I know it’s that time of year where some of you might have gotten the bat out to beat yourself up for not following through with your New Year’s resolutions with spring and summer around the corner.  I’m here to tell you to put the bat away and let’s just re-choose.  There is no crime in renegotiating our goals with ourselves.  How many times in your life have you forgiven someone because a plan wasn’t executed in the time frame originally intended?  It’s time to do the same for yourself.

My challenge for you is to take this next month and start acknowledging everything that you are doing to be a healthier you.  Get a journal that will be the place that you start writing down what’s GREAT about YOU!  A good place to start is by setting a new goal to work towards so that you have things to acknowledge and celebrate.  This is the season that so many communities have a lot of different events to sign up for and participate in.  Pick one.  Whether it is your first 5k walk/run or a MS150 bike ride, pick one.   Get the support you need to train for it.  And always remember to recover and celebrate.  I always like to make a really good shake after a hard day of training.  Get out your blender, your chocolate Biggest Loser protein, 1/2 of a banana, ½ cup milk and blend adding ice to the consistency of a shake, pour it into a malt glass add a little whip cream, put a straw in it and go sit outside and enjoy your accomplishment of the day with your journal.

Good luck and I’ll talk to you soon,

Ali xo

So sheepishly we walk every Wednesday morning towards the enemy, the scale. For some reason we think that it will help to shed the gym shorts, which in all reality probably weight a couple of ounces. But this Wednesday it was the sweet sight of success. Down ten pounds since the start of the journey. Again, ten pounds off me is the equivalent of lobbing a couple of deck chairs off the Titanic. But it indeed was a victory, albeit small.

As you read our blogs we hope you don’t tire of hearing words of wisdom from successful people, but what a better place to find wisdom but from those who have reached their goals in life. Today we find encouragement from one of the truly decent guys who ever coached in the NFL.

When the Carolina Panthers first came to Charlotte, their first head coach was a guy named Dom Capers. He was a lawn and garden guy so we had a lot in common and sometimes talked after practice. The first major hurdle he faced was the fact that his first ever draft pick a quarterback was holding out and not participating in training camp. And that begged the question to the coach, “How bad does this bother you.”

He said not at all, and when he gave his reasoning we believed him. He said he only worried about the things that were in his control, and a hold out was way beyond anything he could control. A pretty simple thought yes, but it can apply to the battle we wage everyday.

We can’t control how other people treat us, but we can control how we treat ourselves.  We can control how much water we drink every day, and how much protein we take in and how often we hit the gym.  We can’t control when the sun comes up, but we can make time for exercise.

At one time or another we have all been guilty of spending a lot of time worrying about things that are out of our control.  And that negative energy can be placed elsewhere, and could one day result in the sweet sight of success on the scale.

- Scott from Amp1 Basketball

Hope this finds you well and healthier then the day before. Did you enjoy the Olympics? I love the winter Olympics. It just amazes me the incredible things people can do on skis, snow boards and skates. I am also glad my favorite show is back on…The Biggest Loser! Did you know that there is also The Biggest Loser Show in Australia? I did not realize that Bob and Jillian are also there. What dedicated people.

Well, I have taken a leap of faith and am applying to be on the Biggest Loser Show. I am going to the Detroit open casting call March 13. For me the Biggest Loser is my hope and I want to have the opportunity to share that hope with others who are bound by their obesity like I am. See, I have never been thin…never ever…I do not know what it feels like or what I would look like thin. I have not been able to connect the eating, exercise and lifestyle to get it to work for me. I believe if I got the opportunity to be on the show I could connect it all together. Believe me I have tried…I have been on diets since I have been 8 years old…that is 34 years of my life! Do you know what happens to obese children? They become obese adults and tend to have their own obese children. It’s a vicious cycle to live in. It’s not my effort and yes I have a million excuses to go along with why I am fat.

