Who is ready to ProtienUp & Carb Down!!!

So Check It!!  Last week I was invited to meet up with some of Flatout Flatbread team as they introduced their new line of flatbread.  They are launched their new line of flatbread at TheFitExpo in Los Angeles. Their latest invention is called ProtienUp Flatbread. My wife and I had the pleasure of joining them as well as other FitFluential Ambassadors for breakfast.  We were able to sample all three of the flavors they have to offer.  It was great to see how interested the Flatout bread team was on our feedback of this new product.  We sat around and tried samples and brainstormed ideas with their team and other ambassadors.

FitFluential Ambassadors after Flatout Bread breakfast

Enough about that, now you’re asking “great you met them now how about the goods?” 

Let me tell you… I limit myself little to no “bread” in general as the Carbs aren’t worth the extra time at the gym! But with this new “Flat Out ProteinUP Carb Down” flatbread never tasted so good.  One of the things I like the most about this new product is they get their protein from Navy beans and Chickpeas not protein isolates so they taste great!  The kicker is you get  12g Protein yes I said 12g  grams of protein and only 8 to 10 g of net  carbs you can’t beat that if you tried!

Flatout Bread is offering the ProtienUp bread in 3 great flavors.

Core 12 based on Flatout’s original wrap recipe, made with chickpeas

Red Pepper Hummus powered by chickpeas

Sea salt and crushed black pepper brought to you by navy beans,

Our personal favorite is the Red Pepper Hummus which is “powered by chickpeas”

One of the things I learned since being introduced to ProtienUp Bread is how good beans are for us.  Here are just a few of the benefits we get from beans.  They are full of fiber and protein, low in fat and sodium. They are also as great source of minerals such as calcium, potassium and magnesium.  They are packed full of vitamins like Choline, Folate, Niacin to name just a few. So enough with the science lesson.

My wife and I went on this road trip to Los Angeles this past weekend and my wife made rollups with the flatbread for quick healthy snacks for the road and in the hotel room and also throughout the day at TheFitExpo.  We made them with cream cheese, lunch meat, romaine lettuce, and peppers.  They were SO good and good for us which helped curb the go to unhealthy snacking and it made our “Stomach Real Estate” happy.

Road trip snacks for out trip to LA

Our biggest critics being our kids even enjoyed ProtienUp bread. They made a tasty desert made up of whip cream, fresh blackberries and bananas and rolled it up for great tasting desert.

The kids making their fruit rollup

I absolutely love the ProtienUp Breads! I know I will be standing in line when they hit the stores in the next month or so. I am looking forward to enjoying them on my carb days without having to worry so much about my carb intake.

My new friends over at Flatout Bread wanted me to share this printable coupon with you, so you too can try out some of their other great products as well as ProtienUp Bread when it is released. Click on the link to print up your coupon.

https://www.hopster.com/offers/flatout/1307/2852/1

Take a look at their website http://flatoutbread.com/ for wonderful blogger ideas on different recipes you can make with all of their great flatbreads.

Make sure to post your awesome recipes with Flatout bread on social media using #flatoutlove,

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Who loves samples!!!! TheFitExpo has you covered

One more week until the 12^th annual TheFitExpo Los Angeles .  Each year TheFitExpo seems to get bigger and bigger.  Not only do you see the expo grow but the companies that present their products grow as well. I have seen some of my favorite supplement companies grow each year as well. There is so much to see in just two days.  TheFitExpo literally has something for everyone.  It doesn’t matter if you are a bodybuilder or looking to shed some unwanted weight.  I am looking forward to visiting some of my favorite booths from the past as well as some new companies I have read reviews on.  I know for me one of the best things about TheFitExpo is getting samples from the vendors.  Supplements are not cheap so being able to try out the the products is a huge advantage and allows you save your money if you for some reason don’t like the product. I know I have tried some products people absolutely swear by and for some reason it doesn’t work for me.  Here are a few of my favorite booths from the past and few that I am looking forward to.

