Number 2 is number 1!!!

Greetings and saluations my friends!! I know, I know, it's been a long time, but luckily, I've got a fantastic topic to discuss with you today...if you guessed from the picture to the right that I may be talking about regularity, you're right on the money.

So, before I begin, I wanted to offer you fair warning that what I'm about to discuss may be considered inappropriate chat amongst friends. The problem is, I used to work for my dad's construction company, and building and installing sewer systems (waste water treatment facilities if you want to be politically correct) was our specialty. In fact, one year my grandfather (who started the business) said that he wanted to get hats made that said, "Your !%(#'s our bread and butter." Obviously, poo is important to both my family and I.

Now, back to the topic at hand. The #2, poo, poop, b.m., whatever you want to call it, is an important function of our body. No one knows this better than those of us who have suffered from irregularity either for a brief or, even worse, an extended period of time. Let me explain (because I know you're all giddy with anticipation to hear my poo drama).

As a kid, I grew up in a Southeastern Ohio meat and potatoes family. My mom cooks great food, don't get me wrong, but all my life, as far back as I remember, I have dealt with a giant lack of poo. As a kid, whenever I had a stomachache, the first thing my mom would say is, "Do you have to #2?" The answer, inevitably, was always a resounding yes, but the problem was, things weren't moving...AT...ALL. This led to upset stomachs, bloating, gas, and just an overall feeling of being about to blow up. It was awful!

As an adult, I drank my daily glass of orange fiber therapy (which truly is like watered down orange drink with sawdust mixed in), added fiber supplements to my diet, but about the only thing that could get things moving was a good Friday night out at the bar. Inevitably, once coffee hit my gut on Saturday morning (after the 12 oz. curls that were done the night before), things were moving, and quickly. But clearly, you can't rely on a good bender to get things moving. Plus, pooping once per week just doesn't cut it. I wanted poo, and I wanted it at least once every other day. What does one do?

I changed my diet, I ate lots of fresh fruit and veggies, I supplemented with fiber, I drank nine gazillion glasses of water a day, and I still couldn't poop unless I had a death grip on the toilet seat and a vein popping out of my forehead. NOT enjoyable.

Then, one day, I heard about this thing called Shakeology. It was supposed to increase your energy, help reduce cravings, aid in weight loss, and (can you hear the trumpets blaring now?) improve digestive health and regularity! Okay, seriously...sounds like a wonder product, doesn't it? Knowing I had to give it a shot, I commited to the product for 90 days...3 months of Shakeology. And here's what happened...

I POOP! Seriously, I now go 4-5 times per week without worrying that I'm going to injure myself in the process. Gone is the bloating, gone is the feeling of heaviness in my mid-section, gone is the constipation, gone are the stomachaches...gone, gone, gone. I'm regular, I'm efficient,, I'm like a puppy with the most incredible digestive tract in the universe, I'm a good pooper! Woo hooo!

I'm a Shakeology convert. Plus, I also get the other benefits...I have noticed an increase in energy without caffeine, I don't have cravings even though I'm still working on my own weightloss and maintain a calorie deficit most days, but clearly, to me, the greatest thing is that my digestive tract is a lean, mean, pooing machine. So now you know why I think the old 'number 2' is truly number 1.

If you, too, would like optimal digestive health (and all the other great benefits that go alongside being a Shakeology drinker), send me a message and we can chat. Also, here's a little information video about the product as well. Thank you Beachbody for creating such a fantastic product...you've truly saved my life!

Spring Cleaning--For your insides!

Greetings and salutations everyone! I hope this finds each and every single one of you enjoying some springlike weather. The temperatures here are fantastic (80s today), but we're enjoying our annual pine pollen epidemic, so everything is covered in a fine yellow powder. Heck, even the dogs came in from the walks this morning with blonde hair!

Now that I'm finally injury free, I've started a new 90 day program (new to me, anyhow) called ChaLean Extreme. I'm really enjoying the new challenge, the creativity of moves, and the opportunity to lift weights again. I feel great and look forward to what I can do in 90 days.

In addition, with my new 'start' after my almost 2 month hiatus from working out, I decided to do a little spring cleaning for my insides by participating in a Shakeology Cleanse. It was created by Steve Edwards (a fitness and nutrition expert who works for and helps develop products for Beachbody) and then tweaked by Mike Karpenko (a Beachbody Coach who once worked for Steve) and involves three days. As Steve says in his blog, "It's not the Master Cleanse. The goal is to promote flushing junk from your system and regulating hydration levels." In addition, try not to workout extraordinarily hard during the cleanse...for most people, the calorie levels of the cleanse won't support a really hard workout.

