I Can Only Imagine

"If you can dream it, you can do it."

Walt Disney

A golfer will visualize there shot before hitting it.  A shooter in his mind has already made the free throw before it ever leaves his hand.  Award winning actors have rehearsed their winning speech hundreds of times before the movie was ever shot.  

That is the power and the fuel that comes with imagination.  The first steps toward success - in health and fitness, in business, in sports, really in any avenue of life - starts with the ability to believe you will be successful.

I have been given the gift of imagination.  I am creative.  I am one of those people that have unfiltered ideas of grandeur. My left handed self thrives in these moments.  I have written #1 songs.  I have penned the screenplay for the next Oscar Award winning movie.  I at one point starred in 13 straight All-Star Games and finally brought the World Series back to the Chicago Cubs.  (I told you I had a big imagination.)

So it leaves you asking, "Jeff, why have you not ..."

That answer is simple.  The power of the imagination gives the dream.  The athlete, artist or person has to believe in it.  They have to sell out to that dream.  It is one thing to see the impossible happening for a brief moment.  It is an entirely another to continue to see that dream as a reality despite set back, despite obstacle, despite failure.  

There is a story of Walt Disney's brother, Roy at the opening of Walt Disney World.  Prior to the opening Walt had passed away.  A guest at that grand opening said to Roy "what a shame Walt was not here to see it."  Roy's response "He already had."  The only way the Happiest Place On Earth ever came into existence was because one man in plane ride over some swamp land in Orlando, FL saw something that did not already exist.  And then pursued that something passion, fervor and tenacity.  

For me, it is not a problem to see swampland as the world's greatest amusement park.  I have the imagination for that.  My struggle is taking what I imagine and believing two things:

1) that I am able to bring the dream to reality

and 

2) that there are others who are willing and wanting to share in the dream.

While Walt gets the majority of the credit, others like Roy stood by him.  

So when I fly over the swampland of my life what do I see?  I see a guy with a successful Team Beachbody business impacting 1000's of lives.  I see a guy with the ability to take his family to the Happiest Place on Earth whenever.  I see a guy on a stage in front of thousands sharing a message of hope and change.  

What do you see for your life?  Maybe you imagine yourself 10 pounds lighter.  Maybe you imagine yourself debt free.  Maybe you imagine yourself wildly successful in your giftedness beyond what others believe.  

It is time for you and I to not only imagine,  but to come alive.  

A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive. ~ Roy Disney

A Beachbody, A Struggle & The Heart of Father

As is my usual Saturday morning practice, I sit in the stillness of my bedroom while everyone else is a sleep pounding the keys of this computer and sipping my morning coffee.  Last weekend was a struggle...no coffee.  My intimate relationship of 8 years with my coffee pot was broken off last Friday.  Leaving me with just the computer and a less than warm bed.

The struggle spilled far beyond my caffeinated beverage that was missing into something more that needed to take place.  Like many Americans, we fight for every dollar we make.  The coffee pot was the icing on the financial cake of demanding weekend.  There was flag football to register for, there was a band trip to sign up for and there is a little girl who steals my heart and I want to give her everything.  Factor in the utility bill that tips in somewhere around the weight of NFL defensive lineman and we were face to face with a Dave Ramsey More Month than Money type situation.  And it was just not feasible to make all of them happen.

I am a husband and father first and foremost.  As was handed down to me from generations of husbands and fathers from the earliest of my ancestors who hunted and foraged the land for food, you have the responsibility to provide for your family.  You wear that pride as you would a bear skin coat that you killed and skinned with your own two hands.  You want to provide for their needs and give them their wants because they are great kids and deserve that.  You want to give them moments and memories and at times that costs money. So when as a dad you can't, it is like having your bear skin coat stripped from you!

I am by default an incredible dreamer.  On the filp side of the coin, I am terribly lousy and making dreams reality.  So after a conversation with a good friend, who also has a background in ministry, I realized you just don't walk into a $80,000 job anymore.  And if we are being honest, that number just begins to touch what it takes to raise 3 kids, pay for 3 college degrees and I hate to think about it, 3 weddings.  Last weekends big revelation through a broken coffee pot was that whatever it is I do for a "job" will always leave us short of the dreams we want.  Momma always asked if money grew on trees, there's no forest nearby if it does.

If you are reading this post by now you know I am a Team Beachbody coach, in short, I help people with their health and fitness.  No I don't have a six pack, in part due to the cup in my hand that is filled with creamer in my coffee.  I did not join to get ripped, just to improve me.  I joined to get healthy and that I am.  I also joined with the hope of helping others.  

Here is another truth that I know, my Beachbody business is not another "job".  While my day work has an income ceiling, my business doesn't.  While my 40 hour struggle could never mathematically take my family to Disney, my Beachbody business can.  While money may not grow on trees, I have the opportunity to invest in a garden that if tended properly will produce great fruit.  While the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel has always been there, I have often been reluctant to run towards it.  (There is a whole nother blog post to deal with that).  As a dad of 3 amazing kids, what I hold in my hands is opportunity.  Opportunity to not put limitations on our dreams.  Opportunity to provide for their everyday needs and some moments they will never forget.

What I have is an opportunity to end the struggle!

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?