Ever since I started my own business a few years back, I’ve felt like I’m in a world that’s strange to me.  There’s a lot of talk about gaining wealth and financial freedom.  Heck!  I’m all for that, and this is not a post that is meant to criticize anyone for trying to make a living.

However, I think that the absolute luckiest people in this world are those who make a good living doing what they love.  They’ve hit the jackpot.  They really never have to work another day in their life because it’s not work to them.  They are having fun…every day!

I worked as a computer programmer / systems analyst for over 20 years.  It was a good job…good pay, flexible, nice people, and I was pretty good at it.  But something was always missing.  I had this deep desire to do something to impact people’s lives.  Little did I know that it would just fall into my lap…just a few months before I got laid off from that cushy job as a computer programmer.

I’m an Independent Team Beachbody coach.  I have no certifications.  I’ve taken classes in personal training, but I never took the test to be certified.  I’m not a nutritionist either.  So what am I?

I’m an encourager.  That’s it.  Sure, I know the products I market through Beachbody, and I can point people to the answer they are looking for.  But for the most part what I do is simply ENCOURAGE.  I love that, and I feel it’s what I was born to do.  It’s fun, so it’s not work!

I truly believe that the obesity problem in the world is not going to be solved by government regulations or even changes in the food industry.  What it’s going to take is an army of people who simply CARE for others and want to see them succeed.

Here’s an email I received from one of the customers Beachbody referred to me:

“Judy you are so right, my children’s doctor was just talking to us about child obesity and the way my children run around they are like a duracell battery, they never get tired of running.  They are in day care from 6:30am to 5:30at night and when they get home they still have energy I can’t seem to keep them still.  I am kind of happy they have that much energy because it beats sitting in front of the television doing  NOTHING LIKE I USE TO DO and I am so glad they didn’t pick up those old habits of mine.

Once they turn 5 years old I was thinking about getting them into swimming clubs and karate since they are so active and let them wear the instructors out instead of me.

Judy I have a wedding to go to on July 10th and I can’t wait to buy a new outfit because I have earned it.  The big reward is in August when I reach my next 20 pound mark, I told you for each 20 pounds I lose I will treat myself to something big and that will be my spa day.

Judy I can really feel the difference with my weight loss, I can walk for a long period of time without being out of breath and guess what?  Last Friday I took my son and daughter to the park and we stayed for 2 hours and I did not sit down not one time, I played the entire time with them and guess what else?  I started to cry when we left the park and my son said mommy what’s wrong and since he is too young to understand I just told him that mommy enjoyed spending time with you today at the park.

Judy both me and my husband took them to the park and he was the one sitting down, I couldn’t beleive that I didn’t sit down the entire time I was so proud of myself I just grabbed my children and gave them a big hug and told them mommy will start bringing you to the park more often and we will be starting to stay longer if you like.

Judy, I am just too proud of myself.  I went from lazy, a couch potato, a person eating while stressed or depressed, high blood pressure, pre diabetic to a healthy mom who will never in life be that way again.”

Getting emails like that truly warms my heart!  It’s worth more that any commission I can earn from my company!  Don’t get me wrong!  I’m glad that I am earning commissions and bonuses, but I am OVERJOYED that it’s doing something I love!

It’s happened!  So many years ago I was working in a job that didn’t fulfill me.  I was praying for an opportunity to do something I loved and that would impact the lives of others.  I had no idea how to make that happen!

I’m thankful that God knew, and He showed me the way! 

Judy

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I received an email the other day that just THRILLED me.  One of the things I enjoy most in life is encouraging others to lead a healthy lifestyle.  Honestly, sometimes it can be frustrating.  People have more excuses when it comes to eating right and exercise than children have excuses for not doing their homework!

But then there are people like Andrea.  We met through Beachbody’s customer lead program.  Beachbody entrusts me with their customers, and my job is to support and encourage them (which we’ve already established that I LOVE).  I sent a welcome email to Andrea and also a voice mail welcoming her to Beachbody, and introducing myself as her personal coach.  We quickly started developing a relationship.

