Written by Lifebook Member Nicholas Araza There are so many ways to work out these days; it can be hard to choose. Some regimens focus on calorie burning, some focus on endurance, some gyms just let you go at it alone with no guidance and on the other spectrum others supervise you’re every move. With so many ways to work out, what should we do? As always, and no surprise to the Lifebook crew, that depends on what our goals are. My fitness journey began with being strong like Ah-nold, how I looked and having “big guns” as my motivation, but after much pain, injury and little result, I started asking better questions.  I started asking “how should I exercise to get healthier and feel better.” Much to my surprise the answer to those question made the BIGGEST change in my health AND my physique and has done so for thousands of others. As simple as this is, healthier people look better, feel better and are more fit.  But how do we define fitness and how can we work out to feel better? Enter CrossFit...

We’re all aware of the groundbreaking evidence neuroscientists and physiologists have been gathering on the incredibly beneficial relationship between exercise and brainpower. But new findings are making it clear that this isn’t just A relationship - it’s THE relationship… And it could be the key to fully unlocking your intellectual potential. In just the past few months, using sophisticated technologies to examine the inner workings of neurons and the makeup of brain matter, scientists have discovered that exercise helps to literally BUILD a brain that resists physical shrinkage and enhance cognitive flexibility, even with age.

It’s becoming clear that EXERCISE does more to boost thinking than THINKING does.

How can exercising build brainpower in ways that thinking can’t?

Written by: Lifebook Member Larry Hebenstreit I've been trying to quit smoking for years. Tried it all. Pills, facial injections, hypnosis... if it's out there, I've tried it. I succeeded in quitting a few times and for variable lengths of time but they (buy marlboro cigarettes) kept creeping back in my life. The truth is, I didn't stay quit because I didn't care enough to stay quit. I didn't care about my health. I didn't care about others around me. I didn't care about what my families future would look like without me in it. But wait a minute. That's not completely true. Of course I care about my health. I brush my teeth and I don't eat fast food. Of course I care about others around me. I hold doors open for them and I cover my mouth when I sneeze or cough. And my family is very important to me as is their future and of course I want to be a part of it for as long as possible. It wasn't until I started creating my life book and examining my current status in the twelve categories of my life and realizing how they are all connected... and if I was to loose this one bad habit, it would have a profound effect on all twelve categories. From my health and fitness (the ability to exercise) to my character (being a person with self control). From my love relationship (not coming to bed smelling like an ashtray) to my social life (not being the only one stepping out for a smoke). And @ 13.50 a pack (Chicago), my financial life.

Written by Lifebook Member Steve S. Hello Lifebook Family!  I just wanted to share my personal progress and thank all of you, because being accountable to each and every one of you has really helped (and continues to help) me stay on track and move closer to my dreams! Just to remind you, I set my overriding goal in health and fitness, to fit into a 34" waist size (I was wearing a 38" at the time of Lifebook), and to get myself a 6-pack by 12/31. When we were in Chicago on July 22-25, I weighed somewhere between 205 and 210 lbs.  For another layer of accountability, I entered into the Lifetime Fitness Weightloss Challenge. I'm now wearing 34" pants (and I can definitely fit into a size 33)! For the first time in 30 years I'm beginning to see my abs! This morning I weighed in at 174 lbs.

By:  Jason and Nandi Moore

You’re Sick And Tired, Whether You Know It Or Not

You’re sick and tired and becoming even sicker with each passing day and you’re either aware of it, because you’re already experiencing annoying and uncomfortable symptoms, or its happening secretly in the background without your awareness… …at least for now. The fact is, you’re already sick long before noticeable symptoms occur and even longer before modern medical science is able to identify or measure any imbalance – assuming they even have the ability to identify and measure imbalance accurately in the first place. Everyday people go to their doctor for a check up and they either walk out with a real disease diagnosis because they didn’t know how to notice imbalance starting to form and what to do about it upstream… …or they walk out with a misdiagnosis based on a moving target of ever changing quantitative information, an inaccurate 200 year old germ theory, and an outdated 400 year old view of how the body works… …or worse, they walk out believing they’re in perfect health because the doctor has no way of accurately identifying or measuring imbalance before it becomes real disease and end up dropping dead unexpectedly on the way to the mailbox one morning. Why are you sick and tired, whether you know it or not? OVER-ACIDIFICATION!

“Tug on anything at all and you'll find it connected to everything else in the universe.” John Muir Imagine every area of your life connected by a web of thousands of invisible threads.  Every action you take creates a ripple affect that reaches out and touches everything else. At Lifebook we refer to this concept as “Category Interconnectivity.”  Many Lifebook Members have discovered the powerful connections that exist between each area of life, and have come to realize that harnessing the strength of one category may be the key to improving another category. Leverage your Health and Fitness to create a ripple affect that will drastically improve your overall quality of life. Below, Jon shares an excerpt directly from his personal Lifebook, which he calls “Health, Fitness and the Power of 12.”

You are what you eat. Alright, so you may not literally BE a hot dog, but after stuffing yourself with a few Ball-Park Franks you certainly FEEL like one, don’t you? This is because food has an undeniable affect on your mood – for better or worse. What you put into your mouth triggers chemical and physiological changes within your brain that totally alter your behavior and emotions.  Most people understand the connection between what they eat and their OVERALL physical health, but the connection between food and mood is much less understood. When you understand that what you eat affects - and in many ways CONTROLS - your mood, your energy levels, how you sleep, and how well you think, you start looking at your plate much differently. Whether you’re feeling sluggish and cranky, or energized and optimistic, chances are it’s the result of what you had for your last meal. Nourish your emotional wellbeing by choosing foods that fuel your energy, boost your mood, and, ultimately, increase your self-esteem (because you know you’re making good choices and doing what’s best for your body, and your life). “I’ve seen people make dramatic improvements in depression and anxiety within ONE WEEK of making some simple dietary changes,” said Trudy Scott, a nutritionist and spokesperson for the National Association of Nutrition Professionals. As a matter of fact, researchers who have been studying this food-mood connection have found that a healthy diet is AT LEAST as important as the other, more popular mood-boosting remedies, such as exercise, adequate sleep, and stress management. Talk about food for thought! So, exactly what kinds of foods should you be stocking up on (or purging from your cupboards) if you really want to start eating your way to happiness?

Making a massive impact in our Health and Fitness has become a misunderstood art. We’re inundated with infinite and conflicting information on what being healthy truly means.  We seek external solutions, and we often fail, because there is no “one size fits all” approach to health and fitness.  Every person - every body - has its own incredibly unique way of expressing life. But Lifebook Members have a secret weapon… We know that there is ONE solution that applies to EVERYONE, regardless of age, weight, body type, or physical capacity.  And the best part is… it’s already within us, right now, at this very moment. What is our dream solution?

NOW UPDATED TO INCLUDE WEEK 4! The Lifebook Marines are doing a KILLER workout routine during the month of May. It's  based on a real Navy Seals training program, which focuses on timed resistance training and hard core runs. It is a KICK ASS routine that's guaranteed to have you SHREDDED by June 1! Anyone out there want to join the Lifebook Marines? PLEASE NOTE: This is a serious workout routine for serious athletes, so please don't attempt it if you're not in excellent shape already! Mentally insert 10 paragraphs of legal boilerplate language here, holding me, Lifebook, my grandma and my future generations harmless, blameless and otherwise not-liable for any self-inflicted damage done by people who can't figure out how to take responsibility for themselves:-) I'll post the workouts week by week during the month of May. Here's the first week's routine: