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?

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.

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?

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!

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'!

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!

Focus T25 Review - Alpha Phase

I am a self proclaimed Insaniac.  I got hooked into Beachbody with the high interval training program by Shaun T, Insanity.  Shaun T and the good folks at Beachbody have gone back to the studio with the crazy idea that 25 minutes a day, 5 days a week is all you need to get in the best shape of your life.  Honestly, the skeptic in me came out.  Just 25 minutes a day!!! No way!  But anything that allows me to a few more minutes of sleep in the morning is worth trying.

After just 2 weeks, I can tell this is another world class program from Beachbody!  The key, as Shaun T will reiterate over and over is to Focus.  Each move asks you to focus on a specific area of the body.  As you "focus" you maximize the effectiveness you get from each exercise.  And water breaks...forget a water breaks.  This a non-stop 25 minute sweatfest!

The first 5 weeks is Alpha.  This is the base for what will come in the second 5 weeks, Beta.  There is a third phase which you can add as an upgrade called Gamma which includes some added weight work.  The base kit is just the Alpha and Beta phase, along with a resistance band that is to be used during the Beta phase of the program.  The program is a true 25 minutes with an additional 2-3 minute cool down after the workout!

I look at this as a working man's workout.  One of the most common excuses for not exercising is not having enough time.  This program eliminates that excuse.  In a very short and quick 25 minutes you can get in the workout you need and want!  I am really excited to see my results and will post before and after pics once completed!

After just one week I broke through a plateau and tipped the scales under 170 pounds for the first time since my junior year of high school.  I am stunned at the quick results.

To Shaun T: Thanks for an extra 15 minutes of sleep in the morning!

From the inside out

A friend of mine once told me that fixing the outside if the inside is broken tends to only accentuate the brokenness.

My disclaimer is that I am not a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist or even a psychic, so anything posted on this blog is intended as an unofficial helping hand.  

Self image and self perception are huge issues in relation to your health and fitness. There are some who no matter what the result never see themselves any different.  Their body might be healthy, but the inside still isn't.  Your heart health is just as important as your physical health.

Your heart is more than just the thing that pumps blood to the rest of your body.  The heart in a lot of cultures was consider the center or the seat of your being.  It is widely considered that the source of life both physically and spiritually/emotionally was the heart!  All this being said your health goes far beyond a flat tummy, bulging biceps and skinny waist.  Health is an emotional issue.  Health is a spiritual issue.  Health is a wholistic issue.  All of you needs to be healthy.

While focusing in on your fitness improves you body, focusing in on your relationships will improve you heart condition.  While locking in on what goes in your mouth, lock in on what you put into your mind.  Surround yourself with positive and encouraging people.    Read books, blogs, posts that will fill your heart and mind with peace, joy and love.

Take aim at making all of you healthy!  Here some tips:

1) Read personal development type books.  Books that better you!

2) Find a faith community - church, synagogue, Bible study.

3) Find friends that build and support you in your dreams and in your health goals.

4) Continue to exercise.  Endorphin make you happy!

5) If necessary find someone or place to help you deal with the emotional stuff - a counselor or psychologist.  There is no shame in asking for help.  We all need some help!

Your heart and your spirit are just as important as your body.  Get all of you healthy!

Another Reason WHY

This weekend our family took a short getaway to Caribbean Cove Hotel and Waterpark in Indianapolis.  The waterpark was your typical indoor facility with kiddie area, activity area, lazy river and 3 water slides.

My youngest child is my little diva.  She is 5 years old and working on 15 most days.  It took me a little convincing, a couple dollars cash to get her down that first waterslide, but once she did...it was I could do to keep up.

Here is a little perspective, the waterslides stand 40 feet up in the air, 4 stories high, 4 stories of steps...multiplied by the enthusiasm of a 5 year old girl who kept saying "daddy, one more time."  Every one more time meant picking up our bright yellow intertubes, lugging it up those 4 stories of steps, to sit her down on that tube and give her smiling face a push down that slide.

It was just 7 seconds of bouncing and bumping down that yellow tube on that air inflated tube to get to the bottom of the pool only to find her their soaked by water but having the time of her life.  And then those words "one more time" was reason enough to pick up that tube and travel up those 4 flights of stairs one more time.

