Why Do I Love P90X So Much?

If you have gotten to know me for any longer than 10 minutes, then you know of my infatuation with P90X.  While it is not a workout program I do exclusively, it is my favorite. 

Why is it my favorite?  A better question is why, of all the workout programs, gyms, and gadgets out there, is P90X so popular.  Here is my take on that question.  I would imagine anyone who has done the program would agree with me. 

First, it is the most effective workout program I have ever done.  I am 42 years old and I am stronger, faster, and more flexible then I have ever been.  My blood pressure is in check, my cholesterol level is well within range, my blood sugar is negligible, my resting heart rate is 40, and I am 20 pounds lighter then the day I got married.  I fully attribute that to a rear-end kicking fitness program and a diet full of healthy foods. 

Second, it was affordable.  I purchased it almost two years ago for $120.00 with the guarantee from Beachbody I could return it if I didn’t like it.  Since then, I have never paid for a gym membership or gas to drive across town.  Simple math tells me I saved no less than $720.00 on gym fees and another $400.00 on gas.    

Third, it is convenient for me.  I have a family, a full time job, and many other interests, so quite frankly I don’t want to go to a gym to workout.  I workout primarily in the morning before my kids even wake up.  If your gym is like some of the gyms my friends go to, they are only open certain times during the day.  Other gyms are open all the time, but driving there and then waiting for someone to get off the equipment is highly undesirable.  Also, if I am trying something new, I don’t have to worry about embarrassing myself in front of other people.  With P90X, I am in my garage.  It’s just me.  Well, me and Tony Horton.   

Forth, I need structure.  Most people need structure.  I believe most people fail at fitness because they “wing it” and end up not getting the results they are looking for.  With P90X, everything is laid out for you.  The workout and meal plan for the 90 days is there for you to follow.  

Finally, it is all basic stuff.  Real life muscle is what I call it.  There is this notion in gym world that you need all of this fancy equipment to get into shape.  Not true at all.  In my garage I have dumbbells that range from 5-90 pounds, a pull up bar, plyometric blocks, and some resistance bands.  If you do your workout right, that and a good meal plan is all you need.

    

If I have your attention, take a look at this video.  It is one of the commercials for P90X.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BeachbodyVideo#p/search/5/BzbMmnLsXBE

 Tony Horton is a fitness genius.  He chose to create P90X for the reasons I listed above.  If it catches your attention as I am sure it will, send me a message so we can get this ball rolling.

Bill    

    

The Transformation That a Picture Can't Show

I was sent this picture and felt compelled to share it.  Elena took the Insanity challenge and completely changed her appearance in only six months.  I would imagine she is almost unrecognizable and gets more compliments then she can handle.  Nice job.

What this picture, and thousands just like it, doesn't show is how much different a person she is on the inside.  She has more self confidence, more energy, doesn't have that 2:30 crash many of us have, and she sleeps like a baby.  If she keeps up this excellent work, she will be less prone to injury and disease as well.      

8 "Diet" Foods That Can Make You Fat

Justine wrote this and I got a lot out of it- so I wanted to share it with you.  A lot of the foods we eat that we think are healthy simply are not.  

8 "Diet" Foods That Can Make You Fat

By Justine Holberg

A veggie wrap for lunch. A night out for sushi. And you're working out . . . but you're still not losing weight. What gives?

Some "diet" foods may be your worst enemy. That's because they're tricking you into eating too many calories. So what are some of the worst offenders?

1.     Sushi: Fish wrapped in rice and seaweed. Not a diet food? Yep, that's right. It's not always as "light" as it seems. Some sushi has calorie levels so high it might just shock you. 

Diet Shocker: One eight-piece serving of Philadelphia sushi roll is the caloric equivalent of 1 medium bagel with plain cream cheese—close to 500 calories. It's the cream cheese that gets you. And what about spicy tuna and other mayo-based rolls? They can contain as many as 450 calories and 11 grams of artery-clogging fat per serving. Eat too many of the "wrong" rolls and you're in Big Mac® calorie territory.

2.      Wraps: You order the whole wheat veggie wrap thinking it'll put you on the skinny track. But is it actually the fat track? For some reason, wraps have been viewed as a healthy upgrade from a sandwich, but this isn't always the case. 

