It’s been a question I asked myself a lot over the years, “When should I stop eating at night?”. We all get those late night cravings just before bed time, and that’s totally normal. The average person eats dinner at around 6:00PM – 7:00PM, and heads to bed at 10:00PM – 11:00PM… with 3 hours being just the right time for your next “meal time” to roll around. So what can you do?

First off, if you’re not already spacing your meals/snacks out every 2-3 hours, try and get started on that. This will prevent your body from going into “starvation mode” and feeding off of your hard earned muscle, but that’s another post! I bring this up because the best way to help yourself is to start with the most basic problem first, is there too much time between dinner and bedtime? 4 hours is definitely pushing it, and you may want to either space out your meals a bit better, or even throw another small snack in (handful of peanuts in my case!).

If everything else looks good according to your schedule, yet you still have those cravings, there is a solution! Water. It may come as a surprise… “how the heck is that going to fill up this BELLY!”. However, I encourage you to try it next time the hunger games start, and it’s even a good idea to have some if your just hungry at any other part of the day. Water will give you a full feeling, take your mind off of the sweets, and simply keep you hydrated… there’s a reason they say to drink eight 8oz glasses a day. And I don’t wanna hear any “but then I’ll wake up in the middle of the night to pee pee!”. NO EXCUSES! It beats the heck out of whatever you eat before bed turning into fat over night. And let’s be honest, waking up at 2:00AM to tinkle is much better than waking up 20-30 minutes before the alarm goes off and staring it down in anger.

Thank you for reading

Weight last week: N/A
Weight to start this week: 162lbs.

Day 1 (Sept 11, 2012): Chest & Back & Ab Ripper X.

Eat To Lose Weight – Fat Loss Nutrition Basics
Eating to lose weight is not as difficult or confusing as one might believe. The probably is being surrounded by so many “quick fix” products out there, it’s easy to get lost in the wrong mindset. If you’re ready to get busy, you’re going to work your butt off and face many challenges along the way… but the pay off is unimaginably satisfying .

Now let’s dig into the science a little bit. The best method we can use to get the lean and healthy body we want is to stick with a meal plan that consists mainly of whole foods and is well balanced. When trying to lose body fat, it’s important to cover the essentials and avoid falling off the wagon… once we have that covered fat loss becomes natural. The first step to beginning our “Eat to Lose Weight” is to take a body fat % test. There are several ways to do this, here is my preferred method.

Once we find out where we stand with our Body Fat %, we can be more precise on what our body needs. If your primary goal is fat loss, a good starting point would be using 1 gram of carbohydrate per pound of lean body mass (LBM), 1 gram of protein per pound of LBM and .5 gram of fat per pound. Now just take your body fat % (in decimal) and multiply it by your weight and that will give you the pounds of body fat you carry. Then, subtract that number from your total body weight and that will be your lean body mass. For instance, say you are 200 lbs and have a body fat of 25%…

lbs body fat = 0.25 x 200 = 50 lbs
lbs lean body mass = 200 – 50 = 150 lbs

To lose body fat, you want to shoot for 150g carbs/day, 150g protein/day, and 75g fat/day if you were at this weight and body fat %. Now, divide that up into four to six small meals and bam, you’re ready to preserve lean mass and burn fat. So if you were break it into 5 meals for the day, each meal/snack would consist of 30g carb, 30g protein, and 15g fat. You won’t be exact with the numbers, but do your best and forget the rest. Now that we know how much to eat, we must be sure to choose the right food so that we can Eat to Lose Weight!

To get started with some good food ideas, check out my P90X meal plan I STILL use, and learn the difference between Good and Bad carbs.

HURRY UP though! This Promotion ends on July 31, 2012.

How Does the Beachbody Free Challenge Pack Trial offer work?

This is the chance for you to try one of the programs you’ve been watching on the infomercials. Maybe you weren’t sure if you could do it. Maybe you thought it cost too much. There could be many reasons you didn’t order it. Well, now you can get it for FREE (just pay shipping + tax) and try it out. No more excuses!

Choose from one of the following fitness programs:
P90X, TurboFire, or Brazil Butt Lift

Choose your Shakeology flavor:
Chocolate, Greenberry, or Tropical (Vegan)

You also get access to a Team Beachbody Club Membership for 30 days!