There is a difference between being a dad and being an "active" dad. Being an active dad means not sitting on the sideline and watching them slide, but traveling along side them down the slides of the journey.  It has been a journey for me to lose the weight, get healthy and get fit.  But days like yesterday make it worth it.  Worth every step, worth every slide down, worth every water soaked smile on her face.  Just one more reason why I am stay healthy!

I ate my feelings and...

In our continued stream of thinking along nutrition and my continually belief that confession is good for the soul...I am an emotional eater.

When it rains, it pours highly carbohydrated snack foods in a Noah's Ark style flood.  In order for me to achieve the success of my goal weight and maintain that healthy, the one thing I have to find control over is my emotional eating.  I tend to eat when the stresses of life become overwhelming.

So here are 3 alternatives to eating my weight in snack foods:

1) Workout - pop in a DVD and sweat it out.  Pushing my physical fitness and releasing endorphin keeps me from binging.

2) Run - while similar to working out, running allows me to put my body on cruise control and engage my mind in some thinking and processing.  It gives a chance to escape to another place (both physically and mentally) and avoid the snacks.

3) Laugh - The proverb says that laughter is good medicine.  Being able to find humor in laugh is healthy.  While whatever the situation was may not have be funny at all, there is plenty in life to find laughter in.  So laugh, smile, and take your hands away from the sweets and salty.

I have not perfected being an overcomer of emotional eater.  I am working on it.  I try to use these alternatives to stuffing my face.  In an honest reflection, I really don't feel any better by eating.  While I satisfy my taste buds, I upset my belly and worse really don't emotionally feel any better.  (SAD FACE)

21 days in the rearview

January 7th I put a ground and said NO MORE!   I weighed in at 184.7 pounds, by far the most I had been in several months.  Let's be honest, it was a steady diet of monkey bread and Christmas cookies for about 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year's.  While tasty on the tongue, it was killing my around the gut!

So I kicked of 2013 with Les Mills Combat, Shakeology, and focusing on what I eat and as of today, I weigh 180.1.  Not the weight loss I hoped for but seeing some great results in the change in my shape.  While I do have a weight loss goal that I want to reach my focus is really beginning to shift.  I could press and workout extra, trim additional calories and get completely stringent to get to that goal.  And that would be fine.  But what I know about myself is that if I sprint to that goal, I will eventually run out of gas and while I might hit that number on the scale I know that my weight will yo-yo back up.

As with most things in life, the "tortoise" wins - slow and steady wins the race!!  My goal is to become actively healthy, not just a specific weight.

RESULTS HAPPEN HERE!

I would love to hear your comments!

Are you a cheater?

Friday nights at Casa Pitts are blocked off as a family night (at least as best as our schedules allow).  After a long week, prepping a sit down meal at close to 7 PM (after finishing our other Friday responsibilities) is just not feasible.  So our Friday night is our "cheat night".  It is the one night a week that nutritionally we let our guard down a little bit and make frozen pizza or sandwich bar or something easy and pop in a movie and just chillax as a family.

So I wanted to pass on some tidbits of wisdom from a cheater like me.

1.  Take caution in what you cheat with -

Just because you allow yourself a cheat meal does not mean that meal has to lack complete nutritional value. If  you get a pizza make sure has some veggies on it.  If you are going to eat sandwiches use a lighter cheese, skip the mayo and use mustard or even avocado as a replacement.  You want chips with that sandwich, even here you make a better choice about the chips you eat.  Cheat with wisdom, if you eat out you can still enjoy a yummy meal, but do it responsibly.  Just because you are eating a cheat meal don't make a wasted meal full of empty calories because...

2. Your body knows what it wants -

Here is the reason you need to make sure even when you cheat, you cheat right.  Your body is smarter than you are.  It's true.  When your body has a need for protein you will crave meat or eggs. When you body has a need for calcium, you might want cheese or milk. Your body knows what it needs and signals your brain "hey get us that." One of the dangers of a cheat meal is not fulfilling the need of your body.  When that happens your body tells your brain "hey we need something else and more of it."  If that something else is not what your body needs it will keep sending that signal to your brain.  Your brain sends the signal to the rest of you and you find yourself with your hand back in the bag of chips even though you are not hungry.  Which leads to...

