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-Justin Willoughby
(One Step)

How many of us want to start a workout program, but we really don’t know where to begin? Let me start by saying, you should always begin with checking with your doctor before you begin a plan. This will give you a hint on where to start. If the doctor clears you for most physical activity, you are usually good to go.

I will be sharing my personal fitness plan. This fitness plan has helped me shed 600+ pounds! It will be available soon. Not able to get to the gym? Not able to move? No worries, I will include a fitness plan that YOU will still be able to do! Keep your eyes open for this! You won’t want to miss it!

-Justin Willoughby
(One Step)

Hello friends,

It’s Justin Willoughby back with another workout tip for you. Some of you may be unable to move. There is hope for you. If you are able to move your arms, I suggest taking some small weights, and actually doing curls with them. If you do not own weights, I would suggest something heavy such as a jug of water. Do about 20 and switch it up to the other arm. This will work your bicep.

For your legs, if you are unable to stand, yet you still have mobility in your legs, I suggest doing some leg curls. Take some ankle weights and lift your leg as far as you can, and bring it back down nice and slow. Control movements are the key to getting the full benefit of the workout.

If you are able to walk, but you are on oxygen, I suggest walking 100-200 steps and stopping. Keep track of your steps every time you walk. If you can make 1,000 steps by the end of the day.. GREAT! If you can make 2,000, well that is even better! If you can make 3,000, GOOD FOR YOU! Are you catching what I am saying? Do what you can do, and don’t be afraid to push yourself if you are able. Walking may cause cramps if you are mostly immobile, but this will increase leg muscle, which will make your legs stronger so you can do more walking. As always, you should get doctors approval before starting a workout routine.

-Justin Willoughby
(ONE STEP)

Hello friends,

I am back with another workout tip for all of you. This is something you don’t hear much of. But some of us might be doing too much exercise. How can this be? I wake up in the morning, get  my breakfast, do what I got to do, and I head to the local YMCA here in Bradford. I usually do 60-65 minutes of straight hardcore cardio exercise. I usually raise my resistance up pretty high, and lower it when I am really exhausted. After my workout, I head home and do some things around the house. Hardly any sitting is involved in my lifestyle. It gets to be 1:00p.m and I head back to my local YMCA and workout for another 45-55 minutes. This usually consists of 30-35 minutes of cardio (running, stairclimber, high resistance on the arc trainer, etc). I get done with the cardio exercise and head to the weight room. I hit 2-3 body parts a day with weights. Usually 3-5 sets of 12 (low to high weight). I get done, and I get ready for work. I am active ALL through out my whole work day. I usually end up playing basketball, football, volleyball, ect. I work with younger teens, so they have TONS of energy. The work day gets done, and I head home and crash.

Where am I going with all of this? Here is a lesson I have learned. Yesterday, my wife and I went out and did a run/walk session of cardio. More walking was involved than running. It took us about an hour and a half to get done. I counted that as my exercise for the day. I went to work, played some football with the kids, and walked a bit more with them. At the end of the day, I was still a bit tired. I got home and turned on The Vikings vs The Jets game. I went to bed afterwards, and I woke up at 7:30 in the morning. But something felt different. I wasn’t as tired when I woke up. I noticed I wasn’t forcing myself to get out of bed, and head to the gym. I felt GREAT! I went to the YMCA, exercised for an hour by doing some cardio, and did 15 minutes of weights. I feel good right now. The lesson is, I have been overdoing it. I have been exercising way too much! Is it okay to do two sessions? Yes, if you are medically cleared and able, then yes, it is okay to do 2 sessions a day. But I wouldn’t recommend doing them everyday. It finally hit me when my wife looked at me and said “Do you have to workout twice, everyday?” I thought to myself, “No, I don’t.” It has been robbing me with time I could be spending on my relationship with her. It is robbing me of helping her around the house more. Will I workout twice a day? Yes I will, but I won’t do it as often. You shouldn’t feel tired constantly from doing your daily workout. Take some time and enjoy life! It’s what I was missing. I am thankful that God has placed that on my heart. No need to kill myself over something that nearly killed me once. It may take a little more time to reach that goal weight, but I will do it.

Moral of the story: Don’t overdo the working out. I recommend no more than 2 hours a day. Sometimes 50 minutes to an hour is just enough. You will have to listen to your body and find your balance.

