"What moves me..." PART 1

Not long ago, I was asked to offer some tips on staying motivated through this lifestyle that is the fit and well life. My very first response was GOALS! You gotta have a goal if you want anything in your life to change. I think setting goals is the obvious first suggestion that motivational experts default to--and justifiably so. It WORKS!! However, I'll save that sentiment for another blog.

I realized that the best tip (while not new by any stretch) I could possibly offer was the one that I most often followed myself--submit yourself to the music.

Let music MOVE you.

I meant this not only as a physical means of motivation, but also an emotional, mental and spiritual one. Naturally, if you're looking to be physically motivated, there is music that is so very good at getting you there. Now, I'm a rock and roll gal all the way, but there are some majorly awesome dance tunes that stir me and get me moving--as well as other genres of music. IT'S ALL FAIR GAME! Some music is ideal for running or walking; some dancing; some just jumping and being a total spaz. I will mention that a lot of these songs are ones that were on my Boston Marathon Training Playlist...so they're ideal to run at varying paces. And don't laugh! I love every single one of these songs...even if they date me a little bit!

RAWK MUSIC THAT MOVES ME --(in no particular order)-- PHYSICALLY

1. "Skeptics and True Believers" --The Academy Is...
2. "Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams" --Green Day
3. "Packt Like Sardines..." --Radiohead
4. "The Procession" --The Dear Hunter
5. "Muse" --Hysteria
6. "I'm Your Destiny" --Edna's Goldfish
7. "Atomic" --Blondie
8. "Dancing with Myself" --Billy Idol
9. "Sweetness" --Jimmy Eat World
10. "You Don't Wanna" --Tricky (This song transcends genre!!)
11. "Song 2" --Blur
12. "Can't Wait One Minute More" --Civ
13. "Coffee Mug" --Descendents
14. "Love Like Winter" --AFI
15. "Swagger" --Flogging Molly
16. "Sound System" --Operation Ivy
17. "And it Rained All Night" --Thom Yorke
18. "Eye of the Tiger" --Survivor
19. "I Ran" --Flock of Seagulls
20. "Mass Pike" --Get Up Kids
21. "Frustrated Unnoticed" --Damone
22. "Neighborhood #3" --The Arcade Fire
23. "Such Great Heights" --The Postal Service
24. "True Believers" --The Bouncing Souls
25. "C'Mon, C'Mon" --The Von Bondies
    
26. "I'm Walking on Sunshine" --Katrina and the Waves
    
27. "She is Beautiful" --Andrew W.K.
28. "15 Steps" --Radiohead
29. "Bad Reputation" --Joan Jett
30. "Jane" --The Loved Ones
31. "Love Type Thing" --Tegan & Sara
32. "Dr. D" --The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
33. "Out Here All Night" --Damone
34. "Looking for a Song" --Big Audio Dynamite
35. "Linoleum" --NOFX
36. "Dogs and Chaplains" --The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
37. "Roots, Radicals" --Rancid
38. "Upward Grind" --Avail
39. .............

OK, you get the picture. This is just a flavor of what I mean.......put on your favorite tunes and

M O V E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<3

One of the most PHENOMENAL weekends of my life!

December 5 & 6 marked a rather huge turning point in my journey to becoming a fitness instructor. I attended a training called "All Star Presenter Camp." The idea is to allow fitness instructors of any and all formats the opportunity to improve on their presentation, teaching, motivation, etc. for their classes. There is nothing like this training anywhere else in the fitness world. Even though I am not yet an instructor and have never taught a fitness class before, I thought taking this class would give me, if nothing
else, a sense of the expectation--not only from potential students, but also from people within the industry.

It was an incredible eye-opening experience. I got to teach 3 minutes of a Turbo Kick class--wearing a mic and everything! I learned SO many skills that I think I would not have otherwise known were important aspects of teaching a group fitness class.

The coolest part?!?! I made friends from around New England and the Mid-Atlantic states who I know I can count on for encouragement and support. We were all coming from different walks, and that's what made every person's presence there special.

It was definitely the most phenomenal weekend of my life.

If I knew then, what I know now...

Being a Team Beachbody Independent Coach was bound to happen as part of my journey to become a group fitness instructor. It was Turbo Jam, a Beachbody-released program, that got me started on my journey in the first place. It was what got me LOVING fitness. So, naturally, in my own transformation process, it made sense for me to position myself to support and encourage others, too.

What I didn't expect was all of the support I would recieve in the process as well! I am an active part of Team Beachbody!!

