What time is it?

I was asked last night at an AdvoCare event to share my story in front of about 200 people. It wasn't a big deal. I'm proud of my story and I enjoying sharing. Sometimes people are blessed when they hear the journey of others. I actually did enjoy sharing.

I said something last night rolled off my tongue pretty easy but it was a pretty bold statement for a guy pushing 42; especially a former collegiate athlete and wold class age group triathlete.

Here is what I said: "If someone were to ask me RIGHT NOW when i was in the best shape of my life I would ask them WHAT TIME IS IT?"

In other words I am in the best shape of my life at this very moment. Today. Right NOW.

7:59am, Friday August 1st. Without a doubt.

Don't get me wrong. Back in the mid 90's I could run like the wind. In the early 00's I was a terror on a bike. As recent as 4-5 years ago I was a local triathlon stud flying all the around the world racing and beating the worlds best.

Yet...I claim to be in the best shape of my life now.

There as several reasons for this.

First and foremost it is a DECISION. I have committed myself to fueling my body and moving my body in the way that gives me muscles, strength, endurance and energy.

Yes I take supplements. Yes I eat clean. Yes I workout.

But it all starts with a decision and a commitment to me MY BEST and to be my best NOW.

I accept nothing less and that is my choice.

So what does that mean?

It means that everyday I get up feeling like I can conquer the world. It means that everyday I look better than I ever have and I have confidence that does along with it. It means I don't go to the doctor and I don't "feel" 41. It means that I have energy and enthusiasm up the wazoo.

It means that I can live a life of value and significance.

I have chosen to be in the best shape of my life and I am here to tell you that it is truly amazing and it is truly a blessing.

It is also truly ME and DECISIONS that I have made.... and so can you.

To many people just don't have the belief that it is possible. Another way to look at is this: You just don't think that you can figure out the route to get there.

I am here to tell you that it isn't nearly as much about the HOW as it is about the WHY or the PURPOSE.

Once you have that purpose and make the decision then the how will come to light. I promise you that. Choice to be something and make it important in your mind. The details of the how will be filled in.

Have you made that choice? Are you fed up with being in the worst shape of your life and ready to be in the BEST shape of your life?

Awesome. Remember how I said that I take supplements, eat clean and workout? If you are truly ready to change then you can join me and be coached by me ON ALL THREE! Here is how:

CLICK to LEARN about the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge.
CLICK to LEARN about our 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge.
CLICK to LEARN about the ASM Fitness where we do our fitness classes.

If you are ready then why not make the choice and jump on board with us? We would be happy to help.

Did you get value from today's short message? If so then please share this article around on social media. Somewhere someone needs this message. You might be about to change a life today. THANK YOU!

To your success,

Rick Copley | Your Best Fitness Coach  | "Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page |Rick's No Excuses Blog

Instagram: @rickcopley 

352-989-6795 | rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

Why is America fat?

I am not super big on stats. Don't get me wrong, I love numbers but we could go back on forth on numbers all day. I don't want to do that. Today I want to share what I believe are the root causes of obesity in America.

Can we agree that America is fat?

For the sake of this blog post today we will say, yes, America is fat.

The question up for discussion is this: Why?

Before I give my OPINION on why American is fat I am going to tell you why this topic is on my brain today. I am going to start by telling you what I really don't "know" the answer.

That is why the word "opinion" is in all capitols about. Nobody REALLY knows why we are fat. If we knew the actual answer don't you think we would fix the problem?

Well, in theory, yes. I think that the reason we can't fix the problem has a lot to do with the fact that we don't know really what caused the problem so how do you fix something that you don't truly understand?

I don't know either.

I saw a Facebook post yesterday from someone that said that sugar and artificial sweeteners were making us fat. Is there some truth to that? It's a stretch but a little. Could it be this simple. No it is not.

Not even close.

I am going to keep things simple today.

