It’s been a while since the last posted blog. I took a little hiatus because some kind of illness knocked me on my a$$ for a week. The week following my last blog I got bombarded with everything and anything from a stomach virus to bronchitis. I got my week off from working out the crappy way. Like I mentioned in my last blog my body needed rest, but I would have preferred to take it on my own volition. These things happen, but it’s important not to lose focus and stay the course. While I was sick I lost about 7 lbs. Don’t get excited, this is NOT good weight loss. Don’t think your losing fat this way, because your not. Not only was I unbelievably weak upon my return, I couldn’t breathe during most of my cardio. So I lost the second week of February. I am not going to tack on another week at the end. March 2nd, is my final date. And yes, I do have the second phase mapped out.

So my workouts sucked upon my return. I was weak and couldn’t breathe. I took the biggest hit in my cardiovascular strength. I couldn’t perform the workouts without being totally gassed. Gradually, I started gaining the weight back and feeling a little better. To this day, I am not 100%, but I am close. I tell people all the time. You can set a plan like I did for myself, but life usually has a different plan in mind for you. How well you are able to cope with and work around variables that life throws at you will really dictate how successful you are at the end of the day. It’s hard to make training a priority in your life. I am very fortunate that my line of work is in this industry, but understand sometimes it is even hard for me. With two studios, and running back and forth, sometimes it’s tough to stay focused. You have to make it part of your routine, and not deviate from that. On the days this is the last place you want to be, you need to just get it done. You won’t reach your goals any other way.

Ok.. enough preaching. Anyone who’s worked with me knows I am a die hard New York Yankees Fan. Obviously the biggest story of late has been the use of steroids by Alex Rodriguez while he was on the Texas Rangers. They’ve certainly beat the hell out of the story. It’s really a shame. Do I like Alex Rodriguez? Not really. Do I think what he did was ok? Not really. I will tell you if someone was on the verge of giving me $250 million over 10 years to play baseball I would probably think about it. People always ask me about synthetic supplements for weight loss and strength gains. It’s all b#llsh$t. Especially the weight loss supplements. It’s cheating, it’s a shortcut, and in the long term it’s not worth it. I promise you. I use Whey and Fish Oil tablets, that’s it. I can see how one can get frustrated and look for a solution outside of hard work. I’ve done it myself! I tried the shortcut to success. When I was in college I wanted to get bigger and more cut so I took Xenadrine and AD-1, which is Androstene. Long story short about Andro; after several chemical pathways, andro increases current testosterone levels in your blood. Increased testosterone levels gives you physical energy and maintains muscle trophism. The Xenadrine was to lose excess weight. The makers say that their product enhances fat burn. (Yeah, Ok). So basically, the summer before my senior year I started a cocktail that would seriously disrupt natural human pathways. I’ll use A-rod’s excuse. “I was young and naive. Stupid”

The Xenadrine really messed me up. It gave me ridiculous reflux. To this day, I think it is solely responsible for that. It made my heart rate jump through the roof. How can that be healthy? These new products that come out, sure they provide instant results but the long term effects can be very dangerous. The AD-1(which is no longer on the market, by the way. That’s got to be a good sign) was amazing. I was lifting more than I have ever lifted, and I felt like a psycho in the gym. People were noticing I was bigger. Sweet! Well, it dehydrated the crap out of me to the point of vomiting sometimes, and after I finished the bottle I lost everything shortly thereafter. Who knows what kind of damage I did to myself in the long term. I messed with my hormone levels for essentially nothing. I can’t stress enough that these supplements are pointless. Why put something unnatural in your body, that not even the makers know the long term effects. You yourself can make it happen through sweat and discipline.

I feel rejuvenated now and am ready to finish up the first phase. My next blog I will post some numbers and results from my training and diet, and give an introduction to the second phase. You should always be setting goals for yourself. Give yourself something to strive for and go after it.

