Still Kicking.

Seven years ago, on June 21, 2004, I was laying on an operating table having my entire colon removed and my insides reconstructed. I had to have a bag on my side for 10 weeks while I healed enough to have my plumbing reconnected. After that, I generally laid around and got fat and happy.


Then in 2008, I found Beachbody. With Turbo Jam and then P90X, in the space of 6 months, I lost 33 pounds and am possibly in the best shape of my life. I've even had a doctor tell me I'm probably the healthiest patient he would see all day. That's good to hear after being so sick for so long. I've continued on, doing P90X, Insanity, Insanity:Asylum, a few Turbo Fire workouts here and there and have started Rev Abs - the program by Brett Hoebel, who is still at Beachbody as he does NBC's Biggest Loser.


The above leads to this: Let Nothing Stop You. Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can. You just have to get up. Set aside that hour a day (or less) to work on yourself. The cost of not doing so is staggering, not only to yourself but to the people you care about and who care about you. The benefits are priceless and limitless.


I should know. I'm still kicking.

Joe

Little Victories

I've been doing Shaun T's new workout program Insanity: Asylum Volume 1 - Sports Performance. To say its "hard" is like saying water is wet. It is insanely though. In fact, its the first DVD from Beachbody I've seen that says in its warnings basically, this is hard and even we don't think you should do it!
So, I'm doing my best. Am I keeping up with the folks in the video? No. Have I quit? No, of course not! I'm doing most of it and every time I'm getting better.
By that I mean I'm doing some of the exercises 5 seconds longer that I did the last time. I'm stopping in the middle of a one minute routine and coming back in for an additional 10 seconds. I'm not feeling as uncoordinated as I was 2 weeks ago. I only had to sit down twice to catch my breath the last time.
5 more seconds. Only having to sit twice. Coming back in to finish. To someone passing by its not much but it means I'm progressing due to these little victories. And little victories pave the road to big success.
Hold onto your little victories. Do 5 more seconds. See the road ahead.
Commit and Succeed.


Joe

What If?...

If you're anything like me, sometimes you get faced with a decision or a situation and you start to What If? yourself to death. I've come to realize that What If comes in two forms - Negative and Positive.


Some Negatives - I want to go to Paris but what if the plane crashes? I was out sick yesterday, what if the boss yells at me? I want to ask Betty Sue to dance but what if she says no? The common denominator of all these situations (and probably of the one's running through your head) is that you have no control over any of the outcomes! What if the plane crashes? What if the boss yells? What if she says no?


You've just What If'd yourself into inaction. You'll probably never go to Paris. The boss will find some reason to scream whether you were sick or not. You'll never know if Betty Sue would have said yes because you never asked her.


Some Positives - What if I combine this chemical and enzyme? What if I try to run that marathon? What if I put some of my thoughts to paper? Maybe you'll cure cancer. Maybe you'll get a feeling of accomplishment you've never had before. Maybe you'll write a best seller.


Examine your What If's. The negatives are just fear. The positives are simply a mind-set of doing. Face your fear and watch it fade away.

Build the habit of believing in yourself. You can do anything. I'm here to help.


I believe in you!

Joe

Try

I'm 51 years old. About 7 years ago I had to have my entire colon removed and my insides reconstructed over two surgeries. I had to have a bag on my side for 10 weeks and then get my plumbing reconnected. I let myself get up to around 235 lbs and told myself I didn't look that bad. Finally, after seeing a picture of myself and getting tired of pulling my man-boob out of the way to see the iPod on my belt, I did something. I walked about 10 lbs of that off.


Then I started with Turbo Jam and went into P90X - 90 days of each - and went from 225 to 192.


How? I tried.


Was I able to do the moves exactly like Tony and Chalene did? No. Am I able to keep up with Shaun T in Insanity? No. Am I sticking with it? Yes. Am I getting better? Yes. Am I probably in the best shape of my life? Yes.


Thats all you have to do. Try. Try your hardest. Do your best. One great thing about these DVD's is that you're doing them at home. No one can see or care how you look while you're doing it! So what if you think you look stupid? So what if you can only do 25 seconds of a 60 second exercise?


It will get better.


You will get better.


All you have to do is try.

Joe Koelbl

168

There are 168 hours in a week. That's it. Everyone from the bagboy at the grocery store to the President of the United States has the same amount of time. Have you ever wondered how it is some people seem to get so much done? How they accomplish so much (or so little)?


Time management is something we all need to master. I've talked to so many people who say they don't have the time to workout. They have the time, they're just not using it correctly! I know from personal experience if there's something shiny in the room its over for me. The trick is simply to do what you say you're going to do. That's the hard part.


Many swear by a daily "to do" list. I know Chalene Johnson, creater of Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, and Chalean Extreme, is a proponent of the to do list. It works and she's proof of that.

So, make a list of what you do - everything you do - and study it. Are you watching a rerun of NCIS that you've seen 5 times? Are you standing in your kitchen looking at your iPhone? Facebook got you chained to the computer? We can all find several hours a week that should be unaccounted for. Thats enough to get into the best shape of your life or even to build a nice residual income as a Team Beachbody Coach :)


Find the time and Keep Pushing Play!


Joe

Diet is King!

Tony Horton, the creator of P90X, has a saying - "Abs are made in the kitchen." That means you can do 5 workouts a day, sweat, furrow your brow and grind your teeth, but unless your diet is right you are not going the get the great results you could truly achieve.


I've had conversations with some folks who have told me P90X didn't work for them only to find out they were still hitting the drive thru, eating late, wrong, and completely off the grid! Every Beachbody program comes with a nutrition guide just for that system. P90X has one. Insanity has one. Turbo Fire and Turbo Jam have it. And when you join the Beachbody Club one of your free gifts is a recipe book...and you gain access to everything the Team Beachbody site has to offer - including the new meal planner.


I know that some of the time the nutrition guide books look like rocket science but a simple rule of thumb is 40/40/20 - 40% Protein, 40% Carbs, 20% Fat. Follow that and you should be all right. Also there are many sites like myfitnesspal.com and dailyburn that allow you to track your calorie intake and break down exactly what you're putting into your body. They even have apps for your smart phones.


Remember to eat clean. I know its not always possible but what we eat is one of the few things in this world we have control over. So stick with it, push play, eat right, and success is right around the corner!


You can do it!

Joe

Fitness is Fun!

I was looking at the last few tips of the week I sent to you and noticed "Consistency is the Key," "Don't Get Discouraged," "You're Where You're Supposed to be,""Its Not Easy," etc. etc. and thought to myself, "Gee Whiz...you're kind of a downer, Joe!"


I've been overlooking the most important component: Being fit, doing these workouts, pushing yourself to your limits and beyond and achieving your goals is FUN! Let's face it...don't you feel better after you've completed that tough workout? When you've kept up with the kids on the DVD don't you feel like you've accomplished something? When you see the number on that scale or go down a loop in your belt, don't you get that goofy smile on your face?


And the best feeling is when someone says, "Have you lost weight?" or "Wow, you look great! What are you doing?" I'm sure some of you have already gotten that high. And those of you just starting out...it's coming!


So when your sweating and cursing your TV and you get through it anyway, don't be surprised when the thought pops into your head, "That was fun," even though you're a hot mess. I always say it takes a lot of work to look this good, but the work is fun...even if it hurts!

Joe