Holiday Health

On this Christmas day we have an opportunity to count our blessing and look to the future. The New Year is just days away and quite often we neglect healthier choices and blow off our workouts with the hope that come 2011 we'll get our act together again. Why not turn this week between Christmas and New Years into a productive 7 days. Temptation is everywhere and holiday obligations abound but I know you can manage at least three workouts this week and avoid eating fruit cake and Christmas candy. Give yourself a 7 day running start before January 1 because going in strong is a whole lot better than starting bloated and grumpy.

Peace,

Holiday Horton

Be Part of The Solution

Boys and girls,

I'm unaware of your financial situation but I do believe that you're reading this page because you care about your health and fitness. If you have plenty of income and love your job then what I’m about to tell you might not be for you. If you're not thrilled with the way you make a living, would like extra income, love Beachbody products, like the way they make you look and feel, enjoy helping other people feel and look better, enjoy setting your own hours, get excited about being the captain of your own ship as opposed to working for the man - then listen up.


The reality is, your health and fitness moves beyond you. It impacts the people around you. You (whether you like it or not) have the power to change lives based solely on your own personal transformation. Inadvertently you become a catalyst for change. This is how I got started. I was clueless, asked a few questions based on my need to be strong and healthy, stayed with it and people in my life wanted to know what I was doing. Simple yet powerful.

If you want to share what you've learned with people in your life who want better health (and could use extra income in the process) then you should consider becoming a Team Beachbody Coach. I felt so strongly about this program that I’ve encouraged many of my friends to become coaches, even my own sister. She is doing great (even though my contract with Beachbody won’t let me help her). She is a perfect example of someone who had plenty of doubt and hesitation regarding the coaching opportunity and still found a way to make it work for her. A busy working wife and mother with three very active kids doesn't sound like a good candidate to start an in-home multi-level marketing company. Did you say multi level marketing? What? Ick! You mean pyramid scheme right? Okay chill out. All these fears would be true if BeachBody were selling hats or kitty liter, but this is Beachbody people! The number 1 in-home fitness company on the planet! P90X is steadily becoming the most popular fitness system in US history. Shakeology is the revolutionary replacement meal on the market today. We sell life-altering change - not soap. Tens of thousands of regular folk around this country are doing something they love because of this coach opportunity.

The unemployment rate still hovers around 10% but it doesn't have to be that way if more people were willing to see that new opportunities exist all around them. The Team Beachbody Coaching opportunity is one of them. Health care companies, pharmaceutical companies and our government are not capable of solving this obesity crisis and we can't wait around for them to do it. The crisis is now and the answer is YOU! I know that sounds a bit Rah Rah but it's true.


Cynics don't need to apply, but if you're sick and tired of the status quo and want to make a difference in your own life and in the lives of those around you, then open the door. The two major issues of our time - the health care issue and unemployment rate could be resolved if a million more people in this country decided to get healthy and share the wealth. This is a brand new industry waiting to explode. It's not happening in boardrooms or factories – it’s happening in the homes of tens of thousands of Team Beachbody Coaches and in the homes of their customers. With a tiny investment (actually the company is waiving the enrollment fee through the end of 2010) and a willingness to help people the sky's the limit.

TH-

Alcohol & Caffeine

Let me start out by saying that I have many detractors regarding this topic.
Coffee and wine drinkers hate this argument and fight tooth and nail to protect
their addictions. Here's how I feel about both.

First off, caffeine and alcohol are both considered (by many experts) slow
poisons that over time can cause many health issues down the line. Both
form an acidic environment in the body which can lead to heart disease,
inflammation, arthritis, diabetes and major digestive issues. Some early
studies are showing a possible link to various cancers as well.

Both wreak havoc on your blood sugar and how it's
regulated. Caffeine taxes the adrenal glands which is responsible for
regulating your hormones. It puts the body into a fight or flight
mode (all the time) which can cause longterm ill-health effects and
difficulty with weight loss. It also stimulates our central nervous system which can
affect perception, moods and behavior. Although it does increase the
"feel-good" neurotransmitter dopamine when we drink it, over time
you need more and more caffeine for the desired effect.

Dropping these two "toxins" will help you find your natural energy without a
dependence on anything outside of food to get energy or relax. Removing both
will help you to have deeper and more restful sleep.

When we drink alcohol we rarely go into REM sleep, which means our
bodies don't get the healing recovery rest that we need. Over time, it also
depletes serotonin in our bodies, which can then cause depression, mood
swings and other issues related to low serotonin. Drinking also affects our
neurotransmitters in our brain, thinking patterns, memory and hormone
regulation. Not to mention what it does to the liver...I think you probably
know that already!

