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Archive for August, 2010
A note on nutrition
Aug 31st
I wanted to share with you part of the success I had with P90X and give you something to think about in the weeks ahead. When I first started P90X I wasn’t in horrible shape, I was fit and active and was lucky enough growing up to have a high metabolism so I never really watched what I ate. I bought P90X for various reasons (I wanted something portable, intense, structured, challenging, oh, and something that would give me 6 pack abs). P90X did all of that AND more. What it really gave me was a grasp on my nutrition. I remember writing a note a while back about how I thought I ate ok, you know salads (covered with ranch dressing and cheese), skim milk (with cookies or sugary cereals), I drank tons of water (and a soda everyday around 4pm before work), steamed veggies (with melted butter), and so on. When I really started writing down what I was eating I started to realize that it wasn’t nearly as clean as I thought I was and that was the main reason the results I wanted were hiding from me. Have you heard the saying abs are made in the kitchen? It is SO true!
Anyway, the point of this email is that working out and nutrition go hand in hand! Just because you work out 5 or 6 days a week does NOT mean that you should be eating whatever you want. Way too many people work out and then reward themselves with food. Have you ever worked out and then thought to yourself, well I worked out today so I can have this piece of chocolate cake, or fried chicken, or muffin and double cream latte with whipped cream and caramel because I deserve it. NO!!! That way of thinking has GOT TO STOP!!! Your body needs good fuel both before and after a workout. The more good food you put into your body the better you will feel and the better you will look. (On a side note, since starting this program a little over 90 days ago and making the changes I have made in my diet people have been commenting on how much healthier I look- my eyes, my skin, my face, You just LOOK healthier, is what I keep hearing.)
Did you know that when it comes to diet and exercise, 80% of your results are determined by what you put in your mouth? Once I changed my diet and followed my nutrition plan did I really start seeing the amazing results. It is hard. It does take practice. I am STILL a work in progress. If you have questions about your nutritional plan let me know. I am here to help.
Scientists have said that our body is worth around $500 million to $1 billion dollars! If you owned a machine worth $1 billion dollars, how would you treat it?? Wait, you DO own a machine worth $1 billion dollars, so think about that as you decide what type of fuel you are putting in your body today, tomorrow and further into the future.
The Slight Edge
Aug 31st
So we all know about compounding interest, right? That if you start saving in an account that compounds your interest when you are young then by the time you retire you could have a nice little nest egg saved up, but if you WAIT, even just 6 years, that your nest egg will either be much smaller or you will need to invest much longer in order for that to grow to the same amount. Ok, so what does this have to do with health and fitness?
I really cant say it better than Jeff Olson, so I will quote this section – it makes SO much sense!
Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge:
You know what you are supposed to eat. We all do. Fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbs, salads, whole foods, lean meats, more fish and poultry than beef. You know it, I know it, we all know it. So why do so many of us still go out and chow down cheeseburgers and fries everyday?
I will tell you why: because it wont kill us. Not today.
If you ate a cheeseburger and immediately suffered a near fatal heart attack, would you ever go near a cheeseburger again? I doubt it. It may take twenty or thirty years, but when you add up the compounded interest on all that high-fat, artery-clogging dietary mayhem, eventually your poor overworked heart just quits, stops dead. We dig our graves with our teeth.
It is easy to eat well. And it is easy not to.
Is is not the one junk meal; it is the thousands, over time. Eating the burger is just a simple error judgement. Not eating it, a simple positive action. Eating it wont kill you – today. But compounded over time, it can. Not eating it wont save you- today. But compounded over time, it can and will.
If you dont exercise today, will that kill you? No, of course not. You know what you need to do to stay healthy and feel fit and live a long life. Get your heart rate up, a little over normal, for twenty minutes, three times a week. You know it, I know it everyone knows it. And it is easy to do.
But its also easy not to do. And if you dont do it today, or tomorrow, or the next day, you wont suddenly drop dead, and you wont suddenly put on twenty pounds, and you wont suddenly loose all your muscle tone and flop around like a marionette with his strings cut off. But that simple error in judgement, compounded over time, will take you down and out.
The truth is, what you do matters. What you do today matters. What you do everyday matters. (end quote)
I hope that this was as powerful for you to read as it was for me to read. I imagine there will be other passages I want to share with you as I finish the book.
Tips before you sign up as a Beachbody Coach
Aug 31st
If you have made the decision to be a Beachbody Coach I have a few tips for you!
