The Story Continues....

Hello everyone I know it's been a while since I have blogged but I'm back at it and newly inspired to share both my story and yours as our Journey continues.  So firstly I must apologize for  the lack of blogging the last few weeks as I just took a few weeks off from it to focus both on our weight loss and being busy with getting ready to  attend the conference for FIT in Utah.  So I hope that during these weeks that I have not been in contact that you have continued to find your own success and if this your your first time time checking out the blog, thanks for stopping by and welcome.


So where to begin well an update is always good  my current stats are as of today I have moved from 420 to 285 that's a loss of 135 pounds in a little over a year.  However if you measure body composition I have lost over 160 pounds of body fat  while adding over 30 pounds of new lean muscle during the same time period.  So I am very proud of how things are going as I continue to change my life for the better day after day.

Here is a picture of the banners Morinda had made for me at ILC this past week in Salt Lake were we were invited to speak about weight loss and the FIT products  in front of over 5000 people from over 50 countries.  It was such an honor to be there and meet so many people who have been inspired by mine and so many others stories of success with the FIT lifestyle and have  changed peoples lives.  Thank you so much to Laura and  the Morinda staff for inviting us out there we learned so much and had an amazing time.


So what time is it? Is it time for a change yet?  About seven months ago I first blogged about my story on how I decided to change my life and why I was going to do it.  Now I can  come before you and happily say I truly have in such a profound way and I am truly blessed.  Now I realize my Journey is not yet close to complete but I can say I have moved litterly a mountain out of my way and can see where I wasn't to go from here.  So the only question left unanswered is yours to answer.  Are you ready? Is it time? 


It took me many months of hard word and dedication to get to were I am now and even after success if you ask me was it easy and will it be easy for you I will look you straight in the eye and tell you no it won't be.  But here is the real trick I learned it's not supposed to be easy it's supposed to be hard and any one who tells you it's easy to change your body and your life the way I have Is in my opinion not being honest with themselves or you.  But I feel for the first time in my life I can be a healthy  person and maintain a healthy body for the rest of my life because I am truly happy with how I am living.  Now many of the the details of those of you who never read my blogs before can be found in the earlier posts and in the posts to come.


So whether it's you or someone in your life you care about who needs to change their life and their self please tell them about this blog, as now my furthest hope  is to help other people  to live their lives  in a healthy, happy way and realize  how much more  they can be.


So thank you so much for stopping back by today and seeing whats going on.  Please visit morinda.com and enter number 3309159 to find out about FIT and all the great products from Morinda Bioactives including the all new powerful bioctive beverage MAX powered by a whooping 120 iridoids .  If your interested in trying it out for yourself contact us and we will be glad to help you out.


So Ill be back on a regular basis now to continue our story and hear yours as we change our lives and our world.  So please as always share the link of this blog with your friends  on facebook and google+.  Thank you so much to for all of your great comments and please leave your comments I am always here to help you out and answer any of your questions right here in the comment section of the blog. So as always my name is Don Olinger a Bioactivist and Fit Challenge Champion and the person who wants to help you get out here and take another step towards FIT.

The Power of Walking!

A good Thursday to everyone I certainly hope everyone is having a great week so far and that your trying to do something this week to make your healthy plans become a reality.  So last night I decided to go on another long walk as it was a nice warm afternoon here in Florida so I set out on a six mile  trek.  You know never let anyone  tell you that walking at a good pace and at a  good distance is not one of the very best things you can do to help jump start your exercise.  Walking has 4 really great benefits right off the top first practically anybody can do it, second you can do it for a long time and get a good sustained calorie burn going, third your out in the fresh air with things to look at  and lastly it's free all you need is shoes and a sidewalk.  So with this warm winter in most places  let's all try to venture out and walk in my case my Nike plus told me I burned a whooping 1400 calories in a walk that was a little under 90 minutes so it was a fair pace but I really enjoyed it and the scale reflected those 90 minutes when I got home too.


