Day #18 Emergency Plan

So I live in a place where if it snows the world seems to stop. Stock up on bread and water from the local grocery, because you are not going anywhere. The emergency plan here in the Bluegrass is to just stop doing whatever you had planned.  This seems quite familiar with most people's health and fitness plan.

Most people don't just decide to stop exercising or just stop going to the gym.  What typically happens is that some sort of storm in our life happens and we don't have an emergency plan for our fitness.  We get in a time crunch so we skip a workout, we have something come up, so exercise gets pushed aside.  What is needed is an emergency plan.

My go to in a crunch, got little time to get the burn in is Insanity Fast & Furious.  It is 22 minutes of heart racing, calorie burning intensity.  It fits neatly into a tight schedule!

Here is why I keep this workout handy, while we all work hard to stick to our programs it can quickly unravel with a missed workout or two.  What we know about habits is that it is harder to build a good habit than it is to tear one apart.  I know that while one missed workout won't necessarily keep me from getting the results I want, I do know that it can start to unravel the disciplines I have put into place.

No matter what it is have an emergency workout plan.  Life is going to happen.  There are going to be days that working out is not going to coincide with life.  Have a plan for those moments!

Day #17 3 Things Winners Don't Do

In a follow up to the post about what winners do, here are three things winners don't do.

1) Quit - Winners never, ever give up.  They break, the crumble and at times are crushed.  But they never, ever quit.  Pain and struggle are temporary speed bumps on the road to succeeding.  These should not be walls that keep us from our goal, but simply serve as obstacles we fight hard to overcome.  DON'T QUIT!

2) Blame Others - The affirmative of this is that winners take personal responsibility.  Their situation is never someone else's fault.  Their weight struggle is not blamed on DNA or genes.  The inability to lose weight has nothing to do with what everyone else in their life is doing.  Your life situation is not the fault of someone else!  A winner takes responsibility for themselves!

3)  Half A$$ IT - A winner gives everything, every time.  A winner puts their foot to the pedal and steps on it.  50% is not going to get you the results you want.  75% is not going to get you to your goals.  You have got to give 100% and then give something more.  DIG DEEPER ala Shaun T!  DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST ala Tony Horton!  Give your all, all the time!

You have the ability to win!!!!  Now GO WIN!!

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 #5 Just Ask

"I can do it myself..."  at least that is what I always seem to try to convince myself.  In reality it is not a confidence in my own abilities to act like that, but more my fear of asking for help.  Maybe you are like me and would rather suffer through, struggle, and face defeat rather than suck it up and ask someone for help. It is not even that I don't want help or that I believe that I don't need it...the struggle comes in asking.

Sometimes fear sets in.  What will they think if I ask?  How will they respond?  Will they see me as weak?  These question flood us (or just me) and handicap me from getting the help I need, whether in weight loss or business or finances or just life.  Our character traits spill over into every area of our life.  So if you struggle with asking for help in general, what I know is that you are not going to go to someone and say "help me lose the weight."  How do I know this?  Because I am that guy, who struggled and struggle and refused to ask anyone for help.   I wrote earlier this week about how support creates success.  But you will never get the support you need if you don't ask.  I finally asked.  I went to a friend who had reached out to me about Beachbody and I said I need to help to get to the goals I have.

While I am less than perfect at asking, as matter of fact, still learning to ask for the things I want and need.  I am getting better.  Our first step to reaching the goals we set might be as simple as asking someone to help.  If you have health and weight loss goals, here is an open hand extended.  Just ask for help...

MEALS:
Breakfast: Egg with 2% pepperjack cheese on 10 grain Brownberry toast, medium Red Delicious apple - total cal - 275
Snack #1: Chocolate Shakeology, frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup skim milk w/ ice and water - 270
Lunch: 5oz of tuna with spicy brown mustard and sweet relish, baby carrots, banana, 10 grain Brownberry bread - 378
Snack #2: 6 sourdough pretzel nuggets, Brownberry toast with Wholly Guacamole, baby carrots - 290
Dinner: Lean Turkey sausage link, potato, onion and green pepper pan fried - 335
Total Calories: 1548

EXERCISE: 
Les Mills Combat HIIT Plyo Shock - or in other words 30 minutes of pain and agony!!!

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

6 pounds in 30 days

In June I roasted through Insanity, shedding a total of 17 pounds in the process.  I hit an all-time adult low of 171.8 pounds.  I was fit, healthy and feeling great.  In a moment of honest confession, my fitness and nutrition have been "okay".  I have picked us some running again, working through p90X at about 60% of the workouts, missing from time to time. My focus has lacked on reaching my own personal health and fitness goals.  I am in good shape, but have yet to hit great shape.

So I am challenging myself and asking you to hold me accountable to it.  Today is Day 0 of my 6 pounds in 30 day challenge.  I weighed in at 175.5 pounds, 6 pounds breaks that barrier of 170 pounds.  There is nothing special about the number 170, other than the tens have been my walls that I have needed to break through.  While nothing significant physically, 170 means a whole lot mentally.  Seeing 6 after the will indicate a level of fitness and health that I have yet to see as an adult.  It will be payment for working my "gut" off the next 30 days!