1. Once you KNOW that you want to be a Coach get started as soon as possible! I hear too many times people want to wait until they have more time or until things “calm down” in life. Does this EVER happen? Do you ever get more time? There are HUGE benefits to getting started sooner rather than later.
~ You don’t have to commit a lot of time to your business right off the bat. But you can STILL make money just by telling people to go to your website to make their purchases.
~ YOUR Coach, and the Coaches he or she has signed will continue to build their business. You may wait a couple months to focus on Coaching and in that time NUMEROUS coaches can be added to your downline. You will benefit from these coaches and the work they do after you add your first two coaches. If you wait two months you’ll end up getting placed UNDER the coaches that join before you. Would you rather help them, or have them help YOU?
2. INTERVIEW Coaches! You get to CHOSE who you work with in this business. I found out about Coaching on the TeamBeachbody.com website after I had done 45 days of P90X. I started doing research and started talking to other coaches, finding out what they liked about it, how it worked, etc. I was really surprised that some coaches I asked about it never got back to me. I picked MY Coach, Caterina Passerelli because she quickly responded to my questions. She didn’t try to “Sell” me on Coaching, she told me her story, why she is a coach and I knew she was committed to Coaching.
~ Join with a coach who you TRUST, who you RESPECT, who you can see yourself LEARNING from. You will be in close contact with this person via emails and phone calls. Make sure they are at least AS committed to their business and will help you reach your goals.
If a Coach wont take the time to make you feel comfortable with your decision BEFORE you sign up do you think they will make you feel comfortable AFTER you sign up?
Ready to sign up and want to join MY TEAM??
Change>Results!
Aug 31st
A couple weeks ago I was hanging with a friend of mine and she remembered that years ago I started throwing my change into a jar to save up for a two month trip to New Zealand. I was always so excited to empty my wallet and throw in what could have been 0.81cents, sometimes I threw in paper money as well if I had a couple extra bucks. Doing this didn’t change my daily life much – it isn’t like I was missing the change in my wallet, but when I finally got around to counting the cash I had it was like I had hit the jackpot! All of a sudden I had FREE money- and it sure did add up!
This post is all about CHANGE! Many people want to SEE something physically change – definition, smaller waist, etc. That is great, but of course that isn’t going to happen overnight, right? How many get frustrated thinking – “This isn’t working!! I give up!” only to go back to the way things were (which CLEARLY weren’t getting you the changes you so desire). The trick is to NOT focus on the results on a day to day basis, instead focus on the changes you need to make on a day to day basis.
Here is a great quote by Jack Dixon for you to take with you this week: “If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.” Just because you can’t SEE the changes YET, doesn’t mean they aren’t happening.
Here are two examples for you. First of all: Think of when chicken lays an egg. There is something happening INSIDE that egg that is changing everyday! On the outside it doesn’t appear to be any different from day to day. And then one day, it starts to wiggle, shake and crack and out pops a chick! Now I know our bodies aren’t an egg that one day our 6 pack abs and toned muscles will suddenly appear and our fat will melt away, but realize that even though you don’t SEE the results YET change IS happening inside of your body, making you healthier, stronger, leaner, etc and you WILL be able to see your results if you keep with it!!
Second: Are you tracking your workouts, the weights you use, the reps you do, how you FEEL after your cardio, etc. Look back at your numbers from day one to day 30, 60, 90 etc and you will be amazed at the changes!
Focus on the change you need to make in your life and your results will fall right into place. Take on a few changes at a time – no more than you can handle, and if you need to adjust your changes, do it. Trying to change too much too quickly can be overwhelming and you might be tempted to give it all up. Then, once your changes become healthy HABITS add more changes. Finally, don’t be afraid to fail. Have ever watched either your child, or any child, learn to walk, did they fall down? Did they fall down more than once? Twice? Three times? Of course! Did they get back up? Can you imagine if we all gave up the first time we failed walking- millions of adults crawling around this world of ours, pretty silly. Same with reading, playing an instrument, riding a bike, etc. So why give up on your weight loss or fitness goals? Don’t you deserve to be the best you can be and be as healthy as you can be?
If you slip up a bit don’t beat yourself up, get RIGHT BACK on track the very next meal for your nutrition plan or the very next day with your workout. Don’t let one slip up derail your entire goal! Here’s to turning CHANGE into RESULTS!!
