Starting a Fitness Revolution

When I chose to start P90X in May of this year, I did it to change my physical appearance. I didn't know the trickle down effect this one choice would have.

I went from wanting to change my physical appearance to changing my whole way of thinking about my body. I learned that there are so many factors to determine health and fitness, not just the dreaded scale. My attitude has improved too. I am more confident and just love life in general.

But the most amazing effect has not even happened to me. It is happening to people around me, my friends and family. My results from P90X have inspired others to start the program as well. My first follower was my brother. He started about a month after me and is just about to complete his 90 days. He has already decided to do the program again. My husband Kevin started with me on the second round and we just completed phase 1. I have had at least 4-5 friends that have ordered the program and are now on their way to their own physical transformations.

A lot of people set out in life to change the world or change other people, but I have discovered that by just changing yourself you can inspire others to do the same.

So if you want to start a fitness revolution in your circle of friends, let me help you with my free coaching. Just email me @ jwinter4fitness@gmail.com or click on the link to left and sign up for a free BeachBody membership. I will be there every step of the way to help you transform your body and maybe a few of your friends as well.

The benefits of working out with a partner.

We all know or have heard about all the wonderful benefits of regular exercise. But, sometimes it is hard to keep yourself motivated to start that exercise. One of the best ways I have found is to find a workout partner. This keeps you motivated in a couple of ways:

1. You are accountable to somebody else to show up and exercise. (This is half of the battle, just showing up or pressing play!)

2. You have somebody else to push you beyond what you think you can do. (Competition can be a great motivator.)

This past month my husband and I have started P90X together. We get up every morning and press play. There are mornings that I don't feel like getting up and I know that he feels the same way, but every morning we get up and PUSH PLAY!

I have found that I really try to Bring It every workout. I don't know if it is a competition thing or just because I want to impress my husband, but either way, I am working harder than I ever have.

Aside from the normal benefits of working out with a partner, there are some added bonuses to working out with YOUR partner.

1. Time spent together - (This gives us an additional 1-2 hours together every morning)

2. Something new in common - (After 15 years of marriage it is an awesome feeling to have some new common thread with my husband.)

3. More energy - (Now that both you and your partner have more energy there are a multitude of things you can do together.)

Doing P90X has changed my life in so many great ways, but now it is also improving my marriage! If you want to learn more about this great program, please sign up for my free coaching . I will help you make the positive changes you have been looking for.

How to avoid the weekend nutrition blues!

Summer weekends almost always lead to outdoor parties or time with friends. For a lot of people this includes overeating. For those of us trying to lose weight or stay fit, this can be a nutrition killer. We work so hard during the week to eat clean and then - bam - the weekend hits. Here is a short article with a few tips to avoid overeating - even on the weekend.

Three Ways Not to Overeat
by Steve Edwards


1. Wait. When you decide you're hungry, make yourself wait at least 15 minutes before you eat. This will help you determine whether your hunger is habitual or your body is craving nutrients.

2. Drink. A tall glass of water 30 minutes prior to a meal will reduce your tendency to overeat.

3. Exercise. The perfect scenario is to have a glass of water followed by some exercise, like a walk, a jog, or some stretching. This will take your mind off of food, and you'll be far more likely to only crave the foods your body needs.

What Motivates You?

The Great Motivators: 14 Reasons to Keep Pushing Play
By Denis Faye and the Beachbody® Message Boards Community

Exercise is easy. Buy a video, pick up a weight, and you're doing it. Nutrition is easy. Buy good foods, eat them, and you're doing it. So why aren't we a world of the fit and the skinny? We'll tell ya why.
Because motivation is a killer. It's one thing to know how to eat right and exercise. It's another thing entirely to actually do it.
The trick is to find your magic button—that motivator that pushes you to blast out a P90X® Ab Ripper X session when you'd rather stay in bed, that motivator that makes you eat celery when chocolate cake is so much more delicious.
If you've found your motivator, more power to you, but for those who haven't, we asked the crew members on the Message Boards about their motivators. Answers ranged from wild to wonderful to weepy to just plain weird. If you see one that you like, grab it. It's on the house.
Here are a few of them

"What motivates me is the high I feel a couple hours after a really good workout. Nothing can beat that!"—JLYNNFL01

Exercise causes your brain to release endorphins, the body's natural painkillers. A nice side effect of these little hurt-masking hormones is that they can also induce euphoria, even with moderate exercise.

