The Cook & The Coach Blog

Our Routine... A Day in the Life!

9/5/2017

We try our best to share our life with you guys....and I know social media makes it seem like it's all glamour, beaches, fun stuff all the time and no work It's not. I promise.

BUT there's a big difference between what our days looked like last year compared to now.

Now...we choose what our days look like. As coaches, as business partners and life changers with Beachbody...we STILL wake up with an alarm around 6 or 6:30, because we WANT TO...with goals of getting up even earlier.

We drink 20 oz of water...make COFFEE ️...then drink coffee!
Pull out our stack of books and devotionals to read. I journal a little and then post to our social media sharing inspiration and things we learned...so it can encourage others
Eli wakes up...we snuggle a little and then he plays with some toys and eats his breakfast
We plan our day...set our priorities....decide what needs to get done. We check in with our private support group and encourage them or share a tip
Dan makes us breakfast
One of us takes Eli to the park or the library or run some errands and the other gets some heads down, ALONE work time.
I do some mentoring calls with coaches or work on trainings for our team or build our business by building relationships and connecting with people!
We post to social media again
We work out...the time changes every day but it always happens if it's in the calendar
We drink Shakeology
We ROCK our day and simply strive to SERVE those around us

Some days we work a lot...some days we don't....sometimes we work on the weekend...and we stop when we'd like!! Sometimes we work at the beach or a coffeeshop or at home in the RV...the location doesn't matter.

Total control.

Messy hair.

Yoga pants...no showers...no pants...no shoes...no problem. HA!! Every day is a new day to make a choice. To set some new goals. To grow.

It's a NEW day to connect with people that want to join a movement...and want to spread the message of health and life to their friends and family!! If you want more CONTROL of your life...more flexibility or more control of your health and you love to serve people and help them, we'd love to chat with YOU!! ️

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Is Obesity Contagious?

6/13/2017

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I've been smacked in the face with this concept a few times in the past month so I took it as a sign that I needed to write and share my thoughts.

Is Obesity Contagious?

We think of a lot of diseases to be contagious, the flu, a cold, but what about obesity? The American Medical Association back in 2013 actually changed it's stance on obesity and it is now classified as a disease. If you go to the CDC website it actually states that 36.5% of Americans "have" obesity. That word "have" struck me when I read it.

Philosophically that is a whole new ball game. Now a person isn't defined by being obese, they "aren't" obese they just "have" it. If you have something you can get rid of it, right??? That's good news! If you have it, does that also mean that you can give it to someone?

In 2007 researchers from Harvard published an article in The New England Journal for Medicine, The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years, that explains these concepts. Some things that stood out were, if you have a friend that is obese that you would be 57% more likely to obese yourself. The study didn't show that obesity was connected to geographical location. For example if you have a neighbor or coworker that is obese they won't rub off on you as much as someone which you actually have a close relationship.

"Obesity is a social disease. And it needs a social cure." - Dr. Mark Hyman

I love this line from Mark Hyman, "Obesity is a social disease and it needs a social cure." Unfortunately the population of the United States is heading in the wrong direction.

As of 2015 70.7% of Americans over the age of 20 are considered overweight or obese. If 71% of the population had a virus that was slowly killing you every government agency and medical professional would be hysterical in finding a cure. What gives? Why are people complacent about the disease of obesity?

I think it comes back to this being a social disease. If you walk down the street or through your office building and 7 in 10 people you walk past are overweight, doesn't that skew your perception of what is normal? Now instead of comparing yourself to the cover model on the magazine, I think people are comparing themselves to the people that are overweight or obese. The thought likely goes through their head either consciously or subconsciously, "Well at least I'm not as fat as that person, so I must not be that bad."

Then you have the people that use the genetic excuse as a crutch. The same study mentioned above found out that if a sibling became obese it raised your chances of becoming obese by 40%. So if your friend, that you have no similar genetic information as becomes obese it increases your chances by 57% but a family member only 40%. Wouldn't that suggest that obesity is more of a nurture disease rather than a nature disease?

Why does this matter?

Being overweight and obese can have serious health consequences. It can lead to things like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, gallstones, cancer and increased joint pain. Not all overweight people will develop these diseases or will report negative biomarkers but it does raise your risk.

There is also a direct correlation to how overweight a person is and their activity level. So once you get trapped in the cycle of being overweight it becomes more and more difficult to lose weight. Your activity goes down, you burn fewer calories, you pack on more weight.

What do we do?

First thing I think we need to start treating being overweight or obese as a disease that needs treatment. It can't just be the way a person is... It can't be something we ignore thinking it is just a benign condition without consequences.

What actions do we need to take?

I believe as individuals we need to support people where they are at! Whether they are fit and lean or morbidly obese, we need to be there for a friends, family, and neighbors. We need to be encouragers! We can't wait for someone else to take action, you need to be the one! The one that gets moving! The one that cuts out a lot of the junk food! The one that eats more veggies! Do it with joy! Be contagious with your healthy behaviors!

That's why I love so much what we do! We get to be those influencers! More importantly we try to encourage others to pay it forward, to pass along what they learn and share with the people they care about.

We need to be interjectors of positivity and health into the cycle that people get stuck in. If you feel like you are stuck, find people that are going to lift you up and believe in you. Find someone that won't let you fail, aka stop!

Lastly, as a society we have become overweight and obese! It will only be as a society that we can solve this problem. We need to reset that trajectory that our country's health is on currently. Health can and needs to become more contagious than obesity! If you are ready to help be part of the change, share this post, reach out to a friend in need, or reach out to a friend that can help you!

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I'm Not a Fitness or Nutrition Professional...How Can I Help Others?

12/5/2016

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Don’t think you’re qualified to help other people get healthy?

Do you think you have to be a personal trainer or have some degree to do what we do?

Think you have to be in perfect shape or have all the answers?

Think again.

Do you have a HEART that breaks when you see people hurting? Do you have EARS to listen? Do you have PASSION and FIRE to help others? Do you want to SERVE others greatly and help them change their life? Do you want to make a little extra $$? I put the financial benefits last, but they’re certainly not least. There are so many companies out there now that can make you a little extra money (Thirty-One, Pampered Chef, Jamberry, Younique, DoTerra, Rodan & Fields)…the key is finding one that fits YOUR passions and the things you’re excited about…while fulfilling someone else’s need.

