"You're late...Drop and give me 20"

It was so nice to visit with everyone at the Chicago camp this weekend and watch many of the success stories who I've met in the past who have maintained, improved or completely surpassed their former results by living the lifestyle.
Just as fun was meeting the new people who will no doubt soon be framed for display on the walls of fame at the Beachbody offices in Beverly Hills.

I spent Saturday morning taking photographs and giggling quietly at the groans during P90X Yoga... But I must say, this group, with all levels represented, was very flexible and zen-like.
I showed up a few minutes late to the 11 Laws seminar, and Traci Morrow made sure I did my 20 push-ups. Tony made sure I did them X-Style.

I wasn't the only one -- anyone who as much as mouthed the phrase "I can't" had to knock 20 out (Phyllis!).

We have plans for other get togethers in 2007 which are going to be even more exciting, and I am hoping to talk about those plans here in the next few months.
Great job to Tony and the Beachbody team (Anna, Philippa, Heather and Lara). And special thanks to Traci Morrow for helping us organize this year's camps in a way that was professional, friendly, and in a way which helped us exceed expectations.


And by the way, when Traci wasn't working, I discovered she was secretly working out in her own little world behind the table... That's why she's the host of Mybeachbody!

Friends? Freinds?

I've been travelling this week, and am about to head to Chicago to meet the group attending this weekend's fitness camp with Tony Horton. I'll add some photos to the blog when I get back, but in the meantime, since it's back to school time I wanted to share something exceptionally exciting and relevant with you:

I learned a trick this week at the annual Electronic Retailing Association convention that's trivial to some, but based on the reactions I am hearing from many people, also quite a relief... Ok. here it is:

The correct "I-before-e-except-yada-yada" order of "i" and "e" for the word "friend", is, in fact, "i" before "e". As in "friends".

You may have known that, but I have had such a hard time remembering if that word falls into the "sounding like A" category, that I actually avoided using the word (and my social calendar reflects as such.)

The breakthrough though is this memory trick; "friend to the end"... the "e" goes at the end to spell it - "fri - end"!

Do you get it? I swear, I feel like I got a new puppy.

Now if I could just remember how many "L"s in "traveling". (one)

Turbo Charge Your Inspiration

We are launching a new WOWY group called "MySpacers" thanks to some poking around Myspace.com to see how Beachbody folks are using that application.

I've already met a bunch of our customers and old friends, and started to see how important (and, um, addicting) networking can be to the whole fitness/weight loss experience.

While promoting a Saturday workout (7AM PT!), I met Meredith (seen here with Chalene). She can't make it to the WOWY, but when I read her email below, I asked her if I could post her comments so I can brag about it to everyone I know. We are proud of Meredith. We are proud of Chalene for this incredible program that gets real results. This is why we love being in this business!

Thank you Meredith!

My screen name there is "TurboMerr". I saw the infomercial for TJ when I was in the hospital 3 months ago. I was there for diabetes- I am 37- and decided that day that I wanted to live and not die- since then I have been doing TJ every day.. and I LOVE IT! Chalene and the whole crew are so amazing and inspiring. I have lost over 40 pounds and want to lose another 100- when I do, I am going to send in my info so that maybe I can be on one of your infomercials. I just wanted to tell you my story! Oh and I am totally off insulin now- I left the hospital on 95 units. Hope you have an amazing weekend!!!

Meredith

"But Wait, There's More"

When I helped launch a direct marketing company called TelAmerica Media in the mid-'90's, it was my first foray into the world of so-called "Short-Form Direct Response TV". To succeed in our new venture, we wanted to work with the most successful writer/directors in the business. The true patriarch of this art form was Arthur Schiff, owner of a company called Direct Response Associates, a legend I was lucky enough to work with, who passed away this summer at age 66.

The guy was not afraid to make us laugh while he sold us some of the wildest gizmos TV had to offer. Yet he basically "wrote the book" on what fundamental sales elements need to be present to get the phone to ring.

Arthur coined the omnipresent catch phrase "But wait, there's more!" If you look at the product shot in a Ginsu knife offer, you learned how powerful "But wait, there's more" can be.

