for yourself as you do on your job, then you will probably waste your time and money. Nothing worth having will come without effort. So, whatever you decide to do, make sure you are willing to commit to it and stick with it for the long term. Facebook or Microsoft opportunities only come around rarely. I wouldn’t expect that kind of fortune to fall in your lap, though it is possible.
I am making a new commitment to myself starting today. I will recommit myself to improving my health and overall fitness by following a program I already know will work for me. I will start a new round of P90 and redo each program I completed in the past over the next 12 months. I will learn all I can about proper nutrition and be more disciplined about what I eat on a daily basis. I will enter the Beachbody $100,000 Challenge and work to transform my body and have a chance to win all the cash! I will log my workouts in the WOWY Super Gym for a chance to win $500 each day I workout.
And finally, I will help anyone who wants to improve their health and fitness. If you are interested in joining me on my journey, maybe we can go on it together. Just send me a message and we can start whenever you are ready. Let’s get started.
To your health and fitness,
JW
I decided to order a in-home workout program called P90X, but during my research and subsequent failure of the “fit test” I decided to start with the Power 90 (P90) boot camp workout. I set a goal in Jan 2009 to lose 30 pounds. Fortunately, I was able to lose 41 pounds from Jan – Oct 2009 using 3 Beachbody programs including Power 90, Power 90 Master Series, and finally P90X. I was able to keep that weight off since Oct 09 until just recently when I let my priorities go haywire. I fell off my program of exercise and nutrition and have declined in my health and gained back 8 pounds of body fat! Yikes!
During this time, I decided to become a Beachbody Coach. My reason at the time was to be able to get the 25% discount on the products offered by the company. I had no real interest in building the business; I just wanted to save money. However, I told my brother about signing up as a coach and he was excited and said he had thought about becoming a coach also, so he decided to let me sponsor him as a member of my team. Once he signed up, I signed my wife up and became what we call an Emerald Coach in the business plan.
Becoming an Emerald coach is the first step to being successful in the Coaching business. The reason is because Beachbody has a unique marketing business model where they give Coaches paying customers once you qualify as an Emerald coach. That is, the company gives you new paying customers every week. Whenever these customers purchase anything in the future from the company, you get a commission. It’s just that simple. I have about 385 customers at this time. The commissions I get from these customers have allowed me to pay off both of my 2010 vehicles, one in 10 months and the other in 14 months. Both vehicles were financed with no money down from the dealers. We have also paid for several vacations in the past 2 years that cost us very little. As an example, my wife and I went on a SCUBA diving trip in the Bahamas in May 2011 and only had to pay for the diving. Everything else was paid with profits we made from our Beachbody business. Even better, two of the trips we have taken are almost totally tax deductable so my total tax liability is greatly reduced. That’s a secret the wealthy have been hiding from the rest of us!
Don’t get me wrong, I have built my business up to what is called a Diamond level business. I get additional bonuses from what the coaches on my team produce. I average anywhere from $400 to $1200 dollars per month doing my business part-time. Not bad for a $39.95 initial investment. That may not seem like much, but it really comes in handy and gives me the freedom to buy things I want, when I want them. I don’t really need much, but it’s good to know I have the extra money if I need it. I do, however, work my business and treat it like a business, not a hobby. Too many people start a Beachbody coaching business and wait around for something to happen. The problem with that strategy is that when you are President and CEO of your own business, if you do nothing, you make nothing. It’s the same as if you invested $500 thousand dollars into a franchise and never showed up for the training or work. You will quickly be out of business and a half-million poorer if you don’t take action. You get out of your Beachbody Coaching business exactly what you put into it.
Fortunately, I’m in an established career and make a fair sum of money, so money doesn’t need to be my primary focus for my business. I want to help others be successful and help them lose weight and get fit and healthy. If they want to make some extra money, I can help them do that also. One of the main reasons I joined the military was to serve others. Being a Beachbody Coach is a natural extension of that desire to serve. I am also competitive by nature and want to achieve what others have done in the business. However, lately I have found myself trying to “sell” our products and the business opportunity. In my effort to achieve “success” in the business, I have lost track of what is really important to me.
My own health and fitness MUST come first. Then second, I want to help others lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. Then, if they want to find out about the business opportunity and learn how to make some extra money, great. If not, that is great too. Not everyone can understand how, or is willing to do the work necessary to build personal wealth. The Coaching opportunity might not be what they want to do. Fortunately, there is still unlimited opportunity in our society for industrious people to make extra money.
I will say one thing though, whatever you do, make sure you are working for yourself instead of someone else. Working for others even part time is building their wealth on the back of your labor. Jim Rohn said it is better to work harder on yourself than you do on your job. This is the way to build a solid financial future, by working for you. But it will take commitment and effort on your part, or nothing will happen. If you’re not willing to work as hard for yourself as you do on your job, then you will probably waste your time and money. Nothing worth having will come without effort. So, whatever you decide to do, make sure you are willing to commit to it and stick with it for the long term. Facebook or Microsoft opportunities only come around rarely. I wouldn’t expect that kind of fortune to fall in your lap, though it is possible.
I am making a new commitment to myself starting today. I will recommit myself to improving my health and overall fitness by following a program I already know will work for me. I will start a new round of P90 and redo each program I completed in the past over the next 12 months. I will learn all I can about proper nutrition and be more disciplined about what I eat on a daily basis. I will enter the Beachbody $100,000 Challenge and work to transform my body and have a chance to win all the cash! I will log my workouts in the WOWY Super Gym for a chance to win $500 each day I workout.
And finally, I will help anyone who wants to improve their health and fitness. If you are interested in joining me on my journey, maybe we can go on it together. Just send me a message and we can start whenever you are ready. Let’s get started.
To your health and fitness,
JW
Friday, August 5, 2011
My 12 Week Workout and Nutrition Plan
Hi everyone! Hope you are doing your part to help reverse and end the trend of obesity in the US! This past Monday I started a new 12-week program for my personal health and fitness and have made several changes to reduce my body fat and improve my overall health.
First, I have to admit that I slacked off my program for about 10 weeks starting with our dive vacation to the Bahamas in late May. That is where my plan and routine went awry. Just to show you a good example of how easy it is to get off your program, no matter how long you have been exercising and eating better, I want to use myself as an example of what NOT to do.
We had our vacation all set up and I took my workouts with me to stay on track. However, once we got to the resort, I quickly fell off my program. Here is why. Since I was scheduling 2 or 3 dives per day, I rationalized that I really didn’t need to do my workouts because I would be burning an average of 900-1100 calories per dive. Therefore, I would be burning about 2000-3000 extra calories per day diving so why workout? Sounds pretty good, huh? Then, since I was burning all those calories, I decided I could eat more, and add a little junk to keep my energy levels up so I could power through those dives, including diving with Sharks (I have pics on my Facebook page if you want to see them.) So this is how my week went. Throw in a few beers and drinks every day and I was completely off program.
OK, it’s just a week, right? I have been good for over a year and been sticking with my plan and getting good results and still had a few weeks before the Beachbody Summit to slim down and be at my peak when I showed up at the conference. Life has a way of changing your circumstances without warning. Once I got back from vacation, I found myself in the middle of a family emergency that resulted in a lot of travel to hospitals, lack of sleep, eating fast food, and got getting any exercise for almost 4 weeks going to the Summit. The result of those bad choices was a weight gain from 195 before leaving for vacation up to 207.4 pounds in about 8 weeks! Yikes. It was just a bunch of circumstances, and my own rationalization that ended up packing on the pounds in just a short period of time. I managed to wipe out about 10 months of effort in just a matter of weeks by not sticking to my exercise routine and nutrition plan. It is just that simple.
To make matters worse, my energy levels went down, I started feeling sluggish again, my stress levels are up, I looked terrible at Summit with all my Beachbody friends and I am just disappointed in myself for my lack of discipline. And, I only have myself to blame. I am not going to beat myself up too much over it because in the end, I know what I need to do to get myself back on track and I already have all the tools I need to get out of the mess I have gotten myself into.
I have a number of Beachbody workout programs I have successfully used to get in shape and live a better lifestyle. I’m not a Gym Rat so the at home workout programs fit my lifestyle better. I guess they are not for everyone, but millions of people around the country and world are literally changing their lives with Beachbody workout programs. My personal preference are Tony Horton’s workouts. I have several of his workouts, but I also have Insanity, Turbo Fire, Slim in 6, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs and other programs I can use in the privacy of my home. With my busy schedule, they are a great way to keep myself in shape and improve my lifestyle.
I don’t have to fight traffic home, grab my gym bag and go back out into traffic to get to the gym and then fight other people to use the machines and all that is included in that environment. I get home, change my clothes, go into my spare bedroom, put in my workout disc and press play. Then it is a matter of me “doing my best and forgetting the rest” as Tony Horton would say. I just do the best I can on any given day. I may not feel like doing the workout, but I find that once I push play, I get pumped up and start kicking it into high gear and pushing myself. I don’t spend any time waiting for some machine to open up or hanging out BSing. I just follow the workout on the TV and move through it at a good pace and level of intensity. Before I know it, I am soaked with sweat and have blown through a hour workout and can get in the shower, and enjoy the rest of my evening.
