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!

The Measure of Success

We have all stood there.  We put in a great week of work.  We watched and tracked what we ate.  And then the scale reads....no change!!!!  This is when we start with the explicatives...

Don't get discouraged.  Let's take a look at what we are truthfully measuring as success.  While most of us have a number we want to see on the scale, our goal should be more about living a healthy and fit life.  Still, you want to see the numbers move.  But when they don't, lets look at the what else we can measure to see if we are being successful.

- Body Measurements
We have all seen the picture of 1 pound of fat versus 1 pound of muscle.   So I won't re-post that viral image.  But measuring your body let's you know where the change is happening.  So when the scale doesn't move, take a look at where you are losing.

Measure these areas: chest, waist, arms, legs, hips and neck.  Compare those numbers and look to see where change is happening.  I recommend measuring every two weeks.

- Clothing Test
This is simple enough, how are those clothes fitting?  Are you noticing a difference?  In honestly, we all have those "skinny" pants hanging in the closest.  Check and see how those are fitting.

-Before and Afters
We look in the mirror everyday.  We see ourselves everyday.  There is an incredible visual evidence in comparing side by side pictures of yourself.  These are best done either every 2 weeks or every month.  Take front poses, profile poses, back poses, and one where you flex those guns!

-The "DANG" wat cho been doin' effect
 Sometimes other people take notice when we don't.  So take the compliment and share what you have done to reach those amazing results!

So when the scale is not going the right way, measure these other areas to find success!

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!

New Years 2014!

Happy New Year!

As you awake this morning, it is a morning like any other, but then again it's not.  Today is New Years Day.  A day of fresh starts, clean slates and declaring what you will accomplish in the next 365 days.  So here are my 3 resolutions for 2014:

1) Be an encourager of others dreams.  
- Zig Ziglar says if you help enough people get where they are going, they will help you get where you're going.

2) Become a goal getter, not just a goal setter.  
- I am setting goals, dates, and putting together plans.

3) Become healthy on the inside, not just the outside.
- What is inside of us will spill out to the outside.  No amount of diet and exercise will heal hurts and help souls.

These are my resolutions for the New Year, what are yours?

Here's to a amazing and blessed 2014!

A YUGO of a Ferrari

I dogged it this morning...

Not proud of that, but it's the truth.  Here's why:

I believe that we have the capabilities to find the physical fitness of a Ferrari.  A Ferrari is a high powered, sleekly curved, sexy machine.

Truth be told, I have treat myself a little more like a YUGO with all it's economical, boxy shaped, 3 cylinder, top speed of 40mph styling.  There are drive-through bags on my floor board.  It is way past having any kind of maintenance done.  And I feed it whatever I can find.

And this morning I felt it.  

At the starting line of my daily workout when I stepped on the gas to push through,  I got what I put into my body, a sluggish, slow result.  

In order to operate physically as a Ferrari, instead of YUGO, you have got to fuel your body like a Ferrari.  This means fueling up on whole foods, plenty of H2 and the O.  This means knowing the difference between treating yourself and going full on buffet on holiday dinner.

Lesson learned...

Do you feel the difference in your workouts when you eat clean?

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...

Chachachanges...3 questions to ask

Let's face it NO ONE likes change.

At best we tolerate it as a part of life, just like paying taxes, traffic and another Law and Order spinoff.  But change does happens.

As a matter of fact change happens all around us.  If you are a parent you watch it take place daily in your house.  That infant you held snuggly in your arms becomes a pre-pubescent boy with a smart mouth (experience talking).  Change is all around you - the light changes (at least we hope), seasons change, styles change.  Thank God!  I could only wear a mullet for so long!

So at some level we need to quit fighting change and embrace it.  Is it scary?  Yeah, like Nightmare on Elm Street scary, the first one.  Is it hard? Of course.  Is it worth it?  That is the million dollar question.  Most likely if we never see value in making a change, we will never change unless forced to.  We will never quit smoking, start eating healthier, exercise, or move out of your momma's basement without facing change.

Here are a couple questions to ask yourself if the change is worth it:

    1) Is it going to make my life better in the long term?

Is the change that I intend on making going to better my life in the long term?  Weight loss can extend your life, quitting smoking can keep you from cancer and improve the smell of your wardrobe, eliminating negative influences can help you create an atmosphere for long term success - "attitude determine altitude."  What we have to negotiate is whether the short term sacrifice or discomfort of the change is worth the long term result that comes from changing!

    2) Will my choice of change positively or negatively affect my relationship with others?

The answer: likely both.  What you will find is that there are those who are going to celebrate and support your choice.  You will also likely find that there are those that will question your reasoning, criticize your attempts and even try to pull you back into a poor habit.

