Fit Life

By Stephanie S. Saunders

Who doesn’t like a good cocktail during the holidays? Sure, spending 3 days straight with your extended family might have something to do with it, but beside that, nearly everyone likes to let loose at this time of year. And there are plenty of occasions to do so. From the office holiday party to the lighting of the menorah to the various eve and morning festivities, there’s no shortage of celebrations that can involve libations.

Unfortunately, most holiday cocktails tend to give the double gift of too much fat and too many calories. One cup of eggnog has 343 calories and 19 grams of fat! It’s a meal in a cup, with a ton of added fat and sugar. Then there are the hot chocolates, mulled ciders, and traditional grogs that chase away the winter chill but help you hang on to the pounds. And don’t forget about all the themed mixed drinks that make parties a bit more fun while making your waistline a bit more full. So how do you enjoy the fun of the holiday season without having to hide behind bulky sweaters till July? Here are 8 fun drink ideas that are lower in fat, calories, and sugar than their original versions.

1. Pumpkin Pie Martini. Yeah, I know. It’s as good as it sounds. There are several pumpkin liqueurs on the market, which are convenient, but add a ton of calories. By using the actual squash, you get the flavor without the calories—and, believe it or not, a little fiber in your drink.
   • 6 oz. vanilla-flavored vodka
   • 6 oz. canned unsweetened pumpkin
   • 4 oz. fat-free condensed milk
   • 4 oz. unsweetened almond milk (or fat-free milk)
   • 4 Tbsp. pumpkin pie seasoning
   • Ice cubes
   • 6 crushed reduced-fat vanilla wafers

   Place vodka and pumpkin in a bowl, and stir until pumpkin has dissolved. Stir in condensed milk and almond milk. Add seasoning and stir well. Dip rims of glasses in crushed vanilla wafers. Pour liquid over ice into glass and enjoy. Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

1. Grog. Its rich history dates back 400 years, when it used to be rationed out to sailors at sea. The big babies wouldn’t drink their scurvy-preventing dose of lemon juice straight, so the powers that be dressed it up with a little rum. Since the additional ingredients only serve to make it that much tastier, it stands to reason that being "three sheets to the wind" was fairly common.
   • Juice of 2 lemons
   • 1 whole lemon peel
   • 1 whole orange peel
   • 4 Tbsp. sugar
   • 4 whole cloves
   • 4 cinnamon sticks
   • 10 oz. water
   • 4 oz. golden rum

   Place lemon juice, lemon peel, orange peel, sugar, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 15 minutes, remove from heat, and slowly stir in rum. Pour though a fine strainer into mugs; place one of the cinnamon sticks in each mug as a garnish. Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

1. Gingerbread Toddy. In cold weather, a hot drink can warm you up faster than a Snuggie^® and an electric blanket. This hot toddy will make you feel warm while it makes you think you’re eating gingerbread cookies. Yummy.
   • 1 oz. brandy
   • 1 oz. gingerbread liqueur
   • Juice from 1 lemon wedge
   • 8 oz. hot water
   • 1 cinnamon stick

   Pour first four ingredients into a preheated mug in the order listed. Garnish with a cinnamon stick as a stirrer. Makes 1 serving.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

1. Holiday Hot Chocolate. You can obviously buy no-sugar-added hot chocolate in packages and do this the easy way. But you’re no slacker. You can make homemade hot chocolate instead, which makes your house smell amazing and impresses your friends and family.
   • 4 cups evaporated fat-free milk
   • 1 cup fat-free milk
   • 1/2 cup baking chocolate
   • 2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
   • 1/2 cup sugar (or use 1/3 cup agave)
   • 6 oz. Frangelico^® liqueur
   • 6 miniature candy canes

   Combine evaporated milk, fat-free milk, chocolate, vanilla, and sugar in medium saucepan and heat on stove over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in Frangelico. Pour into mugs and garnish each with a small candy cane. Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

1. Peppermint Martini. This is perhaps the simplest and tastiest low-calorie cocktail out there. Just three ingredients and a bit of candy cane. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
   • 9 oz. vanilla vodka
   • 9 oz. peppermint schnapps
   • 3 oz. fat-free condensed milk
   • Ice
   • 6 miniature candy canes

   Place all liquids in a martini shaker with ice. Shake and pour into glasses. Garnish each with a candy cane. Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving; not counting the candy canes):

1. Mulled Apple Cider. Nothing makes a house smell more like Christmas than some mulled apple cider—except maybe those overpriced candles constantly being advertised on TV. And this cider tastes better, so take that, Glade^®!
   • 8 cups apple cider
   • 1 cinnamon stick
   • 10 whole cloves
   • 1 navel orange, peeled and sliced crosswise
   • 1 2-inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, cut into 6 slices
   • 4 oz. light brandy

