The Cook & The Coach Blog

You Are Enough

3/22/2018

I don't know about you but sometimes life is hard. It feels like I'm juggling a million things every day and if I make one wrong move it'll all come crashing down....and you know what?? It sometimes does. And that's ok.

I have to remind myself often that who I am and what I do are two separate things.

My worth comes from the One that gives me breath each day. My character is what matters....and focusing on the million things spinning around in my head and all the "stuff" I need to do and what could go wrong...will only make me crazy and steal the seemingly insignificant moments and the JOY I'm meant to have.

Can anyone relate?? I'm sure it's mostly the ladies but we have to unite and remind each other of what a kickass job were doing...even when it doesn't feel like it.

Keep your head up friend. Smile. Today is going to be GREAT because you are enough!!

Have a friend that you think needs to hear this, hit the share button below!

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Golf, Beer and Supplements

11/5/2017

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If you didn't read our bios, in a previous occupation I actually used to work as a golf professional. No, I didn't play on the PGA Tour. I worked at a club, ran golf tournaments, sold merchandise, gave golf lessons and every once in awhile I got to play! People always would tell me how jealous they were of my job, to which I would usually just agree because that was easier. Easier than saying I work ridiculously long hours, never get a weekend off, get paid a shade above minimum wage, and had 300+ "bosses" called members that all wanted something different. But I digress...

This post isn't about my life as a golf pro so much. I got to thinking the other day after listening to someone else talk about selling nutritional products. They made the comment that nutritional products and health products are much easier to sell to the healthy! People that are familiar with things like probiotics, gut health, adaptogens, etc. That kind of sucks if you think about it. The healthy people already do a pretty good job of taking care of themselves so why should they invest more into their health.

That got me thinking about my days as a golf pro and how a similar analogy also rang true. It was much easier to sell golf lessons and golf equipment to the more advanced golfers. Four hundred dollars for a new driver, no problem. Five hundred dollars for golf lessons, sure!

You can pretty much change this analogy into anything else.

I also used to be a craft beer nerd too. Your average Joe wouldn't likely spend $10-20 for a bottle of beer but I didn't blink an eye at that. Why??? I saw the value in the beer!

One of my many beer hauls

The golfer sees the value in the lessons. The healthy person sees the value in nutritional products.

One of my many nutritional hauls

It all comes down to value... whatever you value that is where you will spend your resources! Since we live in the health world this is a tough predicament to be in and actually quite frustrating. There is nothing more that I would want to do then help people that are morbidly obese lose 100+ pounds. To actually save their lives of people that are in a downward spiral.

What does it take to help a person like that though? It takes that person seeing value in investing in his/her health! Unfortunately it usually takes a rock bottom moment for a person like that make a change. Maybe it is a diabetes diagnosis or a heart attack. When you take away health, it becomes a lot more valuable and you will be more apt work pretty hard to get it back.

I know we help a lot of people begin to believe in themselves again and reach a lot of their goals, which is amazing! We won't stop doing that! My hope and prayer is is that just one person will read this and think that their health needs to be valued more! That they are willing to make the investment with their time and money to turn their life around. That obesity and disease doesn't have to be the trajectory that their life is on.

If that's you, we would love to hear from you. I know that first step and asking for help can be one of the hardest. Know that we will meet you where you are at and will be by your side through the whole process.

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Exercise Is A Lot Like Dating

10/6/2017

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Exercise can be a lot like dating.

You try a few different versions out. Some are pretty good and you and stick with them for a while but you maybe get bored or you just stop clicking. Others are just ok but don't get you too excited. A few are just terrible and you would be ok if you never tried them again.

Then... then you find that perfect match. You are committed! You enjoy your time when you are doing that exercise or with that special person. Yeah it is still work and you have to put effort into it daily but it is something you usually look forward to coming back to the next day. Not always. Let's be honest, we all have days don't want to workout or you don't want to put effort into your relationship. When you are with the right person, or doing your soulmate workout those periods pass quickly.

We just celebrated our 9 year anniversary this week. What a blessing the past 9 years have been for both of us. It was almost 11 years ago that we found each other and haven't looked back!

Nine Years in the Books

All of those 11 years we've been active, playing volleyball, running, going to the gym. It's was about 6 years ago though that Laura found her soulmate workout, Insanity! For me it was Focus T25 and later P90X3. Pretty much the perfect workout for us was one that we could do in the comfort of our own home or just outside our RV! We have been able to stay consistent and show up nearly everyday for our workouts.

All from working out at home

That just didn't happen for us elsewhere...

For us the gym was like that person that you are attracted to physically but just don't connect with emotionally or mentally. We tried going and had gym memberships for years but never really accomplished anything.

We also both dabbled with running! I was a former cross country runner and Laura ran track. After we graduated from college running became like that blind date that your friend set you up on. You know it's going to be awkward and painful. No thank you!!!

We never did try Crossfit but I could imagine that would be like taking your date out to the most expensive restaurant in town. Then after dinner your date takes you to a big orgy where limbs and sweat are flying everywhere. People are comparing themselves to others and walking around slapping each other on the butt! Sorry crossfitters it's the best comparison I could come up with, I think I would actually join a crossfit gym if it was right next to my house and I had some more cash!

