Hey Friends,

It’s hot in Michigan, we are filling our pool up, we bought a fire pit thing for our back yard….all is good.

My weight stayed the same this week but I m ok with that cuz my pants are not so tight. I was at the tightest stage for my jeans almost having it get another size up but now I am just at the tight stage…next will be the perfect fit, the loose then will have to buy a smaller size..whoohooo!

I am feeling good and excited to start a 12 week challenge in my group at fast track to fat loss site. I am excited Kim Lyons one of the pass Biggest Loser runs this site. I joined and loving the meal planners, challenges, exercise planner and meeting lots of new friends…awwww don’t fret Designer Whey friends are still my favs! Coolest of all…I could win a trip to Loreto Mexico on the Fast Track Vacation Home! FREE! I have to get the most votes and be the most improved in the 12 week challenge… what an incentive! So I expect my Designer Whey followers to vote for me when the time comes to vote. Deal?

So who you going to vote for to be one of the 3 finalist on the Biggest Loser? I feel for Darris…I have the same problem…I do excellent all day right on target but as soon as the sun goes down the wolf fangs come out and it is very difficult to control myself. Not sure why that is, something I have to work on. Then Koli he really deserves it he did not mess up and did an amazing job at home. I am torn on who to choose. Final show is Tuesday be sure to watch! I am excited to see all the players and how they did.

Well I am off to mow the lawn in 85 degree weather…that should muster up some sweat! My last weigh in is Wednesday for the 8 week challenge I am in right now so we shall see the fruits of my labor and I will blog about it right after cuz I know you all are there with me.

I love my Designer Whey!

Have a great one.

Camille

Ps I love these 90 calorie buns! Put a hunk of chicken along with some fruit on the side then a glass of ice water with a 2GO pack in it… there ya go a complete meal. Be sure to sit outside and enjoy your meal.

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The last time I started a new “Blog Segment” I made the mistake of saying how many posts it was going to encompass (4) and I ended up branching out with many new ideas on the subject and ended up with a total of 14. So this time when I start fresh I am not going to limit myself because as I have come to find out, when it comes to the fitness world and getting my thoughts on paper the little mice in the cage that is my brain are constantly turning that wheel.

While in the  midst of my last set of blog posts, I was reading a fellow Designer blogger’s post, Nathan’s well written piece on Motivation, and saw something that really intrigued me; “the playlist.” And I thought to myself I will write a post about the playlist and its importance. But then when I began to think about it a little more, what playlist would I talk about.  I know that I alone have 6 different playlists for each day at the gym – in which I cycle songs in and out of. But while listening to one of these mixes I saw someone else at the gym, a significantly older man, who had his head phones in and looked like he was rocking out and really using the music to push him through his workout. Then I thought to myself I know that everyone listens to different music when working out but I wonder what types of music gets certain people going, moving and shaking at the gym.  And honestly how hard is it to find this stuff out. In my email archive alone I have tons of people that I know from all different races, ages and slices of life that would probably be able to answer this burning question for me, so of course I threw it out there.  I got a lot of responses with a lot of different playlists, so I pried even further and asked questions about their playlist and reasoning behind it, which helped me narrow down the responses that I received, and found a few that really stood out to me. 

I decided to take all of these electric correspondent interviews that were a cut above the rest and write blogs about them (of course with the consent of the interviewee) and just change the name of the person.  But in the course of doing so I realized that this might not be as enticing as I thought. To make these posts a little more intriguing I thought I would pick out a couple of my playlists that most closely corresponded with the playlists that I received and add a little blogging pizzazz to it – Ok you caught me that makes them more intriguing to me but hey it might make for a good read for you.

The bottom line behind doing this series of blogs was to determine the overall importance of the playlist to different personas within the fitness world. Who’s to say that what I use a playlist for at the gym is what others use it for? I use some playlists for motivation, some for rhythm, some for tempo, and some for empowerment. In trying to unearth the different uses and motivators that the playlist can contain, I wanted to be able to offer what I found to everyone else so that these findings might be applicable to the many different personality types that read these blogs. My main struggle with the fitness world as I have commented on time and time again, is finding the proper motivation to stay in that world. If I think of something that will serve as a little extra motivator that I need or that little piece of mind that I come across that will make my experience in the fitness sphere  a little bit easier and more enjoyable I want to pass it on because chances are someone out there might find it helpful. So over the course of these next blogs I will be exploring “the playlist” pertaining to the benefits they have on different people who are trying to keep fit. As always please feel free to comment especially on the different playlists that are thrown out there and the reasons behind them.  I will make one disclaimer, I was not able to find someone in the 58 or older category to complete this interview and am not going to chance asking someone at the gym what their age is.  So if you know someone of this age that exercises on a regular basis to some type of sound track, let me know and I will get back to you.

