Drive-thru Food Porn

How many times have you driven by a fast food restaurant and thought to yourself, “I’m really hungry, I don’t have the time right now so I’ll just stop this once.” Or stopped at a convenience store and thought the same? Fast food porn is just that, fast and nasty. It offers little to no nutritional value; it is designed and manufactured, yes manufactured, to make us want more. It’s loaded with sugar, salt, fat and calories, all the things our bodies crave but that make us overweight, tired and depressed.

So…if you sometimes succumb to the temptation, even every once in a while, now is the time to commit not to. It’s easy if you think about it. Would you pull up in the driveway of a known drug dealer, wait for them to come out and take your order, then wait for your drugs? Probably not, so why even pull in the driveway? I know it sounds a little dramatic, but if your one of the millions of Americans daily who consumes this stuff, you have to look at it like it was a drug, because it is. The more you eat, the more times you give in to the temptation, the more you will want.

Just think about how hard we all work to keep fit and live a healthy lifestyle. Now think how one trip through the drive-thru can ruin all that work. The best defense against it is to follow a sensible, well thought out diet plan. Keep your blood sugar even through - out the day with planned meals; keep a bar for snacks if you are out and about so you have something healthy to fill the hunger void.  Follow these small steps, and the temptation to eat unhealthy food will diminish with time and you will see fast food for what it is, Poison

40/30/30

If you're like me you probably yearn for the good things in life. I'm 

not talking about thing things. A nice car, clothes and more money are 

nice, but they don't contribute to the good life as much as say 

altruism, confidence, a good night's sleep, purpose, health, laughter, 

adventure, challenges, community, good friends and feeling good. In 

chat the other night I asked everyone to lay out (in percentages) how 

they feel about their life on a given day, week, month and/or year. I 

broke it down into three categories. The first was the Top Of The 

World category. When you feel happy, excited, enthusiastic, 

productive, confident, strong, joyful, filled with love and elated 

about life. The second choice was the Middle Of The Road category. The 

ho-hum place we find ourselves in. Stuck in traffic, dealing with the 

day to day bologna, autopilot, neither here nor there, zoned out, 

dealing with the not-so-fun parts of life. The third state would be 

the Down In The Dumps category. Frustration, sadness, fatigue, feeling 

overwhelmed, depression, anxiety, lack of confidence and glumness rule 

the day. It was very interesting to see everyone's answers. It was 

pretty clear that most everyone was very honest about their numbers. 

Some people were obviously struggling much more than they'd like to 

be, while others were living large in the Top Of The World Zone. I 

think many people in chat that night were surprised that my 

percentages were 40/30/30. Sounds more like a diet plan than a 

description of how I feel about my life.

I added two more questions to this life evaluation. The first was 

asking if everyone was happy with the numbers. My recollection was 

that more than half were not. Lastly I asked everyone what they were 

going change to improve the numbers. The incredible thing was that 

almost everybody knew what it took to live at the Top Of The World. Of 

course exercise and eating healthy foods were at the top of the list. 

Everyone in this community has learned that physical movement and 

nutritious food are the foundation to a happy, productive, energized 

life. We also discussed some of the other important, less talked about 

keys to a better life. I was explaining that if I want to turn 

40/30/30 into 80/15/5 I need more than fitness and food. I'm an 

unhappy camper when I try to get by on less than 7 hours of sleep. I 

still make this mistake all the time. Whether It's working late or 

watching a movie till 1:00 AM, I too often try to cheat my REM time. 

The result is hazy, ornery guy. I swear to you that lack of sleep 

causes most of my angst. Sleep time is also healing time, so get your 

7 1/2 to 8 hours every night. Stress is my other boogeyman. We Hortons 

all come from a long line of worriers. Maybe it's a New England east 

coast thing, but I spend far too much time freaking out that the other 

shoe is going to drop. "What if I get hurt skiing?" "What if no-one 

likes or buys Ten Minute Trainer?" "Are those love handles!" As I type 

this it looks silly, but it's true. When I let go and let life flow, 

everything is but a dream.