   In a large saucepan, combine cider, cinnamon stick, cloves, orange, and ginger and simmer mixture for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add brandy to pan. Stir, then strain mixture through a fine strainer into a heatproof pitcher. Serve warm. Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

1. Blitzen’s Bliss. Given that Blitzen is the final reindeer in the lineup, he probably gets knocked around a fair bit by the sleigh over the course of Santa’s travels on Christmas Eve. But once they’re done circumnavigating the globe, Blitzen comes home and has a few of these, and it’s all good. Not only does he feel better, but since they have just 130 calories apiece, he doesn’t feel all bloated for his Christmas dinner the next day.
   • 2 cups pomegranate juice
   • Juice of 2 limes
   • 8 oz. vodka
   • 1 tsp. peppermint extract
   • 12 ice cubes
   • 4 Tbsp. chopped mint leaves
   • 6 miniature candy canes

   Place first four ingredients in shaker with ice. Shake and pour into individual glasses. Sprinkle each with mint and garnish with candy cane. Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving; not counting the candy canes):

1. Sangria for Santa. Santa really appreciates the cookies and milk. But after hundreds of years, he’s over it. Want to be on the "nice" list next year? Get a little naughty. Leave some sangria by the fireplace for Santa.
   • 10 green grapes, halved
   • 4 fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
   • 1 peach, pitted and sliced
   • 1 bottle white or red wine
   • 1-1/2 cups white grape juice
   • 1/2 cup brandy
   • 2 sprigs fresh mint

   Place fruit and wine in a large glass pitcher. Add juice and brandy and stir gently. Add mint and stir gently once more. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve straight or over ice. Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

So you’d like to have a "cup of cheer" this holiday season, at least now you can enjoy it without having to wear your baggy Santa outfit for the entire month of January. Happy holidays!

What is Shakeology? It’s not a protein shake. It’s not a meal replacement. It’s not a diet drink.

It’s the healthiest meal of the day! You will not find another shake that comes close to the health benefits Shakeology offers. Yes, it replaces a meal, provides protein, is packed with 70 ingredients, and is low calorie. But it’s not your typical “diet shake”.

I’ve used it as my dinner for 2 1/2 years. My kids have it a few times a week to keep them healthy, and, because they LOVE IT! We make a chocolate ice cream like shake that beats anything you’ll find in your local ice cream or frozen yogurt shop.

My suggestion, try order the chocolate, and give it a try for a few weeks. If you don’t like it for any reason, you have 30 days to return it, or the empty bag, and you’ll get a full refund! How is that for risk free? Warning, you will love it, and how good your body feels. Combined with an exercise program (included for FREE when you order on home direct), you’re on the way to shedding those extra pounds you’ve been wanting the lose.

Have questions, check out the Shakeology site or ask me.

Are You Ready for The Beachbody Challenge?

Now you can save big & qualify for daily prizes all while having fun getting into the best shape of your life. Complete The Challenge and submit your transformation photos for a chance to win the grand prize of $100,000!

Contact me now to join our Team Challenge or Grab 4 friends and we’ll structure & support your Group Challenge!

From Team Beachbody Newsletter #242

• Keep water with you at all times and drink it often. Occasionally, add lemon, lime, cucumber, or berries to liven up the flavor without adding significant calories.
• Look at exercise as a pleasure, not a chore. Think positive about the changes regular exercise will produce.
• Eat well-balanced meals and remember that excess calories, even if they’re from food that’s fat free and high in protein, will turn to excess weight.
• Limit caffeine and exposure to even secondhand smoke.
• Focus on short-term fitness goals with an emphasis on completing daily exercise.
• Keep a log of what you’re actually eating. This includes every time you grab a handful of chips here or eat the crust of your kid’s sandwich. Everything counts!
• Enjoy contributing to the health of others by having a partner or friends to exercise with, as well as recruiting others who want to feel better and have more energy.
• Avoid monotony by taking up new forms of exercising, or using things that keep you motivated and inspired, like new shoes or great music.
• Subscribe to fitness magazines to keep focused on health as an overall way of life.
• Invest in the right tools—good shoes, a portable MP3 player, fitness equipment, a new fitness program, etc.
• Make it your goal to do some form of exercise 6 or 7 days a week. If some days you exercise once in the morning and once in the evening, even better! If you’re eating right, exercise will fuel your energy level!
• Don’t compare your body to others’. Instead, work to be YOUR personal best.
• If your diet is unbalanced, take daily vitamin and mineral supplements for total health.
• Work to take your exercise to new levels of intensity.
• Create an exercise schedule the day before instead of leaving it to chance or waiting to "find" the time.
• Measure success by the way your clothes fit, not some number on a scale.
• Stick with eating plans you can maintain indefinitely. No matter how hard you work out, if you consume too many calories, you’ll never see the muscles that lie beneath the fat.
• Get enough sleep, but remember that people who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.
• Limit alcohol intake to special occasions.

