Monday, 23 April 2012 12:57 Tony 1 Comment

Up And Down

Some days you’re up and some days you’re down and…some days you’re dead on target. I’m talking about the dreaded scale of course. Life has a funny way of getting in your face and stepping all over your goals sometimes, doesn’t it? This past weekend was a great example for me. We hit two birthday celebrations and a concert over the weekend which in turn slapped my face when I landed on the scale this morning. What’s important though is to not get discouraged.

Tati & I with Jon at Alive KISS Tribute Concert

I find that throughout the week I’m very focused and determined with my goals and then when the weekend comes around it’s like I forget about everything and get crazy with my nutrition. It’s all a learning process of course and I’m getting better day by day. I have learned from prior weekends that once I step on the scale on Monday to not get discouraged when I see it going in the wrong direction. Sure I could get upset at myself and be mad but really what is that getting me? All I’m doing is focusing on my failure and not looking forward towards the better choices I have to make. I choose to step out of that dark shadow of guilt and into the light on my way to a better me, maybe one who chooses NOT to eat all the Mexican food in sight It’s important to live your life. What I mean by that is you can make all the right choices for yourself and try to avoid all the social environments you can, events, concerts, dinners and you will probably do great and get healthy. But, is that living by hiding out and avoiding everything? No, of course not. It’s not easy, I won’t lie I still struggle with it and I’m getting better but we can all make better choices for ourselves and still enjoy the things we love like dinner and drinks with friends. One small tip is to share a meal. My wife and I do it all the time. Most restaurants have huge portions and there’s no reason we should be eating that much, so split it up. Share a meal and limit the amount of calories you eat. I know the feeling; if it’s in front of me I will eat it. Cutting it in half ensures you will eat less!

My wife and I are still doing great with our goals though. We’re still set for our Hawaii trip in a little over a month (YIKES that’s soon) and we’re pushing real hard to get in the best shape of our lives. Though we haven’t seen huge changes physically (yet) I have to admit that both of us for the first time have made a serious choice within ourselves to put our best foot forward and give it all we got. That click has gone off in our heads and we both love the feeling we get after a great workout. Times of couch sitting have past and we are ready for our new & improved selves to come out. Will we make mistakes? Sure, I mean look at this past weekend. Sometimes we falter on proper choices and sometimes we pull through but all in all the most important thing I can stress is to stay positive and to not fall back in the same traps and patterns that led us in the wrong direction. Have you reached your breaking point yet? Heard that little voice inside you that said, “OK, enough is enough!”? If you have then welcome because that’s the first step to a healthier you and there’s no turning back now!

“Mantenha o lado da borracha para baixo”

Monday, 02 April 2012 12:55 Tony 2 Comments

Rocking Insanity

This past week has been one of the more challenging weeks (physically) that I can remember in a while. See, my wife and I have our first ever vacation coming up in two months. So you know what that means right? Yep, we’re kicking our own asses to get in the best shape we can mentally & physically so we can look and feel our best on our trip. It’s not just any trip for us, it’s our honeymoon & 5 year anniversary all wrapped up in one. This is the trip we said we’d go on but never did. You know how it happens. The best plans falter and life gets in the way, bills come up and excuses get made. Not this time though, it’s planned and paid for and in the books!

Making the Plan

With the plans made for fun in the sun and lots of hiking and great eats we need to also have a plan made for getting us in good enough shape for all of the fun things we want to do. I’m not going to lie either, we want to look great in photos! So as a couple we sat down and hashed out a 2 month plan to get us ready. We both decided that the Insanity fitness plan was by far the most intense workout we could go through with the most optimal meal plan available. One cool thing we like about the meal plan is they’ve already added in Shakeology, which is one of our favorite meals of the day and just makes it that much easier to plan out our meals. The routine fits perfect into our schedule as well as it lasts about 45 minutes and it’s a total of 63 days which is right where we need to be for Hawaii. We’ve already taken our before pictures and all our measurements and entered them in the Team Beachbody website and we’ll be logging our workouts everyday for a chance to win some cash (hey why not it’s free?). Keep in mind that having a starting point is key in any plan because how would you know how far you came at the end? A scale alone won’t give you all the details as sometimes the weight doesn’t budge if you’re working hard enough to burn fat as you’re gaining muscle. Where the true growth comes from is seeing the changes in the way your clothes fit and seeing the numbers change in your measurements.

