We love the energy and focus we have gotten. I am now free of caffeine and both of us have learned about some amazing foods and recipes!

In 21 days:

• Hillary lost 10 pounds and her cholesterol dropped 16 points.
• Perry lost 13.5 pounds and cholesterol dropped 25 points.

Hillary and I video blogged our journey for 31 days from before Reset and post reset. View our Reset Journey Documentary.

We are continuing some of the maintenance supplements because of all of the health and alkalizing benefits.

It’s interesting how foods can really improve our health and well being instead of always working against us. Many of the items included in Reset helped us in ways we never knew. A friend of mine shared a video on how certain foods and supplements may impact/reduce cancer. While I’m not certain how much of what we out into our bodies impacts cancer cells, I thought it was worth watching so you can formulate your own opinion. Ultimate Reset seems to align with this Doctor’s  ideas. He mentions a lot of things that are included in Ultimate Reset.

Is Beachbody Ultimate Reset right for you? These FAQs may answer some of your burning questions. Read More

I know what you are thinking. Starvation for three weeks! That’s what I thought. Boy was I wrong! Hillary and I are going through the program and are happy with the way we feel, weight we’ve lost, and foods we get to eat!

While we are still in the middle of our journey, we anticipate we will experience all of the benefits listed below. Some of them we already are! And we don’t feel deprived. I’ll explain what some of our experiences were like. Before I do, let me roll out some details about Ultimate Reset (available April 12, 2012).

The Beachbody Ultimate Reset is a complete, three-phase, 21-day program that provides everything you need to:

• Phase 1: Reclaim your body’s natural balance.
• Phase 2: Release the harmful materials you may be storing within you.
• Phase 3: Restore your system to its maximum health.

Benefits

• Have more energy and greater focus
• Experience better digestion and a more positive mood
• Enable your body to function more efficiently
• Lose weight
• Improve your overall health

Hillary and I have been video blogging our journey and checking in. Prior to starting we were apprehensive and excited. We were scared that we would be hungry and miss our favorite foods. Fortunately, the recipes have been good and we aren’t hungry. The first few days we felt a little lethargic and achy. We found out that it was due to toxins leaving our body. Most of that achy feeling was gone by the end of day 5. So, while I can’t share all of the benefits yet as we are still on this journey, I will say we feel good and happy!

I truly think this is my gateway to break away from caffeine!! This is such a gentle 21 day cleanse!

View our Reset Journey Documentary

While Hillary and I are doing Beachbody Ultimate Reset, we decided to take advantage of the time and work on other areas of our fitness! Everything is about to get even better! Enter Tai Cheng, a program by Dr. Mark Cheng. It’s a whole-body fitness program that combines the 18 fundamental moves of Tai Chi with 21st century sports science. Through this low-impact workout, you can renew your youthful range of motion. It’s the natural solution to help relieve pain. So, perfect for us as we have been needing to restore many many areas that have been achy, injured and lacking range of motion. My shoulder and Hillary’s elbow for starters.

Seems to be perfect for someone who is dealing with mobility problems, or needs to get up and get moving.  A pretty cool low impact way to help a person turn back the clock, and feel better than they have in years. I love that this program is designed for anyone from the extreme athlete to the elderly! My Mom and Dad just got their copy!

This program shows you how to customize a workout that feels good, challenges your body, gives you energy, improves circulation, straightens posture, opens your joints, reduces painful trigger points, and promotes balance and flexibility so that your health actually improves as you age. Sounds like major benefits to me!!

Here’s a list of people who could benefit:

People who want to:

• Improve sports performance
• Express their full athletic potential

Tai Cheng helps:

• Develop greater stability, balance, and control
• Improve body alignment
• Increase strength and range of motion
• Move with less strain, for increased power
• Reduce risk of injury

People who are:

• Recovering from injury
• Returning to exercise

Tai Cheng includes no jumping or rapid movement. It helps:

• Build strength and stability
• Restore flexibility
• Create a stable foundation for more extreme exercise

People seeking a gentle workout

Tai Cheng can help:

• Regain ease and control of movement
• Develop greater body awareness
• Lose weight safely

People who want to get more in touch with their bodies

Tai Cheng helps:

• Release painful trigger points that impair muscle movement
• Reduce stress
• Contribute to calm and peace of mind
• Seniors who want to stay mobile and independent

Tai Cheng is gentle exercise that helps you:

• Maintain strength and mobility
• Improve balance, helping to prevent falls
• Prolong fitness

Tai Cheng FAQs

Are you a P90X fanatic? Personal Trainer? Beachbody is now offering P90X Certification. It’s quite an honor to be one of the first to go through the certification training. Very similar to being one of the first to do P90X when it came out in 2004! Online qualification is coming March 20. With 2-Day Certification events soon to be happening all over the country. Email me on what this can mean for you.

