I'm writing a bit late tonight, but with good reason. I attended a crucial event today called the Beachbody Game Plan Road Tour event, which, to my convenience was in Rosemont, about a 15 minute drive from the North Side of Chicago where my home is. My parents came as my only guests, which was fine with me, and we met some amazing people including Beachbody celebrities Larry Zimberg (the Game Plan Guru), Mark Briggs (one of the Beachbody O.G.'s...also in P90X+...badass!), Tommy Mygrant (the "join" button on the team beachbody homepage...dude is effen ripped!), and many others. I even met Arty from the success story team who recognized me from workin on my vids! Oh, I didn't forget about you Larry and Tiko from Indiana, James from N.J., Ron G., and of course Wanda Mae who recognized me and who listened in on the challenge call that I was a guest speaker for! You all and everyone else at this event really got me extra pumped up, and I thank you all and wish you the best of health and continued fortune with Beachbody, and I hope to see you all again soon!
The really awesome thing is that my mom became a coach today, and her and my dad have made a deeper commitment to their health. I really must tell you that more than any of my accomplishments, I am the most proud of being able to help them make positive changes in their health and in their lives. My mom has dropped 4 sizes so far with Slim In 6, and my dad has been training with a bike trainer (we're cyclists) but has also made a commitment to replace one meal a day with shakeology and he will start Power 90 soon and improve his health further. Folks, if you are reading this and you or your parents are a bit older like mine (66 and 72) and you have been watching all the 50 year-olds dying on the news and want to turn the crap-shoot into a sure winner, you need to get healthy and help them get healthy TODAY and keep the people you love around! This is not a joke. If you have kids, you want to be around for them, too, right? Holler at me and let's make this a reality. Over and over I mention this call to action because it is quite possibly the most important decision you can make. Let's turn this obesity thing around and get serious about health. Do it for yourself. If you could give a crap about yourself, then do it for people who love you. If you think no one cares about you, that's a load of crap because I sure care about you even though we may have never met, and if you change your life, odds are inadvertently you will change the lives of others. Isn't that worth it? Yes it is. So chew on that for a day or two, and call me when you're ready to become the person you've always wanted to be and live the life you've always dreamed of. Thanks for reading, everyone, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
I'm so glad I took today off. After a hectic work schedule and getting pumped as the guest speaker for the call last night, I definitely needed to rest up today, and now I am getting ready for the Game Plan Road Tour event tomorrow! My parents and hopefully a few other guests I have invited will show up, and I'm sure we will meet some amazing people and learn some awesome things about coaching that will really kick off this year right. I have just started to add a few coaches to my team, and together, we can really blast off in this health revolution and hopefully make a few dollars at the same time!
This is more of me getting some of my racing thoughts out than a message today, so thanks for reading anyways, but I will leave you with this: earlier this week, a good friend and actually, a great childhood friend of my wife that has become one of my good friends, Curtis, saw me on facebook and we chatted for a while. Curtis has been doing P90X, and I know he's gettin ripped up for sure! He, like Jasmine (my wife), is a nurse, and hats off to what they go through on a daily basis because it really takes a lot mentally and emotionally. Anyway, we went back and forth for a few minutes about P90X and health, etc. and he finally said, "Boy you have really changed..." Now, to me inside my head, I am the same person, but the statement really made me realize how different I really am from even about mid-year of 2008 before the flood. I started listening to myself and the things I was saying, thinking, and doing over the last few days and, in retrospect, he's damn right. I'm completely different. In a good way, of course. Actually, I choose to think of it as being the best version of myself, not a different person, although that may be one and the same, depending on how you look at it. Either way, I embrace the change that has happened and I encourage you to realize the choices you are making can and will change you, the way you look at life and health, and the way you respond to the people and challenges in your life. Don't be afraid of these because you are not a different person, you are a better person. Thanks for reading everyone, and have a great weekend!
One of my new Beachbody buddies, Nessa, is just starting out on her journey toward better health, and she asked me some questions. These are probably questions many of us have, and I thought I'd address them in a blog this morning.
1. How do I get more energy? Well, initially, you have to look at where you're at. If you are someone with this question, it is most likely that your diet lacks the nutrition your body needs, and your activity level is low. Also, your sleep and rest have much do do with this as does your level of stress. However, integrating a moderate fitness program into your life while focusing on making small, better choices with your eating habits will surely help you to regain some of your lost energy. It's a wonder what a little movement and vitamin-packed foods can do for you. So don't focus on why you don't have energy so much; just know that it will come back to you soon.
2. Do I work out before I eat? Your eating definitely has a lot do do with your recovery, and scheduling both will help a ton. If your goal is to lose weight, then plan to work out 2-3 hours after eating so that your body will go into fat-burning mode. After your workout, consume an appropriate, healthy meal such as a fresh salad with greens, beans, and other vegetables along with a slice of whole-grain bread. That's just one example, but you should get the idea. Check out my recipe blog for a few salad ideas. If you plan to work out before breakfast, it's not necessarily bad, but keep this workout short and eat breakfast right after. Remember, you've been fasting all night, so you don't want to hit a wall in your workout nor do you want to be so hungry you binge. Also, if you have breakfast to start, your body can get burning again and then you will find you will be able to push a bit harder during your workout. My advice is to try different things, and when you find a routine you can stick with, stay on that schedule so your body gets used to doing activity around that time. Not only will you expect to workout at that time, but you will learn to eat at certain times and you will perform better overall. You definitely want to take in some carbs to refuel the energy in your muscles, but you also need some proteins for building and some good old-fashioned nutrients and vitamins straight from the source. If you are already and endurance athlete and are working out hard, I suggest an after-workout drink such as the P90X Results and Recovery formula. I use this, and for lunch I make a protein smoothie with soy milk, premium protein powder, cocoa powder, pumpkin, banana, almonds, and some ice to chill it, and it's around 450 calories.