I will miss running into Arthur at trade conventions, and will allows remember him fondly as "one of the good guys" in this business. Below is a note from Arthur's website.

In the spring of 1978, I was asked to write a direct response commercial for a set of knives. At that time in my career, I had written no more than a half dozen DR spots, but I just couldn't get excited about this project.

"They're knives," I stated with no enthusiasm whatsoever. "Every woman in America has at least three kitchen drawers full of them. What's the big deal?"

"But they don't have drawers full of these knives," came the retort. "It's your job to turn them into something special. Make them sing and dance."

I went to sleep that night, still wrestling with the problem. And then it happened! I bolted out of bed at three o'clock in the morning and yelled, "Eureka! I've got it. Ginsu!" I wrote the bizarre word down on a piece of paper and went back to sleep. When I got up again four hours later, the paper was still there and that strange word was still on it. I stuffed it into my shirt pocket and headed off to work.

Within six weeks, "Ginsu" was a household name throughout the country, and I was pretty much established in my lifelong career. By giving that set of knives a Japanese identity, I somehow managed to convince people that no matter how many knives they already owned, these were something special. Of course, I neglected to mention that the knives were manufactured in Fremont, Ohio.

Times change, products change. Audiences have become more sophisticated and the science of marketing has grown tremendously. Yet, there is a timeless art in creating winners that demands a certain mix of creativity, intelligence and marketing savvy.

Since those early years, I've written and produced over 1500 direct response commercials, most of them through my own company, Direct Response Associates. I've surrounded myself with some of the best DR production people in the industry, and have most of the major direct response TV marketers as clients.

So what can we do for you? We can help you market your product by looking beyond the obvious. By finding the unique approach that makes it stand out. By never forgetting that hidden somewhere in that product may be another Ginsu Knife. We call it The Art of Creating Winners(SM) and we'd like to create one for you.

Arthur Schiff, Direct Response Associates

World Peace Starts Between Your Ears

People who struggle with weight are in hell, a constant battle. The urge to enjoy a deep bite into a cheesey piece of pizza or a late night bowl of ice cream is a missile fired at the ego.

The next morning, staring at the in the mirror, the ego fires a missile back at that desire for instant gratification. So you decide to work it off. Later that day, you're exhausted, and the last thing you feel like doing is working out. So you launch a brigade of promises back at the ego that you will start "soon" with the exercise program. Then with that defense in place, you see the ice cream container, and reach for it, knowing you made a promise to the ego that you would start "soon".

Two weeks go by. The ego gangs up with a lack of energy to criticize the lifestyle. So maybe you do a little workout. The next morning you look in the mirror and still see the gut from the last couple weeks of eating, and the amount of work it will take to lose the gut seems like a huge commitment of hard work - too huge. You promise the ego that, instead of a big workout program, you will walk every night. Meanwhile the kids didn't finish their mac and cheese and in order to "feel" like they ate an entire dinner, you take the last few bites. The hell of the battle rages on in your mind. "What are you doing?" You ask yourself. It's impossible to understand. But the cookie jar is full, and they will go stale if they aren't eaten. So you eat them.

This is why I am never above the plight of the Beachbody customer, because that is the same hell that is between my own ears. Plus there's the added pain of being CEO of a fitness company, and the pressure to "live right" gets even more intense. (I've even found myself managing my exposure to our trainers when I am feeling extra out of it.)

So if this is familiar, you are not alone. I am in it too. We both have our own little unresolved battle within our minds. Self-loathing, unforgiveness, guilt, shame, anger and a yearning for gratification in a world that is loaded with pressure, judgment, and relentless expectations.

We expect the war in Iraq to be resolved by politicians and a polarized group of native citizens with various agenda and beliefs while we alone can barely control the war in our very own minds. As trivial as it seems, I think it's all related. If you can't find a way to foster "PEACE" in your mind about this issue, or that grievance against yourself, how can we expect entire peoples to quickly snap into a new mindset? Patience is key. Patience and intent, real commitment. Intent means, we need to get our own houses in order -- the house between our ears, where the primary battle ensues. And that is a constant process of listening to your own thoughts, exploring you unconscious choices, and the real discomfort that lies just behind the self-defeating choices you may be making.