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with those kinds of workouts. We know a lot of people that have had a lot of success at the gym or running! They have stayed consistent and continue to put the work in and show up everyday. They've seen results and that's what it is all about.

Fitness for us looked a little different and that has worked incredibly well for us. I believe there is a soulmate workout and form of exercise out there for everyone. Maybe it's dancing, maybe it's powerlifting, or maybe it's running. If you've tried a bunch of workouts that just don't click, don't give up, just keep trying!

I will say one other thing though that the environment (people and place) plays a big role.

Maybe you like going to the gym but the one you go to has a bunch of douchey bodybuilders that are grunting all the time flexing in the mirror more than they are working out. Don't give up on gym, just find another one with different people.
Maybe you like yoga but hate doing it around other people for fear of letting out a loud fart, maybe you need to try doing it at home.
Maybe you love the community of your crossfit gym but hate having to drive to workout, maybe you need to find a way to have a community around you yet can still workout from home.

We would love to know what you've found to be your soulmate workout! If you haven't found one, let us know if we can help you find it!

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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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New England Adventures - Part 2

1/2/2017

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This is post is dedicated to the second half of our travels through New England! We did a lot of up here and so if you missed our first post, that was all about Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The second half of our time in New England was up in New Hampshire and Maine! Let's just say we loved it!

Lake Winnipesaukee at sunset

After we left Mass and the Cape Cod area we headed north to the Lake Winnipesaukee area for a week roughly. We had gotten some recommendations to go check this area out, so we listened! It didn't disappoint. We were camped out right by Wolfeboro which was a super cute little town.

We noticed that our ice cream consumption increased quite a bit when we were in New England. There were cute little ice cream shops everywhere we went. I think it also helped that Eli learned how to say "ice cream" so therefore he was asking for it all the time.

We also were told we needed to drive the Kancamagus Highway through White Mountain National Forest. Eli and I made the drive one day leaving Laura behind to do some work. Yeah believe it or not we do actually work a bit from the road. It was a super pretty drive... from the car. Unfortunately Eli fell asleep as we turned onto the highway so we didn't get to stop and explore all that much.

From New Hampshire we moved onto Bar Harbor! Yup, pretty much loved this area and all of Maine! It was also fun because we were able to meet up with Laura's cousin who was also a new coach on our team for a couple days since she and her husband moved out there this past summer. The campground we stayed at was amazing! It sat right on one of the canal in between the mainland and Mount Desert Island. It was amazing to see thew change in water level with high and low tide.

Like Niagara Falls, Acadia National Park was on our list of places we needed to visit. We spent a couple days exploring the island that the park was on. One of the first nights there we took a drive around Southwest Harbor. This was definitely the slower side of the island but still fun. We caught the Bass Harbor Lighthouse right at sunset and was just breathtaking.

After our lighthouse visit we decided to finally indulge in lobster rolls. We had been holding out until we could actually get a "Maine" Lobster Roll. So good! The place we went actually had gluten free buns too, so I could partake!

The rest of our time in the area we spent exploring Bar Harbor and Acadia on the busy side which included Cadillac Mountain. Let's just say we have contemplated spending an entire summer out here based on our experience.

That was a busy and fun weekend in the Bar Harbor area! From there we down the coast a bit and continued to explore but at a slightly slower pace. We explored everything from Portland all the way down to Ogunquit. One of the most common questions we get asked...

"What's been your favorite place you've traveled?"

Both of us both usually respond with the time and places we visited during the two weeks we spent in this part of Maine. Not only was it beautiful but the people were fantastic, there was some amazing food in Portland, there were beaches, the temps were perfect, and we got to explore at a slower pace.

A lot of our trips revolve around coffee and food. We found this super fun wall on the side of a coffee, books, and beer store in Saco.

Our campground was only a mile or two from the Ogunquit Beach so we made sure to take a couple trips over to it and hang out. A super fun simple beach, Eli loved it!

Another awesome find that we stumbled across was the Marginal Way walk. It was simply just a path that followed the coast right around Ogunquit.

We also hit up brunch and an ice cream shop in Ogunquit. Once again more ice cream!

Another super fun little spot that we were super close to was a cute little town called Kennebunkport. We spent an afternoon driving around this town, mainly driving around. One place stumbled upon was the home of President George H.W. Bush. I knew that his home was somewhere in the area but when we drove past Walker's Point, it jumped out to me that there would be a security guard station at the entrance to a home out there. So we stopped a little turnaround spot and did a little googling and sure enough, it was his house. We ended up doubling back and stopped really quick on the side of the road and snapepd a few pics of his compound and also a monument for him.

That day ended with a peaceful time on the beach. There was a fun playground that we found and we just let Eli play. It's days like that one that I have to pinch myself. We love this life and it has been such a blessing for all of us!

Eli's advanced version of downward dog!

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Are You a Healthy Person or Do You Just Do Healthy Things?

10/27/2016

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This might sound like a strange question to ask. One would think if you do healthy things you would be a healthy person. If you eat a lot of veggies, workout regularly and drink your water, all healthy things, chances are you will be healthy physically.

