The Map

My son yesterday went on a school field trip to Kings Island Theme Park for a school field trip.  He came home rather disappointed.

As I dig a little deeper to his disappointment in the trip, he pulled out the map and pointed at all the rides they rode and all the rides they didn't.  While he rode some of the "good ones".  He stated how  is group where a bunch were too scared to take on The Beast or The Diamondback. Some of the fiercest coasters Kings Island has to offer.

This morning as he rolled out of bed, he had the map of the park in hand surely re-living the moment made and the moments missed.

This got me thinking, how many of us have a map like that?

And how many of maps have more moments unlived than lived?

Fear is a crippling killer of experience.  Fear keeps us from leaping, but fear also keeps us just from taking the next step.

While it is just a simple thought, maybe we need to put the map down and just get in line for that coaster, that experience. If I had to guess most of us live with the regret of things missed.

Whether it is starting a new fitness routine or a new job.  It could be going on your first run or first date.  It might signing up for a spin class or a math class.  Don't just look at the map and wonder what it would have been like.

Start.

The Walt Disney World Workout

I was 33 years old the first time I stepped foot into the Magic Kingdom, but inside (and truthfully outside) I was a boy of 7.  It was a city, no a universe, that was bubbled into our world.  It was something completely perfect and magical...

I know you did not tune to hear me recant my childhood dream lived out as an adult, but there is a point here and it relates to your fitness.  While, yes, you will walk nearly 47 miles in a day around the park, you are also going to consume a gazillion calories.  Why, because your internal 7 year old is making all the decisions.  So this blog is not about a step to calorie ratio at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Walt Disney World does something better than any other park in the world, they make you believe in the impossible.  It happens on every ride, with every show, with every "Character" strategically placed.  The entire design of this World unlike any other world is to make you believe.

And believe you do...

If you are like me, and some of you are, it is not the want to change that is your obstacle.  It is the belief that what is impossible is possible.   Most of us don't have physical limitations that hold us back from our own personal Magic Kingdom of success.

I think our greater struggle is we live with a mental belief of the traveling carnival that comes to town.  While yes it is fun, you always walk away questioning the safety of the ride and criminal background of the guy controlling it.  There is no magic in the carnival, just some kid through up on the tilt-a-whirl and teenager kids making out on the Ferris wheel.  And 2 days later it packs up and moves on to another town.

Here are three tips to making your fitness a little more "magical":

1.  Clear all trash.
  Disney works hard to make sure every person who walks through the park has the same experience.  No trash in the park, bathrooms clean, no gum stuck on fence posts. No matter your role from a person checking tickets to the CEO, if you see trash, you pick up. Why?  To make it magical everytime.

When you approach your fitness, clear all the trash.   Take out the mental obstacles that you build up in your mind.  Take out the garbage about how you "can't".  Clean up all the "I'll nevers".

2. Stories
You don't just wait in line for a ride at Disney.  You wait in a moving storybook.  Every line for every ride prepares you by telling you a story about the ride.  The ride is set up by every section of the line, it is all part of the story being told.

Your journey is a story, not a destination.  With every step, every workout you are writing your own story.  While the line to the ride may feel long, there are important pieces to your story being written.  Don't try to skip to the end.

3. Shh...It's not really magic
The magic of Disney is hard work and ingenuity.  Ask anyone who has worked for the company and they will tell you that it was the hardest work they have ever done, yet the most rewarding.

Health and fitness is not magic.  There is no magic pill or shake or sprinkle of Pixie Dust for your food.  It is still hard work.  The results look like magic as you make a part of you disappear, but you and I will both know how you got there -  hard work, sweat, positive attitude and maybe just a little magic!

Walt Disney World makes us all feel like kids and the one thing a kid does better than any adult is dream big dreams and believe for the impossible!

What is your Disney experience and how has it helped you?

5 Tips to Starting Your Fitness Journey

Every race has two places - a finish line and a starting line.  So I wanted to share my 5 quick tips to starting your fitness journey right.

1. Pick a plan -- 
Just like in any other area of your life, you are by far more successful when you have a plan.  Here are couple ideas: join a class, using a walking/running app with a plan or use a home based program like one from Beachbody.

The struggle for some many who join a gym for those starting out is the lack of knowledge on the exercises needed to achieve their goals.  So if you join a gym, meet with a trainer to set up a program to help you accomplish your goals.

2. Never Alone --
The journey is going to get tough, tougher is you do it by yourself.  Don't do it alone.  Find a partner or group to join you in your journey.  Support is the one three keys to success in reaching your health and fitness goals.

3. Use Visual Reminders -- 
Keep your goals in front of you.  Right it on the mirror in lipstick.  Make a vision board.  Pull out those skinny jeans and keep them in visible sight.  These visual reminders will serve as constant reminder to be consistent.

4. Set a Workout Alarm --
Seriously, set an alarm or reminder on your phone. Schedule your workouts in your calendar.  These become set in stone (well, digital stone) times for you to get off your backside and get going.