• Phase I – Qualification ($99): An online learning program with audio and visual presentations comprised of 11 chapters and quizzes. Successful completion of Qualification is required at least 7 days before attending a P90X Certification workshop.
• Phase II – Certification ($399): A 2-day, intensive weekend workshop including hands-on instruction by Beachbody® Master Instructors, a comprehensive P90X course manual, and a written and practical exam to make sure you’ve mastered the material to be Certified.
• Certification Total Cost: $498 ($99 Qualification + $399 Certification). For both P90X Qualification and Certification, Coaches receive a 10% discount.

As of this writing the the first wave of certification is by invitation only. Starting March 20th you will have access to the registration site and being a coach is not required, but it sure makes sense. At the bottom of the invitation I got it said, “We strongly encourage all P90X Certified individuals to be or become certified personal trainers, which we can assist with as part of the P90X Certification Program.” A recent P90X Certification webinar revealed that Beachbody is looking to partner with an official personal trainer certification program, so watch this blog for more information on that opportunity.

Here’s my experience as I head into Certification weekend!

Feeling Healthy vs. Being Healthy
By Dr. Nate Berrett

First off I would like to thank Perry for this opportunity to explain what is going on in the world of wellness here at Whole Health Chiropractic here in Nampa, ID. Most of you who are reading this are very health conscious minded and understand the importance health and wellness.

For a minute I would like to talk about the difference of being healthy and feeling healthy. There are many sicknesses and diseases that one can have and “feel” good at the same time. I have a close friend whose father was very strict on eating healthy and exercising every day for years. He went out for a bike ride one day and had a heart attack and sadly passed away. He was feeling great that day, and had no idea what was coming on. My point is that you may look and feel great on the outside, but it is the inside that determines how healthy you are.

With the help of our new technology, the Subluxation Station, we can determine how healthy your nervous system is. The Subluxation Station is cutting edge technology developed to help us better assess individual needs by scanning the spine to find problem areas that can’t be seen from the outside. This new computerized device allows us to measure and evaluate how well your nervous system is functioning, and allow us to determine your overall health.

The nervous system is the master control center in our body that manages everything. The nervous system is composed of our brain and spinal cord. From the spinal cord, nerves emerge and help control movement and organ function. Nervous systems that do not function at their optimal level often have a correlation with many problems such as pain, digestive problems, breathing problems, obesity and depression to mention a few.

The Subluxation Station can assist us in narrowing down where these problem areas are, and allow us to more accurately treat them. Watch the video at the bottom to see exactly how it works and what it can do for you!

With the introduction of this new technology to our office, we are offering a complimentary scan for those of you who call in and mention this email. Space is limited, so call now! 208.442.1123

If you live outside of the Nampa, Idaho area, check with your local Chiropractor to see if they offer this scanning technology to help you get healthy on the inside.

Dr. Nate Berrett also makes sure to keep himself healthy on the inside through optimum nutrition as he is an avid user of Shakeology. Chocolate is his flavor of choice! He says that he feels amazing!

Here’s a video on the Subluxation Station

I’ve been doing the X2 Ab Ripper routine from P90X2 and I be many people are wondering how it compares to the P90X Ab Ribber X (ARX) routine. So, I have to be honest and say I struggled a bit more in Ab Ripper X and that may be because of the quicker pace from move to move and the fact that each exercise in Ab Ripper X was 25 reps.

If you’re like me, the P90X Ab Ripper took a long time to get down and the remote was always close by to hit the pause button. So far X2 Ab Ripper is the same! Now, if you can make it through P90X Ab Ripper without hitting pause, I think you will do just fine with X2 Ab Ripper. If you haven’t worked out in a while or are new to ab routines like Ab Ripper X, X2 Ab Ripper will be a challenge. But a good challenge!

