Heavenly chocolate or an incredible “O” is enough to start any day on the right foot. Seriously either one of the two will do right?!?! I personally prefer to combine the two! Why not have your, “Cake and Eat it To” when it’s fully justifiable right? It is nearly impossible to have a bad day after a treat like that and that is why I give myself that immaculate treat of a Chocolate “O” EVERY morning to start each and every day. I hope that you begin to do the same! You’ll LOVE how you feel every day. Consequently you will be a more productive; happier human being.
The Recipe! Surprisingly VERY simple all you need is a blender, a few ingredients, and about one minute of time.
Chocolate Banana Frozen BlueBerry OR Strawberry (AKA Chocolate “O”) 🙂
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology (usually for Breakfast)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries OR Strawberries (I go by site I don’t actually measure this)
10 ounces of (water if you like Dark chocolate or milk if you like milk chocolate)
Optional: 1/2 banana
Optional: Shakeology Boost: The Fiber Optional: Mills ground Flaxseed
Optional (highly recommended): Ice for added thickness and more smoothie like
Or Try 1/2 serving of Shakeology Twice a Day instead of 1 Full Serving once a Day and make Shakeology pay for itself twice! My users save between $200 & $400 a month in groceries while paying only $90 for Shakeology with the 25% discounts. (Ask me how if you’re interested)
Chocolate Banana Frozen BlueBerry OR Strawberry (AKA Chocolate “O”) 🙂
1/2 scoop Chocolate Shakeology (replace two meals or a meal and a snack)
1/4 cup frozen blueberries OR Strawberries (I go by site I don’t actually measure this)
6 ounces of (water if you like Dark chocolate or milk if you like milk chocolate)
Optional: 1/2 banana
Optional: Shakeology Boost: The Fiber Optional: Mills ground Flaxseed
Optional: Ice for added thickness and more smoothie like
Blend and Enjoy!
My first thought at first taste was “mmmm VERY Refreshingly Delicious! This is Chocolate “O”!!!. The frozen blueberries OR strawberries and chocolate compliment each other so unbelievable well in a refreshing even invigorating way. As with any Shakeology recipe you can optionally add Shakeology Boostto get even more fiber in your diet and you can optionally add Mills Ground Flaxseed to get more healthy fats in your diet. If you don’t already have shakeolgoy, either GreenBerry or Chocolate, you can get it at My Shakeology Website. Order Home Direct and get free shipping for life plus two free workouts and a shaker cup.
What’s Thanksgiving without stuffing? Honestly, a lot healthier. This white bread, saturated-fat-laden staple contributes in a big way to that postmeal stupor. Luckily, it’s easy to up its health quotient while preserving the savory goodness.
Add Earthy Flavors
Apples and shiitakes impart moisture to stuffing, along with subtly sweet and earthy notes. What’s more, the flavonoids in apples benefit your heart, lungs, and brain, and the pectin in apples helps your heart. Shiitakes boost your immune system and can lower cholesterol.
Cut the Fat and Sodium
Stick that butter back in the fridge. Instead, use olive oil, with its heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, to saute vegetables. When it comes to liquid, low-sodium chicken broth enriches the stuffing without flooding it in salt.
Pick Fresh Herbs
Toss in spoonfuls of sage and thyme, classic stuffing herbs that rank near the top for heart-protecting antioxidant capacity. Bring a fresh, green flavor to the dish by adding parsley, a good source of antioxidants such as beta-carotene and vitamin C. Parsley and sage also contain decent amounts of vitamin K, needed for blood clotting.
Choose Nuts and Berries
Crunchy walnuts and chewy dried cranberries add fiber, which promotes heart and digestive health, among other benefits. Both foods are high in antioxidants as well, which help prevent damage from free radicals. The omega-3 fat (ALA) in walnuts also protects the heart, and cranberries help prevent urinary tract infections.
Go Whole Grain
Skip the packaged dried clumps of white bread and grab a loaf of whole-grain wheat instead (choose a dense, chewy kind and look for 3 grams of fiber). Its hearty flavor makes a superlative partner for the aromatic herbs and vegetables in stuffing — and eating whole grains regularly can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Before and After
Calories: 291 down to 275
Total Fat: 12 g down to 11 g
Saturated Fat: 7 g down to 1 g
Cholesterol: 28 mg down to 2 mg
Fiber: 2 g up to 7 g
Sodium: 1,127 mg down to 302 mg
Ingredients:
1-2 cups Mixed micro greens
1 small apple, sliced (or pear)
1 ounce of raw pecans
sliced onion (as much as you like, or omit)
sliced tomato (as much as you like, or omit)
2 oz Salad dressing of choice. Make sure it’s GMO free and Vegan.
Have you enjoyed this? Do you know anyone who could use this? Sharing is caring. Share with friends and family. Connect with me on Social Media, too.
Common distracting thought: “It’s not my fault my life didn’t go the way I wanted”
I have news for you; it is your fault. This doesn’t make you bad and it doesn’t mean you are a failure. You have control over your thoughts and therefore your actions. Your thoughts and actions will determine your life. If you constantly blame others for the way your life has turned out you have given all your power away to other people. And I’ve got news for you; they don’t have much planned for you. Take the control back and take responsibility for your thoughts and actions. That’s how you design the life of your dreams. And if you help enough people get what they want you can have EVERYTHING that you want.
Remember kids credit cards are just pieces of plastic with power that we give them from our thinking. Like anything else they are a tool! But this particular tool is a financial tool that can help or hurt your wealth depending on how you think.
Person (A) uses the credit card with awareness, understanding, and accountability. Person (B) uses the credit card lacking awareness, understanding, and accountability. Person (A) has a more favorable outcome than person (B). The credit card is the same for both person (A) and (B). The only difference is in their thinking which lead to different actions which lead to different outcomes.
If you use a credit card I recommend being like person (A) and not like person (B)!
If you fully realize and understand you are incurring real debt then the credit card is an enormously helpful piece of plastic that can benefit you hugely 🙂 Most credit card issuers will actually pay you to use their credit card. You’ve just got to pay them off every month on time. They are basically paying YOU interest instead of you paying them interest to use their available credit!! And you are rewarded with their money simply by your awareness, understanding, and accountability. It’s a no brainer in my opinion. Do what you should be doing anyway and you are rewarded with more wealth.
If you need to work on yourself first then it’s probably best not to use credit cards because you will ultimately spend money to spend money and that to me does not make any sense. But once you have the discipline, the awareness, the accountability, and the understanding then I’m a very strong advocate of using credit cards they are AWESOME.
Say this outloud every morning and experience how you begin to feel and the bold new actions you begin to create to shape your beautiful life.
I commit to myself and to putting myself FIRST
I commit to myself first because I’m worth it
I commit to myself first because I’m more valuble to other people when I’m at my absolute best to be able to help out
I commit to never stop growing because I’ve staked my human existance on my stated purpose
I commit to show the strength of the commitments I have made through the strength of my daily actions because I know that action is the only creative process that has the power to shape my life and help the people around me at the same time.
I commit to take care of myself every day because I’m worth it, my family is worth having me at my best, and the peoples lives I have the power to touch are worth it.
I commit and my daily actions will show the strength of my commitment.
Larry Zimberg is one of the many people that I get to learn from. This is one of his latest writings and it’s brilliant! It’s far too brilliant not to share with anyone and everyone. I hope you enjoy the read and I hope it resonates…
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
The number one skill to have in our business is not selling skills; it’s people skills. The ability to get someone to trust you, like you, and want to do business with you is the key. Personal development is the one single component that will define your path to success more than any other.
“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re probably right.”
—Henry Ford
Sometimes we become so fixed on the how-to’s that we fail to recognize that there is a far more telling and essential component needed in order to be successful. Any skill you may need can be acquired. It’s the attitude that precedes it that will determine how far you go.
“Failure is an inside job. So is success. If you want to achieve you have to win the war in your thinking first.”
—Brian Tracy
So many people brush off Personal Development, and as a result when they have disappointments about recruiting or sales, they quit. If they had worked to make themselves stronger and developed the right philosophy and attitude, these temporary minor setbacks would not have fazed them in the least. It’s much easier to keep moving forward when you have the right attitude.
“Ninety percent of those who fail are not actually defeated, they simply quit.”
—Paul J. Meyer
Just because you’ve failed doesn’t mean you’re a failure. The road to success is never a straight line. It’s a series of twists and turns, ups and downs, successes and failures. Whether the inevitable obstacles you’ll encounter become stumbling blocks or stepping stones depends entirely on your philosophy. The shortest route to your success is found in overcoming any and every obstacle in your path.
“Nothing is stronger than habit.”
—Ovid
Successful people form habits that feed their success, instead of habits that feed their failure. That is why it’s every bit as important to consistently put good things in our head—just as we do our body—if we want to consistently experience good results. And like your physical transformation, it won’t happen all of a sudden; it takes a little time. But with a plan, a desire to grow, and a simple formula which I’ll outline below, the right habits and attitude can be developed and nourished, and that will lead you to the right results.
There is no single more powerful force than the potential of what is already inside you. The best way to strengthen, grow, and reach that potential is through personal development.
So here is an easy way, and a daily plan, for you to follow that will create lasting, real change and put you on track to realizing your true potential.
Read 10 pages a day of a good personal development book, and listen to 15 minutes of a good audio.
Reading 10 pages a day will give you a daily dose and a steady stream of power, truth, motivation, and courage that will allow you to take command of your life and summon the inner strength to take action—despite any fears—so you can create the life you desire.
Now let’s look down the road. Ten pages a day is 300 pages a month and 3,600 pages a year. That’s 15 to 20 powerful books you’ll have read over the next 12 months! That simple daily discipline, compounded over time, will result in huge positive rewards for you that go way beyond this business and will be a tremendous asset to you in building not just a successful business, but also a successful life.
Listen to 15 minutes a day of a good audio. Turn time spent in the car into Drive Time University. Don’t drive? Load a book on CD or motivational audio onto your iPod and build some mental muscle as you exercise. Either way, it’s an easy thing to do that will produce some positive growth and won’t interfere time-wise with what you’ve already got going on.
Personal development is about you becoming a better you, so you can experience the kind of life that you always knew you were meant to live. And using this formula, you can easily fit a program of incorporating personal development into your life.
Can you do it? Yes. Will you do it? That, of course, is up to you. But IF you do it, you will enrich your life in ways that reach far beyond this business and uncover yet one more way to pass on a message to others that will certainly enhance their lives as well.
They say the winds of life blow on us all; it’s how you set your sail that makes the difference.