I have defined 3 reasons, in order of importance, that we are fat and getting fatter. Yes, these are generalities and no I really don't know the answer to what to do next BUT I will give you 3 things to do to make a difference at the end.

Make sure to read to the end!

Why is America fat?

Reason #1: The ridiculous decline in the quality of our food. 

Why is this? I have a theory. (Shocker, I know, right?)

Food is a HUGE money making industry in our country. People earn an income based on producing food. Guess what? Is there someone else out there making the same food? Yes. Why buy from person A vs. person B? Good question.

Over the years food production has turned into who can sell the food that tastes the best, lasts the longest and can be produced for the lowest cost. 

Who can make a cheaper widget. Right?

Would you pay $5 for a box of Strawberry's that were little and not very bright or would you pay $2 for a box of Strawberry's that were HUGE and bright red? Who cares why they are huge and bright red. Cheaper and better tasting is better!

Through all this competition more and more preservatives have been put into out food and more and more chemicals and more and more bad, bad stuff has been used to make it look and taste better.

This has dragged down the quality of the food so much that we are getting a fraction of the nutrition today from food than we used to even 15-20 years ago.

More preservatives means more sugar which means less absorption, less energy, more fat and more disease.

It doesn't matter how well you eat. You just can't get the nutrition that you used to be able to get and this creates a snowball effect in your body. The less nutrition you get the less energy you have, the less energy you have the less you move, the less you move the more illness you have, the more illness you have the more stress you have...and on and on and on.

The biggest reason that we are fat is that our food supply is crap and getting worse. I know that I am not wrong on this one.

Reason #2: The government isn't interested in doing anything to stop the problem. 

I know. A vague "reason" that I can't really justify.I think it is true. Leaders lead by example.

How many of our leaders are advocates for health and fitness? How much does government support physical education, health initiatives in schools, walking trails, nutrition education, preventative medicine, etc.

What if a student needed to play a sport to graduate high school or run a mile or workout everyday?

What if welfare applicants needed to be drug, alcohol and nicotine free? What if, in order to get health insurance you needed to be drug, alcohol and nicotine free AND workout 5 days per week.

I know this is preposterous but hopefully you get the point. Government is concerned only with staying in power and not creating change. Look at the mess with the Affordable Care Act. Who wins in this environment? Nobody!

Local and national governments need to step to the plate and stop this madness. Stop spending so much time and energy to develop another vaccine or  blood pressure pill. Invest in health education and building trails.

How about tax breaks for doing burpees?

Who is leading the country? The people or the people with money? I think we all know the answer to that.

Reason #3: The internet. 

Yes. I just blamed Al Gore.

Seriously though. This is broad but I truly believe that we have lost our way with what we do with our free time. When I say the internet I also mean: TV, cell phones, computers, video games, Facebook, blogs...

You get my drift.

We have so much to do in front of electronics now that we don't "have time" to workout, cook dinner, walk the dog or explore the trails that government built...or will build.

Guess how we afford to buy the XBox, iPhone, plasma TV and all the accessories and contracts...

We work WAY TO MUCH so that we can veg in front of the computer and TV for hours and hours.

Who remembers growing up in the 70's or 80's?

Oh good. Me too.

I got home from school, thew my books on my bed, rode my bike to my friends, played guns or football, built forts, climbed trees and goofed off till dark. Then it was home to do my homework and maybe watch a little TV.

My mom cooked my dinner every night.

Do kids still do this? Some do but how many kids are in front of a computer, on the phone or watching Netflix? 

As adults we have similar changes in the last 30 years. Who has to work more, invests in healthy eating less, plays with electronics more and exercises less?

How about this for a statistic. In 2005 Americans spend 744 million on energy drinks. In 2013 it was 9 billion. 

Do you see the problem here?

We have no energy. We have little hope. Americans are fat. This we can't deny.

Why? Well our food supply sucks, the government refuses to do anything but keep power and pretend there is no problem and we are not helping our own cause. We work to much so we can have things that we really don't need so we can work so more. 

Does that sum it up? So what do we do?