5. Have Fun! --
If your workouts are not fun, you will not keep doing them.  Find a workout plan or program that you will fall in love with.  If you don't like doing it odds are increasing less likely that you will continue doing it.  Have fun, have fun, have fun!!!


 No matter what you do, START!  You will never regret getting started on your journey of health and fitness.  You will never regret improving your life.  Just START!

If you are looking to start and don't know where to begin, leave me a comment.  Or if you have a great recommendation on where to start leave a comment too.

My Story & Why You Need to Read This...

My Story

As the old hymn says, "this is my story..."

I was living my dream.

I was inspiring young lives as a youth pastor.

There were Monday meetings at a local coffeeshop with excessively large cups of sugar filled coffee and even larger blueberry muffins warmed with butter dripping off.  There were Wednesday night bible study with sugar cookies.  Afternoon mentoring meetings with students over several McD's large sweet teas.  Thursday night youth group with a full stocked candy shop and my  pre-sermon Slim Jim that I would snap into.  Throw in special events with pizza and convention weekends with sugary snacks and eating out every meal. And I have not mentioned the 100's of hot dogs consumed at every community or church outreach ever hosted.

All in the name of being God's servant to the youth of that community.  I was sacrificing for the gospel and what was being laid on the alter was my health.

In a sense, ministry was killing me.  Okay, not specifically the ministry. I take responsibility for the poor food choices I made.  But the environment I existed in was causing a slow painful death to every article of clothing hanging in my closet.  My waistlines were gasping for air with every pizza party! The buttons on my button ups were beginning to cry for mercy. Super hip skinny jeans were a non negotiable when you have too much hip and and not enough skinny.

The Day God Spoke in an Animated Voice

Leadership is a dangerous environment.  Church leadership seemingly even more so.  A recent study showed 76% of all Evangelical pastors are overweight or obese.    Sure I was chubby, a little overweight but never in my mind did I see myself as obese.

Until that day...

I stepped foot for the very first time onto a Wii Fit board.  For starters there is this annoying beeping sound as it resembles an alarm clock while it "prepares to measure" you.  Then once it has scanned you like a TSA security screening it takes your skinny "Mii" character and inflates it like a helium balloon.  That day I thought my animated Mii was going to float right off the screen as these insulting words in the kindest animated voice screamed at me "that's obese."  I had just became part of the 76%.

That became my wake up call, coupled with the fact I had recently learned of my dad acquiring Type II Diabetes, a completely preventable disease.  I was determined to no longer be insulted by that animated voice.  I was determined for that voice to call me healthy!

The Outsider

At that same point we were transitioning ministry positions.  We moved from a larger church to smaller family style church.  Similar to the one reference in my blog "The Lie the Church Told Me".  Transitioning from a Slim Jim inspired, sweet tea drinking youth pastor to a leader who was testing the waters of tilapia and broccoli I became an outsider.

The funny looks when you pass on Sunday morning donuts.  The odd stares when your church fellowship plate has more veggies than desserts on it.  When you show up to an impromptu meeting still smelling like the 2 mile run you just finished, you get that odd look.  Suddenly, one of these things does not look like the other.

It was like becoming an outsider.   As a leader I have walked a mile in your shoes.  Then I ran a mile in those shoes, then 2 miles in those shoes, then 3 miles in those cool sneaks!  Then I put on a different pair of kicks and went crazy with Insanity.  And in that process I found something, I didn't have to be part of the 76%.  I was becoming part of the 24%.

It Costs

As leaders we have to do better.  Here is my challenge to whether your are in church leadership or in position of leadership in the marketplace, just start!   Leaders love to look at bottom lines, so here is what it is costing you "being 15 to 45 pounds overweight can cost you $500 per year. Being 50 or more pounds overweight can cost you up to $5000."

This became my reality when we signed up life insurance.  While at the my largest weight when we signed up I was considered a "high risk insurer" due to two major factors one my weight being over a 30 BMI and to my profession as a pastor.  It was a high premium based on the fact of those contributing factors I was more likely to die sooner in the eyes of the life insurance company.

Two years later, after several hundred miles in the sneaks, a sweet tea detox and lots of sweat when we change life insurance companies I was no longer a "high risk insurer".

It is going to cost you to get healthy - cost you time, energy, money.  But they return is valuable.  The return is life. The return is greater energy. The return is greater creativity.  The return is some very practical way is that in the long run that cost will save your life and you money.

 What is your story?  I would love to hear it.  Post it in the comments below.  

The Lie the Church Told Me

Read this post at Pitts Fitness new page

I grew up in little small churches.  By small it means I was related to over half the congregation.  There was an expression that was tossed around like the horseshoes at a church picnic, "I am just fat and happy."  With that expression we would chew on another piece of fried chicken chased down by some cobbler and homemade ice cream.  All in the name of fellowship!

I understand the psychology of food and beverage and the comfort it allows and community it creates.  I also understand the greater mission of the church of reaching lost people.  I am not criticizing the method.  I am sure a scoop of ice cream helped melt the hearts of many.