Andrea has had a lot of questions for me, but 90% of her emails are all about her “WHY”…playing in the park this summer with her two little children!  Since she has continually focused on WHY she wants to lose weight and get into shape, she’s sticking with her program, looking for answers, and changing her habits.

She’s had her share of challenges…including her little son deciding to get up VERY early in the morning and interrupting her workout time.  She worked through that, and kept losing weight.

Here’s the email Andrea sent me the other day:

Hi Judy:

Today I am wearing a pair of pants that I could not fit into around this time of year last year.  Last August when I tried these pants on I could not get them past my thighs.  I tried everything in my power to pull these pants up to fit and they would not go past my thighs without riping off a button.

Today I am wearing the same pants and Judy, beleive it or not, these pants are fitting me, they are extremely loose and I started to cry when I put these pants on because I thought about just last year when I put these same pants on and they wouldn’t go past my thighs I knew in my heart I would never get this weight off.

Judy, I am still crying as I am typing you this email because I can’t believe these pants are fitting me, not only fitting me but they are very loose.  When I see things like this happen when I never thought could it just makes me want to keep going.  Judy when I look back to my past DIET, I see myself eatting until I was full, eatting because I was stress or angry about something, eatting to take my mind off of things or eating just because a certain food was there.

Now when I look at myself today I don’t see me trying to lose weight because of a DIET.  I see my trying to lose weight to gain my strength back, good health, live longer for my children and a BETTER LIFE STYLE.  DIET is no longer in my vocabulary.  Judy now when I eat I spread my meals out to 5-6 small meals a day and the best part is that I don’t eat many snacks.  Instead of having 3 meals and 2  snacks I actually eat 5 meals and 1 snack (the snack is only if I am craving something).  I found out that replacing snacks with small meals will keep you fuller longer.  For instance for my mid morning snack I may have 1/2 peanut butter sandwich with an apple vs. cake or a candy bar etc..  I realize I don’t need bad junk fund to stop my cravings there are always alternatives out there and I use the internet and weight watchers to look for them.

Judy, I am so proud of myself that I can fit into these pants I don’t know how to act.  Now I have at least 25 pair of jeans in my closet, some of them I have not even worn yet because I gained so much weight.  My husband since last year told me to give all those jeans to the United Way and let them donate them to shelters etc.  Judy, by this summer I am going to fit in those jeans and tell him I will donate other clothing but I will get my sixe 8 back.  No rush but I will be in an 8 again.  Right now I went from a size 16 in pants and now I am wearing a 12 and the 8 is not  to far behind.

Sorry for the long email but I needed someone to share my good news with.

Now, is Andrea JUST excited about fitting into a pair of pants she hasn’t fit into in years?  Absolutely not!  She knows that it is just one step in her journey toward the REAL prize…effortlessly playing in the park with her children this summer.

Once she achieves that goal, I’m sure that she will be choosing another goal.  Andrea is just THAT type of woman…one that is determined to develop a healthy lifestyle…for herself AND her children!

To your health!

Judy

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You’ve heard it said over and over again…”Exercise is good for you”!  But most of the time, the articles you read about exercise focus on the benefits on your health.  Well, did you ever stop to consider that exercise may also be good for your BRAIN?  Afterall, your brain is part of your body right?  So why would the benefits of exercise exclude this all important organ?

Of course exercise affects our brains!  Those of us who exercise regularly know that to be the truth.  When I exercise, I’m happier and the world seems like a much friendlier place.  When I’m in an exercise slump, as I was until just recently, I start slipping into bouts of feeling like a slug…probably because I’ve been acting like a slug. 

We know that exercise makes us FEEL better, but can it make us smarter too?  Recent studies have linked exercise to memory, learning, and even to the generation of new brain cells.

