Exercise Struggle Story

Good morning! This is Carl's latest blog. He is the CEO of Beachbody. I can identify as I have had times in my past three years with Beachbody where I have slacked off workout and nutrition wise and had to work to get back to where I used to be. Several things have helped me to stay consistent the past few months. Accountability to friends and customers, events to work toward, goals to reach, and being a coach. Find what makes you consistent!

If you need some accountability or incentive, then please join the SIZZLING SUMMER CHALLENGE on Facebook where we chose our workouts, chose our goals and work together to encouage each other to reach them! As always let me know if you need anything!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Struggle Story
Almost 6,000 people logged their workouts in the WOWY Super Gym yesterday. And I am impressed by every single person who manages to keep it up.

I say that because, despite my position as CEO of Beachbody, my focus on making a business out of ending the trend of obesity, and being married to one of the most disciplined and certified health and fitness experts in the world, I still struggle to "keep pushing play" as consistently as I expect of myself.

Yesterday I was in a meeting with Whitney Provost the editorial director of Team Beachbody, and as we were reviewing the calendar and general direction of celebrating success stories in our online videos and newsletters, an idea surfaced: "Let's start to investigate the other side of the success story. Let's look at real 'struggle stories' within our community. Let's show people that EVERYBODY struggles with consistency from time to time - even me!

One such struggle story we've all read about is not a person actually, but a concept; "Corporate Wellness".

Despite the health crisis in the US, even a company called Beachbody can't require people to live a healthy lifestyle (Otherwise, for months out of the year I'd be on probation!)

When Jon Congdon got back from the Top Coach trip in Mexico having launched a 90 day challenge with a bunch of the coaches on the trip, his enthusiasm spilled over into our People Department, which in turn launched a company-wide 90 Day challenge

So for the last few days we've had a dunk tank in the parking lot, measuring body fat percentages for anyone who wanted to know where they stood. The emphasis of this challenge is on health and fitness, not on a "Biggest Loser" type competition or weight loss alone. And over half the company is already participating, with more joining each day. That includes me.

My WOWY calendar for the last few months is below. I finally look like I will put together a week of some consistency after wavering between "weekend warrior" and "walk the baby" since the fall.

It's time to get consistent. Summer is approaching. My personal goal is to be fit and ready to plow into 60 days of Insanity when it launches.

But the point of my blog post is this; If you or someone you know is a "Struggle Story" like me, know that nobody is immune. That's why it's so hard to stay healthy and fit. Life today has not been designed to make a healthy lifestyle the norm. And I can complain along with all Beachbody customers about how difficult it is to stay consistent. But complaining never got anyone back into their favorite jeans.

While I have been lucky enough to have the tasty Shakeology to keep me healthy even though my fitness got inconsistent, if I want to keep up with my kids, I have to keep the body tuned. That's a choice.

I invite you to get on board, and get everyone you know on board. It's often hard. But it's important - especially if you are a coach, or the CEO of a health and fitness company.

I read a great quote from Jim Rohn today: "We must all suffer from one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons." (I would argue that some discipline weighs pounds, not ounces... but I get his point.)

So while the last few month's I have been a "struggle story", my "success story" starts again today.

Decide. Commit. Succeed.
Posted by Carl Daikeler

Cutting Costs While Getting Cut

This was taken from the Beachbody Newsletter. Enjoy!

6 Ways to Cut Costs While Getting Cut

By Denis Faye

True or false? Six-pack abs require a six-figure salary.

Of course, that statement isn't even remotely true, but look around at our consumer society, and you'll be hard pressed not to believe it. Everywhere you turn, you're told you need this membership or that gadget or this exotic, Brazilian fruit to look and feel good.

Fortunately, the reality is that fitness doesn't require loads of cash; it just requires a little savvy and a lot of hard work. Here are a few ways to go about getting ripped without getting ripped off.

1. Ditch the gym membership. Odds are, if you belong to a gym, it's costing you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a year. Is it worth it? Do you go all that often? And if you do, what are you doing there that you couldn't do at home for less?

   For you cardio freaks out there, here's an excellent replacement for that treadmill. It's called "pavement." As in running, outside, on the pavement. It's free. Stairmasters? Try the stairs! And for all you spinning fans, they actually make bikes now with these crazy things called "wheels." You can ride them outside!

   The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association estimates that the average annual club membership is $775 a year. In the same time frame, you can do four rounds of P90X® at a fraction of that cost—and it comes with a nutrition guide. I challenge you to find a gym that lays out a complete meal plan for you.

2. Don't drink bottled water. With prices 1,900 times higher than tap water, the $35 billion bottled water industry is one of the greatest scams of the 21st century. It's just water. A few select brands might be trucked in from some exotic mountain spring, but for the most part, bottled water comes from municipal sources—and oftentimes, it doesn't meet the same standards that tap water needs to meet. In October 2008, the Environmental Working Group sent 10 popular brands of bottled water to the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory for testing. They found traces of 38 low-level contaminants, including Tylenol®, arsenic, industrial chemicals, and our favorite, bromodichloromethane, which was found in levels exceeding safety standards for cancer-causing chemicals under California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. And where'd they find that particular pollutant? Wal-Mart's Sam's Choice brand. Yum!

   So drink from the tap. It's cheaper and the Environmental Protection Agency holds it to higher standards.

3. Eat seasonal fruits and veggies. If you buy strawberries from New Zealand in the middle of winter, who do you think is going to absorb the cost of shipping that fruit halfway around the world? The farmers? The supermarket? No, it's you who pays extra for produce purchased out of season, so avoid it if you can. Eat peaches, tomatoes, and cherries in summer. In winter, go for cauliflower and citrus. Not only will you save a few bucks, it'll taste better. It's probably riper and hasn't been sitting in a refrigerated cargo hold for a few weeks, where it loses valuable nutrients, according to a study out of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. In the study, researchers learned that spinach, even stored at a chilly 39 degrees, still loses significant folate and carotenoid content after just 8 days.