-Justin Willoughby
(One Step)

Hello friends,

Justin here with another post for you. I have been doing some extra research as of late. I have been reading around for more health benefits in certain foods/drinks. Today, I am going to share a bit about tea. I have known about tea and it’s benefits for a while now. But I am learning so much more about it as I begin reading more. At one point in my life, I couldn’t stomach tea. I hated the bitterness of it, and the way it smelled. After a reading about it more, I decided to give tea another chance. I began GULPING it down! I couldn’t take the bitterness. I finally was able to start sipping after what seemed to be a million cups. Now, I am use to the taste. I want to share some information that I found helpful about tea. I am citing this information from (http://www.provida.com/loseweight_fs_drinktea.asp). This informed me a good amount on tea. From speeding up metabolism, to overall caffiene content. This website will give you some well desired information concerning tea.

Here is some great information! You can check out the whole article via the provided link above.

[One of the most widely accepted and researched health benefits of all tea is its antioxidant quality. Antioxidants fight free radicals – electrons that cause cell damage – and can be the cause of many diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, cataracts and Alzheimer’s disease. Tea contains antioxidants called “flavanoids” which inhibit the damaging oxidation reactions caused by free radicals. In fact, tea contains the highest amount of flavanoids of all plants and the antioxidant activity of tea has been compared to that of fruits and vegetables. Whereas tea should not replace the consumption of fruits and veggies, when added to a healthy diet, tea provides extra protection against many harmful diseases and further promotes health and well-being.

Tea Can Help Fight Diabetes (and more!)

Scientists at the US Department of Agriculture say that tea can also be a powerful weapon in the fight against diabetes because it can boost insulin activity in the body by more than 15-fold. They were able to identify tea’s insulin-enhancing chemical, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Diabetes is a disease where the body either does not make insulin or does use the insulin it does make properly. Scientists believe tea increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin by affecting the cell proteins that insulin binds to. The more sensitive the body is to insulin, the more effectively it uses the supply it has. Scientists also believe that this insulin-boosting activity is another reason why tea seems to prevent heart disease and high blood pressure because insulin activity lowers blood sugar levels which damages blood vessels. They hope the data can help to not only treat diabetes but perhaps prevent it as well. EGCG is also believed to block production of an enzyme required for cancer-cell growth and to block the production of histamine, which is involved in triggering and sustaining allergic reactions.

Tea’s Caffeine Content

Yes, tea contains caffeine. Other than decaffeination, processing does not affect the caffeine content. Most teas have about the same amount of caffeine, within the range of 25-60 mg of caffeine in a 6-ounce cup. If you’re not sure how much that is, compare it to a cup of coffee, which contains roughly 100mg of caffeine per 6-ounces. Studies have shown that caffeine, when consumed in healthy amounts, can speed up your metabolic rate, making weight loss easier.

Green Tea

Trivia: Did you know that the American colonists tossed green tea into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party to protest British taxes? We’ll bet that if they knew about green tea’s antioxidant properties they would have thought twice! Green tea is another widely known and extremely studied form of tea. About 20% of tea consumed worldwide is green. Green tea has been used for thousands of years in Japan and China as both an enjoyable beverage as well as an herbal medicine. Over the years, numerous studies have been conducted to discover green tea’s antioxidative effects – and recently researchers are finding that green tea can provide so much more! First of all, how does green tea differ from black tea? The leaves used to create black tea are fully oxidized, while those used to make green tea are lightly steamed before being dried. Green tea leaves are minimally fermented, which gives the tea a light color and a more delicate, fresh taste which can range from fragrant to very bold and vegetal.

The antioxidant properties of green tea not only help protect against prostate, stomach, bladder, pancreas, rectal and esophageal cancers, but are also used to ease stomach problems and to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Green tea is also used to improve impaired immune functions.

Recent studies also report possible anti-inflammatory and arthritis-preventing effects of green tea. Scientists suggest green tea antioxidants postpone the beginning of and decrease the severity of one type of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and decreased function in the joints. There is no cure for this affliction, so doctors try to alleviate the symptoms. Additional findings in Europe show that the decreased movement of blood cells that cause inflammation across blood vessel walls were relieved when green tea antioxidants were introduced.

