Tag: Health

 I entered and completed seven fitness contests and lost eighty pounds because of one man — a man I finally got to meet a week or so ago.

I was a featured speaker at the World Wellness Weekend event in Austin, along with Marianne Williamson, Marci Shimoff, and Bill Phillips.

Bill Phillips created the Body for Life challenge over a decade ago. It was a brilliant movement to get people to transform their bodies and their lives in only twelve weeks.

His book became a six million copy bestseller and the movement captured the imagination of an estimated two million people.

I still remember reading his magazine, Muscle Media, and seeing all those before and after pictures of average people who were now stunning looking.

I got the bug and the dream, and went for it. I couldn’t complete the first two challenges. Working out and dieting for twelve weeks was too much for my mind and body at that time.

But when I combined the Body for Life system with the Mental Toughness Institute for Weight Control‘s support and education, I got results.

As I mentioned above, I entered and completed seven contests. I lost 80 pounds. And I received an honorable mention for one contest.

So you can imagine how much I wanted to meet the man behind all this: Bill Phillips.

My friend Mark Ryan and I went to the event on Friday night to set up my booth. I didn’t know it but Bill was speaking that night. We figured we’d go see the room where I’d be speaking on Sunday. As we wandered around, I thought I saw Bill Phillips over in the corner.

But the guy I saw looked too young. This might be Bill’s son, or younger brother. But not Bill. He looked like a California surfer dude. Was that Bill?

I tried not to stare but my eyes kept wandering back to the guy. I wanted to know if it was Bill. If so, he sure seemed unassuming, humble, and natural.

After a while he went on stage to have a sound check. That’s when I knew the young fella I had been watching was in fact my hero: the legend himself, Bill Phillips.

He wasn’t ready to speak yet so I felt this was my moment. I took a deep breath, looked at Mark, and said, “I’m going in.”

I took two steps up the stairs to the stage, looked at Bill and said, “My Phillips, I’m –”

“Hi Joe,” he said, smiling.

I almost fell down the steps.

“You know me?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m well aware of who you are.”

He was smiling a little sheepish, shy smile but his eyes glowed.

“How do you know me?” I asked, baffled that this fitness inspiration would know my name. “From the movie The Secret?”

“No, I knew you before that,” he said. “From your marketing books and methods.”

Now THAT was flattering.

The man behind one of the most legendary movements to get people in the gym, who’s marketing is brilliant, knew me from my marketing.

“I saw you in the movie, too” he said. “We call that movie the Joe and Michael show, since you and Michael Beckwith are the stand-outs in it.”

I was stunned.

But I also wanted Bill to know how he helped me.

“Bill, I want you to know you transformed my life. I entered your contest seven times and dropped eighty pounds.”

“No!” he exclaimed, truly impressed.

We made some small talk for a while, had our photos taken together, and exchanged information so we could stay in touch.

It was a historic moment for me: meeting one of the heroes of my life.

Thank you, Bill Phillips.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS — Bill has another movement in the works and another book coming out. He wants to transform the nation’s youth from childhood obesity to healthy and fit. See www.transformation.com 

My friend John Wood of www.oldtimestrongman.com shared this Earle E. Liederman 1926 statement:

Every man should be able to save his own life.  He should be able to swim far enough, run fast and long enough to save his life in case of emergency and necessity.  He also should be able to chin himself a reasonable number of times, as well as to dip a number of times, and he should be able to jump a reasonable height and distance.

Whew.

“Every man should be able to save his own life.”

Now there’s a quote to make you stop and reflect on your own state of fitness.

Obviously, the statement was written in 1926 for men but holds true for women, too.

Thanks for the reminder, John.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS — John has several other websites, including
www.FunctionalHandStrength.com
www.oldtimestrongman.com
www.bodyweightbasics.com
www.trapbartraining.com

Dr. Roger Jahnke, author of The Healing Promise of Qi, personally taught me two short Tai Chi and Chi Kung routines on my back patio when he visited here last week. You can see (and follow) the whole lesson by clicking this link http://revver.com/watch/847583 or by clicking on the image below. Enjoy.

One of the movies I’m in just went for sale. It’s called Try It On Everything. (Now titled The Tapping Solution.) In it various teachers describe how EFT (the tapping process called Emotional Freedom Technique) can be used on, well, everything. This is a DVD you should get for yourself and others. For every one you buy, the makers of the DVD will send one to a jail, school, or hospital. Let’s support this DVD and get it into the hands of those who are in pain, hurting, suffering, and need a way out. See www.tryitoneverything.com/ Some of the people you may know in this movie include:

• Jack Canfield – Co-Creator of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” Best-selling Series
• Cheryl Richardson – Personal Coaching Pioneer
• Bob Proctor – Author and Success Mentor
• Dr. Patricia Carrington – EFT Expert
• Dr. Joseph Mercola – Founder Optimal Wellness Center
• Carol Look – EFT and Attracting Abundance Expert
• Bruce Lipton – Cellular Biologist and Author
• Joe Vitale – Bestselling Author and Founder of the Hypnotic Marketing Institute
• Dr. Norman Shealy – Pain Specialist and Holistic Physician
• Rick Wilkes – Founder of Thriving Now and EFT Practitioner
• Brad Yates– Peak Performance and EFT Coach
• Fred Gallo, Ph.D. – Author, Clinical Psychologist
• Dawson Church , Ph.D. – Author, Publisher and Energy Medicine Expert
• Carol Tuttle – Author, Abundance Expert
• David Rourke – EFT Addictions Specialist
• Donna Eden – Author, “Energy Medicine”

 A few weeks ago bestselling author Debbie Ford sent me an advance copy of her new book, Why Good People Do Bad Things: How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy.

I’m a big fan of Debbie’s work. Her book, The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, is still one I say is required reading for anyone serious about self-development and expanded awareness.

So when Debbie sent me her new book, I dropped everything to begin it.

And I didn’t stop reading until I finished the book the same day.

It’s powerful, insightful, uncomfortable and wise.

It’s also a masterpiece.

The book makes you look at yourself with glasses that let you see rather than hide.

Most of us can’t admit that we are often our own worst enemy, but that’s what Debbie does best: she gets you to look at your “shadow” – the part of you that you’d rather not let anyone see.

Get this book. Read it. Own your shadow and transform your life.

You can get Debbie’s new book at all book stores or from www.debbieford.com/newbook.php

Go get it.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – I’ve never met Debbie but we’ve spoken by phone and shared praise for each other’s works. (She endorsed my book, Zero Limits) I don’t make a dime from plugging her book. I just think it’s the best book of 2008, and you ought to go read it. Now.