This is why I do it

So we are starting week 2 of our P90InsaniT25 Summer Challenge and the group is going so well!  I received a message this morning and I wanted to share.  This is the reason Rachael and I will keep doing what we are doing!

"I think it is amazing what you guys do for all of us!!  If it wasn't for people like you starting these groups, people like us wouldn't feel the motivation and probably still would be doing our daily routine.  I have tried to diet a million times.  I get up sometimes not wanting to eat or do my video, but then I look at everyone else and the great feedback and it makes me push through it.  At the end of the day I feel like I accomplished something.  Thank you for this opportunity!!!!"

Thank you to Christina Jones and everyone who is participating in my P90InsaniT25 Summer Challenge!  You all rock and I can't wait to see your results!!!

It is truly amazing to see the support coming from this group.  These are people that want to change their lifestyle but just needed a little extra motivation to do it!  These are strangers, they are nervous, they were a little uncomfortable, they didn't know what to expect.  Now they can't wait to post.  They can't wait to lend a hand.  They can't want to help out their fellow group member!  

If you are interested in joining my upcoming Challenge Group, please click here and take a look.  We would love to help you!!

Dream a Little Dream

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

Mario Andretti

This picture is part of my dream board.  This picture represents many things to me.  It is a place I can take 30 seconds and go to when I am stressed out, over worked, under- appreciated, agitated, angry, sad, etc.  It has so much power to it because I have made it that way for me.  This picture represents happiness in my life, financial freedom for my family, healthy living for my family and the people around me, laughter from my kids, fun, excitement, the future, a place where I can breathe, a place where negative thoughts don't touch me, a place where I can sit and feel the cool breeze on my skin, listen to the sounds of the waves crashing, hear my kids laughing and playing.  A place where there is nothing but peace and freedom from life’s stressful thoughts.  

Do you have a picture like this?  Do you have a place you can go?  Do you know what motivates you?  Do you have a dream?  If you don't know, then take 15 minutes to sit down and figure out what it is.  What keeps you pushing?  What drives you to work harder and smarter than the next person?  What gets you so jacked up that nothing can stop you?  What is your dream?  What is the driving force behind everything that you do?  Whether it is your kids, your spouse, your family, something material, a vacation, a better life, etc....whatever it is...don't just let it be a passing thought!  Own it, remind yourself of it every day!  Write it down, take a picture of it. Look at it, touch it, speak it every morning when you wake up...before you go to work, when you come home, before you go to bed.  Chant it, meditate on it, pray for it.  Visualize yourself in that moment.  Live that dream!! 

Monday Motivation

Its Monday!!  The weekend is over!!  Did you feast or did you stay on track??  (IF YOU NEED MOTIVATION THEN WATCH THE VIDEO AT THE END OF MY POST!) Do you have your workout & meal plans ready for the week.  If you have not then, today is the best day to start.  Take 15 minutes to sit down, plan your week for your workouts & meals.  Make your grocery list and take a trip to the grocery store to stock up for the week.  Prepare your meals.  Plan out what you will eat and when you will eat it.  Be smart.  Make sure to eat at least every 3 hours.  Carbs in the morning instead of late at night.  Don't go out to eat as much.  Make sure you are taking in enough protein.  Don't over eat.  Don't starve yourself.  Find a rhythm.  Know your nutrition goals.

Now, what is your workout program for the week.  Are you exercising to lose weight or gain muscle.  Do you have every day planned out.  Have you considered the time it will take to do the program?  Are you planning on an unforeseen circumstances that could pop up that will get in the way of your workout.  Review your notes and plans the night before.  Get your game face on.

Nutrition and Exercise is just like a business.  Work hard, plan properly & create the right habits and you will be successful.  Fail to prepare, don't plan, get lazy and your results will be a byproduct.

ITS MONDAY....ITS GAME TIME and as the good John McCarthy always says....

NOW LETS GET IT ON!!!!!!

30lb DAY!!

Great day yesterday.  As of yesterday, I have lost a total of 30 lbs!!!  Big time loss for me!!  I have to give credit to Beachbody.  Through their programs (Insanity, The Asylum, 21 Day Fix & P90x) I was able to drop the weight, eat healthy & achieve my goals.  Now I have to focus on keep my body in the best shape possible and not backsliding.  Ha ha  Rock on Team Robart!!

Stop overcomplicating your diet

If poor diet is the biggest problem you have, then perhaps you need to simplify things.  STOP worrying about whether you should boil or steam or bake or grill it per the amount of nutrients you are losing that way. STOP debating whether you should buy from (insert national chain) or (insert health food store) based on the number of sweat shops used and/or pesticides added.  And STOP worrying about the taste or the non-glamorous presentation of the food and IF your body can adjust to such "extreme dieting" as no salt or JUST a chicken breast and a veggie.

Forget the small details.

Focus on the big picture.

Focus on the end result.

Bottom line...you need to keep your metabolism going, prevent your body from going into starvation mode and you need to burn more calories than you are taking in.  Allow this to become a habit...allow it to become a lifestyle...but keep it simple for now.  Steel cut oats, plain chicken breasts, broccoli and brussels sprouts (as an example) can be boring, but they are easy to make, simple to consume and get the job done.  Once the weight starts melting off & it has become a habit, you can adjust to prevent insanity.  Until then, stay focused on the goal at hand.

Just Forrest Gump it!  Don't question so much...just do it!!

Stop with the excuses!

I love this quote.  Despite it coming from a dude that may or may not be one of the bad guys.  He was able to achieve a ton of success by not allowing excuses or roadblocks to get in the way of what he truly wanted.  I gave a speech a couple of weeks back and I spoke of persistence and never giving up.  One of the parts of my speech that will forever stick in my head was...

Low Achievers - "Can we do that?" 

High Achievers - "Why, did someone say we couldn't."  

Never, Ever, Ever, Ever STOP.

The Rock says...

The Power of Dreaming Big

You never know what kind of an impact you will have on people.  Whether it is your attitude, your daily actions and habits or the things you say.  You touch more lives than you really know about.  I had an amazing moment this last weekend.  My wife Rachael asked me to speak at her Beachbody Super Saturday event on April 12th.  I wrote a speech about how Arnold Schwartzenegger used the strategy that

if you believe in a dream vividly enough and take action to create that dream...and truly never give up, you can achieve immense levels of success just like Arnold did.  I asked everyone in the audience to write down on a notecard a description of who they were in 10 years.  I then asked them all to write down 3 things that they would start doing today to take action on that dream.  At the bottom of the notecard, I instructed the audience to write down the words, "I WILL NEVER EVER EVER GIVE UP."  I finally told then to take this notecard and place it in location that they would see every single day and to repeat those words every single day.

A little boy in the crowd (whom I had met the night before) came up to me after the event and said "Wow, great presentation!"  Impressed by this 10 year olds ability to come up to someone he did not know and compliment his speech, I thanked him for the kind words.  I remember thinking that this kid really had an adult presence to him and that his mom should be very proud of him.

His mother posted a picture of what she found in his room later that day. 

You never know the impact you will have on another persons life.  Make every day an inspirational day.