We want to dive deeper into this question though and talk about the mental side of being a healthy person. We believe the ball game really changes when a person get's healthy mentally and begins to identify themselves as being a healthy person.

Let's start with talking about why the person doing healthy things is different that a healthy person.

Do Healthy Things Person - This person likely has some goals to lose weight, change their body composition, get off medications, etc. All great goals! They also likely have been given a prescription to achieve those goals from a doctor, personal trainer, or nutritionist. They are told things like eat less processed foods, eat more fruits and veggies, follow an exercise routine or drink more water.

All of those things will likely make a person healthier! So why are we making this distinction between doing healthy things and being a healthy person? This person has a measurable and attainable goal. What happens when they reach their goal? Game over... now what? Their motivation was in achieving their goal, what is going to keep them motivated? They were committed to those healthy things to achieve a goal. No goal, No commitment.

Do you see where I'm going with this? Doing healthy things can help you make progress and even reach some pretty amazing goals but I believe to sustain that change there has to be a mental shift. So let's take a look at the healthy person.

Healthy Person - This person's identity revolves around improving his health. They are a student of health, always learning and striving to better themselves. The healthy person's goals are constantly changing and evolving.

A healthy person can still indulge from time to time but there is no guilt in it. There aren't rules laid out for a healthy person that they HAVE TO do certain things to be healthy. Their decisions come naturally, there isn't stress in decision making. Exercise isn't a thing to burn calories. It is something that they do to feel better or to be social.

One thing that has helped us stay in the "Healthy Person" category has been our commitment to become health coaches ourselves. As health coaches we are looked upon to be examples and leaders. It doesn't mean we have it all figured it out. It just means that we consistently do all those healthy things as a way to inspire others to switch from doing healthy things to becoming a healthy person. Part of my identity is being a healthy person. Yeah I get ridiculed at times but seriously like making fun of someone because they are ridiculously good looking. I take it as a compliment!

How would you identify yourself? Have you not stepped into the world of doing healthy things yet? Are you doing healthy things? Or are you a healthy person?

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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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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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Our New Home - Before and After Pics

4/28/2016

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We know these pics are long overdue since we have been on the road for officially 1 month now. We feel like we are pretty well settled and have things the way we like them. We still need to add a pouf or two to put our feet on in the living room, but for the most part, it's done! For now our stability ball is doing the trick. We also have some things we hope to add to our "patio" outside to make that a more homey feel.

The main things that we did were:

Paint all the cabinets in living area, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. We left the cabinets in the cab the original color
Painted over the faded and slightly nasty wallpaper. We went with a gray paint that had a little blue tone to it.
Put in new flooring the entire way from the living area back into the bedroom. We used a peel and stick resilient flooring.
Put up a subway tile for a back splash in the kitchen and bathroom.
Upgraded the TV in front and added our Blu-Ray player and Roku. We also installed a new sound bar rather than using the old system that was wired up and confusing.
We removed the valances from around all the windows and just re-hung the blinds that were inside them.
We removed one of the couches and installed a desk and left room for some of Eli's toys.
We installed a new LG washer and dryer combo unit. The old RV didn't come with one and we definitely felt we needed it since we would be living in here full-time.
We removed the old headboard and built a new padded headboard that we made out of some fun cloth we found and a few boards (Thank you Young House Love for the idea!).
We removed the doors on the closet in the bedroom and hung some curtains that we trimmed up to fit that space.

***Disclaimer: When we say "WE" did all of this work we're talking about us and Dan's parents. They were instrumental in helping us do ALL of this work in about 3 weeks...it was chaotic and they let us interrupt their peaceful lives for that duration...and for that we are SO THANKFUL!

The passenger's side slideout with our updated kitchen backsplash and a super fun pillow we got from a friend. Thanks Lacy! We love the white cabinets and how it brightened up the entire coach.

The driver's side slideout with our new desk and our dining area. Oh and Eli's toys!

Dan's kitchen!!! Other than lacking a little counter space we love this area. For those that are curious...the microwave doubles as a convection oven and actually works really well to roast veggies and bake. We were super surprised!! No dishwasher is a bummer, but we've made due.

A shot of our living area with our new TV, rug and desk. We love the way it turned out!

Shower and bathroom area. You can see how the old flooring flowed throughout the coach. The shower also has a tub in it which has been fantastic with Eli and makes bath time so much better.

Another view of our bedroom and the curtain that we hung instead of the glass doors. Oh and our residential washer and dryer that we added. There was an electrical box that stopped us from pushing it back far enough to get the doors back on. Our plan is to move that so we can slide it back a few more inches. We probably won't put the doors back on but might do a curtain or something... we are still deciding on if that's necessary.

Our new headboard and our own bedding. We also brought in our king size mattress that we had in our townhome. It's been nice to have our own bed to sleep on. The throw pillows will get upgraded at some point...they're not exactly what Laura would like but we're just working with what we already had!

A look at the old mirror, ugly valances and light fixtures that didn't work. We used the light fixtures that were in the bedroom and just moved them out into the living room.