T. Horton goes to Washington

Celebrity Fitness Trainer To Lead Charity Run
Posted: 23 Apr 2010 05:30 AM PDT
Online registration is now open for the “National Press Club 5K: Beat the Deadline” race in Washington, D.C., on July 17, 2010. The Press Club’s 13th annual run/walk will begin at 8:00 a.m. on the corner of 14th and F Sts. NW, outside the historic National Press Building, “the place where news happens.”
Fitness trainer Tony Horton, creator of “P90X Extreme Training System,” will serve as Race Marshal and will lead an open, pre-race warm-up for 5K participants on race day. Horton speaks widely on fitness, exercise, and nutrition and has trained professional athletes, U.S. military personnel, members of Congress and celebrities such as Bruce Springsteen, Usher, Tom Petty, Billy Idol, Annie Lennox, Rob Lowe, Sean Connery and Shirley MacLaine.
“I’m thrilled to be here in our nation’s capital kicking off this 2010 National Press Club 5K race because I’m a huge fan of endurance sports, the thrill of competition, and sweaty people,” Horton said.
Proceeds from the 5K will benefit the National Press Club’s non-profit Eric Friedheim National Journalism Library (EFNJL), which is committed to journalism training, research, and support of a global free press. Some of the race proceeds will benefit the EFNJL’s college scholarship fund dedicated to students pursuing a career in journalism who will contribute to diversity in the profession.
“We welcome everyone to have a good time for a great cause,” said Richard S. Dunham, president of the Eric Friedheim National Journalism Library board. “Our race sponsors and participants play a major role in helping us fulfill our commitment to diversity in journalism and cutting-edge training programs.”
Hosted by the world’s leading professional organization for journalists, the “National Press Club 5K: Beat the Deadline” draws participants from the press and political communities. Reporters, politicians, lobbyists and government figures join the public to compete individually and in teams for $1,000 cash prizes for top finishers and medals for top age group finishers. All participants receive a “National Press Club 5K: Beat the Deadline” a commemorative race t-shirt and entrance to the post-race breakfast.
To register for the “National Press Club 5K: Beat the Deadline,” visit www.press.org. Pre-registration is $30 for general registration and $25 for NPC members/students. Registration fee is $35 two weeks before the race, and $40 for race day registration. Melissa Charbonneau, 5K Vice Chair, at melcharbonneau@aol.com.

Buy This!

Hey blogger lovers,

My apologies for being away for so long. As many of you may or may not know, I'm writing a book. I swear my brian is toast. I don't know how a daily columnist does it. Anyway, I think this book is going to solve many of the health and fitness conundrums many of you suffer from. It's due in January of 2011. Still working on the title with some friends in facebook. Should know soon enough.

Now on to why I'm writing to you today. As many of us transition from eating crap to healthy fair we find that the good stuff can taste like wax when we're so used to eating massive quantities of fat, sugar and salt. One solution is finding yummy, healthy sauces to put on our healthy wax food. Ha! One of them is chimi churri argentine vegetable and meat sauce. Holy taste buds Batman! This stuff can make anything taste like magic in your mouth. Thank you Missy!

Here's what it is...
Wine vinegar, water, balsamic vinegar, salt, tomato, hot chili pepper, garlic, paprika, oregano, chili powder, thyme, pepper and rosemary. Come On! The maker is Fair For Trade. So it's healthy and a free trade product. Everyone benefits. Check it out at www.interrupcion.net. Get it. Use it. Benefit from it.

TH-

The Change

It's befuddling - the fine line between super easy and hard as hell when it comes to understanding what it takes to improve your life. Here's my shot at it. I'm learning that when you decide to eat right and exercise regularly the person you become has it pretty easy and life no longer seems hard as hell. It's been the strangest phenomenon in my personal life. I used to have so many problems and issues. Everything seemed difficult and daunting. There was so much drama and conflict. I was lazy, tired and overwhelmed. Life was a struggle. Not in a million years would I have equated a poor diet and erratic physical activity as the bane of my existence.

In my late 20s and early 30s I began to eat better and workout more regularly - oddly enough new opportunities came my way, my confidence improved and the drama began to fade away. At that time I still wouldn't have thought life outside of my workouts was getting better because of my workouts and healthier food. I never put 2 and 2 together. I chalked it up to luck, nothing more. There were times in those days when I'd get lazy, eat garbage food and blow off workouts and what do you know, life got hard again. I still didn't think the two opposing situations/events had anything to do with each other.