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This is the final thought of helpful tips and methods on “defeating the Itis” pertaining to the daily fitness routines that many go through.

Well once again I am coming to the close of another segment and with that I wanted to offer some final thoughts on the underlining message behind this last series of blogs, which is “it doesn’t matter how you get yourself into the gym, it’s just important that you do.” I say getting yourself into the gym but what I am really talking about here is following through in general when it comes to fitness resolutions. It can be as simple as doing pushups and sit ups in front of the TV or running a mile or two around the block every day or making sure that you stick to a certain caloric value on a daily level. Whatever your fitness goals are it is important that you follow through with them, and in order to do so you have to create some sort of routine or regimen that keeps you on the right path to achieving these goals.  That is what I was trying to do with this set of blogs, offer up some helpful tips and tactics to make staying on whatever path you set for yourself a little less trifling.

Staying on these paths that we make for ourselves is much easier if we make our goals realistically obtainable. Creating goals like seeing a drastic change in your body figure or a major decrease in your weight or wanting to be in the top ten for a marathon are all perfectly fine goals, and yes it is true that anyone can achieve them. But what is unrealistic are some of the timelines that people put forth to reach these destinations. If you are a hundred pounds overweight and in really bad physical health, you are not going see results over night in trying to be in the top ten places of a marathon. But you will see significant improvement and over time if you keep on a realistic schedule you will arrive at that goal. I read stories all of the time about something like this happening, so it is absolutely reachable. But within all of these stories that I read, there are always depictions of the (in most cases) long road that it takes to get there. Which is why it is important to set bench marks for these physical aspirations because while it is in fact important to always keep the main goal in sight it is even more important to mark your progression in reaching it. Lots of time we burn out on our habitual fitness routines because we are not seeing the results we want and we are not receiving that notion of self gratification that we feel when we accomplish our goals.  In this day and age with convenience in technology, schooling, and infrastructure break down, as a society we want immediate results. We loved this “internet thing” when it was brand new even though it took 15 min to change the page we were on. But now we spit at our computer when it takes more than ten seconds load. Don’t get me wrong this progression in life is amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but it has enabled us as a society in many ways. And part of that enablement is how we handle situations when the going gets tough.

We all hit walls in every aspect of life, there is no avoiding them. But it is what we do when we hit those walls that makes or breaks us. I for one spent a lot of my life getting to these walls and trying to find a way around them instead of a way over them.  I would set goals with unrealistic timelines to achieve them and when I would hit one of these walls I would just create a new goal with a new path, instead. And I would keep doing this over and over again every time a wall popped up.  This just creates a labyrinth where we often find ourselves circling back to where we started and losing a lot of ground and time in the process.  Sometimes when we get to these walls it is in fact good to try and go around them, but in doing so it’s imperative that you remember to find your way back to that original path or you will slowly progress away from your true objective until it is completely out of reach for you.

With the right goals and timelines, it is much more accessible to stick to your routines to help you acquire what you truly want. And when you hit these so called walls try and climb them, use some of the techniques that I have shared with you or create your own to keep you on that mental and physical corridor that is needed for you to reach your overall goals. Once again, these are simply the opinions of a guy who has opinions about anything and everything, take it or leave it as you will.

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My name is Paul Vinson, in 2004 I was diagnosed with kidney failure. I was put on dialysis, five hours a day, three days a week. This went on for almost six years. I finally got my kidney transplant september 4th 2009. I was in the hospital for over a month. When I got home I weighed 175 pounds and was told not to lift anything over 25 pounds. Well, that was seven months ago and on may 12th 2010, I benched 300 pounds and weighed in at 210 pounds. And I owe it all to Designer Protein. I have been taking Designer Protein for more than 15 years. Its the only supplement I take. And now you know why. I still have a ways to go, but as long as I keep training, eating right, working out, and taking my protein powder three times a day. I will reach my goals. Thanks Designer Protein.

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All too often we start feeling that our workouts are getting stale. When that happens it’s easy to become bored and fall off track. Or even worse, we hit a plateau and just don’t get the great results we once were. One way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to shake-up your routine by adding new exercise moves on a regular basis, or by varying ones you already do.

Take lunges for example. You can really only do so many before they start getting boring.  When this happens, try the “walking lunge”. It’s more active and will transform your workout from ho-hum to oh-so-fun. We love the walking lunge because it works the glutes, hamstrings and quads and in one move. Many bootcamp classes start out with 50 walking lunges just to warm-up!