I have to pinch myself day in and day out because I truly can’t believe this opportunity and how it’s changed our lives and changed me from the inside. I’m not going to lie…I didn’t have a lot of weight to lose when I first started, so I don’t have an incredible physical transformation like some people. My transformation has been mainly from the inside. Since becoming a Beachbody coach I have become more confident in my own skin AND in my abilities. I’ve become stronger and able to get past my struggles and insecurities. My focus and time management has gotten better because heck, life is busy but if you have a DREAM you find ways to make things happen. Do I still struggle with these every once in a while? Heck yes. BUT the emphasis that Beachbody puts on personal development and growth definitely makes those struggles easier to get through.

The blessing that coaching has been in my life is just incredible. I share this not to somehow help myself but to help you! Beachbody can be that community you are looking for. It can be the thing that keeps you committed to working out and taking care of your health. If you want to know more about what this coaching community and business opportunity is all about we would love to share it with you.

I'm Interested

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Coach Summit 2016

11/3/2016

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The past 4 years for me (Laura) and 3 years for Dan we have attended what Beachbody calls Coach Summit. This event is a gathering of thousands of coaches where we get to come together and learn, grow and even sweat together. Yeah sounds a little weird but we've worked out simultaneously with over 23,000 other coaches....which is pretty dang AWESOME. We've also been fortunate to listen to speeches from John Maxwell, Darren Hardy, Simon Sinek and this year Gary Vaynerchuk.

My first year, I flew to Vegas by myself, stayed with my cousin and a random person we didn't even know. I had no idea what I was getting myself into...but loved every minute of the energy packed, brain exhausting, exciting weekend!! My second year, Dan was able to come along!! He had been able to leave his job as a golf professional and it was his first summer off in 10 years. Words can't express how incredible it was to have him there! I was 26 weeks pregnant with Eli, moved a little slower than normal and needed a little more sleep...but it was still an amazing weekend and we had 1 other coach from our team there. My third year the conference was moved to Nashville and we had 2 coaches from our team there....and THIS YEAR...we were in Nashville once again but we had 8 coaches from our team there!!! We all stayed in an Airbnb together and even though most of us had never met in real life before...it was like we knew each other!!

Take a peek at the slideshow to see what a blast we had over the 3 day conference!!

One of the main reasons I ADORE this business is because of it's focus on relationships. The people that have decided to take a leap with us and join our team, have changed my life!! They impact me DAILY even though we only interact via social media, video chat or phone calls...so to be able to spend 4 entire days with them is the BEST!! I can't even describe it.

I'm already looking forward to next year and cannot WAIT to have an even bigger group there representing Team FullyFit!!

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Core De Force Launch Details

11/1/2016

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We have been pretty excited for the launch of this program ever since we heard about it back in July. It just looks like a fun program and we know it will be a good change of pace for us. We wanted to share some of the details with you all just in case this type of workout might be something you are interested in doing.

Here is how Beachbody describes the workout:

INTRODUCING CORE DE FORCE
Created by Trainers Joel and Jericho, it's 30 days of zero-equipment, core-defining workouts inspired by the most high-octane sport in the world—Mixed Martial Arts!

SHRED DOWN WITH MMA-STYLE WORKOUTS
If you want to slash inches from your waist and shed body fat, nothing beats CORE DE FORCE’S effective—and addictive—workouts.

In just 30 days you can reshape your body with:

Boxing, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai combinations that engage your core from every angle
Bodyweight training that sculpts overall definition
Explosive cardio intervals to max your calorie burn

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill workout—this is CORE DE FORCE. And if you’re ready to fight for the body you’ve always wanted, you won’t be disappointed…

Check Out These Results!

Core De Force FAQs

How long is the program?
30 Days

How long are the workouts?
21-47 minutes

Do I need any equipment?
No

What's included with the program?
The base kit includes:

10 workouts plus a bonus workout if ordered through a Team Beachbody Coach (that's us)
Quickstart Guide
Eating Plan
Workout Calendar
The Cook & The Coach as your personal health, wellness and nutritional coach

Are there upgrades?
Yes, you can upgrade to a deluxe kit and you get everything mentioned above plus 3 additional workouts, an agility ladder, portion control containers, and a deluxe workout calendar.

Are there Challenge Pack options?
This document explains the 2 most popular Challenge Packs that include Shakeology. It is also available to order as a Performance Challenge Pack which includes a tub of Energize, a pre-workout drink, and Recover, a post-workout shake.

Hopefully that answers a few the questions you have regarding this program. If you do have any other questions or just want to chat about if this program would be a good fit for you we would love to hear from you. You can comment below or EMAIL us.

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Focus On What You Can Control

10/12/2016

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We've worked with hundreds of people in an effort to improve their health and lose weight. I think most people strive to be healthy and live life at a reasonable weight. I will say though a lot of people put an emphasis on weight. They think that is the driving force to better health.

When I lost most of my weight I was doing a program called The Ultimate Reset. This program is a 21 day whole food cleanse/reset. The great thing about this and getting started was it laid everything out for me. I didn't have to think. The process was laid out in black and white. Eat this, take these supplements and you'll see results. I wasn't thinking about whether or not I was losing weight, I just knew what my next meal or snack was supposed to be. For more on my journey check out this post, Change Your Mind, Change Your Body.

We have made the comments before that it is more about progress and not perfection. I would take that one step further back and say that it is more about committing to the process first. You control the process! You don't necessarily control the progress. I think that is why I saw results with the program I did. I committed to actions and those actions led to weight loss and health.

If you you are looking to lose weight and get healthy, what process are you going to commit too? Some things that I believe are vital both losing weight and getting healthy would be:

Consuming a minimum of 5 servings of non-starchy veggies per day
Drinking 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water
Getting a minimum of 6 hours of quality sleep per night, preferably 7-8.
Doing some sort of activity that causes you to fatigue muscles and lose your breath 4 times per week for at least 20 minutes. Basically do some intense exercise!

If you are a beginner and you want to know how to lose weight, do those things! Once you've mastered those things, then you we can talk fancier things like calorie counting, marconutrient ratios, carb-cycling, fasting, etc. I think so many people think they need to do something fancy to see results. The things you need to do are easy! Because they are easy to do, they are also easy not to do! That's where you committing to the process makes all the difference.

We've put together a simple tracker that you can use to track your progress with these simple steps. Just click the button below and follow the directions.

Download Our Core Activities Tracker

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Road Trip with Nana

9/17/2016

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We left Minneapolis on July 21st with 3 of us and after 36 hour pit stop in Des Moines we had four in our RV. Laura's mom, aka Nana, joined us on our trip to Nashville. She was coming along with us to babysit Eli during our annual Beachbody Summit event that was taking place the following weekend.

We had a couple pit stops between Des Moines and our final destination. The first one was Hannibal, MO. This was such a fun little town right on the Mississippi River. We were originally only planning on staying one night, however due to some plumbing repairs that we had to do we stayed a second night. This gave us a little time to explore the city. It also gave me a chance to work on some plumbing skills in 100+ degree weather. It was hot!