Some of the X2 exercises are similar to ARX with a few enhancements such as “Scissor Twists” are similar to “Fifer Scissors” except as you raise one leg in the air and bring the opposite arm towards your raised leg and hold for a few seconds. “Row Your Boat” is like “In and Out Abs” or “Crunchy Frogs” where you your legs outward in a push motion with your arms and then row you r arms back and bend your knees in, like rowing a boat! Superman Banana X is the same as in ARX except you have arms and feet wide to make an X.  Other moves that will be familiar to those P90X fans similar moves are Oblique Roll Crunch, and Roll V Hold.

Then there are some killer isometric moves that work to get the best of me such as Abrinome where you lie on your back with your arms out to the side and with your legs straight up, you swing your legs to one side and hold at a 45 degree angle for a period of time (seems to take forever!). Gate Bridge Lift is like a draw bridge move and right after that is my nemesis, which is the Phelon Twist. This one is where you fold your arms like in a straight jacket and twist to one side and hold. I have a picture here to illustrate and there’s more in the video clip here.

Here is a list of the moves. The workout takes about 16 minutes!

• Scissor Twist (20 reps)
• Row Your Boat (20 Reps)
• Superman Banana X (13 Reps)
• Oblique Roll Crunch (22 Reps)
• Roll V Hold (10 Reps)
• Abrinome (9 Reps)
• Gate Bridge Lift (10 Reps)
• Phelon Twist (10 Reps)
• Scissor Clapper (30 Reps)
• Tornado (20 Reps)
• Balance Bike Crunch (20 Reps)

This is a great ab workout and blends nicely with other ab/core workouts from Beachbody. For me, the isometric holds are the biggest challenge from those moves in Ab Ripper X. I think most people will find the workout to provide great challenge. Other ab routines that are phenomenal Ab Core Plus in P90X+, Abs in Ten Minute Trainer, and Insane Abs in Insanity. Rev Abs and Chalene Extreme are also amazing for the core!

What does it mean to embrace every moment? Don’t we already do that? For many, I think not. I know for myself, many moments pass by that don’t get embraced. That may be the case for you.

There are many moments in life that happen and should be embraced, appreciated and recognized. through much personal development over the years, I have been able to benefit from many of these. Things that some people may take for granted. I know I did in the past.

My beloved German Shepherd, Owen, taught me what it is like to embrace the simple things. Just with a soulful look into his eyes, or a mere tail wag, could make you forget about the drama of the day. He would help bring a smile to your face and a calm to your  space, just by being in the room with you.

He often made you feel like you were the most important person on the planet and that you were appreciated and loved. With a paw on your knee or nudge with his head, he could make you remember to take time for play and forget about work for awhile. Other times he would just rest at your feet and that would turn a “get up a get going, there is so much to do today” cup of coffee into a “isn’t life great and beautiful? I love Mondays!” sort of moment.

Owen certainly had a way with teaching, mentoring and friending. Just ask any of the students learning to become veterinarians.

Yes, Owen taught many of us about embracing life’s moments. But I don’t think everyone needs to have an Owen in their house to help them do so. I just think you need to take the time to do so.

Start your day with thoughts and words of gratitude and appreciation before anything else. “Thank you for…” “I’m so grateful I get to…” Practice this, and many moments will appear before you and remind you to embrace them. Whether it’s a call from a friend, drive through the country, a purring feline, or cup of coffee with a canine companion. Those are the moments to absorb, recognize and appreciate.

I recently saw a post about lessons dogs can teach us and I thought I would share a few of them that Owen really embraced!

• Live simply Love generously Care deeply Speak kindly
• When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
• Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.
• 

Take naps, stretch before rising Run, romp, and play daily.
• Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
• When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
• 

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
• Be loyal.
• Never pretend to be something you’re not.

Thank you, Owen, for the many lessons you taught us over the years. And thank you for all of the incredible moments you so generously gave to many many humans and animals. You were one amazing son.

Thank you, Beachbody, for enabling me to have the means and time to spend so many extended, wonderful years and moments with this amazing German Shepherd.

Starting in September 2011, I began inviting people to participate in a fitness accountability group. These were small groups of 5 people or so. The goal is that we all work together and help each other create lifestyle habits toward better health! The results have been nothing short or awesome!

