When I started P90X2 in January of 2012. My main goal was to get ripped abs! I purchased the entire system, knowing full well I needed to be all in! I had no qualms about the price as I knew it would be an investment! I killed it! I found out months later that I was selected to give an in home interview for a chance to be in the P90X2 infomercial! I was more than please at this point! They sent me a camera to film my workouts and progress as well as why I thought P90X2 changed me life. This was amazing to me. I was very honored.

Then they ran a contest on their Facebook page for the chance to be in the P90X2 infomercial and $1000 cash! I noticed it and it wasn’t until about the 2nd to last day did I enter and said what the hell! Why not!? I was select as one of 5 winners to receive $1000! This is crazy stuff! This all started because I wanted to prove to myself I could do it! Beachbody ended up paying me for it! AMAZING!!!

If you haven’t taken the time to look around, America is in trouble! BIG FAT trouble when you look at the chart within the details, you can see the obesity epidemic is very real. This is only 10 years ago! This is such a kick in the heart to me. Even though my journey has come so far, America’s continues to decline. The numbers and the fact are truly astronomical when you look at them! Hit the details and we’ll take look at what’s really going on with the obesity epidemic.

The saddest part about this epidemic is the children. The rates for childhood obesity have tripled in the last 30 years! In my entire lifetime the number of children who are now obese, not husky, not chunky…obese has gone up 3 times! That is horrifying! This doesn’t end here! This put these children at the risk of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. This is something that has been until recent years conditions that only adults succumb to! All of this many times cause children to suffer from low self-esteem and depression, which can lead to suicide! This must be stopped!

This Is Bigger, Much Bigger!

Did you know that obesity costs America $147 billion!? This isn’t just about buying double airline tickets or larger clothing. No, there are arguments out there that this actually has become an issue of national security! CRAZY! More and more people are being turned away from the military because they are simply too fat. A few years ago you wouldn’t be able to argue with anyone saying that being obese was simply because you were lazy! Too many video, computer games! You can no longer blame it only on “lazy kids!” It is no less the environment that we have all created that is endangering our children’s future!

We Reap What We Sow!

The same convenience we created to make our lifestyles better have become our enemy! McDonalds, Burger King and all other fast food joints make an easy, fast recipe for the families that no longer have a parent at home full time. The working families needed something quick and now it’s destroying us. The wonderful cars, buses and taxis we have to help us get to and from places quicker…have made us rely upon them rather than riding out bikes or using the sidewalk. Notice I said “us” my family and I are just as guilty of this! We have grown so used to and dependent on these luxuries that we can no longer live without them.

Why Do We Even Have These Foods?

The food we now see everywhere in vending machine at our kid’s schools, convenience stores, fast food places on each corner are high-calorie, but low nutrient. These foods were created for those to be quick fixes for the hungry…however we used them as snacks on top of our meals. And most of us aren’t hungry by any means. They do not truly satisfy our bodies…so we crave and crave more! Even though we just ate a double chocolate cupcake the size of our fist, our bodies are still hungry! It’s because we are not getting the nutrients we need.

What Can We Do?

Schools are getting better with the amount of fresh fruits and veggies they offer for school lunches. This isn’t enough. We need to do our parts! Clean out your cupboards of all the junk! Get rid of the chips, the pop, the cupcakes, the candies. Fill your fridge and counters with veggies and fruits! No they are not as fun and won’t be great tasting at first for the kids…however as their taste buds get accustomed to the sweets of fruits instead of chocolate chip cookies, they’ll crave the fruits instead. Their risks will go down, their wastes will go down and we can do our part so our children have a fighting chance. If you will not do it for yourself, do it for your children.

Final Thoughts

Giving my son a good example to follow was one of the reasons I changed our lifestyle. Being able to help set a good example for other families is why I teamed up with Beachbody. I could not sit by and watch this obesity epidemic go on any longer and not do anything. I may be one person, but I swear while I’m here I will do my best to pay it forward to as many people as I possibly can! Will you join me? Will you help me change this trend of obesity? If only starting with your own family, we have to start somewhere. Let it be with the ones you truly care about.