Use these products for a full 30 days to see if they work for you. Do the the fitness program and drink the Shakeology (30 days worth of meals right there!)

Decide after 30 days whether you want to purchase or return for a full refund. Simple. But my guess is, if you commit to the pack, you’ll love the way you feel and your results too much.

If you decide to keep the Challenge Pack, the costs are as follows:

P90X – $205
TurboFire – $205
Brazil Butt Lift – $160

You can even Make money with your Trial Pack

What? You can make money? A bit of a topic swap, but this may also be too good to pass up. When I lost 69 lbs with P90X, I was blabbing to everyone about it. I got so many people excited about getting fit with me that they started buying Beachbody products as well.

It wasn’t until later that I found out you could get in on the action at Beachbody. Believe me, all it takes is the ability to recommend something you love to another person. Although honestly, when you start to enter “Result City”, people will be asking YOU what you’re doing! Since you’ll be telling them what worked for you anyway, wouldn’t you rather send them to your own Beachbody website store to earn a little on the side? Not to mention, the 25% Coach discount on all their products… forever.

Now why am I recommending becoming a Beachbody Coach at a time like this? You see, when you purchase a Challenge Pack (even free trial), you can enroll as a Coach for FREE. The $39.95 Coach enrollment fee is waived!

Just purchase the Free Challenge Pack Trial Offer for P90X, TurboFire, and Brazil Butt Lift through the Challenge Pack commitment signup.
The same rules apply for the 30 day trial of Coach membership.

And finally, here’s how you can get started!
P90X – $205
TurboFire – $205
Brazil Butt Lift – $160

1. Click on one of the above programs to get started.
2. Select “Add to Cart” and go to checkout. Be sure you’re only being charged for shipping + tax.
3. When asked, select “No, I don’t have an account yet” and fill in the information.
4. Select the Challenge Pack information and choose the program you plan to use.
5. Fill in the payment information and check out!

6*. Alternatively, sign up HERE to join as a Coach and get the extra benefits.
7.* When asked to choose a Challenge Pack, click “no, just sign me up” IF there is a price next to the P90X, TurboFire or Brazil Butt Lift Pack. This should take you do the Trial options after.

And you’re done! Whether you sign up as a Coach or a Challenger, don’t forget to check out how you can MAXIMIZE your results with a free Challenge Group. More details on that here. And congratulations on taking the first step to changing your life! You will be hearing from me within the next 24 hours. Bring it!

I’ve done multiple Beachbody programs, and love them all, but P90X and Insanity in particular just stand out as something that could be a POWERHOUSE when mixed together correctly.

For phase/month 1, I would keep all of the lift days exactly the same as they are in P90X. Chest & Back, Shoulders & Arms, and Legs & Back will remain on the same days for phase 1. For phase 2, I would still keep the P90X lift days the way they are (Chest, Shoulder, Tri & Back & Biceps) but replace the Legs & Back with Insanity’s upper body workout. If you don’t have the Deluxe edition of Insanity, you may not have the Upper Body routine in which case you can buy it separately [HERE]. Alternately, you could keep Legs & Back in there the way they are. For the final phase, I would keep the the same workouts in the normal P90X phase 3 schedule, but carry over the Upper Body Insanity workout and sub it for Legs & Back once again.

As far as Ab workouts on the lift days, I would just alternate between Ab Ripper X and Insanity’s Ab workout just to keep it fresh and give some variety… as both of them are awesome.

Now for the biggest change, where to put those Insanity Cardio workouts? For phase 1, I would keep the Insanity schedule almost the same and fill it in on the non-lift days (except for MAX cardio workouts), and keep Plyometrics from P90X into the mix. The reason for this is to try and avoid any pushup-based exercises whenever possible on cardio days.. since you’ll be getting plenty of resistance training on the lift days. If you prefer to keep Yoga in there, you could also bring that in on Day 4, but I personally prefer the Cardio workouts!

For month 2 and 3, you could start to transition to the MAX workouts, using MAX interval on Day 2, MAX Cardio on Day 4 and Max Plyo on Day 6. Again if you have the Deluxe Edition (or want to buy the extra workouts separately) you could mix in MAX Sports, and even Insane Abs.