Being a Club member allows me to customize a meal plan to accomodate my fitness regimen. Including a shopping list for all the meals designed for me.

I log my workouts in the SuperGym and have workout buddies from all over the country and Canada! It allows me to be accountable to them when they invite me to workout with them. There's a cool down chat room and support message boards galore! I'm so blessed to be a part of this community.

But I think the thing that suprised me the most was Shakeology.

I was absolutely floored when I tried Shakeology. I first tired the Greenberry flavor thinking I was going to dislike it. I had been told it had a "wheat grass" flavor to it, so I was expecting it to be kind of bland. I remember thinking, "Thank goodness they have a chocolate flavor!" But I LOVED IT! Not only was it flavorful, but it was filling!

What the heck is Shakeology?!?!?!?

Check it out for yourself! Believe me. It's amazing.

If I knew when I joined the Club how amazing Shakeology was, I wouldn't have waited until NOW to get it! (But it doesn't hurt to have the coach discount to get it home direct!) :-)

I plan to use one shakeology shake a day in place of either lunch or dinner. A month's supply saves me anywhere from $2-$7 for that meal. Generally, I spend anywhere from $7-$12 on lunch everyday. Shakeology works out to be $5 a lunch! Woot!


STILL don't believe me? Read a recent blog from a straight-up fitness expert:
MY SHAKEOLOGY APOLOGY

The Conclusion to....My life as a Turbo addict

Conclusion: To understand how my Turbo addiction came about, I must first take you back a few years...

Some time in 2008--I think it was April--I remember the day clearly....just...not the exact date :-)

The couch in my living room was/is a sofa bed. I had actually pulled out the sofa bed to watch TV one morning because, well, I'm beyond lazy. Maybe? I was literally channel surfing. Which, was so unlike me, really.

This is the moment when I mention to my readers that I very much believe in God's Divine Hand in my life. I don't think I was channel surfing on accident. I don't think that this infomercial (who watches infomercials?!?!?!) came on coincidentally. I think this is what God had in mind for me all along...the decision was easy...as if it was already made. :-)

Returning to my story...

I also happen to have my laptop handy whilst lounging on a full size sofa bed in front of the TV, watching nothing in particular.

And there it was... an infomercial for a home-based workout program called Turbo Jam. It was produced and released by the same group as my first fitness hero, Kathy Smith. So that alone was enough reason to continue watching.

This was the start of something beautiful. Chelene Johnson, creator of Turbo Jam(R), had me beyond captivated. It was the first time that, in my opinion, an infomercial actually had valuable information.

So I immediately went to the website and ordered the Maximum Results collection. I even upgraded to priority shipping! I wanted to transform my body and my life that instant.

Now, while my story is probably like so many who watched that infomercial that day. I can only speak for myself when I say that I truly remember thinking that "this was it." I knew that this was the door that I was to open to begin changing my life for the better.

And you could tell almost immediately that something had changed in me. Even though my physical composition was yet to transform, I had a joyfulness in my spirit that I hadn't had since college. I had a sense of hope again.

Me and my friend, Mai, in the Summer of 2008

Dancin' makes me tired. :-)

To hear about the rest of my TRANSFORMATION STORY, visit my Team Beachbody Profile. It will take you through my start with Turbo Jam and describe the struggles I had with a meal plan. My hope is the post that here soon, but for now, follow me there.

My Turbo Addiction -- Part Two

Continued: To understand how my Turbo addiction came about, I must first take you back a few years...

2006

It seemed I had fallen off the proverbial aerobics bandwagon at some point in 2006 and into much
of 2007. I can't explain it other than I was in a new living situation. Things at home, while MUCH more pleasant than my previous one, were not conducive to at-home workouts.

My saving grace was Angel. She had returned to my life and she would be with me indefinitely. She and I would go running (not an indoor exercise! WOOT!) and that helped me keep a handle on what I had set out to do: get well. Winters, however, are harsh here in Boston, so my running days were limited.

I had also started bowling in 2006. At first, I was going to Kings Back Bay on "Ladies Night" and bowling for free through the night. It started to gain a bit of momentum and more and more gal pals (and paying boy pals) would join us in this weekly activity.

I come from a long line of bowlers, actually. My father, Michael and brother, Mike currently bowl in leagues in New Jersey. My dad actually bowls in two leagues! Everyone in my family from my aunts and grandparents to my mom had bowled in a ten-pin bowling league for some portion of their lives. I felt honored to be a part of the family tradition.

