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

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

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

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

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.