On Rest weeks, you could keep it exactly how the P90X schedule has it. Or if you want some change, you could throw in some Insanity Recovery (or MAX Recovery) that would work perfectly fine!

The best part about a P90X & Insanity Hybrid, is that you can really do it anyway you want, so long as there’s the right mix of cardio and resistance. Hopefully my schedule can serve as a template for you, and help you start to get an idea of when and where to place each type of workout. And from there, just have fun with it!

P90X & Insanity Hybrid Schedule:

Phase 1
Day 1 – P90X Chest & Back + Ab Workout
Day 2 – Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Day 3 – P90X Shoulders and Arms + Ab Workout
Day 4 – Plyometrics / Yoga X
Day 5 – P90X Legs & Back + Ab Workout
Day 6 – Insanity Pure Cardio
Day 7 – Rest

__________________________________

Phase 2
Day 1 – P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps + Ab Workout
Day 2 – Insanity Max Interval Circuit
Day 3 – P90X Biceps & Back + Ab Workout
Day 4 – Insanity Max Cardio / Yoga X
Day 5 – P90X Legs & Back / Insanity Upper Body + Ab Workout
Day 6 – Insanity Max Interval Plyo
Day 7 – Rest

__________________________________

Phase 3 (Week 1 & 3)
Day 1 – P90X Chest & Back + Ab Workout
Day 2 – Insanity Max Interval Circuit
Day 3 – P90X Shoulders and Arms + Ab Workout
Day 4 – Insanity Max Cardio / Yoga X
Day 5 – P90X Legs & Back + Ab Workout
Day 6 – Insanity Max Interval Plyo
Day 7 – Rest

__________________________________

Phase 3 (Week 2 & 4)
Day 1 – P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps + Ab Workout
Day 2 – Insanity Max Interval Circuit
Day 3 – P90X Biceps & Back + Ab Workout
Day 4 – Insanity Max Cardio / Yoga X
Day 5 – P90X Legs & Back / Insanity Upper Body + Ab Workout
Day 6 – Insanity Max Interval Plyo
Day 7 – Rest

__________________________________

Recovery Week in between Phases:
Day 1 – P90X Core Synergistics
Day 2 – P90X Yoga
Day 3 – P90X Kenpo
Day 4 – P90X Core Synergistics
Day 5 – P90X Yoga
Day 6 – P90X Kenpo
Day 7 – P90X X-Stretch

OR Insanity Recovery/MAX Recovery on any day

Anthony’s Challenge Group for Your Success!

I will be starting a Challenge Group on Monday, June 11 to help people reach their fitness and health goals!

This post has 7 sections…

Why I’m Forming a Challenge Group Jump to it
Questions and Answers Jump to it
10 Reasons To Join My Challenge Group Jump to it
My Experience With a Challenge Group Jump to it
Special Note About P90X Jump to it
What To Do After You Join My Challenge Group Jump to it
Join Now! Jump to it

Why I’m Forming a Challenge Group

Having done a full round of P90X and been in a Challenge Group before, I have realized the importance of exercise and proper nutrition in living a healthy life. Helping others reach their fitness and nutrition goals while they helped me at the same time was an awesome feeling that I want others to experience as well. Without being in a Challenge Group, I probably wouldn’t be eating as healthy or exercising as regularly as I am today. Consistent exercise and healthy foods have become an important part of my life and I hope to never go back to my old habits. I am not saying that I don’t indulge in a pizza or a bowl of ice cream from time to time, but I have figured out how to reduce my cravings for unhealthy foods, discovered new foods that are healthy and satisfying, and found a workout schedule that works the best for me. I am not trying to force anyone to workout or eat healthier. I simply want to show people that it isn’t hard to live a healthier life, and that I can guarantee that they’ll be a much happier person once they are.

Questions and Answers

What is a Challenge Group?

It is a group of people who have committed to getting healthy by participating in 90 days of a Beachbody workout program together. A Challenge Group will have around 5 people (plus me, your Coach!) – focused on a timeline and sharing goals. We’ll use a private Facebook Group just for our team so we can share our goals, be accountable for one another, support one another, and ensure we all achieve our goals by the end of the challenge! It’s not about perfection, but working together to get results.