You can use dumbells for an even more challenging workout. If you decide to use dumbells, stand tall with dumbbells hanging down on either side. Step forward with your first leg, land on your heel then foot. Lower your body by flexing your knee and hip of your front leg until your knee of your back leg is almost in contact with floor. Stand on your forward leg, feeling the burn in your glutes and quads. Lunge forward with your opposite leg. Repeat by alternating lunge with opposite legs.

Here are a few helpful hints to maximize this move and to make sure you remain injury-free (Always consult a professional trainer or your physician before starting any new workout or exercise move).

1) Make sure you get a really good stretch in before AND after your workout. Flexible hip flexors are very important when lunging. Stretching helps reduce post-workout soreness and helps elongate the muscles.

2) Keep your torso upright during lunge. Your lead knee should point in the same direction as your foot throughout lunge.

3) A long lunge emphasizes the gluteus maximus; a short lunge emphasizes the quadriceps.

4) Do 2 sets of 15 reps, building up to 3 sets.

5) If at first it’s too hard to do with dumbbells, just place your hands on your waist instead. Eventually you’ll work up to using dumbbells.

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Well, I’ve completed my “Lent” diet.  46 days without fast food, soda, alcohol, and minimal burgers and other things not so great for me.  And more exercise, mostly in the form of walking everywhere since I no longer own a car.  And where am I at now? Well, Sunday morning I surpassed the 250lb point to 249.5 pounds, which is pretty remarkable for me.  Granted, it’s just a number, but it’s a significant number, nice and round.  Also, it’s only a few pounds away from my monthly goal of 245lbs.  So I can honestly say that my diet worked, and worked way better than I expected.  I’m really proud of the weight loss I accomplished; having said that the diet is over and I’m going to begin to allow myself some fast foods and alcohol again.  However, not nearly in the capacity that I had been consuming before.  Seeing the results, and how astonishing they were, I’m going to only eat fast food and drink alcohol on weekends.  During the week it’s going to be healthy only.  I’m going to continue to walk everywhere, and in fact now that I bought new running shoes I’ve started running again, which will help out even more.  Today I ran 3 times further than yesterday (which was the first time I had run in quite some time), and I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll run even farther.  If I keep at it, I know that I’ll get back into my runner’s lungs before I know it, and then I’ll really start stripping the weight off.  Combine that with some weight training, healthy eating and good friends to keep me at it, and I’ll be nearing my goal much faster than I had planned, maybe I’ll even make my goal that I had set for myself on January 1: to be at 170 pounds by Dec 31.  I think I may be able to do it, but we’ll see.  One step at a time.

So for the rest of you, how is your “new” New Year’s resolutions going? Are you still working out? Are you still dieting?  If so, then good on ya.  I’m living proof that it’s never too late to start (or restart).  If not, then I urge you again to finally make that promise and stick to it.  It can be difficult, sure.  But nothing worth doing is ever easy.  If you put in the effort, the results will not be far behind.  I personally promise.  And if you need motivation, or advice, or have questions, by all means contact me and I’ll help you out the best I can.  Because we’re all in this together, and together we’re strong enough to succeed! Until next time, keep at it!

Posted in Nathanael Mulder | 1 Comment

Hey Friends,

Down 11.5 pounds in 4 weeks! Can I have a whoo-hoot? Thanks to a lot of hard work, a weight loss challenge at Nutrition ‘N’ More Club here in Grand Rapids Michigan and my Designer Whey Weight Control Protein Powders. Finally the scale is going down. My coach has me on 158 grams of protein and a 1500 calorie eating plan. I had a hard time getting in all my protein without getting too many calories so coach Dorris told me to add egg whites to my shake…I was like ewwww, I don’t think so. BUT….I did it after tasting a shake she made. I had no clue there was raw egg whites in my shake. Let me tell you the egg white makes your shake like cake batter. It is so creamy and dreamy you will not believe that it’s only 216 calories with a whooping 34 grams of protein. My eating plan consists of a shake for breakfast, a snack, then a shake for lunch, a snack and Normal Dinner and an after dinner snack. Now my snack maybe almonds or cheese stick with some apple.

Here are my 2 favorite recipes.

Cake Batter…YUM!