When it comes to healing foods, mushrooms receive high marks. Oyster and shiitake may lower cholesterol, stimulate the immune system, and prevent cancer, while cremini offer selenium and a host of B vitamins.
Mixed Mushroom Soup
187 calories; 9 g protein; 8 g fat; 23 g carb; 4 g fiber
Ingredients
Serves 4 (makes 7 cups)
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced and rinsed
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms, such as white button, cremini, oyster, and shiitake (stemmed), rinsed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup marsala wine (optional)
4 cups vegetable broth
Directions
Soak porcini in 1 cup warm water until softened, about 20 minutes. Lift porcini from liquid and coarsely chop; strain liquid through a cheesecloth-lined sieve and reserve.
In a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add leeks; season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until tender.
Add garlic, porcini, and chopped mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 7 minutes or until mushrooms just begin to brown. Add fennel seeds, bay leaves, tomato paste, and tomatoes, and cook for 3 minutes. Add marsala (if using), porcini liquid, and broth. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves before serving.
The activity YOU do toward reaching YOUR GOALS creates the kind of excitement you need to accomplish your goals. Having goals can chase the blues away because accomplishment breeds happiness. I know a lot of people who try to use logic to feel better and it doesn’t work. Can you think of people who you know who do that? I’m sure you can think of dozens we all know many people who do that. Once and a while I’m guilty of that myself it’s just something that needs more attention and self intervention. Logic does not change emotion. ACTION changes emotion and goals create action.
Approximately 95% of all people die without living what they believe to be a successful life. This statistic is in unison with the failure rate at which people set life changing goals and neglect to cultivate those goals into success. This 95% figure isn’t a law. No one is bound to a statistic like this. What this statistic does is reflect a sad truth that only 5% of all people are willing to do the things necessary to cultivate their dreams and life changing goals into success.
Get out a pencil (not a pen) and a sheet of paper. I’m going to teach you an exercise for setting and achieving goals that I learned from a VERY successful entrepreneur; Jeff Olson. Don’t feel constricted by this exercise you can always modify, add to it and make changes later so use a pencil.
This exercise is going to help you envision your success. Envisioning involves doing everything you can to make it real even before it becomes real. You do that by making it physical and involving your senses. When you write it down and make picture boards it becomes tangible. If you say it out loud it becomes more powerful in your mind. The moment you do something beyond the confines of your skull it starts to become real. If you can’t envision life changing success you won’t achieve it. It’s the 95% of all people who are fooled by thinking, “My goals are in my head that’s good enough”. Keeping a goal or a dream only in your mind by definition is wishful thinking, not envisioning. Wishful thinking is like saying, “I’ll give it a try”. Giving something a try just doesn’t cut it. As Jedi Master Yoda Said, “Do, or do not. There is no try”.
There are four parts to this exercise. Write the following down and make sure to leave space between each section…
1.) My Dreams for my Health:
2.) Price to pay:
3.) Plan to start:
4.) One simple daily discipline:
My Dreams for my Health: Be specific, aim high but make them attainable. Be vivid and with a timeline. Without deadlines you leave everything open ended and diminish your chances of reaching your goals. Remember, the longer you wait the more of life you run out of.
Price to Pay: With every dream lived or life changing goal accomplished there is a price to pay, period. Most people aren’t willing to pay the price of their dreams and goals (Approx. 95%) and instead live quiet lives of despair; regret. The price to pay to live your dreams and accomplish your important goals is worth it. It generally includes teeny tiny small sacrifices. On the other hand; the price to pay for regret is far greater than the price to pay for the daily discipline required to reach your big objectives. Disciplines weigh ounces and regrets weigh tons. I.e. A price to pay for a dream of great health could be giving up junk food, postponing purchases, practicing some delayed gratification, initial discomfiture in exercise etc.
Plan to start: The important point is to start. Remember that no matter what has gone on before, no matter how far down the curve of failure you’ve slid, no matter what’s in your past you can begin fresh and new any time you choose. The past can’t be changed but the future can be. Your future will always be determined by what you do right NOW. There is no tomorrow; tomorrow will always be a day away. Your life exists right now and right now determines success or failure in the future. It’s never too late to start. It’s always too late to wait. Very simple philosophies no need to make any of this complicated 🙂 Notice I said plan to START and not plan to get you to the finish line. Initially you need a plan to get out of the starting gate. Your plan will change as you monitor what’s going on and make corrections that keep you on the path toward success.
One Simple daily discipline: It really doesn’t take much but if you do it every day with the compounding affect over time it makes all the difference. The one simple daily discipline could be to workout every day. If your nutrition is bad make a second daily discipline of cleaning up your diet. If you need more daily disciplines add them but be honest with yourself and write them down. The most drastic life changing differences are often the result of the littlest of things compounded daily over time. You don’t need to be a super human here. Anybody can do these things.
Once you have all of that in place create a daily to do list of just a few simple things and check them off every single day. At the top of my daily to do list is “Work out”. Any task that you give yourself, if compounded over time, will make a drastic difference over time ESPECIALLY the seemingly insignificant mundane daily things so make them all work for you. Otherwise they will work against you because there is no middle road. Time will expose you or promote you.
Last but not least keep this sheet of paper out in the open where you will see it several times every day (i.e. computer desk, fridge etc).
If you follow this easy system PLEASE write me and let me know how it has worked out for you. I would absolutely love to hear about your successes 🙂
Another great recipe from the Team Beachbody Club! We all know that I love pumpkin seeds… but if you are feeling like getting more home-made and want a better finger food for yourself or to serve at your party, then consider roasting your own pumpkin seeds!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Seeds from one medium pumpkin, rinsed (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
(Optional coatings: 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper or garlic powder, 1 Tbsp. curry powder or seasoning salt)
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place seeds in a saucepan with water (2 cups water to every half cup of seeds) and salt, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then drain. Spread a tablespoon of olive oil over a cookie sheet, then spread pumpkin seeds on the cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until seeds are lightly browned. Let cool completely in a medium-sized bowl. For spicy seeds, coat with one or more suggested spices before roasting. Makes 6 servings.
1 lb. fresh salmon fillet (or two 6-ounce cans, drained*)
2 Tbsp. drained capers
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
4 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. olive oil
8 leaves red lettuce
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the pumpernickel bread into 1/2-inch cubes (4 cups). Coat a large baking sheet with olive oil spray. Place bread cubes on baking sheet; spray with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Bake 10 minutes, until toasted.
Meanwhile, put salmon in a shallow, microwave-safe dish (*skip the cooking step when using canned). Cover with plastic and microwave on high 3 minutes, until fish is fork-tender, rotating dish halfway through cooking.
Using two forks, break up fish into 2-inch pieces. Discard skin and transfer salmon to a large bowl. Add capers and dill; toss to combine.
To prepare vinaigrette, in a small bowl whisk together vinegar, mustard and olive oil. Pour half of the mixture over salmon and toss to coat. Add bread cubes; toss to combine.
Arrange lettuce on four plates. Top with pumpernickel-salmon mixture. Drizzle remaining vinaigrette over top.
Nutritional Information: (per serving)
Calories: 339
Protein: 28 g
Fiber: n/a
Carbs: 33 g
Fat Total: 10.5 g
Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
If you’d like to JOIN the Team Beachbody club so that you have access to even more great videos as well as great recipes, then visit Tom’s site to get signed up today!
2 oz. OF COOKED CHICKEN OR TURKEY BREAST
3 EGG WHITES WHISKED
1 CUP OF SPINACH LEAVES
1 SLICE OF REDUCED FAT OF YOUR CHOICE
1 6 INCH WHOLE WHEAT TORTILLA (ABOUT 60 CALORIES)
NON STICK COOKING SPRAY
PREPARATION
Heat a nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat. Add chicken or turkey, eggs, and spinach. Scramble together and cook until eggs are throughly cooked. ( about 5 minutes) Add the cheese and remove from heat.
Pile mixture onto tortilla and wrap it up. ENJOY!!
Want the easiest and one of the most tasty ways to make salmon? Try this out!
Salmon Ginger With Broccoli
I never measure this stuff out. You just know how much to use as you prepare it…
– Salmon Fillet – Wild caught only NO farm raised
– Fresh ground Ginger
– Sea salt
– peppercorns freshly ground
– 2 or 3 Cloves of Garlic chopped
– Broccoli
– Olive oil, extra virgin OR non stick spray
In a medium sauce pan heat up some oil or non stick spray and add wild salmon over low-medium heat. Flip salmon when half way cooked; add salt, pepper, and ginger to taste on both sides. Add chopped garlic and broccoli to the same pan as the salmon for only the last couple of minutes to minimize nutrient destruction of the broccoli. You can lightly add salt and pepper to the broccoli if you would like. That’s it! Serve and enjoy. Believe me you WILL enjoy this ridiculously simple and tasty dish 🙂
P90X and Insanity Awesomeness Aging me Gracefully My Fountain of Youth!!
I was training my client Mark the other day and I asked him if he thought any of his friends could get through the workout I had just put him through. He thought for a while and said, “Maybe a couple.” Mark is 48 and has dozens of friends who can’t begin to touch his level of fitness in their present state. Most of them would have never gotten through his pull-up and push-up routine without hurling or quitting half way through. At 50 I might have 4 friends who can get through most of my workouts. All younger than me. I’m not here to brag or boast, but I am here to let you know that as the clock ticks into the future so do your opportunities to improve physically, mentally and emotionally.
When I was training Mark I also asked him if he saw himself working this hard in his 60s, 70s or 80s. He said he hoped to. The truth is, if he kept it up, there’d be no reason why he couldn’t do most of his present day workouts in his 70s and 80s. Here’s a guy doing sets of 30 push-ups and 10 plus pull-ups for an entire workout, who couldn’t do that in college. I’m not saying that college linebackers are going to bench 375 lbs in their 70s, but I am saying that the human body is capable of amazing things well into your 70s and 80s, if the human mind is willing to show up too.
Quite often older athletes struggle because of their unwillingness to mix these up and stay consistent. If you have a one, two or no dimensional approach to exercise you leave yourself wide open to injuries and issues as you get older. With injuries comes disappointment. With disappointment comes fear. With fear comes less exercise period. The words “I used to ______” make me angry. The glory days are not over! They are right now. You just need to know what to do and how to do it. An example is when I see older folks running. At some point you have to realize that the thing that brought you, might be destroying you now. Bent over choppy strides is an indication that yoga never happened in previous years. The effort is there, but lack of acknowledgement that something is wrong is the problem.