I came to realize this past week that many of you have been receiving my newsletters for quite some time now but may have no idea who “Jim Borden” is, so I would like to use this week’s newsletter to let you know a little bit more about me.

Let me give you the basics first. I am 51 years old, have been married for 27 years, and have 3 sons. My wife Mary has been teaching at St. David’s Nursery School for 10 years and is one of the those rare individuals who is doing what she was meant to do. Her weekly newsletters put mine to shame, loaded with pictures of her students and a summary of all that they have learned that week. From reading her newsletter to listening to the stories she tells, you can just feel the passion she has for her job and the love she has for her students.

My oldest son, James, lives in Durham, NC and works for CDC News as an internal reporter. He was an English and Journalism major at the University of Delaware and his girlfriend Kait is in the Ph.D. program at Duke in cognitive neuroscience. The two of them were actively involved in the Obama campaign, and now volunteer their time with a local animal rescue shelter. My middle son, Joey, is a filmmaker who seems to spend half his time at home and half his time on the road, wherever life will lead him. He just got back from a month in LA where he was recording a video that will accompany a new album by the band “As Tall As Lions”. Before that he was in Hawaii for several weeks learning about the wide variety of fruit available and how to live off the land. He is also the person responsible for the video testimonials many of you watched at ftmainline.com. My youngest son, Pat, is a senior at Radnor High School where he has been the manager of the football team for 4 years. He is an avid skier and lover of music. He also plays a mean game of tennis (on Nintendo Wii that is) and is planning to continue his education by possibly studying graphic arts or film.

And now the moment you’ve been waiting for! I have taught Accounting at Villanova for over 22 years, and after looking at my most recent pension plan statement, I may be there another 22 years. One of the passions in my life, as you can imagine, is health and fitness. I was a competitive swimmer my whole life, and achieved All America status in college. While I certainly enjoyed the competition, I also loved learning about different training methods and the science behind exercise. I briefly flirted with majoring in Exercise Science but ended up an Economics major instead. The interest in exercise always stayed with me, but it wasn’t until about 5 years ago that I decided it was time to do something about it, or it would never happen. I went back to school and earned a degree in Health and Fitness Promotion (yea, I was that old guy in class that all the younger students looked at kind of funny…). I also became a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

It was near the end of my degree program that I found out about Fitness Together. My wife and I flew out to Denver to learn more about the franchise. Upon returning, I thought to myself that if I was ever going to start my own business, this was a perfect opportunity and if I let it go by, I may never have this chance again. So we bought the rights to open an FT studio, and the rest is history!

The experience has been more than I could have imagined. I realized there was a big difference between teaching business and running a business, and I have learned a tremendous amount in the year and a half since we opened the Newtown Square studio. I certainly appreciate the support and patience our clients have shown in the studio while we were (and still are) learning the ropes.

The reason I opened an FT studio is because it gives me the chance to share my passion for health and fitness with others. I get a tremendous sense of satisfaction when I hear clients tell me about how much better they feel, how much stronger they are, how much weight they have lost, the great doctor’s reports they get, etc. While such accomplishments are the result of the hard work of our trainers and our clients’ commitments to their goals, I like to think that I have helped in that process by enabling such interactions to take place.

Since all of our clients share their goals with us, I would like to share some of my goals with you. These goals actually came from a goal-setting session Chris and I attended as part of our Sales and Business Development Training. In no particular order, here are some of the goals I set for myself and the business for 2009: have all of our clients experience great results and become committed to a healthy lifestyle; be chosen as the Franchise of the Month (there are over 400 FT studios, so this would be quite an honor), volunteer and contribute to the local community; vacation in Hilton Head; do my version of the 300 workout (100 pullups, 100 pushups, and 100 situps) in 15 minutes; make a significant dent in my mortgage; and find a meaningful job at FT for my youngest son Pat.