In a nutshell, in consists of three days of:

Three servings of Shakeology each day (made with water)

Two-three servings of fruit (or you can mix them in with your Shakeology shake)

For dinner, a salad, unrestricted with regards to veggies, with 4 oz. of lean protein (white meat or fish), and olive oil/balsamic dressing.

If you feel you need more calories (as some may), add chia seeds, nuts, flax seeds and the like to your salad.

Drink all the water you can and if you'd like to add green tea or coffee, you may as long as there are NO additives. No dairy, no sugar, no flavorings, no nothing!

So there you have it...the Shakeology cleanse. I started yesterday and was pretty ragged by the end of the day (the workout of choice for the day was too tough for the calories I took in), but I woke up this morning two pounds lighter than I was yesterday, retaining less water than normal, and with plenty of energy to tackle today's 'lightish' workout.

If you've got questions, or would like information about Shakeology, let me know!

Your Personal "Why?"

Greetings and Salutations my friends! I was chatting with an acquaitance on Facebook the other day about why I started my fitness journey. It was a good conversation...one that reminded me of where I was, where I am now, and where I want to be in the future. In reflecting upon her question, I was reminded of how I became the person that I was just under a year ago...fat, unhappy, no self-esteem...and the person that I am today...fit, healthy, positive, and ready to take on the world. It's amazing what a mere 300+ days can do to a person.

The most miserable I ever remember being was when I was in high school in the late 1980s. I was the 'behemoth' of my peer group at 5'9" and weighing in at a 'hefty' 142 pounds. I remember recording my weight in a journal every night, knowing that my friends were topping the scales at 100-110, and there I was, the rotund one, knocking on the door of 150 lbs. Sure, I was a good eight inches taller than they were, and when I look back on those days now, I don't know what I was thinking. But the funny thing is (funny, sad, not funny, ha-ha), some of those 'friends' of mine told me I was fat because I didn't weight 105 pounds and I couldn't wear a size 1 or 3 in Guess jeans (yep, I'm going 'old school' on ya'!). In fact, some of those same 'friends' would head out into the school parking lot during school hours and throw cookie containers and other junk food trash on top of my car to make me feel even better about the fact that I weighed 40 pounds more than they did. Another of their favorite ways to empower themselves was to follow me down the hallway, oinking like a piglet and mooing like a cow. And you know what? Their cruelty was really effective. I allowed them to take away my power...I allowed them to take away my self-esteem...I allowed them to have their dreams and to take away mine. I became a shadow of what I could have been.

I went through a major part of my life with very little self-esteem. I did a pretty good job, for the most part, hiding that fact, but I truly thought pretty little of myself until the time I was well into my 30s. But in typical fashion, I started to spiral into a rut where I didn't like myself much, and that took over every aspect of my life...my marriage, my career, my outlook, everything. I was down in the dumps, I wanted to feel good about myself, and I didn't know what to do.

On April 2, 2009, I took the initiative to take one small step to get my life back. That was the day that I decided that I was in this for me, me, me. I simply HAD to love myself for the person I was, but I knew I had to make some improvements to truly feel that love. I started pushing play that day, immersed myself in learning everything that I could about fitness and nutrition, lost weight, empowered myself with strong muscles, and learned to love me. Instead of worrying incessantly about things that I couldn't control, I learned to manage the things that I knew, without a doubt, were 100% within my own control. Funny how that makes EVERYTHING in your life better. With my improved fitness was better health, a better marriage, a better career, simply a better outlook on life. Just because I made the decision to empower myself with good exercise and nutrition.

I had to ask myself a very important question, "Whose dream did you build today--yours or someone else's?" (Jeff Olson. 2005). If you spend your whole week, month, year, or life, trying, or even allowing someone else's dream to build, rather than your own, you're doing yourself a tremendous disservice. Sure, great things do come out of doing for others. I'm not going to deny that, but what about you? What about what YOU want? Where is the time you deserve to achieve all of those fantastic things you desire?

So here I am...almost a year later still continuing on my journey to be the best me that I can be. And yes, those are my pictures there on the top of the page. I figure there's no better way of being accountable to goals than putting that first picture out there!! There you have it, there's my 'Why?' What's yours?

If you'd like some help on your own fitness journey, I'd LOVE to help...send me a message from my coaching page.

Injury! WHAT do I do now?