Next time you seek that giant piece of cake, think of it as an end to a cease fire. When you are reaching for the fourth slice of pizza, consider how you are disrupting the potential for your own peace of mind. And then reconsider it.

I am not advocating a diet where you can't enjoy the foods you love. I am saying, we need to be careful with a little self-indulgence can upset the situation. Stay in control. Have an agreement with yourself. Keep the agreement. Maintain the peace of mind.

And maybe then we might have an easier time maintaining the peace with the neighbor who hasn't returned your grill since July 4th, and so on.

Where does peace start? Between your ears.

That is how I am approaching the process of lifestyle in my mind these days. Let me know if that's helpful to you in any way.

POW! They're Baaaack!

By popular demand, for anyone who wants a little extra "pow" in each Turbo Jam punch, we just put back up the weighted hand gloves for sale at Beachbody.com.





And for anyone who missed it (like, the three people in the world who didn't actually attend her Turbo Kick camp), the reviews are in and Bret and Chalene hit the ball out of the park as it relates to throwing an awesome event. Something like 150 Turbo Jam grads signed up to become Turbo Kick instructors. I pitty the fool who tries to take on these fit Turbo Junkies.

The Amazing Flying Jonathan

A couple weeks ago we hired Dane Sanders, Power 90 grad and professional photographer to take some photos of our company party as well as Tony's LA fitness camp.

We found Dane when he sent me a link to a site where he was encouraging wedding photographers across the country to get in shape and track their progress along with him.


Both events were great, as were the photos. In particular, this one of Jonathan Gelfand, general counsel of Product Partners. Jonathan started with us just recently, and was an instant/perfect fit with the culture of the company. He has a great sense of humor, and clearly great form of superman banana. We call this one "Come on, come to Daddy, Sophie. Closer. Closer."

Helping Kids, circus-style

A few months ago I was contacted by Scott Fifer, one of the first-ever P90X success stories, who had just returned from a soul-searching mission to Africa. He spent a while there helping at an orphanage, and came back a changed man, a Hollywood writer on a new mission: To help raise money in order to build these kids a proper facility, so the orphanage doesn't just house these kids, it cultivates them.

But this no common cultivation, these kids gain confidence and learn that they are entitled to love and respect just like the rest of us, through personal achievement in acrobatics.

Scott was calling me to ask if Beachbody wanted to get involved in helping the kids organize a tour through the US. Stop one would be to Los Angeles where they would perform at area schools in special events for big shots with fat wallets. Stop two would be Las Vegas where the kids will get to learn from the superstars of acrobatic performance, Cirque du Soleil. Stop three would include a few talk shows, and perhaps a trip to New York before their return home. It took all of a minute for him to convince me to commit some money and resources to his venture. Soon after Power 90's Tony Horton held a fundraiser at his house. More commitments of support followed.

Thanks to the Beachbody design team, the bright red Tunahaki t-shirts are designed, the seed money is in the bank, the logo is being plastered all over their tour van, and miraculously Scott succeeded in getting all twelve kids visas. for their November trip.

Then the other day I am sitting in a meeting with Kathy Smith, discussing the latest in Project: YOU land, including some interesting progress about Kathy visiting companies to motivate people in corporate wellness programs. In the midst of the conversation, Kathy starts talking about her recent climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, a volcano in Tanzania. The climb itself is an enormous feat. Then making a small world seem smaller, it turns out that immediately prior to her ascent, Kathy and her team were entertained by a troupe of children who perform acrobatics in order to support a nearby orphanage... the kids of Tunahaki!

It appears Beachbody was meant to participate, not just at the corporate level, but its success stories, vendors, experts, and even community are jumping in.

Look for WOWY events and other announcements as we track the progress. And look forward to a full length documentary produced by P90X director Mason Bendewald. See what I mean? We're into this from all angles... now all we need is you!

Click here if you want to learn more about what Scott is doing, especially if you have the means to join Beachbody in support of this very worthwhile cause!