I was introduced to this concept a few years back at the Tony Horton Fitness Camp.  Tony is a personal trainer to many celebrities, and the creator of the wildy popular home workout routine called P90X.  Obviously, he is a big proponent of exercise to improve your physical body, but he had just became fascinated about what science was finding out about exercise and your brain, and he couldn’t wait to share it with us.  He had a whole seminar at that camp that he called “Your Brain on Exercise”.

After returning home, I bought the book “Spark…The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” by John J. Ratey, MD.  In the introduction to this book, Dr. Ratey says “In today’s technology-driven, plasma-screened-in world, it’s easy to forget that we are born movers – animals, in fact – because we’ve engineered movement right out of our lives”.  So true!

Chapter one in Ratey’s book includes a case study from a school district in Naperville, Illinois.  The 19,000 students in this school district were transformed into the fittest in the nation, and also some of the smartest.  The kids hit the track or the treadmill before school starts.  They call it “zero hour” because it’s before their first period.  The PE system in Naperville focuses less on sports, and more on healthy lifestlyle habits.  The kids in “zero hour” are required to exercise at 80-90% of their maximum heart rate.  The hope is that this readies them for the learning that is to occur the rest of the day.  Academically, the students of Naperville consistently rank among the state’s top ten schools even though the amount of money it spends on each student is notably lower than other top ten Illinois public schools.

What’s really at work here?  A study headed by Astrid Bjornebekk of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that rodents that ran more led to an increase in new brain cells in a part of the brain called the hippocampus.  This small horseshoe shaped sheet of neurons is located in the temporal lobes and plays an important role in long term memory.  Researchers don’t count new brain cells in humans, but there have been studies showing increased blood flow to this area of the brain when humans exercise.

New brain cells are the “potential” for learning.  In “Spark”, Dr. Ratey quoted one of the PE teachers at Naperville to say “In our department, we create the new brain cells.  It’s up to the other teachers to fill them”.

In his book, Dr. Ratey talks about a protein in the brain called BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor). He refers to this protein as “miracle grow for the brain” because it actually stimulates the growth of new neurons in the brain.  Studies have found that exercise stimulate the brain to produce BDNF.

So what type of exercise do you need to do to get these brain boosting benefits?  Dr. Ratey suggests that at a minimum you should perform a brisk 30 minute four or five times a week.  He also recommends interval training – really pushing yourself hard for 20 or 30 seconds while you are running, cycling, or swimming, so that you are momentarily exhausted.  So, for example, you can walk for 2 minutes, sprint for 30 seconds, and then go back to walking for another 2 minutes.  Do this over and over again until you’ve exercised for at least 20-30 minutes.  It’s important to wear a heart rate monitor so you can track your intensity level, and always get your physician’s okay before starting any exercise program.

I hope that this article has made you consider regular exercise as an investment not only in your health, but in your business as well!  In fact, what area of our life ISN’T touched by being more active?

What part of YOUR life has been improved because of regular exercise?  Please share them in the comments!

Together we’re better!

Judy

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I just watched a youtube video of a young woman who is a new Team Beachbody coach.  In August of 2009, she was hospitalized after having a slight heart attack.  She’s a single parent of a beautiful 4 year old.  She said that she laid there in the hospital bed thinking about how she wasn’t talking care of herself.  She smoked cigarettes, she drank every day, she was working 3 jobs, and maybe getting 4 hours of sleep a night.

She said “That was my lifestyle.  That was what I was used to.”

But all of a sudden, she got a glimpse of her future…most likely an early death and leaving her child behind.  She mentioned that her brother died at 41, and she knew that was the fate she was headed for as well.

Scary!

So often, we live lives of quiet desperation because “That’s the lifestyle we’re used to”. We’re too tired to change.  It’s only when we’re hit over the head with a serious wake up call that we take a look into the future we are creating for ourselves.

This young woman has a cousin who is a Beachbody coach, and he was there for her.  He said “We’re going to get you healthy, so you CAN be around for your daughter”.  She signed up to be a Beachbody coach so that she can get herself healthy and pass it on, just like her cousin did for her!