And a few more random pictures! Thanks for checking out our house!!

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Use Your Obstacles as Opportunities

4/15/2016

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This thought came to me as a I was reading the book, The One Thing. The book's premise is that there is always "one thing" that is of utmost importance that will help other things in your life become easier or more productive. The authors goal is to get people to focus on their one true priority rather than get bogged down with all the other "stuff" that seems to be a priority but is just crap stealing our focus.

I was reading a chapter on thinking big. The author was asked if thinking big was a realistic thing. Personally, I've gone both ways on this. As a kid and even young adult, I believed anything was possible and that I could accomplish great things. Then I went through a part of life where I settled. I stayed in my comfort zone. I didn't do things that were challenging. Since I've gotten back into the habit of reading some personal development books and listening to podcasts, I've started going back to the attitude I had when I was younger. I tell myself things like...

Why not me?
People aren't born successful, it's a product of their actions and habits.
My situation today does NOT have to be my situation tomorrow.

We all have perceived limitations or obstacles that we feel are blocking us from doing what we really want to do. It's a rarity to find someone that truly knows what their limits are. Think about it, even Olympic athletes believe they can run a race 1/10th of second faster. The CEO, if he is successful, always believes that his company can earn more, do more, produce more, serve more.

It's that growth mindset that has helped us push through obstacles. Use obstacles as your path...embrace them. They will actually show you the direction you need to go....which is right THROUGH THEM. It's like a road map. It is through those challenges that you grow and live your purpose.

Once you figure out your way through them, your real opportunity lies on the other side!!

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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!!

Life As We Know It, Right Now

2/25/2016

I have to apologize that you've been missing out on recipe posts and nutritional posts lately. We are in a stage of life right now where things are just a little crazy in our home and work world. If you follow us, you know that we just bought an RV...if you don't know what that is all about, check out this post. That entire process was SO time consuming!! Being a first time RV buyer there is SO much to take into account. Length... Slideouts... Diesel or Gas... How old are the tires? BTW if tires are 12 years old they need to be replaced and RV tires aren't cheap. Goodbye $2,800! Those are just a few of the things that you have to think about when looking into buying one. AND THEN you have to learn how to drive the thing!

Now that we have all of that behind us. Our focus has shifted to renovating our new home. We want to make it feel like OUR home...so we're going to be attempting to take the "factory production line feel" away.

Just a heads up that there are Facebook groups of 15,000+ solely dedicated renovating RV interiors. Who knew???

We are also working on selling our vehicles and buying a new one that has the ability to be towed behind our RV. We are selling off, donating or trashing pretty much everything in our 1,200 square foot townhome in order to get things to fit into our new 250 square foot home. Let's just say I am turning into a Craigslist ninja. Did you know that there is a national craigslist search option? Yeah someone figured out how to do that.

First family trip in the RV. Taking it out to my parent's house.

Other things on the horizon of our life...

Laura's last day of work is TOMORROW!!! So that is pretty crazy.
We are moving most of our furniture and belongings out next and taking them down to Des Moines to Laura's parents house.
We are also leaving Eli down in Des Moines since Laura and I are heading out to Los Angeles next weekend to go to Chalene Johnson's Smart Success LIVE seminar. SO EXCITED about this one.
After we return from LA we will be heading out to Redwood Falls (my hometown, and doing our RV renovations. We anticipate that taking 1-2 weeks.
After that we will come back up to the cities with our finished RV and load it up for the long haul.
We will likely have a get together somewhere in the cities and let people see our RV and say our "See you laters!" We hate goodbye's! Name that movie?
Our plan is then to head to Kansas City to spend a little time with a good friend and fellow coach. We will also attend a quarterly Beachbody event when we are there.
Then we are off to the Augusta, Georgia area so that I can attend the Masters Golf Tournament.

Last time I was at Augusta National back in 2004.

So yeah that is what our last month and the next month look like for us. It's been a pretty wild experience so far. With all of this craziness right now we are just trying to keep our heads above water.

Laura is still running accountability groups and mentoring coaches on our team.
We are still working out pretty much daily, drinking our Shakeology daily, eating healthy 80-90% of the time.

To us that stuff has become a habit or a non-negotiable which is great at this point. That wouldn't have always been the case. Five years ago I would have been too tired to workout and eating frozen pizza for the convenience.

So yeah we have to apologize for not having as much content on the blog but that will all change soon. Plus we will be sharing some of our crazy adventures from the road. Thanks for reading!

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.

Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Pounds... Well Maybe Not But They Help!

1/20/2016

Life happens to all us, that includes us too. I spent the majority of the summer and into early fall doing a program called Body Beast and I loved it and saw great results. After I finished that program my fitness slowed down a bit and my eating wasn't super on point. I wanted to share these pics to point a couple things out and tell that story a little more.

#1 - Pictures tell a better story than the scale. Before reading any further, which pic do you think I weight the least in??? Got it! Feel free to comment below with what you thought. The answer the middle one! Although I'm more lean in #1 and #3 I dropped to my all time low weight after completing Body Beast and before starting Hammer and Chisel. I had stopped working out consistently and my eating was just... meh.