Doing workouts from home don’t require any more discipline than schlepping to a gym every day. It is just more convenient to most people. I also like the idea of the Team Beachbody community where thousands of people are logging on and helping each other stay motivated and accountable. I have made friends with people all over the country who are trying to get and stay health and fit using Beachbody workouts. Celebrities, professional sports figures, and even Michelle Obama and her staff use Beachbody programs to get, and stay fit. How cool is that?
So this round I am doing a hybrid program to get myself back on track over the next 12 weeks. I will be doing the Power 90 boot camp for the first 4 weeks for phase 1, then I will do 4 weeks of the P90 Master Series videos for phase 2 and finally I will finish this round with P90X Phase 3 of the Classic version. This should have me right back on track with my functional strength, fat loss, and stamina improvement. This is where I need to be to feel better and know I am on the right path.
My goal is to lose 15 pounds this round and I know from past experience this is easily doable. I also want to reduce my body fat percentage to 12-15 percent. This is more challenging than the weight and diet becomes a important factor to achieving the fat loss.
I am going to use Michi’s Ladder and a balanced approach to lose the weight and fat over time. My macro-nutrients will be 50% Protein, 30% Carbs and 20% fat. This ratio seems to work best for me personally. The standard guideline is 30% protein, 40% carbs, and 30% fats if you are interested. This should be where you start and then tweak your ratios to find what works best for you. Remember, everyone is different but the above ratio covers about 80% of the people to get results. Next, I will try to adjust my calories up or down to find the zone that will help me keep my energy up and reduce body fat. Ironically, sometimes you have to eat more to lose weight. My starting calorie target is 2600 calories per day. I will only make minor changes in my intake about every 2 weeks or so.
Finally, my nutrition is centered on Shakeology. Why? Because in all my research, Shakeology is hands down the most nutritious meal replacement you can get. I have been drinking a glass of Shakeology every day for nearly a year now and I know how it makes me feel. Plus, there is nowhere in the world that you can get more than 70 super food ingredients in a single serving. At only 140 calories, it is literally “The Healthiest Meal of the Day”. You can click HERE to read all about Shakeology. I am completely satisfied with the Chocolate. It satisfies my chocolate cravings, gives me an instant energy boost that lasts all morning and it has helped me stay regular and keep my body cleansed of the junk I put into it from time to time (no one is perfect.)
I will be posting my accountability pictures this weekend so you can see what I look like now and I will do 30-day updates so you can see what kind of results I get this round.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you will follow me and watch my progress over the next 11.5 weeks. Feel free to comment on any of my posts. If you want to contact me for help on your personal health and fitness journey, please email me at jimwyatt556@gmail.com and I will be happy to help you any way I can.
To your health and fitness,
jw
First, I have to admit that I slacked off my program for about 10 weeks starting with our dive vacation to the Bahamas in late May. That is where my plan and routine went awry. Just to show you a good example of how easy it is to get off your program, no matter how long you have been exercising and eating better, I want to use myself as an example of what NOT to do.
We had our vacation all set up and I took my workouts with me to stay on track. However, once we got to the resort, I quickly fell off my program. Here is why. Since I was scheduling 2 or 3 dives per day, I rationalized that I really didn’t need to do my workouts because I would be burning an average of 900-1100 calories per dive. Therefore, I would be burning about 2000-3000 extra calories per day diving so why workout? Sounds pretty good, huh? Then, since I was burning all those calories, I decided I could eat more, and add a little junk to keep my energy levels up so I could power through those dives, including diving with Sharks (I have pics on my Facebook page if you want to see them.) So this is how my week went. Throw in a few beers and drinks every day and I was completely off program.
OK, it’s just a week, right? I have been good for over a year and been sticking with my plan and getting good results and still had a few weeks before the Beachbody Summit to slim down and be at my peak when I showed up at the conference. Life has a way of changing your circumstances without warning. Once I got back from vacation, I found myself in the middle of a family emergency that resulted in a lot of travel to hospitals, lack of sleep, eating fast food, and got getting any exercise for almost 4 weeks going to the Summit. The result of those bad choices was a weight gain from 195 before leaving for vacation up to 207.4 pounds in about 8 weeks! Yikes. It was just a bunch of circumstances, and my own rationalization that ended up packing on the pounds in just a short period of time. I managed to wipe out about 10 months of effort in just a matter of weeks by not sticking to my exercise routine and nutrition plan. It is just that simple.
To make matters worse, my energy levels went down, I started feeling sluggish again, my stress levels are up, I looked terrible at Summit with all my Beachbody friends and I am just disappointed in myself for my lack of discipline. And, I only have myself to blame. I am not going to beat myself up too much over it because in the end, I know what I need to do to get myself back on track and I already have all the tools I need to get out of the mess I have gotten myself into.
I have a number of Beachbody workout programs I have successfully used to get in shape and live a better lifestyle. I’m not a Gym Rat so the at home workout programs fit my lifestyle better. I guess they are not for everyone, but millions of people around the country and world are literally changing their lives with Beachbody workout programs. My personal preference are Tony Horton’s workouts. I have several of his workouts, but I also have Insanity, Turbo Fire, Slim in 6, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs and other programs I can use in the privacy of my home. With my busy schedule, they are a great way to keep myself in shape and improve my lifestyle.
I don’t have to fight traffic home, grab my gym bag and go back out into traffic to get to the gym and then fight other people to use the machines and all that is included in that environment. I get home, change my clothes, go into my spare bedroom, put in my workout disc and press play. Then it is a matter of me “doing my best and forgetting the rest” as Tony Horton would say. I just do the best I can on any given day. I may not feel like doing the workout, but I find that once I push play, I get pumped up and start kicking it into high gear and pushing myself. I don’t spend any time waiting for some machine to open up or hanging out BSing. I just follow the workout on the TV and move through it at a good pace and level of intensity. Before I know it, I am soaked with sweat and have blown through a hour workout and can get in the shower, and enjoy the rest of my evening.
Doing workouts from home don’t require any more discipline than schlepping to a gym every day. It is just more convenient to most people. I also like the idea of the Team Beachbody community where thousands of people are logging on and helping each other stay motivated and accountable. I have made friends with people all over the country who are trying to get and stay health and fit using Beachbody workouts. Celebrities, professional sports figures, and even Michelle Obama and her staff use Beachbody programs to get, and stay fit. How cool is that?
So this round I am doing a hybrid program to get myself back on track over the next 12 weeks. I will be doing the Power 90 boot camp for the first 4 weeks for phase 1, then I will do 4 weeks of the P90 Master Series videos for phase 2 and finally I will finish this round with P90X Phase 3 of the Classic version. This should have me right back on track with my functional strength, fat loss, and stamina improvement. This is where I need to be to feel better and know I am on the right path.
My goal is to lose 15 pounds this round and I know from past experience this is easily doable. I also want to reduce my body fat percentage to 12-15 percent. This is more challenging than the weight and diet becomes a important factor to achieving the fat loss.
I am going to use Michi’s Ladder and a balanced approach to lose the weight and fat over time. My macro-nutrients will be 50% Protein, 30% Carbs and 20% fat. This ratio seems to work best for me personally. The standard guideline is 30% protein, 40% carbs, and 30% fats if you are interested. This should be where you start and then tweak your ratios to find what works best for you. Remember, everyone is different but the above ratio covers about 80% of the people to get results. Next, I will try to adjust my calories up or down to find the zone that will help me keep my energy up and reduce body fat. Ironically, sometimes you have to eat more to lose weight. My starting calorie target is 2600 calories per day. I will only make minor changes in my intake about every 2 weeks or so.
Finally, my nutrition is centered on Shakeology. Why? Because in all my research, Shakeology is hands down the most nutritious meal replacement you can get. I have been drinking a glass of Shakeology every day for nearly a year now and I know how it makes me feel. Plus, there is nowhere in the world that you can get more than 70 super food ingredients in a single serving. At only 140 calories, it is literally “The Healthiest Meal of the Day”. You can click HERE to read all about Shakeology. I am completely satisfied with the Chocolate. It satisfies my chocolate cravings, gives me an instant energy boost that lasts all morning and it has helped me stay regular and keep my body cleansed of the junk I put into it from time to time (no one is perfect.)
I will be posting my accountability pictures this weekend so you can see what I look like now and I will do 30-day updates so you can see what kind of results I get this round.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you will follow me and watch my progress over the next 11.5 weeks. Feel free to comment on any of my posts. If you want to contact me for help on your personal health and fitness journey, please email me at jimwyatt556@gmail.com and I will be happy to help you any way I can.
To your health and fitness,
jw
Monday, August 1, 2011
Re-Starting with the $100,000 Beachbody Challenge!!
Hi everyone!
I have been "resting" my body for the past few weeks trying to recover from overtraining and a number of personal issues I have been dealing with over the past two months or so. Unfortunately, I should have stayed on my health program instead of letting life get in the way and distract me from one of the most important aspects of my healthy lifestyle, that is to stay focused and keep moving forward.
The result of my lack of discipline has caused me to go from 194 pounds back up to 207.4 pounds in about 10 weeks of sporadic exercise and slacking off on my nutrition. I can see how sudden events cause high levels of stress and you can lose focus on what is important to your personal health and fitness levels. I am a perfect example of what NOT to do! Eventhough I know better and have learned how to do the right things when it comes to my health, I allowed myself to fall right off the grid and back into a very unhealthy lifestyle.
