Here's the quick version of my Body Beast review: I have fallen in love with heavy lifting because it's transformed my body. Plain and simple.
Ladies, do NOT be afraid to lift heavy weights. Those 2 and 5 lb weights won't really get you the body you want. Stop letting your fear of "bulking" stop you from trying out this amazing program or even just lifting in general!! There is something to be said about this program though: there's no guesswork. That was the problem for me at the gym. I didn't want to pay for a personal trainer because I was cheap and I kind of knew the basics of lifting but I really didn't know what to do and in what combination to get the best results. Before this program, I had no idea what a super set or a giant set was and I had actually never done some of the lifts before. Even though I knew this program would be good, I was still hesitant to start it. Fear of the unknown I guess! This program is heavy lifting 5 days a week, cardio 1 day a week and 1 rest day. I was hesitant to only do 1 day of cardio even though I KNEW in my head cardio is not the key to fat loss...I still knew I would miss being drenched in sweat and completely out of breath...but I followed the plan and I'm SO glad I did. There are two different approaches you can take, you can follow the Lean Beast calendar or the Huge Beast calendar. I followed the Lean Beast calendar because huge beast just doesn't sound ladylike. Haha! There are 3 phases that you go through with either calendar; Build, Bulk, and Beast Phases. You will start "building" a base of strength in the first phase and these workouts are the longest (38-50 min). Followed by the "bulking" phase where you change up your lifts a bit. I liked this phase because the workouts weren't as long (29-40 min). If you follow the meal plan that comes with the program you would eat more calories in this section to bulk up, but I decided to just stick with my 2000 -2400 calories a day and not follow their meal plan. I still focused on getting lots of protein, veggies, fruit, fats and healthy carbs though. The goal here is you will add muscle but you will also add some fat. Then in the final phase, you trim the fat and keep the muscle by doing one more day of cardio each week and mixing up the Build and Bulk workouts a little bit. One minor downside: it requires more equipment than some of our other programs. By the end of the program I was using all of our dumbbells (8 lbs up to 35 lbs), a barbell, and a stability ball (a bench works as well but we didn't have one). Although, you can actually stream this workout from a phone or tablet and do it at the gym and use all of their equipment if you're not interested in buying equipment. Becoming a Team Beachbody Club Member allows you to stream this workout and 33 other workouts as well...it's amazing! Ok so now for my results: I actually didn't lose any weight or inches. Yep. I was kinda disappointed at first BUT then I decided to actually look at my pictures and think more about how I FEEL now. Plus, I'm still breastfeeding Eli and I know that is causing my body to hang onto a little extra fat which I'm MORE THAN ok with because getting him nutrients (even though he did just turn 1) is still really important to me!! I feel so much stronger after 90 days of Body Beast. I'm able to do a lot of moves in other workouts that I struggled with before (crow in p90x3 yoga, elevator pushups in p90x3 The Warrior, all the pushups/plank walks in T25 Total Body Circuit). My legs, back and shoulders are definitely stronger and more defined and I love that!! I was afraid that because there wasn't much cardio, I would lose a lot of my endurance but I actually haven't. I'm still able to do as much as I could before. All in all, I hope you'll consider adding some heavy weight training to your routine. It definitely takes time to build up the strength, so don't start out curling 30 lb dumbbells or squatting a ton of weight :) There are SO many benefits though...and they last a lifetime!!
Written by Danielle Lochow with Take Charge Fitness
***IF THIS POST HELPS YOU, LIKE IT!! IF YOU THINK IT WOULD HELP A FRIEND, SHARE IT!!***
Now that I have all that shouting out of the way allow me to present to you these photos. I've been doing a LOT of thinking lately about calories and pounds and maintaining weight and how my own journey with fitness and food and weight has evolved over time. These are pics from every day this week. As you can see, I weighed in different each time I stepped on the scale. My weight fluctuated five entire pounds within a couple days. Why is this??? Did I gain? Did I then lose? And then gain again? If you struggle with trying to make the scale come up with that one special number, please know that your weight will change based on...
And any other number of things. It is physically impossible to gain five pounds in a day or two. It's also impossible to gain it in a WEEK. Why do I share this? Because I know that for some people this relationship with the scale is a negative thing. It has a negative impact on their life. When I decided I wanted to lose weight I strictly counted calories. I tracked my calories religiously in MFP (My Fitness Pal). I weighed every Friday morning and when I got to record a loss it was FABULOUS. It was working!! For the first time in my life this weight loss thing was working. I eventually met my weight loss goal when I saw that number I wanted to see. And then I knew that I could keep tracking calories and keep weighing that number. Understand that when I was religiously tracking, I didn't always necessarily care WHAT the calories came from. 400 calories from a salad was the same to me as 400 calories from a sandwich cookie. I learned very quickly that tracking to only net around 1500 calories (that's what mfp says a person of my height and weight should eat to maintain) was kind of unsustainable. And I hadn't figured out yet that fluctuation in weight is NORMAL. So it was making me crazy. If I went a couple hundred calories over one day, and weighed a half pound heavier the next day, I thought I knew exactly why. Too many calories. So dumb guys. So dumb. Eventually I got plugged in with a great fitness community online and started learning about how to clean up my diet. I leaned that the quality of food is important and that even if something is higher in calories it doesn't mean it's unhealthy, or that it will make me gain weight. And I learned that if I do see a "gain" it's probably any number of things my body is doing that has nothing to do with a couple hundred "extra" calories. I weigh myself randomly. Sometimes it's once a month, other times it's every day for a week but gaining confidence in my diet and my habits, growing in my physical strength and understanding more about how bodies work gives me SUCH FREEDOM AND PEACE. I am not married to my special number. I admit to being interested to seeing how it fluctuates and know why it does, but it cannot and will not ever bother me like it once did because I have confidence and faith in my daily habits! Bottom line is this: your number does not have to define you. No one sees a number when they look at you. When you follow a lifestyle that is rich in healthy, nourishing foods, regular exercise and movement, and you are surrounded by people who encourage you to live your best life every day...you will not need to stress about maintaining weight. People always say that maintaining weight is harder than losing it, and that may be true but ONLY if you are looking at it as though once you hit your number you all of a sudden want to go back to bad habits that got you heavier in the first place. When you are COMMITTED to living healthy, your healthy weight will find you. And you will be FREE of your number. If you like what you've read we encourage you to follow Danielle on Facebook at Take Charge Fitness or you can email her directly.
July 16th - 19th we packed our bags, left Eli with my parent's and headed to Nashville, TN to spend 4 whole days with our Beachbody family...to say we were excited was a bit of an understatement!
This event is something we look forward to every single year for quite a few different reasons:
I won't bore you with all the details of what we did since I have pictures of most of it...but to summarize: there were workouts with Shaun T and Autumn Calabrese, listening to Simon Sinek speak and also DeWitt Jones who is a photographer for National Geographic, delicious food, amazing trainings, knowledge, insight and inspiration shared and LOTS of walking! "Every One Matters" was the theme for this year...and that couldn't be more true. We're in this business to help people live HEALTHY and FULFILLING lives. Your health really is one of the cornerstones of your life and it impacts every area of your life. If your health is suffering, everything else seems to go downhill as well, right?? So our goal is to get people to focus on health...and how it's a lifestyle and not a diet or a short term fix. It can't be if you want to live life to it's fullest!!
We are already looking forward to next year...and can't wait to have so many more people from our team there!!
Our next online fitness and accountability group is forming and starts on August 10th!! If you're wanting to make healthy, lasting changes...this is the place for you. We know that changing habits is hard so these groups are a safe place for you to get tips, inspiration, nutrition advice, support and encouragement!! Let us know if you're intrigued and want to learn more! The best way to get a hold of us is to shoot us an EMAIL.
***It actually hasn't been scientifically proven, but I'd say it's the truth after reading this.
This is our good friend, Scott.
