One of the things that we were asked to do as Team Beachbody Coaches was read books or listen to audio in the genre of personal growth. I have found that this single activity not only sets me up for success, it also improves my attitude.  One of the books that I read this year was written by, Brian Tracy. His book, Eat That Frog gave me permission to focus ONLY on first things first and second thing never.

Brian Tracy also details a highly effective 7 part system on goal setting that is applicable to Beachbody coaching and what seems every other part of my life as well.

The 7 part system to goal setting looks like this:
1. Decide what you want. Have a clear purpose.
2. Write it down.
3. Create a deadline for meeting this goal.
4. List all the things you will need to do in order to accomplish this goal. This creates a track to run on.
5. Organize this list into a plan.
6. Take action immediately.
7. Resolve to do anything daily to move you toward your goal.

Watch it for yourself

BRIAN TRACY ON SETTING GOALS

I want to encourage you all to set goals.  These may be fitness goals, or business goals, or even something as simple as being determined to spend more time with your family.  Regardless of what the goal is, follow these steps and you will increase your chances of getting what you want.

Monica

WHY? Because it helps you program yourself EACH day for success.

What is personal development? For the sake of simplicity and Team Beachbody coaching, it can be defined as taking the time in your daily activities to read books, listen to audio CDs, or attend classes related to helping us achieve personal success!

This week’s 15 minutes of daily audio is Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell.  The book can be found HERE.  This book has helped me to better understand failure, how it is inevitable, and how it is one of the greatest learning tools available.

My 15 minute lesson:
Did you ever want to know what the 1 key factor between average people and achieving people is? According to John C. Maxwell, it is perception of and response to failure.
According to Maxwell, I have the ability to CHOOSE how I to perceive a given situation and how I will react to that situation. If I didn’t experience a failure almost immediately after that, I am not sure I would have believed it.

Monday morning, I had decided that after the Thanksgiving weekend, I would enlist the support of a coach. I have a business coach, but I don’t really have a fitness coach and I want one.  So, I called and scheduled an appointment with a person I respect very much. The night before I set out my workout clothes, my shoes, and set the alarm clock. In the morning, I drove out to his studio ready to take a beating….in a good way! However, it never occurred to me that HE might not show up…for whatever his reasons were.

There I was, sitting in my car, and no coach. My usual reaction would have been anger so I could play my victim card, BUT those 15 minutes, got my head on straight and I hit my plan B, a Chest and Back workout with the boys at AZ Body Mechanics! If you are not a fan on Facebook, become one for me! Dr. Ehren saved the day with his P90X Fit Club.

The workout was great, but my perception of the “no-show” and my reaction to it were even better.  Instead of allowing a simple mistake in scheduling to derail my strong desire to take my physical fitness to the next level, I went and worked out with a group of people that I really enjoy.  When I was done with my workout I felt a tremendous sense of empowerment.  Not only had I gotten my workout in, but I had flipped a bad situation into a good one.

Just think, if 15 minutes of audio did that for me, what would 30 days of daily audio do, or 6 months. This is ONE of the 10 core commitments of being a Beachbody coach. Decide which book, Commit to reading or listening to it….AND YOU WILL EXPERIENCE SUCCESS.

Ooohhh, look how shiny my bike is!

Today was the Tempe International Triathlon. This was my first triathlon of the year, which is hard to believe. There have been other races, but have had prior commitments that kept me from them. Given that it was my first race, I decided to just do the Sprint. 400m swim, 12.5 mi bike, 3.1 mi run. Just a little outing to get myself back into race mode. The race went fairly well. My unofficial time on my watch was 1:16.36. My goal was 1:15, so I wasn’t far off. I had everything on pace to break it until the run. The dreaded, and seemingly constant, cramps (side stitches) after getting off the bike persisted. I don’t know what the issue is. I thought was drinking too much fluid, but I only had about 10 oz of Accelerade over the short bike, so that’s not it. This also does not typically happen when I do BRICK workouts. If anyone has an answer here, I’d love to hear it.

Here is the race report video. A fun day in Tempe. I’m so happy to be back racing again.

Informed? YES!

Good nutrition is pretty simple: lean proteins, fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Each Beachbody program comes with some sort of a nutritional program that incorporates all of the above foods in their plans.

I have maintained my weight loss with Beachbody programs for 6 years and I would never consider myself an expert on nutrition. Do not be afraid to trust a program and learn to tweak it as you become more informed.

