As many of you know I have been on tour with Famous Footwear this summer criss-crossing the country.  It has been so much fun.  One of the things I didn’t realize is that being on the road is completely different then traveling a lot.  Yes I travel ALL the time but usually I am home in between, so most of my trips are between 24 to 48 hours.  Because of such short trips and so many different airports and hotels I often feel like George Clooney in Up In The Air.  I am a pro at what to pack and how to pack it so that I get through the security in the shortest amount of time and out of the airport as soon as I land, so as you can imagine I only check a bag under dire circumstances, which hardly ever happens.  Until my Mind, Body, Sole tour, that is.  You see although the tour was only 20 cities, I would spend 2 days in each city doing all different things like Twitter workouts, hospital visits, TV appearances, radio, and store events and then of course I had travel days to get back and fourth from one place to another.  I also had all the other stuff I do already scheduled so Famous Footwear planned around my existing schedule like the Healthy Woman speaking events I do, I went to the GNC show with Designer Whey, where I met Erin Stern. I was so excited to meet her and she was so excited to meet me.  I had so much fun and my Chocolate Mint Protein shake was a huge hit, I love when people love what I love   I also had different races and Health Expos and such so I literally had to change my whole routine.  I could just pack a carry-on when I wasn’t going to be home for anywhere from 4-6 weeks at a time and most importantly my traveling food routine wasn’t going to work!  Usually I would pack enough food for my entire trip just in case my options on the road weren’t the best, I swear the TSA thinks I am completely nuts with my food bag.  On any given trip it would not be unusual for me to have a bag filled with chicken breast, hard boiled eggs, fruit, almonds and of course my 2Go Protein packs.  These days my one and only staple has been the 2Go Protein which has been a God-send for me and the new Protein bars are an answer to my prayers. Look for them on the shelves SOON.

One of my favorite accidental discoveries this summer has been my Lemonade popsicles.  You guys have to remember I am from Arizona, so as you can only imagine I love me some popsicles!  I had mixed up a new Lemonade 2Go pack in my bottle water and stuck the unfinished bottle into a hotel fridge which must have been set wrong because when I went to grab it, it was slushy, which was the bomb!  Since that time I have taken all the flavors and made little popsicles and they are fabulous!! I either make it in little Dixie cups or even a ice cube tray sometimes.  You should try it – especially if you have kids.

So I was thinking…and you guys need to let me know… maybe we should do a poll or something to get together for a race of some sort.  I’m up for almost anything from a triathlon, cycling, or running.  My idea is that we all pick a race somewhere in the States and train together through the blog here and have a huge presence at one of the races, what do you think?  Send in your ideas and let’s figure something out.

Posted in Ali Vincent | 1 Comment

Well, I wanted to get to everyone today and just touch on a few subjects. First, I came back from my 10-day long vacation and found that I had lost 2 pounds! That’s pretty good considering I didn’t do a lot of working out over those 10 days, other than some taking some walks and moving a lot of furniture. It just goes to show that so long as you stay dedicated to your diet, and do just a little bit of exercise, you can still lose weight. Now, to be fair, I would have loved to lose more than 2 pounds over those 10 days, but without access to a decent gym (yes, I’m a little spoiled!) it was difficult for me to get a proper workout. And, I didn’t take my running shoes, since I already had a full suitcase, so that didn’t help me either. But the important thing is that I stayed focused on my goals and I was able to shed a couple of pounds, which kept me going in the right direction. So for all of you that are planning late-summer vacations, feel free to keep up that diet and do a little exercise, and your summer strives towards skinniness won’t be shot down the drain.

Next, a matter of relaxing by the TV. I do it A LOT! To be completely honest, I probably watch way to much TV to be healthy, but I really enjoying keeping up with all of my favorite TV shows, even if they are re-runs during the summer. But that doesn’t mean I can’t get a good workout in. My best friend Jessi is always telling me to add a workout to my couch potato time, and I’ve finally taken her advice. I do 20 push-ups during the commercial break, which takes me 20-30 seconds. It may not sound like a lot, but with the average 30-minute TV show having 3 commercial breaks, 1 every 7-8 minutes or so, watching TV for a couple of hours will also bring in well over 100 push-ups in a night, with plenty of rest in between. The first couple of sets go by pretty easy, but once I’m at that 4th or 5th set, they get a lot harder, and that’s when you’re getting your benefits. All put together, those push-ups will work the majority of your upper-body muscles, burning calories while sitting on your bum, and if you’re watching TV at night like me, it’ll burn calories while you sleep too, using calories to rebuild the muscle tissue. How about that, losing weight while you sleep! Nobel Prize, please!