By the time I met BeachBody CEO Carl Daikeler 13 years ago my fitness and food balance was close to great. Not perfect but pretty good. Those early days creating routines for Great Body Guaranteed and Power90 were fun and exciting. I was in the right place at the right time with the right experience to be able to help Carl and Jon create something different and better when it came to in-home workouts. We were striking Gold were it had never been seen before. You'd think by then I'd have a clear understanding that my regular exercise and healthy eating had something to do with my early triumphs, but the answer was still no. More great luck right?

Turns out that the more consistent I was with my workouts and the better I ate, the more opportunities came my way. As a teenager and young adult when I had a horrible diet and very little exercise, my life was a wreck because I didn't have the feel good brain chemistry of a person who was firing on all cylinders from making better choices. When I was in my sometimes-on-sometimes-off phase I was suffering from what I call "Fitness Bi-polar Disorder" because I wasn't consistent enough to reap the life altering benefits of a true health and wellness lifestyle. In only the last 2 or 3 years have I understood how 6 to 7 days a week of exercise and eating whole foods can provide the energy and enthusiasm to take life on. John Ratey's Book "Spark" and Chris Crowley's & Henry Lodge's book "Younger Next Year" were also the catalyst for my present thinking.

I'm writing this because I want you to realize that life can be incredible - not through luck or upbringing or even education. I know plenty of people with a great education and money and they're a mess. Joy, happiness, opportunities, success and the life you want comes from making The Change to a lifestyle that involves regular exercise and whole foods. What seems hard as hell at first will turn your life into a carefree world of endless experiences, plenty of opportunities and the energy and enthusiasm to enjoy life for the rest of your life. The issues and drama of the past will fade way because you had the courage to make consistent fitness and healthy food a priority.

Ned Farr Superstar

Well, another P90X infomercial is up and running strong, right out of the box... again. Since the start of 2010 more and more people have been coming up to say, "thank you for this amazing program called P90X." I tell them I'm just the fitness clown on the tube. It's you following the program, making the plan, eating right and pushing play.

The numbers keep growing and thousands of people each week jump on the bandwagon. I was in Lincoln Nebraska at a team BeachBody event this past weekend, organized by Doug and Tammie Fitzgerald and it was astonishing how many people I met who've made dramatic change in their lives. Dozens of regular folks in Huskers territory (and ten other states) who lost weight, got healthy, strong, lean and ripped in the process.

These good people kept thanking me and my answer was the same. It's you doing the work and it's also the man who took your stories and produced the most amazing informercial in Direct Response TV history. So good in fact that he won a 2009 Telly Award for "Creative Excellence".

Ned Farr is a humble guy who would tell you that it was team of people who made these infomercials so successful. The truth is, he chooses the graphics, writes and plays the music, does the editing himself, the voiceovers and scourers over hundreds of submissions to find just the right 5 or 6 that make the show authentic and compelling.

I might be the guy demonstrating Jump Knee Tucks and Corn Cob Pull-ups, but it's Ned Farr who gets you to take the first step. He's the guy who explains Muscle Confusion so it makes sense and he's also THE MAN that creates an infomercial so inspiring that millions of people have picked up the phone to start an incredible life long journey.

Thank You Ned Farr Superstar!

Day 1

Here it is... 2010. Now what? New year, new decade and new opportunities. I'm going on QVC twice in the next 24 hours and my job will be to convince people to pick up the phone and order P90X. Hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people will be watching, but only a handful will take the first step and call us while we're on the air. Some won't be ready, some maybe too old, some just hate exercise, and many others will wait for the "weight-loss-with-food" program to buy. Another group are still under the impression that a machine will change their life.

Everyone knows by now that the start of a new year creates the desire to be a better person. Smoking, drinking, bad eating habits, procrastinating, better work habits, spend less, save more, get fit, lose weight, and so it goes. Enthusiasm that will last well into April. Turns out that long term change is really hard and falling into old habits can happen with very little pressure from the outside world.

Turns out that success comes to those with good mentors, a rock solid plan that fits your lifestyle, a means to stay accountable, and surrounding yourself with like-minded people. Many many folks with the best of intentions have been winging it year after year with little or no change. I meet far too many people who have fallen off the wagon. They were on the program but something happened and before you know it 3 or 4 weeks went by and 10 to 15 pounds come back and they're right back where they were. Sound familiar?

1. Follow the person and/or program that makes sense to you.
2. Write down a plan that forces you to stick with your goals for the next 12 months.
3. Finds 3 ways to stay accountable even under the most adverse conditions
4. Run from lazy naysayers and find people who want more out of life.

Do It ~ Bring It!

T. Horton