Now, I don't have the energy I had only a few weeks ago and my my sleep pattern has been disrupted due to issues I really have no control over. This is having a negative impact on my overall health and well-being. I am tired all day long and end up falling asleep on the couch when I know I should be doing my daily workout routine. Then waking up and going to bed and not being able to fall asleep, resulting in less restfull sleep and lower energy levels during the day. This is a viscious cycle once you get in the pattern. I have to break that pattern and force myself to do my workouts and get in bed at a decent time.
To make matters worse, all the events in the past couple of months have resulted in me eating less nutritious and not as clean as I know I should. Instead of sticking to my plan, I made a bad decision for convenience to eat fast food to get me through all the hospital travel, court issues, and lawyer visits. The reality is that I needed to be eating especially clean and exercising consistently to cope better but I was doing the exact opposite. One thing I did manage to stick with was drinking my Shakeology almost every day. At least I was getting some healthy nutrition in spite of my lack of overall discipline. In the end, that probably kept me from gaining even more weight.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have let my body rest as much as possible and didn't do any of my workouts. I wanted to give my body complete rest as much as possible. I also refocused on my nutrition and have come up with a plan to eat better in the future. Now, all I need to do is add my workouts back into my daily routine and I will be back on track. And lastly, I have been getting more restful sleep by going to bed on time and getting up consistently to get my biological clock back on track. I have been averaging about 7 hours per night of restful sleep, which is on target for me personally.
As you know I have been using Beachbody workout programs since January of 2009 when I first "pushed play." The great thing is that I already own the solution to my fitness. I don't have to go out and buy anything else. All I need to do is get back on track and start using the programs again. With that in mind, I have decided to do a hybrid 12 week program that includes three of the workouts I used to lose 41 pounds of fat in 10 months and sustain that for over a year. I already know what to do, and how to do it, so my plan is simple.
Beachbody developes their programs over a 12 week "round" and for the most of their programs they are devided into 3 4-week blocks or phases. So to continue to recover, but get back to my workout routines, I have decided to do the Power 90 (P90) Boot camp for the first 4 weeks, then do the P90 Master Series workouts for the second 4 weeks and then finish this round with P90X Phase III as my closeout phase.
The reason I have decided to do a hybrid is that I already know how to do the programs and how they affect my body. Since I haven't been working out for a while, it will be like starting over so I don't want to risk further injury by over-doing it. Rather, I can use the different programs to quickly ramp up my fitness and get back on track in 12 weeks instead of several 36 months if I redo the programs individually.
I am confident that if I am consistent, and push myself to my personal limit and then just a little more, I will be right back where I need to be. So today is my Day 1 of my 12 week program. I plan to post at least once a week about my progress and let you know how it is going and what challenges I am facing. This will also help me be accountable and keep me on track.
I ask that you follow my blog and watch me to make sure I am posting regularily so I will be accountable. I would appreciate your support by helping me out. Make sure you bust on me if I slack off on my posts. I will post at least once a week and hopefully more if I have time.
Also, if you are interested in trying one of the programs and entering Beachbody's $100,000 challenge, let me know. I can be reached at jimwyatt556@gmail.com I will coach you for FREE and help you help us end the trend of obesity in the US.
To your health and fitness,
jw
I have been "resting" my body for the past few weeks trying to recover from overtraining and a number of personal issues I have been dealing with over the past two months or so. Unfortunately, I should have stayed on my health program instead of letting life get in the way and distract me from one of the most important aspects of my healthy lifestyle, that is to stay focused and keep moving forward.
The result of my lack of discipline has caused me to go from 194 pounds back up to 207.4 pounds in about 10 weeks of sporadic exercise and slacking off on my nutrition. I can see how sudden events cause high levels of stress and you can lose focus on what is important to your personal health and fitness levels. I am a perfect example of what NOT to do! Eventhough I know better and have learned how to do the right things when it comes to my health, I allowed myself to fall right off the grid and back into a very unhealthy lifestyle.
Now, I don't have the energy I had only a few weeks ago and my my sleep pattern has been disrupted due to issues I really have no control over. This is having a negative impact on my overall health and well-being. I am tired all day long and end up falling asleep on the couch when I know I should be doing my daily workout routine. Then waking up and going to bed and not being able to fall asleep, resulting in less restfull sleep and lower energy levels during the day. This is a viscious cycle once you get in the pattern. I have to break that pattern and force myself to do my workouts and get in bed at a decent time.
To make matters worse, all the events in the past couple of months have resulted in me eating less nutritious and not as clean as I know I should. Instead of sticking to my plan, I made a bad decision for convenience to eat fast food to get me through all the hospital travel, court issues, and lawyer visits. The reality is that I needed to be eating especially clean and exercising consistently to cope better but I was doing the exact opposite. One thing I did manage to stick with was drinking my Shakeology almost every day. At least I was getting some healthy nutrition in spite of my lack of overall discipline. In the end, that probably kept me from gaining even more weight.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have let my body rest as much as possible and didn't do any of my workouts. I wanted to give my body complete rest as much as possible. I also refocused on my nutrition and have come up with a plan to eat better in the future. Now, all I need to do is add my workouts back into my daily routine and I will be back on track. And lastly, I have been getting more restful sleep by going to bed on time and getting up consistently to get my biological clock back on track. I have been averaging about 7 hours per night of restful sleep, which is on target for me personally.
As you know I have been using Beachbody workout programs since January of 2009 when I first "pushed play." The great thing is that I already own the solution to my fitness. I don't have to go out and buy anything else. All I need to do is get back on track and start using the programs again. With that in mind, I have decided to do a hybrid 12 week program that includes three of the workouts I used to lose 41 pounds of fat in 10 months and sustain that for over a year. I already know what to do, and how to do it, so my plan is simple.
Beachbody developes their programs over a 12 week "round" and for the most of their programs they are devided into 3 4-week blocks or phases. So to continue to recover, but get back to my workout routines, I have decided to do the Power 90 (P90) Boot camp for the first 4 weeks, then do the P90 Master Series workouts for the second 4 weeks and then finish this round with P90X Phase III as my closeout phase.
The reason I have decided to do a hybrid is that I already know how to do the programs and how they affect my body. Since I haven't been working out for a while, it will be like starting over so I don't want to risk further injury by over-doing it. Rather, I can use the different programs to quickly ramp up my fitness and get back on track in 12 weeks instead of several 36 months if I redo the programs individually.
I am confident that if I am consistent, and push myself to my personal limit and then just a little more, I will be right back where I need to be. So today is my Day 1 of my 12 week program. I plan to post at least once a week about my progress and let you know how it is going and what challenges I am facing. This will also help me be accountable and keep me on track.
I ask that you follow my blog and watch me to make sure I am posting regularily so I will be accountable. I would appreciate your support by helping me out. Make sure you bust on me if I slack off on my posts. I will post at least once a week and hopefully more if I have time.
Also, if you are interested in trying one of the programs and entering Beachbody's $100,000 challenge, let me know. I can be reached at jimwyatt556@gmail.com I will coach you for FREE and help you help us end the trend of obesity in the US.
To your health and fitness,
jw
Friday, July 29, 2011
Benefits of Fitness
FROM: The President's Council on Fitness
The human body was designed for activity, and by exercising regularly you’ll look and feel better—every day.
Remember, fitness is about improving muscular strength and endurance, cardiorespiratory strength and endurance, and flexibility through regular physical activity. That even includes things like walking the dog, folding the laundry, or playing tag with the kids.
Why Is Staying Active So Important?
Because the results are amazing:
A healthy heart
Regular physical activity can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels and can reduce the risk of illnesses such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
Strong bones
Exercise is necessary to build strong, healthy bones and can help slow the bone loss associated with getting older.
A sense of well-being
Being in good shape can give you more energy, reduce anxiety and depression, improve self-esteem, and help you better manage stress.
A good social life
Staying active is a great way to have fun, make new friends, and spend quality time with family.
Looking and feeling better
You look better when you’re in shape. Staying active helps you tone muscles and maintain a healthy weight—and can even improve your posture.
Get Started—Right Now!
If you’re reading this, you’re already on your way to a healthier you. Now, just do a little follow-through. Create an account with the President’s Challenge, and then choose a challenge. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to physical activity or an Ironman competitor—we have a program for you.
The time is now. You’ll notice the difference right away, in your body and your mind.
Also, if you are looking for a workout program that you can do in the privacy of your own home, click HERE to see what is available for you and will help you earn a certificate from the President's Council on Fitness!
To your health and fitness!
jw
The human body was designed for activity, and by exercising regularly you’ll look and feel better—every day.
Remember, fitness is about improving muscular strength and endurance, cardiorespiratory strength and endurance, and flexibility through regular physical activity. That even includes things like walking the dog, folding the laundry, or playing tag with the kids.
Why Is Staying Active So Important?
Because the results are amazing:
A healthy heart
Regular physical activity can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels and can reduce the risk of illnesses such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
Strong bones
Exercise is necessary to build strong, healthy bones and can help slow the bone loss associated with getting older.
A sense of well-being
Being in good shape can give you more energy, reduce anxiety and depression, improve self-esteem, and help you better manage stress.
A good social life
Staying active is a great way to have fun, make new friends, and spend quality time with family.
Looking and feeling better
You look better when you’re in shape. Staying active helps you tone muscles and maintain a healthy weight—and can even improve your posture.
Get Started—Right Now!
If you’re reading this, you’re already on your way to a healthier you. Now, just do a little follow-through. Create an account with the President’s Challenge, and then choose a challenge. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to physical activity or an Ironman competitor—we have a program for you.