My rub is with the above expression and held belief by so many in the church - "fat and happy".  That might be one of those ironic statements like "jumbo shrimp" that are cute quips, but don't make a whole lot of sense.  Here is my challenge, if we are to spend our lives spreading the good news of the gospel why would we intentionally sabotage the longevity of our mission with self induced sickness.

Obesity has been linked to over 70 diseases faced in the United States.  Which means that many of the illness that we face are completely preventable.  The CDC reports that obesity has been linked to reduced worker productivity and chronic absence from work.

So here is my logical right brain that floods in like a chocolate fountain past my creative left brain -- if we lived healthier physically as followers of Christ we could 1) live longer lives, therefore giving us a more time on this Earth to love people to Christ; 2) I believe (and just opinion) show a better example of our faith.  Let's face it, we say not to judge a book by it's cover, but people look at the cover long before they read the pages.  This is not a statement on physical beauty as much as it is a statement on appearance and the perception of others. 3) Be more productive with the time we are given.

Here are the benefits of exercise as it relates to our faith.  One exercise makes you feel better.  The God of the universe designed your body so that as you exercise a chemical is released in your brain to make you feel accomplished and happy.  Often referred to as a "runners high".  We got drugs in our body God put there.  We just have to sweat a little to experience that euphoric feeling of happiness. Why would you not want the feeling?

Two, exercise is a community thing.  Fitness is often done in groups and in church we love our groups - small groups, large groups, mom's groups, men's groups, singles groups - we typically have a group for it.  Fitness can be a and should community based event that brings people together.

Third, living a physically healthy life affects you inside and out.  Oftentimes, a negative self image or self perception is derived from outward physical appearance.  One of the emotional byproducts of weight loss is self confidence.  It may be a reach, but people who are more comfortable and confident seem to me to be more fulfilled.  They seem willing to tackle task, step into their gifts and callings placed on them by God.  Maybe it's just me but what if exercise cause people to exercise their gifts?

Andy Stanley in a leadership podcast addressed health and fitness to his audience this way "you can either tell your family 'I am going to take care of me now or you can tell your family you are going to take care of me later.'"

Remember those small churches I grew up in, well there was a traveling minister who sang and preached.  While the individual will remain nameless his ministry brand was build around his obesity, it was right there in the name.  As he sang for 30 to 40 minutes then preached for another 40 he sweated profusely.  At times he seemed to struggle to have enough air and I feared he was going to have a heart attack right there on stage.  (It was a Pentecostal church, we would just laid hands on him and pray for his resurrection).  But mostly it saddened me.  I believe his heart was in the right place but eventually his body was not going to be able to keep up.

The cause of Christ is great.  We would not send a soldier into battle without making sure they were fit to fight.  So why then as soldiers in God's army is it okay to not be physically ready for the cause?  I am not so sure God's design is for us to be "fat and happy" I guess that was just the lie the church told me.

I would love to hear your comments below.

A Standing Ovation

I wanted to share a simple lesson I learned yesterday at a middle school honors band concert.  Sidebar: Despite all my athletic prowess, I am a band dad.

There were three bands, one for each grade and it was the 8th grade band director that did something that caught my attention.  The previous two bands stood up after their final of 5 pieces, took a bow and sat back down.  With each of the previous bands the audience stood and celebrated these fine young people.

But the director of the 8th grade band did something different.  After the very first piece he had the entire band stand.  As they stood, the polite applause grew to an ovation.

Then the band sat back down, played their next piece and exact same thing.  The band rose and as they rose so did the ovation.

While not an entirely new phenomena I took something away for you and me.  Each time the band rose, so did the applause.  With the rising applause so did the confidence of the band.  With rising confidence came a better performance by these young musicians.  And by the end of the 5 musical selections a standing ovation was in order!

I realize as we workout, run, exercise, eat healthy and make good choices that there is not an audience of proud parents and grandparents standing there cheering you on to eat your broccoli or finish your burpees.  But what if we imagined there was.  What if at the end of that sweaty push up filled workout when we pulled our hotself of mess off the floor we heard applause?  What if as you finished that last 100 yards of a run in weather that the mailman even refuses to deliver in you raised your hands as if finishing the Boston Marathon in front of thousands of people?  Maybe they are not there, but what if you imagined them there.  In your head heard them cheering you on.

What I have learned in my short time with my own fitness and helping others is that the body is ready to give more, it is our minds that get in the way.  The applause even if just imaginary frees you up to push past the mental barrier that is truly far short of your limits.

It is a thankless job getting healthy and fit, but one that should be celebrated.  Even if your audience in imaginary, I honestly believe the principle holds true.  That with each time your hear the applause your confidence grows.  Each time your confidence grows you perform better.  And with better performance comes better results.

So for you, here is your STANDING OVATION!!!

Success Breeds Success

Or that is the gamble taken here in the heart of horse country.

If a horse sires a winner of the Kentucky Derby, the stud fee will tend to triple.  Why, based on this very principle and belief that Success Breeds Success and more success will be breed.