Finally, here are some miscellaneous things about me: I have been a vegan for almost two and a half years; one of my favorite hobbies is juggling (although it’s hard to find the time to practice); my favorite movie is Chariots of Fire, my favorite book is The Caine Mutiny, and Bruce Springsteen is my favorite musician (and I’ve got tickets to see him in April!!). Some of my favorite ways to relax: hang out at a bookstore, play miniature golf, play Nintendo Wii, and mindlessly surf the web.

Well if you have gotten this far, I want to thank you for taking the time to learn a bit about me. To our clients, it has been a pleasure getting to know you; doing so has been one of the most rewarding aspects of having started this business. I also want to thank you for entrusting us to be your partner in your commitment to your health and fitness; we take that trust seriously. For those of you I do not personally know yet, I look forward to such an opportunity in the near future.

To your health and happiness.

P.S. I just found out that the web site I recommended to you last week, Zen Habits, was named one of the top 25 blogs of the year by Time magazine! You can see the full list here.

P.P.S. I can’t write a whole newsletter without giving at least one basic wellness tip, so I’ll keep this one short: train hard, eat smart, enjoy life.

This week I’d like to talk about something a little different; something that doesn’t directly relate to fitness and nutrition. As I was browsing through the magazine section at Border’s, the cover of Psychology Today caught my eye. There was a big yellow Smiley face and a headline that said, “The Pursuit of Happiness”. So I grabbed the magazine, found a nice comfy chair, and sat down to read the article.

Apparently happiness is big business. According to the article, 4,000 books were published on happiness last year and the most popular class at Harvard University is about positive psychology, with at least 100 other universities offering similar courses.

Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania is the founder of the movement known as Positive Psychology. which focuses on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. His research has demonstrated that it is possible to be happier – to feel more satisfied, to be more engaged with life, find more meaning, have higher hopes, and probably even laugh and smile more, regardless of one’s circumstances. At the same time, developments in neuroscience provided new clues to what makes us happy and what that looks like in the brain. (Interesting sidebar: Dr. Seligman is also responsible for developing the theory of learned helplessness – a psychological condition in which a human being or an animal has learned to act or behave helpless in a particular situation, even when it has the power to change its unpleasant or even harmful circumstance. Seems like it is the polar opposite of positive psychology!)

But all is not necessarily well. According to some measures, as a nation we’ve grown sadder and more anxious during the same years that the happiness movement has flourished; perhaps that’s why we’ve eagerly bought up its offerings. It may be that college students sign up for positive psychology lessons in droves because a full 15 percent of them report being clinically depressed.

So it’s not surprising that the happiness movement has unleashed a counterforce in academia. Despite this opposition, there are some things the happiness and anti-happiness forces agree on – that we Americans tend to grab superficial quick fixes such as extravagant purchases and fatty foods to subdue any negative feelings that overcome us. Such measures seem to hinge on a belief that constant happiness is somehow our birthright. Indeed, a body of research shows instant indulgences do calm us down – for a few moments. But they leave us poorer, physically unhealthy, and generally more miserable in the long run – and lacking in the real skills to get us out of our rut.

So what is happiness? The most useful definition – and it’s one agreed upon by neuroscientists, psychiatrists, behavioral economists, positive psychologists, and Buddhist monks – is more like satisfied or content than “happy” in its strict bursting-with-glee sense. It has depth and deliberation to it. It encompasses living a meaningful life, utilizing your gifts and your time, living with thought and purpose.

It’s maximized when you also feel part of a community. And when you confront annoyances and crises with grace. It involves a willingness to learn and stretch and grow, which sometimes involves discomfort. It requires acting on life, not merely taking it in. It’s not joy, a temporary exhilaration, or even pleasure, that sensual rush – though a steady supply of those feelings course through those who seize each day.

There has been real progress in understanding happiness and how to get it. Here are the greatest hits, as it were, that jump out from the research.
Please note that I have just supplied you with the bullet points for each of these findings.