The time is now. You’ll notice the difference right away, in your body and your mind.
Also, if you are looking for a workout program that you can do in the privacy of your own home, click HERE to see what is available for you and will help you earn a certificate from the President's Council on Fitness!
To your health and fitness!
jw
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Is P90X the RIGHT program for you?
I completed my first round of P90X in Oct 09. By the end of the program I had lost a total of 41 pounds, been taken off two blood pressure medications, and lowered my overall cholesterol and was literally in the best shape of my life. The “X” in P90X stands for extreme. In other words, this is not a beginner program. It can be used by beginners but you really have to be committed to the program and modify the workouts heavily to prevent injury and get through the whole 12 weeks. Even though this program will work for anyone who can gut it out for the whole 90 days, it may not be the best program for those who have never worked out, or haven't worked out for a long period of time.
Our society has become more sedentary and we don’t get the physical activity we did only a few decades ago when we still had industry and agriculture in our country. Now, everything is outsourced to poorer countries that will do the labor for less money leaving people here without much need to be physically active outside of a few games of touch football in the summer, or an occasional swim in the community pool. Other than that, we pretty much sit in front of a computer all day or the TV at night. We are slowly turning to mush and the Centers for Disease Control has been sounding the alarm for many years, but no one is listening.
In Dec 08, I had a doctor’s appointment and my doctor told me I was pre-diabetic and I had a choice. I could either start exercising regularly and eating better, or I could be placed on diabetes medication for the rest of my life. I was already on two blood pressure medications and at the heaviest I'd ever been at 234 pounds. After 2 heart attacks in my early 40s and a stent already in my chest, I knew I had to make a change in my life if I wanted to live. I had to do something to stop and reverse the downward spiral I was in. I felt I had to take responsibility for my own health and fitness. What the doctors were doing, wasn’t working.
I had abused my body for so long, I really didn’t know where to turn.
In the past, I had tried all the gimmicks, like diet pills, fad diets, Ab crunch machines, that electric abdominal cruncher belt, and so forth. I don’t know how much money I wasted over the years trying to find an “easy” fix to my weight and health problem. Some of it worked in the short term, but nothing lasted. All the while, I was staying up late at night watching the infomercials, including P90X while I lay on the couch stuffing my face with potato chips, popcorn and ice cream. I had lost all my strength and energy and was too lazy to do anything about it. I had too many excuses. I had heart attacks, I had bad knees and feet, I was too heavy to do anything strenuous, and on and on. But when my doctor told me I was going to be put on the diabetes medication, I had to do something about it.
I knew I needed to do something drastic. Since I had seen P90X so many times, I decided to do some research on-line to find out more about it. I figured it was just another sales pitch like all the other things I had tried in the past and it cost $120 plus shipping so I didn’t want to waste even more money. As I researched the program, I found the PDF file for the Fit Test you can take to see if you are a good candidate for the program. I downloaded it and promptly failed the test. The web site I was on recommended I NOT buy P90X as my workout program!! I was so unhealthy; the company didn’t want to sell me their product. That really sucked. However, the website recommended I start with a “foundation” program to build my basic fitness level before attempting to do something as extreme ad P90X.
The programs that were recommended were Power 90 (P90) by Tony Horton; Turbo Jam by Chelene Johnson, Hip Hop Abs by Shaun Thompson, or Slim in 6 by Debbie Siebers as the basic programs to use to start my journey back to health and fitness. I had never heard of any of these programs but I am glad I didn’t waste my money starting with P90X. I don’t think I would have been able to complete that program as unhealthy as I was at the time. Since I really wanted to do P90X, I decided to give P90 a try because Tony Horton created both programs. Also, the foundation programs are about $60 instead of $120 for the advanced programs so I stood to lose less money if I didn’t like the program. As it turns out, all of Beachbody’s programs give you a 30 or 90 day money back guarantee and I have found they honor their commitment to the public with their guarantees. So the risk was reduced to nothing but my shipping costs if I decided to send it back. What did I have to lose? Nothing but a few pounds as it turned out.
So I ordered P90 and pushed play for the first time on 5 Jan 09, the day I received the program in the mail. The first workout was called Sweat 1 and 2. It was about 30 minutes long and in hind sight, was a very basic program. But by the time I finished the workout, I was laying on the floor in a puddle of sweat thinking I was going to die at any minute! LOL! Needless to say, I survived that first workout and the next day did a workout called Sculpt 1 and 2. It was hard too but I managed to get through that one also. I remember thinking about the cliché that “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” and I was determined to make it through at least the first week, which was basically just repeating the Sweat routine then the Sculpt routine for 6 days and then you get to have a rest day on day 7. Then you just repeat the workouts every week until you feel you are able to keep up, then you move on to Sweat and Sculpt 3 and 4 which increased the time to about 35 or 40 minutes.
I committed myself to this workout program for the whole 90 days and ended up losing 18 pounds of body fat and increasing my lean muscle mass just using my body weight and a couple of dumbbells. I could have lost more weight, but I didn’t follow the nutrition guide, I just kept eating fast food and drinking Pepsi like I had over the years and still got good results. I was totally pleased with my results and felt better than I had since before my first heart attack ten years earlier. I figured if I lost 18 pounds in 12 weeks, I could lose 30 pounds in a year, so I set that as my personal goal for the year. I also decided to get a copy of the P90 Master Series tapes to keep challenging myself, which ultimately turned out to be a perfect transition program for me between P90 and P90X.
The master series workouts are about 40-50 minutes each and introduce new exercises to keep your body guessing and improving. By the time I finished that round, I had started cleaning up my diet and had lost a total of 28 pounds in only 24 weeks. I was also confident that I was ready for the extreme challenge of P90X, so I finally ordered it and made up my mind that I was going to do my very best for the 12 weeks and then I would know that the program either works, or is just a bunch of hype. I have to say, it is a very demanding fitness program. I was sore all over the first week and the workouts are about 60 minutes each except for Yoga X, which is 90 minutes long. Everyone of the workouts kicked my butt and I had to modify many of the exercises but the program shows you how to modify and still get results.
By the time I finished my first round of P90X in Oct of 2009, I had lost 41 pounds, come off both blood pressure medications, was low risk for type 2 diabetes, and lowered my cholesterol to an overall 82! My doctor couldn’t believe how well I had done in such a short period of time. Along the way, I also won $1,000 dollars in the Beachbody Million Dollar Body Game for my transformation story. You can check it out HERE. I hadn't even finished the round of P90X when I won. Overall, I have exceeded every goal I set for myself and have managed to keep the weight off for over 2 years now. I have tried a lot of the workout programs and each one of them work to improve your health and overall fitness level if you just follow the program as designed and do the nutrition plan. You will get great results, or your money back, it is as simple as that.
I believe Beachbody has the ultimate solution to the obesity epidemic in our country. They use a three-pronged approach that is proven by science to be the best way to regain your health and sustain it over time. Beachbody produces the best workout programs in the industry today, period. Each program has a specific nutrition guide designed for that program. Then you get a FREE coach assigned to you to help you succeed and get the maximum results from your program. These three things combined give you the best chance to achieve your goals and get into the best shape of your life. It has worked for millions of people, and it will work for you if you decide you want to live a better lifestyle, commit do one of the programs, you will succeed in getting healthy and fit. Now, it's up to you! What are you going to do about it?
If you want to find out more about our fitness programs, the Beachbody community, or the coaching opportunity, just check out my website HERE.
To your health and fitness,
jw
Our society has become more sedentary and we don’t get the physical activity we did only a few decades ago when we still had industry and agriculture in our country. Now, everything is outsourced to poorer countries that will do the labor for less money leaving people here without much need to be physically active outside of a few games of touch football in the summer, or an occasional swim in the community pool. Other than that, we pretty much sit in front of a computer all day or the TV at night. We are slowly turning to mush and the Centers for Disease Control has been sounding the alarm for many years, but no one is listening.
In Dec 08, I had a doctor’s appointment and my doctor told me I was pre-diabetic and I had a choice. I could either start exercising regularly and eating better, or I could be placed on diabetes medication for the rest of my life. I was already on two blood pressure medications and at the heaviest I'd ever been at 234 pounds. After 2 heart attacks in my early 40s and a stent already in my chest, I knew I had to make a change in my life if I wanted to live. I had to do something to stop and reverse the downward spiral I was in. I felt I had to take responsibility for my own health and fitness. What the doctors were doing, wasn’t working.
I had abused my body for so long, I really didn’t know where to turn.
In the past, I had tried all the gimmicks, like diet pills, fad diets, Ab crunch machines, that electric abdominal cruncher belt, and so forth. I don’t know how much money I wasted over the years trying to find an “easy” fix to my weight and health problem. Some of it worked in the short term, but nothing lasted. All the while, I was staying up late at night watching the infomercials, including P90X while I lay on the couch stuffing my face with potato chips, popcorn and ice cream. I had lost all my strength and energy and was too lazy to do anything about it. I had too many excuses. I had heart attacks, I had bad knees and feet, I was too heavy to do anything strenuous, and on and on. But when my doctor told me I was going to be put on the diabetes medication, I had to do something about it.