From Hannibal we moved onto the Gun Creek Recreation area by Benton, IL. Other than our first campsite being on too big of slope to level out our RV safely, this campground was fantastic. Big, roomy campsites that were right on a lake. Oh and it was cheap! Definitely a great spot and if pass through southern Illinois again we will for sure make a stop here.

After one night in Illinois we made our final drive to Nashville. It was only a 4 hour drive roughly. We happened to time out our arrival exactly as a thunderstorm was rolling in and knocked out all the power in the park we were staying. Not a huge issue other than needing to run the generator on our RV for an hour or so. It was hot and humid and our AC's needed to be cranked up!

We made it to Nashville! Now to prepare for our coaches to arrive and learn, sweat, and have some fun with them.

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Make A Life That Means Something

9/7/2016

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✔️ What does success look like to you right now?
✔ What numbers are you trying increase?
✔️ Why are you trying to increase them?
✔️ How is all of this making you FEEL?

God designed good work coupled with good rest. But we take it to extremes....being busy stems from the fear of never being enough. Busy covers our emptiness and says I am in control.

If we stay busy, how can our lives feel meaningless, RIGHT?

Don't edge out INTENTIONAL LIVING with your striving and "busy". Life is too short to spend an entire season working hard, thinking you'll live later!! God wants us to live NOW.

(Honesty moment: I'm a work in progress and struggle with this as much as the next person!!)

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Do You, Don't Let The World Miss Out

8/17/2016

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We each have a story. Things that have shaped us and changed us and formed us into the people we are today.

We each have a CHOICE as to what we're going to do with those things. You can choose to continue coasting and taking the easy route...simply accepting what's in front of you, swallowing your dreams and never allowing them to surface OR you can go out and find whatever the hell you're looking for!!!

Four years ago I was ready for a change. A change in my fitness routine which then turned into a COMPLETE change in my life...for the better. I never used to dream or have goals. I would simply coast through my days, my weeks, my months with no vision for what I wanted or the type of impact I wanted to have. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to change lives somehow but I had lost my way and gotten complacent. It happens.

But all of a sudden I was thrust into this crazy Beachbody world filled with these people who were talking about goal setting, dreaming bigger, helping and inspiring others, living with purpose....and all of a sudden...God opened my eyes.

I felt in my gut that my purpose was here somewhere....so I jumped in with both feet and my eyes wide open. I started running online accountability groups and fell in love with encouraging people, supporting them, giving them a kick in the butt when they needed it...and then watching them SUCCEED. Watching them slowly lose weight and believe in themselves again and see that they could do the things they never thought possible.

My vision is to help people LIVE FULLY. To empower others and help them see that they are incredible...and can do ANYTHING. To give them HOPE! To inspire people towards health, sweat and proper nutrition and to most importantly, point people to Jesus with love and encouragement.

Who would have thought that this little side job would ever amount to much?? It's changed both of our lives and our health so much that we want as many people as possible to experience what we have.

If you've been following us for awhile and are feeling that nudge or even a bit of curiosity about whether you could do this too, we would love to hear from you. We know it isn't for everyone but we know if you are a follower of ours you likely have a similar heart to help people and this business has been a perfect outlet for us it could be for you too.

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Beachbody Health Bet

8/5/2016

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One of the coolest things on the horizon for us is a new incentive that was announced last week at our Coach Summit in Nashville. It is called the Beachbody Health Bet. The concept is Beachbody the company and partially us as coaches are challenging you to commit to 2 simple behaviors for 4 weeks starting September 5th, 2016 with a prep week starting on August 29th!

What are those 2 behaviors?

Workout 3 times per week.
Drink Shakeology 5 times per week.

Pretty simple, right??? These two things have been at the cornerstone of our own health and we know that if people can commit to them on a regular basis they will get healthier! The cool thing about this incentive is if you do them Beachbody is going to pay you top of it.

You've maybe heard for the website, www.dietbet.com, where you can wager a certain amount of money and if you lose "x" percentage of weight by the end of the challenge you get a portion of the pot. Part of this is great in that people put a little skin in the game to give you that extra push to get results. The downside is that people can lose weight in some very unhealthy ways. That is why I absolutely love the approach that Beachbody has laid out for this challenge. It's all about creating healthy behaviors, and yeah weight loss might be a side effect of that but you don't have to feel pressure to starve yourself in order to get a piece of this pie.

So what's in the "pie"?

Beachbody is kicking in $1 MILLION up front.
They will ad an additional $5 to the pot for every Challenge Pack sold between July 27th - August 31st with a maximum amount of $3,000,000 in the pot!

How do you get a piece of that pie?

Commit to the 2 behaviors mentioned above
Join our challenge group that will start on September 5th (prep week to start on Aug 29th)
Log those behaviors daily in Beachbody's My Challenge Tracker App

That's free money for just doing stuff that is going to help you get closer to your goals. You don't have to put any of your own money on the line and it isn't contingent on you losing weight. If you are interested in joining our group that starts on September 5th taking and taking part in the Beachbody Health Bet click on the link below.

I WANT TO GET HEALTHY AND MAKE MONEY!

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Make Fitness Your Business as an Online Health Coach

6/8/2016

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This week we held our first ever webinar! It was super fun to get online with some people and talk about what we do as coaches. We put together a fun power point slideshow to go along with it which totally brought me back to high school speech class.

We put this webinar together to share a couple different key points that a lot of people have questions about.

Who is qualified to do this? - The short answer... ANYONE!!! You'll have to watch the video for the long answer.
Can I really make money? And how? - The answer, Yes! Our coaching business supports our lifestyle right now of living on the road and we only see it growing from here
What kind of business is coaching really? - Check out the video for this answer.

One of the things that brings us the greatest joy is when we get to mentor our team and see them awaken to their true potential. We've come across so many people that live with a limited mindset. With thoughts that they aren't important or they could never make a difference. When we can help that person see their value it just gives us goosebumps! That's what this coaching thing really is all about. Yeah we help people get healthy, but we most importantly help people feel valuable! If that intrigues you, check out this video and let us know if you have any questions when you are done watching. We know this isn't for everyone but can be for anyone!

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Meal Replacement Shake Comparison - An unbiased look at the most popular shakes on the market

4/28/2016

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Due to formulas changing and requests for additional shakes, we've updated this post as of 9/18/17.