"The thought of elastic waist bands keeps me pressing play." —Chelle Bean

This is in no way a judgment, but the simple fact is that when you're fit, you have access to cooler clothes. And once you toss that muumuu away to make room for your skinny jeans, you won't want to go back.

"I motivate myself by thinking about how wonderful it will feel to be my husband's trophy wife!"—shellyv

Although your spouse will probably love you either way, it's always nice to make him or her drool a little. Remember, being fit makes you feel good about yourself, and when partners feel good about themselves, it makes it easier to feel good about the relationship.

"Looking at my before pictures. If I ever start to feel like I don't want to exercise I just pull those gems out."—RyGuy

Everyone seems to like their "after" picture so much more than their "before" picture. There was a lot of sweat and pain in the transition.

"Even though the ex-wife did not leave because I was not ripped, I still can't wait to take my shirt off at the pool for our son's birthday and have her see all the things she is missing out on. His birthday is in August, so I have just enough time."—Puckmaster

Here's an old quote: "Revenge is a dish best served cold." It comes from either Afghanistan or the Klingon language. We're not sure which.

"Rock climbing alone isn't a key ingredient to a full life, at least not for me. Climbing with my kids, on the other hand, is another story. Spending time together, being able to keep up, starts to be even more promising. Ultimately, that is my big picture; my family, my kids, and my health are all intertwined." —Fitz62

Being fit opens up a whole world for a parent. And technically, running around with your rugrats counts as exercise, so you get a bonus.

"My 2-1/2-year-old son who asks, 'Daddy are you exercising today?' And afterwards puts my shirt in the laundry basket for me. I want to be here as long as possible for my family." —Sgpratt
Here's an even bigger motivator when it come to exercising for the sake of your family. Not only will the quality of family time improve, but also, in the long run, you'll have lots more of it.

"My daughter is my motivation. I do not want her to see me struggling with weight as I saw my mom."—Fufi28

Here's the biggest motivator of all. Kids model their parents—the way they eat, the way they live their lives. If you live your life healthily and strongly, your kids will too.

"My favorite motivational tool is to use some P90X workouts or other exercises to create unique challenges and do them for time."—Coach Marc

Goal-oriented people fire themselves up with, wait for it, goals. If working through 90 days of grueling exercise isn't enough for you, create mini goals during that time. Increase sets or do things faster, whatever fires you up.

"I make each workout an appointment . . . and I don't like missing appointments."—Blotman

Most people like to live up to the commitments they've made. If you make a doctor's appointment, you don't miss it, do you? Well, you're just as important as your doctor, so if you make an appointment with yourself, honor it!

"WOWY keeps me accountable, I may not know a single soul personally, but just knowing thousands of other people are putting their health first keeps my conviction strong!"—Maii Beloved

Of course, if you're just not willing to give yourself the respect required to keep those appointments, maybe you'll respect the thousands of people who track you when you use the WOWY® accountability system.

"The more you work out, the more you can eat!"—j-ro

This one is a slippery slope, but there's some truth to it. Just keep in mind that exercise isn't a license to pig out on junk because "junk in, junk out."

"I enjoy seeing others' reaction when I wear a tank top. I get a kick out of them staring at the veins in my biceps."—Padstack

It's always nice to get checked out and know that your hard work is paying off.

"GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS"—VOLTOWN

Well, if you don't want to do it for yourself and you don't want to do it for your family, there's nothing wrong with doing it for the ladies, we suppose, or for the men, of course. Just don't go too crazy, Voltown.

What Motivates Me
By Debbie Siebers, creator of Slim in 6®

Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is repeat everything I am grateful for. That really sets the tone for the day to be a really positive one.

I feel so strongly about writing and reciting at least five positive affirmations during the day to reprogram my mind and manifest what I want in my life instead of what I don't want. It is so easy to slip into negative thinking. As soon as a negative thought pops up, I try my best to flip that switch and immediately counter it with a positive and uplifting thought.

Since I've been doing this, I've noticed that I am much calmer, and I don't overreact to things like I used to. I try to either find a solution or find something positive or a lesson I need to be learning. For me, it's about living in the moment and making each one count.

Also, I ask myself, what is the alternative? To feel miserable, to have anxiety, to worry about everything, and to be unhealthy and not great about myself? Who needs that, right? When I exercise, I feel in control. It makes me feel empowered, strong, and productive for the rest of the day. After I finish, I have a bounce in my step, I am energized, and I smile a lot more! Not to mention, my jeans fit better!

When stuff happens that gets me down, I like to reboot by either watching my DVD of The Secret or reading a few chapters from one of my favorite books, A New Earth, or a few inspiring messages from Marianne Williamson. I recommend everyone follow her through Twitter®. She has pearls of wisdom that I continually try to apply in my life.

I get excited about life by participating and getting involved. Whether it's music, dancing, volunteer work, traveling, writing, reading, calling an old friend, or learning about something new, the possibilities and opportunities are endless, and the sky is the limit.
You just need to open up your mind, expand your imagination and awareness, and JUMP INTO LIFE!

When I really need to get out of myself, I commune with nature. Nothing will snap me into the present moment faster than that, except walking my adorable puppy Barney!
I say LIVE LIFE NOW. Be the best person you can be right now! Follow your passions, and be kind to yourself.

And exercise because:

You love and respect yourself and want to be fit and healthy.

You want to feel confident, be in control of your life, and be a happier person.

Everyone around you will benefit.

You will work out stress, and you will sleep better.

It is as necessary as breathing!

Be conscious and commit to making this day your very best day!

. . . And all that starts by PUSHING PLAY

Commit to being fit!

I think at some point in our lives we all hit that point where we think, "I have got to do something different." Finding out what that "something" is usually the hard part.

In March of this year, I came to this very point in my life. I was out of shape, not eating healthy and overall not as happy as I knew I could be. While doing one of my favorite activities (at the time) watching television, that "something" became clear to me. An adverstisement for Slim in 6 really caught my attention. I called the number and ordered the dvd series and I was on my way. Man, changing my live sure was easy!

About a week later, my packaged arrived and then I realized that the easy part was over and it was time to commit or get off the pot! I decided right then that I was ready for a change and more importantly ready to commit to being fit. With the hectic lifestyle that we lead, I knew that they only way I could actually commit to working out every single day was to get up and do it before I went to work. This meant rising before the sun @ 5AM. Not being a morning person, this was a challange in itself, but I did it. I REALLY DID IT! Every day for 6 weeks. This program really kick started my new fitness lifestyle! Before the end of the Slim in 6 program, I knew that when that 6 weeks was over I was going to be ready for the next challenge. That challenge came in the form of P90X.

I started P90X on May 4th and that meant getting up 30 minutes earlier everyday, so I pushed my alarm to 4:30AM. This has been the most amazing program that I have ever done. I love the fact that I no longer dread working out. I look forward to my workouts and sometimes even crave my workouts. I have muscle definition that I never thought was possible. My body fat decreased by 5%!!!!!

I know that I still have areas to improve on, but the transformation that I have seen in my body over 90 days in simply amazing. I have now started round 2 of P90X and my husband is joining me this time around.

If you would like any information on Slim in 6 or P90X or any other Beachbody products please email me @ JWinter4fitness@gmail.com. I would love to help you find that "something" to help you reach your fitness goals!