It would be so cool to be drinking the Designer Whey Biggest Loser Protein Powder while on the show! I would be so geeked to do that! Whether I get on or not is not what matters. What matters is that I draw inspiration from the crowd of people who have just as much chance as me to be on the show. I heard in Chicago that 1000 people tried out. I think there should be Biggest Loser Shows in every town. This program brings miracles to desperate people seeking answers and hope. What’s sad is that our insurance companies will pay for us to have gastric bypass and not set up programs like the biggest loser ranch.

Oh it’s been a beautiful sunny week here is Michigan. So glad to say to my kids “Go out and play!” Opened up a few windows to let some fresh air in, felt so good. I have to admit to my friends who read this… I have not been to the gym in over 2 weeks! My excuse…I was in charge of our school carnival and was extremely busy. But now that the carnival is over, I got to get back to the gym! I have to figure a way to get some equipment at home so on the days I don’t have the time to go to the gym I could at least do a workout at home, I suppose I could do that anyway and should. One of the Biggest Loser winners, Bill Germanakos suggested like on the ranch get a doctor, therapist, nutritionist and trainers…just do it. Something to consider…putting together a team of people to help us. Of course my program must include Designer Whey. Designer Whey has supported my weight loss journey for a long time now and even though I have struggles with my weight all along they have always been there to suggest and give advice… Love these guys!

I need to keep going, get back on track, and figure this out. I am about to send my oldest off to college with my eating habits and my exercises habits and I am afraid for her. She is already 30 pounds overweight. We visited the campus…let me tell you these kids have the best food available from 7 am until midnight, 7 days a week. All the ice cream they want…huge portions…all the soda pop they want…all the desserts they want…I am scared for my daughter that she will follow my footsteps…
So my friends on March 13 I hope you send me a special thought as I wait for my turn to have the opportunity of a lifetime so that I can bring that hope back home to my daughter, family and friends.

Take Care,
Camille

This weekend I went rock climbing with my friend Jessi at an indoor rock climbing facility.  It really was a lot of fun, and it’s a great whole-body workout.  It uses a lot of your arms, since you’re holding your body up against the wall, but it requires your legs as well to push yourself up the wall and some core workouts to keep everything together.  There are a lot of places to go to do some indoor rock climbing, and for around $21 you can climb all day and have a great time. 

Here’s the skinny on getting skinny rock climbing:  they give you a harness and send you on your way to climb any and all of the walls they have in their facility.  They have shoes and chalk bags available also, which can be helpful to those of us that sweat a little when we workout.  You attach yourself to a rope and have your buddy attach themselves to the other end, which is roped up through some pulleys at the top of the facility.  Get the slack out of the rope, grab your first handhold and get started!  Scale the wall carefully and with concentration, work your way to the top, and be sure to hit the top of the wall (or at some places ring the bell) before you figure out which way to want to descend.  You can either climb back down, or you can rappel down, which is a lot easier.  Either way your partner needs to keep an eye on you and make sure not to let the rope slide out too quickly.  All in all it’s actually pretty safe, since everything is set up for first-timers.  Of course, they have some very difficult walls to scale as well, and I challenge those of you out there that think they’re in good shape to try some of the walls that are at a greater than 90 degree angle, because they’re not easy to do.  And if you can’t do it, then I know at least one girl that can show you how.  So go call a few friends, and bring a couple of protein waters with you to keep your energy levels up, and prepare for a really fun time of working out, because rock climbing isn’t easy, especially when you do it for 2 or 3 hours.  Go try it, and have some fun doing it! Until later, KEEP AT IT!

