Well, our wonderful vacation has finally come to an end and we’re now back home. We had a lot of fun. Disney does a lot of things right in terms of marketing, customer service, expectation management, etc. They have things set up down there to make money and lots of it. Oh, and they do provide a fun and memorable experience too.

If you care to hear, here are some of my observations from the trip.

Disney does not provide adequate sidewalks between resorts. For the very few people that would be interested in walking or cycling between the parks or hotels, there isn’t much to do besides be on the roads. As Disney becomes more health conscious and green, perhaps they will add bicycle rental to their transportation options. (Hey, it’d be another revenue stream (if anyone used it)).

While the food in the parks (and everywhere on Disney property) is very expensive, so I appreciate Disney’s open door policy when it comes to bringing in outside food and drinks.

Our hotel (All Star Sports) had no weight or exercise room, while I don’t blame them, it would have been nice. It is my understanding that the more expensive resorts have better exercise options.

Pool hours were until midnight. This didn’t matter to us, but as a child it always made me sad that hotel pools weren’t open later. This is a plus for Disney.

Allegedly, Disney has been working on improving the healthiness of their children’s menu’s. Kids can still have soda and fries as an option, but apple slices, grapes, carrot sticks and the like are commonly the standard side items for kids meals.

Maybe I’ll voice some of my gripes about the Southwest Air flights we used at a later time.

While there are certainly less expensive places to vacation, Walt Disney World provides a great time to spend with those you love. If you haven’t been, I recommend going.

Tags: disney, running, exercise

When grasping a dumbbell, instead of holding right in the middle of the bar, place the little finger side of the hand nearer to the weight than the index finger side. This will create a more natural position and better balance for the dumbbell.

I am at the happiest place on earth for the week with my wife and her family. It has been, and promises to be, a lot of fun. I’ve been here before, but have never stayed on Disney property. We are at the All Star Sports Resort and it is a fun hotel....but that’s not what I want to talk about.

Here are some tips we just used that you should try on your next vacation:

1. Keep exercising.

I know I’m on “vacation” but my body still needs at least some maintenance. The hotel doesn’t have a weight or fitness room, so I’m left to body weight exercises and running.

The resort claims they have a “jogging trail,” which sounded really cool when I read about it before I came. Turns out - it is just a sidewalk along the side of the road. Nevertheless, it works, and is still a nice change of scenery.

A lot of people consider all of the walking around the parks as their exercise, and while I don’t disagree that it is exercise, I find that running in the morning gives me a little extra energy to get through the day. I did a 4-5 mile run the first morning here and a 5-6 mile run this morning. My legs are tired, but I also know, I’ve done my cardio for the day (at an elevated heart rate). It also helps me counteract any excess calories I may consume from bounteous food options.

2. Bring and wear a CamelBak.

[To be fair, my “camelbak” is actually made by Trek]. Especially since Orlando is almost always warm or hot, proper hydration is vital. One really nice thing about Disney, is the ability to bring your own food. Since you can bring as much food and water as you can carry, you might as well as have it all on your back at easy access.

3. Share a meal with your mate.

We went to the Rainforest Cafe yesterday. This is a fun restaurant. To save money and calories, my wife and I ordered one meal and two plates. We saved a bunch, ate really well, and were satisfied. (We got grilled salmon w/ mango sauce and coconut shrimp with a lettuce salad (italian dressing)).

By sharing the plate, we saved at least $25 and didn’t eat more food than we needed (we were both satisfied with the portions we ate.) This kind of activity can be super useful if you’re trying to be fit and watch your wallet.

p.s. I did a report on genericide in grad school - CamelBak is a good example of it.

Tags: disney, exercise

I’m always poking around online for useful sites that can help us reach our fitness goals. I found one site that particularly caught my attention.

Recently, I was able to connect with Amy McIntyre from the fitness site withamymac.com. Along with running the website, she is a personal trainer with a varied background. Her site provides all kinds of useful information including videos, articles, and discounts.

The videos that she produces are called “Fit Life” and can be viewed online or subscribed to in iTunes. I find them useful and entertaining and Amy’s personality keeps things fun and light.

While she says that wellness is one of the most overlooked segments of health, it is also very easy, “to make changes to your life that will eventually make a big difference!”

Amy feels “the confidence that comes from feeling healthy, strong, energized and in control of your life,” is the best thing about being fit and that, “a great workout can make you feel like you are on top of the world and can tackle anything.”  

Two other great things about her site are the discount section and the ability to purchase her book. The book was an Amazon Best Seller in the Family Health section last Feb. and March. It looks like a great read, I’ll have to check it out.

Anyway - take a look at withamymac.com and keep striving to reach your fitness goals!

I first met Amy via Twitter.

As I mentioned earlier, I am getting close to finishing off the book and getting it released. We are getting very excited about the release. It is coming together nicely and I think it will be a good read for just about everyone.

