Success to Reach New Heights

Today I am regaining traction for this blog to allow others to be motivated to reach the potential that we all have within. As life has gone on, I have come to learn a lot in the fitness realm, including workouts, proper form, diet, and how my body reacts to what I intake. I want to share my first few thoughts to catch your attention to grow and learn how you can be your best self! If you want an increase in daily energy and overall wellness, here is your opportunity to change that for the rest of your life!

Let me start with two quotes that were just shared with me recently. The first is, “What’s happening in your life is a result of what’s happening in your mind”. The second is, “Everything you are going through is preparing you for what you asked for”. Take a moment to write those down and take some time to write thoughts or feelings that come to you as you really embrace what that means to you. As my love for others well-being and personal beliefs, I have found how I see success in my own life and in the lives of others. I am determined to achieve that physique, level of fitness, and happiness that I am searching for. My motivation has been to look back at how far I have come, and to see others rise above what they see as their potential. One of my life goals would be to see others be more successful that I ever was. The more important one that I would want to see through, continues to be at the forefront of my mind daily. I want someone, just one person, to come back to me one day, and let me know I made a huge impact on their life. If I could hear someone tell me, “Colin, I don’t know if you remember me or what you said several years ago, but I want you to know that you changed my life forever. Your motivation and inspiration led me to change my lifestyle and here are the successes I have achieved and hurdles I have overcome. Thank you for what you do and I will continue to share your story as now I have my own to share with others, to let them know they are not alone and can overcome any adversity”.

I know that as you strive to reach your potential, never giving up hope, and are determined to achieve your true self, it WILL happen. Give yourself time, being patient with your small speed bumps in your fitness journey, and most important of all…document your progression with PHOTOS!! I regret never taking photos of my early journey but now it is an active part of my Fitness Plan. It takes a while for you to see change but others around you will continue to build you up with compliments and watch as you change. If others are complimenting you, it only makes others well-being that much greater to give others compliments as well. You never know what someone is in need of until you say something. Lift others up around you by making them feel good about themselves, building their confidence as well as receiving your own compliments in return.

I hope that you all start your journey today, leaving behind those vices that restrict you from becoming the person you want to be. Ask yourself…”How Bad Do You Want It”. Give yourself a reminder every day, why you do what you do to become who you want to become. Never let failure get you down. We must fall to get back up again. This is your motivation for today. Let me be your example and make your example known to others!! Let’s get out there this week and start our journey. Track your progress regularly and inspire others to leave behind the unhealthy lifestyle and begin again. Below is a picture of our recent trip to Mr. Olympia in Vegas. Dreams really do come true!

Vacation: How to Keep Your Diet

Hey Everyone! I have got to apologize for not posting recently because I have been enjoying vacation in Dallas, TX, Coeur D’ Alene, ID, and shortly Southern California. I must say it has been such a wonderful summer so far but there is always the struggle of never being able to maintain your diet while on vacation. Well hopefully today’s post will give you a few ideas of how to improve your meal plan for your next planned vacation. Let me give you a few suggestions for restaurants and meal plans that may save your budget and/or diet.

Option #1 – Pack Your Fridge

For option #1, I would highly suggest this anytime you decide to go on vacation if you have access to a refrigerator. If space allows for you to purchase your own food, I would make this your first priority. A great place to start would be purchasing the basics, preferably organic if necessary. Veggies especially non-starchy vegetables are perfect for snacking. Let me break down our Basics grocery list for you. Proteins include chicken, ground turkey, tuna, and non-fat vanilla greek yogurt. Carbohydrates include plenty of sweet potatoes, and quick oats. Fats could include avocado and maybe even a little dark chocolate for desert. As far as veggies go we always have zucchini, yellow squash, celery, and cucumber.

Option #2 – Eating Out

I don’t think many people realize portion sizes served at restaurants are larger than recommended portion sizes. So when you decide to eat out, do be careful not to overeat. One trick my wife likes to use is asking for a box when the meal comes and put half of the meal to take home that way its out of mind and you’re not tempted. I would highly suggest a few places that offer gluten-free, non-GMO, and/or organic products. There are only a few select restaurants or fast-food chains that can really satisfy our diets. Our most recent trip up to Coeur D’ Alene was better than most vacations have been in the past. We were able to hit up our staple fast-food chain, Chipotle, and then we found another budget-friendly pizza joint, MOD Pizza. Let me give you a rundown of each of these two options.