I knew I needed to do something drastic. Since I had seen P90X so many times, I decided to do some research on-line to find out more about it. I figured it was just another sales pitch like all the other things I had tried in the past and it cost $120 plus shipping so I didn’t want to waste even more money. As I researched the program, I found the PDF file for the Fit Test you can take to see if you are a good candidate for the program. I downloaded it and promptly failed the test. The web site I was on recommended I NOT buy P90X as my workout program!! I was so unhealthy; the company didn’t want to sell me their product. That really sucked. However, the website recommended I start with a “foundation” program to build my basic fitness level before attempting to do something as extreme ad P90X.
The programs that were recommended were Power 90 (P90) by Tony Horton; Turbo Jam by Chelene Johnson, Hip Hop Abs by Shaun Thompson, or Slim in 6 by Debbie Siebers as the basic programs to use to start my journey back to health and fitness. I had never heard of any of these programs but I am glad I didn’t waste my money starting with P90X. I don’t think I would have been able to complete that program as unhealthy as I was at the time. Since I really wanted to do P90X, I decided to give P90 a try because Tony Horton created both programs. Also, the foundation programs are about $60 instead of $120 for the advanced programs so I stood to lose less money if I didn’t like the program. As it turns out, all of Beachbody’s programs give you a 30 or 90 day money back guarantee and I have found they honor their commitment to the public with their guarantees. So the risk was reduced to nothing but my shipping costs if I decided to send it back. What did I have to lose? Nothing but a few pounds as it turned out.
So I ordered P90 and pushed play for the first time on 5 Jan 09, the day I received the program in the mail. The first workout was called Sweat 1 and 2. It was about 30 minutes long and in hind sight, was a very basic program. But by the time I finished the workout, I was laying on the floor in a puddle of sweat thinking I was going to die at any minute! LOL! Needless to say, I survived that first workout and the next day did a workout called Sculpt 1 and 2. It was hard too but I managed to get through that one also. I remember thinking about the cliché that “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” and I was determined to make it through at least the first week, which was basically just repeating the Sweat routine then the Sculpt routine for 6 days and then you get to have a rest day on day 7. Then you just repeat the workouts every week until you feel you are able to keep up, then you move on to Sweat and Sculpt 3 and 4 which increased the time to about 35 or 40 minutes.
I committed myself to this workout program for the whole 90 days and ended up losing 18 pounds of body fat and increasing my lean muscle mass just using my body weight and a couple of dumbbells. I could have lost more weight, but I didn’t follow the nutrition guide, I just kept eating fast food and drinking Pepsi like I had over the years and still got good results. I was totally pleased with my results and felt better than I had since before my first heart attack ten years earlier. I figured if I lost 18 pounds in 12 weeks, I could lose 30 pounds in a year, so I set that as my personal goal for the year. I also decided to get a copy of the P90 Master Series tapes to keep challenging myself, which ultimately turned out to be a perfect transition program for me between P90 and P90X.
The master series workouts are about 40-50 minutes each and introduce new exercises to keep your body guessing and improving. By the time I finished that round, I had started cleaning up my diet and had lost a total of 28 pounds in only 24 weeks. I was also confident that I was ready for the extreme challenge of P90X, so I finally ordered it and made up my mind that I was going to do my very best for the 12 weeks and then I would know that the program either works, or is just a bunch of hype. I have to say, it is a very demanding fitness program. I was sore all over the first week and the workouts are about 60 minutes each except for Yoga X, which is 90 minutes long. Everyone of the workouts kicked my butt and I had to modify many of the exercises but the program shows you how to modify and still get results.
By the time I finished my first round of P90X in Oct of 2009, I had lost 41 pounds, come off both blood pressure medications, was low risk for type 2 diabetes, and lowered my cholesterol to an overall 82! My doctor couldn’t believe how well I had done in such a short period of time. Along the way, I also won $1,000 dollars in the Beachbody Million Dollar Body Game for my transformation story. You can check it out HERE. I hadn't even finished the round of P90X when I won. Overall, I have exceeded every goal I set for myself and have managed to keep the weight off for over 2 years now. I have tried a lot of the workout programs and each one of them work to improve your health and overall fitness level if you just follow the program as designed and do the nutrition plan. You will get great results, or your money back, it is as simple as that.
I believe Beachbody has the ultimate solution to the obesity epidemic in our country. They use a three-pronged approach that is proven by science to be the best way to regain your health and sustain it over time. Beachbody produces the best workout programs in the industry today, period. Each program has a specific nutrition guide designed for that program. Then you get a FREE coach assigned to you to help you succeed and get the maximum results from your program. These three things combined give you the best chance to achieve your goals and get into the best shape of your life. It has worked for millions of people, and it will work for you if you decide you want to live a better lifestyle, commit do one of the programs, you will succeed in getting healthy and fit. Now, it's up to you! What are you going to do about it?
If you want to find out more about our fitness programs, the Beachbody community, or the coaching opportunity, just check out my website HERE.
To your health and fitness,
jw
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
For those of you who know me, I have been doing Beachbody workouts since Jan 2009 and have got great results and have been able to maintain my Beachbody lifestyle for over 2 years now. My lifestyle has changed so much since I started that I can hardly remember the way I was living before Team Beachbody. Prior to starting, I was 234 pounds and on two blood pressure medications and was pronounced pre-diabetic by my family physician. That was the wake-up call for me to take matters in my own hands. I had to change my lifestyle or accept the fact that I was going to die relatively young. I was on that downward spiral so many in our society are caught in today.
Seven days after my 40th birthday, I had a sudden heart attack. For me, it was one of those things that knocked me down and pretty much took all my upper body strength away from me in just a week in a hospital bed. Ultimately, I had angioplasty and a stent implanted in a artery over my heart. I spent 10 years going through all the drugs to regulate my heart rate, keep my blood pressure in check, and etcetera. The doctors wouldn’t let me do any kind of real physical exercise except for walking for about 20 or 30 minutes a day. Needless to say, this didn’t help my overall health and fitness and I continued to decline until I found myself where I was in Jan 2009.
The funny thing is that after being told for years not to do strenuous exercise due to my heart condition, my family doctor warned me that either I started exercising more and eating better, or I would be put on diabetes medication for the rest of my life. I guess that’s why they call the medical profession a “practice”. All of them have their own opinion. Since opinions vary by doctor, you have to take a certain amount of responsibility for your own health and fitness if you want to live a better quality of life. I took it on myself to do just that in January 2009.
I was tired of not having any energy, not sleeping well, always feeling tired and sickly. I wanted to feel like I did as a younger man with the energy and vitality that is related to youth. I didn’t want to stay on the downward spiral to an early grave I was clearly on. I HAD to make a change. So I took a chance with Beachbody and have literally changed my life for the better, physically, emotionally, and even financially as a Team Beachbody Coach.
Before becoming a coach, I never thought of making extra money in the “business”. I decided to become a coach to get the discounts on the products and supplements I knew I was going to buy in the future. Like Shakeology, for example, it was costing me about $120 per month buying it retail. I was buying a 30-day supply every month so I knew that if I became a coach, I would get it for $89 per month with free shipping as a home direct purchaser. That alone saved me about $30 per month on the product and another $15 per month on shipping costs. So it was really a “no brainer” for me to be a coach just for the fact that I was going to continue to drink Shakeology. As a coach, I get everything I buy at the wholesale discount. That is, I save 25% on all my purchases from Beachbody. Since I use many of the programs it has saved me literally hundreds of dollars since I have been a coach.
I don’t have to sell anything. I just tell people what I am doing and they decide if they want to be involved in helping our country and Beachbody reverse and end the trend of obesity in the US. If they get involved, Beachbody pays me a commission for my activities. That is how I make money, not by selling anything. Once I qualified as a Emerald Coach on the compensation plan, Beachbody started giving me paying customers every week! Now, anytime one of those customers, buy a product from the company, I get a commission up to 25% basically for nothing! I am not allowed to harass the customer so I don’t sell them anything. As their assigned coach, the only thing I do is answer their questions when they contact me. I also send them encouraging postcards to stick to their programs and work with them individually if they want my help. That’s it. That is all there is to Coaching as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach.
If you decide to build a team of Coaches, you can make a lot more money if you want to build a large business. In only 3 years, Beachbody has produced 10 millionaires who are part of an exclusive club in the organization. Those individuals have followed the “Game Plan” to build full time businesses and retire from their day jobs. So it is possible to build financial security by helping others achieve their goals. I don’t know a better way to achieve financial freedom by helping others live healthy and fulfilling lives. That is pretty cool to me. The more people you can help, the greater the reward to you and your team. Is there a better way? If so, I haven’t found it at this point. Zig Zigler said that you can have all the things you want in life if you help enough people get the things they want in life. It is the Law of Sowing and Reaping. You reap what you sow and Team Beachbody Coaches are sowing better lifestyles for anyone who wants it. The return is that the company compensates us to help others. The more people we help, the more we are compensated.
I recently read a statistic that stated obesity in the US will cost the taxpayer $4 Trillion dollars over the next 10 years if we don’t reverse the trend. If I am not part of the solution, then I am part of the problem with obesity in the US. I am on my personal lifetime journey toward better health and fitness. My life is so much better now that I have taken steps to live healthier. I want to share my experience with others and help them live a healthy lifestyle, thus improving their overall quality of life. If a company like Beachbody is willing to compensate me for that effort, I am fine with it and thankful to be part of the solution to end the trend of obesity in our country.
If you want to find out more about our programs, learn about healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle, want someone who will help you, or would like to find out more about the Coaching opportunity, take a look HERE.