While, I am not suggesting that your lineage is the determining factor of your success or not, I do believe the principle is true for us.

Think about moments you have been successful.  What did it feel like?  Most likely it was like jet-fuel tracing through your veins, releasing endorphin to your brain to tell the rest of you that you happy and joyous.  And what happens, we want that feeling again.

It's why runners run, lifters lift and fitness freak continue to freak.

It's why business people hustle, singers sing and dancers dance.

We love the feeling of success, of accomplishment, of winning.  And it pushes us to continue to want to win, accomplish and be successful.  It is built into us.  I recently heard a talk that both runners with normal sight and blind runners both raised their hands as they crossed the finish line.  Though I blind runner could have never seen this, he or she still did it.

Why, it is built into us to feel accomplished.

It is why Dave Ramsey created the baby steps, he knew that if you could feel like a winner immediately you would keep working to win when it became a struggle.

So if you've hit a struggle, find a small thing to have success in today.  Maybe it is just getting up to be active.  Maybe it's the first workout.  Maybe is a better food choice.

If you worked this week and only lost 1 pound, still celebrate your success.  Because SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS.  Believing you have been successful will push you to continue to want to be successful.

This week find a small thing to win at.  Then go do that thing.  Then build on that success.

A Dreamer, His Music and New Dreams

Disclaimer: this might read more like a journal entry than a fitness blog.  You've been warned!  Enjoy!

12 years ago I met a very determined young man named Warren Barfield while we were both working a week long summer camp.  Warren was a dreamer unlike any I met.  At the age of 20 he quit college packed up his mid 90's green Ford Mustang and started traveling to any church, camp, retreat or event that would have him play and sing.  To be honest, Warren is one of the most talented songwriters I have ever heard.  And I knew it was just a matter of time before he hit it BIG!

Admittedly, I envied Warren, knowing success was just around the corner.  It had to be and it was.  Long story short the music business for Warren happened.  Which meant a record deal and red tape.  It meant getting promoted and projects getting shelved.  And if I were to ask it was probably not quite the dream fulfilled he shared with me while sitting on a deep freeze at 2 AM at summer camp 12 years ago.

I know you are asking yourself, why are you sharing this story.  This is not fitness or health related.  Bare with me dear friends, there is a point.

I saw Warren this week.  He is traveling out on the road, but not really playing music like he used to.  He is out promoting Food for the Hungry - a child sponsorship program on the tour of another successful artist.  He played 2 songs rather than 10.  He spent more time telling a story than strumming his guitar.  And he is by far happier with his current role.

This caused a lot of reflection in me.  In an honest transparent conversation in the backwoods of summer camp off the Ocoee River Warren and I shared our dreams.  But dreams have way of changing.  The end game of that dream once we get there may not always be what we thought it would be.

I too have had dreams come to life only to realize that my vision for that by far was better than the reality that came to life.  I am not being a "Debbie Downer" and saying don't dream.  Instead, I am challenging you to be open to dream new dreams.

My friend Warren is one of the leading voices for Food for the Hungry.  In his time with Food for the Hungry he has helped get more than 30,000 children sponsored.  30,000 families have clean water.  30,000 parents are learning a trade or skill.  30,000 families are been offered the love of God.

There is an often quoted verse from the Bible that says "your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions."  What I have learned and what Warren's story teaches is that dreams will shift and change from time and seasons of life.  The dreams you once dreamed as young man or woman may not have been realized or once you did it was not really what you dreamed it would be.  Then dream a new dream!  See a new vision!

This blog while geared around health and fitness is really just an extension of my heart to offer people HOPE!  Hope is the expectation of a good ending.  What Warren taught me this time is that the dream you once pursued might just be the thing that leads you to the next dream that has a much bigger impact than you ever first envisioned.

Keep dreaming!  Keep hoping!

**if interested offering HOPE to children through Food for the Hungry click this link**

Seriously?

Seriously?

Every just start your day feeling that way.  I have a Saturday morning routine.  Get up, grab a banana, make some coffee, drink said coffee.  Today, my 7 year old coffee pot decided it had enough.  Routine ruined, morning ruined.

This got me thinking, how often do we let one set back, one poor food choice, one missed workout ruin our progress.  I am amazed how quickly I can spiral back to poor choices due to one small thing.  It's that thinking "oh, well, I didn't workout anyways.  Might as well eat a dozen cookies."  I hope you are not like me, because that is totally ME!  

Life is full of speed bumps that slow us down, but are not intended to bring us to a stop.  We just roll right over them and move on to the next point.  My hope is that you have kept moving forward past the speed bumps.  Rolled right past and on to bigger things.  

Yet, I also know that the speed bump, in our eyes, become insurmountable.  I heard a great illustration about momentum.  When a train engine is at a complete stop, it only takes a 2 inch peice of wood to that train at bay.  The difference of momentum is that when that train is rolling at even minimum speeds, that wood is no match for the train.  