Diet Shocker: The tortilla holding your wrap together can easily contain the same number of calories as four slices of bread, not to mention more carbs and twice as much fat. Many kinds of wraps you get at a deli have at least 300 calories. And that's just the tortilla, not the contents. You also have to factor in the fillings—and keep in mind that a wrap has more surface space to spread these calorie-boosting culprits:

o    Dressing

o    Cheese

o    Mayo

All told, one healthy-seeming wrap can easily trick you into eating hundreds more calories than you planned.

3.     Granola: When you're having granola, you might think, "It's healthy. The fiber and all those little pieces of dried fruit are so good for me." Truth is, although it's got good stuff in it, it also packs in the calories. 

Diet Shocker: A half-cup serving is what's often listed on the nutrition label of prepared granola. But who eats just half a cup? For most brands, there are more than 400 calories in a one-cup serving of granola. And when's the last time you actually measured? If you keep filling your cereal bowl with this stuff, it's no wonder you're not losing!

4.     Bran Muffins: The kinds sold at many bakeries today aren't the little 3-inch muffins Grandma used to bake. They're much, much bigger. And just because they're made with "healthy" bran doesn't mean they're a diet food, either. 

Diet Shocker: The average bakery muffin can contain as many as 630 calories. You might be slightly better off with a bran muffin than, say, a banana or blueberry one because of bran's extra fiber, but most of them are still packed with sugar and butter. Eat one bran muffin from Dunkin' Donuts® and you'll be consuming 480 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 46 grams of sugar. OMG.

5.     Dried Fruit: The more fruit you eat the better, right? Not when it comes to the dried stuff. 

Diet Shocker: You could boost your calorie count as much as four times (!) by choosing to eat the dried version of a fruit rather than its fresh counterpart. Check out these calorie comparisons based on a 100-gram (about 1 cup) serving:

Fruit (about 1 cup)	Fresh	Dried
Grapes	70 calories	(Raisins) 300 calories
Apricots	50 calories	240 calories
Bananas	90 calories	(Banana chips) 350 calories
Plums	45 calories	(Prunes) 230 calories

6.     Pumpkin-Flavored Baked Goods: Pumpkin is nutritious, but these baked goods can be a dieting disaster. Like bran, pumpkin has lots of stuff that's good for you. So if you see pumpkin on a baked-goods label, it's easy to think you're eating something that's lower in calories. Not the case, though: Pumpkin doesn't mean diet food. 

Diet Shocker: Dunkin' Donuts strikes again. Their pumpkin muffin has 630 calories and 28 grams of fat. OMG again! Want to switch bakeries? It won't help much. A pumpkin muffin from Panera Bread® has 530 calories and 20 grams of fat, and the pumpkin scone at Starbucks® has 470 calories and lots of fat too—22 grams' worth. You might as well be eating pie with whipped cream!

7.     Olive Oil: It's a good fat and helps you burn fat. However, you don't need a lot of it to get the benefits. Two tablespoons a day can do the trick. And overdoing it can backfire. 

Diet Shocker: Olive oil served with bread at a restaurant is heart-healthy, but high in calories. You can easily sop up a quarter of a cup. That's 478 calories, not including the bread. Or the rest of the meal you've ordered.

8.     "Healthy" Salads: That's what some restaurants want you to believe in their "lite" section of the menu. It must be diet-friendly, right? Not always. 

Diet Shocker: Listed under "Healthy Options" on the T.G.I. Friday's® menu, their pecan-crusted chicken salad, which contains mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, and celery, has 1,360 calories. Meanwhile, their cheeseburger and fries combo weighs in at 1,290 calories. Say it ain't so.

So what's a dieter to do in a world filled with "diet" traps?

Ask about nutrition and read food labels. After a while, you'll be a pro at it and enjoy the weight loss that comes with it. You won't even have to give up the foods you like. That's because you'll know how to work them into your food plan the right way.

Life is Not a 90 Day Program

Congratulations!  You just finished P90X.  If you did things the right way, you are much stronger, much leaner, faster, and about 10 times as flexible as you were before you started.  I told you doing Yoga was beneficial.  The compliments sure are nice, aren't they?  

So, what now?  Do you do P90X again?  Do you begin Insanity?  Turbofire?  Do you join a gym?  Those are all great questions.  We will handle those over the phone or in person.