All of the participants did everything at home, on their own time and schedule. There were no in-person meetings or group workouts. Our Group interaction was done all on Facebook.
People got some great results! One, gentleman in particular joined one of our 30-day groups using 10-Minute workouts with Ten Minute Trainer. Darryl lost over 15 pounds and got great energy from Shakeology. He also lost a pant size! I am so proud of him!!

We started our group with a conference call where we all introduced ourselves and then dug into the the most important question we need to ask ourselves before starting a workout program.

What is your reason WHY? Answering this is the biggest motivation that will push you to reach your goals. It will help you blast through roadblocks (and we know they will happen)!

Each member shared on the group page and were encouraged to write and post their why somewhere they would see it and read it daily. This gives a clear purpose and focus when it comes to reaching health and fitness goals. It also makes daily choices sustainable so they transform into a lifestyle as opposed to one short moment in time.

So, I challenge you.

• What is your why?
• What do want to achieve and what will reaching those goals allow you to do?
• If you were to reach them, how would you feel?
• What would improve? And most importantly, what would you do to keep it that way?

What is your WHY?

How did our group get such great results and transform their journey into a lifetime of health and fitness? Well, they bundled all the right things together set them up for success. These are the very components I have used over the past decade to reach and maintain my results and also challenge myself to constantly improve.

The formula? Fitness + Nutrition + Support = Success!

I have seen people struggle when one or more of these components are missing. That’s why I was so ecstatic when Beachbody began offering Challenge Packs. They are the complete package of fitness, nutrition, support tools and free coaching for achieving health and fitness goals.

Each month I am leading these accountability “challenge” groups using a specific workout program to meet the needs, interests and goals of the participants. We recently started a P90X Challenge Group and plan to launch a different group (or two) every month.  If you would like to be considered for one of these select group, please email me with your Why and “fitness personality,” and I’ll match you up to an upcoming group.

If group accountability isn’t your “thing,” you can always take advantage of a challenge pack and benefit from all of the fitness, nutrition and support.

What exactly is in a Challenge Pack?

• World Class Fitness – a Beachbody exercise program that matches your fitness personality
• Optimum Nutrition – Replace one meal a day with Shakeology.
• Phenomenal Support – Group accountability, a coach to mentor and online tools such as an online gym, customized meal planner, recipes and tips!

There are 2 options a customer pack and coach pack. Both are the same price no matter what fitness pack you choose [$160, $180, $205]!!

• Customer pack – includes a choice of one of Beachbody’s top-selling fitness programs, as well as choice of Shakeology and a 30-day trial to the Team Beachbody Club.
• Coach pack – includes the same as a customer pack, PLUS a Game Plan Tools Kit and Business Essentials Starter Program.
• The Coach pack listed above has 2 additional perks!
• This Give a person the coach discounts (25% off)
• Tools to to grow a business and get paid from Beachbody.

I am often asked why I stay so disciplined in my eating and so committed working out every day.  It has been a process over the past decade when I decided that I was getting too fat, my desk job and poor habits were taking control and diabetes was in my future. Through daily exercise I feel good, look good and have an awesome attitude toward life. I also feel I’m much more pleasant to be around!

I know that if we are going to end this trend of obesity, it has top start with taking care of ourselves first and identifying why. If you’ve made a resolution each year to lose weight, make regular exercise adopt a healthy lifestyle and you find yourself failing year after year, take a moment to think about your “why.”

Have it written down in a few short sentences and post it in as many places as possible to see it and read it daily. This is the first step in putting yourself first.

Hillary and I will help you get results. We will coach you!

I just finished phase 1 of P90X2. This program isn’t harder than P90X. It’s different than P90X. In that, I mean, you challenge your body in different ways. I absolutely love this workout and look forward to Mondays when it appears on the schedule. X2 Core isn’t harder than Core Synergistics. It’s just different. So let’s compare the two.

For one, phase one of P90X2 has core work threaded throughout every workout. It becomes obvious pretty quickly in every workout that you need to engage the core.

The very first workout in this phase is called X2 Core. Very different from when you did the Core Synergistics workout in P90X. That workout did not come until week 4 in what is referred to as a “recovery week.” Over the years, I made Core Synergistics part of my weekly routine when I was doing P90X as I just noticed my body functioned better on other exercises. I also got the same benefit from yoga, but that’s another topic for a future article.