Yet, what you are more likely to find is that making a positive change will help you create connections with like minded people.  People set on achieving similar life goals.  Your choice to change may actually open up the potential for new relationships.  Who knows Mister or Miss Right might be right at the corner of Choice and Change!

    3) Am I worth it?

This is a question of self value.  So often we stay in poor habits due to our belief that we are undeserving of anything better.  That is just not true!  YOU ARE WORTH IT!  YOU ARE VALUABLE!  Quite possibly the greatest change that has to be made is how you see the image of the person staring back at you in the mirror.  Oftentimes the choice to change is one of belief in yourself.  That is where it has to start!

The greatest change you can make is one of going from unbelief to belief!  You are worth it!

Change is hard, yet so often change is exactly what your life needs!  What changes do you need to embrace?

Do you need a coach?

“Mama wanted me to be a preacher. I told her coachin’ and preachin’ were a lot alike.” ~ Bear Bryant, Famed University of Alabama football coach

To answer the first question we have to answer another question, what is it to coach?  A coach is part inspiration, part motivation, part good cop, part bad cop.  A coach is friend and at times seems like an enemy.  A coach is someone who betters you in specific area and pushes you past the limits you have set for yourself.  

So the second question is "do you need a coach?"  Yes!  

If you "sport" of choice is public speaking, then you need a coach to help you with diction, word choice, pronunciation and delivery.

If you choose business, then motivational leaders like John Maxwell, Seth Godin and Ken Blanchard may coach you from the sideline of your life through books and articles or podcasts.


If you are a culinary artist, then you will find yourself under the tutelage of a master chef who will coach you in the finer ways slicing and sauteeing and saucing.  

Health and fitness or weight loss are no different.  You need a coach to instruct you, encourage you, inspire you, motivate you and keep you focused on the goals you have set.  A coach is someone who has a heart for fitness and a heart to see you succeed.  A coach is someone with a personal story of struggle, success and overcoming.  A coach is someone just like you.  

You need a coach because there will be question you need answers to.  You need a coach because you will hit a plateau and need to know how to break through.  You need a coach because let's face it, getting healthy, weight loss, getting fit is HARD to do on your own.  You need a coach because you have no idea what the heck quinoa!  

I want to be your health and fitness coach.  Whether it is ten pounds or 100 pounds, I want to be here for you.  Whether it's get skinny or getting big, I want to help you through.  Whether it is beating diabetes or just beating down your waistline, I am the guys who wants to help you succeed.  Do you need a coach?  Absolutely!  And I'm want to be that guy!

Work to Play

The overriding question to ask is WHY?

   Why be healthy?
   Why to active?
   Why improve your fitness?

What I realize is that everyone has a different specific reason as to start and pushing through their personal health and fitness journey.  Yet, I  believe that each of us could agree that there is one common reason for all of us.  We put in the work in order to play.

It doesn't matter what your play is.  It could be hiking, rafting, rock climbing.  That type of play requires you to push toward a peak physical condition to thrive in that type of hobby.  If you golf, play softball or just some YMCA basketball, being better physical condition means that at the end of those games you are less exhausted, less sore and recover faster.

Yet, maybe your play is shopping or singing KAROKE on a Friday night.  Does being in better health improve these?  Why not!  Isn't more exciting to shop for clothes that fit you better?  Isn't enjoyable to go the store and buy something a size smaller?  And what about KAROKE?  Well, sure.  Better cardiovascular will help you belt out those Celine Dion notes from the Titanic Soundtrack, you diva!

No matter what your play is, improving your physical conditioning and health can make that activity even more enjoyable.  Improving your health will prolong your life giving you more time to enjoy those hobbies and activities.  Improving your health will in the long term lower your medical expenses and give you more resources use toward enjoyable activities.

So why do you put in that work, why do you sweat, strain, push and dig deeper?  In order to play!  Go make the most of your work and enjoy your play time!

Jeff Pitts Fitness

Macy's, Taylor Swift & Me

Two Christmas ago I took a part time job at Macy's through the holiday.  When you have three kids, the Christmas season is never cheap.  We were a paycheck to paycheck family which makes spending an additional $500 on Christmas tough.

I got placed in Women's Fragrances.  I was that guy handing you a little card spritzed with perfume, trying to get you stop and spend your hard earned money on a luxury item of life.  As a matter of fact, I was asked to focus on Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck line.  So some Sunday afternoons I would be wearing a purple t-shirt with the words Taylor Swift Wonderstruck scripted across the front.  Not a glamorous life, but it was what was necessary to provide for my family.