Your new-found abs or biceps look great.  But what is going to keep you motivated six months, a year, ten years from now?  It shouldn't be just the great looking body.  In my humble opinion, fitness has to be spiritual.  For me, it is being able to play with my kids when they are older.  It is about being able to pick my grandkids up over my head and spin them around.  It's about NEVER being on blood pressure medication.  It's about having a quality of life when I am 80 that makes me want to stay above ground.  It is about, God forbid, one of my family members gets sick, I can take care of them.  The list is a mile long, but you see where I am coming from.  I am planning for those days right now.  

The same should hold true for what you put into your mouth.  If you eat a clean diet full of vitamins, anti-oxidants, whole grains, and lean proteins, yes, you will most definitely look better now.  But think about what that is doing for your body 20 years from today.  You are less likely to get sick and much less likely to have to take medications you would otherwise have to.

If your goal is to only fit into your old jeans or to look like some actor or athlete, I can guarantee you that won't get you out of bed for your Plyometrics day two years from now.  Why?  Because nobody cares about how you look but you (I stole that from Tony).  If your goals are more substantial than that, like the ones I may have listed above, then chances are you are going to stay motivated way past day 90 of your current workout schedule.

You are going to make an amazing grandparent!      

Bill 

www.teambeachbody.com/billeaton  

Soup for Breakfast? Are You Crazy Tony Horton?

In reading Tony's new book "Bring It", he has a section called "Creating Your Meals".  It is really helpful for anyone looking to not only eat healthy, but have fun doing it.

There is a part on page 237 titled "Soup: It's What's for Breakfast".  Immediately, I thought that to be pretty off the wall.  But as I read it, he made perfect sense.  Soup is filling, nutritious, and it tastes great.  It is full of protein, vitamins, and the types of carbohydrates you need to compete.  Getting a healthy meal to start your day is a key to any fitness program, so having soup simply is a good idea.  As Tony says, soup for breakfast is also a tradition in many parts of the world.

Obviously, make sure the soup you pick is homemade and low fat.  I don't think he is talking about clam chowder. :)

Have a great day everyone.

Bill

 

Reason Number 491 Why Beachbody Workouts Are Better- Convenience

Not sure about you, but convenience is a key to my workouts.  This morning I did an hour of Kempo Karate at my house.  It kicked my tail- pun definitely intended.  I am still sweating as I type this.  What I really liked about it (especially on a Sunday morning before church) is that I can get a more effective workout in my garage than at a gym.  No driving to the gym in the rain (not that most gyms are open this time on Sunday mornings), no waiting on my instructor, no waiting on people to get off equipment (germs, anyone?), and no one watching me embarrass myself trying to do a new exercise or move.

I just did some rough math.  Maybe this will hit home with people with families or other interests.  If your average commute to the gym is 15 minutes each way, and you workout 5 times a week,  that is 130 hours a year you are spending JUST commuting.

Oh, and you don't have to run into gym guy.  You know, the guy with the orange skin and tank top.  

5 Hour Energy? What About 24 Hour Energy?

5 Hour Energy.  You've seen the bottles.  They are typically on the counter at the convenience store.  They are convenient- you can pick one up whenever you are in line with your other items.  


I like to talk about 24 Hour Energy.  No, that's not the name of my new energy drink, but the concept behind a life that has vigorous exercise and good nutrition intertwined in it.  See, when you commit to a fitness program you are doing SO much more than just shedding weight.  You really are becoming a new person.  When you spend 40-60 minutes a day sweating and the rest of the day eating high quality foods, your energy level improves, you sleep better, and you have much less of a need for miracles in a bottle.  When you replace your trips to McDonald's with healthy foods, you are giving your body the fuel it needs to not only tackle your workout, but the others things during the day that demand energy.  Do you think that the tired feeling you get mid-afternoon is inevitable?  I submit that it is not. 


Tip of the day (your meals):  For the next week remove sugars, processed foods, and fried foods from your diet.  Rather than have a big lunch full of carbohydrates, eat five smaller meals that include lean proteins, vegetables, and whole grains.  Your energy level will remain high during the day, you won't be hungry, you won't have that 2:30 crash, and you will feel like a million dollars.  Once the week is over, I can fully promise you that you will want to stick with it. 


Tip of the day (your exercise):  Commit to a program that combines strength training, cardiovascular training, and  stretching for flexibility.  Do this program for an hour 5-6 days a week.  These are the exercises needed to make your body stronger and better.  This isn't just about looking good, although that definitely helps.  It is about a higher quality of life now and when you are older.     


My boss Tony Horton has a new book out called "Bring It".  If you want to learn more about what I just wrote, make the commitment to reading it.   


Bill