If you focus on the negative, that is ALL you will see!
Aug 31st
I know Missy’s cleanse is not for me at this point in my life, maybe someday it will be. It is inspiring to me to know so many people who have done it. I hope you enjoy Chuck’s email below!
As I come to the end of this 30 day vegan cleanse, I have a ton a thoughts swirling in my head about what it has all meant to me. I doubt I will express them all or get them all right but I am going to try. This challenge is something I never, in a million years, would have thought I would take on. It?s just not me. My mentality is, and has always been, life is too short to deny yourself. It?s funny because on Day 1 that?s the way I laid this plan out to myself. You cannot have this, you cannot do that. Instead of opening up to the opportunities that would be given to me, I focused on the doors that were meant to be closed.
That brings me to my first realization, if you focus on the negative, then negative is the only thing you?ll see. After around day 5, I realized this is what I was doing. The positive energy that was around me from my group, family and supportive friends was being ignored and almost shunned. I was being selfish, worrying more about what I could not have instead of why and what this cleanse what supposed to be about. That is until people around my started giving things up as well. People, through my actions, were deciding to think that maybe they should look at themselves and their basic nutrition. It took me a few days to understand the enormity of that to my psyche. It made me refocus, it made me share my ?why?, it ended up turning me positive. Then I opened up to all the positive energy around me and the great things I could do with this cleanse.
Aside from being more positive, the best feeling in the world when it comes to these last 30 days has to be the fact that I did not waiver. Period. Not on accident, not on purpose. I achieved exactly what I wanted. Not to strive for perfection, but to just live my life within a set parameter of guidelines. No need to explain it, but as Nike says, ?Just do it.? If people snicker or comment, it does not effect you. I was on a journey, not a destination. I did not have specific goals in mind and I wasn?t out to promote the Vegan lifestyle.. I did not walk around with signs that said how bad certain foods were for you or comment on what people were eating around me. If people want to eat what they want, they do it. I impressed upon people that this was my decision not theirs. I was not affected by their decisions and it was as simple as that.
I realize now that ANYTHING I set my mind to is possible. I do not care what it is, it?s possible. Whether it?s fitness, my business or nutrition it is possible. I realize that life truly is a journey not a destination. If you want something badly enough, you will make the sacrifices to make it happen. You will do the little things every day. Your life will become a more full experience. The slings and arrows may sting a little but they will never stick. You start to surround yourself with people that care for you when you feel down and share in your successes. That is a very empowering feeling to have in your life.. I can do anything. Granted it may, and most probably will, take time but it can be mine.
The biggest question always lingers and has been repeatedly asked, ?Chuck, are you going to eat meat and all the other stuff again?? Honestly, some of the things I will and some I will not! As Tony Horton once said to me and a group of people in New York, ?Life would suck without cookies!? And it?s true, but your life shouldn?t be about just rewards. It shouldn?t be about cookies. That being said, I did not do this cleanse to convert to a vegan lifestyle. That was not the purpose. It was a cleanse of my mind, body and soul. I still hold true to the basics of nutrition: fruits, veggies, whole grains, healthy fats and lean proteins. It is just that simple.
I hope that sharing the few points of my journey that I could remember and write down in some way helps you. I truly hope you get on life?s journey and ride it for everything it is worth. There are no destinations only pit stops and scenic rest areas. Keep moving forward.~~~Chuck
Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or accomplishments with your fitness and nutrition goals! I would love to hear them!!
Agg, I cheated!!
Aug 31st
This week I wanted to chat a bit with you about “cheating”. As many of you know I did a 30 day challenge to myself: “no cookies, no cakes, no sweets, no cheats”. It went very well and I thoroughly enjoyed my first cookie (Vegan – 26 calories) on February 2nd since my last piece of cake on December 30th. It felt great knowing that I COULD do it. But of course the question is: Do I want to give up cookies for the rest of my life? Absolutely NOT. I learned that even Tony Horton has a special place in his heart for cookies. I used Chocolate Shakeology as my “treat” to help with the cravings and I know it helped!
Anyway, I got to thinking about cheat meals, treats, days, etc and how to handle them. Someone asked me a couple weeks ago if I have “cheat meals” and would have to say that the answer is “no, not really”. That doesn’t mean that I eat perfect 100% of the time – but I don’t have an entire BAD meal. I do my best to live by the 90% good, 10% not as great. Some people are more comfortable with the 80% good, 20% not as great. What can you commit to this week?