Putting it in Action

Having a plan is great but the real work comes with action. Like any plan the hardest part is taking that first step and pushing forward. Last week was our first week with Insanity (together) and I’ll be honest, it was actually a lot of firsts. It was our first time truly working out together this hard. Sure, my wife and I have gone jogging, walking and even hiking (another story) but for the most part we’ve never had an opportunity to really push each other. Insanity is a no holds barred, kick ass plyometric, in your face cardio butt kicker. We needed the push from each other our first week and I was so glad to have my wife by my side. On the days I felt like not pushing play she picked me up and said lets go, and simply said “Hawaii“. That was all I needed to get off my ass. There’s just something about working out with someone else that pushes you along through the workout. It also helps to know I have her waiting for me to get going so I surely don’t want to let her down. On a side note, I think we’ll need some serious carpet cleaning done after this 60 days though…talk about sweat!

Keeping Track of your Progress

I think I remember a quote from Tony Horton on one of his P90X videos that said something like “How do you know where to go if you don’t know where you’ve been“? What he was referring to was logging your workouts and keeping track of your reps, how hard it was, did it take longer this round to complete, etc. It’s important to know where your numbers are in the beginning so you can see where your success is at the end. How else do you know what to plan for the next routine you want to do? You can’t sit on the same goals all the time or you’ll end up plateauing and sitting stagnant on your goal whether that be weight loss, toning up or overall general fitness. Every two weeks the Insanity plan has a fitness test that helps with keeping track. It’s great because you can see where your weak spots are and also see where you’re progressing. I can’t wait to see our results after the next two months and look forward to posting and blogging about it. Have you ever done a program like Insanity with your spouse? What were your goals and did you reach them?

Friday, 02 March 2012 22:08 Tony 1 Comment

Saturday Ride

I’ll start by saying “I Love my Saturday ride”. There’s nothing like it. I might ride a few times during the week. Maybe throw my bike up on the trainer for an hour spin or head out to do some climbs which is great but the anticipation and excitement is always there for the ride on Saturday. Just something about heading out to meet your boys and knowing you’re going to get your ass kicked but not caring at all that makes it worth it.

See, I think that my Saturday ride is free therapy. I get to leave life behind momentarily with no responsibilities other than taking my pull at the front and making sure I can get up the next climb. All I need is a bike, some h2o and a couple of good friends to make my ride complete. No need to worry about destination or what time I have to be back. It’s just the open road for us. Of course you can’t forget the coffee pit stop as well. Nothing like a little pick me up with some good conversation midway through the ride.

The anticipation usually kicks in Thursday night. I have to make sure my nutrition and fuel for Friday are on point so I have no excuses on Saturday. Then Friday rolls up and I do an equipment check and make sure all my gear is ready to go. That’s where I’m sitting right now. It’s Friday night and I’m antsy to get rolling out tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM. New route to check out as well which is just another factor added into my excitement. Hence the late night blog post. Damn I love cycling. There’s just nothing more satisfying than kicking your own ass and that feeling of accomplishment when you crest the top of a climb. Or when you finish a long hard ride and pull into your driveway wasted, drenched in sweat and covered in road grime, thinking to yourself “wow, did I just do that?” Hell yeah!

So here’s to all the cyclists waking up tomorrow morning and heading out on the road. Keep the rubber side down and your eyes ahead and enjoy your therapy because I know I will.

“Mantenha o lado da borracha para baixo”

Monday, 27 February 2012 12:22 Tony 2 Comments

Pain Cave

Cold, burning wind in your face. Blazing heat that could cook an egg on the ground. Cramping thighs and calves. These are all but a small amount of issues that a cyclist deals with on a daily ride. Of course you can have a perfect ride with no issue’s what-so-ever and that’s usually what we shoot for. As a cyclist though we go through a barrage of different issues that for some reason we deal with. I believe that it’s the love of the bike that we go through these things and don’t even think twice of it. I often refer to this as my own personal pain cave which I mentally drop into now and again.