Greetings and salutations my friends! Well, as the title of this post states, I'm struggling with my fitness goals due to injury and my lack of patience. It started about 10 days ago with a tightness near my ribs, got worse, got better, got even better, and even though I knew it was still there, I went ahead and tried to work out today. Of course, I'm now worse off than I was. Imagine one of those side stitches you sometimes get when you're running, and then multiply it by 5. I was in so much agony that I truly couldn't get myself up off the floor. To compound the situation, EVERY muscle in your body seems to be tied, somehow, to your abs and ribs. Ugh! I truly despise injuries.

So, clearly the point of this post is about patience. I knew I needed to continue resting my body...it was telling me LOUD AND CLEAR, but in typical fashion, I chose to ignore it. This happens a lot, though, with individuals who are so focused on goals. In fact, the Olympic games was a great example of athletes who fought through pain in order to compete. But sometimes you have to wonder, would they have been better off being patient, and waiting another four years? Was their performance what it could have been? Is it worth the risk? While I wasn't trying to win a medal, my fitness goals are in the front of my mind every single day. It's tough for me to miss a workout, especially considering what I've accomplished so far. But now, I can't work out. It just hurts too badly, so you've got to wonder what I was thinking at the time.

There's nothing now for me to do except to truly rest. I'm allowed to walk my dogs casually (NO power walking), and that is it. It'll be hard for me because I truly have spent every week since April 3, 2009 pushing myself as hard as I possibly could to make myself physically better. However, what comes to mind is that even elite athletes don't push that hard every single day. They choose to workout in a way so that they peak at a certain times, like the Olympic games. At other times, they are able to back off, allow their fitness to drop a smidge, and then build towards another peak. It's a good lesson to be forced to learn because I know when I do come back, my body will respond well after this rest.

That said, there are still ways I can work towards goals. Nutrition. What a perfect opportunity to REALLY work on eating as clean as I possibly can. I can still work on dropping pounds, I can still work on a slimmer physique, and I can really improve my health by making sure that what I put into my body is there to fuel it for the activity required of it. A great resource that I ran across recently is Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet Recharged. It's a nutrition guide that really makes sense to me. It's not about eliminating food groups from your diet, but about utilizing REAL foods to fuel your body. It's as simple as that.

So, my focus until I'm well enough to really push my workouts again is to finally ditch the sugar lurking in the small amount of processed foods I eat, eat 5-6 small, nutritionally balanced meals throughout the day, and to eat as cleanly as I possibly can. My journey continues.

If you're ready to start working on your own fitness and nutrition goals, and would like some help, I would love to offer you my help along the way. Just go to my Beachbody Coaching Site and send me a message. I'm sure that together, we can work towards your own transformation as well.

What do you want in your body? You decide!

Greetings and salutations my friends! As you can see from the picture to the left, I've been thinking about body fat and lean muscle mass. All of us, from the very lean to the extremely obese carry both of them in our body, but I've got to ask you. If you could choose, which one would you rather have going along for the ride of your life?

Obviously, the lean muscle mass has some advantages to it...let me point them out:

1. Lean muscle mass is going to help you in the day to day activities of life. Need to lift a child? You need muscles. Want to stretch up onto the top shelf of the cupboard to lift down the gravy tureen? You need muscles. Ever tried to open a jar of peanut butter or fruit preserves, and were unable to get it open? You need muscles. You need lean muscle mass to live!
2. This is the biggie...as you can see from the picture, 5 pounds of lean muscle is compared to 5 pounds of fat. Which one is bigger? Which one is going to take up more space in your body? Which one will give you a bigger waistline? Which one will allow it to shrink? It's true that 5 pounds of muscle equals 5 pounds of fat, but clearly the lean muscle mass takes up MUCH less space in your body. So for those of you who worry that the scale isn't getting any lower, TAKE YOUR MEASUREMENTS! It is very likely that you're swapping out fat for lean muscle, which weighs the same, but you'll notice a huge difference in the size of your waist, hips, thighs, arms, etc.
3. Lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat. Hello!! That means you have to eat more in order to maintain your body weight. And if you're trying to lose weight, building lean muscle will supercharge your metabolism!!!

I've been working out regularly since April 3rd. I've dropped 32 pounds or so, and in the past 3 months, the scale hasn't been very kind to me. However, I took my measurements yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. Though I may have lost only 2 pounds or so, I lost another inch from my waist, an inch and a half from my hips (this one is a miracle!), another inch from my thighs, and I'm losing a ton of belly fat so that the ab muscles I've been working on are starting to show. Obliques look pretty nice on a body! So no, I'm not 'losing weight' but I'm definitely getting leaner, getting rid of body fat, dropping pants sizes, and getting SO much healthier.