Experiments with green tea have shown promising results for your teeth as well. Asian health providers have longed talked about how drinking green tea can promote oral health. Scientific and medical literature now back up this ancient claim – information from research studies demonstrate how green tea works against bacteria that cause cavities in teeth. Also, green tea naturally contains fluoride, which protects teeth from cavities.

One of the most popular and well-loved benefits from green tea is its potential effect on weight loss. Recent scientific research suggests that green tea has potent fat-burning properties. A study done at the University of Geneva concluded these results. In the study, 10 healthy young men of average age 25 who ranged in body type from “lean” to “mildly overweight” were put on a “typical Western diet” of about 13% protein, 40% fat and 47% carbohydrates. One group took capsules containing 50mg of green tea extract and the other group took a placebo. The result showed that the men who took the extract experienced an increase in the number of calories used in a 24 hour period, an increase in fat metabolism and an increase in fat calories used. The conclusion was that green tea has thermogenic properties that promote fat oxidation and increase the body’s calorie burning rate. Also, green tea flavanoids and EGCG, can help prevent obesity by inhibiting the movement of glucose in fat cells. Drink up!

White Tea

Last but certainly not least, there is white tea. A less commonly known version, white tea is created when the leaves and buds are steamed and dried. White tea is the least processed of the three teas. This tea gets its light grayish-white color from the silvery “hairs” that are found on the buds from the Camellia plant. When brewed, the tea is a pale yellow to a light red and has a delicate, slightly sweet flavor with none of the grassy undertones associated with green tea. White tea is found in China and is very rare. White tea is a bit more expensive than the others since it is considered a delicacy.

Don’t let the delicate nature of this beverage fool you. White tea is stronger than it looks and it provides its own special health benefits just like black and green tea. In tests done at Pace University in New York, researchers found that white tea was 10% more effective than green tea in inactivating viruses, bacteria and fungi responsible for streptococcus infections and pneumonia. While green tea stimulates the immune system to fight off disease, this study noted that white tea or white tea extract can actually destroy the organisms that cause the disease. Research also shows that white tea fights the bacteria that can cause cavities and yeast infections. Scientists believe that white tea contains more antioxidants than black or green because its leaves aren’t fermented. White tea also contains less caffeine than green and black tea (about 15mg per serving). Some varieties of white tea include white peony, golden moon, silver needle and white cloud. White teas are produced mostly in China and Japan, but the Darjeeling region of India also produces some fine white teas.] – All cited from the above website.

I hope you find this information beneficial. This shows me something. It shows me that God has placed some amazing healthful things on this earth. He has promised to take care of His creation. He can do that by using His creation to benefit His creation. =)

God bless you guys!

-Justin Willoughby
(One Step)

Hey friends,

I am back with another little word of encouragement for you. I am specifically talking to those who are (overweight and obese). How many of us have went to the doctors, just to hear the words “You are overweight”? How many of us have went out in public, just to see people staring at us, and sometimes people making a joke about us? It’s not fun, and it hurts. BIG TIME. It really doesn’t feel good when you are called overweight or obese. Doesn’t it make you think less of yourself? Like you don’t fit in? Does it depress you?

It would depress me. It made me think I was different, and I didn’t fit in with other “NORMAL” people. Many times I’ve had my weight used against me as a joke, or a life threat. I want to get something across today. If you are experiencing the same type of treatment, well, there is hope. You don’t have to be this way forever. You can overcome this! Sometimes we like to avoid the mirrors, clothing shopping, scales, advice, etc. because they make us feel icky about ourselves. We don’t want to face the fact that our bodies are not what they are supposed to be. We already hear slanders, laughing, and death sentences from people; why do we want to add more to the mix? We usually feel fine when we ignore the things that make us realize how we look, and how big we really are. Where am I going with this? I’m saying it’s easy to get comfortable. It’s easy to ignore the problem and pretend it isn’t there. It’s easy to just continue to live life the way we are comfortable with, probably thinking in the back of our mind, I will do something about it someday. Sometimes we need to let the mirror speak to us. Sometimes we need to let doctors guide us into healthier individuals.  We need to stop ignoring the problem. We are killing ourselves if we think we can go on living a life that causes us to be an unhealthy person. Here is the bottom line. We can let what people say offend us, and make us rebel by eating more, and just not do anything about it. OR we can do something about it! It’s so easy to get depressed; other people can get us down. Some of us are easily hurt, so hiding our emotions in another piece of cake, or a few more cookies will give us a few moments of freedom, only to come back to more guilt and feeling worse than before. We need to take charge of our bodies. We need to chew on some of the reactions we get from people, and the way we look in the mirror. I am not saying we should make HIGH expectations of ourselves. I am saying we should aim to be healthy people, and a healthy weight. We need to be in tune with Jesus. He is the author of yourself! He is the One who knows you better than you know yourself. God know’s the very number of hairs on your head. He should always be the first One we should go to, to get our lives back on track. He will never steer you the wrong way. His GPS is right on target; only we can mess that up.