The Foundation Phase Begins with Engaging the Core

Pushing play with the X2 core workout engages your midsection right from the get go plus it blends stretching, yoga-like moves with a stability ball and core moves using a foam roller. There’s also a “massage-like” effect during a foam rolling section of the warm up. This warm up is pretty standard in all of the phase 1 workouts of P90X2. The Core Synergistics in P90X has you doing the warmups pretty typical in the other P90X routines with jumping jacks, marching/running in place, lunges and static stretching

The X2 warm up seems to take almost 12 minutes and when it’s time to hit the main workout it seems like you are almost half done. That’s my perspective anyway.

One big difference in the X2 Core routine seems to be more stability ball digging even deeper to those smaller muscles. Some of the moves appear easier until you are in the flow. It is then you realize that in order to use proper form and stay balanced, you need to engage and tighten core muscles, including the buttocks, throughout the exercise.

Both routines have roughly the same amount of exercises and some of the Core Syn exercise are expanded upon in X2. Such as the Dreya Roll is the same, but you hold a medicine ball and jump. You did Banana Rolls in P90X. This time you are just in the banana position the whole time and you transfer a stability ball clenched with your hands to clench with your feet. This is called a Banana Ball Switch Crunch. The Sphinx push up has now evolved into a Sphinx Plank Crunch. Talk about core power! The Bow to Boat in P90X is now a Roller Boat. This has you stopping the momentum of rolling on your back and tightening for that perfect boat posture.

New moves in X2 includes one that quickly became my “nemesis moved,” the One Leg Med Ball Burpee. Core Circles using a stability ball look harmless enough until you realize the amount of engagement needed to accomplish good form and balance.

There are plenty of new core exercises in X2 that challenge your strength and balance. Sphinx Plank Crunch and Warrior 3 Cross Crunches start the line up. I’m getting better at all 18 core exercises, but the one that still perplexes me is the Plank Burpee On Stability Ball. Yep, I’ve got to modify this one.

Take a look at this trailer for X2 Core

Here are at names of the X2 Core Exercises between the warmup and cool down.

• Sphinx Plank Crunch
• Warrior 3 Cross Crunch
• Single Leg Walk Out to Sphinx
• Half Angel
• Roller Boat
• 3 Speed Med Ball Push Up
• One Leg Lateral Leap Squat
• Core Circles
• Holmsen Screamer Lunge
• Med Ball Dreya Roll
• Plank Burpee On Stability Ball
• Banana Ball Switch Crunch
• 3 Point Squat Press with Med Ball
• Slo Mo Balance Climber
• X2 Diver
• Ryan Sphinx Twist Crunch (2 sides)
• One Leg Med Ball Burpee

I love the fact that Core is part of the weekly routine in this phase and that it’s not a “recovery” workout. The DVD is a great blend of stability, balance and explosive power to engage that midsection and give it definition. A few fitness benefits from this routine are better functional form for every day life and better posture. X2 Core isn’t harder than Core Synergistics. It’s just different.

Want a coach to help you stay accountable and help you?

There certainly are some challenging moves in P90X2! You may have seen my assessment at how P90X2 is going so far. If not, see video below.

As I come upon completion of the the 3rd week in phase 1 (the foundational phase) I realize there are some moves I want to do better. I know this isn’t a course for mastery, but darn it, I want to conquer them! These moves are what my friend, Arlene Paraiso, calls “nemesis moves.” So, while I am getting better each week and have noticeable improvement in each exercises, I’m going to add in an extra week or two for phase 1.

P90X2 is flexible in the calendar where you can do this phase from 3-6 weeks depending on your needs. I love this because it allows you to have the goal of “getting better” as opposed to “getting through it.”

So, what are my nemesis moves so far? Well, each workout has it’s own set. So far:

X2 Core is: One Leg Med Ball Burpee (Alternate Every 3 Reps)

X2 Total Body: Mule Kick Burpee and Balance Kickback on Stability Ball

X2 Balance and Power: Russian Twist, Decline Sphinx Plank Press, Renegade Row 1⁄2 Lolasana, Crawly Crab Press

X2 Ab Ripper: Phelan Twists

I will get better!!

If you are wanting to conquer X2 yourself you can get it here!

Here’s my assessment so far after 2 weeks of P90X2: