Team Beachbody Guest

Back in November 2008, out of the blue, my son said to me, "Dad, why don't
you just start a list, and write down all the things you either want to give up,
or change." It was nothing "new" to me, in a sense, because I've always heard
about making sure we *write down* our goals, etc. But something about that
moment finally struck me, the lightbulb in my head turned on, and I did it.

My list addressed all the things I knew I had to change:
1) No more drinking soda/pop (not even Diet Coke!)
2) No chips or snack-crackers (except maybe with lunch sometimes).
3) No chocolate or other sweets (except on special occasions).
4) No snacking on cereal or bars (except for scheduled mid-morning "meal
2").
5) Drink 3 glasses of water every evening (and eat/drink NOTHING else after
dinner).
6) Work out at least 20 min per day, M-F (or even Saturday).

That was it. This was enough to get me to stop random snacking, and to stop
eating most kinds of "processed" foods (cookies, chips, crackers, snack-
cereals-- all stuff that comes in "boxes"). This got me to drink more water,
and to work out more consistently. Prior to that, I'd "worked out" for only 10-
15 min., maybe 2-3 days a week. Not enough to have any effect. And,
stopping the Diet Coke not only kept the chemicals and junk out of my body,
but I believe *all* soda/pop makes you *hungry* and eat more, as well as
makes you bloated.

With just these changes initially, I started losing weight right away, about 2
lbs. per week on average. My eating began to get healthier, too, eating more
salads, fish, vegetables, etc. When I got CEX, it just took things up a notch,
adding the resistance and amping the workouts into the 30-45 minute range.
I've stuck with my own version of the eating, which is *similar* to Chalene's,
but a little more free-form. As long as I eat "good" stuff, and avoid the
processed stuff with the High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and the
Hydrogenated Fats (or Tran Fats), and watch the overall calorie count (I do
between 1500 on a "low" day, to 2000 on a "high" day or so), it seems to
work!

That's the general idea. And I just Keep Pushing Play, and bring-it with the
intensity, etc.

It's working so far (since November 2008)!