Burning the midnight oil at Kings wasn't going to last forever...not if I wanted get to work on time the next morning. I also wanted to get serious about my game. I know that sounds silly--and don't get me wrong: I LOVED bowling with my friends every week. But, I knew that bowling from 10pm-2am on a Tuesday night was not going to help improve my game or my chances of making it to work on time. So, I began looking into bowling leagues.

Being new to the bowling league scene came with its usual levels of anxiety. I knew I was not great at bowling--or even a good bowler for that matter. What I did know, however, was that I really wanted to try. Being in a league also obliged me to commit to that activity every week. I was paying for it one way or another. Nonetheless, I started small. Summer league.

Oh, Neponset Doubles at Boston Bowl, you will never know how much you really mean to me. I only bowled in the Neponset Doubles league that one summer. But I made so many new friends that I now has a network of bowlers in the city that I could plug into for practice, feedback and plain ole' fun times. By the end of the summer of 2006, I knew that I would be returning for the fall league: BIB.

2007

BIB was a league like no other. I don't mean that it was necessarily ultra-competitive: it was a handicap league. BUT, it came with a rich tradition and it was a relaxed, respectful place. I made incredible friends, had a great time and learned a thing or two to help improve my game. I knew that this was one habit I was hard-pressed to break. I loved it too much!

In spring of 2007, I also started a new job. I loved the work I was doing at the time--science is awesome! I think, unfortunately, too much of my past and who I was had been deeply woven into my life in my workplace. My boss, Roz, was incredible and hugely supportive of the change. I began working at Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT in April.

My job is pretty amazing. I get to study the brain. I may spend a day devoting an entire blog to what I do for a career and how its changed my life--but this isn't the day or the blog. :-)

All that is to say that the change in work gave me yet another change in attitude. While I was active with bowling league and the occasional run with the dog, I was still not fit. And we won't even get into my eating/drinking habits here other than to say they were atrocious. I was back to a place of hopelessness--that I wasn't going to find the solution for me.

2008

Enter the Turbo Jam(R) infomercial.


Infomercial? I know what you're thinking. REALLY?

Really.

Stay tuned for more on this story....my life as a Turbo addict........

"Hello, my name is Erin. I am a Turbo Addict."

To understand how my Turbo addiction came about, I must first take you back a few years...

2004


This was me in late 2003/early 2004. I look happy, do I not? Oh, how looks may be deceiving. Angel, my dog, is just over one years old in this picture. At the time, she was the only thing that brought any joy to my life. She would comfort me in moments of despair--even licking tears off my cheek as I mourned my grandmother, Jean.

Sparing the gruesome details, I was in a romantic relationship that was--for lack of a better word--sub-healthy on all fronts (mental, emotional, physical, spiritual). The only things I remember doing during that time in my life were eating and sleeping. I was clinically depressed. I found joy in nothing. I felt rather hopeless. And my weight was the perfect barometer.

Of course, there were bursts of beautiful things from time to time. This included the occasional visit to see my family, who lives hundreds of miles away. I was car-less at the time. When in the city, I relied solely on public transportation. For jaunts out of the city, my boyfriend had to drive me with his car. To make it worse, his car was a standard--which I did not know how to drive. So, getting anywhere with him at the wheel, was a chore. So, often, I opted not to go anywhere.

At my heaviest, I weighed over 210 pounds. That doesn't seem like a lot, given my height of 5' 11". Regardless, I was not well. Something...desperately...had to change.

2005

Mentally, I had had enough at this point. I was home in New Jersey at one point and found a DVD that my mom had in her library, but wasn't using. It was Kathy Smith's Timesaver Cardio Fat Burner. It was 20 minutes--with the option to go another 20 minutes. I could handle 20 minutes.

It was also from 1998--so this could be interesting...

But I gave it a go. Why? Because I didn't know what else to do. I actually was really stoked to find that not only did I enjoy it, but I became really good at it. I had found something that I could do. Finally.

I worked out when I could--which, wasn't consistently. However, exercise wasn't completely absent, either. I began to hunger for variety...so I turned to Kathy once again. I purchased her Functionally Fit Peak Fat Burning DVD. This was my first taste of interval training. I really, really got into it. It was a little less dated than the first DVD, and I was able to really master the moves and constantly increase the intensity.

Did I begin to lose weight? Yes. I was about 190 pounds by spring of 2005.

That summer, (again--to spare details), the man in my life had left me and taken the dog with him. For some reason, I thought this breakup was the end of my world. I've realize now that the only thing worth sparing in that relationship was Angel and losing her was the true source of my utter despair.

Stay tuned for more on my life as a Turbo addict............