• Some People Are Born Happy
• Getting What You Want Doesn’t Bring Lasting Happiness
• Pain Is a Part of Happiness
• Mindfulness Brings Happiness
• Happiness Lies in the Chase
• Yes, Money Buys Happiness-At Least Some Money and Some Happiness
• Happiness Is Relative
• Options Make Us Miserable
• Happiness Is Other People
• Do Your Happiness Homework
• Happiness Hinges on Your Time Frame
• You’re Wrong About What Will Make You Happy and You’re Wrong About What Made You Happy
• Happiness Is Embracing Your Natural Coping Style
• Happiness Is Living Your Values

I encourage you to read the article (click here) to find out the details behind each of these findings; I found it a fascinating article.

One other thing I liked about the article is that it had a nice little side story on Leo Babauta, who has his own web site, Zen Habits. According to the web site, Zen Habits is one of the Top 100 blogs on the Internet, and covers: achieving goals, productivity, being organized, GTD, motivation, eliminating debt, saving, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living frugal, parenting, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits. It is one of my favorite web sites, and one that has good, useful content just about every day. I highly recommend it!!

Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s newsletter, even though it’s a little bit off the beaten path. I’d love to get your feedback and find out what makes you happy, besides getting an awesome workout at Fitness Together

And if you get a chance to visit Zen Habits, let me know what you think.

To your health and happiness.

We have been using Vitabot with our clients for a little over two weeks now, and the results have been outstanding.

If you’ve never heard of Vitabot, it is an online nutrition guidance program. Using Vitabot, clients enter what they are eating each day into their private account, and the program will then give them a letter grade from A to F on several dimensions, such as calories, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and various vitamins and minerals. For example, if a client has an F in potassium, he or she can click on the potassium link and the program will offer suggestions as to which foods will help improve their grade. The program also offers hundreds of meal plans that already have letter grades of A along each dimension so that the client can save time trying to design their own nutritionally balanced meals. Another useful feature is that the program will prepare a shopping list for you based on your meal plans.

Here’s what one of our clients has to say about Vitabot:

“I found it difficult to write down in my Accountability Journal everything I was eating. As a result, I knew I was not as committed to my nutrition needs as I should be. Vitabot has changed that. It is easy to use, and tells me exactly what I need to eat and how much I need to eat. In the week and a half since I started using Vitabot, I have lost almost 5 pounds!” Lisa

We have heard similar success stories from several of our clients over the past couple of weeks – they are seeing REAL RESULTS!

If you would like to watch a brief (8 minute) video of Vitabot, you can go to the official Vitabot web site at vitabot.com and click on the Watch Demo link.

Vitabot is included in all of our personal training packages at no extra cost. However, if you are currently not a client, we are offering you the chance to try out Vitabot for 7 days for free, with no obligation. If after trying Vitabot you see how its powerful technology can be a key part of helping you achieve your health and fitness goals, you can sign up for Vitabot for only $10 per month. To start your free trial, just reply to this email and we will send you out an activation code immediately. I look forward to hearing from you.

To your health and happiness.

I know, I know; it’s Thursday. So what happened to Wellness “Wednesday“? What can I say, time flies when you’re having fun!

Anyway, I came across this interesting research article about the benefits of exercise for the elderly (which the authors defined as over 60), and I thought I would share it with you. The article appeared in the Jan. 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Some highlights of the article were as follows:

• the risk for developing insulin resistance — a pre-diabetic condition in which the body does not properly utilize the hormone insulin to break down food sugars — has long been associated with growing older
• elderly men and women whose objective is to manage their blood sugar, reduce both diabetic and cardiovascular risk, and simultaneously maintain an ability to live independently, should do both aerobic and resistance training
• any form of exercise, alone or in combination, appeared to significantly boost motor function among the research participants — although combining aerobic with resistance exercise provided the most benefit
• the authors concluded that older men and women have the most to gain by engaging in a routine exercise program that includes both aerobic and resistance training, while maintaining a healthy diet
• Dr. Roger H. Unger, a professor of internal medicine and emeritus director of the Touchstone Center for Diabetes Research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, indicated that the findings are strongly in line with what he would expect
• “When we overeat and under-exert, when we don’t use our muscles over long periods of time, we obviously will ultimately suffer the consequences and go on to develop all sorts of irregularities, including insulin resistance,” added Unger. “So, anything that gets people to move is going to be beneficial.”