3.What do I buy at the store? Wow. Well, if you're not used to eating right, this could seem daunting. What you should do is take baby steps. Move forward, but you'll have to learn to crawl before you can walk, know what I mean? For example, if you currently drink 2% milk, maybe go down to 1%, then skim. If you can go all the way first, great. It's a small change, but you will find that small steps lead to big advancements. Here are some other substitutions:
Not-So-Healthy Healthy Alternative ------------------------- Butter Brummel & Brown Vegetable Oil Olive Oil Chips Baked Chips Eggs Egg Beaters Bread 100% Whole Grain Bread Pasta Whole Grain Pasta
Further, think about how to make some of the unhealthy things you cook healthier. Take pizza, for example. You may order out or buy frozen pizza. Instead, try using whole grain Flatout wraps or whole wheat tortillas for the crust, use a marinara sauce, a little mozzerella, and fresh veggies such as green peppers, jalapenos, chicken sausage, etc. Bake these on a stone in the oven at 500 degrees for 5-8 minutes and you have crisp thin-crust pizza that is delicious.When you control your ingredients in anything you cook, you know that it will be fresher and healthier, and probably taste better, too. If you think you have no time, choose a day in your week and make 3-5 meals that you can refrigerate and/or freeze, and then just microwave these as needed for your family throughout your busy week. essentially, you are making your own tv dinners that are fresher and tastier.
4. How do I read the labels? Great question. Well, knowing what everything means is the hard part, but you should know what your average meal looks like, and when you do, you will know what to look for in calories per serving, fat/saturated fat, carbs, and sodium. Here's a tip here--measure the exact servings when you are consuming the products so you know you're not overdoing it, and also--the fewer the ingredients and more natural they appear to be, the better. Just a good basic rule of thumb for the most part. Here's a site where you can set up a free account and start tracking what you are eating to get a better idea of where you are at and eat toward your goals: www.myfitnesspal.com.
5. How do I get a coach? I'm so glad you asked this question, Nessa! Well, you currently have a free, but limited membership at beachbody. That said, I'll help you as a coach unofficially for now, but you should really consider becoming a club member. It's only 3 bucks a week, billed quarterly, and when you sign up by clicking on the join/upgrade tab, you can put my name or coach #27629 in where it asks you, and it'll say "mikenickles" will be your coach. Then I'll be your coach and you'll be on my team!! We will be hooked up directly, and in addition, you will get 10% off of products and have access to recipes and nutrition tools as well as many other perks and benefits. I am a club member, and I highly suggest that you become one. All you have to lose is pounds and inches!
Wow. I just want to say how much I appreciate the online support that Beachbody has to offer. Not only are we able to find buddies on here that are in various stages of their personal development with fitness, health, and life, but we are able to forge relationships that grow over time, and I feel like there really is a revolution in health. Many people have reached out to me for different reasons, and I thank you all because you really help me in ways you may not know or understand. I am still developing myself as an athlete, a coach, and a human being with a family and future, and all of the questions, feedback, and positive reinforcement really fuels me personally as I know it does you. I have to cut this short because I'm running low on time before work, (and I can't wait until my coach income surpasses my job income so I don't have to limit myself on time), but I'll leave you with this:
"...Don't go where the puck was; go where the puck is going to be..." - Walter Gretske
That is a quote told to me by a friend, but the individual, Walter Gretske, who said this was referring to a lesson he once gave his son, Wayne Gretske, the hockey legend. We can all use this quote as a metaphor for our own personal journey in health, fitness, careers, family, and overall in our lives. Please comment if you'd like to share...where will the puck lead you? Thanks for reading, everyone, and have a great day.
Yesterday, I attended a birthday party for Thomas, one of my good friends and co-workers. He just turned 23, and this will be his last birthday as a civilian for a while at least. Thomas has joined the army, and though he has not been officially enlisted and hauled off to boot camp, he has made the decision to join to better the lives of himself and his wife, Lala. I knew this party was important to him, and because of that, it was important to me to show up and celebrate with him. One difficult thing I had to deal with was that I was faced with a situation where drinking was definitely part of the festivities, however, I have made a commitment to join my wife in abstaining from drinking alcohol until her birthday on February 18th, which she had made a goal for health reasons. I thought about the possibilities, even considering drinking for the occasion, which my wife supported, saying, "You can drink...I just won't go." She didn't go, but I decided to stick with my commitment. I ended up buying a case of Coors Light as a party gift for those attending, and for myself I decided to drink Miller Sharp's, a non-alcoholic beer alternative. So I had my solution: I still drank beer at the party and had fun with friends, I just didn't get drunk. In doing so I maintained my commitment to my wife, had fun with Thomas at the party, and I was confident in my drive home as well. It was easier than I thought it would be.
Since I was focused on my goal and by the commitment I made to others, my obstacle seemed like a slight bump in the road rather than a hurdle, and I easily stepped over it. This is the same focus I used when accomplishing my initial goal of sticking with P90X--I focused on my health as my ultimate goal, so sticking with my program was essentially simple. May you keep in mind your ultimate goals and your "why" for doing so, and you will find your obstacles seemingly less challenging and you should be able to stick with it and succeed. Please contact me with your questions and/or obstacles and we can overcome them together. Thanks for reading, everyone, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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