Click here to donate now!

This just in from Scott:
There are actually 9 kids (plus one adult) coming from Africa, (and 2 American chaperones, hence the need for 12 people in a van). And they are also going to San Francisco to study circus arts during their trip here.

What else might you want to know….? I am planning on bringing them to the beach their first morning in the U.S. to join Tony & I for his infamous ‘Sunday Workout’… Disney has invited them to see The Lion King stage show which will be in Hollywood at the same time they are here (set in their homeland, uses Swahili – “Hakuna Matata” – it will be the kids’ first live theatre experience)… and we are making a point not just to perform for fat cats, but also at schools in South Central, LA, and at a shelter for homeless teens in Las Vegas.

Also, they practice their exercises every day - in sweltering heat, with no running water, no plumbing, no refrigerator or stove to keep or cook food – yet they work at it every day. So it seems to me that if they can do it in those conditions, anybody can. Maybe Traci can use that to motivate people when she promotes WOWY.

I still can’t get over the Kathy Smith connection. That really is something.

Click here to help these kids now!

The power of T Morrow

If you're a member of the MyBeachbody community, you may have seen the new icons promoting the fact that Traci Morrow is now the "host" of the site. (seen here with another Beachbody success story, her husband KC)

She's our own Julie McCoy, tasked with helping newbies and veterans get the most from the feature-rich weight loss and motivation club. Specifically, Traci will help members navigate MyBeachbody, introducing the unique tools available to maximize results. She will also organize challenges for members to keep everyone motivated.

Traci will select Success Stories to inspire and challenge us to overcome obstacles. She has her own Message Board thread and is active on the other MyBeachbody boards, answering questions and helping members interact, while gathering feedback from the community to help us continually improve the site.

She has a chat today at 5PM PT in the VIP chatroom, where I am sure the topic will be the Tony Horton Fitness camp in LA this weekend which Traci also helped organize and host.

Traci is an absolutely terrific person, and truly cares about everything she does and everyone she comes into contact with. We are lucky to have her on our team, and as a community, she will help motivate us all to get the best results possible!

Malibu Beach Party!

Today was the second (sort of) annual Malibu Beach Party for the Beachbody team plus the early arrivals to Tony's Fitness Camp this weekend.

Before more photos, and I'm sorry I don't have a lot more, let me say that this year it was Shawn T (with me here) who stole the show with the reveal of his "Hip Hop Hustle", a dance that he created as part of a new fitness program we're developing for release later this year. Danny from operations won the grand prize for his showmanship as virtually the entire company got jiggy on the sand. (Special thanks to my exec assistant Philippa, one of the judges, who left me in the running up until the very end so I could demonstrate my not-so-subtle lack of coordination as long as possible.)




Lara and Heather from the production team and a little Tony.
Natasha (who is our very own success story having lost 60 pounds!), Ken (the runner up in the Hip Hop Hustle) and me.

And below, the Tony Horton faithful, (plus Debbie Siebers and Beachbody guide Traci Morrow) discussing how the customers are going to "bring it" at the camp starting this evening!



Notable is customer Michael Kucko in the blue shirt looking toward Sarah in the second photo of this set) (Akron in MyBeachbody) who looks great, and who deserves a special note as one of our first 100 pound weight loss success stories, and who has managed to cope with the ups and downs of weight maintenance with poise and determination to never let it get out of control! Nice work Michael!

Consistently... Drinking

As a guy who likes to enjoy a social summertime cocktail, I was recently surprised at how intense it was to stop consuming alcohol for a few weeks.

I thought I would have no problem. But apparently the drink a day or a few a few times a week was training my system to count on that night-time dose of sugar. And when I suddenly turned off the supply, my body rebelled. No energy. Moody. It was so unexpected and more dramatic than I thought. But at the same time, I watched as a stubborn layer of fat around the waist melted away in just a few days.

Apparently, while in body maintenance-mode and generally watching what I eat and controlling portions, those social cocktails were helping to retain a little extra padding in the love handle department.

I culled the following information from resources on the web which might motivate you to take a cocktail sabbatical as well.