1 Cup Skim Milk

1 Serving of Designer Whey’s Weight Control French Vanilla Protein Powder

1 tablespoon Sugar Free Jello White Chocolate Flavor pudding

Dash of stevia or splenda

1 teaspoon real vanilla

2 raw egg white (optional)

8 ice cubes

dash of cinnamon

Smoothitize in a blender let sit 2-3 minutes and enjoy

Strawberry Cheese Cake  

1 cup skim milk

1 serving of Designer Whey’s Strawberry Protein Powder

1 tablespoon Sugar Free Jello Cheese Cake flavor pudding

Dash of stevia or splenda

1 teaspoon real vanilla

dash of cinnamon

2 raw egg white (optional)

8 ice cubes

Smoothitize in a blender let sit 2-3 minutes and enjoy

Now get this…

216 calories

34 grams of protein power *w/out eggs 24 grams

2 grams of sugar 

You can be very creative with 1 tablespoon of sugar free jello pudding there are tons of variety, it only ads 25 calories to the mix. I am going to see how it freezes, maybe our answer to ice cream?

Did you watch this week’s Biggest Loser make over show??? OH MY GOSH! The contestants look amazing. I think Daris looked the most different. Koli needs to ditch the glasses.  They dressed him like a nerd, but a cute nerd! Mike is very handsome…I would have never thought that he would be that cute. Ashley is a doll, she has a tiny waist! Sunshine with her hair all straightened…WOW! I hope I have such an amazing transformation when I lose the weight I need to lose. Now that would be fun! I have no clue what I would look like I have never been thin.

Well friends I gotta get moving, have a challenge to win here! Not only that but I am on my whey to a new me.

If you want to follow me on facebook look up Camille Gibson. Oh, Nutrition N More is also on facebook, lots of great health advice there.

Have a great one! Try the recipes and let me know what you think.

Camille

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This week, I want to touch on two subjects.  The first, and foremost, is that having good friends to watch my back while my relatively strict diet has been crucial to my success.  Just last night I was tempted to cheat by eating a Philly Cheesesteak, because technically I hadn’t declared Jersey Mike’s as fast food.  My friend Bruce refused to stop nagging me on how I was quitting my diet and my pledge to not eat fast food.  His dedication to my diet reminded me that I’m in this for more than just the thrills of dieting, I’m in this to prove to myself and to everyone that it’s possible for me to lose the weight.  Even though my weight loss has been good thus far, I have to keep focused, and he reminded me of that.  So instead I got a much healthier sandwich at Jersey Mike’s, and I was very proud of both myself and him for demanding such perfection.  Likewise, my friend Jessi is constantly making sure that I’m working out, even if I’m just watching TV at home.  Her dedication to my weight loss reminds me of why I’m doing this in the first place, to be a healthier person.  It’s great to know that I have friends that care this much about me.

The other thing I wanted to talk about today was the constant standing on the scale.  For years I’ve been told not to weigh myself every day because weight loss isn’t instant, and that it could be discouraging to stand on the scale and see that I’d only lost a half a pound over a couple of days, or worse, gained weight.  While it is certainly true that your weight can fluctuate quite a bit, I’ve found that keeping a month-long calendar in my bathroom, and weighing myself the first thing in the morning EVERY morning has been quite wonderful.  I’ve talked about this before, but it’s never been more evident than now.  In the course of a month I lost 20 pounds, and on the days that my weight went up from the day before I made sure to double my weight loss efforts.  On the days that my weight went down, I patted myself on the back and thought about what it was that I had been doing to help me lose that weight, like walking to school and working out, and I made sure to do it more often.  Basically, so long as you take the positive look at your weight, no matter which direction it went, you can’t be defeated! So I challenge everyone that’s trying to lose weight to start stepping on a scale every day for a month.  I prefer to do it in the morning, because you don’t have the fluctuation of what you ate that day to affect the outcome.  Yes, some days you’ll weigh more than the day before, that’s normal.  But watch your weight loss over the course of that month, and if you’re honest with yourself and work hard you can see a downward trend that will have you grinning from ear to ear by the end of May, just in time for beach season!  So until next time, keep at it people!

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This is part 7b of helpful tips and methods on “defeating the Itis” pertaining to the daily fitness routines that many go through.