If you’re reading this and you’re younger than 50 and haven’t made movement and healthy eating a priority yet, then do yourself a favor and get busy because the clock is ticking and the last third of you life will be bleak. Look around at the people in your life who’ve made it to 60, 70 and 80 who haven’t taken care of themselves. What do you see? Issues. Lots of issues. Is that any way to live your life? Trying to solve these issues with pills, potions and processed foods? I think not. Consistency, Variety, Intensity and Curiosity are the keys to lifelong health and fitness. If you mix it up, you’ll avoid the pitfalls of aches, injuries and the fear of failure as you get older.
Sir William Osler, the famous Canadian medical doctor, once quipped, “There’s only one way to treat the common cold—with contempt.” And for good reason. The average adult has two to three respiratory infections each year. That number jumps to six or seven for young children.
Whether or not you get sick with a cold after being exposed to a virus depends on the many factors that affect your immune system. Old age, cigarette smoking, mental stress, poor nutrition and lack of sleep have all been associated with impaired immune function and increased risk of infection.
Keeping the Immune System in Good Shape
Research has established a link between moderate, regular exercise and a strong immune system. Early studies reported that recreational exercisers reported fewer colds once they began running. Moderate exercise has been linked to a positive immune system response and a temporary boost in the production of macrophages, the cells that attack bacteria. It is believed that regular, consistent exercise can lead to substantial benefits in immune system health over the long term.
More recent studies have shown that there are physiological changes in the immune system as a response to exercise. During moderate exercise, immune cells circulate through the body more quickly and are better able to kill bacteria and viruses. After exercise ends, the immune system generally returns to normal within a few hours, but consistent, regular exercise seems to make these changes a bit more long-lasting.
According to professor David Nieman, Dr. PH., of Appalachian State University, when moderate exercise is repeated on a near-daily basis there is a cumulative effect that leads to a long-term immune response. His research showed that those who perform a moderate-intensity walk for 40 minutes per day had half as many sick days due to colds or sore throats as those who don’t exercise.
On the other hand, there is also evidence that too much intense exercise can reduce immunity. Research shows that more than 90 minutes of high-intensity endurance exercise can make athletes susceptible to illness for up to 72 hours after the exercise session. This is important information for those who compete in longer events such as marathons or triathlons. Intense exercise seems to cause a temporary decrease in immune system function. During intense physical exertion, the body produces certain hormones that temporarily lower immunity. Cortisol and adrenaline, known as the stress hormones, raise blood pressure and cholesterol levels and suppress the immune system.
Should you exercise when sick?
Fitness enthusiasts and endurance athletes alike are often uncertain of whether they should exercise or rest when sick. Most sports-medicine experts in this area recommend that if you have symptoms of a common cold with no fever (that is, symptoms are above the neck), moderate exercise such as walking is probably safe.
Intensive exercise should be postponed until a few days after the symptoms have gone away. However, if there are symptoms or signs of the flu (fever, extreme tiredness, muscle aches, swollen lymph glands), then at least two weeks should probably be allowed before you resume intensive training.
Staying in Shape to Exercise
For athletes who are training intensely for competition, the following guidelines can help reduce their odds of getting sick.
Eat a well-balanced diet — The immune system depends on many vitamins and minerals for optimal function. However, at this time, there is no good data to support supplementation beyond 100% of the Recommended Dietary Allowances.
Avoid rapid weight loss — Low-calorie diets, long-term fasting and rapid weight loss have been shown to impair immune function. Losing weight while training heavily is not good for the immune system.
Obtain adequate sleep — Major sleep disruptions (getting three hours less than normal) have been linked to immune suppression.
Avoid overtraining and chronic fatigue — Space vigorous workouts and race events as far apart as possible. Keep “within yourself” and don’t push beyond your ability to recover.
Additional Resource
American College of Sports Medicine Current Comment—Exercise and the Common Cold: www.acsm.org
This Crunchy Pumpkin Pie recipes comes compliments of the Team Beachbody Club!
Crunchy Pumpkin Pie
Pie crust ingredients
* 1 cup quick-cooking oats
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/4 cup ground almonds
* 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
* 1 Tbsp. water
Pie filling ingredients
* 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1 egg, beaten
* 4 tsp. vanilla
* 1 can canned pumpkin
* 2/3 cup evaporated skim milk
Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix oats, flour, almonds, sugar, and salt together in small mixing bowl. Blend oil and water together in measuring cup with fork or small wire whisk until emulsified. Add oil mixture to dry ingredients and mix well. If needed, add small amount of water to hold mixture together. Press into a 9-inch pie pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until light brown. Turn down oven to 350 F. Mix sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and mix to blend ingredients. Add pumpkin and milk and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pie shells. Bake 45 minutes at 350 F or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Serves 9.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 55 minutes
Nutritional Information: (per serving)
Calories: 177
Protein: 3 g
Cholesterol: 24 mg
Sodium: 153 mg
Fat Total: 8 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter (organic minus hydrogenated oils, preferably)
1 cup unsweetened granola
Mix and mash all three ingredients into a bowl. Spoon onto a sheet of wax paper. Roll up the contents into hot dog/cigar shape. Stick in the freezer. Ready in about 90 minutes. Cut off little bites or eat the whole thing. Eat it frozen or throw it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Serves 2.
Did you know margarine is only one molecule away from being plastic?
Thanks to my friend Cheryl Rowe for this great information!
If you were to set a tub of butter outside and a tub of margarine outside next to each other the flies would be all over the butter, but not the margarine. Even FLIES won’t eat it! They don’t consider it food. As much as I am sure we all detest flies… If they won’t even eat it you have to know it’s bad. Margarine was originally supposed to be an alternative food source to feed to turkey’s but the turkey’s they fed it too died. So what did they do so they wouldn’t lose money? They added color and flavor and marketed it to humans.
Next time you’re at the grocery store about to add a tub or stick of margarine to your shopping cart pick up some butter instead. Try smart balance natural butter it’s amazing! Margarine isn’t something you want to feed your family even if it is for a cheat meal.
1 (15 oz) can no salt added black beans rinsed and drained
1 can of Enchilada sauce (mild medium or hot)
All natural 6″ corn tortillas
1 whole raw onion chopped
1/2 cup wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp dried oregano
1tbsp dried basil
1 – 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil first cold pressed
2 – 4 cloves raw garlic chopped fine or ground with a molcajete
Optional: Hot sauce to taste
Optional: Jalapeno chopped fine or ground with a molcajete
Put black beans in a bowl and mash with a potato masher. Then stir in the rest of the ingredients.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Poor half a can of Enchilada Sauce into a baking pan spreading out evenly. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the black bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas and place seam-side-down in the baking dish. Poor the other half of the Enchilada Sauce over the tops of the Enchiladas. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 – 20 minutes. Save the left over Black Bean Mixture later for some Black Bean VEGAN burgers 😉
You can easily make these gluten free just use gluten free ingredients 🙂
Black Bean Vegetarian Almost Vegan Enchiladas
Let me know how your Black Bean Vegetarian Almost Vegan Enchiladas turns out! If this spawns off a new recipe you create that turns out really well I’d LOVE to hear about it so let me know!
– Tom
Black Bean Nutritional facts: A cup of cooked black beans provides 227 calories, 15 g of protein, 1 g of total fat, no saturated fat or cholesterol, 41 g of carbohydrate and 15 g of fiber. Black beans contain no saturated fat or cholesterol. One cup of black beans also provides 20 percent of the daily value, or general recommended amount for adults, for iron and 5 percent of the daily value for calcium. Black beans also provide significant amounts of the minerals magnesium, phosphorus and manganese, and the B vitamins thiamin and folate, or folic acid.
My home made Guacamole is always a smashing success with others. Perfect to make up for your house hold social gathering or if you’re going to a pot luck at someone elses social gathering this will go over VERY well. People will be asking you for the recipe. Send them here! 🙂
8 avacodos
1/4 – 1/2 raw onion to taste
1 1/2 jalepenos
2 – 6 raw garlic cloves to taste
3 or 4 roma tomatos.
Use a potato masher or a large fork to mash up the avacados in a medium bowl. Grind up the onion, jalepenos and raw garlic separately in the molcajete. Chop up tomato. Add everything to the medium bowl with the mashed avocados and stir everything in together. That’s it! Leave one or two pits in the guacamole to prevent browning. You can also transfer your guacamole into the molcajete for presentation. I recommend all natural chips of your choosing. Guacamole also makes a fantastic sandwich spread.
Molcajete Guacamole
-Tom
P.s. If you’d like to work with me I don’t charge any fees I’m not going to sell you something you don’t want or need: http://workwithtom.fireyourboss.xyz
Have you enjoyed this? Was it helpful in breaking some circular thought patterns you might have been stuck in? Do you know anyone who could benefit from this? Sharing is caring. Share with friends and family.
Was this helpful? If so, I would greatly appreciate it if you commented and shared on Facebook and other Social Media, too. You might also enjoy Fire Your Boss & 31 Ways to Raise Money Now.
If you enjoyed my blog you might LOVE my YouTube video about changing one thing, the direction of your cash-flow, to change Everything:
Well, it’s been three months since I posted my original “Note” Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Part 1 “The Missing Piece” and I have some exciting news to share. I have been drinking Shakeology religiously since my first post and I am VERY pleased to report that for the first time in over 10 years I am finally experiencing regular menstrual cycles. What’s more, not only am I menstruating regularly, but without any PMS symptoms. As I mentioned in my previous post, I had been suffering from extreme cramping (which was later revealed to be cyst ruptures) that would literally cause me to become violently ill. Those nights seem to have become a thing of the past. In fact, this last month passed so uneventfully I was caught completely off guard the day my period started.
I’ve also noticed some additional benefits that have me excited beyond words. For me, two of the crulest symptoms of PCOS were the acne and hair loss. As a teen I didn’t have too much of a problem with my skin, not nearly as bad as many of my friends did, however, in my 20’s I started having nothing but problems, and nothing I tried could clear it up. Well, I am ecstatic to say that I am currently enjoying the clearest skin I have had since my whole PCOS nightmare began.
The issues with my hair have probably been, for me, the most embarrassing of all the physical symptoms. As a child I always had thick, dark, fast growing hair, but in my mid-20’s I noticed that not only did my hair stop growing, but it was falling out at an excessive rate. By the time I was 28 it was literally a traumatic experience for me to brush or wash my hair as I’d end up with handfuls that had come out. I was scared to death that I was going to end up bald like the men in our family. To make matters worse, my hair was constantly oily. No matter how frequently or infrequently I washed it, or what brand of shampoo I used I just couldn’t seem to get it clean. I was so embarrassed, my already low self-esteem became almost non-existent and the thought of being involved in a serious relationship with someone that could lead to living together (or something more) was completely out of the question as I wasn’t about to let anyone know what I was going through. Since I have been drinking Shakeology my hair has stopped falling out, I can use whatever shampoo I feel like without having to worry about my hair being oily an hour later, and my hair has actually grown over an inch since I cut and colored it the beginning of June. In fact, it’s growing so fast that I’ve actually given up on coloring it as I just don’t have the time or resources to keep up with it.