> "A couple every day" adds a LOT of extra calories to your daily diet. If you're talking about two 150-calorie beers, that's 300 calories extra a day or 2100 extra calories a week. Multiply that out for a year and you have 109,200 extra calories! That's potentially 31.2 pounds of fat in a year.
> If you DO account for the calories in those drinks, then you have another conundrum - the alcohol calories displace good valuable food calories. Drinking gives you empty alcohol calories with virtually no nutritional value (and some negative value in more way than one), while pushing out important vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, fiber and other good stuff.
> Alcohol also inhibits fat burning. While your liver is busy metabolizing alcohol, it puts your fat metabolism on hold.

By the way, there's a major risk to drinking every day - even just one or two - that most people don't even think about: Daily drinking is habit forming. Anything you do every day easily becomes a habit that is difficult to break later. On the other hand, if you could establish the habit of working out, stretching, or eating 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables every single day, those would be habits worth forming!

Here's an idea, fill that shot glass with a teaspoon of Coconut Oil, one in the morning and one at night!

The Best of the Boards Is Just Showing Up

I continue to be inspired by the people who invest time and energy into a lifestyle transformation and use helping others succeed as fuel for their motivation.

This is the experience of the message boards of MyBeachbody.com. These boards are the opposite of the competitive gym locker room. Within this simply constructed community is a fabric of support without judgment, of firm guidance toward what works, with no expectation of perfection, and the kind of breakthroughs that are most dramatic through self-discovery.

It's the kind of support people wish their families would give them, but which comes more naturally where everyone shares a common goal and similar challenges. And it's a lot easier when there is no other agenda except mutual success.

From time to time members forward me examples of inspiration or breakthroughs which are so noteworthy, I will try to be more diligent about including them on this blog. Below is a post from one of the more exciting threads, the 100 Pound Pioneer Forum.

Standout Beachbody success story, Virginia (aka Gin) emailed me the post with this opening comment, which is so telling of the kind of heart that beats within these message boards: "I thought her comments on "magic" were great ones. Somehow I think this time she will reach her goals. I'm excited for her!"

If you have yet to dive into the boards to find real support, and experience how giving support is as empowering as getting it, this post might give you a nudge in that direction:

kmlclara
Posted 07-20-06 09:45 AM

Hi Everyone - haven't checked the thread in a couple of days - there is a lot to read and digest. I wanted to say a quick and ENORMOUS thank you for Gin to offering her support and wisdom to all of us. I have been 'involved', although MIA for a couple of years, with BB and Gin is someone I immediately gravitated to because, well, SHE LOST A HUNDRED FRICKIN' POUNDS and is a tireless cheerleader. For me there is always the 'I wish I could do that' factor. When you are a hundred pounds or more overweight I think it is easy to live vicariously through other people - they do all the hard work for us (me). I have realized that instead of gluing myself to those I find inspiring I must focus on being the inspiration in my own life. Gin was once where we all are - she got out there and found the answers to her questions - she didn't hide, she put herself out there and asked for help from a lot of different people. I am writing this because what Gin said about becoming potentially overwhelmed gave me an insight. I need to become part of a community - that means sharing myself - the good, the bad, the ugly - with everyone instead of whispering it to one person. It takes courage to make this journey and acceptance. If we are working out with Tony, Debbie, Chalene or our cat we have to have to courage to say "I can only do one of these *$%# leg lifts. Tomorrow I will try to do two" and not give up because we can't do all 16. (as you can probably tell by this long winded post I am working things out in my own head and hopefully this will make sense to someone and spark something in them....) I guess what I am really trying to say is, in the past, I have gone to people like Gin, and thought if I just talk to them the magic will rub off...and it just doesn't work like that. Someone else can't do this for me. Someone else's passion isn't my own. They can inspire and motivate but I need to show up with commitments I can keep and a willingness to push through some hard times. And with 100 pounds to lose, one thing I can count on is a my fair share of hard times. But what I give too little credit to is the unexpected things I will find along the way that dull those hard times. Geez. Listen to me, would ya? Thanks for helping me work this out in public, in my community.

kmlclara

Kite Tube -- Ouchie

Doesn't matter what kind of shape you are in. When you push your limits, do something stupid, show off, or do all three, you can get very hurt.