I would pick up almost any shift.  I would be out of my house and away from my family 3 nights a week after spending 8 hours at my job.  I would give up Saturdays and Sundays missing valuable family time in order to help provide for my kids and my family.  All this to make an extra $500...

Why do I tell this story?  Because last week I through out the Macy's name tag with big block letters that read Jeffrey on it.  Why?  Well, glad you asked.  In the last 3 weeks I have made $500 doing something I love, helping others.  I am a Team Beachbody Coach which means I get the honor to help others reach their health and fitness goals and better yet, get paid to do so.

Here is the win for me.  I don't have to go spend 4 to 5 hours a night in a loud mall coming home smelling like a blend of 20 different women's fragrances.  I don't give up every weekend to make an extra $50.

What I do get in return is the reward of seeing others succeed.  What I do get in return is time for my kids - time to go to concerts, time to coach baseball, time to be present with them.  What I found for myself was a healthier way of life.  I found a renewed sense of self and belief in me as my own health and fitness have improved.  I have grown as a person and am finding a sense of fulfillment!  How many people can say they love their job.  I CAN!!!

While this is just a part time opportunity.  My vision is to make this so much more.  Something that provides long term in the big picture for my family.  My vision is to help hundreds and thousands of people make health changes and find hope.  Do you have a similar vision?

#TEAMHOPEDELIVERED

Rowboats and Ocean Liners

I have always been okay with just enough.  Whether that was in a relationship, in business, in faith, in my fitness, in my health, in my finances and in general, life.  I have felt like most of my life has been spent in a tiny one man rowboat where I have done nothing but tried to fix the holes to keep it floating.  Moments of peace have come in between times of constant repair of the tiny boat.  I have often been envious and even jealous of those on the ocean liners of life.

Today was a watershed moment in my life.  Today, I decided I was done trying to fix the rowboat of my life.  No, I haven't quit, but I have decided to take on a new project.  I have parked the boat along the shore and decided to leave that boat behind.  I am going to build an ocean liner, the S.S. Hope is what it will be called!

My little rowboat was my personal dingy that on occasion was capable of taking along a passenger or two.  The rowboat kept me from achieving bigger things in the life.   The S.S. Hope will have the capacity for hundreds if not thousands of people to go on the journey with me.  What I have realized is that life is done better with others.

Many of you are like me and you find yourself in the sinking ship and busted boat.  You find yourself fighting just to stay afloat.  You have come to the intersection of despair and overwhelmed.  You have hit walls that you can't break through.  The end of your rope does reach the end of the dock.  Your ship is sinking!

You are in the sinking ship of a broken and unhealthy life.  You may be in the sinking ship of broken financial situation.  You may be in the sinking ship of a broken marriage.  You may be in the sinking ship of unsatisfied career choice.  You find yourself in a  sinking ship of your life!

What I realize is that an ocean liner takes time, even years to build.  It is not an overnight project, but a lifetime endeavor.  Building an ocean liner is not something that one man can build alone, heck even Moses had the help of his sons.   Building an ocean liner takes a team of people to dedicate their time and energies and life to make it happen.

My hope is that you will become a part of the S.S. Hope.  My hope is that you will join as a passenger in finding hope through changing your own life, through a physical, emotional, and mental transformation.  My hope is that you will find this ocean liner to be a place of refuge, a place of inspiration and place of motivation.  A boat of hope!  If that is you, the S.S. Hope is now boarding.

Some of you will choose to be join the crew of the boat of hope.  You will sign up to be a coach and share hope and help to those in need.  You will join because you know that all of us can do more than one of us.  You will join because you recognize people need hope.  You will join because you have been a passenger on the boat and found your own hope.  You will join this crew because you believe in the mission of offering hope to people!  You will join because you know that one single row boat does not have the capacity to bring the change that needs to happen!  If that's you, then we want you on board as part of our crew!

The S.S. Hope is now in production.  The S.S. Hope will soon be boarding. The S.S. Hope is a place for you!

When you need to exercise

There are a lot of moments when you look into the mirror and say "I need to exercise".  Here is my list of times:

1) When you are frustrated.
2) When you are angry.
3) When you are happy.
4) When you are sad. 
5) When you are healthy.
6) When you are trying to improve your health.
7) In the morning.
8) In the afternoon.
9) In the evening.
10) With friends.
11) When you are alone.


These are just few...I would love it if you would add yours in the comment section.

6 words of my life

I was taught six words that would forever change my life. These words are not of great scientific insight. They are not even proverbial in and of themselves. Actually, they are quite simple.

They come from a biblical passage where Jesus says "freely you have received, freely give." If you are a regular reader of this blog you are wondering where the nutrition and exercise content is. Being healthy is more than having a body that is healthy. Being healthy is about all if you.