So my point today is in this time of ever tightening wallets and tough economic decisions don't let money be something that has to tie you to an unhealthy lifestyle.  You can be both frugal and healthy all you need is some good planning.  We recently found a new market where we live that has the most amazing prices on fresh fruit, veggies and meat.  All you have to do is search out those places and you will find that good fresh food can be less than processed  stuff with all the life sucked out of it, if only you take a minute to look.  There are also all kinds of great exercise you can do by yourself or with others that cost little to nothing all you need to commit is your time.  So my readers it's time to drop the excuses you can find an hour here and there in your week and you don't need much money to make your self healthier. Look at it this way you can invest a little time and effort now or pay a pile of cash to Doctors and hospitals later when years of ignoring a bad lifestyle come back to bite you and the stats say they will it's only a matter or time.  I made that change last year and many of you did too but if you are sitting there reading my blog eating a bag of cookies        ( shame on you) but there is always hope to change your course just find the time to think about it and it will come to you and I'm always here to help you.


So the battle has been won with the FIT challenge  but he war continues for us as we continue to play out our plan and keep dropping this remaining fat and building on our success that carried us to that win.  The Fit system is such an amazing line of products that truly goes about taking an honest approach  to changing your body and your lifestyle.  The FIT is truly just that a lifestyle you live it you make it your mission to always be conscious about being FIT and moving forward toward your goals and what you want to do. Please leave a comment here on the blog if you are interesting in trying  it out and I can send you more info about these amazing products.


So thanks so much for stopping by today and checking out the blog. Later this week I will be featured in some stories  as the FIT Challenge winner on several websites Ill be sure to post those links when they are up.  So please leave some comments with your questions or info on the FIT as we are always here about you and your progress and making it happen for you.  So make it a great day and get out there and take a walk and another step towards FIT.

We are the FIT Challenge Champions!

Well good morning everybody  I hope everybody had a great weekend  I know I sure did.  I'm back on the blog this morning and hope to stay with it much more regularly now after a week of working with the vote last week I felt I was already communicating enough.  So for those of you who may not yet have heard the news it came down Friday night, I am the new FIT Challenge Champion and won the grand prize of a all expense paid trip for two to Europe.  As you might guess I am so excited about this whole thing I was just positively floating all weekend and am still grinning today.  We do not yet know where  we are going but will find out soon.  I am also on my way back to Utah in a few months to attend the Fit's convention and speak at the convention about how my life has been transformed  and how I became the Fit Challenge Champion  so I am really pumped up about that too.

( I know they spelled my name wrong but what can ya do, lol)


So I know I have said it so many times but I feel I can't say it enough, thank you so much to all who helped, voted and shared and spread the word about the vote and my story last week that got me from the semi final to final round, were my hard work and results stood on their own and we won.  They have asked me these last few day's Don how did you do it what's your secret and if you read this blog regularly you know what it is already, it's people and surround yourself with the people who will not just help you but be invested in your success right along with you.  That is what helped get me over the top and helped not only to transform my life but to help me win this Championship too. So thank you again to all of you for last weeks contest work and to all of you who have been invested in our success  these last nine months and in the months and years to come.


So now the contest is over, but the work and the effort and transformation continues today as a battle was won but the war on fat continues as I have more to do as like so many of you I am not yet were I'm going just somewhere along the way.  So who wants to be the next Fit Challenge Champion a brand new contest is going on right now and you could be the next winner just go to fit.tni.com and check out the latest contest they are even giving away a car.  What better motivation  to keep you honest in your Journey than to have a new car  to shoot for.  I'm all the proof you need that these products in the FIT  work and they will work for you all you need is a commitment to live a FIT lifestyle and you can blow away all the previous conceptions of who you are and what your capable of.  So send me a message on the blog or send me facebook or email  and let's get started on this, when your ready to try out a complete pack or a starter pack let me know and we will get you set up and you will be on your way to taking away my title as Fit Challenge Champion. 


So Thanks so much for checking back into the blog today I know I have not been blogging enough lately but I'm recommitting to  getting back on the blog starting now.  So please feel free to share the blog on facebook as we try to keep this Fit Championship right here on our team.  So have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by have a great week and let's  all take another step towards FIT.