We've never actually met Scott...but I (Laura) met his wife Amber on Instagram about 2 years ago. She was looking for a way to lose some weight and was interested in trying one of the Beachbody workouts so we chatted and picked one that worked best for her and her goals at the time. She got hooked on this whole "healthy lifestyle" thing :) and the rest is history...she's now one of the top coaches on my team, ready to move mountains and help so many people change their own lives after changing hers! She shared her husband's story on her page last night and I knew I had to share it with you guys too. I LOOVE this stuff. I live for it. I get goosebumps. Getting to watch people change their life (even if from afar) is one of the best things ever. Here is Scott's journey...in his own words: **How did you feel about yourself & your body before starting the program?** I've always been a fairly confident person, but I suppose that is based more on what's inside my head. I think I had disconnected somewhat from an honest assessment of my physical self. My weight was distributed all over my body, so I initially didn't notice that I was getting so chubby. It wasn't until a professor referred to me as "husky" that I took note. Shortly after that, I stepped on a friend's scale in their bathroom and was 255 pounds! I was sluggish and wore out easily. Once I accepted that I was, indeed, overweight, I went through a period of personal disgust, tummy grabbing, and dealing with thigh-chafing hikes before finally deciding to tackle it. **What inspired you to change your life & begin exercising?** In truth, I was not inspired to change. My wife's commitment to her health and her dedication to her Beachbody business and general fitness and nutrition was admirable. SHE inspired me... but it didn't make me want to do the videos. I was drinking the Shakeology and feeling pretty good from that. I kept telling myself that I would get back to exercising once I finished my dissertation. But the truth is, there will always be a "dissertation". We all have a dissertation (kids, family, friends, work, chores, any combination thereof) which prevents us from doing things for which we know we should be making time. There is never enough time for everything. But one's health and fitness should be a priority in life or you're just shortening the time (and quality thereof) you have on the back end. So... I was not inspired. I was coerced. I was on vacation with my wife and we had a lot of space in our rental cabin and I had virtually no excuse not to do the videos with her. So... after a beautiful hike in the Smoky Mountains during which my thighs really got to know each other intimately, leaving me a chafed-up mess, I decided, "Oh, the hell with it!" **What did you like about the program you chose?** T25 was only 25 minutes (to be honest, it's generally 27.5 to 28.5 minutes with warm-up, but T28.5 isn't a commercially appealing title). But hearkening back to the time issue... that's the number-one reason people don't exercise: not enough time. The truth is, we all have time to squeeze in some exercise. The truth is, most people don't like to sweat and pant. It hurts. It's hard. Especially at first. I was one of those people. I am NOT athletic in the slightest. Never have been. I don't even like watching sports. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy physical activity. I'd just gotten out of the habit. When you get out of the habit, starting any exercise program just sounds so overwhelming. Just as energy creates more energy, lethargy spirals into more and more profound lethargy. I had learned this time and again throughout my life as I would start exercising in earnest, feel the energy spike, and then abandon it as I ALLOWED life to take over and I ALLOWED my focus to scatter. So what was different this time? I suppose I could attribute my success to these things: a.) The ease of fitting T25 into my day, whether early in the morning or late at night... It was always less than 30 minutes... even if I had to do it after midnight, which often I did, I made myself do it. It hurt at first, but like everything, it gets better. b.) The structure of the program. Rather than hitting the gym and trying to piece together my own thing, I was able to follow a calendar and check off boxes. c.) Shaun T is charming, encouraging and doesn't annoy me. d.) I had to catch up to my wife's level of fitness so people wouldn't assume she had a weakness for funny flabby guys. **Describe your results that you achieved:** I have lost 75 pounds since beginning T25 in August 2014. I went through Alpha, Beta, and Gamma twice. Now I am doing the 21-Day Fix and will move up to Extreme after a second round of that. After that, I will meet Tony Horton in his natural habitat (not that strange commercial where he flirts with the grocery-shopper). I have lost weight all over my body and it is certainly noticeable. I have muscle definition in places where I never had before. My thighs are no longer rubbing buddies. My legs are actually extremely strong. I have toned arms and visible abdominal muscles. I am not ashamed to go shirtless at the pool or lake. I have so much energy between the exercise regimen and the Shakeology that it's insane. I've always had enormous mental energy reserves which sometimes manifested in short bursts of physical energy, but now I am driven, focused, and can manage my frequently 18-hour days without problem. Plus... I look in the mirror and I think that I look good. I guess I never realized how important that it before, or perhaps I was in denial. It's good to feel handsome. It's nice to know that I am in great shape. The mental results are just as good as the physical ones. My confidence has spiked all over. **How has your life changed since completing the program?** Well... I've already said a lot... What else can I say? There are obvious improvements to life which come from physical fitness. Everything is better because I have more zest, more stamina, and more desire to DO. I have more confidence which improves my relationships with everybody. My marriage has always been a good one, but the spike in our mutual health and confidence has made it that much better. Something I can talk about is what it has done for me professionally. I am an actor, writer, and professor of theatre. For years, I held myself back as an actor because of a vanity in which I was in denial about. I made all sorts of excuses but I really just didn't want to be the fat actor. Now that I'm in great shape, I am getting all sorts of offers. People are noticing. I have the confidence now to pursue roles more aggressively. And one thing I've never done is audition for commercials. I have to get new head shots (because I look completely different than in my old ones) but I plan to start pursuing commercial work (where all the money is) because the mental impediments are gone. And just recently, I performed in an incredibly visceral, physically-demanding production of Eugene O'Neill's "HAIRY APE" at the KC Fringe Festival. I would have never made it through that show alive one year ago but now I'm not only making it through, I'm thriving and getting great reviews. The KC Star critic wrote: "a visceral, non-realistic production anchored by Scott Cox in an extraordinary performance as Yank. Cox’s intense, physical presence is riveting, and it never wavers during a show that moves with the momentum of an avalanche." Nobody would have said that a year ago. I couldn't have done that a year ago. Now I plan to keep doing it. I'm two years shy of 40, in the best shape of my life, and just now starting to achieve the things I've dreamed of professionally.
We're heading to Nashville tomorrow to spend 4 days with our Beachbody friends (EEEK!! Can't wait!!) so we are stocking up on some snacks for when we're traveling but also for when we're racing around town going to training sessions, live workouts and general sessions! It's going to be a packed schedule so we need to make sure we have the right fuel and enough of it, to get us through each day. We are staying at a condo we found via Airbnb, so we'll be using the kitchen a little bit to make eggs and such...but most of the time we'll be running around so we need things that are portable and can be kept in a small cooler or even just a backpack.
Here are the things we've picked up so far:
We will probably pick up some fruit and eggs and things for salads when we get there!! What do you guys pack when you travel? Or do you just wing it?
Your ACTIONS and your EXCUSES are completely within your power.
Which one are you going to use to change your life?? Working out and eating healthy foods honestly did not come easy at first. It was the last thing I wanted to do after getting home from work. We had cable at the time and it was so much easier to sit down in front of the TV and let 2 hours fly by...yes...it's crazy how reality TV on Bravo just sucks you in or random food shows on the Food Network. As soon as my butt would hit that comfy couch it was pretty tough to get back up and find the motivation to pop in my Insanity workouts. I eventually learned my lesson and as soon as I got home I would go and change into my workout clothes. OR if I was feeling really ambitious I would work out BEFORE work :) Once something becomes a habit you don't really even need to think about it...you just do it. I like to tell people to just treat working out exactly like you would treat taking a shower or brushing your teeth. Those are habits, right?? Working out is MORE important than those things in my opinion...so you should definitely make it a PRIORITY...not an option!! I'd like to say we're perfect and never struggle any more...but that would be a big fat lie. We still struggle some days, and that's OK. Some days we don't feel like working out or making a healthy choice for food and sometimes we won't!! You learn that it's not about being perfect and following the workout calendar to a T...it's about consistent effort...it's about a general movement forward. When you do miss a day or screw up, just pick yourself back up and get back at it. Continually focusing on what you want to be and not on what you once were is the key!!