3.  Overeating

A cheat meal does not mean 5 trips to the all you can eat buffet.  While you will more than likely blow your typical calorie count for a meal out of the water (my meals range from 350-425 a meal), this is not an excuse to eat like you are in the 4th of July Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest.  You need to still have some portion management.  So you may go back for a bite of seconds, but thirds, really, fourths.  At the bottom of the bag of whatever you are eating is regret.  So take caution!  Manage the amount of what you are going to eat.  Just because it is a cheat meal does not mean that you throw out the discipline you have the rest of the week.  Consider this a controlled indulgence.

You don't bust your backside to not enjoy life.  We fight for our health through diet and exercise in hopes a living a happier and healthier life.  Give yourself some grace on occasion to cheat.  Just cheat with caution.  It is still cheating and cheating can always lead us down a slippery slope and leave us caught elbow deep in a tub of ice cream.  So enjoy your pizza, your occasional scoop of Rocky Road, even juicy steak, but make this the exception to your life and not the rule.  If you let poor habits rule what you eat you will be right back to the point you were before your journey toward a fitter you!

Day #9 What do you believe?

I was challenged by a video I watched today on something that had already been stirring in me.  If you are anything like me, you are gifted, skilled, talented and even capable.  The one thing that keeps me from reaching my dreams more than anything else is a big fat ME.  I am the stumbling block, I am the hindrance.

Here is the things I believe in when it comes to health and fitness: one exercise and diet are the keys.  As a Beachbody coach, I honestly believe in Beachbody fitness programs and in Shakeology. They are not the problem.  Where my struggles comes in is believing in me.  I know I touched on this earlier, but this is such a truism.  If you put the work in, the work works.  Yet, somehow, when I quit believing in myself, when I quit caring enough about the person inside, I quit caring for the person on the outside. And then I quit putting the work in.

Health and Fitness are more than physical things.  They are very much emotional.  Let me put it into perspective...you never reach for a bag of carrots after a big breakup. No, of course not, it's a tub of ice cream.  Our emotions are indicators and at times dictators of our physical well being. Our emotional well being is intertwined with our physical well being.  The two are inter-locked.

My problem many days is that I let my emotions and the way I view and believe about myself dictate my physical well-being.  I don't quit exercising because I believe it doesn't work.  I don't shove greasy food in my mouth because I think it makes me healthy.  No, I resort to laziness and bags of goo when I quit feeling worth the work.

So let me pass on the tips shared with me today.  When negative thoughts fill your space and try to push out the positive you believe about yourself, do this.  Write down the negative thought.  Draw a line through it.  Write the opposite, something positive.

My struggle has been with this (honest confession moment, prepare yourself):  No one cares about you or really likes you, so why should you care about yourself. 

Truth is:  People care greatly for me and I am worth caring about and worth caring for myself.

The question is what do you believe about you?

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat HIIT Power + plus some free weight work

Day #8 - My 5 Struggles

Weigh in day!  It is a day of hope that teeters on being a great celebration or a possible deflation.  Today was somewhere in between.  I was down to 181.2 and a BMI of 25.98, a total weight loss of 3.6 lbs.  Pretty good for a weeks work, but honestly was hoping for better.  I know, maybe that sounds like I was looking for a miracle.  This got me thinking about the struggles we face.  So here are the 5 struggles I face and how I do my best to overcome them.

1) FOOD -
Inside of me is an 11 year old chubby kids who still buys his jeans in the "HUSKY" section.  That kids loves sweet tea, pizza, and especially Chex Mix.  While the grown up healthier Jeff has grown to enjoy eggplant, cabbage, zucchini and other veggies.  There is a part of me that still has the urge to tear open a bag of party mix and eat it 'til it is gone.

How I deal: For starters, try not to keep it in the house.  Secondly, to make a better choice if I do get the urge.  And at times, I do treat myself to some Bold Party Blend Chex Mix, but I pour an amount in a bowl and try, try, try to not go back to the bag.

2) TIME -
Probably the second biggest hiccup we have to our health and fitness is squeezing out the time to do it.  I have a wife, three kids and a whole heap of responsibilities.  I feel ya on this one...So I schedule my workouts in my to do list.  I tell my family that this is when I am working out and try to manage other activities around it.  Try to establish a set time to do it - early morning, after the kids go to bed, just after work.  If it becomes part of the daily routine, then you and everyone else will work around it.