FIT Challenge Update

Well Happy Weekend everyone I hope everyone is well this Saturday. Well On my last post I asked for your help and let me just say wow have you guys ever answered  in a huge way as I write this we are closing in on 300 votes and are well on our way to launching me into the Finals of the FIT Challenge and I am super excited about that.  The last few days have been such a humbling experience for  me as these votes come in and to see all of the comments and those of you who shared the links and shared your support of me and my story with your family and friends.  When I started this I was just a fat guy trying to lose weight and I never even in my wildest dream would have believed that I could turn that into all of this with this challenge  and the vote and the commercials and all that has happened.  So as I have always done I want to thank all of you who helped motivate support and keep me going so I could get the results I have earned and put me into the position I am in now.  But my hope of hopes beyond any prize or title is as it has always been to help you and those that you care about to improve your health and to find that spark you need to start living the healthy fun life you deserve to live. You know I was asked a great question the other day and it was after all of your weight loss so far what have you most learned?   The more I thought about it  I always came back to the fact that now I understand the only difference between Fat and Fit not just Fat and Skinny but Fat and Fit is that it is a willful choice to be in either group you choose to be Fat and you choose to be Fit.  The people who look good who have nice toned bodies and are in good shape didn't just get that way by accident they made it happen through hard work and smart choices.  Conversely Fat people choose to not work hard at looking good or being in good shape and make choices they know are bad but they willfully make them anyway.  It has taken me these nine months to see that  difference it has taken me to the point I am at now which is a point in between Fat and Fit to see the two distinct groups and what it takes be be on either end of the spectrum and now and for the rest of me life I have to make a willful decision to  get in the Fit group and stay in the fit group but i choose knowing the work is hard and the decisions are difficult but from here as they say I can see the promised land of good looking Don and I'm never turning back.


I just wanted to take a minute to congratulate all of the other semi finalists in the FIT Challenge there are some folks who have accomplished some amazing things and have worked really hard to get where they are now.  Believe me I know how hard they have worked and what a 180 they have done with their lives to make it this far,  so great job FIT Semi Finalists one and all we are truly all masters of our own future and on our way to FIT.


So as we continue to get out the vote I encourage each of you to take a few minutes to check out the website for the FIT it is truly a great  system and over the last few months I have thought about my answer to when people inevitably ask me what is the FIT and in short I can answer in 2 works, A lifestyle.  It isn't just a diet and it's not a miracle drug for weight loss it's a system of products to  help you do what I'm doing in my blog title get from Fat  to FIT. Which means lose pounds of body fat and build pounds of lean muscle that makes you look good so look at my pics and the pics of the other FIT Challenge Semi Finalists  what more proof do you need it works and it can change your life.


So thanks so so much for all your hard work these last few days  and if you haven't voted please do as soon as read this it takes just a few seconds on facebook just click on my picture on my link then click like.  You can also vote by email by sending an email to FitChallenege@tni.com just say you are voting for Don Olinger it's that simple.  So thanks so much for checking out the blog today and for continuing to grow and share our message as we inspire people to get Fit in 2012. Have a great weekend everyone and please take a moment to get out the vote I can use each one and I really appreciate every vote so keep voting then get out this weekend and take another step towards FIT.

I NEED YOUR HELP!!

Good Morning everyone I hope your week has been going great so far.  Well yesterday we finally got the news we have been looking forward too since  December 30th , we did it, I am a finalist for the FIT Challenge.  After receiving hundreds of entries they announced that I am in the final six in the men's category to become the next FIT Challenge champion and win the Grand prize of an all expense paid trip for two to Europe.   I am super excited today and feel great that my hard work has paid off that my results  stand on their own to get me into the finals.  The way they do this is soon all the finalists pictures will be uploaded to both the fit website and to the FIT's facebook page and the three finalist who receive the most votes will make the final cut for the grand prize. Now as the title suggests today I come before you asking for not just your vote but for your help as well  I need everyone to go and vote for me but get everyone you know to do the same family, friends, neighbors, enemies, frenimies I don't care we just need votes.  Now I know over these nine months and the last three that I have been blogging I have not been on this Journey alone I have had and continue to have so much support and that is the sole reason I have manged to get to the point I have reached today, so now I call on you my Friends to help me one more time and let's win this thing because I know I can do so much more good for people as the Fit champion in the months and years to come.


Now each and every finalist has achieved great success and coming from me someone who knows how very hard it is to accomplish big results I salute each and everyone of you for what you have done you all are amazing.  Now my before and after picture I believe  are pretty amazing but they don't even tell the whole story of my weight loss remember the fat loss listed in the contest is only for the contest period and as a whole I have lost over 120 pounds of fat over nine months and through this reason I believe I should be the next FIT Champion.  If you follow my story from the beginning you know how much of a challenge it has been and how very hard I have worked to get here and why I want to win this for all of you who have helped me get to where I am now.