This past weekend was my 3 year anniversary of being a Beachbody coach. I honestly cannot believe it...it's flown by and I have so many emotions, thoughts swirling but this picture pretty much says a lot of what I'm feeling...
When I signed up I was simply in love with Insanity and Shaun T and wanted to spread that love around to other people. I wanted others to experience how amazing I felt and change from the inside - out just like I did in just a few short months of doing the program. I LOVED that I could get the best workout of my life in the comfort of my own house. Don't get me wrong, it's a tough program and there were some days where I really did not feel like doing it...but once I saw results, I wanted more! Once I felt that rush of endorphin's I needed it again....and again...and again. Anyway, that's basically how I started coaching. I knew NOTHING about network marketing and honestly didn't even think about this as being something like that!! I just knew this was a way to help people and I had fallen in love with health/fitness/nutrition and what better way to help people change their lives...right?? Those things impact EVERY area of our lives whether we realize it or not. That was my main reason for signing up, but I very quickly saw potential just by listening to other coaches stories. I saw how our lives could be different. I saw HOPE. Hope looks different for everyone...but at that point in our lives, hope looked a lot like TIME. You see, Dan was working long hours and many days as an assistant golf professional. During the summer, the hours were even longer and we rarely saw each other. I learned very quickly that if he stayed in that profession he wouldn't be around to see our future kids grow up and I didn't really want that life...and he didn't either. My very first BIG, scary goal was to retire him from his job. I don't even know if I told him that right away but I just dove in to learn everything I could by listening to trainings, collecting a ridiculously huge amount of notebooks because I had to write down everything I learned, watching and learning from some of the top coaches and just trying to absorb everything I could. Now, our hope looks a little different because in October of 2013 Dan WAS able to quit his job and be home full time so we could work on this business together!! God is so good. Dan now stays home and takes care of Eli, who is 11 months old, but he is also a coach and has a nutritional certification from Precision Nutrition. Right now we are on a mission to create a life we LOVE...a simple and flexible life. One where we have the freedom to focus on what we love and what God has planned for us. We want a life where we are our own bosses and get to choose when we work, what we want to focus on and just pour love, compassion and honesty into other people!! Helping someone make small changes to their habits to become healthier, stronger and happier is the one of the best perks of this "job". The other major perk are the people...seriously. Our team of coaches is made up of the most incredible people from all over the U.S. They're passionate about health/fitness but also about simply sharing their life (the good and the bad) in the hopes that their struggles might help someone else. They're authentic, real and just want to make a difference!!
I honestly never would have thought that one small change to my workouts would create such a change in my life. God's timing and plan is perfect and there is nothing I would rather be doing with my time and energies!!
If any of this resonated with you and you have questions about coaching, do not hesitate to reach out!!
I had put off trying this program for the longest time. I don't really know why, maybe because I just loved Tony Horton and Shaun T so much and their style of workouts. I will say that Tony and Shaun tend to push me a little harder than Sagi. Sagi definitely knows how to lift weights though, and that is what I really enjoyed about this program. I used to love going to the gym and lifting weights but I have now learned I was doing it all wrong. I had a general idea if I wanted to work certain areas that I should do certain lifts but the science of dynamic set training that Sagi brings with this program is just great.
This program is laid out into 3 phases and a total of 90 days. There are two different approaches you can take, you can follow the Lean Beast calendar or the HUGE Beast calendar. I followed the Huge Beast calendar since my goal was to put on some weight. Laura is currently doing the Lean Beast, you can look for her review in a little bit. There are 3 phases that you go through with either calendar; Build, Bulk, and Beast Phases. You will start "building" a base of strength in the first phase. Followed by the "bulking" phase where you change up your lifts and if you are looking to gain weight, you add more calories to your eating plan. The goal here is you will add muscle but you will also add some fat. Then in the final phase, you trim the fat and keep the muscle.
Overall Review
This is a great program for pretty much anybody. Whether you are a guy looking to gain some serious mass, to a 70 year old grandma. Lifting weights is so important for everyone, as a way to at least maintain muscle mass. The intensity of this workout can easily be scaled up or down depending on your current strength level. You will get stronger and you will gain muscle mass during this program. If you combine your lifting with a strict nutrition plan and controlled calorie intake you will be able "bulk" up. For me personally I didn't start putting on weight until I was consuming 4,000 calories per day. Prior to that I was eating around 3,000-3,200 and was gaining minimal weight. So for anyone (women mainly) that are scared of "bulking" you don't have to worry, because you really need to a crazy abundance of calories on top of the right hormonal situation going on (lots of testosterone) to add serious mass. I'll let Laura give more perspective on this topic when she reviews it. If your goal is fat loss, get stronger and to tone or gain muscle this would be a great program to do that. You likely won't be ready to run a marathon after you are done, since the cardio component is a just a smaller piece of this program. It is enough to keep you in decent cardio shape and burn fat.
One concern is the amount of equipment that you might need to do this program. A great way around that especially if you are a gym regular you can stream this workout from a phone or tablet and do it at the gym and use all of their equipment. You would just need to become a Team Beachbody Club Member for that. My Results
My goals going in was to add 10 pounds and go from 160 to 170 pounds. I definitely underestimated my metabolism and fell short of that goal. Over the first 6 weeks of the program I put on around 4 pounds total. That is when I bumped my calories up to 4,000 per day and went from 164 to 169 in the final 3 weeks of the Bulk Phase. Had I been eating like that the entire time I would have maybe hit my goal. I will say that I did have some insecurities when that scale crept up north of 170 a couple times when I weighed in at night. I hadn't seen it that high since I first started my weight loss journey. I was a little nervous about leaning out and getting it back down.
I did take some supplements while I was doing this program which I think definitely helped. First one was Shakeology. When I was consuming 4,000 calories a day I would usually have 2 shakes per day, each one around 700 calories. It would have been next to impossible for me to eat that many calories if some of the calories didn't come from a shake. So that was huge, plus it kept my nutrition on point. I also used a l-glutamine supplement that aids in muscle growth but also in intestinal health. When you eat 200+ grams of protein per day your digestive system needs all the help it can get. So this helped along with the digestive enzymes and probiotics in Shakeology. I also had some leftover creatine from a previous workout that I used on occasion. It tends to give me a headache so I use it sparingly and about half the dosage recommended. Looking back to, I now realize how hard it is to gain muscle and 10 pounds in 90 days maybe wasn't the most realistic goal. My final totals were, I gained 5 total pounds, I lost one pound of fat and gained 6 pounds of lean mass. Overall I'm pretty happy with my results from a measurement standpoint and visual standpoint. I think the thing that I see the biggest difference in is my back.
If you are interested in this program you can head over to our Body Beast Page to watch a short demo of the workout. Feel free to hit me up with any questions that you might have too.
Today is the 2 year anniversary of the day that really began my fitness journey. I remember it because Laura had just returned from Beachbody Summit (big national convention) that took place the last weekend in June. She came home with a copy of Focus T25 on Sunday and I started on Monday!
Prior to that I was sporadic with my workouts, I would fit them in when I had time and when I felt like it. My half-hearted commitment gave me half the results. This time though 2 years ago things changed. A couple things standout as to why they changed. First, was that I loved the program and it was short, just 25 minutes. Even working the crazy hours that I was as a golf pro I was still able to get my workouts in nearly everyday. There were a few days when I worked 16+ hours that I wasn't able to do them. Normally the program takes 60 days to finish, I think I did it all in 67, 1 extra week!!! The second thing that changed was I joined one of Laura's accountability groups. At this point I wasn't coaching and had zero interest in it. I joined to support her and learn what she was spending her time doing. I can't tell you how much the accountability helped me stay on track and stay focused. I even remember one of the nights that I came home from work after working about a 15 hour day and it was because of the group that I pressed play at 9:00 at night. I was hooked! Working out wasn't just to something to help me lose weight it was something that became part of who I was and who I wanted to be. I got asked by a friend not too long ago, "Do you really workout 5-6 days a week?" My answer was yes, I do! 2 years later and I haven't gone more than 2 days without a workout, that includes the time I sprained my ankle, I still did some pilates and ab workouts. I don't share that to brag but because I used to sit on the sidelines and never made fitness a priority. Maybe that is you right now??? If it is it's never too late to start! What if you said yes today, how different would your life look in 2 years? What changes would happen to your body and mind? Would you regret your decision? It's crazy to think back and that was only 2 years ago that I made a decision and how much my life has changed since then. If you are feeling motivated to make a change, to change the direction of your life, and to do that right now, I would love help you with that journey. If you've been trying to do it on your own and have been spinning your wheels, asking for help doesn't mean that you've failed. It means that you've gone as far as you can on your using your own effort and it's time to let others help you. Reach out to me on social media or shoot me an email, I would love to chat.