The coffee pot is just a Saturday morning speed bump.  Don't let a little thing keep you from your goals!

Good Saturday Morning (even without coffee)

6 Reasons to Stay Home

We know the terms like gym rat or gym junkie.

We know the people – bulking up guy grunt, princess pink on a slow walk on the treadmill, weird creepy guy just walking around talking to everyone. 

We know what gyms have to offer.  There are some great fitness centers and gyms here in Lexington and I am sure in the city where you live.  And gyms and fitness centers do a great job at helping people get results.  Yet, we also know or have been that person who buys a gym membership, pays monthly and never goes.  The alternative to hitting the gym is pushing play at home.

 So here is the question I want to pose, why workout at home?  Here are 6 reasons: 

• No drive time.  When I was going to the gym I would get up early, drive 15 minutes across town just to get to the place that I was going to run on a stationary treadmill for 30 minutes.  Then drive 15 minutes back home.  So it adds up that I spent an hour to get in a 30 minute workout.  Bad math!
•  Your own shower.  This mostly applies to those of us that get our workout done first thing in the morning before we go to the office.  While the shower smells like that funky fresh cleaning stuff,  I am not sure how clean it is.  Factor in shaving for us guys and hair drying, curling, crimping and product necessary for the ladies, this is just done better from the comforts of our own vanities.
• The equipment battle.  This is the 10 minutes you spend on that “one” machine  working a muscle group that you are not sure exists because the exercise machine or the equipment you want to use someone else is on.  So you kind of put in effort all the while ready to sprint to that machine once that person gets off.
•  Any time.  Here is what I love about my home based workout programs, it is always open!  I have a world-class fitness expert available on my schedule.  I pop in a DVD and press play and I get step by step instruction on an amazing workout.  No need to schedule a time with a personal trainer.  I have several on standby.
• Gymtimidation.  One of the fitness companies coined this term about the all the grunt, mirror posing meathead and dolled up princesses at the gym that emotionally detract us from wanting to enter the doors.  At home, you get to come as you are.  And fall dead on the floor of your own house after you get your rear handed to you in a great workout.  There is no Barbie in corner or Arnold in the front of the mirror flexing. Just you focused on you.
•  Something for everyone.  What I love particularly about Beachbody and the array of programs is that there is something for all fitness levels.  If you want dance off the pounds, we got that.  If you want to punch and kick your way to fit, we got that.  If you want to get INSANE results, we got that too.  If you have not worked out since your senior year gym class in the 70’s, we got something for that too.  Beachbody has put together an amazing collection of fitness programs that deliver results and help you reach your goals.

I still hit the gym from time to time.  I will still pop into a fitness class.  But for me the time saved, the schedule flexibility, the options I have and level of training I get, I will keep pushing play at home!

Focus T25 Review

Beachbody, the world leader in home fitness, took it to a whole new level!  As a Insanity grad, I was anxious to try Shaun T's new program Focus T25.  While I loved, loved Insanity, that second month of workouts lasting up to an hour were physically demanding and tough to always squeeze into life.

So what excited me most about Focus T25 is that workouts were just 25 minutes, 5 days a week.  Fridays on the calendar are double workout days.  You can, if desired, move the second workout to Saturday and take just one rest day, instead of 2.  Included and to be used on the rest days is a 25 minute stretch video which will improve flexibility and stretching.

Now admittedly, I was a skeptic that just 25 minutes would deliver the results, but I know Beachbody does everything with excellence and would not put out a product that did not deliver the results.  And Focus T25 DID JUST THAT!

Here are my 10 week before and after photos.  I lost around 6 pounds but the proof is in the pudding, my body was totally transformed. I finally saw some abs show up.  My arms no longer looked like spaghetti and my overall shape was better than when I was 16 years old. In full disclosure, I was running on Sundays as well.  The weather was just too nice not to run.  

Why do I love it?  25 minutes, 5 days a week and results like this!  What's not to love?

The first 5 weeks is the ALPHA phase.  This is a building phase.  Workouts build on themselves, no equipment required and the bonus is the modifier.  A modifier is a person demonstrating a lower impact way to do the exercise and still get great results.  I saw a lot of fat loss during this first 5 weeks. 

The second phase is BETA.  BETA builds on ALPHA.  Some of the same exercises are carried over, now with increased intensity. Additionally, this phase will require some equipment either the resistance band included or dumbbells.  What I saw in this phase was increase muscle building, especially in the upper body.  

Here are the workouts included:

Your FOCUS T25 program includes:

ALPHA Cycle 25-Minute Workouts:

• Cardio. 25 minutes of calorie-burning, sweat-drenching cardio.
• Speed 1.0. Ignite your quickness. Burn the fat. Fast-paced for fast results.
• Total Body Circuit. Focus on strength and resistance—without lifting a single weight.
• Ab Intervals. Cardio and ab intervals that shred the fat from your midsection.
• Lower Focus. Focus on your lower-body muscles—the key to burning fat and kicking up your metabolism.