For anyone considering climbing onto one of these things, a Kite Tube, take a CEO's word for it -- don't. On the second day of my one annual week off, I climbed on this, our newest water toy, to give it a go. Attempt one was fun. I got around 5 seconds of air until a flight error twisted the tube and slammed me into the water. I got off for the day to let someone else try it.

Day two -- I climbed on to see what my body had learned. We turned the boat into the wind to get more lift with less water speed, and thus, perhaps, softer falls. After two hops, I was up... the video camera recorded the whole thing, thirty two seconds in flight. FANTASTIC! The people in the boat were mesmorized as I piloted this baby behind the Mastercraft. Then there was a gust. And the giant kite realized that, with no tail, it was untethered and free to flip around over and over. I looked down at the water from about 25 feet up and held on. (I had decided the night before that holding onto the tube was probably better than letting go. "Keep correcting and you might stay in the air". )

The kite literally did a 360 in the air, and for a moment I thought I had it under control. That is, until the moment I hit the water, basically slamming my shins into cement hard water, crushing my knees, and collapsing my entire body onto my legs. Think "cannonball position" in a vice.

One week later, and I just read the thing has been taken off the market by the consumer product safety commission. Looks like I got off easy compared to some people! I can still move my toes and breathe. I guess this is one of the times that being an early adopter has its disadvantages. Next year it's straight water skiing for me. Next year. Hopefully I'll be able to walk, run, and take a full breath without pain by then.

Hollywood as Home, and Friends Making Movies

Hollywood is a fun place to live. In so many movies each year you see stores, buildings, corners and sites that you drive by every day. It's kind of surreal in that way, the fictionalizing of your reality around you, and I can only imagine what it will be like when Ava realizes that it's actually uncommon to have a film crew take your front yard over to shoot a scene.

Beachbody has its own brush with Hollywood from time to time, as companies license videos and infomercials from us from time to time to fill a TV screen in the background of a scene, or our editing equipment gets repurposed overnight to edit one of our staff's very own shot at filmmaking big time. (More on this in future blog posts)

Currently there's a documentary in theaters which is getting great reviews, and with which Beachbody has deep roots. Chris Paine directed a movie about his enthusiasm for, and disappointment with the loss of, GM's electric car, called "Who Killed The Electric Car."

I met Chris years ago when Tony Horton invited me on a ski weekend, years before Power 90. Chris was one of the five who headed of to Utah. Chris was a brilliant guy, who was thoughtful and fascinated with life in general. He was also running a very successful web-design/development company. As I got to know Chris, I got invited to barbecues at his Santa Monica home, and one weekend he was particularly excited about his leased Electric Car. One by one everyone at the party got a sixty second trip around a parking lot to experience Chris at the wheel with the same comments to each of us -- "It's absolutely silent, you don't even know it's on!" and "Can you believe how fast it accelerates?"

He loved the thing. And I can remember getting an email from him announcing his disappointment with the notice that GM was collecting the cars. I thought it would have ended there.

Chris had just sold his company, an event which was lucky for me, because we picked up the core of our early web development team in Rich Abronson and Erick Hoppe from them, standouts at Chris' company who were looking for the next entrepreneurial mountain to climb. We hired them, and the look and feel of Beachbody.com was born.

Meanwhile, I kept getting emails from Chris. He had begun to investigate and document the demise of his precious car. And what felt like it would be a hobby or pet project that would go away the next time Chris got a big business idea, the email updates kept coming.

It's a couple years later, and I'm reading about Chris at Sundance, Chris in France, and his film is now in wide release, getting paired up with Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth directed by Davis Guggenheim! This is a feat. I've seen dozens of great directors and great films get completely ignored. The filmmaking process is hard, but the film distribution process is almost impossible, so it's incredibly exciting to see a guy take his personal curiosity and interests, and create something magnificent from it that really gets seen.