I think it was about 8 years ago when someone that I know approached me and asked me if I would be interested in joining them in their network marketing business. I shot her down so fast, "You mean one of those pyramid schemes, sorry not for me." As soon as she mentioned it every part of me just revolted with the idea that I would be "tricked" into a business like that. There is no way it could be a legitimate business and definitely no way I could make money unless I wanted to trick people too.
Why did I get so defensive? I would say for a few reasons. I had an idea in my head of what this type of business was all about. You solicit all of your friends and family to spend a lot of money to buy product and sign up...Not sure how that stereotype was ever planted in my head but it was a pretty firm belief. Another reason was that I had ZERO interest in using the products that this company was affiliated with and I had even less of an interest in selling them. Lastly, I didn't see it going anywhere. My thought was that it was a "get rich quick" scheme, that would fizzle out as soon as people realized it was a scam. What changed, and how did I end up working with a Network Marketing Company? I will say that my objection about believing in the products is still a real one for me when it comes to network marketing. If you don't have a genuine interest in the products or services that the company you are associated with then you will have to "sell" them. What I mean by that is, if you don't wholeheartedly believe that your widget or service will make someone life's better, then you will need to try to convince them or sell them on it. If you are meeting a need that they have you are just making a recommendation based on what has worked for you. A personal example for me is my experience with the workout program Focus T25, this was the first program that I really did from Beachbody. It got me into incredible shape all while working 50-60 hours per week. The 25 minute length of the workouts was perfect for my situation I had a need for exercise, I had a busy schedule and this program filled that need. There is a big difference between referring quality products that you enjoy using and peddling crap just to make a profit. We sell things everyday without knowing it: we tell our friends where we had lunch and recommend/sell them the idea of going there also. We tell/sell people about TV shows or movies we watch that we think they would like.Take a look at some of the services you use: your realtor, your accountant, the church you go to, where you bought your last car. I would guess you either worked with a friend in one of these industries or a friend told you about who they use. I've come to realize that this is all network marketing is...you tell people about your experience with a certain product or service and if they end up seeing value in it then they will pass along those recommendations as well. My view of what network marketing changed VERY slowly. Laura had joined on as a coach in July of 2012 and for those first 6 months I was hesitant with what she was doing. My perception of what she was doing focused more on how she was working so that someone above her would make more money. Her sales helped their bonuses and her recruiting helped their rank advancements. Somewhere around the spring of 2013, I changed my focus. Instead of looking up in our organization, I started looking down. How was she helping her coaches make money? How was she helping people below her grow their businesses? How was she helping people grow as individuals with their confidence and health? This idea of looking down instead of up totally changed my impression of network marketing. That's why I love this quote from Zig Ziglar.
I learned to approach network marketing with a selfless attitude. An attitude that you are there to serve, and help people meet THEIR needs. I think this is where network marketing gets a bad image. All too often the focus is on how sales and recruiting will benefit you and the people above you. Instead, this is how we approach it: how will this opportunity or product help this person. Will it serve a need that they have?
Specific to Beachbody,
Network Marketing Compared to Corporate America
Just because something is different doesn't make it good or bad, it's just different. If you look at the hierarchy of a traditional business with a CEO, VP's, middle management, supervisors, and finally employees it looks a lot like the same structure of a network marketing business. The difference is that in network marketing the ability to climb the proverbial corporate ladder is much easier. By "climbing the ladder" in a network marketing organization you don't have to displace someone in that position. Everyone has equal opportunity to grow and advance. Compare that to a standard corporation, usually someone has to leave a position before you are able to get promoted. There are certainly benefits to a corporate job, mostly the health benefits are what most people mention. There are also benefits to network marketing though: freedom, ability to work anywhere, unlimited income potential, residual income and being your own boss to name a few. One of the benefits about network marketing versus starting your own company is you don't have to go all in from the start. The startup costs are very minimal. A lot of coaches within our company are doing this just as a part time job, working maybe an hour or two a day. They are doing it because they love being held accountable themselves for their fitness and health and they want to help others with their health and fitness goals. The range of coaches varies from the person that just wants to get fit to the person that wants to grow a huge team and make a 7 figure income and everywhere in between. Why I Now Love Network Marketing There is a small part of me that thinks back to the opportunity that I was approached with 8 years ago and wonder if I should have went for it. I now see how network marketing is a viable business and not a get rich quick scheme. In just 2 1/2 years with our business we have been able to pay off nearly all of our debt and I've been able to leave my full-time job and now stay at home with our son. More importantly, this business has helped me reclaim my health and meet so many amazing people that have similar interests and goals. I also see the potential in this business to give us the freedom that we want in our life and not be tied to a 9-5 job. I'll close with this because I wish someone would have told me this 8 years ago: don't judge this business by the 1 or 2 bad experiences that you've potentially encountered. Just like any industry there are going to be people working with integrity and there are going to be people that lack a certain level of professionalism and customer service. If you have a bad experience at a restaurant are you going to stop eating out all together, absolutely not. You may do your homework the next time and learn about where you want to go and other people's experiences prior to going out but 1 bad restaurant experience isn't representative of the entire industry. One bad experience 8 years ago left a bad taste in my mouth, but I did my research and found something that I can believe in and I know will change lives and that has made all the difference. It's been a few weeks since we got back from our trip to Cancun with Beachbody and the warm ocean breezes and palm trees are definitely missed!! We decided to bring E with us so that meant we didn't get a ton of "relaxing" in...aka sitting on the beach reading a book or playing sand volleyball...or sleep, since he was up at 5:30 or 6am every single day, but that's definitely OK. The memories and pictures we have make up for the lack of sleep...PLUS we got to see the sunrise every single day so I can't complain about that! (trying to be positive here...is it working?) We flew in on a Wednesday afternoon, enjoyed the amazing welcome party that Beachbody threw... from our patio though because E fell asleep so early after the long travel day...that was OK with us though because we wanted to get up early to work out with Shaun T! It was a fabulous workout at 7am and as we walked out into the lobby there was freshly made Shakeology waiting for us. Nothing better than that! Thursday consisted of pool time, nap time and a few margaritas. We decided to split up the nap times by the very fair method of rock, paper, scissors. I was in charge of nap time that day and lucky for me, E slept for almost 3 hours. Good because I didn't get sunburned like Dan did but bad because I was stuck inside all afternoon! After he woke up we went back to the pool and hung out for a little bit and then went to dinner with some of our friends who were there. I will say the BEST part of this trip was getting to spend time with our friends and fellow coaches that we talk to regularly online, but rarely get to see in person!! Brainstorming, sharing struggles and tips, figuring out how we can better help our teams and work TOGETHER to grow the people around us were definitely some of the highlights. There is no cattiness in our circle of coaches. We truly want to see each other succeed and everyone will bend over backwards to help you if you're struggling. Such amazing COMMUNITY!! Yep, sunburned. Dan is too, you just can't see it. Working out with Shaun T on Day 3! This trip was paid for almost entirely by Beachbody and I couldn't be more grateful!! Earning trips like this by simply helping a few people every single month is kinda crazy. It was a rare occurrence a few years ago that Dan would be able to take that much time off to go on a trip...so this was an amazing blessing. We coach not because we want to be rewarded with "things"...but because we want to make a difference in someone's life. There are many different avenues to do that, but helping someone with their health and nutrition has the potential to impact so many other areas of their life as well!! That's why we love what we do and are proud to be a part of this company!