BETA Cycle 25-Minute Workouts:

• Core Cardio. Get your sweat on! This progressive cardio-core workout is about you getting shredded fast.
• Speed 2.0. Rev it up with Shaun's calorie-scorching, core-focused speed drills.
• Rip't Circuit. Cardio … upper body … legs … abs ... repeat! This is how you get ripped in 25 minutes.
• Dynamic Core. You'll go from vertical to horizontal and back again in this dynamic, crazy core routine.
• Upper Focus. Shaun will help you develop the upper body of your dreams. All you have to do is FOCUS.

Plus T25 Nutrition guide:

Meals are quick and easy to fix with just 5 ingredients in most meals!

Beachbody has an upgrade third phase called GAMMA.  GAMMA steps up the game one more level for increased results! 

This is perfect workout for everyone, even those just starting out on their health and fitness journey.  When put together with Shakeology you will get the results you desire!  

Are you ready to focus?

Les Mills Combat Review

Beachbody unveiled their second program from world renowned fitness trainer Les Mills -- Les Mills Combat.  Combat is an mixed-martial arts style home based fitness program that packs a punch!

Let me just get this out of the way, probably one of my favorite aspects of the program where the Aussie and New Zealand accents of the trainers Dan and Rach.  Okay, I said it!  

Now to the program.  The base kit came with 7 different workouts.  Five of them were primarily cardio based fighting workouts.  The workouts pull from several different areas of the world of martial arts including Muay Tai, kickboxing, karate, tae kwan do and traditional American boxing.  The mix of moves target your arms, shoulders, legs and core all the while peaking out your heart rate.  

In addition to the 5 fighting workouts, there are two HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts.  These work a blend of upper and lower body areas.  As well as targeting that core.  With these workouts, you will need a dumbbells, a weight plate or a resistance band could be used as well.  

What makes this program a great choice for any fitness level is the use of a modifier.  With every workout is one member of the cast reducing the impact of the moves but still maximizing the results you are going to get.  While not an incredibly difficult program, there is lots of challenge and delivers on the results.  

The calendar of the program is 10 weeks long (63 days) with a 6 day/1 rest day schedule.  The calendar is also modifiable for different fitness levels mixing in a longer workout for those looking to maximize their results.  Workouts range from 30 to 60 minutes.  There are also a couple upgrades that will include additional workouts and weighted gloves for increase results.  

Here is list of the workouts:

• LES MILLS COMBAT: THE BASICS. Master the techniques and mixed martial arts moves, guards, and stances you will use throughout all the LES MILLS COMBAT workouts.
• LES MILLS COMBAT 30: KICK START. A low-complexity but high-intensity workout, introducing you to the basic LES MILLS COMBAT combination moves.
• LES MILLS COMBAT 45: POWER KATA. This workout combines speed and power with cross-training for complete calorie scorching.
• LES MILLS COMBAT 60: EXTREME CARDIO FIGHTER. Challenge your endurance with a high-repetition sequence of moves that will have your muscles firing on all cylinders.
• LES MILLS COMBAT 60 LIVE: ULTIMATE WARRIOR'S WORKOUT. Upper body . . . legs and butt . . . core and cardio . . . this workout hits every muscle hard.
• LES MILLS COMBAT: POWER HIIT 1. High Intensity Interval Training uses short bursts of maximum effort followed by recovery to push you into muscle-conditioning overload.
• LES MILLS COMBAT: SHOCK PLYO HIIT 2. Uses propulsion exercises to improve athletic power and endurance, pushing you into peak performance mode.

I love the results I got !

The Speed of the Pack

Last the improbable happened...

Three Olympians from the same country captured Gold, Silver and Bronze in the same event - 500M Speed Skating.

While admittedly, I know little about speed skating other than these folks have the largest quad muscles I've ever seen, I do understand a key principle that makes this rare event more likely to have happened.  Certainly, this is not the first time these three men have been on the ice together.  For sure not, because two of them are twins. (Can someone say sibling rivalry?)  More than likely for some time these men have been training together, skating together and pushing one another.  The result - three Olympic Medals.

We have long been told by motivational speakers, personal development folks and even pastors that our success and rise (and fall) is built around those we spend the most time with.  I think this coronation is further proof of that.


In fitness you tend to run faster, lift more and work harder with a partner or group.
In business you compile the best of each person, pooling them together for further success.
In life you gather those around you that will not hold you back but propel you forward, push you to be the best version of you and elevate you to person you desire to be.

As the 3 Dutchman took their skate around the rink, hands raised, flag waived and tears being shed, I asked my son "why do you think all three from the same country won?"  His answer (as a typical 12 year old would say) "they were the fastest."

While on the money with his response, there is bigger lesson to be learned in how they became the fastest.  My theory is due to the speed of the pack.  The day one got faster it pushed the others to speed up.  If one got one one-hundreth faster, than the others had to work harder to get there. The synergy of the group created the three fastest men on ice last night and a crowning moment for the Netherlands.