I hope millions of people see this film, not just because it was made by a good guy who's eye for talent had a significant impact on Beachbody.com, but because it's a well balanced documentary on the fate of the electric car which is entertaining and important to understand. Congratulations Chris!

Before You Eat That Piece Of Cake...

A Cautionary Tale, Featuring My Daughter Ava...

I know you're excited about the cake.











And yes, I know you're thinking about taking a HUGE bite of the cake.












Before you dive in, why not EARN the cake?












WOWY on Saturday July 1 at Noon ET/9AM PT and the system may randomly select you for the $500 cash prize! You just need to be:

(1) working out in WOWY as of 9:01:00 AM PT (Noon ET)
(2) have a WOWY icon photo or MyBeachbody after photo
(3) not a Beachbody celebrity (Sorry Tony, Debbie, Kathy, Gillian, Teigh and Chalene)
(4) not a Beachbody employee (Doh!)

Invite all the people you can, and see how good it feels not to lose your momentum and see what kind of summer WOWY peak we can create!

And then when it's cake time, you might not even want a piece... Especially if your 6 year old already committed her face to it!

Get a life.

I came across a speech given to graduates of Villanova this year. I don't know if it will speak to you per se, but it's something I wanted in this blog, if for no other reason than to make sure I read it from time to time, and that Ava will consider it when she makes choices that shape her priorities.

This is the commencement speech by the writer, Anna Quindlen, to the graduates at Villanova this year (2006)

"It's a great honor for me to be the third member of my family to receive an honorary doctorate from this great university. It's an honor to follow my great Uncle Jim, who was a gifted physician, and my Uncle Jack, who is a remarkable businessman. Both of them could have told you something important about their professions, about medicine or commerce. I have no specialized field of interest or expertise, which puts me at a disadvantage talking to you today. I'm a novelist. My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first. Don't ever forget what a friend once wrote Senator Paul Tsongas when the senator decided not to run for re-election because he had been diagnosed with cancer: "No man ever said on his deathbed, 'I wish I had spent more time at the office.'" Don't ever forget the words my father sent me on a postcard last year: "If you win the rat race, you're still a rat." Or what John Lennon wrote before he was gunned down in the driveway of the Dakota: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul. People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is a cold comfort on a winter night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've gotten back the test results and they're not so good. So here's what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion - the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights - a life in which you stop and watch how a red tailed hawk circles over the water or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger. Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough. It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to take for granted the color of our kids' eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead of to live. I learned to live many years ago. Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my druthers, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all: I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived."

Turn Back The Clock on Your Birthday

I read a great thread on the message boards yesterday, where member Sookie (aka Itsy in WOWY) is using the new WOWY invitation application to create her very own online birthday party on July 2nd -- it's a birthday workout at 7AM ET!

And she's already got over 20 people who have signed up for that time!

I think this is a great way to turn back the clock on your birthday - you do your favorite workout, improving how your body feels and at the same time increasing your support group for the year ahead by confirming your commitment on the one day each year that is all about you.

When we created WOWY one of the things we talked about doing was having a page devoted to birthdays for just this reason, but we never got around to building that page. Now it seems the invitation tool has helped it materialize on its own. I think I'll speak to the MyBeachbody staff about taking this idea to another level in the next version of the program.

Thanks to Sookie for reminding me about the birthday application!

Good odds to win $500

While the WOWY invite tool seems to have caught on quickly, not a lot of people so far committing to the Saturday July 1st NoonET/9AMPT $500 WOWY giveaway -- and fewer still with WOWY photos uploaded.

That means that right now the odds of winning $500 is 1-in-5 since Beachbody employees are not eligible. Have you made the commitment to beat the summer slump on Saturday 7/1 at 12 NoonET? Do you have a WOWY photo uploaded? Do you like winning money just for working out in WOWY?

I sent out a few more invitations today, and asked those folks to invite two people each, and to ask those people to invite two people each.

Attendance to workouts has definitely increased already thanks to the invitation tool though. Over 750 people worked out in WOWY yesterday with a peak of 67 -- that's ten more than the peak on the same day last week. A good sign that people like connecting to keep the appointment to exercise!

