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One of the biggest lessons I have learned since joining this crazy fitness train is that you have to be happy with yourself and how are you accomplishing you goals.  My goal was to lose weight and redefine my body back to what it used to be in my younger days.  As I did that I went through several difficult challenges.  With each challenge came success.  I have set many goals, some of which I have kept private, but I can tell you that I have reached almost all of them and am damn proud of it!!  One of main focuses in today's fitness world is around the abdominal/core area.  Society today has a fixation on what many of us call the pack.  This is a goal that I have wrestled with on and off the past year and a half.  Today I may tell myself "yeah I want those abs to pop without having to do some crazy pose" and tomorrow I'll tell myself "it just isn't that important."  Regardless of which path a person chooses they must find a way to be happy with their decision and their life.  If I bust my butt and really restrict my food intake I could get the pack I so long for, but at what cost?!?  I'm human and a former wrestler so food is important to me and a comfort aspect ... I love to eat!  The good news is that my metabolism is back and I work my butt off 6 days a week, which often includes 8 or more routines during those 6 days.  What I'm getting at is this ... I have decided that in order for me to be happy I need to be able to eat what I want.  If I don't I'm only setting myself up for failure ... yeah sure I may be able to maintain my nutrition for a period of time, but not for the long haul and isn't that what Beachbody is all about.  It's about changing your LIFE, not your summer.  I can honestly say that I am where I want to be.  I feel like I'm in great fitness health and yeah, I look pretty good ... could be better, but I'm okay with the balance I have created.  I have gone through phases where I have focused hard on my abs and although I don't have that popping 6-pack I do have a very strong core and it has gone a very long way for me and eliminating my chronic back pain.  Now I'm onto different goals like rep counts for particular exercises.  My current goal is to catch Mark Briggs ... 28 Possible Pushups!  "Light touch at the bottom and full extension at the top" ... like there is any other way to do it Mark?!?  :-)  I'm now able to usually get going on my first attempt and am up to 20 ... I'm coming for you Mark!!

Now that I have put my thoughts down I'm sure I'll be getting ready for bed tonight and as I glance in the mirror will tell myself "yeah, you can do it ... I want the pack!" 

So the past week or so I have re-focused myself on my abs.  Sunday evening my wife and I did what is becoming one of my favorite workouts ... 1-1 10 Minute Crusher Pack.  It is a short, but intense workout.  This was after we spent 4-5 hours on the lake.  We both did a little skiing and I even attempted to get up on 1 ski and salom ... for the record I did get up!  What I learned Monday and even more so Tuesday morning is that my legs were toast!!  What's the best way to deal with that ... do some plyo!  I didn't want to and I thought about doing it at night, but I forced myself to get up and I banged out a great Plyo workout.  I feel better and now I have the entire evening to spend with the boys and Sharon.  Life is good ...

Back to the 10 minutes ... this workout is awesome!  It works all the areas of my body that I feel need to be worked the most ... abs, legs and cardio.  It has also brought me back to my youth with the jump roping.  Some may think nothing can be accomplished in 10 mintues and if you are one of those people I strongly suggest you give this workout a try.  10 minutes straight working on one part of the body ... ouch!  Plus, the abs routine invovles moves on the bar and the floor.  Nothing works my abs better than hanging on the bar.  I always add this when I am strapped for time and need a great workout that covers multiple areas of the body.  Enjoy!

Came back from vacation last week and got back into the routine.  My nutrition hasn't been up to par and I have had all the typical excuses.  Luckily, it hasn't cost me too much, but it is still something that I have taken notice of.  I have challenged myself internally to get back to my 90/10 plan.  What I always preach to my friends, customers, family and myself is that you have to develop a plan that will not only acheive the results you want, but also something that you can sustain over the long haul.  If you are really strict for a couple of weeks and then go back to you old way of eating you won't get the results you want and will struggle and most likely become discouraged.  I have reached a comfort zone and been able to maintain for over a year.  I am very proud of this, but often tell myself that I want more.  The challenge is my nutrition plan!  Fighting off those late night cravings.  I'm going to challenge myself to fight these urges by drinking more water and then more water.  Loving life right now and looking forward to my personal challenge.

Right now is my favorite time of the day ... just finished working out and drinking my recovery drink!  It really is workout crack!  I returned yesterday from taking the family camping in Williamsburg VA and I actually let myself relax and have whatever I wanted.  It is the first time I have taken more than 2 days off in a year and I think my body needed it.  I took several ab workouts along with Fountain of Youth, but didn't break any of them out.  During the week we bounced back and forth between Busch Gardens and Water Country and let me tell you we got a workout every day with the amount of walked we did.

This morning I got up and couldn't decide what to do so I went with the shorter Insanity Pure Cardio workout.  I picked it for two reasons ... first, it is only 38 mintues long and after a week off I didn't want to do a full hour.  Second, it is a kick butt workout!  I feel great and yes I'm still drinking my recovery drink.  I tend to nurse it because is it so good.

Now, it's time ti get back into the groove and my workout routine.  I have aquired several 1-1's lately and have been incorporating them with P90X, P90X+ and Insanity workouts ... similar to the hybrid schedule that John Hynes published.

I will probably break out Iso Abs later with Sharon and can't wait for Monday morning ... Chest and Back ... my favorite workout!

It's time to re-commit!  The workouts are there, but it's down to lock down the nutrition again.  Luckily doing the workouts almost every day has kept my body in line, but it's time to drop it down a gear and get this going again.  Let's see what this 40 year old can do!!!  Also, I am now incorporating the 1-1's and love the ball and core work that Tony has included.  I recently got the upper body balance workout and love it!  Mark has set the bar at 28 impossible push ups ... I'm coming for you Mark!!