If I knew that answer to that question I would be part of the problem.

Here are 3 things that I would do if I were you:

1. Do the Advocare 24 Day Challenge and regularly take supplements to counteract the fact that our food supply sucks. Is this "salesy" on my part? Sure. Guess what? My wife Teresa and I are the most fit people you know. Maybe we have it figured out. Honestly, find another supplement company if you want. You need to supplement your your diet. Period.

2. Advocate for more physical education in school, more trails, more healthier and fitness and get your butt out the door. Go to a different local trail every weekend and post all about it on social media. Invite your friends to go for a bike ride or a hike. Donate to parks or trails or wellness in general. Creating a movement starts with action.

3. Limit your internet and TV time. Hard one I know. Several months ago my wife and I eliminated TV in the kids rooms and in our room. Guess what? We play cards more, we read more and my wife and I give each other massages more! WIN.

I know it's not a lot of stuff but it is a start. You have to start with YOU and with YOUR HOME.

Sorry this was so long today. Lots of information but it's stuff you need to know.

If you want to learn more about how you can get involved with our supplement program you can join us at our home in Grand Island TONIGHT 7-8pm for our Advocare Nutritional Mixer. Learn about how Advocare can help provide solutions for your health and your finances. Our address is: 2481 Plumadore Dr.

You can also tune into a live webinar on Thursday at 9pm EST. This should last about 20 minutes. Simple and easy. No sign in required. Today anonymous.

To join the webinar: join.me/advocareteamcopley For sound: 559-0726-1000 code 342621.

Hope you got some value out of today's post. If so please like, comment and share. We always appreciate that!

To your health!

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-5795

People will surprise you

Have you ever had someone completely shock you?

Stupid question, right?

How does this relate to health and fitness. Take a quick 2 minutes to watch this video and learn what I have to say about YOU dictating what someone else things, says or does. There is real value here!

Doing stuff along is no fun. Who wants to struggle at the gym alone? Who wants to walk or run early in the morning alone? How about you have partner to do all this with? Are you thinking about doing a program to get healthy but you don't want to go it alone? All you need to do is ask....you never know who may want to join you! 

Sometimes people are thinking the exact same thing that you are. How will you ever know unless you ask them?

How about you? Are you interested in losing weight, gaining muscle, gaining energy or earning income? If you are then please join us at our home tonight 7-8pm for our weekly Advocare Nutritional Mixer. 

What do we do? We learn about Advocare!

Here are the questions that we answer:

1. Do the products work?

2. Are the products safe?

3. Can I make money?

4. What is my timing?

5. Do I get help?

There are usually 10-20 people in our living room for this presentation. We would love for you to be one of them!

Our address: 2841 Plumadore Dr, Grand Island. Rock on!

To your success!

Rick Copley, Your Best Fitness Coach

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-5795

Try

Have you ever been bothered when you hear someone say the word "TRY"?

Gosh...I know I have.

Here is what "try" suggests: a choice.

When you try that means you leave the option of failure on the table. It means that when you fail you can say, "Well... I tried" and you can feel better about yourself.

You have an excuse.

"Hey...I tried".

There is no "try". There is do or don't do.

True story Yoda.

Check out today's video ON LOCATION down the street from my house. Find out why today's message was best delivered in new house shell.

Are you interested in weight loss? We have helped many dozens of people lose weight and if that is your goal then we can help you as well. Check out the details below if a live conference call that we are doing Sunday night. No obligation. Just check it out to see if it is for you!

If you want to lose weight and not just "try" to lose weight then check this out:

Do you know someone that has struggled to lose weight and really needs help? This program may be for them or it may not be...but what if it is?

24 Day Challenge Live Conference call

Sunday, 2/9/2014 8pm EST

559-726-1000 code 342621

If you got value from this post today please like and share on your Facebook. You may just change someones life. Like Mike Jean who has lost 115 lbs since we started helping him....