Pain is temporary as they say

You know “They” are always right? Don’t you? For me this comes into play quite a bit. Even when I ran my first half marathon last year I was in pain halfway through it dealing with blisters and a couple cramps but tolerated it because I knew I could finish. If I hadn’t pushed myself previously on my bike and gone through my own form of torture then I wouldn’t have ever known how far I could push myself during the run. I’m not saying that riding a bike makes you bullet proof. All I’m saying is that pushing yourself and dealing with a bit of pain builds a tolerance for it and it helps you adapt that tolerance to other situations.

Knowing your limitations is huge

For instance I was on a ride a few weeks ago and started to get mild cramping in my calves. That mild cramping grew into serious cramping and yet I knew I still had a climb left to get back to my car. So I eased back on the cranks and just took my time getting up that last climb even though it hurt like nothing else I’ve felt before and I made it back. I later realized I had forgotten to adjust my cleats after getting some new shoes and the cramps were totally my fault. It’s important to know what pain is easy to deal with and which pain is serious. Being able to differentiate those two will help you in the long run. If you quit running, riding, or what ever it is you do for fitness because you got a mild cramp or a tiny blister on your foot then, let me tell you, you’re focusing on the wrong thing. We’re all going to have issues when progressing along our fitness but don’t quit! If it get’s cold, bundle up and get out there. If it’s hot, throw on some sunscreen and bring extra water and GET OUT THERE. You will feel better afterwards to know you pushed yourself through it than the feeling you’ll have of never trying. Believe me I’ve been there and I can tell you that making it to the top of a mountain is a much better feeling then looking at it from the bottom and wondering what the view is like up top.

“Mantenha o lado da borracha para baixo”

Sunday, 19 February 2012 14:19 Tony 0 Comments

Primal Challenge

Monday’s are great. It’s a fresh start at a new week and another opportunity to start again and accomplish what you might have failed at the week before. Or, maybe its just another week for continued success. I’ve always had a positive look at Monday, never dreading it as others do. That’s no different for this coming Monday as well, beacause this Monday is day 1 of another Primal 30 day challenge.

This time I’m not alone, I have a few people doing it with me. What is the Primal Challenge you ask? Well check it out here then bounce back-Primal BluePrint 30 Day Challenge Now, even though the contest is no longer active on the Primal BluePrint website, the challenge is awesome and I’m doing it anyway. I’ll be customizing the workout portion of the challenge to meet my own needs. I’m about halfway through the P90X2 fitness program and I just started getting back on the bike so I’m pretty set in my daily/weekly routine in that department. For my own personal goals I’m focusing on one huge area taken from the Blueprint challenge.

Main Goal: Avoid Poisonous Things

Don’t eat garbage: This is the other side of the first challenge above. If you are eating Primal you aren’t eating chips, cookies, crackers, grains, pasta, beans, bread, popcorn, energy drinks, soda, juices, candy, vegetable oils and fast food. The list goes on. If you want to go Primal the first thing to do is purge your pantry, your fridge and your life of all the junk that has no place in your body. Do it for 30 days. I promise it gets easier and you’ll want to keep doing it because you’ll look and feel better.

I’ve already cancelled out most of these items as it is but I do have my slip ups which is OK from time to time following the 80/20 rule. The next 30 days I will be focused on not having any of those slip ups. Sometimes reaching goals like these above are easier to accomplish when leaning on others and doing it in a group. I’ve got a solid group of 5 starting on Monday and we’re going to rock this challenge. Want to join? Hit me up for the details.

“Mantenha o lado da borracha para baixo”

Tuesday, 07 February 2012 11:52 Tony 2 Comments

Think Pink!

Great Post taken from the Shakeology blog below. Can’t wait for this flavor to be released!