3) EXERCISE
Simply put, if you don't love it, you won't want to do it.  Find a program that you really enjoy doing.  Don't have one, then I would love to recommend a few.  I tried to doing TurboFire, similar to TurboKick classes.  I felt like a dancing bear and hated it.  I found myself not wanting to do it.  If you hate it, you won't do it.  Find one you LOVE! It makes it easy to do.

4) THE MIRROR
I may struggle the most with the man looking back at me.  I have some convincing of myself to do that I deserve to look and feel better.  Obesity is mentally and emotionally crippling disease.  When you see change it fuels the fire.  When you bust your can and don't see change, you start to question why you are doing it.  You look in the mirror and say "why?"  I have worked hard on my Jack Handy and telling myself that I deserve it.

5) WHY
Losing sight of your WHY is the quickest way to lose motivation.  About 3 years ago, I checked in around 220 lbs, ate whatever I wanted and to use a country song reference treated my body like an old honky tonk - minus the booze, smokes and loose women.  Our youngest was an infant, we had one in school and one about to start school and they needed and deserved a dad who could go play catch in the yard, chase after bicycles, and have the energy to be active with them.  My wife deserved a husband who had energy at the end of the day.  I deserved to be healthy and have a long life..see my kids become adults and live out their lives.  They are my WHY.

MEALS: updated later

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat Kick Start 30 -- my eleven year old son was my workout partner

Day 1 - Revenge of the Sugar Cookies

Starting Weight: 184.8  BMI 26.45 and the annoying sound of my Wii Fit telling me I am overweight!  Great start to a Monday!

I had intentionally avoided scales the last 3 weeks knowing my weight was on a steady climb. But the miniature voice in the Wii this morning as a stepped on the scale is motivation enough as it declared I was overweight.  Honestly, I did workout 6 days last week, but the week before was a steady diet of Christmas Sugar Cookies with my coffee filled with sweetly flavored creamer.  I guess they have taken their revenge.  It is now time to fight back...good bye sugar cookie belly.

Breakfast: 1 piece sugar free whole wheat toast, egg with pepperjack cheese, 1 pc turkey bacon, medium banana - Total Cal: 325

Meal #2 - Shakeology Chocolate, Banana, 1/2 cup skim milk, ice & water - Total Cal.  300(ish)

Lunch - 5 oz tuna with mustard, medium apple, baby carrots (raw), medium green pepper - Total Cal 265

Snack - medium apple and 2 tbsp natural peanut butter - Total Cal 230

Dinner - 1 skinless chicken leg, baked potato (plain), steamed broccoli about 1 1/2 cup - Total Cal 310

Late Night - Banana and baby carrots raw - Total Cal 125
Daily total calories:  1,555

In honest reflection, I did resist some temptations (um, pizza) and also had the urge to emotionally eat to which I choose carrots.  Now it is not the sugar sweet cereal I wanted, but a much smarter choice.

Exercise - Les Mills Combat 30 minute kick start

**Before picture taken and will be posted later in the week!

Personal Challenge(s)

8 months ago I took on the toughest fitness challenge of my life and surpassed even my wildest dreams on Insanity.  I dropped to a weight I had not been since high school and was as physically fit as I had been possibly ever.

But like most of you, I am not immune to life and busyness and distractions that  we all face.  My fitness became inconsistent, my nutrition was good but not great and during the holidays I found my hand inside the cookie jar more often than not.

One of my goals this year is to be more transparent and open.  A lot of times we are open about our success and more reserved about our failures.  For me  being vulnerable is scary.  While  I have shouted from the rooftops where I have won in my fitness health, I have often times tried to save face when I have hit a stretch of inconsistency.  I am human like you.  I have ups and downs.

So here is to 2013 and being open.  Over the next 60 days I am putting myself through a personal challenge - part fitness, part emotional exercise.  My fitness plan is to start and complete Les Mills Combat - a 60 day MMA style workout program.  The second half of this challenge is to be blog daily (or most days) posting my food, all of it, good or bad, my struggles with exercise, with emotions tied to exercise and nutrition, and posting pictures of my journey.

Goals of this whole thing:  1) Goal weight of 170 lbs  2) Learn to be more vulnerable and open.