I can’t say enough about the positive changes I’ve experienced in my life since I started drinking Shakeology, and if my own experiences aren’t enough to convince you, I will be sharing testimonials from other Shakeology drinkers on my page throughout the day. Shakeology has done so much for me and other people that I know personally, and I want to share this amazing product with as many people as I can because I know first hand, this is the real deal.
I think I was about 20 years old when I first realized that something in my body wasn’t working quite right. It started with missed periods, then extreme cramping (which was later reveled to be cyst ruptures) that would literally cause me to become violently ill. Additionally I noticed other little things that at the time I didn’t realize were related (I.e. hair loss, problems with my skin, and weight issues). I didn’t have a clue what was going on and I was afraid to try to talk with my mom or go to the doctor (I was in college and still on my mom’s insurance) because I figured my mom would say it was because I was way too young when I had my son, so I suffered in relative silence for about three years. Just before Thanksgiving 2003 I came across an article online about Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and was shocked to see that all of the symptoms I’d been dealing with where outlined in the article. Armed with the article I finally found the strength to talk with my mom and she agreed it was time to see the doctor. I won’t bore you with all the details about getting a diagnosis, lets just say PCOS wasn’t nearly as common in 2003 as it is today and it took multiple doctors and multiple tests before anyone would commit.
Unfortunately, getting a diagnosis wasn’t the only struggle. At the time there still wasn’t a lot known about exactly what causes PCOS, and how to treat it, so I was put on birth control pills to regulate my period and advised to switch to a very low carb diet to help with the weight issues and hopefully get ahead of the diabetes I’m destined to end up with. I’ve been off and on the birth control pills since but they cause other problems of they’re own.
I stopped taking the birth control pills in August after having been on them again for about two years and within a month menstruation had stopped and the cyst ruptures started happening again. By December I had just about reached my breaking point, just about. There’s been quite a few advances in the treatment of PCOS in the last few years, and a couple of my friends have had some success, but the treatments are all medical and taking pills just isn’t for me. While doing some research online I came across a page that explained how nutrition and getting the right balance of vitamins and minerals can help reduce and even eliminate the symptoms of PCOS. Of course, the creators of the website wanted you to buy their nutritional supplements to the tune of $200+ a month for, you guessed it, a bunch of pills, but it got me to thinking. I’d been reading the various testimonials regarding Shakeology Tom had been posting up for some time and I started wondering if it would help with the PCOS too.
I started drinking Shakeology as part of my morning ritual beginning in January, and within one week I got my period for the first time since August. (Yes ladies, I know, you’d have to be crazy to actually want to get your period, but with a family history of endometrial cancer hanging over my head I have learned to appreciate the necessity of menstruation.) I continued to drink Shakeology every day and four weeks later, like clockwork, I got my period again, and all without birth control pills. Curious person that I am I began to wonder if it really was the Shakeology that was bringing back the regularity to my menstrual cycle or if it was just coincidence so I decided to do a little experimenting. I quit drinking the Shakeology for about 6 weeks and found that, as I suspected, I didn’t menstruate and I wasn’t feeling well at all so I started drinking Shakeology again every day, and once again within a week I saw a return of my menstrual cycle.
Even if I were to never receive another benefit from Shakeology, the regulation of my menstrual cycle alone is well worth the cost to me. However, I am very pleased to say that I have seen other changes as well that I will write about later. If you or someone you know is suffering from PCOS, please reach out for help.
– Letti
For more information about shakeology visit : Shakeology
For information about joining a small group online for support, encouragement, and accountability please Reach out to me on facebook: http://facebook.com/tombirkenmeyer People who participate in one of my private exclusive groups on facebook get faster results by far and actually see it through despite having a terrible history of relapsing on their goals in the past.
1 (15 oz) can no salt added black beans rinsed and drained
1 whole raw onion chopped
1 cup wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp dried oregano
1tbsp dried basil
1 – 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil first cold pressed
2 – 4 cloves raw garlic chopped fine or ground with a molcajete
Optional: Hot sauce to taste
Optional: Jalapeno chopped fine or ground with a molcajete
Put black beans in a bowl and mash with a potato masher. Then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Form into patties. There should be enough for about six patties. This is really simple to make but you may have to add either more bread crumbs or wheat flour to keep the patties from falling apart as you fry bake or grill them. You can save the left over Black Bean mixture for more burgers later OR you can try my Black Bean Vegetarian Almost Vegan Enchiladas Recipe!
You can easily make these gluten free just use gluten free ingredients 🙂
Let me know how your Black Bean Vegan burger turns out! If this spawns off a new recipe you create that turns out really well I’d LOVE to hear about it so let me know!
– Tom
Black Bean Nutritional facts: A cup of cooked black beans provides 227 calories, 15 g of protein, 1 g of total fat, no saturated fat or cholesterol, 41 g of carbohydrate and 15 g of fiber. Black beans contain no saturated fat or cholesterol. One cup of black beans also provides 20 percent of the daily value, or general recommended amount for adults, for iron and 5 percent of the daily value for calcium. Black beans also provide significant amounts of the minerals magnesium, phosphorus and manganese, and the B vitamins thiamin and folate, or folic acid.
Check out this Highly Helpful resource on the benefits of eating Black Beans:
Your mission: to add bulk, or form some well-defined curves. The prescription: get some sleep!
Crazy as it sounds, that’s the advice you’ll get from bodybuilders, trainers, professional coaches, and fitness experts in general. The fact is your body can only heal, repair, and grow during deep sleep.
You can be doing the right things—perfectly portioning out your food, doing hardcore lifting that pushes you to the edge—but all that effort will be negated without enough recovery.
You can’t cheat on sleep. We know sleep is essential to life, just like eating and breathing. But there are many theories as to exactly why we sleep, with no one clear answer.
One is that sleep “restores” what our bodies lose while we’re awake. And recent findings actually support this theory, showing that many of the major restorative functions in the body, like muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and the release of growth hormones, occur mostly, or as noted above, only during sleep. Warning signs that you’re sleep-deprived. Have a sneaking suspicion you might not be getting the sleep you need? You’re not alone. An estimated 50 to 70 million people in the U.S. don’t get adequate sleep every night. Here are a few classic signs:
– Hitting the snooze button consistently on your alarm clock
– Yawning uncontrollably and at inappropriate times (e.g., workplace meetings, parent-teacher conferences)
– Feeling sluggish in the afternoon
– Getting drowsy while driving
– Having heavy eyelids and watery eyes
– Experiencing memory lapses
– Experiencing irritability and low energy
– Feeling excessive hungriness or a complete lack of appetite
Tips for catching quality z’s. Now that you know how important sleep is, don’t let it get away from you. Here are some handy tips to make the most of your rest time.
– From 4 to 6 hours before bedtime, avoid caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other chemicals that interfere with sleep.
– Keep a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night. And wake up at the same time every morning. If you’re getting enough sleep, you’ll wake up automatically without an alarm clock.
– Get regular exercise. Physical activity, especially aerobic exercise, can help you fall asleep faster and make your sleep more restful.
– Have a relaxing bedtime routine that eases the transition between being awake and sleeping.
– Sleep primarily at night. Short naps are great for recharging and catching up on missed sleep, but too many naps, and naps that are too long, can interfere with your regular schedule.
Make the most of your workouts. Be honest with yourself. If you’re doing the work and the healthy eating plan and you’re still not seeing great results, it could be lack of sleep that’s holding back your progress. Remember, your body is an incredible machine. Give it a chance to recover and build for the jump-start you’ve been looking for.
References:
Sleep and muscle recover: Endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Dattilo, M,. H.K. Antunes, A. Medeiros, M. Mônico Neto, H.S. Souza, S. Tufik, and M.T. de Mello, Centro de Estudos em Psicobiologia e Exercício (CEPE), São Paulo, Brazil, April 2011.
I just love this page on Black Beans. They talk about the unique nutritional benefits found in black beans, different ways to prepare them, how to get your complete proteins vegan style and so much more. Check it out! Article: Black Bean Nutritional Facts
Cholesterol is a waxy substance manufactured in your liver and small intestines found just about everywhere throughout your body. Your body weight is about 0.2 percent cholesterol. Molecules called lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout your bloodstream. There are two types of lipoprotein molecules.
Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) – These lipoprotein molecules carry cholesterol to various tissues throughout your body including organs. Because of its lower density, when this lipoprotein molecule transports cholesterol to your organs, it will allow some of the cholesterol to stick to blood vessel walls. When cholesterol is found in greater concentrations along the blood vessel walls it will eventually block them, stopping blood flow to the heart until your heart stops too.
High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) – These lipoprotein molecules act as a protector of the heart. While the LDL’s transport cholesterol throughout the body and leave some of the cholesterol stuck to blood vessel walls, the HDL molecules pull the excess cholesterol from the artery walls and transports it back to your liver for removal.
Knowing your cholesterol level is somewhat meaningless unless you also know your LDL to HDL ratio. Here is a table of exactly how much is desirable, borderline, and undesirable measured in milligrams per deciliter of blood to serve as an easy quick reference for you.
Desirable
Borderline
Undesirable
Total Cholesterol
<200
200-239
=>240
High Density Lipoproteins
>60
40-59
<40
Low Density Lipoproteins
<130
130-159
=>160
Triglycerides
<150
150-199
=>200
Triglycerides – The storage form of fat. Triglycerides, at the bottom of the chart, is worth showing also because if your Triglycerides are too high the elevated levels in the blood can lead to heart disease and artery clogging regardless of where your cholesterol level and LDL to HDL ratio is at. The two most dangerous things you can do for your heart is to lower HDL levels or increase your triglyceride level.
Consuming cholesterol can raise your cholesterol level but a lot of this is genetics. Consuming less cholesterol does not mean you are going to lower your cholesterol unless you are genetically prone to self regulate your cholesterol levels. In other words, if you are genetically prone to self regulate your cholesterol level you could increase your daily cholesterol consumption and your body will offset that by producing less cholesterol on its own. If you consume too little, the opposite affect. This varies from person to person on how the body self regulates cholesterol but everyone produces at least some amounts of cholesterol on their own without the help of consuming cholesterol. And like wise, everybody’s body self regulates cholesterol levels differently from one person to the next which means you DO NOT want to go crazy and eat a whole pound of bacon and a carton of eggs in one sitting. The less lucky people are those who are not genetically prone to self regulate cholesterol levels so they MUST monitor how much cholesterol they consume to keep cholesterol levels down. The body’s ability to self regulate cholesterol levels generally decrease with age.
