FAMILIES LIVING THE 'NO EXCUSES' LIFESTYLE

By: Rochelle Marapao
Parents, kids and even grandmothers living the ’No Excuses’ fit and healthy lifestyle!

We’ve all had our moments of weakness where we’ve lost our motivation to go to the gym or eat healthy. Some of us will bounce right back on track, while some of us will lag further and further behind and lose focus. This month, we focus on Max Muscle customers who make healthy living and regular exercise a top priority. Prepare to be motivated and inspired as they share why there are “no excuses” to NOT look and feel your best!

The Moreno Family
As busy parents with two young children, Mario and Rochelle Moreno of Ceres, California need every bit of their energy to keep up with sons, Iian, 12 and Ethan, 8. Both boys are involved in wrestling, skateboarding, BMX and Rollerblading. “They’re your typical boys, energetic and non-stop who play until they run out of gas!” laughs Rochelle. But instead of just sitting back and watching the kids play, Mario and Rochelle have made an effort to join in the fun by being just as active.

The couple plans family outings several times a week that incorporate the boys’ interests with physical activities. They enjoy going on walks, runs and bike rides. The boys will take to their skateboards or Rollerblades if they’re not on their bikes. “It’s a great way to be outdoors and spend time together,” admits Rochelle.

Going to the gym is also a top priority for Mario, 40, and Rochelle, 36. They weight train four days a week and do cardio together first thing in the morning or right before bed. Their workouts consist of high intensity exercises along with traditional weight training for fat blasting and muscle building.

Regarding food choices, Rochelle says, “Small changes in what you eat can make a big difference.” For the kids, breakfast normally consists of a whole grain low sugar cereal with low fat milk, while mom and dad eat egg whites and oatmeal. Lunch for the boys is a sandwich with whole grain bread with turkey or peanut butter and jelly, whole grain crackers or chips, fruit and bottled water. For Mario and Rochelle, lunch is chicken or turkey with rice or potatoes or a chicken salad. After-school snacks for the kids include yogurt or a piece of fruit, while mom and dad will drink protein shakes and eat fruit and nuts for snacks. For dinner, the family has the same meal together: fish, chicken or lean beef with potatoes or whole grain rice and green vegetables.

Rochelle is quick to add that while she and her family eat clean, it’s important to splurge once in awhile. “The kids like candy and ice cream, so we have fun with that on a night out. We try to eat healthy most of the time, but when celebrations come along, we are definitely celebrating along with everyone else!” Rochelle admits.

Brian Sherwood of Max Muscle Modesto, California has been working with the couple for the past six years and says, “Mario and Rochelle are examples of people who’ve discovered the positive effects of taking care of your body and enjoying life as a result.” The couple uses Max Muscle brand EFAs, Vit-Acell, glutamine, Max Pro, High 5 and Max Gourmet for supplementation.

“Leading a healthier lifestyle has influenced our friends and family to follow suit,” admits Rochelle proudly. “To us, ‘no excuses’ means making our health and fitness a priority. We’re blessed to have active children and, ultimately, our goal is to be able to enjoy life, each other and feel good while doing it.”

Jenny Arola, 55
There are no excuses for Jenny Arola of Lancaster, Calif. The 55-year-old mother of three and grandmother of three chooses to live a healthy and disciplined lifestyle. Her 37 years in the health and fitness industry began at age 18 when she was 30 pounds overweight after having her last baby. She was given the opportunity to lose the weight after getting hired as a fitness instructor. Not only did she lose her extra weight, but she also became an example for others who struggled with their health.

Jenny is an incredible example of age being just a number as she’s in phenomenal shape and has energy that rivals a teenager. She’s proud to pass on her knowledge and experience to those around her and enjoys teaching her 2-, 3- and 7-year-old grandchildren what it takes to live long and happy lives. Her motivation comes from within and she says, “As I get older, I’d like to be as fit as I can be for my age. Fitness offers a challenge that helps me in all areas of my life, especially because I gain mental toughness and discipline.”

Jenny’s workout consists of four days of weight training and cardio every day except for Sunday. She trains her upper body and abs on Monday and Thursday and concentrates on lower body and abs on Tuesday and Friday. To fuel her body, Jenny consumes three square meals throughout the day with protein shakes in the mid-morning and a few hours after dinner. Breakfast consists of a banana or strawberries, cream of rice, two egg whites, a whole egg, coffee and water. Lunch is chicken or lean beef, green vegetables, and potatoes or brown rice and water. For dinner, Jenny eats fish or chicken with green vegetables. She uses Max Muscle’s High 5 protein, CLAs, EFAs, Amino Complex, Ultra 100, Pure Plus CLA, Glutamine and glucose tablets. “I usually cheat once a week just to satisfy my sweet tooth,” says Jenny, whose favorite indulgence is Starburst jelly beans.