I weigh 8 lbs more in the first pic than the middle one. Yeah I lost 8 lbs by not working out as much. That's not a justification to not work out, just so you know. I lost muscle mass and I gained fat. Not a good combo. The last pic I'm up 2 lbs since starting Hammer and Chisel. The cool thing is I can just feel my body changing. Clothes fit better, my shoulders feel broader and pulled back, I just feel strong!

#2 - A backslide or a plateau doesn't mean the end of the world. Think about what helped you with your initial progress and go back to that. For me that meant following a program strictly. I just do better when I have a calendar to follow. If I don't, it leaves too much up to chance. For you it might mean being held accountable or meal planning, whatever it is, return to the process and trust it.

#3 - Muscle burns fat! I posted this pic in a giant accountability group I'm a part of and one guy was disappointed that he didn't have any abs showing yet from the workout. He even posted a pic of his current self and it showed him to be on the skinny side but a little bit on the "soft" side. Or some would call it skinny fat! If you want to burn through layers of fat, work on building the muscles underneath that fat first.

Dieting vs Mindful Eating

1/15/2016

This post is more about how you eat than what you eat. The fact is that so many people when they start up a diet or try to lose weight put an emphasis on what foods to eat and not eat. The advice that is often touted is eat more veggies and skip the sugar, which is great advice. What if looking at your food or smelling your food could help? How about chewing your food more, yeah there is science behind that one! How about breathing while you eat? Lastly and probably most importantly, thinking about how the food you just ate made you feel. All of this begins with some mental preparation. Changing your mind first is one of the key things you can do make lasting change that is ultimately rewarding and not a fleeting accomplishment.

I would love to take you through the list above and offer up a few tips on how I think you can change your mindset to go from a dieter to a mindful eater.

Willpower vs. Trust

I've met a number of people that just try to will their way to losing weight. They fight cravings, HARD!!! They overthink their plans and work out elaborate schemes that someone claims is the cure all. They are constantly having to think about their next step, their next meal or lack of one. Versus... Someone that trusts the process. A mindful eater won't micromanage the scale or measurements. Remember that advice about eat more veggies and less sugar, yeah that's about as complicated as it needs to be and a mindful eater won't overcomplicate things.

We've got a whole separate post solely dedicated to Why Willpower Doesn't Work if you want to check it out.

Cultural Conformity vs. Individual Empowerment

This one could be applied to any area of our society today from politics, dieting, religion, you name it. Society is always looking to group people together. If you are a healthy eater than you need to eat "X, Y, and Z." If you are unhealthy than you eat this. My advice here is, if anyone ever says they have the perfect diet or way to eat, run the other way! We are learning that there is no one size fits all diet out there. Food intolerances are on the rise and with that brings a very individualized food landscape where you need to determine what works best for you. This happens through experimenting and really listening to your body cues... which brings us to the next topic.

External Cues vs. Internal Cues

This ties back to the previous in that we allow society to dictate what we should look like and feel like. Rather than look to a number on the scale or measurements, focus on how you feel. Do you feel stronger? Do you have more energy? Is your digestion better? Focusing on the external stuff is a losing proposition, so don't go there!

Weight Loss vs. Health Enhancement

I'm sure I heard this somewhere else but my saying is... "Weight loss is a side effect of being healthy, not the other way around!" Can you lose weight without getting healthy, absolutely, but it likely won't be long term or if it is it will cause stress mentally and physically on you. Put the emphasis on healthy first. Rather than worrying about calories consumed, worry about nutrients consumed! Nutrient deficiencies can cause everything from weight gain, fatigue, to chronic disease.

Avoidance vs. Acceptance

To me this is all about owning your decisions and actions. You are the one that ultimately is responsible. I see this in people all the time in our groups, they come up with an excuse for every situation on why they couldn't exercise or find healthy food to eat. I get that these things happen but the mindful person will be aware of it and accept the decisions then move on. It's not someone else's fault, it's not even their own fault. Excuses and guilt are extremely heavy anchors that will keep you from making progress. Own it and move on!

Rigid vs. Integration

Dieters have lists, eat this not that. Things are off limits! Whereas the person that is successful long term will figure out a way to "integrate" new foods into their current diet. This process takes longer but what happens is those good and healthy foods begin to crowd out the not so healthy foods. Over time you are eating super healthy food that make you feel awesome. Integrate don't discriminate!

Counting Calories vs. Quality Calories

I could write a whole book on this topic, thankfully someone else has, The Calorie Myth by Jonathon Bailor. I've summed some of his work up in this blog post, Stop Eating Less and Exercising More. The idea is here is your body doesn't do math that well so trying to control calories in to calories out just won't work. Your body is really good at finding a healthy weight if you give it the nutrition it needs. Focus on nutrient dense food that is prepared in a delicious way.

Restrictive vs. Flexible

If I tell you that you can't have something, what does your mind immediately do? "I WANT THAT THING!" Being ultra rigid in your food choices won't serve you. It will likely lead to binging when our willpower muscle is worn out. We promote and encourage people to have some treats when they are trying to lose weight. Life is meant to be enjoyed, be conscious of your treats, plan them out and savor every last bite.