To your health and fitness,
Jim
Seven days after my 40th birthday, I had a sudden heart attack. For me, it was one of those things that knocked me down and pretty much took all my upper body strength away from me in just a week in a hospital bed. Ultimately, I had angioplasty and a stent implanted in a artery over my heart. I spent 10 years going through all the drugs to regulate my heart rate, keep my blood pressure in check, and etcetera. The doctors wouldn’t let me do any kind of real physical exercise except for walking for about 20 or 30 minutes a day. Needless to say, this didn’t help my overall health and fitness and I continued to decline until I found myself where I was in Jan 2009.
The funny thing is that after being told for years not to do strenuous exercise due to my heart condition, my family doctor warned me that either I started exercising more and eating better, or I would be put on diabetes medication for the rest of my life. I guess that’s why they call the medical profession a “practice”. All of them have their own opinion. Since opinions vary by doctor, you have to take a certain amount of responsibility for your own health and fitness if you want to live a better quality of life. I took it on myself to do just that in January 2009.
I was tired of not having any energy, not sleeping well, always feeling tired and sickly. I wanted to feel like I did as a younger man with the energy and vitality that is related to youth. I didn’t want to stay on the downward spiral to an early grave I was clearly on. I HAD to make a change. So I took a chance with Beachbody and have literally changed my life for the better, physically, emotionally, and even financially as a Team Beachbody Coach.
Before becoming a coach, I never thought of making extra money in the “business”. I decided to become a coach to get the discounts on the products and supplements I knew I was going to buy in the future. Like Shakeology, for example, it was costing me about $120 per month buying it retail. I was buying a 30-day supply every month so I knew that if I became a coach, I would get it for $89 per month with free shipping as a home direct purchaser. That alone saved me about $30 per month on the product and another $15 per month on shipping costs. So it was really a “no brainer” for me to be a coach just for the fact that I was going to continue to drink Shakeology. As a coach, I get everything I buy at the wholesale discount. That is, I save 25% on all my purchases from Beachbody. Since I use many of the programs it has saved me literally hundreds of dollars since I have been a coach.
I don’t have to sell anything. I just tell people what I am doing and they decide if they want to be involved in helping our country and Beachbody reverse and end the trend of obesity in the US. If they get involved, Beachbody pays me a commission for my activities. That is how I make money, not by selling anything. Once I qualified as a Emerald Coach on the compensation plan, Beachbody started giving me paying customers every week! Now, anytime one of those customers, buy a product from the company, I get a commission up to 25% basically for nothing! I am not allowed to harass the customer so I don’t sell them anything. As their assigned coach, the only thing I do is answer their questions when they contact me. I also send them encouraging postcards to stick to their programs and work with them individually if they want my help. That’s it. That is all there is to Coaching as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach.
If you decide to build a team of Coaches, you can make a lot more money if you want to build a large business. In only 3 years, Beachbody has produced 10 millionaires who are part of an exclusive club in the organization. Those individuals have followed the “Game Plan” to build full time businesses and retire from their day jobs. So it is possible to build financial security by helping others achieve their goals. I don’t know a better way to achieve financial freedom by helping others live healthy and fulfilling lives. That is pretty cool to me. The more people you can help, the greater the reward to you and your team. Is there a better way? If so, I haven’t found it at this point. Zig Zigler said that you can have all the things you want in life if you help enough people get the things they want in life. It is the Law of Sowing and Reaping. You reap what you sow and Team Beachbody Coaches are sowing better lifestyles for anyone who wants it. The return is that the company compensates us to help others. The more people we help, the more we are compensated.
I recently read a statistic that stated obesity in the US will cost the taxpayer $4 Trillion dollars over the next 10 years if we don’t reverse the trend. If I am not part of the solution, then I am part of the problem with obesity in the US. I am on my personal lifetime journey toward better health and fitness. My life is so much better now that I have taken steps to live healthier. I want to share my experience with others and help them live a healthy lifestyle, thus improving their overall quality of life. If a company like Beachbody is willing to compensate me for that effort, I am fine with it and thankful to be part of the solution to end the trend of obesity in our country.
If you want to find out more about our programs, learn about healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle, want someone who will help you, or would like to find out more about the Coaching opportunity, take a look HERE.
To your health and fitness,
Jim
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Embracing Change
I am sitting at my desk, 30 minutes before I am scheduled to start work. At 4 a.m. my alarm clock kicked off and by 430 a.m. I was pushing play and completing my Day 9 workout of P90X. Today was Plyometrics X. It is arguably the toughest workout in the program and is very taxing on my legs, knees and feet. It is, however, an awsome workout and I was able to burn 831 calories and maintain my heart rate between 141 and 169 beats per minute. Not bad for a 52 year old dude who's had two heart attacks and carries a stent in his chest from past poor lifestyle habits. Prior to the Beachbody lifestyle, my life was a perfect example of what NOT to do if you want to live a healthy and fulfilling life.
The biggest challenge I'm facing now is getting used to the 4 a.m. wakeup. For those of you who know me, I have been doing Beachbody workout programs since Jan 2009, lost 41 pounds and have kept it off for over 2 years now. Until this round, I have always done my workouts at 6 p.m. after getting home from a long day of work and a tough commute. For over 25 years, I have gotten out of bed on weekdays at 5 a.m. That one hour change has been more difficult than I expected but this morning, I was ready to go and felt pretty good about it.
I have never been a morning person but it feels good to get the workout out of the way first thing. It makes the rest of the day more relaxed and I know once I get home from work, I am finished for the day and can relax and enjoy time with my wonderful wife. Hopefully, I will adjust to the morning workout routines and will be OK with it. Right now, I feel pretty good even though I am a little tired from the program.
I know so many people who are doing Beachbody workouts. All of them are getting positive results based on their goals and the different objectives of the individual programs available. Some go on to get superior physiques in a short time. Others take longer due to the difference in age, body type, past health issues, metabolism, etc. The one consistent thing is that you can be healthier and more fit than you have ever been if you just get one of the many programs that will suit you and just start pushing play every day. It will literally change your life as it has mine and millions of other people in the US and around the globe.
There is no magic pill or gizmo that will suddenly make you fit and healthy. The truth is that if you want to lose weight and feel better, sleep better, have more energy, and just have a better lifestyle, you have to work for it. Beachbody programs are designed to work if you follow the program as it is laid out. There are programs for every level of fitness and age group from children to seniors, you can find a program that will work for you. These programs are time tested and proven to work, or Beachbody will give you your money back. I don't know any way to make it simpler for you. The mission of Beachbody is to help people live more healthy and fulfilling lives. The company also wants to end the trend of obesity in the US and is recruiting 1 million coaches to make this happen.
We all know the federal government cannot legislate good health. "We the People" are going to have to do it ourselved. It will require a pretty significant paradyme shift in the mentality of the citizens if it will be successful. The cards are stacked against us with big food, health, and pharmarcy conglamorates veying for every dollar they can extract from you by promoting unhealthy food, need for medications, and new drugs being created by the hour to keep the money machine flowing to their pockets.
It is up to YOU to change your lifestyle. As a Team Beachbody Coach, I can help you. I do it for free because I believe in the mission and goal of the company. I know that together, we can change our nation and get our health back. Wanna help? We can use you. Join my team today and start making a change in your local community as a leader in our fight to reverse and end the trend of obesity.
To find out more just click HERE.
The biggest challenge I'm facing now is getting used to the 4 a.m. wakeup. For those of you who know me, I have been doing Beachbody workout programs since Jan 2009, lost 41 pounds and have kept it off for over 2 years now. Until this round, I have always done my workouts at 6 p.m. after getting home from a long day of work and a tough commute. For over 25 years, I have gotten out of bed on weekdays at 5 a.m. That one hour change has been more difficult than I expected but this morning, I was ready to go and felt pretty good about it.
I have never been a morning person but it feels good to get the workout out of the way first thing. It makes the rest of the day more relaxed and I know once I get home from work, I am finished for the day and can relax and enjoy time with my wonderful wife. Hopefully, I will adjust to the morning workout routines and will be OK with it. Right now, I feel pretty good even though I am a little tired from the program.
I know so many people who are doing Beachbody workouts. All of them are getting positive results based on their goals and the different objectives of the individual programs available. Some go on to get superior physiques in a short time. Others take longer due to the difference in age, body type, past health issues, metabolism, etc. The one consistent thing is that you can be healthier and more fit than you have ever been if you just get one of the many programs that will suit you and just start pushing play every day. It will literally change your life as it has mine and millions of other people in the US and around the globe.
There is no magic pill or gizmo that will suddenly make you fit and healthy. The truth is that if you want to lose weight and feel better, sleep better, have more energy, and just have a better lifestyle, you have to work for it. Beachbody programs are designed to work if you follow the program as it is laid out. There are programs for every level of fitness and age group from children to seniors, you can find a program that will work for you. These programs are time tested and proven to work, or Beachbody will give you your money back. I don't know any way to make it simpler for you. The mission of Beachbody is to help people live more healthy and fulfilling lives. The company also wants to end the trend of obesity in the US and is recruiting 1 million coaches to make this happen.
We all know the federal government cannot legislate good health. "We the People" are going to have to do it ourselved. It will require a pretty significant paradyme shift in the mentality of the citizens if it will be successful. The cards are stacked against us with big food, health, and pharmarcy conglamorates veying for every dollar they can extract from you by promoting unhealthy food, need for medications, and new drugs being created by the hour to keep the money machine flowing to their pockets.