Jenny’s fitness program can be attributed to PJ Bowen, personal trainer, former competitive bodybuilder and nutrition specialist at Max Muscle in Lancaster, California. “Working with Jenny has been such a pleasure,” says PJ. “I admire Jenny’s ability to balance family life, job, personal fitness goals, personal relationships and spirituality on a daily basis. If you see Jenny in person, you would never think she is 55 because she exudes a vibrant spirit and gives herself no excuses to live life to the fullest!”

Chris Chisholm, 40
All of his life, Chris Chisholm of Wesley Chapel, Florida has always been known as the “big guy.” It never bothered him until after he reached 350 pounds. “I was disgusted,” he admits. “I had to buy 50-inch waist pants and at that moment, I knew a change was in order.” Chris tried to lose the weight, but discovered he couldn’t do it all on his own. In June of 2009, he weighed 282 with 32 percent body fat. “I was turning 40 in December and realized that I had to make myself a priority and commit to a healthy life change,” he says, not only for himself, but for his wife and four children.

Max Muscle Nutrition Wesley Chapel Franchisee Fernando Salas was enlisted to help Chris on his mission of fitness. He educated Chris on the importance of eating and supplementing his body to get the best possible results. “Chris’ level of commitment blew me away,” Fernando says. “He was determined to make a permanent change in his life and was incredibly receptive to what I had to teach him.” Fernando recommended the following Max Muscle products to help Chris reach his fitness goals: High 5, Max Pro, Iso-Extreme, Full Blown Extreme, Max Nitro EXT, BCAA, Amino Max, Anabol Cuts, glutamine and creatine.

Learning to eat smaller, more frequent meals and making healthy food choices were new to Chris. But he got the hang of it. Today, his diet consists of four solid meals of 6 oz. portions of chicken breast or salmon and pairings of sweet potatoes, broccoli or cottage cheese with protein shakes and supplements throughout the day. Chris also works out with weights five days a week, doing cardio four days a week with one day off to give his body time to rest.

In March 2010, Chris stepped on the scale at 260 pounds with 16.7 percent body fat. “I’m still a work in progress,” he says humbly. “But I have so much more energy, am more active with my kids and have more self-confidence than ever!” Chris’ new goal is to compete in the upcoming Tampa Hurricane Bodybuilding Contest in October 2010. “Anytime I am not in the mood to go to the gym or stick to my diet, I think of how far I’ve come and how much better I can be,” Chris says. “I have everything on my side: the support of my family, Max Muscle and my trainer, Mark Antonek. I’ve come this far and have absolutely no excuses to stop now!”

The Sepulveda Family
Pete and Shannon Sepulveda of Woodbridge, Virginia have full-time careers in law enforcement. He is a police lieutenant in Washington, DC and she is a probation officer specializing in domestic violence offenders. But despite demanding careers, they’ve learned to find balance for themselves and their two young children by keeping health and fitness a top priority.

The couple, always athletic, met at a local gym in 1996 and were both self-professed “gym rats.” Their love for sports and working out made for a perfect relationship and in 1999, the two were married. Pete and Shannon still enjoy training together even with busy schedules. They’ve passed on their love for sports to son Peter, 9, who plays year-round soccer and daughter Lola, 6, who is a Level 3/4 gymnast. Both children have full schedules with soccer and gymnastics five days a week, including weekends.

“For us, it’s all about teamwork,” says Shannon. “My husband gets home from work before me. He picks the kids up from school and starts their homework. They eat and it’s off to soccer and gymnastics. I meet my husband and kids at the gym directly after work.” Pete and Shannon have time limits at the gym because of their children’s activities, but they find a way to make exercise a priority. “Friends ask me how we have time to work out, but we want to take care of ourselves,” admits Shannon. “Once you make the commitment, you make it a habit and it becomes part of your life.”

Pete, 39, and Shannon, 38, eat several small meals throughout the day starting off with eggs and oatmeal or a protein shake for breakfast. They keep it simple and easy to pack for their busy days with meals consisting of salads with almonds, protein shakes, egg whites, fish, chicken and flank steak. Both use Max Muscle protein powders and Cleanse & Lean products.

Corry Matthews of Max Muscle Woodbridge, Virginia says that Pete and Shannon’s love for fitness and healthy living is evident in their two young children. “Since the kids were little, they’ve always come into the store with their parents and if they weren’t exercising on their own, they were in the gym with them,” Corry says. Peter and Lola’s love for sports is definitely a direct result of their parents’ encouragement.

“For us, there are no excuses to stop caring about our health or wanting to be less active,” says Shannon. “There is no better feeling than to feel good about yourself physically and emotionally.”