Here’s a little story about why I don’t. Over the holidays my manager took us out to dinner after work. I work for a show so it was a LATE dinner for me, 10pm. I normally don’t eat a full meal at 10pm but this was an exception. The restaurant really took care of us bringing out an appetizer pizza, I had a bowl of pumpkin soup, a burger (subbed fries for veggies – but there was definitely more than just a squeeze of lemon on them), and two desserts for the table of 5 to share. I ate A LOT of food, and late at night. I had a hard time sleeping that night with all the food trying to digest and felt horrible the next day. It wiped me out. My body just couldn’t handle it. For a full day and a half my energy level was off, I felt heavy and just overall blah. Looking back, it sure wasn’t worth it to me to “cheat”.
My “cheats” have turned into the salad bar buffet restaurant where I’ll get the full fat ranch dressing instead of a lighter olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar based dressing. I might have a couple blueberry mini muffins and some fat free frozen yogurt over a small homemade brownie. My “cheats” aren’t greasy pizza, fried foods, a bag of cheetos, a six pack of beer, 1/2 a sheet cake, sodas and candy bars. For me, it isn’t about not wanting to feel guilty, it is about not wanting to feel like crap the next day.
There HAS to be balance. So I am not saying that having a “cheat” meal or “free” day doesn’t work for some. Mentally knowing that those options are still there, and you can choose to have them once a week, once a month or only on special occasions helps many to make smart decisions the rest of the time to keep the balance. If you are going to indulge make it WORTH it, savor it, enjoy it. If it is cheese and bread, make it the BEST cheese and bread you can get – not the wonder bread and processed American cheese. Chocolate? Go for antioxidant rich dark chocolate and bypass the “33% less fat 3 Musketeers”. Cookies? I’ll only do cookies made from scratch and not cookies that come in a sleeve or box. Fast Food burgers? Skip the fast food this week but treat yourself to a nicer, hopefully grass fed lean beef burger on a whole wheat bun with baked “fries”. Get the idea? Let me know if that helps.
P10,950X
Aug 31st
Life “got in the way” a bit this week for me and I’ll admit I missed a couple workouts. AGGGG, I know, “Bad, Coach!”. So how do I handle it? That is actually one of the most common questions I get: “Mandy, I missed 3 days of P90X, what do I do???”
I handle it a few different ways. First of all if you missed your workouts it because you were sick then jumping right back in and doing double workouts might not be the best idea for you. Maybe life just got in the way – it happens, we all have things come up that make it difficult to get our workouts in, just don’t let a few missed workouts knock you on the ground for an entire month. Remember, this has to become a LIFESTYLE, not just a 42, 60 or 90 day program you started for a special occasion and when that passes you go back to your old life, NO WAY! Would you have bought P90X if it was called P10,950X?? Sure, setting these small goals for yourself and giving yourself a deadline to work towards is great and motivating – so keep doing it.
So if I miss a workout I pay EXTRA special attention to what I am eating, no sense falling off BOTH wagons! If I have the time I will try to double up some workouts to make up for the missed one. If I don’t have the time I don’t sweat it, I know that I am consistent 95% of the time with my workouts and one or two here and there is not going to derail me from my long term goals.
How do you hold yourself accountable?
Aug 31st
I wanted to talk a bit about how we hold ourselves accountable, and how that can help you SO much with your success.
I use just about every way possible to hold myself accountable – I post on facebook, I tell my family and friends what I am up to, I set goals and challenges for myself on a regular basis and I keep journals on what I have done and what I have eaten. By sharing what I am doing I have found that I get even MORE support and the best part, I know it motivates my friends and family to start making some changes in their habits as well. Have you ever noticed that if you are one of the healthiest eater in your group of friends when you go out they might say something like, “well you are more particular about what you eat than I am, so you pick the place”? I started hearing that more and more often and it made me realize that my friends were willing to adjust their ways to make sure that I was able to make a healthy choice wherever we went. I never felt like they were teasing me, or put off by my healthier habits, they WANTED to support me and help me with my goals.
WOWY is another great way to hold yourself accountable, and of course win cash or prizes. Just log in your workouts daily and you could win $300, $1000, and iPod Touch or a Digital Camera!
Post that you are working out on your facebook page and see how many people are inspired and say things like “I need to get into a routine as well!” Next thing you know you might have a friend working out with you, achieving your goals together.