It’s astounding to watch the end of the video, and how she was NOW picturing her future!  She said “I want to watch my daughter grow up.  I want to watch her walk across the stage.  I want to watch her go to college, get married, and I want to play with my own grandchildren.”

I think this is a great exercise for all of us to do with our own lives (minus the heart attack).  Think about the choices you are making each day, because each little choice is leading you towards the future.

YOU are directing your own ship!  Think about what destination you want to arrive at!

Are you living an unhealthy lifestyle?  Are you overweight?  Do you smoke or drink too much alcohol?  Do you survive on less than the ideal amount of sleep?

You may think that you are caught, and can’t change, but you absolutely can.  If you are determined and committed to make a change, answers will begin to show up.  For this young woman, it was her cousin saying “I’ve got a solution for you.  Follow me.”

For you, maybe it’s reading this blog post.  Maybe when you honestly evaluate your lifestyle after you finish reading this post, you’ll realize that it’s time to make some changes.  PLEASE don’t let it go until you have a serious wake up call.  You may not be as lucky as this woman was.  She got a second chance.

You absolutely CAN begin to change you lifestyle today.  Still not convinced?  What if you were asked to walk across a 2″ by 4″ board that was suspended between two 5 story buildings?  Could you do it?  You’d probably say “no”.  But now, what if I told you that your loved ones were on the roof of the other building and it was on fire.  The only way you would be able to save them is if you walked across this board.

Could you do it now?  Hmmm…makes a difference, doesn’t it?  We’ll do so much more for the people we love than we’ll do for ourselves, and I think that’s why so many people neglect their health.  It’s because they put everyone else first.

Well, if you put everyone else first all of the time and leave no room for yourself…you won’t be around for those loved ones very long.

Something to ponder.

Together…we’re better!

Judy

P.S.  I wrote this from the perspective of a healthy lifestyle, but it works for business as well.  Are you doing the things you need to do to in order to succeed in business?  What would your future “successful” self tell you to do?  If you haven’t already read it, go get the book “Go for No”.  It’s a quick read, and all about the “future self” of a salesman teaching his former self what he did to succeed.  It’s hard to explain, but it’s a great book! 

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Since today is St. Patrick’s Day, I thought that I would give this recipe a second try.  I’ve seen my friends RAVE about this, but I tried it once and didn’t like it one bit.  Well, I discovered my mistake.  I’ll tell you about that in a minute!

Recipe: Put a lot of ice (I used 7 large cubes) in a blender.  Add some water (I used about a cup…you may need more).  Add one scoop of chocolate Shakeology and 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract (I may use a little less next time).   Blend!  It tasted like a Pepermint Patty version of a Wendy’s Frosty!

NOTE:  I have a vita-mix blender, which is very powerful.  If you are using a regular blender, you may want to crush the ice first (before adding the rest of the ingredients).  Also, you may need some more water to get it to blend.  If so, you can add it to the freezer for a little while to get it to that frosty consistency!

Now, the mistake I made the first time?  I used mint extract instead of peppermint extract!  HUGE difference!  Don’t make the same mistake I did! 

This drink was healthy, delicious, and only 140 calories!  It also left a very pleasing after taste in my mouth! 

Let me know if you try it!

Judy

P.S.  If you don’t have Shakeology, I’m sure you could try this with chocolate protein powder.  You won’t get a drink that is as nutrient dense as the Shakeology, but it could still be a nice snack!

If you want more information about Shakeology, feel free to visit my Shakeology website.  Stay tuned because tomorrow I’m going to post about a great deal available with Shakeology and the legendary home workout routine called “Slim in 6″!

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It’s a beautiful day in Pennsylvania today, so instead of doing my scheduled P90X Plyometrics workout in my house, I just HAD to take it outside.  I live in a beautiful and very rural section of Pennsylvania…ponds, creeks, and meadows are some of the scenery I see on my normal course around my house.