How much does being in your Challenge Group cost?

It is completely FREE to join my Challenge Group! All you need is a Beachbody workout and the will to start living a healthier life.

What if I don’t own a Beachbody workout?

If you don’t own a Beachbody workout, you are in luck! Beachbody currently has special offers on their programs that, when combined with a month of Shakeology, come with a discount and include a month free of a Beachbody CLUB Membership. With a Club membership, you get special tools to form and record your nutrition plan. If you want to purchase one of these discounted packages, sign up for the Beachbody Challenge here and on the next page it will let you see the different packages offered. If you only want a program, you can order one online here! Be sure to order your program at least few days before June 11th to make sure you can start at the same time as everyone else! Not sure which Beachbody workout is right for you? Simply ask me!

How does a Challenge Group help me?

You will benefit from being part of a small, focused group of people, all working together to help each other achieve their health and fitness goals. You’ll receive motivation and friendship in your group, creating long-lasting relationships, trust, and comfort in sharing both struggles and successes. What’s more, you’ll also be joining The Beachbody Challenge contest where you’ll be eligible to win cash and prizes along your journey!

When should I let you know if I’m interested for a Challenge Group or ask more questions?

As soon as possible! My group is limited to 5 people (plus me) to make sure that no one gets left behind, so contact me as soon as you know if you’d like to join. If you know of someone else that you’d like to do this with you, send them a link to this page so they can contact me as well!

Besides my own fitness success, how else can a Challenge Group benefit me?

You can enter the Beachbody Challenge Contest going on right now!! It’s a health and fitness transformation competition where each participant is eligible for $500 every day just for logging their workouts online. At the end of the contest, the best transformations will be eligible for over $100,000 cash! There are quarterly & monthly winners for various groups and fitness programs, so there plenty of ways for you to additionally ‘win’ besides becoming more healthy and fit. Find out more information here.

What’s next?

Take action! Decide if you want to join my Challenge Group to help kick your goals into high gear and contact me using this handy link or by using my contact info below. Feel free to ask me any questions that you have!

Email: dewulf.1@osu.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/anthony.dewulf

What if June 11th doesn’t work for me?

I am starting my Challenge Group on June 11th because it is a time when most people are guaranteed to be out of school if they are currently a student. If you cannot start that early, please let me know and we can figure out what to do!

10 Reasons To Join My Challenge Group

1. Comfort of your own home – Each Beachbody workout can be done in the privacy of your own home. It doesn’t matter what you wear, how silly you look, or if you can’t quite do a certain move. All that matters is you.
2. No hassle with a gym – No gym fee, no personal trainer, no traffic, no bad weather, no waiting for equipment, and no one making you look or feel bad.
3. Accountability – Posting in the private Facebook group will keep you accountable, giving you some motivation to complete your workouts and eat healthy.
4. Form good habits – Find a workout schedule and nutrition plan that works best for you. Sticking with it for 90 days will surely make it a habit.
5. Lose weight and gain muscle – Who doesn’t mind that?
6. Find motivation – If you don’t get it from your fellow Challenge Group members, you’ll definitely get it from me. Not being motivated enough was the downfall to my fitness goals, so I will make sure it won’t be yours too.
7. More confidence – Feel better about your body and stop worrying about what others think!
8. Questions answered – Have a question, post it on the Facebook group! If no one knows the answer, we’ll at least be able to point you in the right direction.
9. Gain knowledge – You’ll learn tips and tricks to eating healthier and working out with the most effectiveness. These are things you can go on to share with others.
10. Feel better inside and out – By completing a Beachbody program in a Challenge group, you will have improved your nutrition and fitness, decreasing the chances of getting sick, and improving your self confidence.
Bonus. Swimsuit weather – Because it’s the summer, you might want to look your best and be able to stay cool when it’s hot. Completing a Beachbody program will make sure you accomplish both.

