Mocha Iced Coffee Shakeology

My new favorite for Shakeology is a mocha iced coffee. It was something that I heard about, but never really tried.  I had been never been a fan of iced coffee, but I wanted something new for Shakeology and my vacation provided the perfect opportunity to try it out. 
The first day I went to see the breakfast options at my hotel, I was worried.  There was some pre-made denver omelettes, something that resembled canadian bacon, waffles and fruit loops.  I had a banana and then I wanted my Shakeology.  So, here's what I did.

In a shaker cup I added 8 oz of coffee and a couple handfuls of ice to get it up to 12 oz.  Don't add anything to the coffee, just take it straight to keep out any extra fat or calories.  When my coffee cooled completely, I added my chocolate Shakeology, a little more ice and shook the heck out of it.  Complete deliciousness.  Another option that I did try one day was to use a Starbuck's tall iced coffee. 

Coach Mike - Checking In

I hope you all have been enjoying your summer, I have.  I've been on vacation and resting for the first time in well over a year, and loving it, but I'm ready to get back at it. I re-start Body Beast on Monday.  So far, I've really enjoyed it, and I expect more of the same.  I love the pace, I love the workouts and change means muscle growth, so I'm excited.  How are your workouts going?  Do you need a boost or some pointers?  Let me know.  Be sure to keep the questions and feedback flowing.  If you have a good story to share, send it to me and I can share it with the team.

Working Out In The Summer Heat

We're in the dead of summer right now. I've spent the past month travelling between Texas, Illinois, and Connecticut.  It's been hot everywhere.  Next up, I head to Phoenix, AZ for a week.  I love the heat, but it can be a bear for your workouts.  I generally workout inside, but every so often, it's nice to get out and stretch my legs outside.

You want to stay safe and healthy, and sunburn, dehydration, and sun stroke are not good examples of perfect health.  If you are going to workout outdoors in the summer, there are some special precautions you need to take. 

Working Out at a Hotel

One of the reasons that I've really enjoyed the Beachbody workouts is their portability.  To do Power 90, P90x, or P90x2, all you need is a couple exercise bands and your body weight.  To do Insanity, Brazil Butt Lift, or TurboFire, all you need is yourself.  To do Body Beast, you could get away with some exercise bands and a chair.  Any of those you could easily do in just about any hotel room across the country.  I travel almost weekly, so being able to do a workout anywhere has been a big priority for me.

Forks Over Knives

I had been hearing alot about a documentary called Forks Over Knives, so I decided to add it to my Netflix queue, and last week, I got a chance to watch it.

Forks Over Knives, a 2011 indie documentary by Lee Fulkerson, looks at the health benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet versus the perceived negative effects of processed foods and animal-based products.  Aside from following a number of people on their journeys to better health through nutrition, including the filmmaker himself, it also follow two prominent doctors whose complimentary research in whole food, plant based diets strongly present the case.  Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn has spent years studying how animal-based foods are damaging our blood vessels and leading to heart disease such as stroke and heart attacks.  Dr. Colin Campbell has researched the effects of diet on large populations.  Most famously, he has shown the direct correlation between cancer and other major diseases when eating meat and dairy is common versus a predominantly plant-based diet.

Today's Motivation

I choose to not miss my workouts.  I really enjoy them.  It took me a long time to get there, but now I'm there. I'm getting great results, and I'm not looking back.

I'm a morning workout person.  I get up between 4 and 5, shake off the cobwebs, get dressed, and get after it.  It doesn't matter if I'm home, on the road for work, or on vacation.  That's my routine.  Last night, a coworker asked me if I wanted to go for a run after work.  He said that he found a 5 mile trail that looked fun.  I agreed to go for it.

Recipe - Roasted Cauliflower Mash

I'm always looking for new ways to dress up veggies so that my kids eat them, and, to be hones, so I will too.  My idea this week was to do a roasted cauliflower mash.  I've been roasting alot of vegetables as a new way to add flavor, and I've seen cauliflower "mashed potatoes" on TV, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

My thinking was that I could roast the cauliflower to give it some added flavor and color.  Then, I would add in everything that makes a good mashed potato, without a loads of fat, and I've have a good side dish.  It came out great and was super easy.

What's On Your To Do List?

No matter what you are trying to accomplish, whether it's losing 20 pounds, prepping for a 10k, finish P90x in the actual 90 days, taking you dog to the vet, or just surviving the day, you need to have a plan.  A plan includes what you're going to do and how you're going to do it.  This might be locked away in your brain somewhere, but if you really want to make things happen, make a to-do list.

A written To-Do list accomplishes two things, it allows you to visually see everything that you need to do, and it gives you both a sense of urgency and accomplishment to get the tasks checked off.  I think you'll find that if you apply the to-do list concept to your long-term goals as well as your daily activities, you'll accomplish more and more of the right things.

Coach Mike - Checking In

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July, I know I did.  It's great to get a mid-week chance to spend time with friends and family and break up the work week. I started Body Beast this week and so far, I really enjoy it.  It's a great change of pace from what I've been doing, and I firmly believe that muscle confusion means muscle growth, so I'm excited.  How are your wrokouts going?  Are you getting results?  Be sure to keep the questions and feedback flowing.  If you have a good story to share, send it to me and I can share it with the team.

What Equipment do you need for Body Beast?

I was woried when I saw the first glimpses of Body Beast and heard what it was about.  I envisioned a gym setting with heavy bench presses, a squat rack, loads of dumbbells and cable systems, etc.  It turns out that Body Beast can definitely be done at home with no more equipment than what you may have been using for P90x.

Body Beast is all about hypertropy, or making your muscles bigger, so your 2 lb. dumbbells probably aren't going to cut it, but if all you have is 2 lb dumbbells, you're probably not looking to do Body Beast anyway.  At least not yet.

Supplement Spotlight - l-Carnitine

When you want to get into good physical shape, there is no substitute for hard work.  You have to work hard in each of your workouts.  You have to work at cardio, strength, and endurance.  You also have to work hard at getting your nutrition right.  Without all of that, you're only going to get so far toward your fitness goals.  Once you have that down, then you can start to look to supplements to take you to the next level. 

A supplement that I've been researching is l-Carnitine, a non-essential amino acid.  I choose to use in in conjunction with CLA, or conjugated linoleic acid.  l-Carnitine has been shown to help transport long-chain fatty acids to your cells to produce energy.  l-Carnitine can be found naturally in beef and dairy products, but so little of it is available through those sources, that supplementation is the best route to getting the benefical product.

Lessons from The Book of Beast

As I've mentioned, when Body Beast was released, I was in a mass building mode with P90x.  Since the focus of Body Beast is hypertrophy, or getting bigger muscles, why not take advantage of the program and dive in.  I'm a big fan of change, and Body Beast is something new and I'm psyched about it.

Like all Beachbody programs, Body Beast came with a guide book that talks about the program, the workouts, the diet, etc.  I found The Book of Beast to be a great read beyond just the specifics of what Body Beast was about and I wanted to share some of that with you all.

Coach Mike - Checking In

What's up everyone? I'm still on my mass building P90x plan but I'm getting ready to take a detour.  I just switched up the workouts and it was good to remember back to my first weeks of P90x.  Last week I mentioned that I get bored easily.  To that end, I decided to purchase the new Body Beast program and am going to start trying that out next week.  I'm not going to officially start until August after my family vacation, but I want to get in as much as possible before then.  Look for alot of Body Beast info in the next few weeks as I start to figure it out.  How are your programs going?  What about your diet?  Be sure to keep the questions and feedback flowing.  If you have a good story to share, send it to me and I can share it with the team.