Vacation!

I have found it is possible tohelp maintain my weight while on vacation. It is a bit more challenging, yes. I'll be the first to admit that. Anyone who has ever taken a road trip can probably testify that finding a grocery store immediately off an exit ramp is a fairly rare (if ever) find. However, with a little reflection on where I was (weight wise) and where I want to be it isn't impossible to keep things in check.

I took the family to a Brazilian food place that brings you a huge variety of meat, grilled pineapple, and all kinds of other items... and I ordered the salad bar (which actually had a TON of options! I was able to get full, without feeling left out. I actually "ate" with the family,  instead of just drinking a juice and we all had a great time.

High nutrition content from natural sources and consuming fewer calories than what you burn can aide in improving overall health and maintaining or losing weight.

At a family reunion recently a lot of people congratulated me on my weight loss... but the reoccurring theme I heard was a fear and a caution of "gaining it all back." It is sad, but it appears that people use the fear of gaining weight back and what to do about sagging or extra skin if they do lose weight as a road block... they don't get into shape due to those things. In my opinion, learning self discipline when it comes to eating will prevent gaining the weight back. If you do have sagging skin... congratulations on successfully losing that much weight! Your organs, joints and rest of your body will thank you for it, at least I feel mine has! The healthier, stronger and more mobile me is way better than the fat, slow and unhealthy guy I used to be. I wouldn't trade the new me for what I used to be. Ever!

Remembering that I'm the only one who can workout, eat or take care of my overall health is key for successfully losing and maintaining, regardless if I'm on vacation or home.

Get help!

Where will you find support as you lose weight? How about with my help?

I am a Husband, a Father, a U.S. Veteran and an Eagle Scout! I lost over 70 pounds by consuming juices that I made in a juicer and doing Insanity workouts. This is my most popular blog post page: www.84lbs84days.blogspot.com/2013/05/weight-loss-motivation.html




             January 12th, 2013                                                                                                   July 19th, 2013

I will be your coach for free on Team BeachBody when you use this link! It should say Coach Referral "Johnathan Swart."

I did this as a way to connect with others and to add to their motivation as well. I use the same free account for tracking my own goals, weight loss, etc...

I'm maintaining my weight by working out, consuming highly nutritious calories and I find a lot of the nutrients in my juices and my shakeology! I add it to my grocery / food budget as I know and personally believe that it is one of the most nutritious items I can consume. And with the availability of fruits an vegetables ever changing with the seasons, this is one sure fire way I have to make certain that I get quality nutrients and low calories all year long. You can see recipes here: http://myshakeology.com/esuite/home/swart23/recipes-tropical About a month ago I signed up to be a coach for Team BeachBody. I've been using their products for over 7 months! Their programs helped me to shed pounds! 

I know that with dedication, reflection, encouragement, commitment and support, that reaching one's goals can be a lot easier. Each person is different and each person has to conquer their own goals and achieve their own dreams, but they don't have to do these things entirely on their own! Stay Calm and not only Juice on... but also consume highly nutritious items to potentially get your long living and better health on! Connect with other juicers on RebootSupport's Facebook Page

I joined BeachBody as a way for me to connect with other people and to help them as they progress to and then maintain better overall health. I just saw / read the statement below from BeachBody's CEO... this only allows me to be that much more confident in my decision to join this company. I love helping people find a healthier them!

From the CEO of TeamBeachBody:
Beware a prospect who cares more about "Comp Plan" but little about the mission of helping people get healthy and fit. I'm not saying they are "wrong", I am just saying we might not be the right fit for them.

This is how we are different than other networks. How coaches are compensated is important, of course. And like most networks, compensation follows directly from sales and leadership. 

But the person who is a right fit for Team Beachbody and vice-versa is more interested in how Shakeology® and the Beachbody Ultimate Reset are helping so many people get profoundly healthy, how the fitness programs can be adjusted for people of all fitness levels, and how the overall culture of the business is first and foremost about our mission to end the trend of obesity and lifestyle disease. 

We're different - "weird" - that way.