This subject comes up ALL THE TIME with people we work with and the coaches in our community. People are always trying to compare different shakes that are on the market. There is so much skewed information since the people that are usually telling you the benefits of a particular shake are also selling that shake. Full disclosure: we are Beachbody Coaches, drink Shakeology daily and also sell it. BUT...unlike a lot of other posts that attempt to compare these shakes, I want to share the facts: calorie information, macronutrient information, nutritional information, added ingredients, cost and let YOU decide what makes the most sense for you situation.

The only bias that might show up in this post is that I put a huge emphasis on long term health over short term weight loss. I believe lasting weight loss and finding your ideal weight is a side effect of being healthy. I also don't believe that meal replacement shakes should be used as a way to restrict calories. They should be used to give you quality, convenient calories that promote health. If you want to know why I don't believe in calorie restriction we have a couple other posts about that, Calorie Deficit Diets, The Truth Revealed and Stop Eating Less and Exercising More. I also have a bias towards restricting artificial foods, flavors, and preservatives.

I compared the chocolate shake from the following companies:

Beachbody's Shakeology
Isagenix Isalean
Herbalife Nutritional Shake
GNC Lean Shake
IdealShape IdealShake
DoTerra Trim Shake
Advocare Meal Replacement Shake
Thrive Lifestyle Mix
Vega One Nutritional Shake
Arbonne Essentials
Sanford Profile Meal Replacement Shake
Invigor8
Shaklee
Garden of Life

I chose these shakes because they are the ones we get asked about most often. If you have a shake that you would like me to analyze that isn't on this list feel free to email us a nutritional label and I can take a look at it. If my information is incorrect about any shake, please let me know that also. My goal is represent every shake fairly with accurate information.

Calorie and Macronutrient Information

When I first started looking at these numbers I originally didn't include the serving size. I then realized that it is needed to accurately look at nutritional density. The idea is to compare gram for gram, which shake packs in more nutrients. When looking at all of the numbers keep in mind the serving size. For example if you look at total carbs and compare IsaLean to the Herbalife Shake you would think that Herbalife is way better but the serving is less than half, so gram for gram, IsaLean has fewer carbs.

A few other things to pay attention to in this graphic:

Calories. Like I mentioned earlier, shakes shouldn't be a way to restrict calories, so I like to look at the shakes that contain slightly higher values, 150+. All of these shakes if made without adding any extra ingredients would still be pretty low in calories to "replace" a meal, in my opinion. Obviously meal size will be determined by the size of the person but I usually recommend 400+ calories per meal.

Carbohydrates... these have a bad reputation in the weight loss world. I would say the average person probably does consume too many calories from carbohydrates, but that doesn't mean you need ZERO to lose weight. The main idea when it comes to carbohydrate management is to avoid carbs that quickly gets transformed into blood sugar or have a high glycemic load. The lower the total carbohydrate, the higher the fiber, and the higher the protein will all lower the glycemic load of a food. One thing you will want to cross reference regarding carbs is whether a shake is artificially sweetened. If they are artificially sweetened the sugar to fiber ratio will be skewed and as I mentioned earlier, I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners. Keeping that in mind the shakes that I like based on their carbohydrate content and sugar to fiber ratio include; Vega One Nutritional Shake, DoTerra Trim Shake, Beachbody Shakeology, Isagenix Isalean, Garden of Life. I like these because of the higher fiber content and lower % of sugar in regards to total carbohydrates.

Overall, fat is pretty negligible across the board. Protein strictly by the numbers, most of these shakes have a good percentage of their calories coming from protein. The only one that is pretty terrible is GNC Lean Shake. We will talk about quality of ingredients later.

Vitamin and Mineral Content

This first graphic shows the percentages of the vitamin content in each shake. One thing to consider with this graphic is nutritional density in relation to total grams consumed or total calories. A shake like Thrive Lifestyle Mix is a pretty low calorie shake at 123 calories but has a number of RDA values of 50% or more, so overall pretty nutritionally dense.

The 4 shakes that standout as the ones containing the highest concentration of vitamins per calorie would be IdealShake, Shakeology, Vega One, and IsaLean in that order. Invigor8, Advocare, Arbonne and DoTerra shakes would rank among the worst when it comes to nutritional density.

This second graphic shows the percentages of the mineral content in each shake. The top 4 shakes from a mineral density are IdealShake, Thrive Lifestyle Mix, Shakeology, and Sanford Profile Meal Replacement.

The other thing to consider when it comes to vitamin and mineral content would be where those vitamins are coming from. Are they synthetically created and added? For example if you read IdealShake's ingredient list it would say Niacinamide and Potassium Chloride. Those things aren't bad for you. However, when you get vitamins and minerals from whole food ingredients your body is able to absorb those nutrients more effectively. So when you read your ingredient list, make sure you look for ingredients that sound like foods rather than chemicals. If you are getting these nutrients from food, you are also benefiting by getting the phytonutrients that come along with those foods. These are lost entirely when you are consuming a shake that was made using lab created vitamins and minerals.

Shakeology, Garden of Life and Vega One are the three shakes that have the most comprehensive list of foods that go into their shakes. Isalean, Thrive, Invigor8 and Arbonne include some whole foods that make the vitamins and minerals more easily absorbed. The remaining shakes from what I can tell use synthetic vitamins and minerals to get their nutrient content.

Pre and Probiotic Content

If you are new to the world of prebiotics and probiotics let me explain what they are very briefly. Probiotics are bacteria that populate your gastrointestinal tract. We have about 10 times the number of bacteria living in our GI tract than human cells. So essentially we are more bacteria than we are human. These bacteria provide a whole host of benefits to our bodies from metabolic regulation, immune function, cravings, and improved digestive issues to name a few. The science is still pretty new around how our gut health affects the health of our entire body but we know it is important to have a healthy gut.

Prebiotics are essentially food for the probiotics to eat and therefore survive. Nearly all the shakes include prebiotic fiber in them. It's important to feed the good bacteria in our gut the stuff it needs, rather than feed the bad bacteria which can lead to conditions like SIBO and candida overgrowth. Only 7 of them contain probiotics, so it makes it pretty easy to pick out the best ones in this category.

Digestive Enzymes

Staying on the theme of gut health, let's talk digestive enzymes next. Essentially what these can do is help break down our food into smaller pieces so our body can more easily process it.

There are a few standouts when it comes to this category. Isalean and Garden of Life have the most comprehensive mix of enzymes. After that Thrive and IdealShake have a pretty good mix. Shakeology has a heavy focus on carbohydrate enzymes but lacks protein and lipid enzymes. All the other shakes fail in this category. (Make sure to click on the image to enlarge)

Adaptogens and Herbs

This category might seem a little strange to the average health conscious person. Adaptogens are foods that "adapt" to their current environment. Things like ashwagandha and astragalus are herbs that can regulate your immune system. If your immune system needs help fighting off disease, these will ramp it up. If your body is having an auto immune response and it needs to calm down, these herbs will slow it down. They adapt!