It will change the future of computing. If you’re a fan or not, Microsoft controls the operating system market. Apple is “popular”, but with only around 10% of the market using Apple computers, what they do is irrelevant at this time. Apple is good at marketing, not good at execution. If you’ve used an Apple, you’ve likely discovered, you can’t do what you’re used to doing.

Skip your regular TV show today, and instead, look at what’s on the horizon at Microsoft.

Quick clarification on 4 questions regarding P90X2^™ pre-orders:

1. Free shipping is for pre-orders only.
2. You must pre-order to have P90X2 delivered to you (or to someone as a gift) by
   December 25th, 2011.
3. You receive two FREE bonus videos only when you pre-order P90X2 through a Coach or Team Beachbody.
4. The weekly prizes will be awarded to people who have pre-ordered only, and the prize of Tony Horton hand-delivering to your door is valid in the US and its territories.

P90X2 pre-ordering will be shut off as soon as we meet capacity to ship in time for the holidays. If you plan on starting P90X2 with me in January, I strongly recommend pre-ordering. Your credit card will not be charged until we ship in early December.

Why do people hang around people at a lower level than them? Often times it’s so they feel better about themselves. If my friends are 50 lbs overweight, I feel better, because I’m only 15 lbs overweight. If my friends spend 8 hrs a day playing video game, my 2-3 hours doesn’t seem so bad. If my friends eat at the buffet 10 times a month, my 3-4 times isn’t so bad. And, if my friends are only earning $30k/year, my $45k/year seems very good.

The problem, your comparing yourself to the wrong people, and setting yourself up to spiral backwards.

Would you put your children in a slow class, when they don’t need to be there, just so they look smarter? I would hope not! I would hope you would challenge them, help them to grow, to be better.

So why do so many people get out into the “real-world”, and then set themselves up for that type of failure? They decide to settle, don’t like the way it feels, because their inner self it telling them it’s not right, so they find others who are settling to stack themselves up against. Stop that!

Find others who are better than you, and stack yourself up against them. Strive to be better. It’s said you’ll become the average of the 5 people you’re most around. That’s in relation to EVERYTHING! That means income, time spent watching TV, drinking, exercising, camping, reading books, studying, working on improving you. Look around at your peers. Is that where you want to be? If not, change!

Now comes the time where you think, but this person is my best friend, we’ve been friends since we were 8. If you’re really good friends, wouldn’t you want the best for them, and they the best for you? If so, make the change, for you, and for them. You may have to decrease the time you spend with them now, but as you improve your life, and they see how much better you’re doing and feeling, they may want what you have. That’s when you spend a little more time with them, helping them improve. But remember, you come first. If you see they’re dragging you backwards, you can’t have that!

Guess what happens if you challenge yourself too high, and you can’t keep up? Do you fail, get held back grade? No, this isn’t school. Not completely succeeding is not failure. What do you do, you keep trying, keep adjusting, keep working on being a better you, and QUIT settling!!!

You deserve to be the best you you can possibly be. Your family deserves to have the best you they can have. Your friends deserve the best you. If you hold yourself back, your punishing all of them.

It’s better to aim for the stars and miss, than aim for a puddle, and hit. Keep reaching higher!!!

What’s that, you need some motivation to lose those extra pounds? To stick to a fitness program or routine? To maintain a healthy diet? To make the time workout daily? To put yourself first so you can have more energy for others?

Your motivation has arrived!

It’s called the Beachbody Challenge, and you CAN win it all. I’ll work with you, and push you into the winner’s circle. Let’s do this, for YOU, and for your future!

In less than one year, you’ll be a new person, with no lipo, lap bands, or surgery required! Start making changes…TODAY!

See the Beachbody Challenge flier for details, or go the the Beachbody Challenge site to GET STARTED NOW. What are you waiting for, sign-up today!

By: Brian Tracy

Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness. Lack of clarity is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor. That’s why we say that “Success is goals, and all else is commentary.” People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.

Write and Rewrite Your Goals
The more you write and rewrite your goals and the more you think about them, the clearer you will become about them. The clearer you are about what you want, the more likely you are to do more and more of the things that are consistent with achieving them.

The Seven Step Process for Achieving Goals
Here, once more, is the simple, seven-step process that you can use to achieve your goals faster and easier than ever before.