The Cons of going to the gym during your lunch break:

As great as going to the gym during my lunch break is for me, I realize that it is far from compatible with many people’s daily routines. For one, not everyone is allotted a full hour to take their lunch break. When this is the case it is pointless for you to even attempt the gym during the lunch break because by the time you get to the gym and get dressed you pretty much have enough time to by that protein drink that you like and turn around and get in the car to head back to work. Which brings me to my next point, if there isn’t a gym within a 5 min driving distance from your work, it really isn’t worth it. For me, I have two with in 5 min walking distance to my work so it suites me perfectly, but many business establishments are not in close proximity to places where you can work out. If you cannot get in the work out you want during the time that you are allocated for your lunch period then you are either jeopardizing your job by pushing its time limitations and getting your full work out in or you are compromising fitness ethics, goals and morale by cutting your work outs short. And no one who is serious about making money or working out would want to ride this line. Piggy backing on the time factor is the showering issue. I will be the first one to tell you that I am raw about this and not proud of it. I schedule all of my meetings for the first 6-7 hours of my day and then go to the gym after all of my meetings. So for about 80% of the day I am at my desk/cubical meeting with my employees and the last 20% I am tucked away in an office out of smelling range from anyone. I know this seems dirty but honestly I wipe down with a towel afterward and put on cologne for those last 2-3 hours of work and then I go right home and shower. But this “hippi-esh” routine might drive some people up the wall.

The last con that really comes to mind is that you are for the most part missing out on a break. For many people, going to the gym is a chore, but they do it because they like how it betters them – the same reason that they keep going to work every day. For these people going to the gym during their lunch break would seem like hell because it would be using up their break and replacing it with more work. This is probably especially true when doing physical labor work and substituting a well deserved lunch break with more physical demands on the body. Also, people need that mental break where they eat in about five minutes and space out for the rest of their lunch. Going to the gym during lunch may not give their mind the rest it needs and in fact may add more stress and dumbfounded logic to it weighing it further down. That thing that sits nestled in a fragile state with in my skull is constantly moving, even when I “veg” out it is going a mile a minute, which might make me look insane, but it actually keeps me going and surprisingly at peace. So for me going from one activity to another is somewhat of a mental break because when I switch activities it invites a whole new stream of thoughts that help replace all the stale ones beginning to drag me down. But I once again am fully aware that this is not how everyone’s mind works.

With these three suggestions I have given you both the pros and cons that I have suffered myself or that I have gathered from the opinions and conclusions of other people who frequent the gym. I did this because I wanted you all to weigh them out and truly consider them before diving head first into any of these. I also realize that I have missed several pros and several cons to all 3 of these, so if you any please post them. I have a couple more tips on how to face the “itis” head on, but as far as defeating it by choosing different times to work out at, this is all I got. I hope you get something out of one of these. Let me know if you try any of these and let me know what works and what doesn’t. These are simply the opinions of a guy who has opinions about anything and everything, take it or leave it as you will.

Back in high school there was a very prestigious basketball camp up in Pennsylvania. But in order to get into this camp, you had to get a recommendation from a coach that WASN’T from your school. So on our applications, we created a fictional Coach named Red Jenkins, and a fake school called Union Hills Prep where he coached. They bought it and we were in.

We had a chance to see if we could hang with the best players in the east, and the answer was a resounding no.

But the featured speaker the first night was a little known college coach from the Midwest. He spoke about “saving yourself” and how it was death to an athlete. We have all fallen into the trap of saying, “I’m gonna go hard tomorrow so I’ll save myself today”, or “Next year will be my big year, so I’m going to take it easy this season.”  His message was “train like a champion today, and practice and play like it’s your last day.”

That coach was the guy we now call Dickie V, ESPN analyst Dick Vitale.  And that message can be applied to us as we try to win at the game of losing weight. We have all said, “I’ll have the Double By-pass Burger and the stroke fries today, because tomorrow it’s all salads.” Or “I’m going to hit it really hard tomorrow, so I’ll take it easy at the gym today.”

When in reality, if we’re going to diet tomorrow, why couldn’t we start today. And if we make the effort to walk through the gym door, why not go until failure, like tomorrow really isn’t there. And above all else, “Train like a Champion, Today.”

As it turns out, swimming is much more than a way to cool off on a hot day.  It’s one of the best overall workouts there is.  It combines a great cardio workout with a strength workout built for toning up your arms, chest and legs, meaning that a short amount of time in the pool can add up to the equivalent of way more time in the gym.  And it can be very relaxing while you do it, making it even better.  Please allow me to break down what I’m doing in the pool.