My Experience With a Challenge Group

Before: When I set out to do P90X, my greatest challenge was a lack of motivation. I have a lot of little hobbies like playing video games and listening to music and have been trying to stay focused on school, a part-time job, and my social life. When I started a fresh round of P90X in the fall of 2011, I had a friend who had done P90X before to motivate me, but it was tough to work out on my own and push play every day. In 60 days, I had done about 2/3 of the workouts, but I hadn’t followed the nutrition plan. Final exams and winter break came and I put off my fitness and became lazy. I didn’t feel like anyone was keeping me accountable and I didn’t have enough self motivation.

During: In January of 2012, my Beachbody coach, Wayne, asked me to join his Beachbody Challenge Group. He told me that it would consist of about 5 people who would all attempt Beachbody programs at the same time, and be there to motivate each other, share tips, and keep each other accountable. I joined the challenge group and started a new round of P90X on January 4th. I stopped skipping workouts and continually posted and replied to people on Facebook who were in my fitness group. The group also motivated me to eat properly, so I stopped buying the canned foods and started eating things that were healthy and fresh.

After: Participating in a Challenge Group gave me that extra motivation that I needed to push play every day. Seeing that there were other people out there that were trying to get in shape and were doing the same workouts as me was awesome. Being able to interact with them on a daily basis was even better. We helped each other out, swapped recipes, and kept each other motivated. If I wanted to skip a workout or eat an unhealthy food, I would think about how I would have to tell my Challenge Group so I would get my workout done or I would eat a more healthy food. To find out more about my results with P90X and a Challenge Group, check out this article.

Special Note About P90X

P90X was the perfect program for me because it combined strength training and cardio workouts in a way that led to easy weight loss and muscle gain. I attempted to do P90X for the last 3 months of 2011 and I finished a full round between January 4, 2012 and April 12, 2012. If you have any questions about P90X, such as you are not sure whether or not it is right for you, please feel free to ask. If you want to learn more about how I did with P90X, check out this article. If you are interested to know what supplements and equipment I used to do P90X in my own home, please check out this video.

What To Do After You Join My Challenge Group

Step 1 – Sign up to a free Beachbody account on Beachbody’s website and connect with me!
Beachbody’s website is the place where you can log your workouts, find answers to any of your questions, and connect with me. Now every member of Beachbody’s website gets a Coach who is assigned to them for guidance. If you’d like me as your Coach, I would be honored to do everything it takes to help you reach your fitness goals and be there with you every step of the way. Simply click here, and choose to sign up for a FREE account at Beachbody. When it asks you “Did a Coach Refer You”, simply select yes and use my Coach ID #, which is 122586. This will sign me up as your Coach! For more details on signing up and getting free Coaching, or if you already have a Beachbody account and would like to switch Coaches, please feel free to ask me! Once signed up, you can fill out your profile, share a little bit about yourself, your goals, and where you currently are fitness-wise.

Step 3 – Sign Up for the Beachbody Challenge!
Now that you have a Beachbody account, you can sign up for the Beachbody Challenge by going here! It is at that website that you can commit to a full 90 days of eating healthy and pushing play every day. You will then be asked if you want to purchase a Beachbody workout and Shakeology package at a special discount. If you already have a workout program, you can skip this step. After filling out some information about you location, Beachbody will promise to mail you a FREE t-shirt and enter you in a drawing for up to $500,000 if you come back and submit your results at the end of your Challenge. I got my P90X shirt in the mail about a week after I finished my Beachbody Challenge! I am still waiting to see if I won any money (fingers crossed!).

Step 3 – Prepare for your quest to SUCCESS!
Now it’s time to prepare, head on over to your Beachbody page where you can:

• Record you “before” photos, your measurements, and your weight.
• Submit your before information into your WOWY Super Gym account.
• Design a Food Plan using Beachbody’s WOWY Gym Food Planner that is right for YOU, your goals and your life style.
• Start logging your workouts in the WOWY Super Gym for a daily chance at $500!

Take it from someone who also didn’t want to take “Before” photos… you WILL want these! You may not believe me right now, but you will be flaunting these pictures along with your “After” pictures to everyone you see after your 90 days are completed.

Step 4 – Meet the TEAM!
You will be invited to my exclusive Facebook Accountability group and as the saying goes… this is where the magic happens! This will be our team’s main area to keep each other motivated and accountable. In this group, you will be able to log your progress each and every day (in addition to logging it in the WOWY gym on Beachbody’s website), as well as a place to check in for fitness & nutrition tips and of course, brag about your progress!