One of my favorite booths I enjoy visiting is the Evogen Nutrition BY Hany Rambod. With 13 Olympia titles to his credit, Hany Rambod, otherwise known as “The Pro Creator,” is the mastermind behind some of the top physiques in the world. It used to be that only a select athlete clientele had access to the ultra-exclusive, custom nutritional supplement formulas developed by Hany Rambod.  An underground buzz began about some of the formulas Hany was using with his athletes. Although many of the components were accessible, but results were limited. Hany had no choice but to fill the void by responding to the incredible demand in the marketplace launching Evogen Nutrition making his supplements available to everyone. Now Evogen is sold in over 25 countries internationally.I have personally tried and continue to use Evogen products myself. I love their Shred Stack which consists of Lipocide and Carnigen. Lipocide works curbing appetite, accelerating your metabolism, and heightening mental drive for hours, Lipocide is a key component of a complete weight loss solution. Carnigen is the latest ultra-premium and potent carnitine blend which utilizes the newest carnitine formulation technology to convert fat to energy. It’s the perfect stimulant-free fat-loss solution before cardio or training. I use these products for my am fasted cardio.  I love the focus and energy I get from Lipocide and love not having crazy jitters or crash feeling I’ve gotten from other products I’ve tried. Make sure and stop by their booth and check out the line of products Evogen has to offer.

     

It’s awesome to see not only TheFitExpo grow but also the brands that continue to grow as well.  This first time I saw the 360Cut booth they were just passing out t-shirts.  The following year they were the first booth you saw walking into the expo.  I stopped by and got a picture with the Dean Fazzolari and some samples.  I loved their pre-workout 360Pre so much I ordered some online as well as their 360intra.  I loved the pump,sustained energy & focus without any jitters. I loved the watermelon flavor. I look forward to visiting their booth this year and seeing what new goodies they have to offer this year.

There are so many brands that I have never tried or want to find out more about.  Here are a few of the booth I will definitely be visiting.

                               

I have heard awesome things about Prime Nutrition from my trainer Bill Seinerth. I am looking forward to visiting there booth and seeing what their all about.  I have read some awesome reviews on their Max-Hp and Intra-md products. You can find Prime Nutrition at booth 1429.

                         

       

I am also looking forward to visiting the CTD Sports booth 1045.  I actually saw this product for the first time when we went out to the Phoenix Europa this past October.  I just recently tried their Pwo sample of Noxipro.  I was very happy with the results of my workout and hope to visit their booth and learn more about the rest of their products

I am looking forward to checking out the Liftag booth 619.  I have never heard about this product but i have read some pretty great reviews about them.  This is one of the best things about visiting TheFitExpo is you can find new products like Liftag.

I will usually plan out my day and the booths i want to see by using the live floor plan on TheFitExpo website.  There is so much to see that I find it easier to have a plan of attack before i get on the expo floor.  What booths are you most looking forward to?

 http://www.map-dynamics.com/lafitnessexpo2015

TheLaFitExpo 2015

I am TOTALLY pumped for my annual trip down south to TheFitExpo.  For the past three years I have traveled to Los Angeles for TheFitExpo.  I have not only seen myself grow over the past three years but also TheFitExpo, It seems to get bigger and better every year.  This year I am even more excited to be attending TheFitExpo as a FitFluential Ambassador.  When I heard about this opportunity I was so excited.  We were given the opportunity of spreading the word via social media.  This will be the sixth time I have attended TheFitExpo since 2012.  They literally have something for everyone and everybody.  It doesn't matter if you’re a fitness pro or just a fitness enthusiast.  TheFitExpo covers everything from MMA to Olympic Weight Lifting to bodybuilding.  I know my main reason for attending three years ago was to meet some of my favorite MMA Celebrities.  This year they have a stacked line up of MMA Stars from UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz to current UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler. You also have the opportunity to train with the best.