Other items on this list help with energy production at the cellular level. Things like schisandra and maca are great for this. Many of these adaptogens also have a incredibly high antioxidant properties like reishi and cordyceps mushrooms. Antioxidant rich foods are powerful for your immune system and reducing inflamation throughout your body.

I won't go into a ton of detail about these specific ingredients, but the clear winner when it comes to adaptogens is Shakeology. A few other shakes have included a single adaptogen which is great that they recognize the value in them.

Additional Ingredients and Certifications

This is one of the most important graphics I think when comparing shakes. Like I said, I have a few things on my non-negotiable list, especially when it comes to something I would be consuming daily. First, I'm gluten sensitive and therefore this is a must. If you are also I would recommend testing any of these shakes out or running it past your doctor. There are only a couple that are "certified" gluten free but a lot that claim that they are but just don't have the certification. After that I prefer to avoid products that contain GMO's, soy, artificial anything and hydrogenated oils. I don't claim to be perfect with all of these but I certainly don't consume anything daily that contains any of these items.

With that, there are only 7 shakes that meet my criteria and would benefit a person's health; Shakeology, Isalean, DoTerra, Vega One, Arbonne, Invigor8, and Garden of Life. This is actually where I would personally start, and then work my way back up the blog post looking at these shakes as my options for a daily shake. That's why I've highlighted them in this graphic. If you aren't as strict as I am when it comes to these added ingredients then by all means use all of this information however you would like to find the right shake for you.

Cost

I should note that all of these shakes are priced out at the retail value. A lot of the companies that sell these shakes have member options that get you reduced pricing but to keep it consistent I wanted to share the retail. If you decide to drink one of these shakes regularly I would encourage you to look into some of those discounts.

Hopefully by now you've realized that comparing a lot of these shakes isn't an apples to apples comparison and the price reflects that. The price of these shakes tend to reflect the ingredient list in them. For the most part I would say as the price of the shakes go up so do the nutritional benefits and quality of ingredients. For the shakes on the higher end with a higher nutritional value, you are still coming out ahead of what it would cost you to order a healthy meal at a restaurant and would be very comparable to making a healthy meal at home. For some of the cheaper shakes I would argue that you are just buying calories. It's something to consume to hold you over until your next meal but they aren't making you any healthier.

Unfortunately a lot of people will begin their decision making process with this chart. I would encourage you to look at all the other categories above and pick the shake that will help you in the way that you need it. Then figure out a way to make that dollar amount work in your budget. It might mean giving up a night out a week at a restaurant, or forgoing the daily Starbucks trip or giving up cable TV. Your health is like an investment that you can start building up a positive or negative balance at a young age. Most people don't see the benefits or the negative side effects until they are much older and often it's too late to make big changes.

Final Thoughts

I hope I've laid out enough information that you can make an educated decision on your own and not have to sort through a bunch of crap out there on the internet to get a straight answer on what is included in these shakes. I also hope I presented the facts in a fair manner and highlighted the things that you would want to know before choosing a shake. I'm happy to answer questions about any of my views and why we have chosen to drink the shake that we do.

I'll close with this thought... A lot of people scrutinize the safety of these shakes which is great and is why I put this post together. I would also encourage you to use that same level of care and concern when it comes to the other foods you eat regularly. None of these shakes are either toxic enough to make you sick on their own or nutritious enough to keep you healthy on their own. It's a combination of everything you put into your body.

Thanks for reading!

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Plan Your Life, Don't Dream or Wish For One

3/4/2016

Before we even had kids, I knew I wanted to be home with them. I wasn't sure what that would look like though because a part of me still wanted to work and make a difference outside of raising them.

Not gonna lie...it was HARD going back to work after Eli was born...and having Dan stay home with him. I knew it was temporary though. Before he was born we had come up with a plan. A plan that would allow us both to be home...with an end date written down and actually communicated to other people at my job. It wasn't a wish or a dream. When you put dates to dreams and take action...they become plans...and they kinda force you to just make shit happen!

If I'm being honest, it hasn't been easy. There have been SO MANY ups and downs, failures, successes, late nights, early mornings, sleepless nights....but it's made me into the person I am today and I wouldn't change that for anything.

Now I get to sit and read as many books as he wants and my heart just gets excited when I realize that we did it. With God's help and guidance...we made a dream happen.

And now... our focus shifts to helping other people get what they want and help them reach their dreams!

I've learned that when you work to help others, you are more likely to work a lot harder and with more passion. I believe wholeheartedly in the Zig Ziglar quote above. It's not even the financial stuff...

It's knowing that because I believed in them, they believed in themselves and became more confident.

That they can be in control of their future AND be a part of something BIGGER than themselves.

That they are successful, powerful, and empowered women. That they have seen their goals and plans come to fruition.

Those are the things that truly fill my cup and give me a sense of purpose to do what I do every day.

I would love to chat with you if you feel drawn to what we do or how we created the life we have!!

Do What You Love...

2/11/2016

I've been thinking about this saying quite a bit as of late. It comes up in conversations that we have with friends. We hear things like, "That's so great that you get to do something that you love." This isn't new to me, having been a golf professional as a previous profession. For some reason, people just thought I played golf all day. That was definitely not the the case! The same goes for our current jobs as fitness and nutrition coaches. Yeah, we love our job... but it is still work!

That brings me to this saying that floats all over social media or at least the people that I follow. It sounds great but the reality is, it's pretty much a lie!

I don't say that to be a Debbie Downer so let me explain. First off, I'm kind of a literal guy so right off the bat the statement disqualifies itself from being remotely true, unless you "literally" don't work. Secondly, I don't care how much you love your job, it's not always going to be rainbows, unicorns and butterflies. There are going to be times that suck the life out of you. I know I'm not supposed to say that, but it's the truth.

Now that I've deflated your sense of hope you had in thinking that there's a dream career path out there for you let me add the "but", because there is always a but.

Hopefully you agree that you will have to work, we all need to work. It's hard to exist in this world without financial resources. It's even harder to have an impact and serve others without resources; time, money, or talents to name a few. So there is this balance where we need to work to afford ourselves those things while still maintaining our sanity and our relationships.

For us figuring out this balance started when we did an online seminar called Smart Success that was hosted by Chalene Johnson. It was all about working smarter so that you can enjoy some other things in your life. One of the big things she talked about was establishing a list of goals in different areas of your life. She also has you establish a key priority statement which governs all of your decisions. For us that revolved around spending time with our family. We looked at every decision through the lens of, "Does this honor our key priority?"