Step 5 – Press Play Everyday!
There are days that will truly be a struggle to keep a positive attitude and find the strength to “press play”, we all have them. Staying positive actually takes a LOT of effort, and each member of the team will be expected to be there for one another in the good times as well as the tough ones. And as your mother always told you, treat others the way you would like to be treated, attitude is contagious! Much like attitude, habits work the same way. Unless you’ve been working out for years and are just looking to shed those last few pounds, the next 90 days may be the biggest commitment you’ve made to your own health. Everyone in the team will be expected to stick to the plan given to them as MUCH as possible! This means you will:

1. Keep yourself accountable by staying on top of your meal plan
2. Set a time to work out and meet that time everyday with no exceptions, log it in the WOWY Supergym
3. Stay active on our private Facebook group

With these requirements met, there is no way… NO WAY you won’t see results!

Step 6 – Submit Results… And Never Pass a Mirror Again Without Staring Into It!
This is it, you made it. How does it feel after all of the New Year’s Resolutions that never turned out to finally be able to say… “I did it.” You’ve CRUSHED this challenge, and now it’s time to show off. Get your final pictures taken, head on over to the Beachbody Challenge website, and submit those pics! In doing so you’re now eligible to win a Monthly prize of $1,000, Quarterly prize of $5,000 and a free trip, and a Grand prize $100,000. So what now? Now that it’s all said and done is it time to go back to your old habits? NOPE. And if you’re reading this after finishing the Challenge, you already know there’s no way that’s going to happen. Why would you want to take a break from feeling this good?! Take a week or 2 and enjoy your accomplishments with a few exercises here and there, you deserve it. Congratulations on committing to your lifestyle change, and succeeding. This 90 day Challenge is only the beginning to your greatness, I hope you enjoyed the ride so far! If you have any other questions/concerns, are interested in finding out how you can get a 25% Coach discount, (or would just like to talk!) connect with me anytime by clicking here.
So… what are your next goals?

Join Now!

If you want to join my Challenge Group, simply comment on this post, email me, or message me on Facebook anytime before June 11th, 2012. If you missed my contact information above, you can find it below.

Email: dewulf.1@osu.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/anthony.dewulf

My success since completing P90X!

I finished my first round of P90X a little over three week ago. The whole reason I started P90X was to get myself into better shape. I ate better and stuck to the program each and every day. A big motivation for me was being able to help others by sharing my success. Beachbody really helped me help others by sharing my P90X Results Video on their P90X Facebook page. My success has now reach tons of people and my video has gotten over 3,000 views and hundreds of comments! Being able to show other people that yes, the program really does work, is an awesome feeling that now fuels every workout I strive to complete. Another motivational tool that has helped me stick with my workouts was joining a Beachbody Challenge Group. Let me tell you all about it!

Challenge Group keeps the motivation coming!

I really enjoy being in a Beachbody Challenge Group. My Beachbody coach, Wayne, asked me if I wanted to join his challenge group at the beginning of this year. It consisted of 6 people who were all committing to complete a full round of a Beachbody program. I set up to complete P90X, and with others to help motivate me, answer any questions I had, and give me tips, I finished P90X with great results. After each month, more people were added to the challenge group, and more motivation was available to me. Without this challenge group, I do not think I would have been able to stick with the program for the full 90 days. Seeing other people achieving success around you is a real motivator. Speaking of motiavtors, let’s head to our motivational segment of the week!

Motivational segment of the week!

Today we have two motivational tips since it’s been two whole weeks since I last posted. First, I found an awesome article on Forbes website titled, “6 Ways Exercise Makes You Smarter”. There is really no need for me to explain this article, just go check it out for yourself!
My second piece of motivation this week is a quote from my favorite personal trainer, Tony Horton. He posted on his Facebook, “The cool thing about P90X and X2 is that the methods and techniques are NOT debatable. If you eat right, show up and do your best while ignoring perfectionism then it will work! How many other things in life give you that?” I love this quote because I have found it to be true in my very own experience. I worked out every day for 90 days, ate healthier, and got results. I didn’t work out so hard that I was passing out, I didn’t throw away the cookies and the chips. I simply tried my best at every workout, decreased the amount of junk foods I ate, and added fruits and vegetables to my diet. Following a program is a lot easier for me than motivating myself to do random workouts throughout the week. P90X lays things out in a simple manner and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking to get healthier. If anyone has any questions about P90X, please feel free to ask! Speaking of questions, onto the Questions of the week!