Here is my thought: we all have something to give away. I am not just talking money or even time. But we all have been given something. Personally as a follower of Jesus, I believe I have been given a lot. I have been given freedom, grace, love, truth, and honestly more than I ever deserved.

Here is why these 6 words make so much sense in ours lives (follower of God or not) by giving away we create space for more. The Dead Sea is dead because water has no place to flow out. It just gathers and stays stagnant, because of that no life can exist in it. I am working in my life to give away more. Honestly, of substance there is little margin to give, but of non tangible yet life-giving things I have an abundance.

2013 is a year I am going to try to give more. Yes, I hope to pass along the wisdom I am gaining on getting healthy, on nutrition, on exercise. But I am not limiting it to that. I hope to give more love, more grace, more kindness, more joy. I hope and plan on giving more of me to others. And as God blesses, I hope to give more away even financially.

Everything I have received, especially in the non-tangibles, I received freely. It cost me nothing to give it away. But limits me greatly to not give it away. If I hold back on giving I become like the Dead Sea a place nothing healthy can stay and live. If you and I give away what we have freely received we open up our lives to gain more to give away. "Freely you have received, freely give." Six life changing words. So what do you have to give?

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!

Counting calories counts

Darren Hardy in his book The Compound Effect talks about the challenge of paying attention to the small details.  He poses the question how much more likely are you to reach your goal weight if you counted every bite, crumb, scrap of food you put in your mouth.  That bite of cereal, the "dad tax" bite off your kids plate, the little "taste" of this unbelievable dessert.

Oftentimes, those are the calories we forget.  No, I am not trying exaggerate here and saw that your little nibble is what is keeping from your goals.  But enough nibbles during a day will add up.  The challenge is to track every calorie that we take in, in order to create a calorie deficit for that day.  The complex idea of weight loss has a simple formula, burn more calories than you take in.  Now there are many other factors, but a great starting point to achieving weight loss is to do the math -- count calories!

There are some great tools that make this even more convenient:

MyfitnessPal

SparkPeople

LiveStrong -- save the Lance jokes.  It is still a useful tool.

plus many more in the App Store or Google Play for your smartphone.  Which leads me to this point, all these calorie counters you can take with you.  No EXCUSES for not keeping track!  So do it!  I want you to have a beach ready BEACHBODY!  Do the work, eat right, and keep track!!

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)

A Recovering Fat Kid

If you have ever worn anything with Husky in the title...you might be a fat kid.

That was me, the chunky, husky kid (with a brother that wore jeans with slim in the title).  I was that slightly overweight athletic kid.  While always good at sports, I was even better at a buffet.  I loved food and food loved me back.  For whatever reason I could not out run the calories I was taking in.  I was active, energetic and played outside.  I was part of the pre-video game society.  We played hide and seek, kick the can, and ghosts in the graveyard.  And I was still the chubby kid.

Here is the intriguing piece of this puzzle, most of us grow up to still wrestle with that fat kid.  I am Jeff Pitts and I am a recovering fat kid.  This is because over time our metabolism slows down and so do we.  The one lesson that we continue live out is how we still eat like a kid...pick at our green veggies and sliding them off to the dog.  We must muster through some mustard greens in order to fill a bowl full of ice cream.

As a recovering fat kid I have had to swear off sweet tea, end my love affair with Chex Mix and close the bag on my deep seeded desires for Peanut M&M's.  I have had to mature into a passionate consumer of broccoli, a master chef of veggie medley and daring daredevil of things that fall in the vegetable category.

There are not meetings for people like me, but there is help.  I have found support in the caring arms of the Beachbody community.  Beachbody is more then the company behind the eye catching informercials for the world's leading fitness programs.  It is a group of fitness minded, exercise lovin', nutrition learning recovering fat kids like me.

Maybe you found yourself in some Huskies in your youth...then I invite you to join me and thousands of others who are recovering fat kids!

Day #22 The Hardest Workout

No it is not P90X or Insanity Pure Cardio...it is the workout that you don't want to do.  Tonight was one of those nights.  I was fighting a headache, so every time I jumped my head throbbed.  I watched the seconds tick slowly as my only thought "oh Lord, when is this going to be done!"

Sometimes the hardest things are the things that you feel least like doing.  On the flip side of that coin is that those workouts are oftentimes the most rewarding.  I may not have burned as many calories as a workout that I felt fresh and ready to go, but the emotional reward of pushing through a difficult workout is as much a gain as workout you attacked.

These are the moments that are a test of grit, a test of determination, a test of discipline.  Tonight I had all three....

EXERCISE:
LES MILLS COMBAT Extreme Cardio 60