Healthy and Un-Healthy fats and how they can regulate your cholesterol
Saturated fats raise your LDL’s but they also raise your HDL’s to remove the cholesterol left behind on your artery and blood vessel walls by the LDL’s AND saturated fats lower triglycerides. Saturated fats certainly raise your overall cholesterol levels. Even though your HDL’s are raised its still better to limit your consumption of saturated fats. Saturated fats are found mostly in animal products including dairy, poultry, and red meat. Because of a largely important Testosterone factor men and women should generally follow different nutrition guides especially when it comes to quantities of fats. A one plan nutrition fits all is an over simplified nutrition plan because of gender differences alone. An adult female may want a diet of 25 – 35 percent fat and an adult male may want a diet of 33 to 50 percent fat. Instead of replacing your fat intake with more carbohydrates, replace more cholesterol raising saturated fats with healthier types of fats. A higher fat diet of healthy fats verses a lower fat diet replacing fats with more carbohydrates will actually raise your HDL levels, protecting your heart. The lower fat diet with higher carbohydrates will generally lower your over all cholesterol including your LDL level but it will also lower your HDL levels making you more vulnerable to heart problems. The bottom line here is to make sure you get enough healthier fats in your diet.
Monounsaturated Fats – These are probably the most important fats you could consume for your heart health. In short, monounsaturated fats will raise HDL levels and lower your triglyceride all while NOT raising your LDL levels. This is the model of the Classic Mediterranean diet. Monounsaturated fats are found in oils from olives (olive oil), canola oil, and oils from nuts such as macadamia nuts. What makes these unsaturated fats Mono is that these fats are not fully saturated with hydrogen. Each molecule contains at least one pair of carbon atoms connected by a double bond.
Polyunsaturated Fats (polyunsaturated fatty acid) – Polyunsaturated fats are divided further into omega-3 (fats found in fish and fish oils) and omega-6 (fats in plants and plant oils) fatty acids. A subset of these are essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are fatty acids your body needs but cannot produce on its own, so you must consume it from food. These essential fatty acids are important because they help regulate blood pressure and blood clotting. One omega 6 essential fat is linoleic acid found in safflower oil, walnuts, red meats, vegetable seeds, polyunsaturated margarines, and poultry. One omega 3 essential fat is linolenic acid found in fatty cold water fish like salmon, Halibut, Snapper and tuna as well as in flaxseed oil, shrimp, scallops, winter squash and raw Tofu. What makes these unsaturated fats Poly is that each fatty acid has more than one double bond that exists within the representative molecule. One type of polyunsaturated fat to stay away from is trans fat.
Trans fats – polyunsaturated fats transformed from liquid to solid fats during a chemical process called hydrogenation. Trans fats are also commonly known as partially hydrogenated fats. Trans fats are primarily found in baked goods, processed foods, and very little amounts in natural foods. Trans fats lower your hearts greatest protector, your HDL levels while raising total cholesterol and raising LDL. This is not a good combination and sets the stage for serious heart problems, even death.
The Classic Mediterranean Diet
People living in the olive growing regions tend to live longer healthier lives than the rest of the world. They have fewer heart attacks, less heart disease, fewer cancers and they experience an increased all around wellness than other people living and eating in other regions. Most of their fat comes from monounsaturated fats such as olive oil. Certainly not trans fats or partially hydrogenated fats. Their protein comes from fish, eggs and cheese. Their carbohydrates comes from whole grain and whole wheat breads and pastas as well as rice and fresh seasonal fruits and veggies. They consume small amounts of saturated fats and almost no refined or artificially sweetened carbohydrates.
I want to go over a couple myths about portion controlling meals that millions of people fall prey to and struggle with weight loss as a result of.
Myth – “I ate way too much/little for lunch today. I’ll just make up for that by eating less/more for dinner”
Reality – The body is only capable of absorbing so much nutrients or calories in one sitting. You cannot make up by eating less or eating more food in the next meal; the body doesn’t work like that. If you go over that threshold of what can be absorbed and metabolized in one sitting then those nutrients have a higher propensity to add to fat accumulation and you could feel lethargic. If you don’t eat enough then you risk starving your bodies cells of nutrients before you eat again and possibly crashing if you workout between those meals. It’s really a balancing act you must perform here to find that happy medium between eating too much and too little at meal time. You’ll find that through trial and error and making small changes till you get there. Once you do find that middle ground you’ll find it easier to not over eat at meal time because you won’t be starved. You’ll also crank up your metabolism and your workout performance will be enhanced for even further gains in your fitness!
Myth – “I need to protein load to build muscle so I’m going to take 50 grams of a protein supplement right after my workout”
The same is true for individual nutrients as it is for over all calories. The body can only absorb and metabolize so much protein till it has a propensity to spill over into fat accumulation. The average maximum grams of protein that a person can absorb in one sitting is only 30 grams or less. Whatever your maximum capacity to absorb protein is; once you cross that threshold you place an un necessary burden on your kidneys and you increase the odds of putting on more body fat. Besides, after a vigorous workout the body mainly wants water and fast absorbing carbohydrates. Protein is secondary to that. An ideal blend of water, carbs and protein after a vigorous workout is 8 – 12 oz of water with 4 grams of fast absorbing carbs for every 1 gram of fast absorbing (usually whey protein) protein.
To keep it simple just remember to do a few things regarding portion controlling your food.
– If you don’t have any idea of how many calories to eat a day to loose weight you need to figure that out first. Recalculate once a week using this fitness calculator that I want you to bookmark. As your body changes so does your calorie requirements:
– Eat at least five or six times per day.
– Don’t ever go more than three or four hours without eating anything.
– Avoid eating more than your body is capability of absorbing and metabolizing in one sitting. For most people that maximum calorie count can be anywhere from 400 to 800 calories in a single meal.
Once you get your nutrition right then you have just become your own nutrition expert to maintain vibrant health for the rest of your life! Isn’t that alone worth the early on small pains of discipline?
Breakfast – carbs and proteins (perfect time of day for a Shakeology)
Mid morning snack – proteins
Lunch – carbs and proteins (feel free to mix in some vegetables here)
Mid afternoon snack – proteins
Dinner – proteins and vegetables
Optional night time snack – proteins and or vegetables
Visit my Healthy Grocery List page to find the BEST Carbs, Proteins, and Fats for your Daily Eating Schedule.
We tend to make our nutrition really complicated because of the vast amounts of data scientists have accumulated over time. If that sort of thing interests you, you could take a more scientific approach but if you are like most of us who just want to know how to eat right to live better then just learn a little bit about the three macro-nutrients, timing, and portion controlling your meals. That’s all it takes to eat right!
The three macro-nutrients you should know about are carbohydrates, fats and proteins. These are the only nutrients that contain calories, so partitioning and portion controlling them plays an important role in planning your diet. Proteins are the building blocks of all the bodies cells. They are also a major component of enzymes, hormones, and antibodies. Protein is the multi tasking nutrient! Carbohydrates do many things such as help utilize fat for energy, enhance brain and nerve health, provide dietary fiber etc. but their main roll in planning your diet is that they increase insulin levels which in turn deliver needed nutrients to the bodies cells. Fat is the chief form of energy in the body, provides fat soluble vitamins, insulates and protects organs, and can enhance the health of your heart and blood vessels or create fatally unhealthy heart and blood vessels depending on the quality of fats that dominate your diet. The most important modification to ones diet one could make is the quality of the fat that dominates ones diet. To learn more about choosing foods with higher quality fat sources for optimum health visit my page on “Cholesterol, then fats and triglycerides”
Timing your nutrients plays an important role in how you plan your meals because different nutrients cause different physiological occurrences in the body. For example, ideally for breakfast you want carbohydrates and protein to get your blood sugars and metabolism in check after eight hours of fasting. This will set the tone for the rest of your day! The easiest and most effective way to do that is to drink a Shakeology which will set the stage from the beginning of your day to eat good and feel good all day long. For lunch, ideally, you want the bulk of your food to be proteins and carbohydrates to facilitate your blood sugar levels and to provide fuel for the bulk of your day that still remains. For dinner the bulk of your nutrients should come from proteins and fresh vegetables. Carbohydrates are no longer needed in bulk because you’re day is coming to an end. Any extra carbohydrates that are not burned by your activity will be more easily stored as fat.
Time your nutrients for your workouts as well as for the time of day! This is important regarding when to consume specific kinds of carbohydrates. There are fast absorbing carbs (high glycemic) and slow absorbing carbs (low glycemic). Save your fast absorbing carbs for breakfast and immediately following a vigorous workout. Eating a fast absorbing carb for dinner will spike your already stable blood sugar levels too much too fast. You’re body will probably not be able to metabolize that much in such a short amount of time resulting in an overflow of nutrients to be more likely stored as fat.
Eat at least five or six times per day. Every three hours is ideal. If you wait four hours between meals you are weakening your metabolism because by that time your body automatically switches into starvation mode by breaking down muscle cells to extract protein for energy instead of glucose and fat (the bodies intended sources of energy).
The most important variable in having control over your body weight is calories in are equal calories out. If you burn more calories than you eat you will loose weight and vice versa. If you portion control your meals you can have more control over your ability to loose or gain weight. A generally accepted safe caloric deficit to loose weight is 10%. If you’re daily caloric needs to maintain your current weight is equal to 2,000 calories then an 1,800 calorie per day diet is ideal to loose weight at a safe rate. If you don’t already have an idea as to how many calories you should be consuming daily then figure that out first on this Fitness Calculator. Recalculate once per week. As your body changes your calorie requirements will change.
Take the time and put forth the sometimes tedious effort to learn how to apply good nutritional habits that work for you and the desired results you’re going for. In time it will become second nature! Once you have conquered that task it’s an invaluable education you will take it with you for the rest of your life and even teach others how to do the same for themselves. Priceless!!!
Do you have friends who call you out when you don’t follow through with something you said you were going to do?
Two kinds of friends.
The first kind usually mean well and care about you but will only tell you what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear. They are likely to support anything you do and be all lovey dovey like when you don’t follow through on something you said you were going to do.
The second kind of a friend, like most of the first kind of friends, will care about you but unlike the first kind they will also nurture you by telling you what you need to hear. If you quit on a promise that you made to yourself or anyone else they will call you out on it and try to move you to follow through on what you said you were going to do.