Link to the Post - http://www.shakeology.com/web/shakeology/the-blog

9 Reasons to Think Pink This Valentine’s Day

Tropical Strawberry Shakeology^®—just the sound of it makes you want to enjoy a tall glass on a sandy beach. But there’s so much more to it than just an enticing name. What’s in it? What’s the serving size? When can I get some?

These and other questions will be poppin’ up left and right when Tropical launches on February 14th. But have no fear. We put together 9 sips of brilliance you can use to become an expert.

1) Take a walk on the light side. Tropical Strawberry Shakeology is a new, light, refreshing flavor featuring strawberry, banana, pineapple, papaya, and coconut. And it’s easy to customize with any of your favorite additions.

2) Savor the new flavor. In a coco-nutshell, Tropical has a taste and texture so delicious and smooth, you won’t believe it’s vegan!

3) No animals allowed. Tropical is a completely plant-based formula with NO animal products. This makes it very easily digested and assimilated by your body.

4) Blinding you with science. Our proprietary vegan protein blend contains all 9 essential amino acids. It also contains a protein blend featuring raw, sprouted, fermented brown rice protein, along with sacha inchi, chia, flax, quinoa, amaranth, and spirulina.

5) Superfoods to the rescue. Tropical also includes NEW superfoods, including coconut flower nectar, luo han huo, Himalayan salt, and konjac root. All of the key nutrients come from natural whole foods. There are no added vitamin or mineral isolates and no fortification.

6) Get your mac on this Valentine’s Day. Maca, that is. Just like Chocolate and Greenberry, Tropical also contains maca powder (root), which carries strong libido-enhancing properties. Maca also helps increase stamina and energy levels, calms the nerves, and contributes to overall well being.

7) Try Tropical on for size. This delicious new Shakeology flavor is available in both 30-day bag and single-serve packettes. What’s more, you’ll also find it available in Challenge Packs by the end of this month, too!

Sweets for my sweet. Want a bunch of great new ways to enhance your shakes? How about a new recipe calendar with 30 fresh new recipes? Mmmm.View the recipe calendar.

9) Weight no longer. Eager to try Tropical right away? Can’t say we blame you. You can switch your orders on February 14th, so delicious Tropical Strawberry Shakeology will arrive to your door in your next shipment. Call customer service on or after Valentine’s Day at 1 (800) 935-1173.

Posted in Heather MacDonald , ”Shakeology^® Product News: 9 Reasons to Think Pink This
Valentine’s Day” Shakeology Blog

Not ready to take the leap on a full months supply yet? No problem, contact me and I’ll send you the details on how to receive a single serving sample pack for free.

Sunday, 22 January 2012 08:55 Tony 2 Comments

Respecting The Pull-Up

The dreaded pull up. When was the last time you tried one? Seriously though. When was the last time you grabbed a bar and tried to pull yourself up? I can remember back in middle school having to take the physical fitness test and always dreaded them. Even more recent I can look back and see myself fighting through them at basic training. It’s not such an easy thing to lift your body weight up, especially when you have more to lift than you should.

Best new tool!

Enter this little bad boy, (the Chin-up Max band from Beachbody). This guy right here is magical. You simply clip it to the top of your pull-up bar and step on the bottom stretching out the bands. Every band you see (there’s 3) will help lift a maximum of 35 pounds each. That’s a total of 105 pounds that the Chin-up Max will lift for you. For example I weigh 170 lbs so by using all the bands I’m actually only lifting 65 lbs for every pull-up. As you get stronger you start removing the bands one at a time! It really can’t be any easier. There’s no shame in having a little help getting yourself up to the bar. I’ve been using a chair to help support my weight as I progress and it has helped but I can already tell that with the Chin-up Max I will progress farther as I’m still hanging completely free from the pull-up bar rather than pushing on a chair with my foot.

Just one more item to add to my arsenal as I’m progressing through P90X2. Even if you can do pull-ups with ease this will help at the end to add in a few more reps. Two thumbs up from me for the Chin-up Max. I picked mine up at Team Beachbody. Grab yours here http://bit.ly/w9fD4b

“Mantenha o lado da borracha para baixo”

Up And Down