 The Paradise Warrior Retreat is a separate ticketed event featured throughout TheFitExpo weekend. The Retreat will offer fans of world champions and MMA legends the chance of a lifetime to learn from the best in the fighting game -- the "secrets" that made them who they are. This event is a melting pot of participants of all ages, genders and disciplines who will have the opportunity to learn the principles and strategies of fighting that can be applied to any type of combat or in day-to-day survival. Instructors for this event will be the 2014 Fighter of the Year, Robbie Lawler as well as Luke Rockhold, Chad Mendes and Kabib Nurmagomedov.For more info on this visit www.paradisewarriorretreat.com. 

The Evolution Fitness Conference also gives everyone the opportunity to train with some of the fitness industries elite trainers like Jillian Michaels Bodyshred or take Celebrity Sweat with Eric the Trainer & Billy Blanks.  If your interested in making fitness a career check out the Fitness career center where these fitness professionals can help point you in the right direction. 

If you act fast the Evolution Fitness Conference is having a flash sale through Wednesday January 28,2015.         

Saturday Evolution Fitness Conference Half-Day (AM or PM - Includes 2 sessions.But, with this EFC Flash sale, anyone can go to www.efcnow.com, register for the Half Day (which includes two workouts, the Fit Expo and the FCC) and pay $25 when they enter the source code EFCFLASH at check out.

I always look forward to THeFitExpo.  I always come away fired up and ready to rock.  Check out their site for a complete list of events and celebrities and follow my blog and other social media handles as I will be sharing via social media during the two days of the expo.  Keep an eye out for the other FitFluential Ambassadors who will be attending TheFitExpo as well and feel free to say hello. 

  

Life is about choices

This past week my family took a wonderful road trip.  We drove over 1800 miles through three states in 6 days.  We went to Phoenix to visit with my trainer Bill Sienerth and also to cheer on and see  IFBB Pro Sara Kovach win the Phoenix Europa.  We had such an amazing experience. We got to see and experience things that I never thought possible. Things that I would have never dreamed of before I decided to Choosefitness. 

Dinner with Bill, Sara Nancy and the kids after Sara Europa win in Phoenix

   Sometimes I am amazed on how making one little decision in life can have such a huge impact on not just myself but others around me.  Over two years ago I made the decision to Choosefitness.  I literally felt like I had one foot in the grave.  It is like so many other vices or addictions out there. I lived in complete and total denial.  I figured if I avoided taking pictures or going out much i would not have to face the fact that i had let myself become morbidly obese. I use the term morbidly obese instead of overweight due to the fact that I weighed in at 390 lbs.  I am almost positive I weighed more since i started walking and cutting out junk food two weeks prior to my doctors appointment,  I had several health issues sleep apnea being the worst.  During one of my sleep studies I stopped breathing for almost 45 seconds. The nurse came into wake me up and switch me to a different machine.  I avoided looking at myself in the mirror because frankly I did not like what I saw looking back at me. Life is about choices.  It is about living with the choices we make good or bad.  I had chosen to let my health spiral out of control.  I chose to sit and eat a whole large pizza in one sitting.  I chose to drink a 12 pack of Pepsi in a day.  All these bad choices led me to hit finally hit my rock bottom.  I am husband and a father of two wonderful children and I had no energy to play with them.  I would get winded trying to walk across the yard to get a ball or to chase them.  It took an amazing friend to literally scare the hell out of me.  I will never forget what he said to me that night.  He told me when you die from a heart attack I will tell your kids you where a great guy.  To this day those words still get me a little choked up.  The very next day I chose to start trying to make a difference in my life.  It started with by making different choices in what I ate and drank.  It started by choosing to go walking.  I never forget the first day having to have my wife come pick me up because I was literally exhausted. I thought i had walked for ever turned out to be less than an 1/2 mile.  Every day I made the choice to walk further and further everyday.  Even if it was just a few steps more than the day before.