Another thing to think about is that diet. I struggle probably more than anyone with overeating, because I’ve been doing it for years. I can out-eat almost anyone (except Joey Chestnut, the world-record setting Nathan’s Hot Dog eating champion), and I’ve been known to put down an entire large meat-lovers pizza by myself, in one sitting. Now, it doesn’t take an expert to tell me that that is neither healthy nor good for my weight loss plan. However, I’ve done it, and there’s nothing that can be done about it now. But that doesn’t mean I should keep doing it! That goes with everything bad for you, like eating a bucket of ice cream or tons of cookies. That little bit of cheating on your diet will take you several steps backwards in your weight loss goals, and you’ll only feel guilt and shame afterwords. Instead, you have to find something to snack on in between meals, and your meals need to be sensibly sized and portioned in order to keep up your weight loss. In the long run you’ll be a lot happier that you had a turkey sandwich instead of a whole pizza.

Finally, just to put everyone in a positive mood and the right frame of mind, as of today I am down 30 pounds from when I started my diet and exercise plan! I’ve had my share of downfalls, pitfalls and stumbling blocks, as well as a few “I quits” in there, but overall I’ve kept at it and have continued to lose weight in the long run, and that’s the important part. I am much, much lighter than I was in January. I may not be where I wanted to be as part of my original plan, but I’m still headed in the right direction, and that’s what really matters! So, even if you didn’t lose your 20 pounds in 21 days (which was my goal over my summer break from school, which I didn’t meet), having lost weight over that time period is still a success, so take pride in that and keep going. Eventually, you’ll reach that goal, and when you do, you’ll be more proud of yourself then you thought possible. Keep it up everyone!

Posted in Nathanael Mulder | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

Name: (Kai Douglas); Age: 28; Sex: M

Can you please give me a 15 song playlist (please list artist and song) that you would listen to at the gym?
1.  ATWA : SOAD
2.  Public Service Announcement : Jay-Z
3.  Inertiatic ESP : Mars Volta
4.  One Arm Scissor : At the Drive In
5.  Juicy : Notorious BIG
6.  VooDoo Child : Jimi Hendrix
7.  Ambitions of a Rider : 2Pac
8.  Move on Up : Curtis Mayfield
9.  Deer Dance : SOAD
10.  Song About a Friend : Atmosphere
11.  Mirror in the Bathroom : English Beat
12.  Return of the Mack : Mark Morrison
13.   Trying to Find a Balance : Atmosphere 
14.  Hate it or Love it : G-Unit       
15.   Blinded by the Light : ELO
 
Q: What type of workout do you think this would go best with (certain muscle group, aerobics, cycling etc.) and why?
A: Its a mix of lifting and cardio.  70’s and 80’s genre for cardio, newer stuff for lifting.  Hip-hop and metal definitely used for motivation while lifting.
 
Q: What song can always put you in the mood to exercise and why? And to piggy back on that is there a certain genre of music that you prefer while exercising?
A: For lifting…. Public Service Announcement and hip-hop fuel the workout, while Curtis Mayfield’s Move on Up keeps me going during cardio.
 
Q: Do you find that listening to music is a motivator when you workout or do you find it to be distracting?
A: When lifting I use music as a motivator.  When doing cardio I use it to distract me and keep me going longer.
 
Q: What type of workouts do you typically listen to music during or do you typically listen to music every time you exercise?
A: I always listen to music during cardio.  It takes my mind of the mundane task of cycling or using the elliptical.  Sometimes I prefer not to listen to music while lifting, but usually I need the motivation to get through the last half of sets.

Posted in Lucas Hart | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

1,350 Calories. 90 grams of fat, 40 of which are saturated and 3.5 of which are trans.  2,780 mg of sodium.  That’s what’s in my go-to burger at Wendy’s, the 3/4 lb Baconator.  Add the large fries, large Coke along with it, and I’m looking at probably over 2,000 calories in all.  For 1 meal.  That costs me around $10.00.  What am I thinking? Well, specifically the fact that I don’t like to make food, especially complex meals like lasagna or meatloaf (both of which I love) because I’m a terrible cook and I’m lazy in general.  But what about thawing out some burgers and firing up the grill and making my own? Well, that requires at least some planning in advance, which as a bachelor I tend to not do very well (you can ask my BFF Jessi, she’ll tell you all about it).  So instead I walk over to Wendy’s every couple of days or so, and guiltily order up a serving of heart attack with a side of obesity.  Let’s be honest people, I’m about 75 pounds overweight right now, and I personally keep the fast food industry afloat.  That’s not good.  So, I’ve stopped.  At first I said I just wasn’t going to eat beef for a while.  Well….that didn’t work because my roommate kept firing up the grill and grilling burgers.  Which was great, because he’s a way better cook/grill person than me, and his burgers taste way better than mine.  So the whole “no beef” thing didn’t pan out.  Then I said, “I’ll just eat less fast food.”  Well, when one of your meals is over 2,000 Calories then less is still not enough, especially when you want to lose weight.  So for the last couple days I’ve eaten no fast food, and less in general, and my weight loss has picked up again.  So hurray for me!