Deprivation vs. Fulfillment

Being "hangry" is a thing! If the plan you are on encourages a level of hunger, skip it. Instead eat to the point of being fulfilled but not full. This will likely require you to slow down when you eat and chew your food a little more. Eating nutrient dense food and protein with every meal will also help when it comes to hunger.

Quick Fix vs. Lifestyle

I know lifestyle change is kind of a buzz word out there right now but it is because it is exactly what needs to happen and what does happen when people change in a healthy way, a mindful way. Let's talk about the "quick fix" for a second. It usually revolves calorie restriction and over-exercising. Right there it goes against everything I've mentioned so far without even explaining how the physiological changes won't stick because of the methods. That's why coming at it from a lifestyle change where you integrate new foods in slowly, eat to fulfillment, focus on health and give yourself time to change or reach weight loss goals.

Fight Food vs. Celebrate Food

I love this one because so many people look at food as the enemy, it's calories and calories make you fat. If you focus on the quality of food you eat, then food becomes nutrients not calories. It's something to enjoy in abundance and not tiptoe around. Also along with this comes the actual act of eating. We've become a fast food nation even if you aren't actually eating McDonald's or Burger King. When was the last time you slowed down to look at your food, to smell your food. I mean really smell it like you see judges do on crazy cooking shows. Lastly do you chew your food, not chomp and swallow. Chewing is huge when it comes to breaking down food so that we can absorb the nutrients in it. It is also the point where our DNA starts interacting with the food that will eventually become cells in our body. Slow down, enjoy your food it's more than something to fill you up it's something that gives you life.

We hope this helps you connect to your food and your actual act of eating more. Did something speak to you? What's one area where you need to focus your attention?

Made To Crave

1/14/2016

I am super passionate about helping women believe in themselves again and have HOPE. So often we (as women) use food to fill voids in our lives without even knowing it. We use it to help us cope when the stress gets to be too much...or maybe we even restrict ourselves from it because it's the one thing that we can control.

That's the thing....Our souls crave something more than food, and yet we keep trying to fill it with junk that won't satisfy us!!

So often I see people wanting to make changes to their lives but as soon as they start to make progress they let LIFE and all it's messiness get in the way and derail their plans.

I want to help people see that it's not about perfection...it's about perseverance...and running the race even though it's hard because HE created us to lean on HIM and not try to do it all on our own! I want people to STOP striving for something the "world" tells us we need...we don't need to be skinny...we don't need to have a six pack or defined legs or a nice booty. We need to be healthy, happy and we need to have HOPE.

If it's really hard for you to open your eyes every day and have hope...I'd encourage you to start your day with GRATITUDE. It'll change your outlook, I promise!!

One of the main goals I have as a Team Beachbody Coach is to help everyone we work with to become "FullyFit"...it's the name of our team of coaches because we want to help people create change from the inside out. I believe in health but I think to truly be living a FULL life you have to focus on every aspect of your life and sometimes that means going deep into our souls and getting to the dirty stuff...and not being afraid to dig our hands in.

Which is why the next accountability group I'm running will focus on digging deeper into that stuff :) We'll be reading through the book Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst and focusing on getting our heads wrapped around good nutrition. This does not mean restricting yourself or focusing on all the things you can't have. It means completely changing your viewpoint on food...to look at it as something that can HEAL our bodies and something that FUELS our bodies!

I can't wait!!

CLICK HERE for more information about the group. I have to cut off registration at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, 1/14/16.

2016: A New Year, maybe a New You, If...

12/31/2015

It's that time of year where people start thinking about what they will change in the new year. To some degree, I think this is a good thing! If you listen to any media sources, you are bombarded with the talk of "resolutions". The thing that also comes with talk of setting resolutions is how you can be successful with your resolutions, or how to not break your resolutions, or even the talk about how "X" percent of people will fail by "X" day.

I mean come on, if there is as much talk about failing and how not to be one of those statistics, what do you think is going to happen? You will BECOME one of those statistics!!! Where your mind goes, your energy flows. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because you know that 75% (or whatever that number is) fail at keeping their resolutions, when you begin to slip, mentally you are ok with that. You are normal. Most people fail, so don't feel bad.

Here's the thing, if you are reading this, you are either a really good friend or family that want to support us. You are trying to kill some time at work. Or you actually care about being successful with your health and weight loss transformations. Or maybe you want to grow your online business. For the sake of of this post, let's just assume you fall into that last category!

Here's some advice for you. Instead of resolutions, I want you to write out goals. Goals are serious, they are different. They don't have all the baggage that resolutions have with them. I recommend writing out new goals at least once a month. By doing it monthly you are constantly being reminded of what you want to accomplish. It isn't some distant thought that you had 6 months ago. The same goals might be on your list for 6 months which is totally fine. Next, make sure you write them out by hand on paper! Yeah we are talking old school. There is something that happens when your brain tells your hand to write something versus typing on a computer or phone.