We want to recognize a couple of our friends that have decided to make a commitment to their health and fitness. They have found success in their own journey using Beachbody products and want to share that success with others. Please welcome Cheryl Vaske to Team FullyFit! Cheryl and Dan used to work together at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Cheryl has been a couple of our Challenge Groups and has fallen in love with Focus T25 and loves Shakeology. The 25 minute program fit nicely into her busy day and helped her lose some weight all while getting stronger. She has decided to make a commitment not only to her health but also wants to help others reach their potential too. We are SO excited to have you on board Cheryl...and for those of you that know her, she would love to connect with you on how you could begin your own health journey. She will actually be co-hosting a fitness and nutrition accountability group with Laura starting on May 4th. If you want more details about what that accountability group is all about, reach out to her us and we would love to help. We are SO excited to welcome our good friend, Jillian Kruger, to our amazing team of coaches. What that means is...she loves health and fitness and wants to help other people create change in their lives!! She is such an amazing, compassionate person...a busy mom...and loves to be active. She participated in a few of our accountability groups and has done T25 and the 21 Day Fix.
We are so EXCITED for her to start this new journey and have no doubt she will be an incredible coach. If you know Jillian and need some help building some healthy habits into your busy life, reach out to her!! She'd love to chat more with you to help! That's right, a number of Beachbody's most popular workouts are available to stream online as long as you have access to a web browser and the internet. Just like Netflix revolutionized online movie space, we feel this is going to be a game changer in fitness world. We have been able to use this platform for the past month and blown away with the quantity and quality of the workouts that they have included. It's also extremely easy to use. We have accessed it from both our computers and our phones and it works great. We were able to stream workouts to our TV using Google Chromecast and I'm pretty certain you could do the same using Apple TV. So how does it work??? When you log in this is the first screen you will see. Right now there are 11 Full programs available and they have a New & Noteworthy section that you can preview all of the latest programs that have been released and some classics that haven't made their way into the Member Library yet. The 11 programs that are included are: Insanity, TurboFire, Brazil Butt Lift, P90X, P90X2, P90X3, Chalene Exreme, Hip Hop Abs, 10 Minute Trainer, Tony 1-on-1, and Insanity Asylum. The New & Noteworthy workouts will give you access to 1 individual workout from 8 of Beachbody's other programs. Also coming by the end of March 2015, there will be a Purchased Products section which will give you access to certain programs that you have purchased by DVD. After you select a program, you will have access to all of the workouts and program materials for that particular workout. For example with P90X3 you would also get Quick Start, Fitness Guide, Calendar, Nutrition Guide, and Extras. All of these are downloadable. Once you hit play you will be prompted with a disclaimer screen. Beachbody is really good at making sure if you go all insane doing Insanity that it isn't their fault. A couple clicks and you are ready to start working out. Plus after you hit this agreement on the disclaimer you won't have to do it again for that workout series, which is nice. Here is a short video showing some of Beachbody's celebrity trainers getting a first look this new function. Club Member Benefits
Frequently Asked Questions: Will I need to buy the fitness program to stream them? No. Programs inside Beachbody on Demand’s digital library come with a membership to Team Beachbody Club. Will there be an extra cost per workout watched? No. Unlimited access is included in Team Beachbody Club membership at no extra cost. Will I be able to stream workouts internationally? Yes. You will be able to stream abroad as long as you have a valid internet connection. Will the workouts be available to download and watch offline? No. Programs inside the digital library come with a membership to Team Beachbody Club. How much will it cost? The current price for a Team Beachbody Club Membership is $38.87 which is paid quarterly. So essentially it is $13 per month. The CEO of Beachbody eluded to the fact that this price may go and you would be able to lock in the current price if you sign up before the price comes out. You are also able to buy a Club Challenge Pack which is a combination of 3 months of membership plus a 1 month supply of Shakeology for $140. If this feature sounds like something that will help you stay on track and see the results that you've been hoping to accomplish, we would love to chat with you. Feel free to shoot us an EMAIL or comment below and we will be in touch. If you KNOW this is going to be the difference maker for your fitness, click the button, JOIN THE CLUB, below and feel free to go through the sign up process. Oh and in case you want to combine a club membership with a month's supply of Shakeology, click JOIN THE CLUB + SHAKEOLOGY. That combination is on special this month and you will save $30 when you bundle them together. We aren't talking about trees and green grass here, although those things are important too. The environment that we are talking about is everything around you. That includes nature, but it's so much more than that and also includes:
You get the drift...it's everything that you come into contact with on a daily basis and not just physically. All of that information and exposure creates who you are, what you think, your health, your relationships, and your lifestyle. You've probably heard of the concept of nature vs nurture. To get a little geeky on you, it is also your DNA as well! Your DNA is really the only thing that will not change. Did you know that there is a particular branch of genetics called epigenitics that is doing a lot of research on how our ENVIRONMENT can turn on or turn off certain genes?? Although we can't change our genes, this science is telling us that the excuse of "It's in my genes" may not be a reliable excuse any more. You may now have to change it to "It's in my environment!!!" How cool and yet scary is that? Based on what you consume and what you come in contact with may dictate if that cancer gene, or alzheimer gene, or obesity gene actually "turns on." It's cool because our environment is actually the one thing that we have a lot of control of. Go back to that list above: ALL of those things you can change today!!! Would some of them be more difficult...like walking away from a job or moving out of your house...sure, but you could still do it! Would you do it if you knew your house was going to cause your whole family to get some auto-immune disease? Absolutely!!! What if you knew that your job increased the chances of you developing cancer? The World Health Organization actually listed shift work (working over night) as a known carcinogen!!! I guess the reason I think this is a little scary is because now YOU are in control. There really aren't any excuses any more. Sure, there are some environment things that you can't change unless you plan on living in a bubble...but a majority of what you come in contact with is because of a choice you make. If you are crabby all the time, look at your environment. Is your job creating too much stress? Are the people you're hanging around with crabby and constantly complaining? If you are depressed, look at your environment. Are you getting enough sunlight/vitamin D? Are you exercising, which is known to release good mood hormones? Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a time and a place for medication...especially if we're talking about depression, but we turn to drugs way too soon and way too often before exhausting every other effort. If you are overweight, look at your environment. Are you exposing yourself to toxins that mess with your hormones and cause you to store more weight? Are you eating whole, fresh foods? Are you exercising? If you are feel empty and your life seems to have no meaning, look at your environment. Are you watching negative news all the time? Are you reading personal development? How is your spiritual life? How are your relationships? Your environment is going to change you, but the cool thing is: YOU have the ability to change it first! Ever since Laura and I did our little experiment with counting our calories (2,800 calories consumed each day) and watching our macronutrient breakdown (certain %'s of protein/carb/fat), we've been getting a lot of people asking about what their calorie needs are and what they should be eating. Oh and we both lost weight on this plan too!!! As much as I like to help people figure their own individual macro needs and calorie needs, to actually track it is a MAJOR pain. Will it work, absolutely! Will you have food issues after a short period of time and struggle to eat without your food scale, probably!!! Why is this??? Because eating shouldn't be difficult and if it is one of two things is going to happen.