Ander Knudsen, 34
Ander Knudsen of Coal Valley, Illinois is an engineer and single dad with three young girls. A former athlete, he longed to get back into shape and enlisted the help of Scott Herkes, franchisee of Max Muscle in Bettendorf, Iowa. “Ander wanted to lose body fat and put on some muscle,” says Scott who modified Ander’s diet and suggested Max Muscle Triple Whey Protein, glu-tamine, creatine and Anabol Cuts for supplementation.

Though Ander wasn’t overweight, he did want to tighten and tone his body. His turning point came when he reached a point of discomfort due to the addition of a few unwanted pounds. “I was getting off the couch one night and couldn’t stand putting that much effort getting up, so I said, ‘Enough is enough,’ and decided to get back in the gym,” explains Ander. “No excuses.”

Because of his intense work schedule, Ander works out five times a week Monday through Friday during his lunch hour. On Mondays and Thursdays he trains chest, back and abs; Tuesdays and Fridays are biceps, triceps and traps; and Wednesdays he trains legs and shoulders. “Most of my exercises are supersets with little to no rest in between because I don’t have a lot of time. It’s an intense workout,” he says.

A typical breakfast for Ander consists of a protein shake with a serving of cottage cheese or toast or a bagel. His morning snack is a handful of almonds, water and crackers. Lunch is a chicken breast sandwich with no mayonnaise followed by an afternoon snack of cottage cheese, crackers or nuts or a handful of lunchmeat. Dinner consists of chicken breast, beef or fish. He also honestly acknowledges his family’s sweet tooth and says, “We always have some sort of sweets for dessert. Small portions, but it keeps our sweet tooth satisfied.”

Ander took Scott’s advice and followed it to a “T.” “He’s made great progress on his follow up visits and always wants to discuss what more he could be doing,” says Scott. “He’s also set up a seminar at his workplace so we could explain healthy ways to lose body fat to his work group. Since then, we’ve had many of his coworkers follow his lead and get nice results.”

Adds Ander, “A ‘no excuses’ lifestyle consists of a lot of things, but to me, it’s all about making good decisions and doing the right thing and, ultimately, you’re left with no excuses.”

The Lienemann Family
Married for 18 years with three beautiful daughters, Thad and Stormy Lienemann, both 44, of Loveland, Colorado have always considered themselves participants rather than spectators when it comes to physical activity. Snow skiing, water skiing, horseback riding and hiking are just some of the activities the couple and their children enjoy on a regular basis. “In our younger years, we were motivated to stay in shape for sports and the way it made us look,” says Thad. “Now, we are motivated to stay healthy as we age and we want to be an example to our three daughters (Rileigh, 14, Preston, 12, and Bryce, 9).”

“But we’re not going to lie,” adds Stormy, “we still like the way working out and staying in shape makes us look!”

Although the couple lives in Colorado, they purchase all of their supplements through Chad and Heidi Case, franchisees of the Max Muscle in Lincoln, Nebraska, with whom they are friends. “We’ve come to rely on their recommendations and expertise as fitness authorities, ” says Thad. Since working with Chad and his crew, the Lienemanns have tried a variety of Max Muscle products and currently use Max Pro Vanilla/Orange, Full Blown Extreme, After Glow, daily vitamins, Omega 3’s and glutamine.

Eating a healthy balanced diet helps Thad and Stormy keep fit. Breakfast for the family consists of eggs and Ezekiel toast or oatmeal with sprouted wheat berries and flax. Lunch is brown rice, fish or chicken and kale with sesame seed and ginger. “We like to use diced avocado and sesame seeds on the rice as a good fat rather than butter,” says Stormy. Dinner is fish or chicken, sweet potato wedges baked with olive oil, garlic and cilantro, and steamed broccoli with dill. “Our snacks consist of raw fruit with peanut butter, raw veggies with hummus and/or nuts of all kinds along with lots of water,” Thad says.

Thad and Stormy are proud of the example they’ve set for their daughters. All three girls participate in sports year round and have applied healthy choices in their lives. Thad and Stormy have also shown them that it’s OK to indulge in “cheat” food from time-to-time. “We love to splurge on Mexican food and ice cream!” says Stormy. “And we teach the girls that you should treat yourself and it’s OK.”

Sometimes, the Lienemanns have days where they don’t feel like going to the gym or don’t feel like eating clean. But Stormy has a solution for that. “All I have to do is conjure up that sluggish or toxic feeling and that usually gets me to the gym. From there, all it takes is a 10-minute warm-up and I’m ready to go!” Both husband and wife believe that living a healthier lifestyle affects their lives in many ways: from feeling good, staying well, weight control and general well-being. This allows them to have no excuses when it comes to their health. “We know that through our actions, we influence our children to stick to their fitness goals,” says Thad.

Chad Case of Max Muscle Lincoln says about Thad and Stormy, “Having friends just as dedicated as you are to a healthy lifestyle makes it so much easier to staying the path. There is no simpler way to put it, they are good people, through and through.” MS&F