 

Chipotle is our go-to choice if we can eat out, wherever we go. Chipotle uses fresh and organic ingredients, and their meat is “responsibly raised”. Their meat is derived from “raising animals humanely, without the use of subtherapeutic antibiotics or added hormones.” So one of the best options I choose is a chicken bowl with double white rice, fajita veggies (since their free!), lots of lettuce, and both mild and medium salsa. To finish it off, I use the chipotle tabasco sauce. And thats a wrap. If you’re macros allow for it, get a tortilla on the side to get even more food!

MOD Pizza was a new restaurant that I had never heard of before. Within the last year, a MOD Pizza was introduced to Coeur D’ Alene and it is one of the most fabulous pizza joints you can find. If you have never been to one, imagine the availability of Subway toppings and your favorite thin crust pizza place. You can order 3 different size pizzas (or gluten free crust with non-dairy cheese) and put any toppings you want on it. They have several different sauces, cheeses, meats, and lots of veggies. There is no price difference for the amount of toppings you want on it, and once your pizza is cooked to perfection, they will put some extra sauces on top if you please.  I could not complain about eating there 3 times in one week.

Option # 3 The Road Trip

During the car ride is where the majority of the unhealthy snacking happens. We all go for quick and easy or what is convenient. Whether it be from gas stations or cheap snacks at Walmart, they all have negative effects on our bodies. When my wife and I take road trips, which have been happening frequently, we stay away from processed foods. If its not in the car we won’t eat it. Our car snack list always includes fresh chopped veggies (they may not be the best tasting, but they will kill the hunger and are valuable to your health, Quest protein bars and chips, skinny pop popcorn, terra chips, my wife also makes protein muffins that are perfect for on the go. Other snack options are rice cakes, hard boiled eggs, mini sweet peppers, beef jerky, and portion nut butter packets.

Just remember, wherever you go to enjoy your time and company. If you indulge make sure to enjoy every second of it and never feel guilty. Don’t stress about all the unhealthy choices you are making, just try the best you can. Vacation is supposed to be relaxing not frustrating.

 

 

 

The New Cardio: HIIT

Happy Thursday! It’s the wife taking over for today’s post. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about one of the most talked about topics in the fitness industry, cardio.

It’s the one part of fitness that most of us struggle with, but a crucial factor in the aid of fat loss. Sooner or later we all wonder if cardio is really necessary. Some questions we hear often are: What kind of cardio should I do? How long should I do cardio? or even How many days a week? Hopefully this article will answer those questions or even help you understand some misconceptions about cardio.

The truth is no matter what fitness goals you have or what you are trying to achieve, cardio can be a huge asset if you do it correctly. It’s no surprise that cardio burns calories, which is the main reason so many of us incorporate cardio into our fitness routine. Most of us imagine cardio as the traditional way to lose the stubborn fat, and it can be. Since men and women’s bodies are built for different purposes, men seem to burn fat easier than women. Typically men have higher BMR (basal metabolic rate) than women do, which relates back to our hormones. I have found that women include cardio in their routine more often than men do. So how can we use cardio to best help us reach our goals?

There are two types of cardio I want to focus on and it’s not aerobic or anaerobic. In the fitness world we tend to put most of our attention towards steady state and high intensity cardio.

Steady State cardio is best used to “maintain”, meaning if you are satisfied and happy with the way your body looks, or you have reached your desired body fat %, steady state cardio can help you maintain that lean physique. Steady state cardio is when you are exercising at the same speed with a maintained level of intensity. Examples of steady state cardio would be running, biking, the elliptical, etc. This type of cardio is not ideal if your main focus is fat loss.

High intensity cardio has been found to be the best for fat loss. The main reasons high intensity cardio is so effective is because of it’s post-oxygen consumption, which means it continues to burn fat after the workout. Studies have shown you can continue to burn fat up to 24 hours after your workout. Not only that, the workouts tend to be much shorter and can be done anywhere, which helps eliminate the excuses we tell ourselves. High intensity could be any exercise that keeps moving at different speeds with different levels of intensity. What I have found to work the best for me and others who I have trained with, is HIIT (high intensity interval training). The best way to describe HIIT is circuit training doing different exercises targeting different muscle groups with minimal rest.

Below is an example of a HIIT circuit that I work into my routine:

Box jumps 30 sec

Bicycle crunch 20 each side

Burpees 10

Push up 10

Repeat 4x

You can always adjust the difficulty of this HIIT circuit by only repeating it 3 times or increasing it up to 6 times. HIIT can be tailored to your goals and how high your endurance level is. To reap the most benefits of high intensity cardio, I suggest doing it 3-4 times a week always after your workout. Doing cardio before your weight training burns up your energy (ATP) and will take away from your lifting session. When I train legs, I tend to not do HIIT because I just don’t have the strength in my legs when I’m finished with my workout.

Typically cardio should be done anywhere from 20-40 minutes. Doing cardio between this time frame allows your body to enter a fat burning state, but do not overtrain or fatigue the muscles. If HIIT is not for you, I would suggest the stairmaster or sprints as great alternatives.

 

Here is my personal transformation. I give a lot of credit to HIIT and being persistent. The results have been incredible, as I have lost 7% of my body fat in just a few months. Now that I don’t have a lot of body fat left, high intensity cardio will help me burn the last of my stubborn fat.

Remember cardio is not the magic pill to losing fat. You have to be dialed in on your diet and balance weight lifting and cardio. At the end of the day you have to ask yourself, have I done everything I could today to get closer to my goals? It’s going to be hard. Most of us despise cardio, but it’s just one of those steps we have to take to reach success. Both men and women can benefit from adding cardio into their weekly fitness routine. Keep your vision in mind of where you want to be and let it take you places you’ve never been. Everyone has different goals, which means everyone’s results will be different. Whether it’s fasted cardio, or HIIT, you have to experiment with your body and find out what works best with what you are trying to achieve. 

#MotivationalMonday – Achieve the Impossible

Happy Monday to all of you. This past week I was laying out catching some sun rays and I have devoted some of that time to listen to some insights from Tom Bilyeu and Inside Quest guests. This weeks video highlighted paralympic track star, Blake Leeper, who has a mindset I wish to instill within so many other individuals around the world. Blake shared some great wisdom with us and I wanted to repeat and highlight a few of his main points to motivate each of you to action.

A little background on Blake was he was born without legs below the knees and was told he was never going to be able to walk. Blake has since made some significant changes in his mindset that will allow him to compete with individuals who have legs, on a world class level. He has had some profound experiences that set him apart from everyone else but also made some decisions to be like everyone else. He trains alongside olympians and has set his sites on being the fastest man in the world…not to mention, he uses his blades to run. No hurdle is too big for Blake to overcome and he is searching to be on top at the peak of his career.

I think one of the greatest quotes that a mentor shared with him was, “Don’t FEAR, Forget Everything And Run, but Forget Everything And Rise.” Truly I think that this can have a profound impact on each of you if you are willing to apply it. Blake seeks to inspire others around him but not just to see what he is capable of, but to motivate each of us to action. Inspiration without action means nothing. Let me close with one more quote that I heard from a recent motivational speech I lift to when in the gym. It says, “Strength isn’t about the amount of weight you can move, it’s about the amount of people you move when you make a decision”. I think Blake has found the true definition of what his journey is about.

Push through today with a grateful heart and look for opportunities to help those around you. Watch Blake Leeper’s interview below and enjoy your Monday!

#MotivationalMonday – Crazy Enough to Achieve Success

Happy Monday to each of you and I hope you were able to have a wonderful Fathers Day yesterday. Whether you spent time with your father, remembered the legacy your father left you, or resorted to the closest father figure in your life, I hope it was a memorable one.

This past week I was able to take some time to reflect on what allows an individual to be successful and I want to share with you a few insights I personally gained and am going to focus more on in my future. So to preface this, I watched a few episodes of Inside Quest (Follow the link for their channel) and I particularly liked the guest speaker Naveen Jain. A little background on Naveen is his experience as a business executive, entrepreneur, and CEO of InfoSpace. He has had incredible success in the business world and is one of the greatest innovators in our day. Some of the  incredible insights he shared were profound and really made me engage in where I am at in life…and thats what I wanted all of you to think about yourself.

Some of the quotes that hit me from his interview were, “Your net worth or self worth is about what you create, not what you own” and “Allow people to dream so big that people think you’re crazy…Every time you tell someone what you want to do, and if they don’t think you’re crazy, you’re not thinking big…so think so big that people think you’re absolutely crazy”. Now think about those for a minute and write down what comes to your mind.

His first quote that struck me really made me think…so I asked myself these two questions, “How do I value my self worth? and How can I measure my self worth?”. Take a minute to ask yourself those same questions. I truly think that we have the capacity beyond what we truly think we can accomplish to make great things happen in our future. I firmly believe that we live under our true potential and it is ultimately up to us to push ourselves beyond what is “possible”. Self worth is derived from something within our being and not by materialistic things we own. Success should never be based upon what someone owns but by what value is invested within an individual.

I want to close with expounding on Naveen’s second quote. I have had some creative ideas come to mind with what I want to do in my future and Naveen really hit home for me. I thought about what I have been able to do over the past few years, changing my physique, attitude, and future career options. I realized that I am driven to find what job is right for me, allowing me to hear others inspiring stories and truly value what others are capable of. Remember when the first individual ran the 4-minute mile…and nobody thought it were possible. The next year over 20 people ran it in under 4-minutes. Believe that! One of my greatest motivations is  to help others rise about their current position and reach their true potential. Go after your dreams and make your future greater than you ever thought possible. If I can help any of you reach a new level of success, reach out to me on Instagram or Facebook so I can help you. Please share these posts and follow me on social media for more. Thanks for the support!

Watch Naveen’s interview below!

#MotivationalMonday – Own Your Journey

Happy Monday to all of you! Today I wanted to share a few thoughts and experiences I have been pondering about recently and hope to share some insight today that will kick off your Monday right. A little recap of this past weekend – we attended the BFE (Bodybuilding.com Fitness Expo) in Boise, ID. It was quite a lot of fun and we were able to get a few goodies as well. Check out who I got to chat with for a little bit and share my fitness journey with. (@JessHilgenberg)

One of the greatest abilities we have as individuals is to develop and create a unique story to which we can inspire others with. There is not one single person on this earth who will have the same experience as you. This is where we are different and have the capacity to share that with others. Each of us has a different background, a different way we were raised, and have different motives why we do the things we do.

My experiences have developed into what I claim as my fitness journey that I share with others. I spoke with a man Jason Wheat, captain of Twinlabs supplement company, and he made a comment to me that adds to my personalized fitness journey. He saw my stretch marks on my chest and told me, “Yeah, I can see you used to be big. Those are your battle scars right there”. I thought to myself…you’re right. This is the way my body adapted to the dramatic changes in body weight and composition and I am proud of those battle scars. I wear them proudly and would never change them for anything because it reminds me of how far I have come in my journey. I will continue to move forward with these scars reminding me on a daily basis the hard work and dedication I put in to earn them!

Each of you have an opportunity to share your fitness journey, life journey, or the journey you currently pursue on a daily basis. Don’t let others write your story for you but remember to help others understand their true potential to develop and write their own story. People are motivated by inspiring stories…so share yours and see what is in store for you. You will have plenty of trials and hoops to jump through in order to reach your goals and the level of success you want. Don’t make excuses today why you can’t do something but make reasons why you can’t be satisfied where you are. Make one change today that will help get you on track to live the rest of your life with a successful state of mind. It’s all about perspective and it’s up to you to share that.

#MotivationalMonday – Success is Driven by Purpose

Today I want to share a little thought on drive, passion and purpose. My thoughts have been encompassed by this photo that inspires me to be more successful. I have found a drive and passion for success and have a life goal that focuses heavily on helping others become more successful than I ever was. Some people have looked at what I have done with my physical change and career aspirations and ask, “What made you want to change?”. My response often is something to the affect of, “I had a drive and passion to learn, to desire change more than my love for unhealthy food or feelings. Not only that, I have a driven wife who is motivated beyond belief to achieve the physique she has always wanted. Let me suggest to you one thing…surround yourself with people who have similar goals as you. If you constantly associate and hang out with individuals who can’t motivate you to go above and beyond what you believe your body is capable of, you might not ever achieve what you really want.

I speak to you with a strong desire for you to achieve what you have always wanted. Some days I get down…I really do, believe it or not. Luckily, I have a wife who picks me back up off the ground, not literally, but says, “Don’t worry babe. It’s ok to struggle and have a bad day. Just tell yourself you are going to be happy, feel healthier today, and quitting is not an option”. If you can find motivation that is meaningful to you, I promise it will be one of the greatest ways you can find drive to accomplish what have always wanted to. Go on Instagram and comment with who motivates you.

Check out this video to close today’s #MotivationalMonday. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Find your reason why you get up every day and do what you do. Don’t quit. Keep trying. Keep going. Keep getting up every time you get knocked down. Revisit your vision and mission of this life. I promise it will be worth it!