Another thing that I heard the other day about goal setting and building a life of your dreams, is that most people tend to focus on all the ways they can't accomplish something. I can't start a new business or fitness program, I don't have the money, I don't have the time, I don't have the skills, I don't have enough friends, I don't have the education. Just like with all the talk about resolutions and how people fail because all they hear about is how people fail, the same thing happens if your mind is wrapped around all the reasons you can't do something. With your list of goals, I want you to write out all the reasons why you CAN and why you need to accomplish them. It will also help when writing out your goals to write them in a definitive tone or even in a past tense. For example, I will lose 20 lbs or I lost 20 lbs. Rather than I want to lose 20 lbs. See the difference?

Progress starts with a shift in your mindset. Once your mind is right, action becomes so much easier. When there is no doubt that you will take action, your mind already has, so your body will follow. With action comes momentum and even though you will hit some roadblocks there will be nothing that will stop you from accomplishing your goals.

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!

The Master's Hammer & Chisel Launch

12/3/2015

We heard about the launch of this program when we were down in Nashville this past summer. My first impression was, wow, what a terrible name. We are going to tell people to go get "Hammered" and then I guess chiseled too. It kind of made me laugh. It doesn't quite roll off the tongue like P90X, Insanity, or 21 Day Fix.

Watching the promo video (posted below) though I got super excited for the style of this workout. I also thought it was a great way to get more women away from the treadmills and go pick up some weights. There is so much science out there that points out the metabolism boosting and health benefits of resistance training for both men and women. Here is Laura's take on lifting weights, Ladies, Don't Skip the Heavy Weights. I

I have no idea how the idea of women getting bulky actually started. I'm guessing it either stems from cover models of the 1980's and 90's that were rail thin so any visible sign of muscle would seem "bulky" in comparison. I think that image is/was more prevalent than the hulk like woman that may or may not have been taking steroids to gain ridiculous amounts of muscle. Either way I think we can all agree that both those extremes are not healthy, and from a guy's perspective not attractive. Women, unless you have an extraordinary amount of testosterone, combined with ridiculous amounts of food, combined with super intense workouts you will not get bulky. Yes you need all three for that to happen.

To the guys now, I can't begin to tell you how awesome this program is for us. It is a perfect combination of heavy lifting and high intense plyometric style workouts to help us shed fat and get ripped. This program also comes along with portion control containers that will help you either lose, maintain or gain weight. Personally my plan is to gain weight with this program, so the containers will help me get the right amount of food from the right areas to really maximize my results. Plus I'm looking forward to getting some seriously shredded abs!

Let's talk about what this program is all about and why both Laura and I are super excited for it. First off, we love that this program combines workouts from two different trainers. We love the style of workout that both of these trainers have done previously, so if it is even close to those we know we will love it. Having two trainers will also help keep things fresh too. You won't have to listen to the same trainer for 60 days straight! So here are the details...

PROGRAM DEATILS: It is a 60 day program, done 6 days a week. Workout lengths range from 24-41 minutes.

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT: Dumbbells (3 sets preferably, light, medium, heavy), workout bench OR stability ball, chin-up bar OR resistance band with door attachment (not included in base kit).

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: Yoga Mat or Beachbody Core Comfort Mat are helpful but not required. Medicine Ball.

There are 4 different types of kits. Here’s what is included in each one:

Base Kit: 14 workouts on 6 DVD's plus 1 additional workout when you order through a Beachbody Coach, seven color coded portion control containers, Shakeology shaker cup, Workout Calendar, Quick Start Guide, Fitness and Nutrition Guide.

Deluxe Kit: Everything from the Base Kit plus 4 additional workouts, an extra set of portion control containers, 8 lb medicine ball.

Base Kit Shakeology Challenge Pack: Everything from the Base Kit plus a 30 Day Supply of Shakeology, 30 Day Free Trial Club Membership that includes Beachbody On Demand.

Base Kit Performance Challenge Pack: Everything from the Base Kit plus two supplements from the new Beachbody Performance line, Energize and Recover, a pre and post workout supplement to maximize your workout performance and recovery. This package also gets you a 30 Day Free Trial Club Membership that includes Beachbody On Demand.

WORKOUT DESCRIPTIONS
Chisel Balance: A total-body workout creating stabilization, muscular endurance, and core strength.
Iso Strength Chisel: An intense resistance workout using isometric holds and flexibility to increase strength.
Chisel Endurance: Increase muscular endurance and strength in this time-under-tension workout.
Chisel Cardio: The cardiovascular resistance routine will increase heart rate, circulation, and burn an intense amount of calories.
Chisel Agility: A challenging cardio workout that will help you move quickly, improve coordination, and create greater stabilization.
Total Body Chisel: This full-body resistance workout focuses on creating lean muscle and strength.
Hammer Plyometrics: This jump training workout will use your entire body to create force, speed, and power.
Iso Speed Hammer: A tempo training workout that uses speed and isometric holds to create strength and grow muscle.
Total Body Hammer: A hypertrophy workout focused on pyramid-style sets to maximize strength and muscle growth.
Max Hammer Strength: Start with a pre-fatigued muscle, finish with a maximum lift. Increase strength, power, and muscular development.
Hammer Power: This intense powerlifting-inspired workout will increase speed, reactive strength, and power.
Hammer Conditioning: A workout based on compound movements that will improve stability, coordination, and strength.
10 Min Ab Chisel: This core-crusher will transform your midsection, without ever getting on the floor.
10 Min Ab Hammer: Carve definition into your core while strengthening your entire ab complex.