It is up to YOU to change your lifestyle. As a Team Beachbody Coach, I can help you. I do it for free because I believe in the mission and goal of the company. I know that together, we can change our nation and get our health back. Wanna help? We can use you. Join my team today and start making a change in your local community as a leader in our fight to reverse and end the trend of obesity.
To find out more just click HERE.
Monday, May 2, 2011
My 4th Round of P90X
Greetings...
I am in my 4th week of my 4th round of Beachbody's P90X workout program. This week is supposed to be my phase 1 recovery week. However, one of the advantages of doing in-home workouts is that you can make changes to your schedule and modify the program to meet your needs.
I only make one basic change to the weekly schedule normally. Since I work full-time and have a terrible commute out of Washington DC, I only have a limited time during the week to get my workout in. Kenpo X is a workout that takes about 60 minutes to complete and is on the 6th day (Saturday for me) of the routine. On Thursday, the P90X Classic schedule calls for me to do Yoga X. Doing Yoga X on a weeknight is very difficult for me because it is 90 minutes long and a difficult workout, in and of, itself. So I have always swapped Kenpo X and Yoga X to fit my schedule.
P90X is divided into 3 training blocks, or phases, each lasting 3 weeks long with a recovery week. Since I've been doing P90X for a while now, I've developed more strength and stamina. This round I've increased my daily calorie intake and taking a Beachbody Creatine supplement to see the effects of using Creatine during the program. One thing I can say is I feel a lot stronger using the Creatine so I decided to extend my first phase of P90X by an additional week.
So, I am on day 23 and will be doing Shoulders and Arms and Ab Ripper X this evening. It's one of my favorite workouts in the P90X program. Since starting using the Creatine supplement I've noticed my strength increase and so added weight to every exercise. One drawback (for lack of a better word) is the creatine makes me feel bloated and I have actually gained weight over the past 3 weeks.
I am not too concerned since my research has shown that once I cycle off the creatine, the excess water will go out of my muscle and I will "lean" out and have a better indicaton of what my creatine cycle has done for me. I'm not ready to recommend Creatine at this point, but so far it looks promising.
I encourage you to move your body at least 30 minutes to an hour per day. If you can consistently do this, you will soon start to realize how much better you will feel, how much more energy you will have, and how much better you will sleep at night. It only small changed in your daily routine to make a significant impact in your health and fitness.
As Tony Horton always says, "Do your best, and forget the rest."
To your health and fitness,
Jim
I am in my 4th week of my 4th round of Beachbody's P90X workout program. This week is supposed to be my phase 1 recovery week. However, one of the advantages of doing in-home workouts is that you can make changes to your schedule and modify the program to meet your needs.
I only make one basic change to the weekly schedule normally. Since I work full-time and have a terrible commute out of Washington DC, I only have a limited time during the week to get my workout in. Kenpo X is a workout that takes about 60 minutes to complete and is on the 6th day (Saturday for me) of the routine. On Thursday, the P90X Classic schedule calls for me to do Yoga X. Doing Yoga X on a weeknight is very difficult for me because it is 90 minutes long and a difficult workout, in and of, itself. So I have always swapped Kenpo X and Yoga X to fit my schedule.
P90X is divided into 3 training blocks, or phases, each lasting 3 weeks long with a recovery week. Since I've been doing P90X for a while now, I've developed more strength and stamina. This round I've increased my daily calorie intake and taking a Beachbody Creatine supplement to see the effects of using Creatine during the program. One thing I can say is I feel a lot stronger using the Creatine so I decided to extend my first phase of P90X by an additional week.
So, I am on day 23 and will be doing Shoulders and Arms and Ab Ripper X this evening. It's one of my favorite workouts in the P90X program. Since starting using the Creatine supplement I've noticed my strength increase and so added weight to every exercise. One drawback (for lack of a better word) is the creatine makes me feel bloated and I have actually gained weight over the past 3 weeks.
I am not too concerned since my research has shown that once I cycle off the creatine, the excess water will go out of my muscle and I will "lean" out and have a better indicaton of what my creatine cycle has done for me. I'm not ready to recommend Creatine at this point, but so far it looks promising.
I encourage you to move your body at least 30 minutes to an hour per day. If you can consistently do this, you will soon start to realize how much better you will feel, how much more energy you will have, and how much better you will sleep at night. It only small changed in your daily routine to make a significant impact in your health and fitness.
As Tony Horton always says, "Do your best, and forget the rest."
To your health and fitness,
Jim
Friday, April 29, 2011
Tony Horton's 11 Laws for a Lifetime of Fitness
I have literally changed my life using various Beachbody workout programs including the Power 90 Boot Camp, Power 90 Master Series and finally P90X, which is the advanced workout program developed by Tony Horton and Beachbody.
Tony Horton has made a positive impact on my life and many millions of people from all over the world with his workout programs that people can do in the convenience and privacy of their homes. No need for a expensive gym membership and no room full of special weight lifting machines. You can achieve amazing results by using the workout program, the nutrition guide that comes with the program, your body weight, and a couple of dumbells and a pull-up bar.
Tony's passion and philosophy is that people will live a better quality of life if they practice some simple principles or "laws" every day that will enhance your lifestyle and help you live a happy and abundant life. I wanted to share with you his thoughts, so here they are; Tony Horton's 11 Laws of fitness to help you stay on track with your new fitness lifestyle.
1. Variety. Variety is the spice of life and fitness. A lifetime of health and fitness is achievable when you can think outside the box. You have to mix it up all the time. Stay curious, creative, and stick with the kinds of workouts that you enjoy. A variety of exercises, workouts, and sports will allow you to avoid injuries, plateaus, and boredom.
2. Consistency. Improvement and change occur when you do things often. Stopping and starting all the time will kill any momentum you need to succeed. You must find ways to stay in the game. Moderate forms of exercise, done consistently; provide far better results than the occasional full-body pummeling. A lifestyle that includes multiple forms of exercise five to six days a week guarantees results.
3. Intensity. YOU'RE TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK. The fear of pain or injury from working out is a mindset steeped in failure. You must learn to "Find the Line." Do the extra rep or two, increase your range of motion, and increase resistance as you get stronger. Intensity goes hand in hand with Variety and Consistency. The combination of the three work together as a triad that creates a platform for success. The programs provide variety. Your plan will keep you consistent.
4. Purpose. Your purpose is to have a better life. Exercise and eating right help you feel better. When you feel better, you do more. When you do more, you meet other people. A healthy lifestyle gives us the energy to be better than before. We want to participate, share, communicate, and build a community have purpose in our lives. If you had never found Beachbody, you might be right back where you were isolated, with nothing to share, no purpose, because you weren't doing anything with anyone.
5. Reality. Why do we want life to be different than it is? Why do we think about who we were and who we're going to be more than who we are? We certainly talk a good game about who we are now. Why do we try to predict the future with the hope that wishful thinking is enough to change it? Life is NOT the way it was. It's the way it is. Life is not our fantasy predictions of the future or our glory days of the past. Life is that thing that is happening to you as you read this. We fall into the trap of living in the past and future because right here is not good enough. Back then and up there are keeping you from right now.
6. Sports. Take the onus off of weight, inches, and body fat percentages and put the focus on MOVING - from dancing, rock climbing, and mountain biking to table tennis. I love that ping-pong! Think in terms of "can do" instead of "look like." Sports are fun and help develop balance and coordination which in turn accelerates your results. Jump, kick, run, spin, throw, skate, shoot, hit, score, compete . . . PLAY!
7. The Plan. SCHEDULE ALL WORKOUTS IN ADVANCE. This creates accountability. Plan an entire month ahead of time. Try to schedule as many workouts as possible with friends who have similar goals. WOWY was developed so that we could find an easy and effective way to stay accountable and work out together. Now we've got people in Trumbull, CT (my hometown), doing Power 90 at the same time with people in Hollywood. That is cool!
8. Sleep (and stress). Stressed out, sleep-deprived people don't eat right and exercise regularly. Stress depletes energy, strength, and desire, while poor sleep habits affect your moods and immune function along with cognitive and motor performance. Burning the candle at both ends makes it impossible to be fit and healthy.
9. Loving It. Exercise and workouts involve commitment, determination, planning, consistency, and intensity. If you don't like what you're doing, there's no way on earth you'll succeed. Enthusiasm is a very big piece of the puzzle. Get creative and stay curious. If you enjoy doing Power 90 exclusively and it works for you, then keep doing it until it doesn't. If you get part way through P90X and it's not your cup of tea, then stop, and do something else. Something's got to bring you back day after day, week after week. Love it (tolerate it) or leave it.
10. Flexibility. Flexibility is the fountain of youth. Flexible people are much less prone to injury. Yoga and stretching allow you to bring more intensity to your workouts. Flexibility is the key component to becoming less vulnerable and more durable. Aging has a funny way of making everything we do harder. Staying limber and flexible is the way to prevent that from happening.
11. Food and Supplements. You are what you eat! Food and supplements are your fuel. The right fuel supplies proper energy and recovery through balanced brain chemistry. The right supplements simply fill in gaps in your diet.
Tony Horton has made a positive impact on my life and many millions of people from all over the world with his workout programs that people can do in the convenience and privacy of their homes. No need for a expensive gym membership and no room full of special weight lifting machines. You can achieve amazing results by using the workout program, the nutrition guide that comes with the program, your body weight, and a couple of dumbells and a pull-up bar.
