My Shakeology Story:
No one would look at me and say "he's out of shape" or "overweight." But at 41 years of age, athletic for most of my life, I know the difference between being in peak form and being less than my best.
Just one month prior to the 2011 Ford Ironman in Lake Placid I found myself about 8lbs heavier than expected and not feeling like I was ready for a 140.6 mile competition. True, I was unable to run due to a painful foot injury but still I was cycling or swimming almost every day along with some occasional strength work. Even more mysterious was that I was eating the same as I always have - no more, no less. But as I looked down at the scale, I could now feel & see that something had changed.
Friends of mine have spoken to me about Shakeology for almost a year now. Admittedly, I hadn't paid much attention as I've never thought about weight-loss, I've always had great energy and I eat a well balanced diet. To me, Shakeology was a crutch needed by people who lacked the discipline to eat right & exercise. Yet despite my eating & exercise routines I was not feeling great, slightly overweight and the clock on Ironman was ticking.....
I went to my friends site to order some Shakeology, I wanted to try it for breakfast on my light training days. I ordered the Chocolate because I've never heard of a "Greenberry." Anyway, I took 1 cup of cold water, 1 packet of Shakeology, 2 ice cubes and threw them all together in my magic bullet for about 30 seconds. I didn't like the taste - I loved it! Felt pretty good that whole day too! Maybe I was buying into the hype of the packaging? "Healthiest Meal of the Day." Who know's? It tasted good, I still had my coffee and I enjoyed a slow and less painful run that afternoon. The next morning I decided to have the shake again, and once again I felt pretty good. What I noticed on the morning of Day 3 was that I woke up and was looking forward to my shake! This happened again and again with each 5am wake-up. Shakeology became my morning ritual and I was looking forward to it.
About 1 week into this new ritual I walked over to my scale and noticed that 2lbs had disappeared. The only meal that changed was breakfast and the only additional expenditure was 2 days of running for 30 minutes. The following week found me another 2lbs down and my energy level returning. By the 3rd week I was able to run pain-free and was down another 2lbs! The week before Ironman I began to taper and reduce my cycling, swimming and already paltry running but I continued with Shakeology for breakfast each day. As much I was excited to be back into my "racing weight" I was more excited by the energy that by body was possessing. I felt strong, looked lean and was confident in my ability to finish the event better than 09' despite some training injuries.
Race day arrived and I used Shakeology for breakfast with a banana, I opted to add the banana for some more carbs & potassium. Many hours later I was running to the finish line, feeling good I finished with an Ironman PR by almost 30 minutes. What role did Shakeology have in my race? Probably not much. But I'm absolutely convinced of the role it played in getting me to the starting line Leaner, Healthier & Full of Energy!
I'm even more convinced of the role it will play going forward - at 41 years of age I'm committed to living my best life possible and Shakeology is a tool to make that happen. I never thought I would sell a product, but the undeniable fact is that I feel amazing and am looking forward to kicking some ass for many years to come!
What are you putting in your body?
Frank Pucher
Personal Trainer/Top Masters Athlete/Evangelist of Happy & Healthy Living.