Continuing on with the subject of little things you can do when you are at the gym to motivate you through those tough workouts: one thing you can do is go the “easy route.” Ok now the real easy route would be to get up and walk out and be done with your workout prematurely, but the easy route here pertains to your own personal definitions of “easy.” Trying to articulate this now in my head and put it on paper at this moment would make me sound like I am blurting out non-sense (not much different from my other blogs right?), so it is better suited in this case just to go off a personal example. On Mondays I typically do “chest” and Tuesdays I typically do “back” and both of these are by far the hardest two days to work through. After the first sets on either day I am exhausted, because I am maxing out (here I’m talking about doing about 4 sets of 5-6 reps at max weight and one set at 3 where weight is increased even further) two muscles that account for the majority of my upper body.  So what I will do is put the first three exercise sets that I do as the hardest three that demand the most physical exuberance out of all the different exercises planned for that particular workout. I have about 10 other exercises that I can do at this point regarding chest or back but I know at this moment I am physically exhausted and a likely candidate to throw in the towel.  So what I will do is then pick three to four exercises that I think are easier than the other six of those ten choices. In reality they are all equally challenging and work your chest and back muscles just as hard as any other chest or back exercise, but in your mind for whatever reason they are easier. Everyone has those couple of “easier” exercises for every muscle or exercises that you find really easy but work really well. Whether it is switching to a machine instead of trying to do it with free weights or whether it is running at 6 % incline rather than doing a set on the stair master, in your mind they are easier to do than the other option. I like to save these exercises as a form of a backup plan, meaning that I typically won’t employ theses exercises when working a certain muscle because most days and weeks I have enough energy and natural motivation to power through that particular workout. But everyone has those days where energy and motivation are as hard to find as Bobbie Fisher. When those days hit I always try and power through what I can of the normal routines and then switch to my reserve drills to allow me to truly conquer those fatigue demons.

Riding the coattails of this “easier” workout scheme, I also will switch up the order of what muscle I want to work on a given day. Like I stated before I try and get the toughest two workouts finished by Tuesday because I like to keep that mentality that “the hardest part is already behind you and it is a downhill battle from here on.” But some Mondays and Tuesdays I will have just about as much enthusiasm as a zombie from a 60’s horror film, you know the ones with their hands parallel to the ground moving at a pace of 10 steps a minute. So I will scrap the Chest and Back weekly startup and go right into a Triceps and biceps workout, because I actually look forward to those two workouts every week. Or I will completely flip the script and say that I am going to go to a full upper body workout on Mon, Weds and Fri or Tues, Thurs and Sat and fill the opposite days with non resistant core and leg workouts.  Some weeks this is my saving grace, because before trying to utilize these little tricks I would just hit a half a day’s work out or miss a day completely, which in turn would throw off my entire schedule. And you know what; sometimes your body and mental capacity within the realm of the fitness world need that derailment.  For me it is not beneficial unless I plan it. It is one thing to plan a week of half workouts or plan to take a two week break, but it is another thing to come up short on your goals because you were simply just “too tired.” Every time I think I am too tired and end up finishing a work out I feel so much better about myself and every time I fail to do so I feel like I have truly let myself down. So instead of letting yourself down and succumbing to the daily fatigue factors, take the “easy” route, for once it is actually ok and beneficial to do so. Once again, these are simply the opinions of a guy who has opinions about anything and everything, take it or leave it as you will.

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I had one of the best games in my life on March 5th, 2010. All the hard work and sacrifice for years and years chasing a dream that didn’t exist finally came to life. My team, Amp 1, took on the Mattituck high school seniors/staff. We are a group of individuals who are all amputees and have a story to tell. Stepping out on that court we knew we were the automatic underdogs just because of the way we looked, all missing a leg. But we train hard and have more heart than most people. We truly feel that use using Designer Whey products like the waters and Blitzes help us out a great deal. We as amputees that play stand up basketball have to work ten times harder than most people to just get around on the court. By us using the products it helps gives us the edge we need to push through and get to the next level of competition. With our hard work and heart, we beat an able bodied team in New York playing stand up basketball. Amputees beat able bodies! It was a big accomplishment for Amp 1 and for everything we have been fighting for for years and years. Many people told us this would never happen and it couldn’t be done, it was impossible. But we are setting out on our own to prove the impossible can be possible. With a victory like we had in New York, it’s just the beginning for us and our inspirational motivational movement that we feel will affect many in the entire country.

Next we move on to my home state Texas. We will be playing for Camp Sanguinity, a camp for kids with cancer and blood disorders. I went to this camp as a camper when I was battling my cancer and continue to go back every year as a counselor. All the proceeds raised for this game will all go to the camp. We again will be playing an all able bodied team with a combination of camp/hospital staff. This will be our biggest event yet. We all have been training hard for the past month or so getting ready for this event. We go through the protein waters very quickly while playing basketball and I myself like to drink the Blitz powders before and sometimes after my workouts. Since I have been drinking Designer Whey, I can tell and feel a huge difference in my stamina and my performance on the court. With three weeks away till our next big event, we are in focus mode and doing what we feel God kept us all alive for to help others with our gift. On May 22, 2010, Amp 1 will again make the statement that with hard work, determination, and faith you can reach your dreams and goals.

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