I believe it was the power of WE and the speed of the pack that launched these men to the medal stand.  So who have you gathered around you to improve your speed, your business or your life?

Post your comments below.

Saw Rock City

I once heard John Maxwell say "Sometimes the place where we quit is on the edge of success."

I think a lot of us find ourselves at the edge of our lives -- the edge of our weight loss, fitness, business, relationships, career.  We stand face to face with quitting or continuing.  We are at the point of giving up or going on.  We are at an edge...

If you have ever been to Rock City in Chattanooga, TN you had the opportunity to walk out onto Lover's Leap.  Lover's Leap is a rock ledge that hangs out hundreds of feet over a valley below.  Off to one side is a waterfall crashing to valley floor.  If you look straight down it can be a frightening veiw point.  But if you look out aheaad you will have the opportunity to see something spectacular.  From that one piece of ground, you have the vantage point of seeing 7 different states.

What I have learned about health, fitness and even life is that we can either look straight over the edge at the potential fall or lookout over the possibilities.  If you are like me, your edges have caused you too often to quit.  The fear of the fall and overwhelming vision of what is immediately below captured my attention more than the great things that lie ahead.  If you simply look down, you never see Georgia, Alabama or the Carolinas.  Alll you see the potential fall...

We all come to the edge at some point.  The choice is yours...do you simply see the potential fall or can you see the great things that lie ahead?  I got my eyes set on what lies ahead!

Live with hope!

Where do I begin?

Here is what I don't doubt, the fact that you want to change.  

Here is probably the question you may find yourself asking: "Where do I begin?" 

Begin by asking a different set of questions.  Let's start by defining the change into smaller portions.

- What do I want to accomplish in the next 6 months?

Now smaller.

- What do I want to accomplish in the next month?

Now smaller.

- What do I want to accomplish this week?  

The daunting part of changes is that it seems so big.  And truthfully, we tackle the biggest elephant in the safari thinking we can eat the whole thing in one big bite.  But the adage is still true, you eat an elephant one bite at a time. (Although, I have never eaten elephant and don't plan on it, but you get me.)

My heart is bent toward helping people move closer to their potential - it comes in the form of their personal, spiritual and health and fitness.  But this reverse thinking applies in every situation.  

If you want to graduate college, it starts with taking a class.  Then by getting this weeks homework done.  

If it's weight loss, well let's start by setting fitness goals for this week and planning meals for the week. 

If it's to become an accomplished public speaker.  Then start small, speaking to church groups, non-profits, business groups.  

You only start at the end to work backwards to find a clear starting point.  

But get started!  If it's your dream, goal or ambition don't let it pass!  Start!

Letupicitis the dream killer

It is a common disease that strikes many quickly and suddenly.

It has destroyed the strongest of men and the bravest of women.

It is a silent, decimating killer.

It's Letupicitis!  Commonly known as quitting, letting up, slowing down, pulling back and backing down.

It is the moment you taste the start of success in your goals and instead of hitting the gas you "let up".  It the day you step on the scale to see you have dropped 3 pounds and reward yourself with a Big Mac and a day off, instead of pushing play.  It is the moment after you have posted your third blog of the week and decide to cool the keys and wait on inspiration.

Letupicitis is rooted in the bacteria of disbelief.  It is contracted on the microbe of a poor self perception and spreads on the virus of a poor self perception.

It is known as the dream killer disease.  It slowly infects the dreamer and keeps him/her from pushing past barriers to new levels.  At one point or another we will all contract this silent killer of imagination, passion and conviction.  If you let it, it will infect your heart and keep your from achieving the dream you set out to.

Know the symptoms, recognize the signs, and push past letupicitis!  

Hustlers

I wish I had some huge success story about my Team Beachbody business taking off and making me a millionaire.  I don't, at least not yet.

So I enrolled myself in a little adventure with writer, blogger and fashionably smart Jon Acuff for a 30 day hustle marathon.  Clustered together are over 3000 individuals who are taking aim at a specific goal. Jon Acuff, New York Times Best Selling author and encourager of people wisely leaving behind their jobs for their passions, serves as the Skipper of a ship full of Gilligans.  Or at least this Gilligan.  My hope was simply to gain something that would help my business grow.

Admittedly, I have probably taken too much time to read through the posts rather than focus on my own hustle, what I have seen is that there is an abundance of people "hustling" to lose weight, get in shape and change their health.

While numbers are reported of the rising trend of obesity, that reality becomes a little more real when you start putting names and faces with it.  Attached to those names are personal, heartfelt and emotional stories of struggle.  Of weight lost and regained.  Of deep disappointment, coupled with new found hope that this time it will be different.

Each story tugs digs a little deeper as I realize that I am not in a business about  business.  I am in a business about people.  The greater value is not the sale of one more P90X or Insanity
program, but helping someone author the new chapter in their story.  A chapter entitled "Losing It For Good".  I have been rocked again and again by the Zig Ziglar famous words that "if you help enough people get where they are going, they will help you get where you are going."