Questions of the week:

Again, due to my absence from my blog last week, I am posting two questions this week! My first question is about fitness. Do you prefer working out in the morning, middle of the day, afternoon, or at night? I have experimented with all four and am not quite sure which time frame I like better for working out.
My second question is about one of my favorite things on this Earth, food! When you need to grab a quick bite to eat, what do you grab? Some fast food? A granola bar? An apple? Leave your answers in the comments below!

Thank you for reading! Have a good week everyone! If you have a fitness schedule, stick to it! If you don’t, make one! You’ll thank me later, I guarantee it!

We’re all guilty of it, being all pumped up to start our new lifestyle that ends up lasting 3 weeks if we’re LUCKY! But why does this happen to us? The excuse that someone is just “better at it” than us won’t work anymore, they’ve just been able to master the 4 Keys to Success.

So what are these 4 Keys to Success? Carl Diakeler, CEO of Beachbody, has spent his career answering that very question, because it’s also the key to his business. He’s found the answer, which is exactly why Beachbody is rapidly growing into an empire with their SUCCESSFUL programs that help people reach their goals and maintain a healthy and fit lifestyle, no matter where they are starting off.

The 4 Keys to Success:

1) Fitness
2) Nutrition
3) Support
4) Rewards
It sounds simple, but when you put these 4 Keys into play, you build an incredibly strong foundation that will sustain you for the long run.
Fitness: Speaks for itself! With P90X, Insanity, P90X2, Asylum, Less Mills PUMP, ChaLEAN Extreme, TurboFire, Power 90, Slim in 6, 10 Min Trainer, etc. there is something out there for everyone. Each workout contains enough variety to keep it interesting for years to come, and modification to allow you to dip into it regardless of your current fitness level. We have the the the FITNESS part covered!
Nutrition Another no-brainer. Each program comes with a special Nutrition guide that allows customization to fit each persons needs. In addition, TeamINCITE spends a TON of time and effort in helping our team fine tune for the best results. And the supplement lineup from Beachbody is simply unmatched for quality and value. No excuses here either!
Support: Now we’re getting our hands dirty. The biggest problem I hear from those who have given up is that they have no accountability because they’re “doing it alone”, and they don’t maintain the motivation to stick with it. They knew what it takes to reach their goals (they had the FITNESS and NUTRITION pieces covered), but did not have the SUPPORT. This is where TeamINCITE really comes into play, and why I feel that our team is able to reach their desired goals with the use of accountability groups and a “team” feeling.
Rewards: The ultimate reward in going through this change is our own health and fitness. But hey, we all need those little things that keep us going strong. Beachbody takes care of this with their Beachbody Challenge. Just for logging your workouts into the online WOWY gym, you are entered into a drawing for a chance to win $500 every single day. And if you get great results, you have more opportunities to win BIG. There are tons of rewards they offer to give us that extra incentive to push ourselves.
There is also “Milestone” rewards. For example on my first round of P90X, I said from the beginning that once I reach 215 pounds, I’m changing my hairstyle. It’s little rewards like this that push us, because we want to reach every reward! I know of a few people who buy themselves a few new pieces of clothing every 25 pounds. This is all well and good… but at the kick-butt rate you’re going, those clothes won’t last very long now will they?!

So what are you waiting for now? There’s no more time for excuses or procrastination, there will never be the “right time” to begin your fitness journey. The time is NOW!

Let’s get current!

I finished P90X a little over a week ago. Finishing P90X was no small task, and the results are very rewarding (check out my video here!). I feel great, I am more in shape than I was around Christmas time, and I formed a few good habits. The first habit is working out consistently. At the beginning of P90X, I could barely finish Plyo X and I absolutely hated doing Ab Ripper X. Now I look forward to working out every day and I try to modify a workout if it is too easy. Another habit is eating healthy. I now spend more tim on the perimeter than in the aisles at the grocery store and I eat more fruits and vegetables than I ever have since I’ve been in college.