  

Day 1 March 10,2012  390 lbs

    In July I made my next huge choice.  I chose to attend the San Jose Fit Expo.  I felt so out of place walking around all these fit people. I had lost weight but was still about 350 lbs.  I felt like people Would look right past me.  I felt so uncomfortable and was ready to leave.  On my way out I stopped off at the Gnc booth.   A guy turned around and started talking to me. He asked me if i worked out.  My first response was great here we go another muscle head going to lecture me.  I told him I started working out and losing weight.  He asked me if i had a trainer and i told him no.  That's when Bill Sienerth handed me his card and said he wanted to train me. I was thinking no way this guy really wants train me.  As I turned to walk away he told me something i will never forget.   he told me I WILL HELP YOU CHANGE YOUR LIFE.  I was thinking that a bold statement.  We kept in contact Via twitter and Facebook until November when again I made another choice.  I decided to finally sign with Bill.  It has to be the best decision I have made when it comes to my health.  He did what he said he was going to do.  He helped me change my life mentally and physically. ON the first month I was down almost thirty lbs.  He put together a healthy life plan that was taylor made for my weight loss.  I had a goal of losing a 100lbs in a year.  With Bills help i crushed that goal by 25 lbs.  Since I decided to Choosefitness I have been able to live life in a whole new perspective.  

Crossing the finish line at my first 5k race.

Jumping over the fire at the Warrior Dash

   

I am doing things I thought never possible before.  I have ran my first 5k in March.  I just completed a major goal of a Warrior Dash.  The Warrior Dash was a goal Bill and I had set two years before.  I am competing in the Men's Health Urbanarathon in San Francisco in less than three weeks.   During our vacation we hiked down Bright Angel trail for a few miles with my kids.  These are all things that are all made possible by deciding to Choosefitness to change my life for the better.  None of these things would have been possible with out making a choice. 

Bill And I holding up my old size 56 waist pants

I have been asked if i regret not starting sooner.  My answer is no.  I believe I started when i was ready to choose the right time. Although my decision might have been out of desperation and fear.  I honestly believe i was not ready before even though i had tried and failed in the past.  I am not saying I have been perfect over the past two or so years.  I struggle like everyone else does. I sometimes get caught up on how far others are coming along and not seeing changed fast enough in myself.  I will have a pity party and falter for few days.  This again is a choice that I make.  I then make the choice to pick my self up and continue on.  I need to remember I'm not competing with others but with myself.  Each day making the choice to be better than I was the day before.  I focus on how far I have come and not on far I have to go.  I Choosefitness to change my life so I can experience and enjoy life in a whole new way.  If you want more info on how or where to start your journey click on the Choosefitness link to contact my trainer Bill Sienerth or feel free to contact me as well.

Who is ready to Run The City?

Who is ready to Run The City? Thanks to Fitfluential and Mens Health Urbanathalon I will be taking on the street of San Francisco on November 23, 2014.  Some of you may have never heard of this awesome race.  It is an obstacle course race that has two separate distances to choose from.  You can choose the classic which is a 10 mile course with 15 different obstacles or the all new sprint, which is a 3 mile course with 8 obstacles.  Here is a brief description take on their web page.

WHAT IS THE URBANATHLON?

In 2014, Men’s Health is returning with our 9th annual URBANATHLON series, celebrating the Men’s Health work hard, play hard mentality. The URBANATHLON challenges competitors—or more accurately, flat-out dares them—to set new personal standards for what it means to be fit.

Whether you are taking on the classic distance or the all NEW sprint distance course, the URBANATHLON is the ultimate test of endurance, strength, mobility and pure toughness. Post race, the excitement continues at the Men’s Health URBANATHLON Festival, with DJ sets, food and drink, and tons of stuff from our sponsors to demo, sample, and take home.