What if there was an easier way??? Simple eating, that's portion controlled, so you don't have to worry about weighing food or macros. You get what you need in the amount you need it. It exists, and it's called the 21 Day Fix! I know we sell Beachbody products so you might think we are just saying this is a great product because then we can sell more of it. Honestly though, this program is the REAL deal... It takes all the guesswork and stress out of eating. It really is a program that I would recommend to people even if I wasn't selling it. How does it work? If you want the long version, can head over to an earlier blog post, The 21 Day Fix Explained, where we go into a little more detail. The short answer is that you get a variety of color coded containers that are specific to certain food groups. Depending on your size and activity level you will be allotted a certain quantity of each of the containers each day. Don't worry you won't starve!!! We actually hear the opposite from a lot of people that have done it, they struggle to eat all the food... This system may not be quite as precise as the calculations that I was figuring out for people....specific percentages of each macro that they should aim for... which involves using MyFitnessPal or some other meal tracking website. The long term success however, of people that have used these food containers is nothing short of remarkable because it is much more simplified. Check out this support group of 21 Day Fix Customers and some of their transformation photos. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/21dayfixrecipes/photos/) You'll have to scroll a bit since there are a lot of food pics, but feel free to look at those too because that is the food you get to eat on this plan!! On top of the original program, Autumn Calabrese (the creator of the original program) just came up with a more advanced version, 21 Day Fix Extreme. This program uses a similar simple eating plan as the original but modifies it slightly for more intense workouts. It also includes a 21 Day Countdown to Competition Guide that will give you serious results in just 21 days. We are both extremely excited about these new workouts and eating plan. Laura is going to be starting it on Feb 23rd and will be running an accountability group for others that want to join in! Let us know if you want more info! If you've tried dieting or calorie counting without any long term success, we would love to help you find a better way. It may be this program, it may just be some small nutritional tweaks. Either way we want all of you to be living up to your full healthy potential. Let's be honest...you might live under a rock if you have never heard of P90X. This is the "original" workout that came out 10 years ago. P90X3 came out last year and was extremely popular since the program was condensed into 30 minute workouts. P90X2 is like the step brother of the P90X family that was shipped off to military school for kicking too much ass. This program is the real deal from a butt kicking standpoint. P90X2 is geared more towards sports performance and is more of an elite training for athletes, which is one reason why I wanted to try it! I still play quite a bit of volleyball and at a fairly competitive level so for me, it was mainly to improve my performance on the court. Move faster, jump higher, and be in better physical shape to avoid injury. There is no strict calendar to follow, which makes P90X2 very unique when comparing it to other programs. It is broken up into 3 phases and although each phase has a recommended schedule for each week, they don't say to do each week for a given period of time. You are the judge of when you're ready to move on to the next phase. Each phase helps prepare you for the next group of workouts which is really nice. I started this workout after completing 2 rounds of P90X3, followed by a "rest" phase where I did PiYo. So I was in decent "P90X shape" coming into this workout. By that I mean, Tony makes you do a lot of pull-ups and push-ups along with quite a bit of balance work... just to give you an idea of where I was at with my workouts before starting.
Phase 1 - Foundation This Phase is geared towards teaching you most of the moves. The warm-ups stay pretty much the same in all the workouts so you quickly learn all the moves you'll be doing during that part of the workout. One thing that I really enjoyed about this program was that the warm-up was very comprehensive, so you do a lot of moves to get warm, then you stretch, and you foam roll in nearly all the warm-ups. The foam rolling piece is nice because normally I'm too lazy to do that...so it forces you to spend some time improving the quality of your muscles not just size and endurance. There are 6 workouts that you use in Phase 1, plus a bonus 7th workout Ab Ripper that you add on a couple of days. The schedule is setup so that you workout hard 4 days a week. Those workouts include high intensity core work, plyometric work, total body strength and a balance and strength workout. In between those workouts you mix in yoga one day and the other two days you can either take as rest days or do the Recovery + Mobility workout, which is a fantastic workout and something I tried to do at least once a week. I really enjoyed this Phase and I ended up doing it for 4 weeks before moving on. Here is a little video of me me doing one of the moves in the Balance + Power workout. This will also give you an idea of the space you will need, which isn't much! Phase 2 - Strength Phase 2 is similar to Phase 1, so you will go hard 4 days a week, 1 yoga day, and 2 recovery days. The intense workouts in this phase were some of my favorites out of all of the X2 workouts. I used to be a gym guy before I moved into doing home workouts. I wasn't good at actually getting TO the gym, but I did enjoy throwing some weight around while I was there. A big piece of the Phase 2 workouts is using a lot of dumbbells, push-ups, and pull-ups. Stuff that most guys (and some ladies) like!!! The awesome part of this program, and what sets it apart from just lifting weights "normally", is that you are rarely standing on 2 feet when doing lifts, or when you are doing push-ups you are using stability balls or medicine balls to balance on. This really engages all those stabilizer muscles and core muscles. As you progress through each phase, you definitely notice your balance improves with the moves that you are doing. I never upped my weight all that much but I did notice that I did more reps and my balance was much better. Phase 3 - Performance Once again, this phase is 4 days of hard workouts, 1 yoga day, and 2 rest or recovery workout days. The 4 days that you are "on" you use just 2 workouts, P.A.P Upper and P.A.P. Lower. P.A.P. stands for Post-Activation Potentiation. If you want to look into what that means exactly, here is a link to an article on the topic, Post-Activation Potentiation. To summarize: the goal of this type of training is to improve your explosive power as your muscles fatigue. My real life application of this is playing volleyball. This type of training will help me to be able to jump as high in my last game of the night as I was able to jump in my first game. If I'm being honest, this was my least favorite Phase. After the 2nd week, I found myself bored with the workouts and the schedule. I did 3 full weeks following the X2 schedule but in the 4th week I ended up switching to using P90X3's Complex Upper and Lower workouts which are also based on PAP training. This gave me a little more variety, which was nice. Overall Review Overall I really enjoyed this program, especially the first 2 phases and all the different workouts and moves. I definitely saw my strength and balance improve. I loved the complex nature of all the moves and it really challenged me. The only downside was the workouts did get a little long. For the person that just wants to get in and get it done, this wouldn't be the best workout for you. For someone that is transitioning from working out at the gym, I think it would be great from a timing standpoint. I would say this program is geared more towards strength and improving muscle endurance. My goal going into it was to actually put on some weight, which I was able to do without gaining any body fat. I don't know if I would recommend it to the person that wants to lose a lot of weight. It is probably better suited for the person that wants to drop some body fat % points, get a little stronger, improve muscle quality and improve sports performance. No matter where you are with your fitness, this program WILL challenge everyone. If you're more advanced, you will likely be able to move through the phases faster...but there is something for everyone with this program! My Results I'll start with my before and after pictures (before pictures are on the top, after on the bottom). I try to be as fair with this as possible, no flexing (except in the flexing ones), similar lighting, same time of day. When I started, my weight was the lowest it had been since right after college, 157 lbs. After finishing X2, I was up to 165 lbs!!! I personally see a difference in my back, shoulders and arms...and a little bit in my chest. If you're looking at the flexing pics, I definitely see more definition in my shoulders and back. Overall I'm pretty happy with my the changes! Some of the coolest numbers that I like to track are girth measurements and also the Fit Test numbers. I love that I basically maintained my waist measurement while adding 8 lbs. Based on the measurements, it seems my arms, thighs and butt got most of it. With the Fit Test, the before numbers were actually my after numbers after I completed my first round of P90X3. I set a goal at the beginning of X2 (with one of the Challenge Groups that I was running) that I wanted to be able to do 25 pull-ups and 100 push-ups without breaking. I fell a little short, but definitely saw some big gains in both of those areas. Another area that I didn't really notice getting stronger but based on the numbers from the "Ab In and Outs" my core strength/stamina definitely improved. The last thing that I want to point out is the cardiovascular work that these programs provide. So many people think they need to go pound the pavement or hop on an elliptical in order to work their heart. NOT TRUE. Before I started any P90X workouts my resting heart rate was 62 which is good, but you can see how much it improved. I will say X3 is a better cardio workout due to their being less breaks and shorter breaks. My heart rate maximizer numbers from a year ago were: Immediately after - 172 After 1 minute - 107, After 2 minutes - 107, After 3 minutes -79, After 4 minutes - 85. Basically what this test has you do is go all out with jumping jacks for 2 minutes to get your heart rate up then once you are done, you monitor how your heart rate recovers. The change here is crazy!!! After 2 minutes of basically sprinting, my heart is now able to recover to the point of my resting heart rate. If you want to live longer, your heart muscle needs to be stronger...and this workout definitely works that muscle too.