Tony's passion and philosophy is that people will live a better quality of life if they practice some simple principles or "laws" every day that will enhance your lifestyle and help you live a happy and abundant life. I wanted to share with you his thoughts, so here they are; Tony Horton's 11 Laws of fitness to help you stay on track with your new fitness lifestyle.
1. Variety. Variety is the spice of life and fitness. A lifetime of health and fitness is achievable when you can think outside the box. You have to mix it up all the time. Stay curious, creative, and stick with the kinds of workouts that you enjoy. A variety of exercises, workouts, and sports will allow you to avoid injuries, plateaus, and boredom.
2. Consistency. Improvement and change occur when you do things often. Stopping and starting all the time will kill any momentum you need to succeed. You must find ways to stay in the game. Moderate forms of exercise, done consistently; provide far better results than the occasional full-body pummeling. A lifestyle that includes multiple forms of exercise five to six days a week guarantees results.
3. Intensity. YOU'RE TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK. The fear of pain or injury from working out is a mindset steeped in failure. You must learn to "Find the Line." Do the extra rep or two, increase your range of motion, and increase resistance as you get stronger. Intensity goes hand in hand with Variety and Consistency. The combination of the three work together as a triad that creates a platform for success. The programs provide variety. Your plan will keep you consistent.
4. Purpose. Your purpose is to have a better life. Exercise and eating right help you feel better. When you feel better, you do more. When you do more, you meet other people. A healthy lifestyle gives us the energy to be better than before. We want to participate, share, communicate, and build a community have purpose in our lives. If you had never found Beachbody, you might be right back where you were isolated, with nothing to share, no purpose, because you weren't doing anything with anyone.
5. Reality. Why do we want life to be different than it is? Why do we think about who we were and who we're going to be more than who we are? We certainly talk a good game about who we are now. Why do we try to predict the future with the hope that wishful thinking is enough to change it? Life is NOT the way it was. It's the way it is. Life is not our fantasy predictions of the future or our glory days of the past. Life is that thing that is happening to you as you read this. We fall into the trap of living in the past and future because right here is not good enough. Back then and up there are keeping you from right now.
6. Sports. Take the onus off of weight, inches, and body fat percentages and put the focus on MOVING - from dancing, rock climbing, and mountain biking to table tennis. I love that ping-pong! Think in terms of "can do" instead of "look like." Sports are fun and help develop balance and coordination which in turn accelerates your results. Jump, kick, run, spin, throw, skate, shoot, hit, score, compete . . . PLAY!
7. The Plan. SCHEDULE ALL WORKOUTS IN ADVANCE. This creates accountability. Plan an entire month ahead of time. Try to schedule as many workouts as possible with friends who have similar goals. WOWY was developed so that we could find an easy and effective way to stay accountable and work out together. Now we've got people in Trumbull, CT (my hometown), doing Power 90 at the same time with people in Hollywood. That is cool!
8. Sleep (and stress). Stressed out, sleep-deprived people don't eat right and exercise regularly. Stress depletes energy, strength, and desire, while poor sleep habits affect your moods and immune function along with cognitive and motor performance. Burning the candle at both ends makes it impossible to be fit and healthy.
9. Loving It. Exercise and workouts involve commitment, determination, planning, consistency, and intensity. If you don't like what you're doing, there's no way on earth you'll succeed. Enthusiasm is a very big piece of the puzzle. Get creative and stay curious. If you enjoy doing Power 90 exclusively and it works for you, then keep doing it until it doesn't. If you get part way through P90X and it's not your cup of tea, then stop, and do something else. Something's got to bring you back day after day, week after week. Love it (tolerate it) or leave it.
10. Flexibility. Flexibility is the fountain of youth. Flexible people are much less prone to injury. Yoga and stretching allow you to bring more intensity to your workouts. Flexibility is the key component to becoming less vulnerable and more durable. Aging has a funny way of making everything we do harder. Staying limber and flexible is the way to prevent that from happening.
11. Food and Supplements. You are what you eat! Food and supplements are your fuel. The right fuel supplies proper energy and recovery through balanced brain chemistry. The right supplements simply fill in gaps in your diet.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
A Message from Tony Horton, Creator of P90X
Be Part of the Solution
Boys and girls,
I'm unaware of your financial situation but I do believe that you're reading this page because you care about your health and fitness. If you have plenty of income and love your job then what I’m about to tell you might not be for you. If you're not thrilled with the way you make a living, would like extra income, love Beachbody products, like the way they make you look and feel, enjoy helping other people feel and look better, enjoy setting your own hours, get excited about being the captain of your own ship as opposed to working for the man - then listen up.
The reality is, your health and fitness moves beyond you. It impacts the people around you. You (whether you like it or not) have the power to change lives based solely on your own personal transformation. Inadvertently you become a catalyst for change. This is how I got started. I was clueless, asked a few questions based on my need to be strong and healthy, stayed with it and people in my life wanted to know what I was doing. Simple yet powerful.
If you want to share what you've learned with people in your life who want better health (and could use extra income in the process) then you should consider becoming a Team Beachbody Coach. I felt so strongly about this program that I’ve encouraged many of my friends to become coaches, even my own sister. She is doing great (even though my contract with Beachbody won’t let me help her). She is a perfect example of someone who had plenty of doubt and hesitation regarding the coaching opportunity and still found a way to make it work for her. A busy working wife and mother with three very active kids doesn't sound like a good candidate to start an in-home multi-level marketing company. Did you say multi level marketing? What? Ick! You mean pyramid scheme right? Okay chill out. All these fears would be true if BeachBody were selling hats or kitty liter, but this is Beachbody people! The number 1 in-home fitness company on the planet! P90X is steadily becoming the most popular fitness system in US history. Shakeology is the revolutionary replacement meal on the market today. We sell life-altering change - not soap. Tens of thousands of regular folk around this country are doing something they love because of this coach opportunity.
The unemployment rate still hovers around 10% but it doesn't have to be that way if more people were willing to see that new opportunities exist all around them. The Team Beachbody Coaching opportunity is one of them. Health care companies, pharmaceutical companies and our government are not capable of solving this obesity crisis and we can't wait around for them to do it. The crisis is now and the answer is YOU! I know that sounds a bit Rah Rah but it's true.
Cynics don't need to apply, but if you're sick and tired of the status quo and want to make a difference in your own life and in the lives of those around you, then open the door. The two major issues of our time - the health care issue and unemployment rate could be resolved if a million more people in this country decided to get healthy and share the wealth. This is a brand new industry waiting to explode. It's not happening in boardrooms or factories – it’s happening in the homes of tens of thousands of Team Beachbody Coaches and in the homes of their customers. With a tiny investment (actually the company is waiving the enrollment fee through the end of 2010) and a willingness to help people the sky's the limit.
TH-
Boys and girls,
I'm unaware of your financial situation but I do believe that you're reading this page because you care about your health and fitness. If you have plenty of income and love your job then what I’m about to tell you might not be for you. If you're not thrilled with the way you make a living, would like extra income, love Beachbody products, like the way they make you look and feel, enjoy helping other people feel and look better, enjoy setting your own hours, get excited about being the captain of your own ship as opposed to working for the man - then listen up.
The reality is, your health and fitness moves beyond you. It impacts the people around you. You (whether you like it or not) have the power to change lives based solely on your own personal transformation. Inadvertently you become a catalyst for change. This is how I got started. I was clueless, asked a few questions based on my need to be strong and healthy, stayed with it and people in my life wanted to know what I was doing. Simple yet powerful.
If you want to share what you've learned with people in your life who want better health (and could use extra income in the process) then you should consider becoming a Team Beachbody Coach. I felt so strongly about this program that I’ve encouraged many of my friends to become coaches, even my own sister. She is doing great (even though my contract with Beachbody won’t let me help her). She is a perfect example of someone who had plenty of doubt and hesitation regarding the coaching opportunity and still found a way to make it work for her. A busy working wife and mother with three very active kids doesn't sound like a good candidate to start an in-home multi-level marketing company. Did you say multi level marketing? What? Ick! You mean pyramid scheme right? Okay chill out. All these fears would be true if BeachBody were selling hats or kitty liter, but this is Beachbody people! The number 1 in-home fitness company on the planet! P90X is steadily becoming the most popular fitness system in US history. Shakeology is the revolutionary replacement meal on the market today. We sell life-altering change - not soap. Tens of thousands of regular folk around this country are doing something they love because of this coach opportunity.
The unemployment rate still hovers around 10% but it doesn't have to be that way if more people were willing to see that new opportunities exist all around them. The Team Beachbody Coaching opportunity is one of them. Health care companies, pharmaceutical companies and our government are not capable of solving this obesity crisis and we can't wait around for them to do it. The crisis is now and the answer is YOU! I know that sounds a bit Rah Rah but it's true.
Cynics don't need to apply, but if you're sick and tired of the status quo and want to make a difference in your own life and in the lives of those around you, then open the door. The two major issues of our time - the health care issue and unemployment rate could be resolved if a million more people in this country decided to get healthy and share the wealth. This is a brand new industry waiting to explode. It's not happening in boardrooms or factories – it’s happening in the homes of tens of thousands of Team Beachbody Coaches and in the homes of their customers. With a tiny investment (actually the company is waiving the enrollment fee through the end of 2010) and a willingness to help people the sky's the limit.
TH-
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