There are three different locations with races coming up.  You can choose from three different locations New York (October 18) Chicago(October 25) and San Francisco (November 23).  I will be running the new sprint distance in San Francisco.  This will be my second OCR race in less than a month and only my third official race ever.  I have been on a personal fitness journey for the past two years.  When I started in March of 2012 I was 386 lbs. Over two years later and 165 lbs lighter I am looking forward to testing myself in the streets of San Francisco on Nov 23.  

Men's Health Urbanathalon has been generous enough to allow me to share a discount code : FIT  to get 20% off your registration.  I hope to see you all out in San Francisco on Nov 23 

Reebok All Terrain Supers are Super

Disclaimer: I was given these shoes free of charge.  All opinions are my own.


For the longest time i have always bought shoes and worried about not getting them dirty.  It didn't matter if if was for pleasure or for play,Until now.  I received a gift card Via Kelly Olexa a while back for Reebok. I was able to go in a design and customize my own shoe.  It is actually a pretty awesome and simple feature they have one the Reebok website.  You pick out the style of shoe you would like to design,  You can choose to make it completely your own or start with a base that you can tweak to your liking. They make the process fun and easy to use.

 I chose the All Terrain Super because I wanted a rugged shoe that I could get dirty and not worry about them falling apart like other shoes  have tried in the past. We live out in the country so there a lot of fields, canals, orchards and mud to run through.  I have worn these shoes for every workout in and out of the gym for the past month or so.  They have hit the treadmill weight room and beach.  U couldn't wait to get these bad boys wet and dirty.  My family recently spent a weekend in Pismo Beach.  I packed my running bag and couldn't wait to hit the beach with my running partner who happens to be my five year old daughter Karley.  We hit Grover Beach and two sets of stairs before we took off across the beach. We started out along the sand until we hit waters edge.  I was surprised at well they held up getting wet in water. We continued along the beach running in and out of the ocean water.  Going from being splashed with water to being completely submerged.  I was expecting them to loosen up or become uncomfortable when they got wet.  To my pleasant surprise this never happened.  One of the awesome features this All Terrain Super has is the water ports in the front of the shoe to allow the water to drain when the shoe is wet or gets muddy.  The only thing I did not like was that the sand seemed to settle in the front of the shoe and not get washed out with the water. The sand would build up under the front of my foot so I had to stop and rinse it out about half way through my run. Had an amazing time testing these shoes out on the beach.  One of the best things about the All Terrain Super is the easy clean up.  I took out the sock liner and just rinsed them off in the sink.  I set them out to dry Over night and by the next day they had dried out.  One of the thing i had experienced in the past is once my other shoes had dried up they began to fall apart.  They have held up and are just as good today as they where the first day I put them on my feet.

 I was able to test out another feature this past Saturday while I visited Yosemite National Park with my family was the underfoot rock guard.  I took the opportunity to climb up Bridal Veil falls. The Granite rock is slippery and jagged.  I didn't feel any of the sharper edges of the rocks through these shoes thanks to the underfoot rock guard.  I was a little worried about not having a hiking shoe on since we walked and hiked a bit.  I didn't feel any discomfort during the day at all. 

All in all I am very satisfied and impressed with Reeboks All Terrain Super. I would highly recommend this shoe to any one especially if you are into obstacle course running.  Next testing ground for them will be a Warrior Dash event in mid October.

Back to where it all started

 I had the privilege of taking my children with me to The San Jose Fit Expo.  The Fit Expo will be an even that I will always try to attend whether its in norther or southern California.  For many of you who may not know the fit expo is an event that changed my life.  It opened me up to so many different avenues of fitness.  They have something for everyone.   It doesn't matter if your into bodybuilding, cross fit, zumba or even mixed martial arts.  It doesn't even matter where your at in your fitness journey.  the first time I attended was to meet UFC hall of fame legend Tito Ortiz.  I was tipping the scales at about  350 lbs and felt so out of place around all these fit people.  As I was on my way out the door I saw the GNC booth.  I walked over to see what they where handing out.  Little did i know that split second decision would change my life for ever.  This is where I met my trainer Bill Sienerth. Ill never forget what he told me that day.  He said when I was ready he would change my life.  Almost three years later he has helped me do just that.  I went from being an over weight dad who couldn't play with his kids with out getting winded to a dad preparing to train for  half marathon.  the journey has not been perfect but I continue to plug away at it.