If this program sounds like something you are interested in trying out, I would love to chat with you. Hi there friends! If you follow us on Facebook, you might have seen that we got our Insanity Max:30 workout last night. We decided to give the first workout a shot and wanted to share this video with you of what a few of the moves look like...along with our review of this workout, Cardio Challenge. In the spirit of A Chipmunk Christmas we made the workout double time so Shaun T sounds like a chipmunk. We both are SUPER excited to continue with the other workouts in this program and plan on jumping in fully with our accountability group that starts on December 29th. We know we will need some support through this program, because if the first workout is any indication of the rest of them, it's something that will push you mentally and physically...EXACTLY what we need after the Holidays and getting over that post holiday slump!! You know what I'm talking about....right?? We only have 10 spots left so if you are interested in the group and want to take advantage of this deal, comment below or shoot us a message. We should also note that anyone who buys a Challenge Pack (Insanity Max:30 + Shakeology) before December 15th will get a $25 gift card from us to the retailer of their choosing!!! Shaun T hooked me on home workouts with Insanity and to this day, he's the ONLY ONE that can inspire me to do more than I think I can and push my body to its limits. My body wasn't the only thing that changed though....my MIND was stronger and it made me believe I could do anything...which also spilled over to the rest of my life. I love that the goal is to fail. I love that it pushes you right away and forces you to assess your own limits...and then INVITES you to shatter what you thought was your limit!! Eeek!! I can't wait!
**BONUS from us: anyone that orders a challenge pack THIS WEEK will also get a $25 gift card to either Amazon or iTunes! Who wants in?? Don't be shy! Beachbody's annual "Black Friday" sale is back. The great thing is that you don't have to wait until Friday to take advantage of these deals. Whether you are shopping for yourself or someone on your Christmas list, you will be able to find some equipment or program for just about anybody. The programs range from low intensity workouts like Slim Series and Hip Hop Abs to some of the most intense workouts like Insanity Asylum and P90X. If you aren't sure what program is right the fit feel free to send us a message. You can find the full list of sales and availability by clicking on any of the pictures. These push-ups were the death of me for so long. I think the maximum that I was able to get weeks 1-4 was maybe 3 reps. I stuck with it. Laura suggested using two medicine balls, but I was stubborn to get it with only one. After 4 weeks of basically failing at this move, I was able to get 12 in a row!!! Just goes to show that if you are consistent with your actions to grow and improve, you will eventually. It may take a month, maybe a year, maybe multiple years, but you grow so much as person during that journey. If you can't tell I'm not only talking about doing push-ups, you can apply this to in area of your life where you want to achieve growth. We hope this video inspires you to keep working at something that you are struggling with right now. If we can help in any way, please comment below and we would love to chat. I wanted to share a little bit of my experience and my transformation in the hopes that someone out there can relate and make a change for a healthier lifestyle too. I have always been super active with working out, playing volleyball and golf and other miscellaneous sports. Like most, I had my periods over the past 10-15 years where I didn't do as much but I always bounced back and got active again. My goal albeit a superficial one was always to get ripped, have a six pack and have big arms. How lame, right? I worked extremely hard at times in the gym to get to that perfect body but I never got there. I researched, I learned different lifts, I watched videos and talked to guys in the gym, but the progress was slow, if any. Why??? Although I was doing the physical stuff, I never fully embraced the lifestyle that would get me the results that I was hoping for. I was working hard in the gym but I was also working hard at the bar and fast food joints. On top of that, my mind was all about the physical, I could care less about my health, I just wanted abs!!! As you can see all of my "hard work" didn't lead to the abs that I had always wanted. The picture above was taken January 2013 before I really committed to the lifestyle of living a healthy life. My turning point was about 1 month prior to this picture when I had to go to the doctor for extreme back pain and she told me that based on my BMI I was obese. Part of me laughed it off, how could I be obese, I'm athletic? After really thinking about it I wasn't in a good place. I remember at night sitting on our couch eating my ice cream and my stomach would pop out of the bottom of my shirt. Yeah it was just Laura and I around but it was still embarrassing. So as the title of this post suggests, before I made any changes to my lifestyle I first had to change the way I looked at food and a healthy living and to some degree, exercise. I'll start with exercise because that is the easy one. Prior to all of this, even though I was working towards that 6 pack, kind of, I often justified my crappy food binges by saying I worked out or I will work out. Working out was a way to offset something. It was to burn calories. When I started looking at exercise as something that made me feel awesome, rather than something I needed to do to offset a cheeseburger or pizza I ate, my world changed!! (Yeah I would eat entire pizzas!!!) With food, I found out really fast what could happen when you ate right. The picture above is actually taken the morning of Day 2 of the Ultimate Rest, which is a 21 day cleanse that Beachbody sells. I remember this vividly because I burnt the crap out of my hand making chicken breast at 6:30 in the morning for Laura and I's salads that we were supposed to have for lunch that day. This program laid out exactly what I was going to eat daily, and after 18 days, (yeah I stopped 3 days short due to a work trip) I lost 15 lbs. I still didn't have my abs but I saw what eating the right foods could do and I felt incredible after that. I was ALL IN!!! My mindset shifted from needing to workout to counteract an unhealthy eating lifestyle to wanting to eat clean and workout because it made me feel awesome. I no longer was trying to play catch up. My goals changed from 6 pack abs to overall health. I won't lie and say I didn't want the abs still but that wasn't my focus. Low and behold, once my focus changed the abs came. It's amazing the correlation between your body getting stronger and your mind getting stronger...and for me my confidence. I was a new man inside and out!!! You've all heard the concept out there, what came first, the chicken or egg? That can be debated around and around. In the health and fitness world, what comes first: a healthy mind or healthy body?? Without a doubt, I can say your mind has to be right first. Without the right mindset you will likely be influenced by magazine covers and stay in a state of constant self doubt and insecurities. How do you change your mindset then? You need to forget what others think and learn to love yourself for where you are in that moment. You have to stop thinking that you are stuck the way you are and there's no changing that. Tear down the walls that you have built up that have stopped you from becoming the person you and I know you can be. The person you are right now is not the person you always have to be. You have to understand that being healthy and fit isn't for someone else out there, it can be yours too!
Here is a testimonial from one of our customers who saw AMAZING changes to her lifestyle with this program. We wanted to give you guys an idea of what this program is all about so you can see for yourself that it's not scary or difficult...plus if you purchase through us you'll get support and accountability to start and finish the program!
This testimonial is from our friend Nicole...over a 4 month period and a few rounds of the 21 Day Fix, she got some pretty awesome results....she went down 2 pant sizes and lost a total of 29 inches!! The best part is she learned how important proper nutrition really is: eating from all food groups and in the right quantity. Check out her answers below and let us know if you have any questions!! What did you think of the workouts? I loved them! I am currently doing the Piyo workouts and plan to move back to the 21 day fix program and workouts. I loved how they challenged me and I could physically see myself getting stronger (I even upped my weights towards the end). Were they challenging? Yes, I was just getting back into working out so they were a good workout for me. Did you find the modifiers helpful if you followed them? Yes, I always tried to do the workout without modification and then would switch to it when I needed. I still got a sweat on with doing the modifiers.
Did you feel like you got enough food using the containers?
Yes, there were some days when I thought "how am I am going to eat all this food?" It's definitely enough food to eat. Were you still able to enjoy meals out at restaurants? I did eat out a couple of times and was able to eat. I would keep my little book handy or if I knew which restaurant we were going to I would look up their menu and plan ahead what I would order. And NO, I didn't have to eat a salad every time I went out. I actually got to eat a burger (sans bun of course). Did the containers simplify your eating or your complicate your eating? A little of both. It was complicated in the beginning because prior to the plan, I never thought about what I was really eating. So that was more the education piece . But by the second week, I had all my meal plans ready and it became so much easier to pack my lunch. I knew what food went into what container.