Man, your world changes when you start thinking like that. Everything from what groceries you buy, to vacations you take, to the work you do are analyzed through that lens. You start cutting out a lot of waste and focusing on things that really help you grow in a direction that you want. You don't let every invitation or opportunity to pull you off your course and onto someone else's.

This is where both Laura and saw the potential in our Beachbody business. Through smart concentrated efforts sustained over a period of time we would be able to have more freedom. We could spend more time together as a family. We could travel more. We wouldn't have to conform to other people's schedules. Along with that we've cut out a lot of the fluff in our life and kept those things that honor our key priority. This frees up resources so that we don't have to make a lot of money and we can live simply.

We are right in a transition point in our life right now where we are leaving the corporate world behind and about to set out on our cross country RV travels. Laura just put in her resignation letter yesterday and we now get to work on OUR business and explore what we are passionate about. Yeah we will still be working from the road.

We love that we found something that we enjoy showing up to do daily. We love that we can do this from wherever. We love that it provides us the resources to live the kind of life we want. We love that that we can still give financially to people and organizations that we want to support. We love that we get to help people get healthy. We love that we get to help others build a business of their own. It's because we love all of that, that we work!

If you would like to know more about what we do as Beachbody coaches feel free to head over to our FAQ page. We are also hosting a live 1 hour event next week in a private event page setup on Facebook. Click on the button below to learn more about this event.

TEAM FULLYFIT COACH HAPPY HOUR

Give Up on Giving Up!

2/3/2016

This post is for those of you that are some sort of health journey.

You've maybe just started or maybe you've been trying different things for awhile now.

I want to offer up a piece of advice that made all the difference in my health journey and I believe the reason I haven't been a yo-yo dieter like so many. I didn't connect the dots on WHY I hadn't reverted back to my old ways until I heard a fellow nutrition expert mention something on a podcast I was listening to the other day.

The concept or question you need to ask yourself if you are striving to be healthier or lose weight is... Are you somebody who is doing healthy things? Or... Are you a healthy person?

Let me break that down a bit. If you are somebody that is doing healthy things, you might be eating more veggies, exercising regularly, avoiding processed foods, or drinking more water. Sounds great, right? A person doing all of those things should become healthier, but will they stay healthier? This is where I was at 10 years ago. I was exercising regularly and doing some of those other things. The problem was...I'd get tripped up easily. If friends wanted to go out for pizza and beer, I was there. If I was invited to a happy hour, I would accept and pass on the gym. I did everything to fit a status quo that wouldn't rock the boat among my friends and family. My healthy habits flew under the radar and because of that I was easily able to justify not doing them.

Fast forward to 2 1/2 years ago. I had just completed an online accountabilty group and seen some great results. My eating had changed, I now had more confidence in "rocking the boat" and not succumb to all the unhealthy distractions that surrounded me daily. The difference: I was now a healthy person. My identity was now tied to healthy habits. This is the thing that just clicked for me this past week. I guess I never thought of it this way, but it is so true. Once I made that commitment, once I identified myself as a healthy person, everything changed. I was no longer easily knocked off of my healthy lifestyle. Or if I did get knocked off, I got right back!

People began to see me as a healthy person. They started noticing the changes in me, both physically and the choices I made. With this also came some ridicule and light-hearted teasing. Friends would make comments about my food choices or about exercising. Those comments usually led to inquiries and them wanting to know more. Had I just been "doing healthy things" these comments would have stopped me in my tracks. It would have never progressed to the point of them asking questions and then some of them making their own healthy changes.

It's good to remember that the people around you will also "test" your commitments. Think of a time when you went to a party and chose ahead of time to not have an alcoholic drink. A friend would likely offer a drink when you arrive, and when you say no thanks, they will press and ask why or pressure you a little bit. This might last for a minute or two but if you hold your ground, most people will respect that and move on.

Same goes for being a healthy person! People will test your commitment. They will try to get you to eat the cheesecake, the cookies, the pizza. If you hold your ground, you will earn their respect or you will find out that they really aren't a friend at all. This will also help solidify your commitment, making future challenges that much easier to handle!

One of the coolest things that happens when you make the shift from doing healthy things to becoming a healthy person, you begin to impact your circle of influence. You shift the status quo just a little bit. You help that coworker that was hesitant about ordering a salad at lunch because she didn't want her other coworkers to think she on some sort of diet. She now sees your lead and has that confidence to not be judged. At family holiday dinners, people begin to ask if dishes are ok for you to eat. They are open to possible substitutions. There is a trickle down effect that is noticeable.

If you have just been dipping your toes in this healthy lifestyle pool, I would encourage you to commit and jump right in the deep end. Let healthy become part of your identity and the game will change for you too!!

Thanks for reading, to stay up to date on all of our blog posts along with get amazing content delivered right to your inbox just fill out the quick form below. Make it a Great Day!!!

Guess What We Are Doing?

1/28/2016

We have some pretty exciting plans for 2016. We've been telling some close friends and family about these plans and been getting some common questions, so we wanted to share this video with you to share our plans and the answers to those questions.

Star Wars and Network Marketing, What's the Connection?

12/21/2015

I just saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens earlier this afternoon. I'll start off by saying it is awesome and you should totally go see it. If you are worried I will spoil anything for you in this post don't worry, I won't dissect the storylines and characters. I'll leave that up to some other hardcore geeks out there.

I do want to share something regarding Star Wars and the publicity it has gotten this past weekend. The thought that I had was about how so many people were raving about this movie. I totally get why, there was hype behind it and it delivered. (Side note: totally worth seeing in 3D and on an IMAX screen, I'm still a bit in sensory overload but in a good way.) Even people with no connection to this movie or nothing to gain from promoting it, other than share an enjoyable experience with friends, were promoting it.

You might be able to see where I'm going with this. People promote things all the time! Movies to go see, restaurants to check out, airlines to take or avoid, or golf equipment to use (I used to be a golf pro). They promote because they want to help their friends and family out and recommend things they like.

Network Marketing works on the same premise but there is just a business structure that is built behind it. I'll use our situation as an example: we love the workouts that Beachbody has to offer and feel that they can help other people too. We also love Shakeology and use it every single day because it helps us. We didn't become Beachbody coaches because we saw a public need in the market. We did it because we loved the products and they work for us and will likely work for others. Just like me promoting Star Wars to people and telling my friends to go watch it, I promote Beachbody products because I see a benefit that my friends can get from it.