Now be sure to keep checking on Facebook and on fitdon.com as we update the vote totals and give more info on how to vote.  But basically there are two ways to vote like I said visit the FIT facebook page just search Fit body composition system click on the photo album for the fit challenge finalist's then like my photo, " Don Olinger"


So once again thanks so much for all your support these last few months as we go on this Journey  from Fat to Fit and thanks for all I know you will do for helping us win this Challenge I have the best team of supporters in this contest I know for sure and that's why I know we will pull this thing out.  So get to voting and lets win this thing, be sure to share this blog and all the links to the voting site that I'm sure will be posted a great deal on facebook with everyone you know as each and every vote is needed and appreciated.  So thanks so much for coming by and for all your support now lets get out there and vote and take another step towards FIT

Rack em up again!

Well a good Monday morning to everyone this morning I hope everyone had a enjoyable weekend and tried to squeeze in a little time for exercise sometime during it.  Well it's another week, time to set up the pins again and see how many we can knock down this week through all of our best laid plans.  The good news is I finally believe my foot is all the way back and for the first time this year I will have both legs under me and hopefully can finally get back to walking this week after missing the last two weeks. I am anxious to get back out there and see what I can do against the clock out there on the sidewalk. So how are your New Years plans going so far what kind of success's have you had so far and how have you  managed the inevitable setbacks to will come( just like my foot)  I managed not to let my injury derail me as a matter of fact I worked around it and managed to hit an all time low by altering my plans and still finding a way to  make some progress even on one leg at times.  So remember if I can do it on one leg you can do it even better on two, lol 


So last night Jen and I came up with another new creation, we made a very healthy home made pizza and it was awesome and we managed to cut the calories and fat from your average take out pizza by more than half and it was still very tasty.

We used whole wheat pizza dough which cuts the carbs  way down vs regular dough and we replaced the fatty greasy meats with ground chicken and  just used fat free cheese and it all worked believe it or not.  So check it out with a little thought even I can have pizza too and put as many veggies as will possibly fit.


So the plan this week is to keep going  on the plan we instituted last week and build off the results we saw already which as I said Saturday finally got me below 300 pounds be it ever so briefly I was there.  SO this week I just want to get a little more below 300 maybe down to 298 or so so it sticks around a bit longer and ill be happy and I can mark some more progress. I'm back in the gym today for another mega Monday with another training session and I'm even going to try to get back into the Zumba class which I have not done in quite a while so wish me luck on that that me and my foot hold up.  Also this week I'm going to try to make Run club for the first time this year and see how that goes.  So make your own plans today and get out there and execute them.  What I want from all of you is to hear those success stories let me know in the comment section here on the blog your own story of you you are making it happen this year and how you are clearing the hurdles because it's not just about me it's about all of us in the together making it happen in 2012.


So thanks so much for stopping by and checking out the blog today and this weekend for all you wonderful comments.  SO be sure to share the blog link with your Friends on facebook so others can check it out too.  So make a solid plan today and start executing it too and helping me knock down some pins by getting out here and taking another step towards FIT.

299 A Dream Realized!

Hello again everyone I am back in the blogosphere again this morning after some time away to refocus myself and plan out my new strategy and to heal up my injured foot I am back with some wonderful news.  After a hard week of training and working my refocused plans I am happy to report that last afternoon my goal was finally met when I stepped on the scale and it finally read 299. I have worked so hard and tried so much to finally crack crack that 300 pound barrier for the first time in many many years for a brief moment I could say I don't weigh over 300 pounds even if it was by only an ounce and once I drank my protein shake I was right back above it but at least I saw it the glass has finally been broken.  I know my goal was to do it by December 31 and it actually upset me quite a bit that I was unable to achieve that goal even with one last gasp at the expense of my own foot on New Years eve it was still not enough.  Even though I know it was irrational to think this way I was kinda too embarrassed to write the blog for the last 10 days because I feel I let both myself and you down by not hitting that mark.  You see it's a tough thing this losing weight  and hanging in with it for as long as I have which I just crossed the nine month mark last week It really is a mental battle just as much as a physical one.  You wage two wars one against the physical side with body fat and food and one mental side against your own mind and your image of yourself and who it is you want to become and when you want to get there.  And the problem can come when the results from this physical battle aren't what you want them to be it can cause you to lose the second battle against yourself.


You see as much as I have accomplished I am the kind of person who is constantly driven by the need to achieve what is next and the kind of person who always wants to shoot for the stars the problem is if you only reach the moon while shooting for the stars it can feel like you fell short of your goals when the truth is most people never even leave the ground so reaching the moon is not that bad after all.