Did these workouts and eating plan easily fit into your busy day?
Yes, there is work in the beginning and it was a little tough...but by the second week it was super easy. I still use the containers to pack my food or make my dinner. I don't have to guess on my portion size, it's right there for me. In that aspect it made my day easier. I take out the greek yogurt and pour it into the container. I take out the chicken and put it into the container. Also, the workouts were 30 min. Even if I had to wait until my kids went to bed, it would be 9 PM and I would be done by 9:35PM . I mean its ONLY 30 MINUTES, how easy is that!? I will say this, there were also times when I just didn't want to workout. I was tired, I worked a full day, I took care of 2 kids , I cooked dinner for everyone, I put the kids to bed. A typical day is exhausting...BUT to my surprise when I started to eat healthier and exercise more, I was not as exhausted at 9 pm as I was when I didn't workout. That was a huge wake up call. YES, it did take some time to get there but I pushed myself through and I got there. How has this program changed the way you eat food after you finished it? With any real lifestyle change you are going to have to do things differently so that was the biggest hurdle. I wanted to start eating better and I really needed to work on my portion sizes so this is what I had to do to get there. I make a meal plan now, I ACTUALLY research the food I make and put into my body...and the biggest change was paying attention to my portion sizes. After doing the 21 day fix I realized my portions were OUT OF CONTROL! Once I finished with the 21 day fix, I didn't focus so much on the exercise. I knew I needed to fix my eating so that is what I focused on. I still used the containers to help and the book that is provided in the 21 day fix program has a list of food groups and recipes that I still use. The 21 day fix book is my kitchen "bible" : ) So it's been over one month since we came home from this INCREDIBLE event in Las Vegas. Our heads are still swimming with all the awesomeness that took place while we were there. I have no idea where to even start...but the beginning sure seems like the best place, right?? This trip was VERY unlike the "typical" Vegas trip...this was definitely NOT a vacation. We definitely viewed it as more of a business trip than for pure enjoyment. We were running around from the moment we landed Wednesday night. Right after we checked in to our hotel (The Signature which is connected to the MGM) we took a road trip to Whole Foods to stock up on goodies for the week. For information on how all that went down and how to eat healthy while you travel head over to The Cook & The Coach Facebook page and look for our post on June 23 about it. THURSDAY Thursday morning we attended an awesome training event that was put on by Lindsay Matway who was the 2013 Top Coach. This event's them was SHINE! Lindsay invited a number of her top coaches to come and speak on different topics that have helped them grow their businesses...I LOVE learning from so many amazing people. We also were able to hear from Carl Daikeler, Beachbody's CEO. Even if you aren't a Beachbody coach I highly encourage you to search out some of his speeches. He has a great message for anyone that is looking to grow as a person either personally or professionally. One particular point that we took away from his speech was in regards to facing your fears and weaknesses, and instead of running from them, facing them head on. Rather than just being ok with a weakness or fear, find a way to grow so that you can overcome the things that are holding you back from everything you've ever wanted! Thursday afternoon we worked out live with Chalene Johnson and did her newest workout, PiYo with over 1,000 other coaches. After the workout we attended the opening session where we heard from Beachbody's executive team, fellow coaches and celebrity trainers. There were some big announcements about new products being released:
The last big announcement was that next year, Summit will be held in Nashville and not Vegas...which makes us very happy :) To end our Thursday night, we got all dressed up and attended the Sequins and Studs party. The party scene isn't really our favorite BUT Laura had earned tickets to the party by working hard in April and May.....PLUS we actually got to have a quick photo op with Chalene Johnson. She was running around photobombing people...so obviously we let her. And to cap off the night they had a huge fireworks show! FRIDAY Friday morning came pretty early...5:30 am to be exact...because we were up and waiting in line for the live T25 workout with Shaun T. It was totally worth it though. The more we're around this guy, the more we love him. His message is SO uplifting and positive. After we finished our workout we cleaned up, grabbed some breakfast and ran over for the general session to listen to Darren Hardy speak. You literally just go from one motivational speaker to the next...that was kind of the theme of the weekend! If you have never heard of Darren Hardy, we HIGHLY recommend you pick up his book The Compound Effect or go check out his website www.DarrenHardy.com.....his message applies to everyone and is applicable for any experience life throws at you! After lunch...guess what...we listened to MORE amazing people talk about what has made them successful in this business. The thing that seemed to be constantly repeating itself in almost every session (from Darren to Hardy to Carl Daikeler to a top coach) is you need to always be growing and working on YOURSELF and if you focus on helping others you in turn will help yourself. It is this constant cycle: Friday afternoon I was able to participate in a VIP area and workout with Tony Horton. There were thousands of people in the room we were in, but I was 1 of maybe 100 people that got a front and center spot. You better believe me that I brought it during that workout. I worked out like I was auditioning to be in the next P90X workout infomercial. I'm still waiting for my phone call, but it was an amazing experience. Later that afternoon we ended up running into Tony in the hotel of the lobby of our hotel and he was gracious enough to take the time to snap a photo of with us. I know he gets swarmed all the time especially at an event like this, so it meant a lot and spoke a lot to his character that he took the time to do that. The rest of our Friday evening was fairly low key unless you get excited about eating a 3 lb lobster and 26 oz New York Strip. That is what I did, unfortunately I had to split it with 2 others. Laura was invited to the Star Diamond Reception by her coach, Lacy Salander...so she was hob knobbing it with the who's who of the Beachbody world. Next year we will both be qualifying for that one. Saturday morning involved another early morning workout, but is was one like I have never seen or been a part of before. There were probably 8,000 coaches all packed into a parking lot outside. The energy was electric and an overall amazing experience. We got a 15 minute workout from multiple celebrity trainers including, Tony, Shaun, Chalene, Autumn, Rachel, and Dan. Needless to say it was a great workout. After the workout we attended our final general session in the MGM arena. This session was awesome for a couple of reasons. We were able to hear Diana Nyad speak. This woman...at the age of 64, swam from Cuba to the Florida Keys. Talk about a story about never giving up! She told bits and pieces about her life, how she got into swimming and then how that turned into long distance swimming. She also told her story about swimming the 110 miles form Cuba to Florida!!! She was quite the inspiration and encouraged us to set goals that are bigger than you can imagine, and then simple DOING the daily things it takes to reach those goals. Our day continued into the afternoon with more amazing trainings from some of the top coaches. We listened, we learned and we walked away from it all ready to go out and share that knowledge with our teams. Summit 2014 ended with a celebration of top coaches and customer success stories. It literally ended with a bang!!! Carl Daikeler, Beachbody CEO, got "fake" shot out cannon as part of the skit they put on for Top Coach Lindsay Matway. There were a couple of highlights that night, one being we got to hear from the Top 10 Beachbody Coaches from 2013. Each of the coaches was given a chance to speak for a few moments. We were amazed, but really we weren't at how most of the coaches referenced or thanked God for helping them get to where they were on that stage. It really just helps us solidify our belief that we are part of an organization that believes the basic Christian morals of loving others and doing whatever we can to help others. It's not about making a ton of money (even though it's possible)...it's not about status...it is all about growing as an individual yourself and then helping other people do the same. The other amazing part of the night came when they they awarded the winners of the Beachbody Challenge and these two lost over 400 lbs combined!!! One quote from the guy that won: "Before starting on my journey I was just waiting for the day I was going to die....now everyday I look forward to living!!!" THAT...my friends is what it's all about...and WHY we do what we do. This is not about selling...this business is about OTHERS and helping/inspiring other people.
So we will leave you with this final thought that we took away from our time down in Las Vegas; Are you making the most of this ONE, CRAZY, BEAUTIFUL life that we have to live? |
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