Inspirational

March 27, 2009

What a strange and exciting week. Sunday, I'm dining out in San Francisco and run into a taping of Anthony Bourdain's no reservations - free meal and picture with Mr. Bourdain included (see the proof, right). Then, today I pop into a 24 Hour Fitness class headed by Chalene Johnson!

I was tipped off to Chalene's random appearance in San Mateo by my BeachBody Coach, Nina. Apparently Chalene's been doing some promotional tours for her new workout series, getting trainers to come out and become certified as instructors. My good friend, Elaine - aspiring runner and budding exercise fanatic, joined me at the gym as well.

Chalene Johnson is just as energetic in real life as she is in her videos. She was at the front jumping around like crazy while the live DJ was spinning his jams. She started with her TurboJam repertoire, and then moved into some unfamiliar territory with a very dancy, kicky routine. At a certain point I had a pretty hard time keeping up, although it seems many of the trainers had had ample time to study up on the vids beforehand. It was all still, plenty of fun, and everyone was pumped up. It was almost like being at a dance party - except choreographed.

Hope you enjoy the pics! Now all I have to do is track down that darn Tony Horton...

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February 8, 2009

Chalene Johnson Live!

I've started a new chapter in my fitness regiment, ChaLEAN Extreme starring trainer Chalene Johson. With the fanaticism that many women rave about her TurboJam series, you may akin her to an Oprah-esque persona in the home fitness world.

ChaLEAN Extreme is another 90 day fitness program that's been released on the heels of P90X popularity. For me, it's a chance to keep my exercise routine interesting. Plus, my sister-in-law has agreed to complete the 90 days with me, which has been lots of fun so far!

As a P90X grad, the big question is whether or not ChaLEAN Extreme is a suitable alternative to the high intensity of Tony Horton. My impression so far is that ChaLEAN is a great intro to resistance and strength training, and also appeals more towards woman. Chalene herself seems to be a great educator and source of inspiration. Here's a call I sat in on where Chalene talks about her successful fitness career:

I'll be blogging about ChaLEAN extreme in similar fashion to P90X, although probably less frequently. At the end though, I'll be sure to post my results and a full review based on my 90 day experience.

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January 5, 2009

Oprah is Depressed and Fat!

The truth comes out! I watch Oprah! Ok, many of my friends already know this and make fun of me for it. I guess I can live with the humiliation. Hey, if I can put my half-naked self on the Internet, what's one more small thing like Oprah.

In today's episode of the Oprah Show, she's opened up and talked about her once again recent struggles with gaining weight. Most people have probably heard that she's been in the news again because of this topic. When I heard, I was pretty much like "What else is new?", but after watching today's broadcast, I can't remember if she's ever had a show so focused on her personal fight and admitted defeat against fat. More shocking were the inferences that she's not only 40 pounds overweight, but she may be depressed and spiritually off track!

Oprah's whole image has seemed to be about being the happiest person on the planet - spiritually whole and living the life envied by others. If there's a church that isn't a church, it's probably the Oprah Show and it's millions of viewers who look to America's leading lady for advice and wisdom. So hearing that she hasn't been "walking the walk" for nearly 2 years is more than a little bit disconcerting. Is she really the woman we all thought we knew?

Truthfully, Oprah is the queen of defensive re-marketing (not re-invention, that's Madonna). In cases like this, where she's taken a beating from the press, she's quick to confront the issue with an apology or an explanation, and we tend to take her at her word. The last big headline was when James Frey's memoir, "A Million Little Pieces", was discovered to be fictional, and Oprah publicly denounced the author and apologized to her audience. So when it comes to today's show, perhaps she actually is the same person, someone whom her fans are quick to forgive when mis-steps occur.

Today, Oprah described herself as having "fallen off the wagon" - not just with her weight, but with her spiritual centered-ness. It's in these full disclosure shows, I think, that we see why Oprah is so identifiable. It's not because she is in fact the happiest person on earth. Instead, here's an instance where she shows us the reality of being a human being.

Falling off the wagon and subsequently getting back on is just another way of describing the human cyclical condition. We all have periods of great fulfillment in our lives that often revert to less than ideal times. It's the struggle to regain our happiness that teaches us how to handle things better the next time. Then, hopefully, the struggle becomes less, and our cyclical patterns are never as extreme - that's how I define "finding balance". It's a philosophy that I think can and should be applied to weight loss and fitness. The first and hardest struggle may be losing those 40 extra pounds, but over time the goal should be to stay within a smaller range of weight gains and losses, while learning to enjoy the process.

Just another thing I learned from watching Oprah.

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About Me

I'm an entrepreneur who's steadily become interested in health, nutrition, and fitness over the last couple years. With this blog I'm hoping to keep motivated to get ripped and beyond!