I logged into this escapade with the hopes of gaining something about how to run a business, set goals and move from the dreaded day job to a dream job.  What I am sure that knowledge will be gained, what I am unexpectedly acquiring is a deeper sense that people just need someone to walk beside them and say "you can do this."  My hope is that I have the opportunity to be the voice in their life saying just that!

Everyday we're hustlin'!

Reminder Pants - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

In my closet are lots of pairs of pants, but more specifically two specific pairs of pants.  I call them my "reminder pants".  

The Good - 
These are a pair of black suit pants.  They are a size 38.  To be honest, my chubby buns and dunlap belly I am sure stretched it past the 38 inch waist line.  There were Sundays when I would pour myself into those pants and uncomfortably suffer through the service. 

Now I am a true 34 inch waist!  Woot!

Those pants serve as a reminder of where I have come and how much progress I have made.  These are just a simple reminder of the good!  They remind me of the wins in my health and fitness.  The wins in my weight loss journey!

It's amazing reminder!

The Bad -
The skinny pants that I wear to work.  Like all of you I have moments of slipping back into poor habits.  There are days I skip workouts and feed my face fattening foods.  As I slide into those pants and pull that waist line across my belly I am reminded that I need to get back on track.  

Just the feel of those pants snuggling up under that little pooch belly that rares it's head when I make excuses for my health and fitness.  It reminds me "Jeff you need to refocus".

The Ugly -
Simply get rid of these.  Just a reminder that sometimes you make terrible clothing choices.

Enough said!

A Moving WHY

As many of you already know if you have read any of my previous blogs, my main reason I started on this journey of health and fitness (other than running out of clothes that fit) was my three kids.  While that reason remains true, what I have found is that my WHY has become somewhat fluid.

My weight loss journey started as a runner and about a year and half ago progressed into being a Team Beachbody Coach.   Since then I have tackled programs like P90X, Insanity, Les Mills Combat, Focus T25 and two very uncoordinated weeks of Turbofire!  I became a coach for two reasons. One to help me stay accountable to my own health and fitness.  Two, in order to create some secondary income for my family.  While neither of those reasons have changed, I had my eyes opened wide this week.

My beautiful 6 year old daughter has tumbled into loving gymnastics and she's good!  In just 8 weeks she has progress from Division 1 to Division 3, which is an amazing accomplishment!  I have already done the math, we are on track for the 2024 Olympic Summer Games!

Here where my eyes were opened!  In a conversation, with another parent of an older gymnast, I found just what the price tag is on competitive team gymnastics.  Let's just say I could drive a very nice car for what the monthly fee is. I mean VERY NICE!

Nothing is more a driving force toward success than the needs and desires of your children.  While I wanted to be successful in my business for multiple reasons, that WHY expanded greatly knowing what lies ahead of our family if our little tumbler stays on beam toward becoming a world class gymnast.

Author George Barna wrote, "Realize the future is not something that just happens; it is a reality that is created by those strong enough to exert control over their environment."  That is the challenge that lies ahead.  Taking control of my environment to create a future where Avery has every opportunity to succeed.  This goes beyond her gymnastic future and spills into every opportunity for all three of my kids.  As a parent, your heart always bends toward wanting to give them everything.  While I may never be able to give them everything, the provision for the future will not just happen.  It requires a vision and a plan driven by one really BIG WHY that I want it to accomplish.  And today that why is the dreams of this little girl...

4 Tips to Picking the Right Workout

So you are ready to start...but where do you start.  Here are 4 tips to think about when picking the right exercise and fitness program for you.

1) Pick something you LIKE to do.

If you like cardio, do cardio.  If you like to hike, hike! Running your thing, go run Forrest! It is important to find a program, a schedule or workout that you enjoy.  If you enjoy your exercise regime, there is a greater likelihood of you dragging your rear end out of bed to do it.  Pick something you like to do.  Pick something that you look forward to doing.

2) Pick a program that MATCHES your goals.

If you are trying to lose weight, then the program you are doing needs to match that goal.  You want to add mass, than you need to workout in a way that adds muscle mass.  Your goals and your program need to match.  This will prevent discouragement because you will actually get the results you are looking for.

3) Pick a program that fits your ability.

The worst thing you can do is take on more than you can handle.  This often results in either injury or be overwhelmed and quitting.  Make sure that what you choose to do matches what you are capable of doing.  Now this is not permission to not push yourself to your fullest potential.  Yet, understand that you need a program that is aligned with your capabilities at the current moment.

4) Pick a program that fits your lifestyle.

If you don't have 2 hours a day to go to the gym, than a fitness program that requires 2 hours a day will never work for you.  This is not a excuse for you not to workout or leverage the "I don't have time" excuse.  Yet, you need to have an understanding of what fits into your schedule.  There are plenty of great programs that are 25 or 30 minutes and get results.  Or if you have an hour, find a program that goes a whole hour!  Just make sure what you chose will continue to fit into your lifestyle.

The greatest tip I can give is just to pick something.  Get moving, get started, and start seeing results!