I get in, and thankfully my pool is heated.  Now, I’m not here to lazily float around and just bask in the mid-morning or afternoon sun.  I’m here to work.  But it’s kind of like working at a really fun place, because I love to swim.  I plant my feet at one end of the pool, push off the wall and start the American Crawl from one end to the other, focusing on both my form and my kicking, my breathing, and my swimming path.  I really don’t want to run into the wall or Sergio half-way down the pool.  I go to the other end, and without touching my feet on the bottom I embrace the wall and turn around with a good kick-off, and I go back to the other side yet again.  I go back and forth without stopping for absolutely as long as I can, which isn’t very long because I’m still pretty out of shape and this is a rather intense workout.  When I absolutely can’t go any further, I stop at one end and catch my breath for a little while, then I start going on “one-way trips” where I only swim to the other side.  I do as many of those as I can also.  Every lap or half lap you do (a lap is considered down and back) is that much more work that you’re forcing your body to do, and it’s working out almost your entire body.  Keep going, and going, and going, until you can’t breathe anymore and your muscles ache because they haven’t been used like this is forever, and then do one more lap for good measure.  Then, if you’re lucky like me, you can get out of the pool and go directly into the hot tub and relax some more.

I’ve found that swimming with a friend, especially someone who is in much better shape than you, is most rewarding.  Why specifically someone who is in much better shape? Because that person can benefit from swimming some laps as well, but they have to go harder and farther than you to get that same benefit that you’re getting.  What I do with Sergio is he has to do DOUBLE the laps that I do.  So if I do 5 laps (which is, again, down and back) he has to do 10 laps.  If I’m feeling extra-energetic, and decide to do 6, or even 7 then he has to do 12 or 14 laps, respectively.  So if I push myself a little bit more, it pushes him a lot more, which is great motivation for me to go as long and as hard as I can, so that I can punish him a little bit.  And he loves it, because it’s helping him with his cardio and his toning as well.  We make a game out of it, by pushing each other to go further and further.  I also love to handicap him by making him do more difficult strokes, like the butterfly or the breast stroke, which will focus on different muscles as well.   And that’s something you can do also.  Go down using the crawl, go back using the breast stroke, go down again using the butterfly, go back using the back stroke, etc.  By mixing it up you’ll put the strength focus on different muscle groups, while still working out all of them in the general whole.  And at the end of your swim, when you’re gasping for air because you didn’t realize that swimming was this much of a workout, remember one thing: you’re still in a pool, working out, and enjoying the water and the sun.  Then go hit the hot tub with a bottle of Protein Water to rehydrate you, and bask in your glory of another successful workout.  Enjoy, and until next time, KEEP AT IT!

And then, there is my true Achilles’ heel, my weakness. The crystalline liquid that takes me so far away most every evening. My wine. I love big, heavy red wine. Sniffing, swirling, sipping, into heavenly bliss. But it’s gotta go. At least down to an occasional glass. Sad, but true.

There is no truth to the rumor that the last time I went to the beach a couple of marine biologists tried to push me back in the water, but I was about 15-20 pounds overweight. But one person did ask me if I actually knew where my gym was. So with boating season  just weeks away it’s time to get serious. With the help of Designer Whey products, and a really wonderful friend who has offered to help me, I plan to shed some pounds, get in shape, and feel better about myself.

There are many tips out there about how to stay fit if you have to travel. Many hotels have side deals with local gyms for discounted daily rates. That gets you out of the usually under-equipped, overcrowded hotel fitness center. It also helps me to stay in my own time zone and avoid the west coast late night hunger binge. That really means you’re feeding your body well after 8pm, only the clock says 5pm. And if you’re forced to eat out, and out of your normal time zone, almost any restaurant will let you order a slab of grilled chicken on a bed of greens. Just make sure the dressing is fat free.

So as we sit today, I’m 44 but feel like 55, 245, but feel like 255. Stay tuned and we’ll shed this baggage together!