Set Aside Some Dates!

We haven't finalized all the details, but I wanted to give you as much notice as possible to plan for these upcoming fitness camps with Tony Horton.

New York, NY: July 14, 15, 16

Los Angeles, CA: Aug 11, 12, 13

Chicago, IL: Sept 15, 16 and 17

As soon as we have the plans finalized, we'll announce the details and take reservations from the MyBeachbody members and then open it up to the rest of the community if space permits.

I am still hoping you will sign up for Tony's fitness camp in Miami March 31 - April 2, but if you can't make it to that one, it will be great to get together at one of these other events.

The Father-Daughter Dance

Last night it was the Malibu’s Who’s Who of fathers and daughters out for the annual Valentine’s Father-Daughter dance. It’s a ticket that’s so difficult to get that people were actually scalping them online and in the local Malibu weekly newspaper.

It's a fun time, preceded with a new dress and fancy hair and make-up appointment (for Ava), dinner, and then the main event; the big dance.


I’m writing about it here because, at one point in the evening, as Ava and I tried unsuccessfully to assemble one good “Macarena” and later faked it clumsily through “Born to Hand Jive,” I realized how much more fun it is to figure out moves like this when you have someone there to watch (and laugh at) you. We were sweating, jamming, and laughing at each other and the other dads as we barked in unison to "who let the dogs out?"

Later that night after Ava went to bed I thought about how so many people who get together to do Turbo Jam and Yoga Booty Ballet must have a similar experience, clumsily trying the moves first, celebrating together when they finally get it. (“Bad Kitty – Yeah!”) That's got to be a fun way to engage in body-transformation.

I think it’s possible that this is the attraction of the message boards too, where people can laugh together about how a move might appear if their were someone in the living room watching, or ask the questions about a move that they would otherwise be embarrassed to ask at a gym… “How do I swing my leg through to runner’s pose?”

I also imagine this is what we have to look forward to when we all go down to Miami for Tony’s fitness camp March 31st. We’ll be experimenting with some new moves, getting tips on the ones we never got right in the first place. And maybe someone can take me step-by-step through the Macarena.

Read the cover, you read the book

I love when a simple hook helps make it as simple for people to get results.

I experienced it when the simplicity of the 8 Minute Abs videos I produced sold a couple million copies, then got teased in TV sitcoms, the Tonight Show, and a movie.

Beachbody experienced it when Michi's ladder made food choices simple and people lost weight. And we saw it when a 90-day fitness program called Power 90 challenged people to focus on fitness and eating right, not for the year or the rest of their lives, but for just 90 days. The rest of their lives would be easier once they got 90 days under their belt.

I picked this book, "The 3-Apple-A-Day Plan" off the shelf at Barnes & Noble to find out what it was about, and it was such a simple hook, that I could understand how it would work for people: Eat an apple before each meal, and you'll lose weight.

To me, it makes the same sense as Atkins, Scarsdale, South Beach, and other systems that simply shake up our diet habits so we have to look at them... when you pay attention to what you're eating with the intent of reducing consumption, you lose weight. Doesn't matter if it's apples, lettuce, cabbage soup, or grapefruit; a change that brings more fiber and "good carbs." and less saturated fat and sugar into your diet will have a dramatic result to expedite your weight loss. It really is that simple.

Trouble for the author of this book is, the concept pretty much fit on the back cover of the book, where she describes how she got the idea from a weight loss client who came up with the idea, and lost a pound and a half of fat in a week. Coulda been a pamphlet.

A better title would have been: "Get full on anything healthy before you eat what you would have eaten otherwise, and you will lose a lot of weight and feel a whole lot better."

Then again, that might not have been as catchy.

Point is; keep it simple. Don't trick yourself into looking for the breakthrough - it's right in front of us: Eat more of the good stuf, less of the bad stuff.

Early AM Power 90 Sculpt Tip

If getting right out of bed for a resistance workout is as difficult for you as it is for me, I wanted to share a quick tip: Use the first round as a warm-up round.

This morning I wanted to do a Power 90 Sculpt workout at 6AM... not my favorite time to go for it to "max out". But when the alarm rang, instead of blowing it off, I decided that I would use the first round of moves for pure warm up. I did just ten push-ups, grabbed lighter bands than usual for the other resistance moves, and didn't go quite as low on the lunges.

The pay-off was that by round three I was ready for my maximum. As usual, once I was warmed up I went for it, maxed out to exhaustion on each move. And the way I felt for the next four hours, I think that was plenty.

So if the morning weights are intimidating for you because it's tough to go from sleepy-time night night to strainging like you're on the "muscle & fitness magazine" cover, make that first round a comfortable wake-up round, and save the hardcore sets for rounds two, three, etc.