Overall: It’s time to take action. Time to get moving. Time to eat healthy! Get those fruits and veggies in, get that water in, get them whole grains in. This will increase your life expectancy, and will help you live a life God has called you to live. Let’s not get offended by people, let’s get motivated by people. Many insults will be heard, many insults will be said. We need to get over it, and continue on this journey of health. Take charge of your life today! With God and yourself, you can’t go wrong. I am praying for the people who have contacted me over the last few months. I am always an e-mail away. Please feel free to chat with me. You can check out my facebook (www.facebook.com/justinwilloughby) or follow me on twitter. www.twitter.com/jwillz1986

In Jesus
-Justin Willoughby

Hello friends,

This is Justin, back at you with another justinwilloughby.com post. I’ve had a few things that I wanted to share with you. I know some people have been told that they are a hopeless case. I know I have been told that. I was actually told that being at the weight I was at, there was no way I could turn it around. This was coming from a guy who has seen it all. He was familiar with people who were morbidly obese. I wasn’t going to take that answer lying down. Yes, at first, it did scare me. Most people did not make it past the first stage of recovery. Well, I did, and that shows the amazing power of Jesus in a person’s life. I expected life, I expected to make it, and if somehow I didn’t, I knew where I was going when I died.

Some of you may have been been called a hopeless case. I want to tell you that this simply is not true. You are not a hopeless case. Your life matters, and you have a chance to recover from whatever you face in this lifetime. Do you struggle with alcoholism? Do you struggle with sexual immorality? Do you struggle with marriage? Do you struggle with weight? I am here to tell you that you can overcome these things. If you are at ROCK BOTTOM, and cannot get yourself up, then you obviously are in need of a little help. I am not talking about a psychologist, or psychiatrist, I am talking about help from your CREATOR! Some of you may not want to continue to read this post because it begins to talk about God. But I am here to tell you, God exists, and His love is ENDLESS! He loves each and every single person on this earth. He loves you and sees what you struggle with. He knows you can overcome what you struggle with. How can you do this? Through prayer, by accepting Jesus as the Boss of your life. Just give your life over to Him! It makes it a heck of a lot easier! He is the God who says He loves you, and doesn’t care what kind of messed up background we come from. He is still willing to accept us as His children! That is a blessing all it’s own. He even takes it a step further. He says if we confess that Jesus is the boss of our life, and believe God raised Him from the dead, we are “saved” which means we will inherit life everlasting (eternal life) in heaven with our Creator when we pass on from this life to the next. All we need to do is accept Jesus as the One in charge of our lives.

This is the answer to that “hopeless case”. You are a special person! Your life matters! Your life is way too precious to be over because of a problem that we face. You can overcome it. It wasn’t easy for me to overcome the weight of 799 pounds. But it was well worth it. I got my life back, and I will never let it go again. I am not a perfect person; I mess up, and struggle with things everyday! But I strive hard to be like Jesus in everything I do. That in turn makes me a better person, because I strive to be like the One who created me in His image, and in His likeness. If you are willing to accept Him for what He has to offer, you should pray and accept Him by faith. Life will finally have meaning and purpose. We don’t exist just to exist. We exist for a reason. That is to live for Jesus, and to do His will here on earth. If you are with me on this, please pray and accept Him. Don’t scoff and look away. It’s not worth it. Life is a vapor, here today, and just like that, it’s gone. What are you going to do? Hopeless case? No, there is no hopelessness in Jesus.