Yours in fitness,

Rick Copley, AdvoCare Gold 3-Star Independent Distributor

"Empowering YOU to be a champion" 

rick@yourbestfitnesscoach.com

352-989-5795

Your Best Fitness Coach Facebook Page 

Diets don't work

For the life of me I still don't know what people go on diets.

Have we not figured it out that diets don't work long term?

So why do we do the next new thing all the time? Well.... because short term most diets work.

Here is what happens. We do a diet. We restrict certain foods or do whatever the silly plan requires. We add in foods that may or may not actually be good for us (like bacon). Our systems are shocked and awed and we strip off water and muscle weight. As soon as we can no longer handle the plan for whatever reason we cheat and within minutes the muscle and water weight pile on and our bodies gain back the weight we lost and get ready for next time by adding a little more.

This is the truth.

The think it's our fault so we give up till the next new thing comes along. Yep...this is how it works.

We lose weight by supporting out systems and not depriving them. We lose weight by making long term changes and not looking for short term solutions.

Watch the video to see the 3 keys to weight loss:

If you are serious about a weight loss solution and not just a quick fix then you need to watch the video below which details the 24 Day Challenge program that we utilize to jump start peoples metabolic systems. Remember, its about support and not about depriving! 

Here are some of the results that out team members have seen: 

Check out more about the program at Advocare 24 Day Challenge.

If you find value from these blog posts please like, comment and share. We appreciate it! 

Just an average guy

No I am not.

Are you average? Is it OK to be average?

No it is not.

Average is not "normal". Average is accepting your fate and refusing to take responsibility for your own self and letting others dictate what you are and who you are.

73.9%. That's pretty average, right?

That's the percentage of people in North America that are overweight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_weight) . Sounds like we as a county are pretty average.

According to Nerdwallet.com The average credit card debt of Americans is $15,279. Awesome.

So...being "average" in this country is about being in debt and being overweight. Interesting.

Still want to be "average"?

Average is easy. You can always blame someone else and you can always to be thinking, "at least my neighbor is in the same boat".

Being average is about giving up accountability. It's about making excuses. Being average is about acceptance. Being average is a choice.

Do you want to choose to be average?

Do you want to be more?

I, for one, choose to become more... to be MORE.

I choose to excel and dream and create and BE MORE.

As 2013 becomes 2014 don't you think it is time to break the mold? Don't you think this is the year to be more than average? Don't you think this is the year that you listen to the people that are moving forward and not those that are trying to hold you back?

Do you think this can be your year?

I do.

I don't pretend to be a success guru; Tony Robbins I am not. I am not the goal setting master; there are plenty of books on how to do that.

What I am telling you is simple yet profound. It is the key to a successful life. It could be your secret to unlocking the beast within...

STOP BEING AVERAGE.

Church

It's kinda hard to admit this now but it's the truth. Indeed it was a long, LONG time ago but still it was the same me in the same skin.

When I was young I fantasized about burning down churches. Maybe not CHURCHES, at least the church that I went to.

For the most part I was a relatively happy kid. I felt lonely and abandoned but I dealt with it and I learned to be a alone and find things to do. I loved being outside, watching TV, playing with friends, hanging out at my grandparents and doing models. I was an active and happy kid.

There was a dark side, however.

When my mom re-married when I was 9 she had another baby. At some point my new step-father made us go to church.

I hated it with a passion. Maybe it was my dislike for him or for the situation or my new brother or..I don't know. I just hated church.

I remember where the church was in downtown Niantic, Connecticut. I acted up. I squirmed around. It was apparent I wasn't happy. It was always the low point in my week.

That is when I dreamt about burning the church down.

We would sit in the pews and pray and sing. I remember saying to myself  "OK, God I believe now can I go home now?"...isn't it funny what a 10 year old boy thinks about in church.

Then is got dark and scary.

As my mind wandered I started to wonder what it would be like if I ripped the pages out of the bibles and the song books, crumpled them up, put them in a pile then set fire to them.