Sometimes we need the second kind of friend. Sometimes YOU need the second kind of friend just to challenge you with the truth about your excuses. The first kind of friendship is more like a poison really and it’s one of the most common poisons in our culture and it’s not just between friends but between spouses and family as well. The intention is good because they probably care about you. But you know what they say about intentions and the road to hell right?
Take on the challenge of surrounding yourself more with nurturing people and watch how your life turns out. A nurturing person will never support anything and everything you do. When you mess up they will let you know constructively and push you to do what you said you were going to do. They will probably push you to shoot even higher because they see value in you before you see it in yourself.
And you should pay that kind of foresight forward! When you see a friend with so much value in them that they do not yet see in themselves you should absolutely communicate that with them and challenge them to tap their potential. You never know whos life you might touch just by believing in them before they believe in themselves and then effectively communicating it with them. That, my friends, is a selfless act that should be practiced more in our culture.
I like to call the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse a “performance cleanse.” This is because it was designed to be done with a workout program. Let’s take a look at how this differs from other cleanses, how to tailor it to your needs, and what to expect if you decide to try it.
First of all, it’s not a true cleanse. It’s a calorie-restricted and nutrient-dense diet plan. Traditional cleanses contain very few calories and nutrients. Compared to the much more popular Master Cleanse, it’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Traditional cleansing diets are done to rid your system of toxins and bring it into homeostasis. They also contain a spiritual aspect. This process can take a long time, which is why you may have seen coworkers walking around the office in a zombie-like state for weeks on end—swilling a strange concoction of lemons and maple syrup.
The Shakeology cleanse is nothing like that. Depending on how you decide to do it, you’ll be eating frequently and consuming between 800 and 1,200 calories per day, and it could be even more should you feel the need. The point of this cleanse is not calorie restriction, per se—it’s nutrient efficiency. The aim is to get the most nutrients possible into the fewest number of calories. The goal is to put all of these calories to use as a part of your exercise program, to rid your body of undigested foods and toxins, and to bring your hydration levels into homeostasis. The result you’re after is not weight loss—though it will likely occur—but for your body to be running more efficiently. This should make you feel lighter and more energetic, even though you’re doing an exercise program.
How It Works
Your eating structure doesn’t change. You still eat every few hours while you’re awake. Each meal should have a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber. And while you’re not eating as much food as you’d normally eat, your calorie-to-nutrient ratio is extremely high. This means that you shouldn’t restrict the actual nutrients you’re getting by too much, so activity can continue as normal.
We recommend you try to keep your shakes to just Shakeology. Adding fruits of any kind, or seeds (for fat and fiber), or the Shakeology Fiber supplement, can and should be done as you see fit.
Ditto for your one solid meal—a salad. As we all know from any salad bar, the definition of salad can be varied. The goal of the salad in the plan is to keep your calories coming from natural sources (no artificial ingredients should be added, including artificial salad dressing). Aside from that, you can add ingredients as necessary. Keep your meat intake to four ounces or less, but add veggies, seeds, nuts, fruits, and legumes in quantities to satiate you.
The goal of the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse is to optimize your performance. You want to eat enough to fuel your day AND your workout. The foods you’re eating are so high in fiber and nutrients that it’s virtually impossible to overeat. You’ll be consuming so much fiber, along with enzymes and digestive aids, that your body’s ability to flush excess foods quickly will be at its peak.
What to Drink
Water, of course, is recommended in quantity. This is vital to any cleanse, because one of your goals is to bring your hydration into homeostasis. When your electrolytes are out of balance—the main problem we have is salt—you often retain water outside of your cells. This situation, which we refer to as retaining water, is cured by drinking more water. As the excess salts are diffused, your body begins to hydrate your cells (using sodium as it should be used) and flush the water held outside the cells. So, oddly enough, you drink water to eliminate water retention.
Sodas, alcohols, juices, etc., should be eliminated entirely during a cleanse. Coffee and tea, which are diuretics, should be minimized at the very least and eliminated if possible. Again, performance is the key, so if you need a cup of Joe as a pick-me-up, go ahead. Just use only as needed, and don’t use additives. Eliminating sugar and chemicals is vital. However, do not use energy drinks or soda for this purpose, including the ones with artificial sweeteners. Coffee drinkers may find that switching to black tea during a cleanse will give you the energy you’re looking for with less upset. Coffee’s acidic nature can heighten the effects in a negative way during your cleanse.
Why You Won’t Lose Weight
I should say why you might not lose weight, but I wanted to get your attention. Most people will lose some weight during a cleanse, but that is not the goal. Those with a lot of undigested gunk in their systems will lose weight as it’s flushed out. Those of you who are properly hydrated and already eat well are less likely to lose. For those of you who need to lose weight, take heart: you are setting up your system to use nutrients more efficiently and improving your ability to lose weight through structured diet and exercise. So while you may not lose much on the cleanse, you’ll be more prepared to lose weight later.
Another reason why we don’t always lose weight on cleanses is due to a stress hormone called cortisol. Restricting calories is stressful to the body, and it reacts by releasing cortisol. Cortisol is performance-enhancing in the short term, but if you somehow keep your body stressed for long periods, it creates havoc in your system and can cause you to doggedly hang onto weight in a type of survival mode. We don’t want this to occur, which is one reason the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse is short. It’s important not to remain in a highly calorie-deficient state for long periods of time, especially when you are trying to exercise hard.
Here is the full plan:
The Shakeology® 3-Day Cleanse
The key is to follow the same regimen all three days.
Essentials:
3 Shakeology shakes per day
2 cups of green tea per day
1 or 2 pieces of fruit per day (optional)
1 salad for dinner—can include fish or poultry
No dairy or extra sugars (this includes almond and soy milk)!
Drink 2 to 4 liters of water every day
Only use low-fat dressings, and go easy on the salt and/or pepper to taste
2 snacks before/after any of the major meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Fruit is optional, and it is discouraged (however, some of you will need the calories while others may not)
Power-workout participants (those who are already super conditioned) are recommended the higher numbers of calories
For maximum results, do NOT use additives
Dinner salad may include WHITE GRILLED PROTEIN—poultry or fish only
Daily Regimen:
1 cup of green tea to start the day
Breakfast:
1 scoop Shakeology (140 calories)
1/2 cup of fruit (60 to 90 calories)—optional
Ice to taste
8 to10 oz. of water
Snack 1 (85 calories):
1 piece of fruit (apple, pear, orange, banana mango, etc.)
Lunch:
1 scoop Shakeology (140 calories)
Ice to taste
8 to 10 oz. of water
1 cup of green tea or a detox tea
Snack 2: (you can have the second snack before or after dinner)
1 scoop Shakeology (140 calories)
Ice to taste
8 to10 oz. of water
Dinner: Salad with grilled white fish or poultry (roughly 340 calories)
Greens—3 servings of vegetables, plus 4 oz. of grilled white meat (fish or poultry)
2 tablespoons of dressing—no more!
Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse FAQ
Here are the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions:
1. How many calories per day?
800 to 1,100 calories per day
2. How often can I do the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse?
Ideally, you should do it once per quarter (every 3 months)
As the seasons change
Before starting a new workout program
When you feel you need help breaking through a plateau.
3. Should/Can I still do my workouts during the Cleanse?
Depends on the individual
You’ll have less energy than normal, so consider doing it during a recovery week
Try not to do in the middle of P90X® or INSANITY®
4. Can I do a 1-day or a 2-day cleanse instead of a 3-day?
Yes! Some people will see results with one or two days
We recommend against continuing the cleanse for more than three days
5. Should/Can I take other Beachbody® supplements during the Cleanse?
Results and Recovery Formula™: No, too much sugar/calories
Others (Omega-3, etc.): Not necessary, but won’t hurt either
Get your own bag of Shakeology!
It automatically comes with a 30 day full refund guarantee!
Enlightened self-interest leads to wealth. Selfish self-preservation leads to poverty. Somebody says, “ I can’t be concerned about other people, I can only be concerned about myself.” Well then, you’ll always have to be concerned about yourself. Somebody says “ I can’t be concerned about other people’s bills, I’ve got enough worries trying to pay my own”. Well then, you’ll have to worry about them for the rest of your life. The best way to get that monkey off your back is to turn your attention to other people.
Once I understood this perspective, it revolutionized my whole life. Self-interest is necessary, of course. But here’s what self-interest must be if you truly want to be happy: it must be enlightened. Don’t keep your attention only on yourself if you want your life to work out well. All the possibilities of greatness – great wealth, great reputation, great satisfaction – come only if you turn your attention from yourself to others.
In your own self-interest, be enlightened. Truly act in your own self-interest by making an investment in service to others.
If you wish to receive, you must give. Some people say, “if you give, it’s gone.” That’s not true if you’re educated. If you’re foolish, yes, it’s gone. But if you’re enlightened, chances are if you give, you’ve invested. What do we expect an investment to do? We expect it to return multiplied…bigger, better, greater.
When I was young, my father taught me an important lesson. He said, “Son, always do more than what you get paid for.” Some individuals might argue with that. They say “no, you’re going to mess up the whole program.” I know they’re wrong. In my own self-interest, I did what my father taught me… I always did more than I got paid for. Why? To make an investment in my future. And it’s paid off for me.
If you’re wanting that big promotion, you can’t go up to your boss and say, “Just give it to me. I’ll work harder if you just give me that promotion.” It doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to do more in your current position to get noticed. You need to stand out from everybody else. That way, your boss will say, “You know, we’ve got this position opening up, and I think we should give it to Nancy. She does so much more than we expect. Just imagine what she’ll do if we give her this promotion!”
You’ve got to do more that you’re paid for. It’s an investment in your future.
It’s one thing to make a sale. If you make a sale, you’ll make a living. If you go beyond making the sale by providing exceptional service – keeping in touch, calling your clients before they call you, writing thank you notes – sales will lead to multiple sales. You can make a fortune if you take good care of the customer. People who are well taken care of will open doors you can’t get through by yourself.
All of us have found ways to make a living. What was interesting for me early on was to figure out ways to make a fortune. You may say, “Well, Mr. Rohn, how could I deserve to make a fortune?” It’s easy. Render fortunes of service. People will do things you cannot believe for those who give them good service.
Here’s one of the greatest gifts you can give to anybody: the gift of attention. In return, they will do extraordinary things for your career. They will take you by the hand and lead you to more people that you could meet by yourself. Always do more than you get paid for.
You see, life responds to deserving, not need. Life was not designed to give us what we need. Life was designed to give us what we deserve. Once you understand that principle, your life will change.
The ancient law does not say this: “If you need you will reap.” It doesn’t work that way. A lot of people out there are hoping it works that way, but it doesn’t. The ancient law says this: that if you sow, if you plant, you will reap. Somebody says, “Well, I really need to reap.” Then you really need to plant. Your own self-interest needs to be educated in how to plant. You must know how to do it so everybody wins, because life just doesn’t respond to need.
