Success Warrior: The Blog That Embraces ADHD

What's the Most Inexpensive Way To Get Shakeology?

 

The most inexpensive way to get Shakeology is to sign up with a BeachBody membership and get the monthly autoship.  The membership gives you 25% off of all BeachBody products, which is cool because they are the ones that make great programs like P90X and Insanity.  Taking the autoship options gets you shipping and handling on Shakeology for free and you can cancel at anytime.

 

Go to my BeachBody site and click on the "Coach" link.  There is a one time set up fee as I explained and the membership is $15 a month.  You save $30 a month on Shakeology by being a member so it's a net savings of $15 (after the first month).  Plus they have a lot of DVD programs, exercise equipment, and other supplements and you save 25% on everything you order.

 

The one thing that I ask as you fill in the information is that it shows "swarrior" as being your coach.  If it doesn't, I'd ask you to change that.  It should be correct unless you've ordered BeachBody products online in the past.

 

Once you have your information filled in, the site is going to walk you through some options.  You can skip the business builder options (unless you're interested in those) but one of the pages will have the Shakeology 30 day autoship option.  You'll want to take that in the flavor of your choice.

 

The Greenberry is the favorite for my wife and me because we drink it for breakfast.  When you mix in a little bit of real orange juice with the water, it really tastes great.  I drink mine about 90 minutes before exercise to fuel my workout and Tia drinks hers at work as a meal or snack.

 

The Chocolate has a dark chocolate flavor to it and is the best tasting protein shake that I have ever had (and I've tried several dozen over the last couple decades of weightlifting).  I used a blender a couple of weeks ago and mixed in water, ice, a scoop of chocolate Shakeology, and 6 medium strawberries and it was as good as any dessert I've ever had.  In fact, the only reason that I drink the Greenberry more is because it tastes more like a breakfast drink to me.  For me, the chocolate is more of an afternoon snack or late night indulgence (that's actually good for you).

 

No matter which one you choose, you can switch flavors the next month if you choose with a quick email to customer service.  One of my exercise students switched from Greenberry to Chocolate because it satisfies her sweet-tooth.  Tia did the opposite and switched from Chocolate to Greenberry because the chocolate was too sweet for her.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me or give me a call (my email and phone number are on my BeachBody website). 

 

Let me know what kind of results you get with Shakeology.  The one universal so far from everyone that I know that drinks it is that they have more energy.  I'm always interested in hearing what "real" people think of the shake so keep me in the loop.

Fuel for Fire Friday - Protein (Part 1)

So,

Today has just gone par for the week as far as my attempts to exercise go, even to the point of disrupting my morning exercises.  As for running, fogedaboudit.  I had to go in to work at 1:30 this morning for a couple of hours.  When I feel asleep, it was 30 minutes before I normally wake up.  That wasn't happening.  I slept until I had enough sleep.  I got up in time to shower up for a meeting that I had to attend, which went longer than I had anticipated.  Now I have time to get this blog post done before I have to go pick up Trey from school and then I'll be off to work shortly after that.  As far as exercise goes, today is a wash but that doesn't mean that my diet has to follow suit.

I did skip breakfast because I slept through it but the rest of the day will go as planned.

The first meal of the day for me is always Shakeology.  I'll be covering the ingredients in future "Fuel" posts but for today, it's enough to know that it is a protein shake (but way, way more than that).  I usually drink the Greenberry version.  My current favorite way is to mix it with some crushed ice, water, and orange juice.  Very tasty and so good for you. 

I have to tell you about the chocolate Shakeology though because this is the absolute best tasting protein shake I have ever had.  To give you a little idea about my experience with protein shakes, let me show you what is currently in my pantry:

I had to put them on the kitchen table so that they could all be seen.  They are stacked two deep on the shelf in the pantry.  Anyway, I know how protein shakes taste.  I currently have 8 different flavors from 4 different companies and I have tried a ton more than that in my decades of training.  The chocolate Shakeology beats them all, hands down.  It has a dark chocolate flavor to it that just appeals to me.

On top of that, last weekend, I tried something else with the chocolate Shakeology.  I put 16 ounces of water (I tend to water down my shakes - personal preference), 8 ounces of ice, 6 medium fresh strawberries, and a scoop of the chocolate Shakeology.  This is actually the best protein shake that I have ever tasted.  If you like strawberries dipped in dark chocolate, this was so much like that (but way more healthy).  You could drink this for dessert and never feel like you are missing out on anything. 

My second meal would usually be some eggs and turkey bacon.  The turkey bacon is part of my attempt to still enjoy breakfast but cut down on the fat content.  I know that a lot of people go trying to build muscle or lose fat go with an omelet filled with vegetables and I have done that but currently, I'm not into that.  I may switch over to that kind of thing down the road but this is serving my purpose currently.  Today, because of how late I slept, I just skipped this meal.

My third meal is a protein shake.  All my protein shakes in the picture have between 120 and 140 calories per scoop so they are a great "between meals" snack.  I usually don't blend them up unless I'm throwing in some extra fruit or something.  I just throw in a little bit of crushed ice, some water, and a scoop of shake into a shaker cup and shake it up and drink it.  No fuss.  No hassle. 

My fourth meal switches around from day to day.  Today was some kind of Southwestern Salad at the meeting with chicken breast, avocado, pepper jack cheese, and pico de gallo.  I drizzled a little bit of ranch dressing on the lettuce when I had made it through all the good stuff. 

My fifth meal will be another protein shake.  Shaken not stirred (or mixed).

My sixth meal will be something at the casino and can easily be the worst meal of the day.  They have a couple of good choices there but they can get boring considering that I eat in the casino 5 times a week.  I try not to get too crazy about it.  They have omelets served at any time so this is always a possible option.