Yes, this 10 year old boy fantasized about burning down the church.

At some point we stopped going to church. i'm not sure why but thankfully we did.

I never acted on these crazy thoughts but truly me and church didn't get along.

For many, many years the only time I set foot in a church was at wedding and couple of times around the holidays.

In college I was trying to impress some girl so I went to church a couple of times and even went to a bible study once or twice. NOTHING even stuck. I was a non-believer and it appeared like I would always be that way.

Every once in a while someone would give me a bible and try to get me to do something. (Read it? I'm not sure why people gave me bibles...) I was with my first wife for 10 years and I don't think we stepped into a church more than 3 times.

Now the question has to be...why did I go to church today?

In 2010 my life fell apart in so many ways. My marriage ended and for the first time in many years I was single, broke, lonely and pretty confused. If ever I needed I big change in my life it was then.

A few months before my divorce I has left my job at the YMCA. I was in need of a place to do a fitness program. My good friend Jim Beyer introduced me to the people at Trinity Evangelical Free church in Eustis. They showed my their gymnasium and told me I could us it. Awesome. I had a place to hold my classes!

Now here is the REALLY cool part. Did they tell me I had to be a believer  Nope. Did they tell me I had to go to church? Nope. They just said, "Try to come to service every once in a while to see what it was like".

I can do that.

My wife and I actually went a couple of times and this time I didn't want to light fires and I actually felt pretty good about it.

Then my world came crumbing down.

At this point in my life I knew that there was something that I needed. I needed a place that I could go to explore whatever faith might be to me.

I started going to church along every Sunday at Trinity.

Though a failed relationship, through the death on my father, and through the courtship of Teresa I went to church.

Nobody ever judged me. Nobody every made me feel bad because I was in the back or because I didn't sing along or because my hands weren't in the air. The people at Trinity accepted me for being me.

I liked that.

On November 19th, 2011 I was fortunate enough to have my Pastor at MY CHURCH marry me to the girl of my dreams. I am proud to this very day to say that I got married at Trinity Church in Eustis by Pastor Dave.

I went to church today. I didn't go last week or the week before. I probably go twice a month on average. Not person there said anything to me. They also have never said anything to me about not going to bible study and group and my lack of volunteer work.

Truth is that is what I need from a church.

After all these years I am thankful that I found a church I can call mine. Trinity Church is MY CHURCH...

Torture Chamber

It's funny the things I hear that stick in my mind.

I really wish that I could report that I heard more good things. I guess that is why obesity is going up every year and our society is getting more and more apathetic.

I was walking through the bank today. It was like a campus library during spring break, you could hear a pin drop.

The teller asks me what I was up to. I told her, "Just doing my banking then going for a run".

Of course another teller jumps into the conversation. "THAT is what what I am doing. I am working then going to my personal trainer."

I wish she had stopped at that but... she. Did. Not.

"It's like going to a torture chamber, when I go I feel like I am going to die."

Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

Honestly, it really, really, REALLY drives me nuts to hear people speak like this.

I went for a run. During my run I got sweaty, my legs hurt and I can even admit that I was tired. But how did I feel about it? I was proud of myself for doing it. I know that I just helped my body to process toxins, burn calories and build muscle  I loved that I went for a run. I loved that I was going to go for a run before the run started. RIGHT NOW I am happy that I did it and I am GRATEFUL for the experience.

Maybe my mindset is part of the reason that I look and feel better than ever even though I'm a couple clicks this side of 40.

Back to the lady with the bad attitude.

If you speak negatively about a situation in the future guess what that experience is going to be like? It's going to be a train wreck. It's going to be something that you despise doing and..guess what? Wait for it... WAIT FOR IT... you are going to QUIT.

Who really wants to be tortured?

I sure don't.

My message today is this:

Work out every day. You don't have to like it but at least don't tell people it's "torture". That's stupid. It's empowering.

Your attitude determines your altitude. If your attitude stinks then SO DO YOU.