Having Karley (5) and Nathan (4) attend this years expo was such an awesome and emotional experience for me.  to expose them to all the different kinds of fitness from Cross fit to Parkour to Bodybuilding.  It was fun to see Karley watching a demonstration and her mimicking what the lady was doing while she was waiting in line to meet Kali Muscle.  I usually have a game plan when i go to the Fit Expo.  I will pick my top vendors i want to visit and hit them first.  Of course that went out the window with the kids in tow.  We hit the bodybuilding.com booth first.  As we stood in line I actually got a little emotional.  I was thinking back to three years before and feeling out of place and tired from walking around at 350 lbs to being in line weighing 230 lbs that day and sharing this day with my children. We got to meet the bodybuilding.com athletes we took a group picture with Jerome Ferguson.and Karley got to take a picture with Jessie Hilgenberg.  As my plan of attack went out the window we walked around to the booths that the most noise or lights.  One of the must meet athletes was 4x Mr.Olympia Jay Cutler.  My son has meet Jay before but Karley just had to meet him. My kids have seen him in pictures with my trainer Bill so they just had to meet muscle man Bills friend.  The kine moved fairly quick and Karley finally got her wish to meet Jay Cutler.    She was so excited that he gave her an autographed picture. It was so awesome seeing the way these athletes interacted with not just my kids but all the kids that they met that day.  We moved onto the Allmax booth to meet the Mark "Flex" Anthony.  He is the first ever Men's Physique Mr.Olympia.  I had meet him a few times before with Bill.  He took the time to talk with the kids a bit and autographed a picture and took a photo with the kids.  We then stepped across the way to The Evogen Nutrition booth,  It amazes me how much our kids remember at such a young age,  My son had met the Hany earlier in the year.  Although he didn't remember his name he remembered he had meet him.  He ran up and said hello.  The kids then got to meet Evogen Athlete Ifbb Pro Steve Kucklo.  WE made the rounds to more boths and got to meet other athletes like Ufc Hall of famer Tito Ortiz, Kali Muscle.  One of our last stops was to 1 day you may booth.  The kids got to meet Rich Piana.  It was funny seeing the kids next to him.  I think his bicep was bigger than both kids put together.  I let the kids pick one thing they got to buy from the expo.  Nathan picked some sort of snack food he like and Karley actually picked a poster signed by Rich Pianna. I took the kids to watch a cooking demonstration by fellow Fitfluential Ambassador Magan Pettit.  She was showing how to make protien pancakes and smoothies.  My kids absolutley loved both so mush we had to make them at home.

I saved the best booth for our last stop.  We hit the Gnc booth on the way out just as I had three years ago.  Although my trainer Bill was in Florida I still wanted the kids to Meet some of the other Gnc Athletes.The kids know the big red letters is where there friend muscle man billy works.  Nathan thought for sure I was joking when i told him Bill was not going to be here this time. The kids got to meet Ifbb Bikini Pro Narmin Assria and Ifbb Men's Physique pro Trent Calavan.  We talked for a bit and they took an awesome picture with the kids. 

It is great to see how all these athletes interact with there fans.  It is especially great to see how they interact with the little ones.  Even though the expo was a few weeks ago my kids talk about it like it was yesterday.If you have never attended The Fit Expo in San Jose or In Los Angeles i highly recommend it. Maybe one day ill be able to stand on stage at and share how this event not only changed my life but my families as well.