Inviting people to WOWY works... So when will you invite someone to YOUR next workout?

July 1st -- You Are Invited!

That's the news at Beachbody and WOWY -- we've just launched the BETA version of a WOWY invitation tool to help people get (and give) workout support!

The existing Success Buddies feature has done pretty well, but now it gets even better because you can invite people to workout when you've put your schedule together. The system walks you through it step by step. And I'm hoping it will be another tool to help people keep their commitment to workout by giving you the power to build consistency with a group of people you know.

And to encourage you to add your photo to your WOWY profile, I'm putting up another $500 to see how many people will put off the summer-slump for a 12PM ET/9AM PT workout on Saturday July 1st. 500 smackers goes to someone logged in at Noon ET/9:00AM PT. They will be randomly chosen to win the $500 just for working out within WOWY (with an approved photo in their profile).

And while you're thinking ahead and scheduling your workouts - take moment to try out the BETA version of the invitation tool.

Here's how it works:

1. First go to WOWY.com and log in
2. Click on the date in the calendar you want to schedule (July 1)
3. Choose the time you want to workout in the drop down menu (9AM)
4. Select the workout you're going to follow (I will be doing Turbo Jam Cardio Party - my first ever TJ WOWY!)
5. Click on "Invite Buddies" in the Success Buddies" section
You'll need to have people in your address book to invite:
> Click "Add Buddies"
> Lookup members and add them to your address book.
> Consider adding non-members ( in the area at the bottom) so you can add "outsiders"
who you've wanted to encourage to start working out.
> Then click "Done adding Buddies"
6. Click on the buddies you want to invite to that workout and click "Submit"
7. Check the invitation, and click on "Yes - SEND THE INVITATION"

Maybe on the 1st we'll break the record of 331 people in WOWY set exactly 6 months ago on the first of the year! With all the Turbo Jam activity in WOWY the last couple months, I wouldn't be surprised.

I look forward to hearing how you like the invitation tool, and look forward to our July 1st workout!

Fat? Good for you? Watchu talkin' bout Willis?

Got fat? The more I hear, the more I feel like I haven't been paying attention. When did the world realize that all fat is not all "fattening". Why didn't anyone call me?

I can remember Susan Powter's "Stop the Insanity" infomercial where she knowingly held up five pounds of crystallized fat and proclaimed something kitschy like "Five pounds of fat... It can't form on your hips if it doesn't cross your lips." Whatever she said, it made sense, in an oversimplified kindergarten kind of way.

But now people are getting sophisticated. According to the National Academies Institute of Medicine recommendations for healthy eating, adults should consume between 20-35% of their daily calories from fat to meet daily calorie requirements and minimize risk for chronic disease.

Typical sources of fat in a diet include butter, margarine, vegetable oils, visible fat on meat and poultry, whole milk, egg yolks, and nuts. Look closer, and you find out it is not only best to minimize the amount of saturated and trans fats in your diet, but critical to consume the good fats in order to functionn (and, ironically, to lose fat).

Good fats, are monounsaturated fat and essential polyunsaturated fats (often called EFA's, essential fatty acides.) I personally take a teaspoon of the following sources of EFA's every morning and right before bed in order to get enough of the good fats into my diet every day: Coconut Oil, Codliver Oil, Lecithin, and Bee Pollen.

Ever since I started this regimen, I have noticed that my metabolism is running faster (i.e., I don't gain weight as easily) and I hardly ever get headaches anymore. I've read about that consequence a number of places due to the anti-inflammatory effects of EFA's.

Research is showing that EFAs help you burn excess fat, restore health to the cardiovascular system, relieve arthritis pain and inflammation, and strengthen the immune system.

Sounds good. I wish they made cheese out of the good fats. But for now, I'll continue to take my teaspoons of fish and coconut oil, bee pollen and lecithin. If you want to achieve a healthy Beachbody, I highly recommend you do some research and make the investment into some EFA's from trusted, quality sources. Not all sources deliver the same quality. So ask around, search the net. And get fat. Well... Get essentially fat so you get thin and healthy. You know what I mean.