You Can Borrow Mine

Tomorrow my youngest son turns 6. Even though that is normally a big day, it is a very special day for us, every birthday Tai has is extra special. See, 6 years ago tonight, my wife Camille was in the hospital, 3 months from her due date of December 16^th. She had already been in the hospital for 3 weeks, having gone into premature labor at only 5 months into her pregnancy. The Doctor had told us that the baby would have a very low chance of survival if he was born before 28 weeks, Cammie, being the fighter she is, was able to hold on until she reached that mark. Tai was delivered by emergency C-section, 3 months early and barely 3 pounds. His first 24 hours was very touch and go, but like his mother, he is a fighter and against all odds, he made it.

As I watched him grow over the next 6 weeks in the ICU, fighting every day, I was amazed at how the human spirit is programmed to fight for survival. All of us are born with a will to live and a “never give up” attitude. I learned a lot watching my son grow and as I look back over the past 6 years I am inspired to be like him.

I am fortunate that I have been blessed with amazing people in my life. The things my wife has accomplished in spite of her “disability”, inspires and motivates me everyday. Carl Daikeler, a few months back, wrote a blog about people that inspire him. He talked about Cammie and when I met Carl in June, I thanked him for acknowledging her and I told him that it was impossible for me to not be motivated and inspired everyday because of what an incredible example she is. I am lucky, I am surrounded by inspiration and motivation every day of my life.

But what if you don’t have what I have, what do people use for motivation and inspiration if they aren’t surrounded by it. Throughout life, we lose that ingrained will to survive. We let life beat us down to the point that we lose that “never give up” attitude that we are born with. Some people are able to rise above life and hold on to that, most of us aren’t that strong but it is still there, deep inside, all we need is a little inspiration to spark that into motion again.

Like I said, I’m lucky to be able to wake up every morning and see a little 6 year old that has fought everyday of his life to be here. I am fortunate to have 2 other amazing children that are driven, caring, compassionate and natural leaders. I am blessed to have Camille as a role model to look up to and to draw strength from. For those of you who don’t have that inspiration to achieve more than you ever thought you were capable of reaching for, you can borrow mine. I will gladly share it with you.

Today your life can change. Today you can make a difference in your life and in the lives of those around you. All it takes is a little inspiration and that never give up attitude. You were born with it, I know you still have it in you.

And to my Birthday Boy, thank you for being my inspiration. I am proud of you and I love you more everyday.

Best Summer Ever!

I hope that everyone had a great summer and that the transition into the new school year is going smoothly. I look back over the last few months and wonder, like so many, where the time went. We had very good summer full of baseball, swimming and family outings. A couple of weeks ago I celebrated my 41st birthday and I am proud of the fact that I am 50 pounds lighter than my last birthday and I am more fit and feel better than I have at any point over the past 20 years! This has been the best summer in a long time and I wanted to share with you the best part............

My wife, Camille, grew up on a small ranch in central Nebraska. She has always been around horses and her dad says she learned to ride before she learned to walk. Camille was always involved with 4-H horse shows and through her years of competing, she rarely had to settle for anything other than first place. She had a special bond with her horse and riding was the one thing she loved most in life.

Camille was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 11 years ago, at the age of 28. Her disease was so aggressive that within the first month she lost her ability to walk unaided and riding is something that she has not been able to do in 11 years. We have tried to find way to give that back to her but because of the MS, she hasn't had the strength to do it.

Camille started P90X last spring as well as drinking Shakeology and what she has accomplished is nothing short of a amazing! From her wheelchair she has been able to lose weight, lose inches, build muscle and gain strength. Her amazing success got me thinking, would she be able to ride now?! I shared this story with one of the coaches on our team, Sarah R. Sarah is an amazing and caring young woman that we have been blessed to meet through Beachbody. She made it her personal mission to help find a way for Cammie to ride again. She got in contact with one of her high school friends, who now runs a Equine Therapy Clinic using horses and animals to help handicapped children. Sarah made arrangements for Camille to visit the clinic.

Last Friday, Camille rode a horse again! It was an amazing and emotional day for our family and it was all made possible because of our fitness journey and the amazing people we have met through Beachbody. If, on my 40th birthday, I hadn't made the decision to change. If I never would have turned on my TV at 2 in morning and saw a P90X infomercial. If, as a family, we didn't commit to getting healthy and fit. If I had never signed up to be a Beachbody coach to help others. None of this would have happened.

When you decided to change your life and commit to a fitness program, you did it for a reason. You too wanted a change. You too wanted something more than what you have. Never forget WHY you started on this journey and NEVER give up! Amazing things will happen if you believe and you commit. Beachbody has all the tools you need to succeed. Beachbody coaches are here for you, to do whatever we can to help you reach your goals. The only thing left, is you.

I encourage all of you stay committed and focused on why you started this journey of fitness and health. You CAN and you WILL succeed! I can tell you first hand, it is worth all of the hard work, it is worth giving up eating habits that are unhealthy. It has changed our lives and it only gets better from here!

Why we do what we do

I was talking to my wife today about our fitness journey and about how far we've come and we were deciding the direction we wanted to go. As most of you know, my journey started last August when I turned 40. My weight at that time was 260 lbs and I wanted to get my weight down to around 225 lbs, I thought that would make me feel better and would be a weight I could managed for the rest of my life. Here I am, almost at my 1 year anniversary of that life changing choice, and my weight is 210 lbs!! My goals have changed, I now want to weigh less than 200 lbs and get my body fat down below 10%. My wife, Camille, asked me why I changed my goals. She asked me if I would be happy if I didn't reach my new goal. I had to think for a minute, I had to look at where I started and where I am now and I realized that YES, I WOULD still be happy if I didn't reach that goal.

I think sometimes we all get caught up in a number on the scale or a perception we have in our mind of how we think we should look. The truth is, most of us are probably never going to be happy with ourselves, we are our own worst critics and we will always be able to find some "flaw" we think needs to be fixed. We lose sight of why we started something. When we reach our initial goal we then look for other reasons to not like ourselves, so we set new goals. We drive ourselves to succeed but we also set ourselves up for failure because once we get there, something else will be wrong. We never stop to acknowledge the great things we've already accomplished. I had to step outside myself to realize this. I started looking at what I did accomplish in just one year. I have lost 50 pounds! I have lost 16% of my body fat! I have lost a lot of inches! I feel great!

Even though I have accomplished those things for myself, when I look around I see that my family is now healthy and feeling great also! My wife is getting fit and healthy in spite of her Multiple Sclerosis. My children are living a healthy lifestyle and eating good food. My parents, who are 66 years old are working out and changing their lives. My mom is controlling her Type 2 diabetes she's not letting it control her. My sister and sister in law are both making changes in their lives to get fit and healthy and to finally feel good! I have met incredible people, through Beachbody and being a coach that have touched my life. That wasn't my goal when I started but it is the result after one short year!

I still have goals, it's what drives me but I will not let it consume me or belittle the great things I've already accomplished in my life. In this journey I've discovered that the best goals are the ones you never knew you should be reaching for. Those are the ones that truly change your life.