More running personal bests!

Last week I ran a 4 mile, 5 mile, and 7 mile run. During my 5 mile run, I tied my best Nike+ recorded 5k time at 22’10”. I then finished my 7 mile run a whopping 36 seconds faster than last weeks 7 mile run! With all of this improvement, I am sad to say that it has left my slightly injured. I worked at my part time job for 16 hours this past weekend and between being on my feet for those 16 hours and the 7 mile run, I have developed a small pain on the outside of my right heel. This didn’t keep me from doing Chest & Back yesterday and I did manage to follow R.I.C.E (Rest, ice, compression, elevation). Hopefully this pain will go away soon because I have Plyo X scheduled for today and a 4 mile, 5 mile, and an 8 mile run planed for later this week. My word of advice for injuries, don’t push them! I’m not going to hit the streets for another run until I’m sure that this injury is fully healed.

Motivational segment of the Week!

My motivational quote of the week is not a quote but more of a question and answer session and it comes from my favorite fitness instructor, Tony Horton. He answered some questions on his Facebook page about eating healthy when there aren’t many healthy options or if you don’t like to cook: “Question: What do I do when I’m stuck in a restaurant with less than healthy choices? Answer: Eat the healthiest thing on the menu. Question: What do I do if I show up hungry at a party with lousy food options? Answer: Eat the healthiest thing at the party or eat before you go. Question: What do I do if I hate to cook? Answer: Eat the healthiest frozen or canned food you can find.” It does not take much to throw off a good diet, so try and keep it healthy no matter what situation you’re in. I like eating small meals frequently throughout the day so I am not in that “I’d eat anything right now,” kind of mindset.

Question of the week:

Do you wear outfits that show off some skin when you work out? If you don’t, try it! Skip the sweatpants and throw on a sleeveless shirt and shorts for your next workout. As you progress through a workout schedule/program, you arms and legs are going to look better and better. If you are trying to get into better shape, you should be doing it to make yourself happy. Seeing changes by looking in the mirror should motivate you to keep going! What do you think? Please share your opinion in the comments!

P90X: 90 days in quick review

P90X, as I quote Tony Horton, “is fun fun fun fun fun!” I enjoyed working out every day, keeping to a schedule, eating healthy, and motivating other to stay healthy in my Challenge Group. The first 30 days started of well. I lost over 10 pounds and was able to start slowly increasing my repetitions and weights. The next 30 days I added lots of running and lost some more weight. It was the last 30 days that weren’t so great. I took 2 weeks off of P90X for final exams and spring break, ate a lot of candy around Easter, and didn’t really stick to my nutrition plan. The result was no more weight lost and minimal results in my workouts. This, for lack of a better word, ‘failure’ to complete P90X on a strong note has solidified my decision to do another round of P90X. I started this new round on Monday, April 23.

New running personal best!

This past weekend I set my sights on the 7 mile run I had in my half marathon training program and crushed it! I have a few favorite routes around my house that I like to run, and I strung a 3 mile circle and a 4 mile circle together for finish with 7 total miles. The furthest I had run before was a 10k race (6.2 miles) 3 years ago. It was nice to set a new personal best in distance and I will try and see if I can find how fast I ran the 10k race in and compare the two runs. This week, I have a 4 mile, 5 mile, and another 7 mile run planned!

Motivational quote of the week: Bear Grylls

My motivational quote of the week comes from the television star Bear Grylls. Runner’s World posted the quote on their twitter feed: “There’s no magic to running far…Endurance is mental strength. It’s all about heart.” I agree 100% with this quote. I have been running further and further distances the past few weeks and because of P90X, I find that I have the physical capability of knocking out a 5 or 6 mile run. The only thing I struggle with it winning the mind game that is to keep putting one foot in front of the other for the entire run and not quitting early.

Question of the week:

Does anyone make scrambled eggs with egg whites? I try and eat scrambled eggs for breakfast each and every morning. I usually just crack open 2 large eggs, throw some milk and pepper in it, scramble it up, and cook it. I have heard that using the yolk from only one eggs or avoiding the yolks altogether is better than having 2 whole eggs for breakfast. What do you think? Please share your opinion in the comments!