• First, decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Be specific!
• Second, write it down, clearly and in detail;
• Third, set a specific deadline. If it is a large goal, break it down into sub-deadlines and write them down in order;
• Fourth, make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list;
• Fifth, organize the items on your list into a plan by placing them in the proper sequence and priority;
• Sixth, take action immediately on the most important thing you can do on your plan. This is very important!
• Seventh, do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals. Maintain the momentum!

Join the Top 3%
Fewer than three percent of adults have written goals and plans that they work on every single day. When you sit down and write out your goals, you move yourself into the top 3% of people in our society.

Review Your Goals Daily
Study and review your goals every day to be sure they are still your most important goals. You will find yourself adding goals to your list as time passes. You will also find yourself deleting goals that are no longer as important as you once thought. Whatever your goals are, plan them out thoroughly, on paper, and work on them every single day.

Action Exercises

• Make a list of ten goals that you would like to achieve in the coming year. Write them down in the present tense, as though a year has passed and you have already accomplished them.
• Second, from your list of ten goals, ask yourself, “What one goal, if I were to accomplish it, would have the greatest positive impact on my life?” Whatever it is, put a circle around this goal and move it to a separate sheet of paper.
• Third, practice the seven-step method described above on this goal. Set a deadline, make a plan, and put it into action and work on it every day. Make this goal your major definite purpose for the weeks and months ahead.
  Get ready for some amazing changes in your life.

This is for current coaches only:  Fillable Coach Application

=============================================

For anyone interested in joining as a coach, please use the forms located at: http://fit.spydorbyte.com/military-beachbody-coach/

Notes:

1. On the kits, it defaults to the Business Starter Kit, but other kits can be selected instead.
2. For options like the Shakeology Options (flavors, packets, bags, etc), once you select an option, you can’t remove all checks. You’ll have to close the form, not save, and reopen to clear the selection.
3. Coach signature is NOT required for military applications. Type your info in, send to new coach, have them fill in and mail to coach relations.
4. Personally, I do not have the new coach send me the form back. The less their SSN is sent around, the better for them. Keep yourself from being liable.

Because some things are better handled in house. No need to get the 1st sgt involved, and your troop in trouble. Consider it, doing everyone a favor!

FM 22-102 Wall-to-Wall Counseling February 2000

FM 22-102 Wall-to-Wall Counseling April 2009

DA Form IMT WF1 Hurt Feelings Report

Army Forgotten Ribbons and Medals

Coming Soon: P90X2 – The Sequel

During my 24 years serving in the U.S. Air Force, I had the privilege and honor of serving side-by-side with every branch of the military. Sure, we have our rivalries. But it really counted, we had each others back! And no one branch is better than the others, and no one branch could do their mission without the others.

And let’s be real, the entire military gets the short end of the stick. We do the most for our country, and are the first ones on the chopping block when there’s budget cuts. Thanks Washington for taking care of the men and women who sacrifice daily for you! We really appreciate you having our backs.

While most Americans spend holidays with family, at a table filled with favorite dishes, we often spend holidays with our buddies in a tent, in the middle of the desert. And while it’s nice of the top dogs to serve us special meals, it’s still the chow hall, and in many cases, still a tent. But we volunteered, and because of the close knit brotherhood, if given the choice, most of us wouldn’t change a thing.

We often get chintzy discounts in appreciation for our service. But now, Team Beachbody has stepped up to the plate, and is offering a huge discount for the military.

All active military members qualify for a FREE coach membership! What does this mean? At a basic level, you get 25% off all Beachbody programs and products. This includes programs like P90X, Insanity, TurboFire, RevAbs, and the soon to be released P90X2! And not only does Beachbody deliver the top fitness programs, but they also lead the nutritional arena too with products like P90X Results & Recovery Formula, P90X Protein Bars, and, the cutting edge nutritional product, Shakeology!

So, how do you get the Military Coach Membership? Go to the Military Beachbody Coach sign-up page. Download the form, and submit to Team Beachbody Coach Relations. If you have any questions, ask me. We have each others back in service to our country, and I have your back here too.

Thank you for your service. Be proud of what you’re doing, few Americans step up to the call. My Active Duty days are over, but I will always be a part of the military, you are my family.

For the best prices available, ask me about getting the “Coach Membership” discount. To purchase smaller quantities, visit the Shakeology Packets page.

Military Active Duty, Guard and Reserve, you’re already paying your dues, and you qualify for 25% off on ALL Beachbody products!!! Visit the Military Coach page for details.

Chocolate Winter Holiday Recipes

Greenberry Winter Holiday Recipes

Chocolate Recipes

Greenberry Recipes

Where do the ingredients come from?