When I first started my exercise program, my nutritional goals were to eat less of what I already was eating. I reduced my intake by 25% and then started exercising. If I ate toast for breakfast, I left the butter off. If I ate eggs, I ate one less yolk. Each decision reduced my overall daily calorie count and lead to progress in my weight loss program. After going to one of Tony Horton’s fitness camps, I started paying closer attention to refining my dietary decisions.

I learned to stay away from processed foods, white sugar and white flour. I learned healthier ways to prepare my favorite foods (grilling, baking, broiling, boiling). I started using more natural ingredients. I started buying fresh, local, organic, hormone/ pesticide free foods.

Here are my three tips:

1. Be informed: KNOW the good foods and the bad foods so you can fill your home with all the healthy stuff.
2. Be prepared: Keep your house stocked with good, healthy food. Pack little healthy snacks and have GOOD things ready to grab in the fridge and pantry.
3. Make good decisions: Only you are responsible for your success. You will have lots of support from the Beachbody community and coach, however, you need to set yourself up for continued success.

Give yourself the gift of good health. Fuel your body with nutritionous foods, exercise most days, and encourage your friends and family to be active with you.

I love being on this fitness journey with you! Come visit me on the Team Beachbody message boards (www.getfitwithbuds.com).

Monica

Rather than being entirely on your own during your workouts, you can workout once a week with others doing BB programs. Beachbody workouts are generally a perfect mix of cardio and strength training. Your fit club doesn’t not have to be doing the same program you are using. You just need to sub the cardio fit club workout for the cardio workout that would have fallen on that day of your program

We linked our team by calling ourselves the Fit Club Network. Everyone likes to have a team name. As new coaches join our team, they typically pick a fitclub.com domain that represents their geographic location. I am www.arizonafitclub.com. Other AZ coaches have chosen 480fitclub, 602fitclub, Phoenixfitclub. We are rapidly spreading across the nation with local fit clubs in tons of cities. 

Our common demoninator is that we all have had our lives radically changed through fitness, but specifically through Beachbody products like P90X. 
That is why we became coaches. So we could share and support others who are trying hard to improve their health through fitness.

We have such an awesome team. I am so grateful for each passionate coach involved!

P90X portion approach is pretty straight forward. The fat shredder plan (level 1) allows me 5 protein, 2 dairy, 1 fruit, 2 vegetables, 1 fat, 1 carb (OUCH), 1 single snack. As a mom of two, I wanted to make sure I could follow a healthy meal plan while providing my kids with great meals. The single most important thing to remember is that our kids are NOT restricted to 1 complex carb per day. Family menu planning for me has taken on the “add on” approach.

The “add on” approach is starting with YOUR base requirements on the P90X nutritional plan. For example, you are planning on a 2 protein, 1 vegetable, 1 carb dinner with your family. You realize that you can have a lean hamburger or turkey burger, a whole grain bun, and a small salad. Your kids can have additional sides like baked potato fries and/or whole wheat pasta salad. They are not limited to smaller portions.

Breakfast Ideas

• 3 hard boiled eggs (no yolk) 3 slices of Turkey bacon (2 proteins)
  
• 6 egg white omelet 1/2 cup of veggie mix (1 protein, .5 Veggie)
  
• 1 scoop whey powder, 8 oz nonfat plain yogurt, 1 cup strawberries (1 protein, 1 dairy, .5 fruit)
• 1 scoop chocolate whey, 1 tbsp peanut butter (taken from snack), 1 cup skim milk
• Mini breakfast tacos 1 corn tortilla 3 egg whites
  

Lunch Ideas

• NOTE: Kids can easily eat sandwiches, soups, chicken nuggets, soy corn dogs, and other options. Lunch is a great time to eat your proteins with out a carb.
  
• A few adult ideas below
  

• Tuna salad with mustard and nonfat plain yogurt (instead of mayo) dressing over tomato and lettuce (1 protein, 1 veggie)
  
• Shredded chicken in 1 cup vegetable soup (1 protein, 1 veggies)

Dinner Ideas

• 96% Lean hamburgers grilled or broiled with whole wheat bun 9
  
• Turkey meatballs in homemade marinara with whole wheat spaghetti
  
• Chicken burritos with whole wheat tortilla
• Street tacos with Corn tortillas
• Polpetone (Italian meatloaf) Make meatballs in bowl and transfer to bread pyrex. Pour 1/2 cup of marinara on top of each slice. Serve with whole wheat penne or rigatoni(2 proteins, .5 veggies, 1 optional carb)
  
• Non spicy turkey chili with veggies and bean your children like. (no onions, bell peppers)
  

Snack Ideas

• Banana with Cottage Cheese
• 6 oz Fresh squeezed OJ and 1 scoop vanilla whey
• 1 cup strawberries over 8oz plain nonfat yogurt
• String cheese
• Peanut butter celery
• Nonfat frozen yogurt (YUM)

Now for the question.  If you had $1,000 what kind of aero wheels would you buy?  Why? Help me out here people.  The time has come.  I’m averaging up over 18 mph and I usually ride alone.  Need something sturdy that I can put a lot of miles on and fast for race day.  Prefer clinchers, but could probably make the switch to tubulars.

Specialized 2001 M4

• I would have the health and fit body I’ve always wanted (especially after two kids)
• I would be so interested in health and wellness for others, I’d want to leave my happy career to get involved
• I would be making more money than my teacher’s salary working half the time

….well I would have thought you were talking crazy….and yet, here I am.

So now you’re a coach and I bet you are wondering how does this all come together. How do I get or stay in shape, help others, and make some income? You keep three simple words in mind: Share, Share, Share!

Huh, Monica? Think of each share in a more direct sense

Share the products and supplements= Retail

Share the business opportunity= Recruit

Share your continued support= Maintain (these are those who have already said YES to the two shares above)

Coaching is so rewarding. What you give to others you will get back. By supporting others, you’ll feel supported too.  You’ll be motivated to stay committed and true to your own health through proper nutrition and exercise. By sharing the products that are shaping you, you’ll start to witness the change in others.

It is amazing to take people from one state of mind, to a place where they cannot even imagine going. The gift of health has such a positive ripple effect on the lives of the people you change. When people feel good, they have a better attitude. Your coaches and customers will spend their time and new found energy giving back the people around them. It is SUCH a win win!

You’ve said yes to this opportunity, what is stopping you from changing a life today?

We believe in you!

Monica

1. Precontemplation: “I can’t” or “I won’t” If you are in this stage and want to move on, try separating the real barriers from the excuses. This will give you clarity and help you to move on.
2. Contemplation: “I may” If you find yourself saying this phrase, try to decide WHY you are thinking you might be ready. Having
3. Preparation: I will
4. Action: I am
5. Maintenance: I still am

I’ll be honest with you, although I find it comforting to have definitions and vocabulary to help me communicate my experience. It makes me feel smart. The truth was that the process of change was just not that obvious. Furthermore, you might go through three phases in an hour.

I was absolutely in the stage of precontemplation the night I ordered a Beachbody program. For the 7 years prior to my Power 90 order, I  had lived a life completely devoid of any physical activity. Exercise, what was that?

I turned on the TV, like I did every night, while I fed my son because I could see what I was doing better. I started watching this infomercial where they’d show a before and after that was almost impossible to believe. With in a 45 minute period, I went from thinking “I can’t,” to “I may,” to “I will!”

I love all of this self help stuff but, I cannot emphasize enough the simple Nike slogan JUST DO IT! Seriously, FORGETABOUTIT! Just push play, make good decisions and you WILL see results!

To this day, I can’t believe I went from a borderline size 16 to a slim, healthy person. I want the same for you let me know how I can help you get started on any Beachbody program and experience a final solution to your weight loss struggles. Write me: fitclubnetwork@gmail.com

You can do it!

Monica

UPDATE – December 29, 2009.  Over the past year or so we have gotten a lot of questions about this post and it has generated a lot of attention.  One major development since we originally did this post was the introduction of Shakeology to the Beachbody line of supplements.  Shakeology is hard to define in the P90X Nutrition Plan.  At 140 calories with 15g of protein and 19g of carbs (Greenberry) or 17g of protein and 17g of carbs (Chocolate) it is not really a full serving of either.  With Beachbody’s advice, we have characterized it as a snack.  Note that if you add items into the shake and increase the calories, it can easily be a double snack, rather than a single snack.  Most people like to add fruit to the greenberry and things like almond butter and bananas to the chocolate.  If you do that, take a minute and look up the caloric values of your additions and track them accordingly.  We have updated the Excel document below to reflect this change.  Also, we want to point out that the P90X Results and Recovery Formula is also properly tracked as a snack.  In that case it is a double snack.

We also wanted to offer our help with your P90X journey.  If you are new to P90X, start with the video below and then move through the post, including the comments.  It will take a while, but it will be worth it.  You’ll finish this post with a complete understanding of why the plan works the way it does, and how to make the most of it.  We are Team Beachbody Coaches and helping people with programs like P90X is what we do.  If you would like to have us coach you through P90X please contact me HERE, and we’ll give you instructions on how to make that happen.  You can also find details and sign up HERE.  There is no cost to you for this program or our services, but it is important for us to be assigned as your Coach in order to provide you with advice, support and motivation.  Also, check out our message board community at http://www.thefitclubnetwork.com/community/.  Good luck and we look forward to hearing from you.

UPDATE – May 16, 2009.  We have updated this post to include a video discussing the resources contained below.  One key issue to note is that the daily trackers on the spreadsheet below represent a mid-range in the various “Levels” of the program.  You will need to customize the spreadsheet to your needs.  This is one reason why we decided to make it an excel document, rather than a PDF.  Please watch the video first and then use the resources.

Gaining an understanding of your caloric needs is very important.  Many people comment that the calories required for the plan appear very high.  This video explains why the calories are calculated the way they are calculated.  In the post I reference the Power 90 Master Series.  You can find information about that program HERE.

Once you have an understanding of how many calories per day you get and the portions of each food group, you’ll want to consider how to break those up in your day.  Monica shot this video describing how she uses the Phase I, Level I of the P90X Nutrition Guide during her day.

ORIGINAL POST – January 29, 2009.  The P90X nutrition guide can be an overwhelming document, as a P90X coach and graduate of the program, I have created a simpler system to help you with the portion approach. I hope that you can benefit and maximize your P90X results by using these documents to support all your hard work and sacrifice during the program.

Step 1 – Calculate your Daily Calorie Needs and Determine your “Level”.

Start by downloading this Excel file.  The document contains several steps at the top.  These will help you determine how many calories you will need on a daily basis and what “Level” of the program you will be on.  There are “Levels” and “Phases”.  The “Level” relates to how many calories you need on a daily basis.  As the diet progresses it goes from a high protein/low carb diet, to a more balanced, but slightly higher carb diet.  Each progress is a “Phase”.

P90X-Nutrition-Guide-12-29-09 (Click to Download Excel file).

The Excel file also has a daily tracker you can use.  If you can print this up and laminate if then you can keep track of your portions each 6 days.  If not, just print a new page every six days.  The daily tracker also has boxes for water and supplements to help remind you to DRINK WATER.  This will help you to stay accountable and on target to the outrageously fit YOU!

When you download the Meun planners below you will see that each section tells you how much a “Serving” is.  For example, a 3 oz. chicken breast is one serving of protein.  If you eat a large (9 oz.) chicken breast, then that is 3 servings of protein, and you would check 3 boxes in the protein category in your daily tracker.

Step 2: Plan your Menu.

Below you will find three different menu plans for each Phase of the diet.  Download these documents, starting with Phase I – Fat Shredder, and take a good look at the foods in the food plan. This was especially important for us because Dave and I have two kids to feed and we wanted healthy, kid friendly meals. Although, our kids’ taste palate expand all the time, eliminating  items off the list make the list more realistic.  This is a good shopping list for us.

Phase I – Fat Shredder (Click to download Word file)

In proteins for example, I removed ham slices, soy burgers, soy cheese, tofu, turkey bacon, veggie burgers, and veggie dogs. The simplified list was AWESOME for menu planning and for food shopping at the store. Family dinners have always been my biggest concern.

Obviously, our children are not restricted to portions like one carb and 2 proteins and 1 veggie.

A delicious Turkey meatball or Lean ground Beef meatball with a home made marinara and a cup of whole grain pasta. Makes a delicious meal for the whole family.

Corn tortillas and shredded chicken is another delicious meal for the family. Depending on your specific level and phase, you can add black beans and brown rice.

Stay tuned to get more menu ideas that are both completely P90X menu planner compliant as well as YUMMY!

Phase II – Energy Booster (Click to download Word file)

This is just the second phase of nutrition in the P90X menu planner.

Phase III – Endurance Maximizer (Click to download Word file)

This is the last phase of nutrition in the P90X menu planner.

If you ever need any peer support or coaching with your P90X, please contact me HERE.

GRRRRR LET’S BRING IT!