I am giving you permission to check in on me -- ask me about my workouts, my nutrition and diet, ask me anything!  My commitment to you is to be honest, to post regularly via youtube videos - (www.youtube.com/karch46mu) and posts on my facebook like page -- www.facebook.com/AFitterYou.

So join me, follow me, watch me change...my Thanksgiving thanks will be for all the support I have got to get this done.  If you are willing to be my encouragement and my accountability partner in this, I would love for you to leave me a comment below!

Thanks in advance!

Jeff Pitts

Changed Lives...become the change

46th in the nation...

Way to go Kentucky...the state celebrated an amazing athletic accomplishment in April, an 8th NCAA National Championship in basketball.  While another banner is hung in Rupp Arena, the state of Kentucky ranks 46th in the United States in least OBESE states.  An estimate is that over 31% of the state is obese.
An USA Today article says that by 2030 the United States as a whole will be somewhere close to 40% obese.

Maybe that does not alarm you, maybe you look at that number and say oh, well that can't be me.  That is what I thought.  I was overweight, yes.  Heavy, yeah okay.  Obese, not me.  Obesity is measured on the BMI scale.  If your Body Mass Index is over 30% you are considered obese.  Let me give you my numbers at 5'9" and 218 lbs, I was at a BMI of over 32% (besides looking like a pregnant man).

Check for yourself...what is your BMI.

1)  If you find yourself needing to make a change. I want to help you do that.

2) If you find yourself wanting to be a part of helping others make a change.  I want to help you do that.

Join Team Beachbody in our goal to end the trend of obesity!!!!  The Revolution Has Begun!!!

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!

The Thin Line

Let's face it, weight is an emotional thing.  Scale goes up were sad.  Scale goes down were happy.  As much as we would like to reduce it down to just numbers -- number of calories taken in, number of minutes burning those calories off -- what we cannot separate are the emotions of our weight.

With all that in mind, then what we have to strive to overcome is letting our emotions control our behaviors.  In all honesty, if I am having a bad day, there is a mechanism that will pick up any food that is put in front of me and put it in my mouth.  Sometimes this is a conscious decision, other times it is a sub-conscious reflex to my emotions.  I have realized I am not the only one who is an emotional eater.

I have also learned that when I exercise and push my physical limits there is an emotional connection to that as well.  I feel accomplished, satisfied, and actually a sense of happiness.  Exercise is euphoric.  Now I will say this, there are many days at the start of my workout that I don't feel joy or happiness, but that is where choice comes in.  And choice is that thin line that keeps us emotionally attached to the number on the scale.

I have come to a better emotional state when it comes to the scale based on these simple facts:

1) I have eaten in a way that feeds my body what it needs.
2) I have exercised in a way that has push my body to it's physical limits.
3) That I am not defined by that number, but being refined into a healthier person.

Don't let the thin line become a dictator of your behavior.  Overcome those emotions driven by the number you see.  Choose to win.  Win with your food, win with your exercise, win with your attitude.

When to give up...

The truth of the matter is your mind will quit before your body is ready to.  Let's face it none of us like pain, but pain is what is required to see change in your physical appearance.  There is that mechanism in your body that fires a signal to the brain telling it to stop whatever it is doing that is causing the pain.  This mechanism is an amazing feature when we touch a hot stove, stick your hand in snow or slam your finger in the door.  But this feature is a hindrance from success when it comes to achieving optimal results in your physical fitness.

A trick I have used to trick my brain is the "one more" approach.  When I started my weight loss journey with running, it was the one more stoplight or mailbox approach.  My brain was telling my body to stop, I had to speak louder than the voice in my head telling it "just one more...".  I would reach that mailbox or streetlight and I would have to tell my brain "just one more...".  I would do this over and over until I reached my final destination on my run.

When it comes to physical conditioning through lifting and training, I think the "one more..." approach is just as necessary.  In order to break through barriers of weight loss, training, or conditioning you have to break through the mental wall that keeps you from reaching your peak.  As an Insanity graduate, there were days I went through the motions of the workout, but I realized if I wanted peak results I had to give peak performance.  In short I had to overcome the voice in my head and push out one more push-up.  Press through the pain of 10 more seconds of high knees.

The point of giving up is the point where you can physically give no more but even then you say to yourself "just one more..."

A Fitter You!

When in doubt...try!

All my life I have heard the expression "When in doubt..." then followed by some sort of lame advice.  Doubt is one of the things that creeps into our minds that can prevent our bodies from achieving maximum success.  Doubt is the thoughts that keep us from putting in the work.  Doubt is the thing that keeps us from making wise choices with our food.  Doubt can single handily set you back on progress.

If the workout looks hard, you "doubt" you can do it.  Not big on veggies, you "doubt" you can eat healthy.  Here is your homework...replace doubt with try.  If the workout looks hard give it a TRY!  Don't like broccoli, give peppers or asparagus a TRY.  Doubt will keep you from trying things.  Let me help you out, you will fail.  You may fail to complete every sit up, push up, burpee.  You will fail and munch on some high fat food.  Fail TRYING, then you are not failing at all.  You are attempting to make progress.  The greatest failure is to fail without ever trying.  So try, try, try!  And when you fail pick yourself back up and try, try, try again.