My seventh meal will be the casein protein.  It's a good protein to take at night because it takes longer to digest and helps slow down the body going into fasting mode.  Not something that you want to happen if you want to keep your muscle mass, which I have been working so hard on.  I bought little tupperware-like containers that will fit 1.5 scoops of protein so that I can take it to work with me with a shaker bottle.  All I need is ice and water and I have a snack when I get hungry late at night. 

I also keep some peanuts in my desk in case I'm just that hungry late at night. 

I read that it can be hard for the body to assimilate more than 30 grams of protein at a whack.  So, I spread my protein intake out over the day, trying to get in the ballpark of 180-200 grams of protein a day (following the guideline of 1 gram per pound of body weight). 

Besides that 7th meal made of casein protein, the other shakes are mostly made of whey protein and that's going to be the topic of the next Fuel for Fire Friday post but I'll tell you this right now, you should probably be drinking at least one whey shake a day if you are trying to build muscle or lose fat (or both).

***

I am an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

Feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Fuel for Fire Friday - "Cheat Day"

So,

I did another experiment yesterday around the idea of a "cheat" day.  From noon on, I took on the role of couch potato (with one little slip) to see what it would feel like.  I had two goals in mind at the beginning of this experiment:

1. Eat "poorly" and record the results in today's post and see what the effect would be on Sunday when I weight myself.
2. Watch the Netflix movies that have been sitting on my DVD for about a month to get that energy flowing again.
3. See if I could slow down for one night.

I have tried to think back to the last time that I have watched two movies back to back and it's probably been several years.  In my previous life, it seems like that was common.  Rent two movies, fix up some popcorn, sit down and watch them.  Simple enough. 

Our life just isn't like that anymore. 

The first part of the day started as normal.  I did my box workout, which I'll be sharing with you in a couple of weeks.  I did some laundry.  I ate my normal foods.  I went to lunch with my wife and her mom and then we split directions.  They took off for San Francisco and I went home to sit on the couch for the rest of the night.

I ate things like pizza, chips, and chocolate covered peanuts.  I drank wine.  I sat on the couch.  I watched movies.  A nearly perfect couch potato night other than the fact that I took the dog for a walk.

Here are my observations from the day and what I'm doing for the next few days.

First, I want to point out that it's not a cheat day if you plan on doing it.  I know that cheat day is the accepted term for not eating clean but it's not really cheating.  There is no such thing as cheating.  You are either eating in a way that supports your goals or your not.  A weekly or monthly cheat day can help support your goals by allowing you to give in to what you think are tempting foods.

That is probably the most interesting part of the experiment.  None of my food choices tasted good.  I ate them because that was the plan but none of it was truly enjoyable.  I chose foods that I would have previously loved but they just didn't do anything for me this time.  I ended up just throwing the bag of chips in the garbage because of the blech factor. 

I still kept track of my food using FitDay and ended up consuming about 1,000 calories over maintenance.  This is the first time since Christmas that I've eaten more calories than maintenance.  Looking at what I ate and drank, I can see how easy it would be for most people to eat over their maintenance level every single day.  Because of my size and exercise regimen, my maintenance level is about 3,500 calories a day. 

The goal was to go for the "tasty" high carb foods that I don't normally eat as a "treat".  It just didn't work as far as the treat factor goes. 

Not that it was a complete wash.  Now if I see any of these things and my brain tries to tell me in some way "that sounds yummy", my memory can come back to the test and go, "uh, yeah, sure and we can throw it in the garbage again when the truth comes out."  I can mark these three things off my craving list.  You know, the list that your mind goes to when you get tired of how you're eating.  These just won't be there anymore.

The overeating part too.  I literally forced myself to go over my normal calories.  For some people that go on a calorie restriction diet, there's this dream of just eating without end.  Just bustin' loose and going for it.  I tried it and I don't think I'll be trying it again any time soon. 

What am I doing in the aftermath of my experiment?  I've been pondering it and trying to put my thoughts into words here.  I took the dog for a walk today.  It's still recovery week so I'm not going to be doing any serious exercise until Monday.  I'm drinking Shakeology (more on this next week) and eating lots of raw fruits and vegetables.  I'm probably going to have a short nap before I go to work.  I will probably have a bit of protein at work (chicken breast) but will continue to eat mostly raw food through Sunday.

Ahhh, I just remember a big kink that I threw into this experiment that I should report on.

Over the last few months, I've been experimenting with different fat burners to see what effect they have on me and see if there was anything that I could pass on to my readers.  All these products have caffeine in them and I could tell you resolutely that I don't get any benefit from them.  I know that some people do so I won't say that they just don't work but they don't work for me.  So, in addition to my high carb experiment, I've gone cold turkey on caffeine.  I have been and will continue to write about detox foods and strategies and I felt that caffeine was not part of that strategy.

I think it was a valuable experiment for me and I want to see how the next three days go as I try to make up for all the crap that I put into my body.  I found that over eating and my old "comfort" foods just aren't for me.  I found it wasn't a treat or fun or even enjoyable to eat like that again. 

I found out that other than hitting pause briefly (Come on! Amistad and The Right Stuff, back to back, that's a lot of couch sitting), I can actually sit still long enough to watch two movies.  When we were saying good bye, the last thing that my wife said to me was, "Relax."  My life seems like it's filled non-stop with "to-do" items and part of the goal was to see if I could just stop.  In fact, that's something I'm trying to carry through the weekend, even though I don't have any plans for more movies for the weekend.  The idea is to do the bare minimum and spend time unwinding and walking the dog.  The dog likes the plan.

Update:  No nap.  I have 2 cell phones and a land line and all 3 of them rang during the time that would have been used for a nap.  Oh well.

***

I am an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

Feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.