-Justin Willoughby
(One Step)

He made you, YOU

Hey guys, a couple things I’ve really been thinking of as of late. A lot of times people love to compare themselves to other people. This can happen in one or two ways.

One – The person who is just trying to fit in finds themselves doing whatever it takes to become like the person they believe, is the answer for them to be. (Example: A person is pursuing college, that means this person “MUST” pursue college in order to be something in life, or this person attends this club or that church, this must be the answer.)

Two – People set standards for themselves, and they expect people around them to be the same exact way. (Example: They won’t buy something, so “this person” shouldn’t. Or they like a certain team, that means the other person should.)

We see ourselves comparing, setting standards on people, saying “If only this person would be more like this person! THIS WOULD MAKE THEM BETTER!” I am here to tell you, NO! That’s not true, in fact, that is wrong. Not everyone WILL BE the same. You are not like your friends. You are not like your Pastors, teachers, favorite musicians.

God has made every single person unique! Instead of asking “How can I be more like that guy?” or “Why can’t they be more like me?” start asking “How can I be the person God made me to be?” or “What can I learn from this person?” Check out what it says in Ephesians. This does cover a lot in the spiritual aspect of life, but we can also learn something else from this. If God covers the spiritual stuff, He could also cover the physical aspect of life as well.

Ephesians 4:10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

He has appointed some to be (pastors, prophets, teachers…) but let’s look deeper. These are earthly duties with spiritual responsibilities . We could probably even say (God has appointed some to attend college, be a musician, work here, teach here.) As them things are earthly responsibilities to equip us into our own person which will effect us spiritually. He has gifted many people differently. If we would just stop comparing ourselves to every single person, and seek out the person God want’s you to be, and if we would just stop focusing on what our (friends, family, coworkers) are doing wrong and start focusing on what we can fix in our lives to be better people for Him, then our life would be 100 percent more affective.

God has a unique road for every single person. It says so in the bible.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Either we really seek our what God wants in our lives, or we just continue to live like the rest of the world, day and day out comparing ourselves to our friends, neighbors, family, pastors, teachers, etc. When we truly focus on who GOD wants us to be, we will see some amazing results. We will see a bunch of maturing, a bunch of freedom, and even God’s promises coming to pass.

Take this away with you today, I AM NOT anyone else, He made me, me.. with my own set of gifts, and my own style. He did not make us factory toys that get the same design over and over on the machines. God made you (Rachel, Justin, Josh, Larry, Kelly, Tonya, Becky, Alisa, Ralph, Cory, John, Anthony, James, Diane, Scott, Tony, Robert, Doug, Richard, Ethan, Amanda, Michelle, Barb, Kelly, Victoria, Nancy, Stacy, George, Gerry, Eddie, Kevin, Tayler, Brittany, Tyler, Joey, Rocco, Mike, Sally, Tom, Scott, Vince, Bart, Jesse, Jordan, Brian) get the picture? He made you, YOU! Our ways are not always the same as our friends. Let’s mold each other into the characters God wants “US” to be.

Side Note: I am not saying it’s okay to go out and indulge in sin. When we come to Jesus, we come as broken people, who are in need of help and a Savior. We then seek Him out the best we can (read the bible, pray, get together with other believers) and watch how He transforms us into better people as time goes on.

Hey friends,

It’s Justin back with another updated post for you. I want to talk about something that helps me out tremendously during a workout! It’s called “MUSIC”! Music helps me out because I can get into it while working out. Without music, time seems to just drag on. Exercise just seems tougher and harder to complete.

The point I do want to get across here is this, music can help you ENJOY exercise! People can get into music, 2-4 songs go by, and you are already 10-20 minutes into your workout. Go 6 songs, and are nearly at 30 minutes. This helps time go by faster for me. It also helps me exercise a little bit harder. I get into music, the beat, the mood, and it impacts how I perform. I recommend this to anyone starting a workout program or even to those who already have a program all set.

Here is what you can do, get music that you enjoy. I am into hip hop; I like the fast pace, the beat, and the stories artists put into a song. The fast pace helps me move quicker, the beat helps me get into the song, the story makes time fly by.

This is just a little pointer on how to make your exercise session a little more fun for you. Very few people will settle for an exercise program if it is not fun. Music is one of those ways to make it fun.

-Justin
(ONE STEP)