For some reason, I do my best thinking when I run…maybe it’s all that extra oxygen my brain is getting!    When I was on the last mile and headed back home, my mind turned to a story I’d seen on the internet a few years ago about a father and son who do iron man triathlons together.  That may seem like an inspiring story in itself, but it’s even more incredible when you learn that Rick’s brain was deprived of oxygen during his birth.  He was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy.

Despite suggestions to institutionalize Rick, his father and mother were determined to raise him just like any of their other children.  Rick couldn’t walk or talk, but they began to discover that he was quite intelligent.  Once engineers at Tufts University developed a computer that allowed Rick to communicate, there was no holding him back!  He attended and graduated from high school and Boston University with a degree in Special Education.

In 1977, Rick told his Dad that he wanted to participate in a 5 mile benefit run for a lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident.  Dick was far from being a runner, but he agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair all 5 miles.  They came in next to last.

I’m sure that at that point, Dick was thinking to himself “Okay…well that’s over and done with”.   But Rick changed his Dad’s mind.  He told him “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.”

This is the thought that I had pop into my head when I was running this morning.  I pictured Dick and Rick crossing a finish line with Rick waving his arms high in the air and a BIG smile across his face.  I imagined the joy that Dick must have felt when he saw his son at the pinnacle of joy.

Dick Hoyt has been called a hero many times, and I’ve heard him deny it in interviews.  I thought about what Dick and Rick have accomplished while I was running this morning, and I wondered “Would I do the same if Rick was my child”?

Absolutely!

There’s nothing like the feeling of seeing ultimate joy on someone’s face and knowing that you had a part in creating that.  It’s even better when it’s your own child!

By the way, the 2009 Boston Marathon was Dick and Rick’s 1,000th race!  Dick says that he’s hoping to push Rick in the Boston Marathon when he’s 70 years old…in 2011!  I think they are going to make THAT goal!

Enjoy this video about “Team Hoyt”!

Together…we’re better!

Judy

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So here are the final results!  I did the 3 day Shakeology Cleanse last week, and I weighed and measured myself on Saturday morning.  I lost a total of 4 pounds and 3 1/2 inches…2 of them from my waist. The inches lost really surprised me!  I had to keep remeasuring to make sure it was correct!

So all in all, I think that this was a success!  It was pretty easy to follow.  I was a little hungry, but not too bad.  Usually, when I was hungry, it was because it was time for another shakeology or my salad.  I think that there were two things that helped with my hunger…the green tea and drinking enough water.

Drink your water people!  It’s SO important to weight loss…cleanse or no cleanse!

So I think I’ll be repeating the cleanse again in the future, so stay tuned for that.  In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to comment here or contact me through my Shakeology website.

Together we’re better!

Judy

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Day 2 is in the books and day 3 is well underway!  I’ve been weighing myself every morning at the same time.  That’s crucial to getting the most accurate results.  I know that I can be 2-3 pounds different depending on what time of day I weigh myself.  By the way, just in case if may seem like I am obsessed with the scale…I’m NOT!  I usually don’t even weigh myself unless my pants are fitting me differently.  The only reason I’m weighing daily now is because it’s all part of this cleanse…just to see what’s going on with my body.

I’m also not kidding myself that this is fat loss.  It’s probably mostly water weight and maybe some “crud” my body has been hanging onto.  That’s what “detoxifying” is for anyway!  Getting rid of the “crud’!

Okay…so when I weighed myself this morning, I was down another 1.8 pounds for a total of 4 pounds in 2 days.  My energy level is fantastic today!  I didn’t even get that sleepy feeling this afternoon, and that’s rare for me!  I’ve been able to get through my workouts with no trouble (I’m doing P90X).

I’ve felt a little hungry at times, but usually when it’s almost time for another meal or snack.

So, all in all, I think things are going very well!  I’m very curious to see what the final results will be tomorrow morning!

If you’d like to know more about Shakeology, please feel free to visit my Shakeology website.  You can order from there, and if you any any questions, feel free to comment on this blog or click on the “contact me” button on the shakeology website!

