Meeting Darin Olien

I had the opportunity to meet Darin Olien, the co-creator of The Ultimate Reset and Shakeology, at this years Coaches Summit.

Meeting Darin Olien

Ultimate Grocery Guide

Professional nutritionist Mike Dolce from Onnit.com has put a webseries of short videos together outlining some basics to keep in mind when you are doing your grocery shopping.  These videos are short and to the point and point out some great tips that everyone should know and implement.  Check them out:

Prepping Meals and Cooking in Bulk

I wanted to highlight a system that has really benefited me in eating healthy.  To tell someone to just eat healthy meals is not enough, you must plan these meals out.  In my experience the time that I am most vulnerable to make a bad food decision is when I have nothing healthy planned out and I must quickly decide on an impulse what I am going to eat.  That is the trap that people get caught up in with fast food or even at home when they have no dinner planned and decide to throw a frozen pizza in the oven.  I usually choose Sundays as my day to cook two to three meals in bulk.  I like to pick meals that will freeze nicely and store for a good length of time.  Today I decided to make a recipe that I learned from the Ultimate Reset.  This was their take on pinto beans and rice and it is very tasty when you combine the right spices.

How healthy is your shake?

Here is a great video by Tony Horton where he talks about how Shakeology is different from any other shake on the market.  Are you already drinking some kind of shake and think they are all the same?  Well think again!

Insanity Day 30 Progress

Ok, so yesterday was my day 30 mark of the Insanity program and I wanted to do a little mini review to let you know how I am feeling about the program so far.  I have tried many Beachbody programs from doing 90 days of P90X at home to trying several programs at Beachbody Fit Clubs.  I have enjoyed all of them in one way or another, but Insanity has been by far my favorite!  Shaun T is an incredible motivator and pushes me to my limits and beyond for every workout.  This is both a blessing and a curse because I have been right on the edge of injury throughout this entire program.  I get so into it that I push my body too hard sometimes.  This is definitely something I try to be aware of and I noticed it after finishing Fit Test 2 and my back pain kicked in.  This program requires you to do a few things that in other programs you might not take seriously.  First, STRETCH your body out!  Don't skip, ignore, or half ass the stretching routines when they come up.  This can lead to you getting injured!  Second, COOL DOWN your body at the end of the workout so you don't get cramped up and injured.  I know by the end of the workout you want to just turn it off and go lay down for awhile, but finishing up with the cool down is crucial to avoiding injury.  The last thing I will mention is to create a safe environment to do your workouts.  I had heard all the horror stories about people injuring their knees and ankles from all the high impact moves in this workout.  I prepped my workout area with some exercise mats that I purchased at Walmart for cheap.  I also wear proper shoes and I am conscious of my form when jumping and landing as to not bang my joints.

Insanity Workout Shoes and Sleeve For My Knee

Mats covering my workout area

My favorite Shakeology recipe

Shakeology has played a huge part in getting me healthy and lean and I wanted to show everyone how I make my morning shake.  I have had customers and coaches who purchase Shakeology and aren't overly crazy about the taste.  Then I find out they just mixed some water and a couple ice cubes in with it.  I find this recipe to be the best tasting one and I never get sick of it!  I love starting my day out with this stuff.

Nutrition 101

There are a few important topics that I want to discuss in this blog post.  I think that many people become overwhelmed with information about nutrition, diet, organic, GMO's, and other topics that they decide it is too big a topic to tackle. This frustration leads to them throwing in the towel and going back to their normal thinking about food and nutrition.  I want to create a starting point for people looking to investigate this topic.  There are many outlets that people can get information from whether that is the media, internet, newspaper, or other sources.  You need to think about the source and the bias that source has on any topic they are covering.  Some sources are motivated by profit and sales while others are motivated by helping people.  You will have to do your own homework and decide who you are going to believe.  I have been researching these topics for awhile and have found a few sources that I want to share with you.

Where do I start?