I’m looking at a service provided by e-junkie.com to host and sell the book. I think that this will provide customers with a better and more reliable way to purchase the ebook. While e-junkie does support both PayPal and Google Checkout (I currently use PayPal), I am seriously considering switching to Google Checkout.

It looks like Google is more flexible and will save me money. If you have any experience with these or other suggestions, let me know.

Tags: paypal, google checkout

If your goal is weight loss, you must burn more calories than you take in. The bigger the deficit (caloric deficit) the more fat weight you will lose. To optimize the time you spend trying to create this deficit, run. There are few things that burn as many calories as running does. Biking, sports, elliptical training, and many others certainly are good and burn calories, but they don't work as well as good old fashioned running.

Tags: running

The book is coming along well. I have it pretty much written and am now going through the long editing process. One thing that I’ve learned, now that most of my thoughts are down on paper, is that I didn’t make it personal enough in this first full draft.

I’m grateful to my wife and other editors/contributors because they’re helping it go from just your everyday run of the mill fitness book to my story and how I finally put everything together to get in shape.

Barring any big issues, we are still tracking to have it launched and released by March 31, 2009.

Please tell all of your friends.

Tags: writing

Ever have a couple crappy days where you just feel off?

Well, while my spirits were fine - my body just felt a little off kilter Sunday and Monday. I think it just happens from time to time, but I also think my dinner (not that tasty and greasy pizza and cookies) from Saturday night, played into it. We were watching my nieces and nephews and we treated them to a take-n-bake pizza. There were some cookies and we had a good time playing with them.

But afterward, both my wife and I just felt ‘blahish’. So anyway, it just felt good to get to the gym tonight and get back on track. I feel so much better now that I kinda got to restart my system. Add rebounding from off-kilterness to the list of reasons to exercise.

p.s. I just looked up the definition of kilter:

“out of harmony or balance : daylight savings throws everybody’s body clock out of kilter.”

I thought that was kind of coincidental

Tags: exercise

I just read another very interesting article regarding mid-foot running. (I posted a few weeks ago about Newton shoes.) This article is again found on the Newton blog. It references an article from Popular Science about how humans are natural long distance runners and can “outrun just about any other creature on the planet”.

I’ve never thought about that before, but think it is a great way to look at how we are designed to run. Before modern transportation, we must have run an awful lot (when we weren’t riding horses).

Have a read of the above links. Pretty interesting stuff. I’m still enthralled by Newton shoes and look forward to trying them someday.

Tags: running, shoes

Far too many exercisers hold on to the cardio equipment their using. Holding onto the machine is certainly good to do when changing speed or resistance, but let go whenever possible. By holding onto the supports, you minimize the efficacy of your workout by reducing how many muscles can be in action. You're essentially resting part of your body (at least a little bit) by holding on.

This is especially true on stair climbers or treadmills at a high incline. If you slow down or decrease your incline, and don't hold on, you'll get a much better workout and get fitter faster!

Tags: bike, treadmill

I just read some great news regarding Amazon’s Kindle and the iPhone. Books purchased using the Kindle format will now be readable using the Kindle app for the iPhone. This is really good news for me, as I am planning on making The Fat Trainer kindle format ready once getting the ebook finished up. I was unsure how I was going to make the transition for iPhone compatibility, however. Amazon kind of solves that issue.

I still have several format options to pursue, but was just excited to read the story about Kindle for iPhone.

Tags: kindle, iPhone

I love Apple (the computer company). I’ve been a Mac fan since 2003, when I bought an eMac. I do all of my personal and professional work on a Mac. It is just a great machine and I love the ‘intuitiveness’. I of course have an iPod (5G) and an iPod Shuffle for working out.

They just released a whole bunch of new desktop computers and have been touting their ‘greenness’ recently. I think this is a smart tactic, a tad bit late, and about time. Apple prides itself on innovation and being the leader in the technology world. They received some pressure last year from Greenpeace, and did a good job of reacting to it.

Anyway - it is interesting to see how corporations are trying to be green and still make money in this economy.

Tags: marketing, apple

I was thinking about this whole experience (writing the book, making the website, doing strategic marketing, etc.) and am just happy about it. To me it is a lot of fun. It really is a combination of many of my passions. I like to write, I like developing strategy, I like helping people, I like communicating, I like fitness, I like sharing things that I’ve learned, etc. All of these and more are being combined with this project.

Probably the most difficult things are staying balanced among all of the components and putting into structured sentences all of the thoughts and ideas I’ve had for this book. But mostly this is just a lot of fun to me.

I hope through this, I can inspire others to not just get and stay in better shape, but to find their passions and then figure out a way to do those. Life is just so much more enjoyable when you’re doing things that are, well...enjoyable.

Tags: marketing, writing, passions

Stock your fridge with an ample supply of cold water. Most people need to drink more water regardless of their fitness routines and one trick of how to get your body to take a little bit more in is by using cold (or at least cool) water.

By drinking cold water, your body will be more satisfied and will be more willing to drink more than if the water was at room temperature. So make it a cold one next time.