Together we’re better!

Judy

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So day one went well!  I was a little hungry at times, but it was really close to the time I should be eating anyway.  I started too late yesterday (had my first Shakeology around 9:30AM), so I missed my second cup of green tea.  I also didn’t drink all 3 bottles of water (20 ounces in each).  There was about half of the 3rd bottle left.  I’m not worried about that because my Shakeology meals had plenty of water in them!

My energy level was pretty good.  I had a short nap around noon.  When I had my second Shakeology of the day (around 2PM) I got a nice burst of energy.  The same thing happened when I had my third Shakeology around 8:30PM…I felt energized.  That worried be a bit because it was getting close to bed time.  However, I fell asleep at around 10:30PM and slept through the night.  I woke up before the alarm clock at 5:30AM…mostly because all of that water I ingested the day before was looking to escape! 

I got on the scale this morning, and I was down 2.2 pounds.  I’m reserving my excitement about that until I see if what I lose stays off of me!    I plan on reporting daily while I’m doing the cleanse, and then one week later (to see if it “stuck”)!

My real hope for this is that it kick starts my weight loss by reducing my cravings for certain foods, so even if I gain a little of the weight back, it will be worth it in the long run.

Stay tuned for Day 2 results tomorrow!

Together we’re better!

Judy

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I think the closest I ever got to doing a cleanse was one day when I decided that I would fast on water only. That was tough. I was low on energy. I also tried a 6 day slim down diet that came with one of my Beachbody programs. It was about 1200 calories a day, and I lasted 3 days before I just had to eat more!

I like to think I’m open minded, but cleansing was just not something that I put too much stock into. I figured that once I started eating regularly again I would put all of the weight back on.

Well, I put on about 14 pounds over the winter, and I’ve been having some trouble getting them back off. I eat pretty healthy, but I just have some foods I’ve been craving…like peanut butter. Then those darn girl scout cookies came! You know…just WAY too many indulgences!

Then I read about a 3 day cleanse Beachbody was trying out using Shakeology. This is a product that I sell as an Independent Team Beachbody Coach. I’ve been using it since March of 2009, and I haven’t gotten sick since I started using it. It tastes GREAT. It’s easy to make. It’s quick. And…it’s got SO much healthy stuff packed into it! Some people tell me it’s too expensive at $4 per serving, but I’ve come to believe that it’s worth the cost. It’s got a LOT more value to it than a $3 or $4 latte, and it tastes even better!

Anyway, because this cleanse was using Shakeology, I started looking into it. I discovered that Beachbody’s Director of Results, Steve Edwards had done it and lost 10 pounds in 3 days. This is a guy who is in exceptional shape, but he admitted in his blog that he did the cleanse after a weekend of “debauchery”…he ran a lot, but ate a lot of bad food and drank a lot of beer (he was celebrating his wife’s birthday).

Again, Steve lost 10 pounds in 3 days, but his goal really wasn’t weight loss.  It was to detoxify and bring his body back into homeostasis in preparation for his return to healthy eating.

So I decided to be open minded and give it a shot! Here are the details of what is included in each day:

• Shakeology for Breakfast and Lunch

• Dinner is a green salad with 4 ounces of white protein (chicken or fish), unlimited veggies, small amount of low fat salad dressing is allowed

• 2 cups of green tea

• 1 snack – Shakeology again (your choice where to put this in your day)

• Lots of Water

• Optional – up to 3 pieces of fruit. This is for people who are in fairly good condition without too much weight to lose and may need the extra calories to power their workouts.

I’ll be reporting in over the next few days to let you know how it’s going!

Together we’re better!

Judy

UPDATE: Steve said in his blog that the cleanse was about 1500 calories daily.  I asked Steve how he came up with that number because every time I calculated the calories, it came in at around 800-1000 (including the fruit).  He said that because of his activity level he needed some extra calories, so he got it by adding seeds (flax and chia) and nuts (walnuts and almonds) to his salads and shakes.

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