The comp plan's job is to support and reward success at achieving that mission. The heart to help comes first here. You don't read that on the label. We don't say that in the comp plan. But you can see it in the results people get, and the drive our coaches have to listen and then help, vs. sell sell sell. That is what sets Team Beachbody apart from everyone else. And we're looking for people who want to spend their time and be financially rewarded with that prioritization in mind.
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If you need anothereason to sign up for the free account...


Take The Beachbody Challenge™ for the motivation you need to get fit and you can win! It's our health and fitness contest that will help you achieve your fitness goals and give you a chance to WIN some serious cash. If you want to get fit, now is the time to do it. Use any Beachbody® program and share your results for a FREE T-shirt and a chance to win over $100,000!
 Daily Prizes: $500*
 Monthly Prizes: $1,000
 Quarterly Prizes: $5,000 and an expenses-paid trip
 The Grand Prizes: $100,000!
*Log your workouts in SuperGym® for your chance to win the daily $500 prize.

Overall Health

My overall health is most important to me now... it should have always been this way my entire life. However, I justified the "cost" and wanted the biggest bang for my buck for years. And I paid for it... my waistline and overall health paid for it, even though my wallet didn't. Now, at 32, I see that I was only begging for punishment. My eyes are open, and I value my health. I will not allow my taste buds or desire to get the most for the least to dictate my overall health. Typically when one desires to get the most, it is in terms of quantity, not quality. Now, quality comes first. The higher the quality, the more nutritious it is, the better off I will be and I am giving my body a bigger chance of being healthy.

I know that nutrition can be the deciding factor of overall health and poor quality of health. The corporate world is really pushing this "low calorie" trend. However, low calories doesn't always mean healthy or nutritious. One must truly look to take care of themselves and take the initiative to grab their overall health potential and do something about it. In society today, most people are so complacent that they just "accept" whatever they are told. Education is key. Being educated and taking action is the only way to make a difference. We all have one body. If we want to give ourselves the opportunity to be around for a long time, we need o take care of it.

What a product may gain when appealing to our palate (taste buds) due to chemicals, fake flavors and scientific breakthroughs, it generally loses in terms of nutrition. Not justify purchasing and consuming cheap, nutrition, amino acid and vitamin lacking foods, because it "looks" good or because flavor scientists and companies make it "taste" good, better or fresh, can lead to better overall health and higher absorption of the nutrients a body needs. Generally speaking, once a body gets what it needs it has the potential to heal itself. A hygienist without their cleaning equipment is pretty useless in terms of actually doing the physical part of their job. Well, food that has been stripped of their nutrients or that are lacking most if not all of them, is pretty useless too.

I now juice most items that I consume. When I can't make a juice due to time restraints, I do drink shakeology (and love these recipes) as it is a proven way to get high quality nutrients in my system. I know vegans and self proclaimed carnivores that love consuming this. The self proclaimed carnivore said about the Tropical Strawberry Shakeology; "It taste like a dessert and I'm getting nutrients. There is no way I can juice like you do, but I can do this."

A friend of mine said it sounds expensive, I told her that it is less expensive than MOST "meals" you get at a fast food restaurant. She said, "Yes, but you are getting a meal." I said, "Are you getting any nutrition and vitamins, or just empty calories in that meal? When it comes down to it, most buns, bread, items, even noodles available at eating establishments across the nation are lacking nutrients, amino acids, vitamins and more." Multiply the $4 to $6 spent on fast food items that are lacking so much, by each day (time) they are consumed and then compare that to the natural ingredients, high nutrition content and the overall "cost" that I was paying before, and this, in my opinion, is by far cheaper and way, way better for the body.

It is amazing to me that people can care so much and give so much of themselves to others, but when it comes down to taking care of themselves and eating well, the low cost, low quality food and beverage items tend to dominate. Health, longevity and nutrition tend to take a backseat to most people, until someone is diagnosed with something. Being proactive can possibly lead to improved overall health and a better quality of life.

I will always give thanks to the motivation and inspiration gained that fueled my weight loss that I blogged about. I know I love the new me along with the freedoms and benefits of being healthier! And I'm pretty sure my family does too. I'm still moving towards my goal of 166 pounds!