   If you really want to save even more cash, cut out the four or five middlemen, and get your produce at your local farmers' market.

4. Avoid fancy body fat scales. It is possible to accurately measure body fat, but not without thousands of dollars of hydrostatic testing equipment and a ton of certification. A $60 body fat scale just isn't going to give you much accuracy. In fact, it isn't going to give you any accuracy at all. What these scales do is called bioelectrical impedance analysis, which includes measuring your body density and doing a series of calculations to predict what your body fat might be. In other words, it's guesswork.

   It's a safe bet to assume that guess will be +/-5 percent off. This is still useful because the guesses will probably be consistent, so while you won't be certain of what your body fat is, you'll know if it's dropping or going up. But you'll get roughly the same information using a $15 pair of calipers, so save yourself some cash and just buy one of those instead.

5. Ride your bike for transport. Fitness aside, the math here is obvious. Let's say you buy yourself a splashy urban bike, like a Trek Allant, for $539.99. First off, you'll be able to use this thing for years. I have about 13 years on my old Diamondback Response SE, and it still gets me where I need to go in style.

   Now let's say you'll be biking to work instead of driving, and it's a 10-mile commute. That's a total of 20 miles a day, and we'll assume your car gets 20 miles per gallon, or a gallon a day, which is currently about $2.30. That's $11.50 a week or approximately $598 a year.

   Wait a minute! You just paid for your fancy bike and actually pulled a profit!

   Or let's say you'll be forgoing public transportation. In San Francisco, a monthly public transportation pass is $45, so $540 annually. Again with the profit.

   So I've already put up an incredibly compelling argument, and we haven't even discussed the fact that you'd be getting a ton of great cardio 5 days a week.

6. Skip Starbucks^®. If you frequent this type of joint, it means you drink one of two things. Coffee or something else. If you order a Coffee of the Week or Pike Place Roast, you're indeed ordering coffee, but it's costing you a couple bucks per cup, whereas it would cost you pennies to make at home. And if you're dead set on that Starbucks "quality," they sell the beans in handy take-home bags.

   Drink anything else on the menu, such as a Vanilla Rooibos Tazo Tea Latte or a Coffee Frappuccino Blended Coffee, and you're not really drinking coffee, no matter how many times they cram the word into the title.

   True, there's coffee in there, but you're drinking coffee in much the same way wolfing down a banana split is considered eating a piece of fruit.

   For the record, a Grande Coffee Frappuccino Blended Coffee is 240 empty calories. A Grande Vanilla Rooibos Tazo Tea Latte with 2 percent milk would be 200 empty calories. Both are more than a can of Coke.

My Healthiest Meal of the Day

For a while I've been thinking about how although I eat pretty healthy, I just feel like I do not get enough veggies and other nutrients into my diet. The meal replacement shake from Beachbody is great, but I thought it would be great if there was something like a shake that had a ton of great stuff in it. Well Beachbody has recently come out with Shakeology. I've been reading with much interest the comments of those who were part of the trial group, and those who have gotten theirs already. The overall consensus is that this is a great product and one that is making them feel that they have more energy. Even Chalene in her chat, while making it known she doesn't have to promote the products, nor make money from Shakeology, fully endorsed it as an incredible product that she was using every day. You might ask what is so great about it?

How It Works*
This daily nutritional shake helps your body gently eliminate toxins more efficiently while allowing for better absorption of the essential nutrients you need. A proprietary blend of digestive enzymes and prebiotics helps your body progressively eliminate the toxins that build up over time from eating today's highly processed foods.
At the same time, whole-food ingredients deliver the essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals your body needs to curb cravings, allowing your body to shed stored fat while the more than 20 different antioxidants and phytonutrients help reduce free radical damage that can lead to heart disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and stroke.

What's In It
Even if you searched all over the world, you probably wouldn't be able to find all of the 70-plus, ultra-high-quality ingredients we've included in Shakeology. Not only do you get a wide range of essential nutrients, from the fruits and vegetables you should be eating more of every day, you'll also get the benefits of important foods from all around the world—foods that the latest scientific research has shown to be highly advantageous to your well-being.

More than 70 different ingredients were chosen from around the world for their potency and bioavailability (the ability to deliver the nutrients your body needs). Here are the key nutrient groups that these ingredients deliver:*

-Protein and Essential Amino Acids to help build long, lean muscles and reduce food cravings

-Prebiotics and Digestive Enzymes, which aid in improving digestion, regularity, and nutrient absorption

-Antioxidants and Phytonutrients to help counteract free radical damage that can lead to degenerative diseases

-Vitamins and Minerals your body needs to function for optimal health

As someone who has been sick too much the past year, and who knows I do not get enough of these nutrients even though I eat relatively healthy, I am going to give this a try. Yes, it seems to be on the expensive side, ($120 for customers, $90 for coaches) but when you consider the fact that it breaks down to $3.50 per serving as a coach and you could replace a meal for that amount, it isn't that bad.

How much would you be willing to pay to have your "Healthiest Meal of the Day"? From reading the ingredients I know there is no way a meal of chicken and veggies is going to match this. So do I think it is the end all cure all? Definitely not. Do I think it is healthier than my typical meal of chicken and veggies? Yes, I do.

For more on what is in it check out http://www.milliondollarbody.com/shakeology/science.htm

And see what you would have to eat to be the equivalent of this shake.

If you need any further information, please let me know. I am truly excited about how this is going to positively impact my health. More energy, greater regularity, better overall health, etc.