So 2012 is here and so many people I see are starting out with big goals this year of losing weight and getting healthy this year and that is great, I see new people are joining the gym I go to with all sorts of different goals in mind. So the big question is what's yours, do you you have a number in mind on how many pounds you would like to lose this year or do you just want to get moving and make yourself look and feel better than you do right now either way you really can't lose.  My goal is to get from 300 to 250 this year as I know each pound will be a battle I want a nice achievable mark but high enough where I have to still work hard everyday to get it.  So for those of you in the Kissimmee area you can see me in this months edition of America's favorite coupon book as I am featured in an ad for the FIT in there it is on the second page complete with before and after pics.


So we are still awaiting the results from the FIT challenge as my entry was submitted and now we are just awaiting word on the finalists so I am pretty excited about that and will surly keep you all updated on that we are also getting ready for the roll out of the Fit commercials as they are beginning to finally come out and we are also eager to see how they came out after the filming back in November.


So again I'm sorry for the delay in the blogs and the not posting for a while I so appreciate you coming back by and checking out the blog today and don't forget to share it with your Friends  on Facebook as so many of us on on out own weight loss journeys in 2012  it always helps to hear someone else story and to take comfort in fact that others are right with in your journey to FIT.  So have a great weekend everyone and thanks for stopping back and hanging with me on out Journey to FIT.

A New plan for the New Year

Good morning everyone on this frigid Tuesday at least for our standards here in Florida it is quite cold today.  I certainly hope everyone enjoyed there New Years celebrations and there whole Holiday season.  Well after a few days off from blogging I am ready to hit it again, so this New Years eve I decided I was going to send 2011 out with a bang and try to accomplish something large fitness wise regardless of all of my other goals so I set out to break in a new pair of running shoes.  But after a few miles it turned into a steady walk and I just decided to keep walking and walking and walking and before I knew it I was 5 miles from home so it turned into a record breaking walk for me of 10.25 miles I did it in just under 3 hours  and according to my Nike + adjusted for my weight I burned a whopping 2300 calories.  The last few miles were so hard as every muscle in my lower body hurt but I gutted it out and completed the walk and I am quite proud  of my accomplishment.  However my walk may have been a bit foolish as I started out with a little foot pain from a big run walk on Wednesday and now I have a big foot pain so maybe a little fool hearty  but hey I got it done.

As my walk proves big results can happen for anyone simply by doing what I did and putting one foot in front of the other and start moving down the path.  Don't worry about 10 miles at first start with one mile and if that's too hard start with once around the block and start working that up and up each time till it's 10 times around the block the point is lace up those shoes and get out there and take that first step because for most of us that is the hardest one last last few steps after a time mile trek are hard don't get me wrong but for the out of shape among us the very first step of the very first  trip around the block can seem like running a marathon. So  how many of you have made those big plans this year to finally get moving on making a big change for the better when it come to your health?  Even if you don't have much weight to lose remember everyone needs exercise because skinny people have heart attacks  and get diagnosed with diabetes everyday and it is all within your power to bring under control if only you chose too.

So it's a new year and time for a new plan as I get ready to enter my ninth month of changing my life time to readjust the old things and add some new things just to keep me moving in the right direction. I struggle everyday to balance my success with my need to keep moving forward for me it is a constant battle against myself to be happy with what I have accomplished and not just fall into the trap of not being as far along or moving as fast as I had hoped to be a few months ago. I guess the same can be said for anyone who is on a journey like mine because once you start accomplishing some of your goals  you have to decide how much time you spend reflecting on what you have done and how much time you spend worrying about getting to the next in a seemingly never ending line of goals that you set for yourself.  Lately I find myself languishing in the latter and worrying about my speed that I am moving at towards the next step along my journey because for me it is hard not to want to focus on what is next it's just how I am even though everyone around me wants me to celebrate what I have done and I know they are absolutely correct in their plan I guess I'm just a worrier who can't seem to unfocus on the road ahead and how fast I'm moving down it. 

So as we begin each  new step on our Journey together this year let's all try to keep a balance of success and focus and keep us moving down that path towards success no matter how near or far those goals are remember to both focus on the next step but reflect that last was was good because you didn't fall.  So thanks so much for stopping back by and checking out the blog again after a few days off I am going to try to keep it updated regularly again and keep all of you motivated to get up and get moving towards all those goal you set for yourself in the fresh New Year.  SO today stay warm out there but get moving towards another step towards FIT.