If you would like to read more of the details, here is the link to the news story.

So as you can see, you’re never too old to realize the benefits of exercising and watching what you eat. And if you are not yet considered “older”, as defined by these researchers, then engaging in regular physical activity now will provide a great foundation for making the “Golden Years” a truly special time in your life. I think one of my all-time favorite quotes is quite appropriate right here; “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

On a final note, I want to let you know that in the past two weeks we have seen a tremendous surge in activity at our studios. I want to welcome all of our new clients and let you know that we are committed to your success, and look forward to making 2009 your Best Year Ever.

To your health and happiness.

P.S. If you read this email and are thinking “I need to share this with my Mom or Dad”, please forward this on to them; there is a link at the bottom to do so.

P.P.S. We have just updated our “official” FT web site, please take a look at www.ftnewtownsquare.com. Be sure to view the many testimonials from our Frazer clients!

Progress is progress, no matter how you look at it. I would much rather be taking tiny baby steps then moving backwards. That’s pretty much where this blog finds me. I’ve now completed the fourth week. I received some treatment for my knees and feel better. I have been very strategic about how I approach my training due to the fact my body felt “tired”. That happens, you hit lulls, then suddenly your energized again. The good news is I do feel much better and look forward to the second month of this program.

Plain and simple, I went out on Saturday. I have to confess that fact. I’m not going to try and hide it because what’s the point. I had friends from college in town and couldn’t sit home by myself. People just don’t understand! When you dedicate yourself to something and are committed, something like this doesn’t sit well with you. However, I do not regret doing it. It was great to see everyone and I had a fun time. Now it’s time to get back in the game though. (See nobody’s perfect!) It’s so important to stay the course, and be able to adjust as life gets thrown at you. My goal is for people to understand the following; if I train 5 times a week, and I miss one scheduled session it cannot be, “oh well I missed one”. It has to be, “Ok I missed one, I need to make it up at some point” It’s easy to suffer from shortsightedness in a training program. Try and look at your program on a monthly, or even longer basis, not week by week. My goal is to work out 20 times a month. 20! If I go 3 times one week, I have to go 7 times the next. Miss one here and there, and suddenly your on a slippery slope of NEVER seeing results and wasting time and money. I can’t stress enough that it’s important to stay the course and remain focused on what your trying to achieve.  You can reach your goals, it’s all laid out in front of you, but the minute you go “eh, I’ll just miss today, no big deal”, you’re done. Try making your training a habit no matter what. So much so, that when you miss an appointment(which you will), you need to make it up or it’ll mess you up in the head!

Notice how I try and avoid talking about myself as much as possible? My life just isn’t that interesting!! I really believe that I am behind in my training. I don’t feel as if I made significant progress in 4 weeks, just baby steps. HOWEVER, like I said before, it’s very important not to be shortsighted, but you need to be cognizant of where you are at all times. Some progress is better than no progress. Don’t get frustrated. STAY THE COURSE! I’m petrified of when the program shifts into the pool. Lifting, Basketball, and swimming! There isn’t enough time in the day. It’ll be fun.

Great Pre/Post-Workout Snack

Scoop of Whey Protein Powder
Half a banana
Tablespoon of Peanut Butter
Tablespoon of Raw Oatmeal
1-2 Cups of Non-Fat Milk

Try your best to look at Nutrition facts. Sugar is the enemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!