You can’t go to the soil and say, “I need a crop.” The soil just smiles at you and says, “Don’t bring me your need, bring me some seed. Bring me some effort. Bring me some discipline. Bring me some interest. Bring me some service. Bring me these things, and I’ll return them to you multiplied.” You can’t come with need. You’ve got to come with seed. You’ve got to come with willingness. You’ve got to come with skills.
You’ve got to be willing to learn, to change, to grow, to make an effort. You must be willing to stand up to the bad weather, to pull out weeds, to nurture. That’s the only way you serve others. And that’s the only way you get a return. Everybody wins with enlightened self-interest.
Getting my parents to turn their health around was a gift that pays for itself every day, truly. Shakeology and cutting out the junk food was the major change that made the drastic differences in their health. For my birthday my parents gave me the coolest Birthday card ever! In it is a short but sweet poem that my dad hand wrote me:
“Shakeology is in my Glass and I will drink it all. You got me on this regimen – that was a super call.
It doesn’t cost a lot to buy, so I can keep my wealth. It wouldn’t matter if it did – I’d rather have my health.
Is what you’re doing right now lined up with your priorities or someone elses? Are you building your own dreams or someone elses dreams who doesn’t have much planned for you in return?
Are your daily rituals supportive or unsupportive of the promises you made to yourself and to your family?
What are some of your daily rituals you could swap out that aren’t advancing your life for some daily rituals that will advance your life and inevitably crystallize your dreams and the promises you made to yourself and your family into reality?
Those are the questions that YOU should be asking yourself every day. I do and I’m living my dreams. Otherwise the things you said you’d like to achieve is really just a joke of wishful thinking not to be taken seriously by anyone including the entire universe and it’s powers. When you include others in on your dream, tell them about it, and then don’t follow through then it turns into more of a selfish inaction that can potentially devastate others who might be counting on you to follow through with a promise that YOU made to them. This seems to devastate children more than adults. Don’t break a promise to a child or anyone for that matter including promises you make to yourself.
No matter how small or big your life is, no matter what you’ve achieved or have not achieved, no matter how rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, spiritually awake or sleeping, no matter how badly you’ve messed up in your past, you’re either growing or rotting by the daily actions you take brought on by whatever it is you believe in.
Are your daily actions positioning time to be on your side to promote you or are your daily actions positioning time to be against you to expose you? Time is non prejudice it doesn’t have a bias which means if you’re not advancing it’s because of YOU.
The passing of time is your most valuable asset because without time there is no way to get the feedback you need to know if you’re daily actions are working. Whatever you’re DOING the passing of time will take care of the rest.
That feedback that can ONLY be found in the passing of time contains all the information you need to validate if what you’re spending your time DOING is conducive to your dreams, your priorities, and your promises or not. Start paying attention to the feedback of time. It’s telling you if what you’re doing is working or not!
FOR EXAMPLE… If you’ve been working X number of years and you’re still broke then time has validated for you that you’re daily actions are not working. It’s also validating that if you keep doing what you’ve always been doing you’ll always have no more than what you’ve already got. What’s that mean if you want something different than what you’ve already got? It means CHANGE COURSE! And ONLY then time will give you new feedback validating your different daily actions one way or the other so that you may make further refinements, which produces new feedback to meet with new refinements, each time moving closer and closer to your dreams and promises. The key to putting time on your side to promote you is to keep going back and forth between learning and doing in what’s known as the rhythm of learning, one advancing the other between learning and doing, til you are on a path that brings your dreams and promises closer to you.
Keep making refinements with your eye on the ball and it’s inevitable every time WITHOUT EXCEPTION you will get where you want to be. It’s a natural law of the earth it’s always been and always will be that way. Don’t change and nothing changes. Change and something changes. Pay attention to the feedback through the passing of time to know if it was a positive or negative change then re set your aim and fire again for new feedback. Real simple first grade stuff.
We almost lost my dad a couple years ago. He only has 1/3rd of his lungs left after many years of smoking. He no longer smokes but the damage to his lungs is irreversible. He is now very vulnerable. For example just one bout of pneumonia or a bad bronchitis flare up could kill him. His immune status is of paramount importance to protect him from such things.
Today I took my dad to a routine doctor visit but the feedback from the doctor was anything but routine. My dads doctor today tells my dad, “You’re doing much better than you have any right to expect. You’re no where near wear I first saw you a year and a half ago. Most people would be dead by now”.
I bought my dad Shakeology a year and a half ago and told him he’s drinking this from now on. I saved my dads life with Shakeology according to his doctor. He’s also able to walk the treadmill a few minutes at a time now which for a guy with only 1/3rd of his lungs left capable of exchanging gases is an amazing feat. It’s critical for him to work his lungs out to the best of his ability every day to keep the functionality of what’s left of his lungs working optimally. He’s also pre diabetic. Shakeology is a meal shake rated at only 24 on the glycemic index and will prevent him from becoming diabetic. Many who were full blown diabetics have literally reversed their diabetes using Shakeology as an effective tool.
On the opposite side of life saving… In the past 5 or 6 months I’ve known several people to drop dead of a massive heart attack or stroke leaving behind spouses, children, friends, family and other loved ones to grieve. All of whom had the warning signs and did nothing about it. They were shown Shakeology and that it’s proven to lower those risk factors and decided to either wait for “someday”, which sadly never came for them, or some just giggled about it referring to Shakeology as “one of those silly health shakes”. Stubbornness can either kill you or save you. For petes sake develop the wisdom to know the difference if you haven’t already.
I’ve got four messages that’s extremely important to me and for you to share…
1.) I’m NOT promising Shakeology is going to save your life or cure anything: I’m not undermining any health care professional you might be working with. Fact is I know thousands of people drinking Shakeology and I’m not aware of a single case where those risk factors for heart attack or stroke hasn’t been significantly reduced among many other benefits. Include your doctor and others as part of your over all TEAM in your life to make important decisions and make those decisions CONSCIOUSLY. In other words… It’s your life so OWN IT.
2.) Fellow Team Beachbody Coaches: The people you are meant to help are one million times more important than your nay sayers. Do not project a negative experience from a negative person onto someone you’re suppose to meet in the future; whos life you will significantly impact and possibly even save. No nay sayer in your life is worth while to keep you from sharing this gift with as many people as you possibly can. You’re doing this for those people and NOT your nay sayers, right? Know where your focus is. It’s not on your nay sayers it’s on the cooperative and nurturing relationships you will build as you meet new people.
3. Anyone NOT drinking Shakeology and sharing it with friends and family: Try it, http://shakeology.com/metalpalace Contact me for the coach discounts. Get this today. And get it not just for yourself but also for everyone you love and care about. In other words Don’t be selfish! Point blank the more people who try Shakeology the happier, healthier, and more fulfilled more people will be. And quite honestly the more people will LIVE and treat others with more kindness.
4.) SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE: Sign up with the Independent Beachbody coach of your choosing. Coaches and non coaches you can share this with everyone. Coaches make sure they know to go to your website and not mine. You need to communicate with your friends and family this is a “belly to belly” relational business. Non coaches sign up, use Shakeology in your own life, share it with everyone else around you it’s too important not to.
There are people all around you who will not be around 10 years from now because of how they are health wise. GET INVOLVED IN THEIR LIVES, HELP THEM, AND BE SIGNIFICANT.
Money by itself is stupid in my opinion BUT some of us have got to get over our FALSE altruistic sense of moral value when it comes to money.
– You know in your heart and in your soul that if only you had more money you could afford to put your kids through college.
– You know that if only you had more money you could afford home care for your parents instead of having to put them up in a nursing home, or, taking care of them yourself on top of everything else you’ve got to do and face the real possibility of clinically exhausting yourself. That’s a real scenario for most people between the ages of 35 and 50 years old.
– You know that if only you had enough money then if something were to happen to your job you’ll be ok and your family will be ok.
– You know that if only you had enough money , god forbid something happens to you, your family will be taken care of.
– You know that if only you had enough money you could afford to eat healthy organic foods and consequently LIVE better and feel better. If you desire to help others you know you’d be more capable to.
– You know that if only you had enough money you wouldn’t feel the unapologetic squeeze of a merciless economy.
– You know that if only you had enough money then you wouldn’t have to live in the fear that a paycheck to paycheck life style tends to cultivate.
– You know that if only you had enough money then when an emergency comes up, they are inevitable it’s not a question of if but when, you won’t have to worry about how you’re going to come up with the money.
– You know that if only you had enough money you could buy your freedom and buy back your life to spend your time how YOU want to spend your time and not how someone else demands that you spend your time.
And if you’re feeling ambitious in a humanitarian point of view you know that if only you had millions and BILLIONS of dollars then a LOT of kids in the world who are literally starving to death would be fed and given the medical attention they need. You know that we’d be closer to the discovery of a cure for heart disease and cancer which we so desperately need.
Imagine if you quit being selfish, you went out there and made as much money as you could and that money was instrumental in finally finding a cure for cancer and heart disease! Can you imagine how much less pain and suffering would result from that? I’m not just talking about the agony of the patients stricken with these diseases but I’m also speaking to the pain and sadness of surrounding loved ones. Most of my grand parents and an uncle, so far, I’ve lost to cancer. Everyone is affected by this I know all of you are to so I know you know what I’m talking about it’s one of the most relatable things I can think of.
One of my life goals is to make a Billion dollars, donate 99.9% of it to leaving the world a better place than I was born into it, and donating the rest of the .1% upon my own death because I can’t take it with me. Just imagine if everyone would get over there false sense of altruistic moral ego about money and had desires to make as much of it as possible for the purpose of service toward others. Imagine what kind of a different world we’d live in.
Here is something about money. Money isn’t evil. It has no agenda. It has no feelings. People are both good and evil with shades of grey. Money is not the root of evil or good. Money is what you do it. Money has as much to do with fueling evil as does the fork for making a fat person fat. It’s the philosophy that the person holds that drives money for good or evil. Likewise it’s the philosophy that the person holds that drives the person to use the fork to cultivate good health or bad health. It’s the philosophy that the person holds that drives the person to use a tire iron to fix a tire with it or to commit murder with it. Money doesn’t do anything to people. People do things to people and some people have a very false altruistic moral ego about money.
I’m not going to vilify anyone who reads this and still has no desire to earn more money. In fact I am totally fine with it one way or the other. Mother Theresa was poor and she is among the most selfless people throughout the earths history. But don’t equate money to moral value because they really don’t have anything to do with each other.