Writing down in a food journal what you are eating (and drinking) is a great way to watch your habits change and also really make sure you are sticking to whatever nutrition plan you are following – but you have to be honest!!!
Exercise on Vacation
Aug 31st
Just a bit of history, I started my first Round of P90X in June of 2009. I finished my second one at the end of February of 2010. Before P90X I was gym junkie! I scheduled my day around what classes I was going to take and worked out 5-6 days a week. I bought P90X because I knew someday I was going to be traveling more than staying in one place and couldn’t rely on classes anymore to get my workouts in. I figured P90X would be ideal for me to be able to pop a DVD in wherever I was and get a workout in.
When packing for this 3 week road trip I picked out a few of my favorite DVDs from P90X, One on Ones and Brazilian Butt Lift. I threw in a couple of resistance bands and had everything I needed to keep me sane on my trip. My boyfriend Chris and I are very active and love the outdoors so I knew my cardio was going to be taken care of (we had mountain bikes, borrowed a couple of kayaks to paddle and plenty of hikes and walks).
There are so many workouts you can bring on your vacation – check out just SOME of the perfect ones for travel:
~ UML from P90 Master Series and on the Bring IT DVD from P90X. This is a GREAT workout to bring with you if you are traveling! You don’t even need weights or a band, just you and your body!
~One on One’s. There are SO many GREAT One on One’s. Some are DESIGNED for the traveler in mind, and don’t require weights! Check out Road Warrior, Iso Abs, Fountain of Youth (Yoga). I also REALLY like On One Leg for a great lower body workout.
~Brazilian Butt Lift High and Tight and Bum Bum. LOVE this lower body workout that uses a very light weight band ? I was able to fold up this flat circular band and keep it with my DVDs.
~Turbo Fire and INSANITY are both HIGH Intensity Cardio workouts. Turbo Fire does use a resistance band and a lower body band (both are SUPER easy to travel with!) Some of the workouts are just 15 minutes long – so SUPER easy to fit into your vacation or busy meeting schedule. I am not an Insanity fan – BUT you CAN get a GREAT workout from it – and NO weights needed – just bring a towel! You’ll need it!
~Stretch X ~ Ok, I didn’t actually use the DVD from P90X but I sure did stretch a lot after sleeping in different beds, a hard mountain bike ride or sitting in a car a bit too long. If you are one to skip stretches after a workout I would highly recommend changing that habit!
Just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean you should completely stop all of your workouts. Sure, we all need a break from time to time, it’s good for us! Of course so is some push ups, crunches, squats and stretching for 15-30 minutes each day to maintain all the hard work you have been doing getting ready for your vacation! Keep it up and let me know what you do, or plan on doing to stay in shape while away from home for upcoming trips.
100 extra calories
Aug 31st
We were chatting about the P90X meal plan and a question of shakes came up. She uses a shake two times a day that has about 90 calories each in them and asked if she should count those calories since they are so few. My answer to her was ABSOLUTELY!!
Sure, 90 calories doesn?t seem like a lot but did you know that if you have an extra 100 calories per day for a year you will gain a pound every 35 days or TEN pounds a year. And it isn?t hard to mindlessly eat an 100 extra calories a day ? a slice of bread with a bit of margarine amounts to over 100 calories, a can of soda is about 140, a small bag of MnMs is 240.
Small changes in the diet can decrease a day’s calorie intake. Use nonfat milk (80 calories per cup) instead of whole milk (170 calories). Change to low-calorie salad dressings; there are 30 calories in two tablespoons of low-calorie versus 138 in regular Italian dressing, for example. Try steamed asparagus (22 calories in 6 boiled spears) plain, instead of adding hollandaise sauce (180 calories in 4 tablespoons).
The good news is it works BOTH ways ? want to LOSE 10 pounds in a year? Simply CUT out 100 extra calories a day.
Here is the math:
100 calories less 365 days or 1 year = a 36,500 calorie deficit
So your deficit for the year 36,500 divided by 3,500 calories = 10.4 pounds.
(In order to lose a pound of body fat you need to burn 3,500 calories)
If you haven?t kept a food journal it is an amazing tool for weight loss! I also use myfitnesspal.com to track my calories on line. (It is AMAZING how many foods are in their data base). Plug in everything you eat for a few days to a week to get an idea of where you can make some changes. Also, feel free to email me your food diary if you would like some tips.