For some reason I feel there is a stigma that network marketers are in it to make money off of their friends. I'm sure some are, but I think a majority really do care and want to help. Here's the crazy thing though... Even if your friends were in it to make money, wouldn't you rather give your money to your friends versus some corporation that you have no connection to or ties to? I think the thing that rubs people the wrong way is when someone tries to promote products to people that have never expressed need or a desire for. Going back to the Star Wars theme, that would be like me telling a friend that I know despises science fiction that they need to go see this movie...that Star Wars will be the movie that changes them and their thoughts on science fiction. I can share how amazing the story line is and how awesome it is to see characters from the old movies in the new one. I'm not helping that friend, I'm just annoying the crap out of them.

So here's the takeaway... if you are in a network marketing company, don't be annoying and recommend cleaning supplies to a homeless guy or handbag to lumberjack. If you aren't involved in a network marketing company, understand that your friends really enjoy the products that they are promoting. They aren't doing it to make money off of you! Also if you aren't with a network marketing company I might encourage you to look at the products you are using on a regular basis, chances are there is a company out there that would allow you to use products at a very similar price. You could help a friend out, and even potentially make some money yourself!!

The Most Important Question to Ask on Your Health and Fitness Journey

12/17/2015

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I believe this is the most important question a person can ask themselves if they are trying to get healthy or lose weight.

"Is it Working?"

I think people can get very dogmatic in their approach to nutrition and it can lead them down an unhealthy path or maybe just a frustrating one. I think this is more prevalent today with the creation of so many "diets" or "lifestyles" out there. You have the Standard American Diet which I find funny that the acronym for that is S.A.D. Then you get into Paleo, Vegan, Zone, Vegetarian, Atkins, Pescetarian, Raw Food, Mediterranean, South Beach, Ketogenic, and Alkaline to name a few. Then you have the balance of macronutrients, low fat/high carb, high fat/low carb, low protein or high protein. Yeah, is your head spinning yet???

The truth is all of these "diets" could work. The opposite is also true, all of them could be totally wrong for you as an individual. If you ever hear someone say that this way of eating or that way of eating is the best way, my advice is run the other way!

Humans and the environments that they live in vary so much that there is no one size fits all diet. There are some common themes that science is showing gives people the best chance to be healthy and lose weight. Eat more vegetables and eat fewer processed grains and sugars. After that everything else is pretty much up in the air.

This is where that question, "Is it working?", comes into play. In order to get results I think you need to ask this of your current diet and fitness regime at a minimum of every 3 months and a maximum of every 1 month.

Why that time frame?

It is possible to over manage your choices...that's why I like 1 month minimum. You need to give things a chance to take hold and your body needs to adapt to the changes you are making. The concept of 1 step backwards to take 2 steps forward totally applies. Our bodies may have some perceived negative results before the good stuff starts happening. For example, if you start weight training, you are going to be causing inflammation in your muscle tissue which leads to extra retained water and therefore added weight and size. Also going from S.A.D. to a more plant based diet may cause some digestive distress initially due to the added fiber, but that will regulate after a couple weeks most likely. Point being, give it some time!

On the other side, if you aren't asking the question at least every 3 months then you might be wasting effort and resources. Which will eventually cause a person to go crazy and throw in the towel. If your goal is to lose fat or change your body composition, this makes it super important to track your weight, measurements and take photos. Without proper tracking you won't know if what you are doing is working. Three months should be enough time to make progress on a given plan unless a person has major medical issues. If you haven't seen progress I would recommend making fairly minor changes to begin. Some things that could mean would be; eating more or less food, recalibrating the %'s of calories you get from different macronutrients, or increasing your compliance (fewer treats), or switching up the intensity/duration of your workouts. Or as simple as adding a multivitamin or fish oil supplement. You don't need to go from a straight Paleo diet to Vegan if you haven't seen the scale budge after 3 months. Start small, but make adjustments.

If you have a decent knowledge of fitness and nutrition you can probably make these small tweaks yourself. You can use an app like My Fitness Pal to track calories and macronutrient %'s. If you aren't keeping a food journal, START!!! That will help you understand if you are actually eating the foods that you think you are. In the journal you can also track how foods are making you feel and maybe identify foods that cause distress in your body and eliminate those.

If you are novice or beginner, i.e. you had to google macronutrient, then I would recommend reaching out to someone that is trained. Chances are you want results sooner rather than later. Working with somone that is trained will help you get you going in the right direction faster and be able to make more educated tweaks to your plan. Your time is valuable and your health is important, make the investment!

I'll close with this, when you are analyzing your progress, don't just focus on weight or measurements. Your exercise and diet should maximize your health and performance too. Make sure you factor in those things when figuring out if you are making progress. It's really easy to lose weight if you just stop eating...but you will lose weight really fast and your health will deteriorate. If you lead with HEALTH, the performance and body composition will usually fall into place.

So... Is your current plan/program working for you? Share in the comments your results and what has worked or what hasn't.

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Invest in Your Own Gym Rather than Someone Else's

12/10/2015

One of the benefits that I never really thought of when I first got into this home fitness thing was accumulating workout equipment. As you can see in the picture above we've got a pretty good start on our home gym. We didn't have all of this equipment on Day 1 but over the years we've been doing this it's added up. We really have just about everything we need, minus maybe an adjustable bench, but we've passed on that just due to space issues.

I come from a fairly frugal family and it is ingrained in my DNA to justify costs of things we buy. For example, I was just chatting with some friends about the cost of the Vitamix we bought and value of it. They couldn't get over the $400ish price tag. I explained that the ease of use and cleanup will save you time each time you use it. Since we use it 2-3 times per day and have had it for at least 3 years now, that's a lot of time saved. We all know time is one of the most valuable assets we have so BAM... Justified!!!

With workout equipment and programs I also see the value in owning the stuff I'm using rather than paying a membership fee to use someone else's equipment. I can justify spending money on that equipment based on what we save by buying home workout programs versus paying gym dues. I'll explain just how much we are able to save below.

When Laura and I first got married we were members at Lifetime Fitness which is an extremely nice gym in the Minneapolis area. We were paying around $130 per month I believe for both of us. After a year or so we couldn't justify paying that much so we joined our city community center and I think we were paying around $60-70 for the two of us per month. We then tried a another local gym after moving which cost us about $70-80 per month. The point being we did the gym thing for a while and we never really used it to the point that we saw results and also couldn't justify the cost with the frequency that we went.