So how do you do it? You've got to invest in some sort of resistance and cardio program. Cardio helps burn fat, resistance work helps build lean muscle. You really do need the two. Some really good options are ChaLean Extreme (5 days per week @ 45 minutes per day--90 day program), Slim in 6 (30-45 minutes per day, 6 week program), P90X (6 days per week @ 60-90 minutes per day--90 day program), and for those with little time, Ten Minute Trainer (stack 10 minute workouts each day to create the length that works for you). Plus, all of these programs come with good, basic nutritional guides to help you burn fat, build that lean muscle, and boost metabolism.

In addition, you can get me as your free Coach to help you along the way. Yes, I said FREE!! I'll be here to provide support, answer questions, and offer motivation whenever it may be most needed. Don't wait until tomorrow, when today could be the day to jumpstart the rest of your fit life!

Send me a message if you have questions about how to get started, and if you're ready to start today, you can find the products here. Push play, everyone!!

Shakeology--it's what's for dinner, or breakfast, or lunch, or a snack!

Greetings and Salutations! Do you lack energy? Do afternoon cravings making you so ravenous that you feel as though you could eat the kitchen counters? Have problems with high cholesterol? Want to lose weight? Shakeology could be your answer.

At the same cost as your morning Starbucks or McDonald's run, it's not only a much healthier option, but could possibly be the healthiest meal of your entire day. I'm a chocolate Shakeology drinker, and I've seen increased energy, better digestive health, regularity, and most importantly for me, NO MORE CRAVINGS!

For more information, check out my Shakeology page.

Goals...what do you want?

Greetings and Salutations!


To start off, I just wanted to pass along a little note to wish each and every one of you a happy and healthy holiday! Of course, along with the holidays comes New Years's, and alas, with the new year come those resolutions that many of us make, promising to do something different over the course of the next 365 days. I've made them, too, and what started as a good idea and the right idea, generally led to some sort of failure. So, instead of a resolution, why not try a goal for the year? I know, I know, it sounds like the same thing, but I assure you, goal setting is quite different.


First off, what do you want to accomplish? Keep in mind that as you set your goal, to make it as specific as possible. Also, we need to be able to measure your progress. So, if you want to 'lose weight,' you need to state it more specifically and with a weightloss goal in mind (i.e. I want to lose 22 pounds). You might also consider things such as a body fat percentage that you'd like to have, a clothing size that you'd love to fit into, or a distance that you'd like to be able to run. Whatever you choose, give your brain a clear message that you WANT to be able to accomplish this specific thing.

Second, set an achievable goal and don't settle for less than what you really want. As Tom Venuto stated in his book The Body Fat Solution (2009), "As long as your goal is achievable, believable, and you're willing to do what it takes to get it, then the sky's the limit." In addition, set a deadline for meeting your goal that is a reasonable and realistic amount of time for meeting your goal...you might make it, you might not, but you need a specific amount of time with with you can work. If you want to lose 50 pounds, six weeks is NOT reasonable, 6 months is doable, but tough, while 8-9 months is realistic.

Next, write some reasons why you want to meet that specific goal. This is going to help with your own intrinsic motivation, and when you start to stray, you need to remind yourself of WHY the goal is important to you.

Set some mini-milestones to meet along the way. Have mini-goals that you strive to meet each week, month, etc. Let others know about your goals so that you can surround yourself with a positive support crew. Finally, and this is the hardest part, what do I need to do in order to meet my goal? If your goal is serious weight loss, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in order to do so, you're going to have to make some major lifestyle changes.

This is where I might be able to help. If your goal is fitness related, but you don't just know how to get there, LET ME KNOW! If you've set a goal, but you're having troubles staying committed, let me know! If you met a mini-goal, or met your yearly goal, let me know! I want to celebrate with you!


When I started thinking about goals, I wanted to just say, "I want to be the fittest I've ever been in my life." Obviously, not specific enough and not measurable. Also, I think I'm probably the fittest I've ever been in my life already, or at least a close runner-up to my Junior and Senior years of basketball season. Thanks Coach Sines, those suicide drills DO get you in shape! So I really need to think...what do I want to accomplish this year with regards to fitness and health? And how can I measure my success? I've got some thinking to do over the next few days.


For those of you who have regularly pushed play with Tony, Chalene, Debbie, Shaun T. and others, or who have just made regular fitness activities a part of your daily life, bravo to you! Keep pushing hard. But for those of you who keep walking past the dust covered Turbo Jam or P90X workouts and saying, "I should start that today," what's keeping you from pushing play and meeting your goals? I'm here for you either eay...let me know what I can do to help.


I'm off to do some Insanity with Shaun T. and walk the dogs. I've got to finish up my 2009 goals!

Have a safe, blessed, and happy holiday!