Maybe you are asking why or even who cares.  Quite possibly nobody tunes in and follows my journey and that is okay.  It is more about me pushing myself to healthy both physically and emotionally.  I am challenging myself to be accountable and this is platform I am using

Follow Through

My brain has a funny way of taking little bits of information and turning them into life lessons.  My middle child, who is about 8, is all boy.  Slightly bull in a China shop meets a solid rock.  When he shuts the door, he SHUTS the door.  It is not simply a push to create momentum to get the door to the latch so that it catches.  No it is a full on SLAM.  Hand on the door all the way through until the latch catches and the whole car shakes...

So what does my son shutting the door have to do with you and me and our journey to getting healthy...well simply these words "Follow Through".  My son doesn't just do enough to get the door shut.  He finishes it!  He pushes til the point that he knows that door is going to close.  Where most give a passing push, he gives all he's got everytime.

Most of us give it all for a short while or we start off out of the gate quick, but fail to finish.  I have been known to get all jacked up to begin something -- whether that be eating healthy, an exercise program, or even a new book -- then get half way through and fail to follow through.  In an our efforts to achieve the health and fitness that we desire, we have to keep giving the same effort we gave at the start.

Here some ways to keep you following through on those commitments:

1) Set goals and make it a priority to reach them.  This might be an amount of pounds, level of fitness or a specific program like a race.

2) Community and Accountability.  While not impossible, it quite a bit more difficult to do on your own.  To make eating healthy a lifestyle change in your house everyone in the house must agree.  One person cannot bring kale chips and the other person bring french fries.  To achieve best results it is essential to find the nutrition support as well as partners in fitness.

3) Find mental strength.  Your mind will tell you to quit long before your body is ready.  Your mind will tell you to skip a workout.  Your mind will tell you to stop, that it is okay.  That is when you have to find that inner voice that say "bring it" or "dig deeper" or "push harder" or "one more".  You have to find the voice that pushes you to be louder than the voice that tells you to quit!

Finish!  Follow through!  Push that door until it's shut!   

Fallen and I can't get up...

The journey to health and fitness is much like a mountain climb.  You journey over difficult terrain -- over rocks, cliffs, dusty trails, rivers and gorges.  At times along that journey you slip and fall -- fall into 3 slices of deep dish pizza, you tumble over a busy week where you don't exercise, you trip over excuses that give you permission to return to old unhealthy habits.

When I was a kid there was a commercial that was as much the punchline of joke as it was a critical piece of advertising.  The commercial was a little old lady on the floor who was unable to get herself off the floor.  She pushes a button and hollers out "I've fallen and can't get up."

As we climb this mountain, there are moments where we are the little old lady on the floor.  There comes a point where we have to do one of two things -- either we A) muster the strength and courage to pick our self  back up and continue that climb.  We get back on the treadmill, push play on that program, say no to the Krispy Kreme and yes to healthy meal.  

OR B) we cry out like the little of lady "I have fallen and I can't get up".  This is where support is critical.  What I have found as a truth or axiom in my life is this scripture:  "Two are better than one, for they have a better return for their labor."  You are more likely to find success in a partnership or group.  You are more likely to get up from the side of the mountain with the help of someone else.

Reach out for that help!  If you are looking for someone to be that support, let me put you into Challenge Group to get you off that floor!

Gaining Confidence

Let's play word association.  I say workout, you might say sweat, fitness, exercise, lifting, smelly gym socks.  The word that may not come to mind is CONFIDENCE.  The origin of the word comes from the Latin word confidere which means to trust, to have faith in.  This definitely does not bring to mind images of bulking up, trimming down or getting fit. Yet, there is an interesting correlation between personal confidence and your level of fitness and health.  Self-image and self confidence are linked!

As you push the limits of your body and achieve new levels, you start create a belief in yourself of accomplishing new limits.  As your body begins to take shape from that of a pear to that of healthy and strong, you start to see yourself differently.  Every time you achieve one goal there is a drive ignited in you to push to achieve a new goal.  This attitude bleeds over into other areas of your life. In turn that affects how you present yourself to others, resulting in a greater level of confidence.

When you feel good about you, others take notice!  When you believe in you, you show it!  Run the next mile, do the next set of push ups, push play on Insanity or P90X.  Not only will you be rewarded by building a stronger, faster, learner physique, you will be rewarded with a greater sense of self-worth.  The changes you find will be more than just physical...they may just change your life!