I'm a bit of a numbers guy so I just wanted to breakout the costs of what we were doing versus what we pay now. We usually buy 2-3 new workout programs every year and those programs cost anywhere from $30-90. We will just say yearly between the two of us we spend $175 on our workout programs or $14.50 per month for both of us. We also both have access to Beachbody On Demand which costs us roughly $13/month. All in, we spend about $41 per month or $492 per year. Compare that to the lower end gym memberships that we once had at $70 per month or $840 yearly. We are saving $348 per year for the two of us!!! That is compared to the lower cost gyms too. I looked up the cost of some others like OrangeTheory and CorePower Yoga and you are looking at $139+ per month for unlimited use of those facilities. (EDIT: As of January 1, 2017 we now only pay $99 each per year for our All-Access Beachbody On Demand membership. This gives us access to every Beachbody program ever created and all new programs that come out in 2017.)

I will be the first to admit that you shouldn't put a price on your health. The best workout that you can do is the one that you WILL do. So if you don't get excited about working out at home but you can get to the gym regularly great. I wanted to share this for those of you that maybe haven't thought about the numbers before. Who knows, maybe knowing the numbers will get you more excited to workout at once you know how much money you could be potentially saving.

What could you do with an extra $348? Buy more organic groceries! We always here how people struggle justifying the cost of organic food! Food is the real driver behind health so that would be a good use of those funds. You could also buy some workout equipment! All the workout equipment pictured above probably cost us a little over $400. In one years time, with the money you save by working out at home, you could have nearly all the equipment you need.

I didn't even mention the value of working out alongside some of the best trainers in the country. Nothing beats a personalized plan. The next best thing would be to follow a generic plan/program that someone who knows what they are talking about created. I was guilty of thinking I knew what I was doing when I was at the gym. I knew what lifts worked certain muscle groups but there was no big picture plan. The value of a working with a trainer is huge and if you are gym goer, I highly recommend you use them so you know what you are doing is helping you get closer to your goals.

Also with all of the programs that we have purchased you get a nutrition plan! That's usually extra at a gym if it is even available. Oh and if you are one to purchase a program through Laura or I you get me as your personal nutrition coach, which I normally charge a minimum of $200 per month for with private clients.

Doing the at home workout thing is a lot like buying versus leasing car. There are certainly some people in the situation where leasing a car or workout equipment is the right way to go. There value in owning your stuff though. That's why I've become a big fan of slowly growing our home gym. My dream is to have a mini crossfit style gym at some point. I know with the money I save it will happen over time, one piece of equipment at a time!

Get to Know "The Coach" aka Laura

10/28/2015

Hey there friends and followers. I just wanted share this video message with you to let you know a little bit more about myself, my journey, and what I get to do everyday as a coach.

I sincerely appreciate you following our page and our blog. I would love to hear from you and get to know you a little bit better. What are your dreams? What is your passion? What is your purpose? I love helping people answer those questions and really dig deep down to find the answers.

The "Good Enough" Principle - Ambivalence!

8/19/2015

Definition of Ambivalence: The coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings towards the same action, person or object drawing him or her in opposite directions.

Or as I like to think of it... The "Good Enough" Principle!

"I could change the way I eat...but I'm not as overweight as some people I see, and my health is OK for now."

"I know I should exercise more but I'm in pretty good shape. I never really see any changes when I start doing it anyway, plus I just don't have the time."

Ever have thoughts like that? Yep, I did too at one point and still do to some degree. Let's be honest, change is hard. It introduces unknowns into our world and we aren't sure how we will manage them or how exactly they will change our lives. We know that eating healthier and exercising regularly will improve our health and make us feel better, so why don't more people do it??? I definitely think it's because people are ambivalent or the idea that we are "good enough."

In the fitness world or at least the blogofitnesssphere, yeah I just made that up, you hear people say all the time: don't compare yourself to the magazine cover models or the actresses you see on TV. Since I live in the blogofitnesssphere, I completely agree with that statement. You shouldn't compare your day 1 with someone else's day 365. What about comparing yourself though on day 1 to someone who is on day negative 365? What I mean by negative 365 is the person that is obese or maybe morbidly obese or the person that has type II diabetes. They've been going down the "negative" path a lot longer than you. That one doesn't get talked about enough but I think people subconsciously do it all the time. You are ok not having the cover model figure but AT LEAST you aren't as bad as the person you saw at the grocery store today or your overweight uncle Frank. Sorry to any uncle Franks out there.

Are you in that place? Be honest! Do you catch yourself saying things like "I would never want to be that skinny" or "I never want to have muscles like him/her." What you are really saying is I'm good enough and what you are likely doing is comparing yourself to the person that is on day negative 365 not the skinny or muscular person.
I'm not saying you shouldn't love who you are and where you are right now! You should however give yourself an honest assessment of where you are at this particular moment. The idea of "good enough" is aimed at the thoughts that you have that you shouldn't be trying to improve yourself. If you're not improving yourself and moving forward, you're most likely going backwards. There are just too many things in our society today that will slowly compound over time to wear down your health and cause you to pack on the pounds. I'm talking about things like stress, environmental toxins, processed foods, and constant sitting and inactivity. Those things over the course of a lifetime will cause you to become sick and overweight. It won't likely happen in a month or even year, but 20 or 30 years from now the choices you are making TODAY will have an impact.

If you are ready to leave the world of ambivalence and start making decisions that will actively improve your health and mental well-being, we would love to help with that. Our online accountability groups have been able to help hundreds of people step out of ambivalence and help them take control of their life and health. For more information on these groups you can go to our Challenge Group Page or Email Us and we would be happy to share some info.

Calorie Deficit Diets, The Truth Revealed!

8/13/2015

So this is a topic that comes up a ton for us in our Challenge Groups and some of our coach's challenge groups so I wanted to just put together a video on the subject of Calorie Deficit Diets.

There is so much bad information out there about how to lose weight. Unfortunately the magazines and talking heads out there preach an unhealthy way of losing weight, cut calories, whether that be through appetite suppression pills or powders or just by telling people to be hungry all the time.

So this is my effort to raise the volume on the other side and I would argue the healthy way to burn fat. I probably don't have to argue that point since there is science to back me up.

If this message resonates with you please share it so that your friends might hear it and understand that there is a better and healthier way to lose weight.

We can't change everyone's mindset on this but hopefully we can at least start building some curiosity in a few people's minds.

Coach Summit 2015

8/4/2015

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:

The training is the BEST - we typically walk away with pages and pages of notes to somehow try to condense down and share with our team that couldn't be there.
We become close friends with people over social media but we only get to hang out once or twice a year so we really have to make the most of it!
Being around this many positive, successful and uplifting people will change your outlook on life.
Going to new places means trying new FOOD :)

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!!

T25: Scientifically Proven to Reduce Thigh Chafing***

7/29/2015

***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.

Small Beginnings Create a Path for Big Dreams

7/8/2015

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!!

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