We also talked about the importance of cleaning house and getting 

organized as a critical piece of the happy category. The little I know 

about the Chinese art of feng shui, tells us that the practice of 

placing objects (like furniture) in certain places of your home 

creates a positive or negative flow of chi energy, and equal or 

unbalanced degrees of yin and yang. If that sounds screwy to you, 

another way of putting it would be called "getting your ducks in a 

row." Cluttered, scrambled, unorganized surroundings and lifestyle to 

match is rarely indicative of a joyful existence. Go through drawers 

and cabinets and throw away, sell or give away the junk you're not 

using. If it's broken, fix it or toss it. If you've still got Yakapu 

shirts and high waisted pleated pants in your closet make a trip to 

the Salvation Army. If I drive by one more garage where I see broken 

down old boxes piled to the rafters I'll scream! If you clean it up, 

throw it away, put it away, fix it and organize it and your chi will 

be one with the world. Planning ahead is the other way to get your 

happy act together. If I have a question or a task I write it down. 

After I've written it down, I figure out who to ask, then take the 

first step to completing my task. About 4 years ago I was re-reminded 

in a local gym how much I hated most push-up stands. I almost fell on 

my face doing push-ups on some rickety aluminum piece of junk. I had a 

thought about something better. I made a lousy first drawing of the 

PowerStands. I asked some people to recommend someone who could draw a 

better one. I called the guy and he drew the sketch. I called my buddy 

Chris and asked him if he knew anyone who could build a prototype. He 

recommended a gentleman who did just that. I brought the prototype to 

Carl and the rest is history. I Trademarked the name and patented the 

product, and it all started from a lousy drawing and asking questions.

Everyone of us gets to have an incredible life. The process is not 

complicated or difficult. We just need to get out of our own way. My 

New Years Intension in 2008 is to be a kinder, gentler, more 

understanding and patient Tony Horton. My lesson in life is not about 

being organized, making a plan, writing it down, following through, 

exercising or eating better. My lesson is to relax and enjoy the 

moment. I need to stop beating myself up when everything doesn't go 

according to plan. I have to live and let live and only help the 

people who are asking for my help. More yoga, sleep and laughter will 

turn my 40/30/30 into 80/15/5. Those are numbers I can live with. What 

do you need to do to achieve numbers worth living for?

 

      

ME ~ WE

The start of a new year brings a brand new outlook. A desire to change for the better. Optimism reigns while negativity cowers...temporarily. It's almost impossible not to have some sort of newfound hope and energy come January one. We look for ways to step up, so it's out with the old and in with the new. Bad habits and vices are put on hold, while plans to improve unfold. This ritual has been going on since the beginning time. We use the start of the new year to sweep our mistakes and shortcomings under the rug, so we can begin to work on becoming better people. We look at this fresh start as a means to become better humans. Happier, healthier more productive humans. Most New Years resolutions are personal. We look inside, search for flaws and make plans to improve ourselves. We want to exercise more because we know it the right thing to do. Some will stop smoking "for real" this time. You tell yourself that you're going to build that MDB business and become financially independent this year. These are I, me, mine resolutions.

Not that there's anything wrong with this, but most people's ME intentions and resolutions rarely get past March 1st. There are exceptions, and we've seen plenty of them right here in BeachBody Land. Hundreds of thousands of people have started their health and fitness journeys with Power 90 or P90X, and keep on going. Thousands are now reaping the benefits from building their MDB businesses. I salute you! I'd like to propose that you also try a little something else this year. I'd like you to consider being a better human being by helping other human beings. Instead of looking inward, how about going outside of the ME box and see if you can find someone or maybe a group of people to help. Rumor has it that altruism is the easiest and fastest way to find inner peace, happiness, joy and purpose. Serve others and in turn you serve yourself. When it's not about you, the pressure to change your life vanishes. Make this year's resolution count for something by helping someone other than you.

If you want satisfaction from your resolution then I recommend finding an organization that needs your help. I'm talking about getting involved with something other than fitness and your MDB business. Your business certainly helps your friends and family, but it's not charity work. Helping inform others about health and fitness can be tricky because it's critical that your advice is well received. Nobody wants health-help if they're not ready for it. Real charity work changes the world. When you change the world, you change yourself. It takes more than writing a check to www.TunaHAKI.org. I'm talking about seeking a cause and making contact with the people who need the help, or the folks out in the field doing the work. Everything from TreePeople (they plant trees) to church groups who help the homeless. Do you care about animals, the environment, clean local parks or rehab for Veterans coming back from Iraq? The really cool thing is that when you get involved with charities, you're not obligated 7 days a week like personal resolutions. Most organizations just need help 2 or 3 times a month. Do yourself and the planet a favor and see if you can focus less on ME and more on WE.

Peace,

Tony