Here is your note of caution…
The thing about having this kind of money is it takes time to build. Years in fact. I like knowing I’m in the 2 – 5 year plan instead of the 15 to 30 year plan (if you only have a job odds are you’ll never get there anyway). That time is going to pass by anyway. Since it’s going to pass by anyway and you have the benefit of knowing it’s going to pass by it’s up to you to decide if your dreams are big enough dreams that you won’t be denied.
In America nothing stops you from being successful and you don’t have to ask for permission to become successful. In fact it’s quite the opposite. The tax code in America incentivizes wealth. I’m living proof of that. In 2010 if I did not own my own home based business I would have spent SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS PLUS more than I needed to. Dang right this country incentivizes and creates opportunity. No one will tell me otherwise.
Take advantage of the great opportunities in which you and I live and live your life in the service of others.
-Tom
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world” – Anne Frank 1952
My job was off shored to India, my health care was taken away from me, I was attending school full time and a half, I had ZERO income, I had virtually no time, my health was in decline… Does that sound like a ‘Lucky’ scenario? I thought I was cursed actually.
The only stroke of luck that I have is that I was born and raised in America. The rest of my good fortune came from my ambition and a willingness to do the things that most of you out there are not willing to do.
Today I have a handsome cash flow, I can do what I want, I report to no boss, I have time, and I have excellent enough health to enjoy my good fortunes. I was able to gain all this PART TIME. I’m not sacrificing time for money and I’m not sacrificing money for time. I’m not sacrificing health for anything. That balance IS success. Rich people in poor health and no time are not successful. People with lots of time and no money are not successful. Success is found only in balance.
Some say, “Tom you’re lucky!”. I appreciate that people are happy for me but I was not lucky by any means except that I live in America. I had nearly everything working against me two and a half years ago but instead of retreating, drowning in self pity, waiting till things got better, blaming everything else but myself, I cultivated new ambition and a burning desire to act TODAY without procrastination for as long as it took. Most of you are not willing to do that and that is why I’ve passed up most of you. I actually started at a place much further behind than where most of you are at and I still passed you up because I exercised more ambition and a willingness to do the things most people are not willing to do than you have exercised. How does that make you feel to know there are people out there much worse off than you who are now doing circles around you while you are still waiting to go after your dreams? Most of you are willing to procrastinate or let your fears inhibit you from doing things you innately want to do. That’s why most of you are behind on your promises and that isn’t going to change until you change first.
The most meaningful part of being an Independent Team Beachbody coach is bringing other people with me out of average and into extraordinary. The money I’m making doesn’t out rank the importance of bringing other people with me and up to speed on the promises they’ve made to themselves. I’m not selfish in my success it’s not in me to be that way. It is in me to give till I have nothing left until I get a good night sleep. I’m not retiring, ever. The more I have the more I’m able to do for you who are willing. The Team Beachbody coaches in my team are the beneficiary of my all out giving!
It’s also in me to exercise honest tough love and tell you the honest truth even if it makes you angry. If your philosophy is keeping you back, if your actions are wrong, if your way of thinking is devastating you then you need to know about it so we can begin pulling you out of the mess! If you want out of the mess you’ve gotta have the guts to at least see yourself in the mess even if it’s painful. That’s exactly why some people are able to get out of the mess. They have the guts to see who and what they are TODAY so they can get out of the mess of today by becoming the person they want to be for TOMORROW. That’s how some people are seemingly ‘lucky’. They aren’t lucky. They are just willing to do the things most of you are not willing to do.
IF you are willing to do the things that most people are not willing to do then I’d love to work with you. You can be the beneficiary of my expertise and my willingness to give you everything I’ve got so you can get caught up on your own promises.
Here is a sad reality. Mostly everyone living in America still has a job, is able to make ends meet, are not very happy, and doing nothing about it. That’s not really the sad part I was referring to. The sad part is that every single one of those people live in America and aren’t taking advantage of any opportunity out there to gain the things they dream of having. Now here is the disgusting part. Remember where I mentioned having the guts to look at the mess of today so you can take yourself out of the mess for tomorrow? If you fall into this category of wanting more and doing nothing about it then you have to hear this. There are lots of people in this nations past and present who have known devastation, poverty, and adversity that you have and I have never ever known who took advantage of opportunity that you let slide by and now those deserving people are running circles around you while you still have nothing more than wishful thinking to show for!! How can an individual who is worse off than you pass you up and run circles around you while you’re not even in the game yet but still just standing their on the sidelines of your own life?? That individual has more ‘skin in the game’ than you do. That individual has a philosophy that’s driving them forward and you have a philosophy that’s sliding you backwards. “The laws of sowing and reaping don’t say if you need you will reap. The laws of sowing and reaping say if you sow you will reap.” – Jim Rohn
How many of you out there wish you were in better shape, you’re able to at least walk on your own two feet but not willing to exercise regularly all the while there are people confined to a wheel chair and still doing whatever they can to be healthy?
How many of you out there wish you had more time and money, you’re able to at least make ends meet, you have a roof over your head, and do nothing to take advantage of opportunities all the while there are people living in the same country as you with absolutely nothing but ambition who are now running circles around you?
How many of you experience an emotional set back and then use that emotional setback to keep procrastinating on your promises; all the while the largest success stories in the democratic world are those who were driven by their emotional pains that are far greater than ANY tragedy you’ve ever known?
Why is that??? The sooner you realize it’s not the blowing of the wind but the set of the sail that determines your destination then the sooner you can begin to change the direction of your life. Position your daily actions so that both positive and negative events in your life act as a stepping stone toward success. Or let them push you backwards and remain average.
When looking at my own past I am embarrassed for waiting til I was jobless with zero income, no health insurance, no time, and declining health until I finally did something about it. Even though it was not my fault my job was off shored to India I was extremely embarrassed and felt shame over my situation. I saw my situation for what it was, as painful as it was to look at, and I replaced some bad habits with good habits. It would not have been possible if I was not brave enough to see ‘it’ for what ‘it’ was so that I knew what I was dealing with to be able to pull myself out of the mess! That’s exactly how the truth, albeit some times the painful truth, will “Set You Free!” Free to correct the errors of the past so you can have a completely different future. So you can set a better sail this year than you did last year to arrive at a more desirable destination.
I hope this helps you cultivate a burning desire in you to do something. I don’t even care what it is as long as it leads to a positive impact upon others around you.
Set yourself on fire and let the world watch you burn!
Beautiful Natural Flower Arrangement in the Desert Outside of Las Vegas, NV
Three friends of mine in the last 6 months had a diabetic dad or husband who needed to make a life style change that included a diabetes meal plan and couldn’t be bothered. Shakeology is the most powerful tool I’ve ever recommended and witnessed to help people reverse their type 2 diabetes and for others to prevent them from entering into the diabetic zone. Naturally I recommend it to everyone because I’m certain if everyone were to try it we’d all be much happier people.
My friends tried to get their husband or father to try shakeology. One of them just laughed and kept on with the same devastating daily rituals. The other two just couldn’t be bothered to listen to anything new. All three died instantly of a massive heart attack afterwards. I won’t say shakeology would have prevented that but all three of them had classic risk factors for heart attack or stroke that shakeology has been proven to dramatically reduce. Within my
own team of people there are MANY stories of people coming off of heart medications, blood pressure medications, statins for cholesterol, even insulin dependent people no longer needing to administer insulin because of the nourishment in shakeology and cutting out the junk food. I believe my friends dads and husbands would be alive today without question if they just tried shakeology, cut out some of the junk they were eating, and even got in just a little bit of physical activity every day. Instead they were too self absorbed to be bothered with any of that and made their loved ones emotionally suffer their own funeral.
Everyone needs excellent nutrition to live a better life. Diabetics and pre diabetics generally run even higher risks of physical debilitation and death by lifestyle choices if they don’t consciously pay attention to what they put into their mouths. The Diabetes Meal Plan is literally a life saving education for this special population in our culture.
Here is how Melanie does it. The ONLY two things I do differently is I use half scoop of Chocolate Shakeology and half tbsp of Maple Syrup. If you haven’t ordered Shakeology yet get it here: SHAKEOLOGY and if you want the 25% coach discounts just call me and I’ll walk you through that. This really is VERY good…
From Melanie:
I’ve found a new love!!!!! My favorite candy ever is a good ol’ fashioned Chocolate Covered Cherry (the kind from an actual candy store… not those drug store brand ones), so I wanted to translate that to Shakeology. I believe I’ve done it, by jove!!!! If you try this, let me know what you think! 🙂
CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY SHAKEOLOGY
INGREDIENTS:
*1 scoop of Chocolate Shakeology (or one single serve packet)
*8 ounces of Original Almond Breeze almond milk (*note* SILK brand almond milk will make it thick/pudding like… use Almond Breeze)
*9 pitted and halved Bing Cherries
*1 tbsp of Joseph’s All Natural Sugar Free Maple Syrup
*Ice to taste
Chocolate Covered Cherry Shakeology
You can, of course, vary the number of cherries and amount of syrup to your preferences 🙂
I Feel Like $31,000,000+ and I Want You To Feel That Good To
To begin with your self esteem will increase drastically. When you transform your body from where you are now to the body you have always wanted your self esteem will go through the roof. You will probably want to re acquaint yourself in the mirror. The feeling you get when you look in the mirror, loving the way you look, is powerful. It is nearly impossible to have low self esteem when you re acquaint yourself with your newly transformed body and self image. If I were to place monetary value on the worth of high self esteem then high self esteem = $1,000,000.
High self esteem leads to high self confidence. If I were to place monetary value on high self confidence then high self confidence = $5,000,000.
Opportunities come knocking! There is a saying, “Success is something you attract by the person you become”. When you’re in great physical and mental shape, when you have high self esteem and you have high self confidence you begin to attract opportunities that other less confident people just don’t get. This kind of confidence emotes from you and resonates with anyone you come into contact with. Have you ever tried to go out looking for opportunities? It’s like chasing butterflies you come so close but you just can’t quite catch them. If I were to place monetary value on opportunities knocking on your door vs. trying to look for those opportunities without developing yourself first then opportunity knocking on your door = $10,000,000.
<
Who you have become, your self development, is a result of learning and doing. You are creating a legacy. It is a legacy because what you do, both positive and negative, will affect other people you come in contact with. If you become a self employed business owner (within my team or elsewhere) then in monetary value this legacy you create could be worth $15,000,000 at a minimum because you have the tenacity to pursue your dreams and pass down high self esteem and high self confidence to others you mentor.
If I were to add up the monetary value of having a great body, high self esteem, high self confidence and the tenacity to pursue your dreams then your total monetary net worth = $31,000,000+