Here are some of our coach friends that were a part of the Beachbody Test Group. This program works!

If you would like some more information about this program and whether or not it would be a good fit for you and to help you reach your goals, click on any of the images or submit your email address below. We have our own Test Group starting on December 21st too! For more information about that shoot as email, reach out on Facebook, or submit your name through any of the links on this page. Let's Get Hammered! And Chiseled!

The Voices in Your Head

11/18/2015

I wrote up another blog post not long long ago about the concept of ambivalence. The idea that you can hold contradictory desires in your head at the same time. If you are overweight, I'm guessing this is the conversation in your head. It would be nice to lose some weight and fit into some old clothes but... I just don't have the time or energy to tackle something new right now. My job is busy, the kids are crazy with activities and life, and I just love french fries way too much. Plus I'm not that out shape.

You've maybe tried a diet or exercise program or gym membership but as soon as you start going with that, you look in the rearview mirror and you think how comfortable you were before, and how hard this is now. The change doesn't seem as sexy anymore and you revert back. Then things get bad enough again where changing some things seems like a good idea... and....

Am I close???

That was my thinking at the time of my before picture. I had those voices inside my head. I didn't think I was that out of shape, and to be honest, compared to some I wasn't. I thought I was doing a decent job of working out eating. I didn't wake up one morning and all of a sudden I weighed 25 lbs more than I should. NO... those pounds crept on slowly through all of those little decisions I was making or not making. I had already set the cruise control on the way to Diabetesville in the land of Obesedom.

Does any of that sound like where you are at with your health journey? Do you struggle with those same doubts and hesitations? It's ok, those are natural. Here's the awesome thing, you can change!

For me I finally said enough was enough I surrendered myself to a process to get healthier and fit. It was hard! I didn't like it! That process pushed me to get uncomfortable. It taught me to relearn a lot of things when it came to diet and exercise.

It's been a 3 year journey since that before photo! I'm proud to say I haven't put the weight back on like so many statistics say should have happened. The only thing I can give credit to for that is being held accountable for my decisions. Yeah I not only coach people how to make changes, I'm doing the work too. I'm constantly learning and growing in this journey. That's what makes it fun for me.

3 Tips to Get Control of the Voices in Your Head

Admit that they are there. Sounds easy! But acknowledging that you have conflicting thoughts is great way to move forward. It's kind of like putting together that pros and cons list for the boyfriend/girlfriend that you seeing in college. Write down what you are thinking. Then write down the pros and cons for either staying put or making change.
If you truly know that change is the best course of action. This may not become apparent until you do #1 but often if you have hesitations about making change, that usually means you should. If this is the verdict, tip #2 is write an action plan. If I told you to drive from Minnesota to Texas, you could do it pretty easily and probably wouldn't need a plan, head south. But if I told you drive to Frank's Diner is Austin, Texas, and to meet with Matthew McConaughey, now you need a specific plan. Where is the diner? What time? What will I wear? You know all that important stuff. With your plan the more specific you can be the better. List out all the steps you need to take.
Lastly, share those thoughts and plan with someone. This might be a little uncomfortable but putting it out there in the open or at least with one other person will significantly increase the chances of making lasting change. Plus you will find out that you aren't that weird for having the thoughts that you are.

With that I would love to extend a couple invitations to you if you want to start moving through these steps. First off, if you are ready to surrender your current lifestyle and habits and start rebuilding some new ones, Laura and I have an online accountability group that starts on Monday, November 30th. Being a part of one of these groups was the process that started my transformation. This will be a 5 week group on Facebook where you will get nutritional advice, daily motivation, a community that will support you, and a chance to win some prizes. Serious what do you have to lose? Why not hit the New Year running?

Secondly, if you know that you won't stay committed by just wading into this fitness and health thing. Or maybe you've done a couple groups with us but just haven't quite felt that real motivation to change. If you know it will take the pressure of people looking up to you to truly commit. Why not jump in the deep end and give this coaching thing a try? Oh and don't worry the deep end isn't that deep. We make sure to help you get started right so that you can be successful with your weight loss and your business. That's the best of both worlds right, get healthy and make some money! If you would like to know more about coaching, shoot us an email, we would love to chat.

<<Previous

Is Obesity Contagious?

Why does this matter?

What do we do?

Willpower vs. Trust

Cultural Conformity vs. Individual Empowerment

External Cues vs. Internal Cues

Weight Loss vs. Health Enhancement

Avoidance vs. Acceptance

Rigid vs. Integration

Counting Calories vs. Quality Calories

Restrictive vs. Flexible

Deprivation vs. Fulfillment

Quick Fix vs. Lifestyle

Fight Food vs. Celebrate Food

"Is it Working?"

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

Here are some of our coach friends that were a part of the Beachbody Test Group. This program works!

The Cook & The Coach

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