Who Motivates You – Eric Thomas

Alright guys, I apologize for not getting to my #motivationalmonday post so I will do a little combo of today and Monday’s post. I wanted to share with you one of the greatest men of our day who has inspired so many to do what they love, and love what they do. He is a wonderful example of that and if you haven’t heard any of his motivational speeches, CLICK HERE to go to his YouTube Channel. He has so many videos to inspire you to change your life and get you where you need to be. If you enjoy todays post, you can FOLLOW me in Instagram and Twitter.

I think E.T. has put more ideas and motivations behind my thinking than a lot of other individuals in my life and I am forever grateful for that. I want you to watch these videos and really take to heart how bad you want to achieve the goals you have in your future. If you are that person who doesn’t have goals set yet, start today…start right now and write down something you want to achieve still today before you go to bed. Next, write down a goal you want to achieve tomorrow, and then maybe one or two more for a future time period, whether that’s a month or a year. Tape that up on the side of your bed, stick it to the mirror, so every single day you wake up and look at that. I need you to ask yourself every day how you are getting closer to achieving that goal. If you do these things, watch your life become something you never thought possible. God bless and enjoy the rest of your week. Make your life more than average, much greater than average. Just remember, people are looking to you to get your life in order. That’s inspiring to people. Create your story starting today…or pick your journal back up and keep writing your story because others are waiting to hear it.

Quest Nutrition: Transformation Post

Hey guys! I just wanted to dedicate today’s post to Quest Nutrition for all they have done on my behalf. Everything that has happened over the last 3 months with Quest Nutrition has been such a wonderful experience. I cannot thank Karagan and Levi who work with Quest Nutrition for their diligent efforts in making one of my dreams become a reality in such a short period of time. I am forever in debt to those two individuals and all the others at Quest who have and will help me achieve success in the next phase of my life. I owe it to them big time…so cheers to you wonderful individuals!

*Click* the photo above to go to Quest’s Blog that always has educational and inspirational content. If you are looking for an uplifting source of health and wellness content, I would highly suggest going to visit Quest’s blog on a regular basis. Anyway, take the time to read the post Levi wrote about me on Quest’s blog. I would greatly appreciate it if you could share it on your social media pages, and if you aren’t already following me on Instagram or Twitter, click the photos below! Thank you all once again for your love and support to help me achieve what I never thought was possible. Keep an eye out next week for another #MotivationalMonday. If you have suggestions of what you want to see, comment below with a topic that can inspire you and others around you.

#MotivationalMonday – Just Be Yourself

Welcome back for another #MotivationalMonday. Today I wanted to express my feelings about being yourself and not trying to be like anyone else. I believe many of us reach a point in our life where we wish our situation was different, where we would be happy if we reached a certain point in our life, we would be happy. Well I am here to tell you today that we need to just be ourself, no matter what day of the week it is, or who we are around.

Sometimes I think we get carried away when we dream of the next superstar who we want to become. I offer a couple words of advice form my own personal opinion, so take them with a grain of salt. I hope they will inspire you to contemplate your true motives and goals where you want to see you in the future.

One of the greatest motivations to begin a new life can be inspirational quotes or individuals who we can associate ourselves with. When we find these inspirational people and their words hit home for us, I think a decision is made at this moment that will determine our true motives. Sometimes we look at those individuals with unrealistic goals and tell ourselves a story of how they reached that point in their career. I guarantee what those individuals show on the surface is not the entirety of their story of how they got to where they are today. Do you think if you were to ask them if it was easy to reach success any of them would say “yes”? I don’t think a single one of them would.

Since life isn’t easy for any single one of us, we will each have to experience difficulties and trials. These hardships have been given to each of us because we have been trusted to make the right decisions and make it to tomorrow. I know if we are wanting to be different and unique, we must make it through each one of our challenges with our head held high, no matter the outcome.

I am not here to play the pity card in any way, but I am here to tell you that I don’t want to be like anyone else. Not a single individual on the earth has had the exact same experiences as I have, growing up in my situation, having my body develop the exact same way. Each one of you, as individuals, have been given experiences that I cannot empathize whatsoever…which is one of the most difficult things for me to live with. The wonderful thing about that is we get to blaze our own trail and make the best out of the life we have been given. My future is motivated by helping others to achieve success greater than I ever was able to. If any of you are looking for a way to network and start building your future, connect with me on LinkedIn and I’ll do my best to help you out. If you want social media ideas, check out my Instagram page and make sure you click the follow button.