You’re a month in to your workout routine. You’re getting up pushing play, going to the gym or hitting the pavement! You haven’t missed a single workout and feel like you’ve given 110% each time! However you’re 30 days into and you aren’t really seeing anything to write home about. “Why aren’t I losing weight?” This question is usually pushed at me with a bit of frustration and a lot of disappointment. So I ask, “what about calorie tracking?” I get the deer in the headlights look…”are you tracking your calories?” Hit the details below!

This is where many people realize it’s not just about pushing your body physically to it’s limits on a treadmill…but if you want to lose weight. You have to do calorie tracking. Like I said in my post How Do I Get Ripped Abs?, abs are made in the kitchen, brother!  You can kill yourself with these workouts, but if you are not watching your calories, you’ll be disappointed in the results.

I go over a lot in that article of how you need to do things. In this post I really just want to gloat on my favor calorie counting app! MyFitnessPal! Our team use it heavily, so much so I’ve created two videos showing how to work the mobile app and how to adjust your goals on the website! It’s simple process! Just follow the video and you’ll be all set to go!

The Mobile App Run Through

Changing Your Goals On Myfitnesspal.com

That’s it, super easy! If you have any question about calorie tracking, don’t be afraid to put it in the comments below! This is more of a how to, but I’d be glad to answer questions! If you want to add me on MFP, go for it! My screen name is Tattrpuff!

You started a fitness program and you are on a roll. It has a schedule all laid out for you and all you have to do is show up, do the work and eat right. Then the momentum comes to a screeching halt! You wake up sicker than a dog! You try to get your workout clothes on and get moving but you can barely stay out of the bathroom much more get in your car or go downstairs to go your workout! You decide to stay home in bed for the day hoping to feel better tomorrow. Five days pass before you are feeling well enough to get back to working out. Then you realize almost your entire week is gone! What do I do? Start over or pick back up where I left off? Hit the details below!

Well let me start off by saying most of us that have been through a program have gotten sick or injured in the middle of it and threw us off schedule. It sucks, because you are moving along and then bam a bring wall hits you! You get anxious and angry because you have worked so hard and you do not want to backslide on the progress you have made! So what do you do?

Group X Programs

If you go to one of the programs that require you to go to a facility with an instructor, most like you’ll just have to pick back up where you left off. They are not going to rearrange the whole schedule for one person. They can’t. So you lose those days that you paid for.

At Home Fitness Programs

If you do an at-home program like P90X, Insanity or Turbo Fire…you have more options! Now whether you start over or pick back up will depend on how far in your program you are. If you are on day 80 of a 90 day program…just pick back up where you left off and ride it out for the next 10 days. If you can not go full force where you left off as you may be pretty weak…do a few days of one of the recovery workouts. This will help you build strength and endurance back up! This example is a bit different but my business partner was going to do Insanity for the first time and she wanted to start before her group and was going to do the fit test the 10 days or so before each day! I was like, NO! You’ll die! So she did the recovery workouts and was able to build her endurance and strength ahead of the workout…this also applies if you have been sick and need to ease into it. Whatever you do…follow the schedule as it is laid out and pick back up when you are ready on the day you were first sick on. If you are within the first week or two and you get hit with a week off…start over! It sucks, but you really need to.

Injured?

If you get injured you need to consult your doctor on this one. Plus you should reallylisten to your body! Don’t let your ego prolong your injury or make it worse to the point you can’t even workout for a long time! This doesn’t help anyone. Pretty common sense, but we can get crazy about our progress sometimes and need an ego check to ensure we make it back!!

Final Thoughts

I hope this cleared up some questions. This is another repeated, completely legitimate question.  The main thing with any of these situation…listen to your body. It will tell you if you are ready or not. You ignore it and you’ll get hurt! So do not ignore the signs your body gives you…they are built into you for reason! Now if it’s your brain that giving you the warning…this may be something entirely. You may have to psych yourself up to get on with it! As always if you have any questions throw them down in the comment section!