Furthermore, the whole fast food thing is expensive. Over the past month or so, I’ve spent over $382 at fast food places.  That’s disgusting! That’s almost 2 months worth of food at the grocery store for my whole apartment, which has 4 people in it! What am I thinking?!? Well, it ends today.  I’m back on my no-fast-food diet in an effort to save money and lose weight.  I’ve also stumbled upon an article that says that fast food can actually become addictive, decreasing dopamine receptors or something, so that’s probably not good either.  Regardless, the amount of science and nutritional information and financial information is all overwelmingly against fast food, and my only justification is laziness.  Well, laziness never got anyone anywhere in this life, so I’m going to stop.  Time for me to turn the page over and start a new chapter in my life.  I mean, I just turned 28, what better time?  See you all later when I rant and rave some more about how I suck at dieting.

Posted in Nathanael Mulder | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

Some time has passed since I finished my diet with remarkable success. What has happened since then? Well my weight loss has certainly slowed, and I’m sure a lot of that is due to the fact that I now eat fast food when I please (which still isn’t very often, but more often then never), and drink soda, and for a short while there I was drinking alcohol again, which is fine, except that alcohol contains a lot of empty calories that I really don’t need in my diet. However, an interesting thing happened during my diet. I learned that it’s possible to have fun without alcohol. So, because of that realization, and the fact that alcohol is a primary suspect in making me fat, I am no longer going to drink. It’s time once and for all to focus much, much more on my health, and that is one of the best ways to do it. But it’s not the only thing I need to do.

So basically, although I’m still wanting to lose weight, I haven’t been putting in the work to do so. I’ve been hoping that it would just magically happen because it was looking so easy before when I was on my diet. Nothing comes easy, and nothing is given to you. If you want to lose weight, you have to make it a serious priority, something that I had forgotten. Re-evaluate how important losing those pounds is to you, and if you still want to lose weight then push it up the hierarchy and make sure you dedicate some time as often as possible. Things like an hour-long walk can really help out, though not nearly as much as a half-hour long run. The harder you work, the bigger the benefits will be, and the more weight you’ll lose. But if you won’t put in the work, then you won’t receive the results.

Posted in Nathanael Mulder | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

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.

Posted in Camille | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

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.

Posted in Lucas Hart | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

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.

Posted in Lucas Hart | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

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.

Posted in Lucas Hart | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

Remember in high school English when we learned the concept of a euphemism?  From the Latin for beautiful, it’s basically a nice sounding word for something that sucks. And when you’re trying to lose weight the plateau definitely sucks.

It can come at any time in the weight loss process. After, say, the first ten or so pounds lost, you’re still doing the right things but can’t lose any more weight. That is the dreaded plateau but there are ways around it.

Neely Simmons trains several championship athletes at neelysimmons.com and elitefitnessnc.com. She was kind enough to offer us some of her tips for getting past the plateau:

H.I.I.T. -  High intensity interval training. Alternate high intensity activity with low intensity movements to raise and lower the heart rate to help speed up your metabolism.

Supersets - Follow one exercise up with another similar movement. That cuts down on rest between sets.

Cardio in the Morning – Do your cardio first thing in the morning, before your first meal to jump start the metabolism early in the day.

Eat more often – You don’t want to eat more, just more often. Instead of three meals try five, but definitely make sure they are smaller. Designer Whey protein shakes make great mid-morning or mid-afternoon meals. I’ve found that whey protein keeps my energy up, gets rid of hunger and helps me recover faster from my workouts. I always keep the Protein 2Go packs with me, especially when I travel.  There’s no easier whey, I mean way to get protein when I’m on the go. 

Water - Drink your weight in water. For example if you weight 230 pounds get 230 ounces of water per day.

I will be heading these tips over the next week hoping for a better Wednesday weigh in. I’ll let you know how they worked for me!

- John Roberts

Posted in John Roberts | COMMENT ON THIS BLOG