Hi Everyone,

Mike Awesome again. It’s only a few days before Christmas and I’m super pumped for a break from the grind. But that doesn’t mean that I’ll be taking a break from The Motion Room or my commitment to get and stay healthy.

As we all know, the holidays are a season of celebration. The holidays are a great way to reconnect with family and friends who we don’t get to see enough during the year because we are all so busy. Big meals with family, decadent gifts, and lots of merrymaking. It is important to me to be involved in all those things but to remember that once the season is over, I have my retest. The retest is a good way for me to keep on track and see how I’ve been progressing, and frankly, I don’t want to mess it up! Look out Joseph I’m coming to get you on December 27th for my retest! By coming to get you I mean get my butt kicked!

I will be allowing myself to enjoy the season and the deliciousness that comes with it, but this holiday season is different, I’ll be much more aware of my choices. A lot of holiday foods are tasty because of the fat and sodium in them.

For example, I’ll be having brussels sprouts instead of my family’s tradition broccoli casserole. The sprouts have one one/hundredth of the sodium. Crazy!

Mike Fanning Fun Fact; I am awesome!

I’ll be having a small amount of goat cheese from the cheese trays rather than the cow’s milk cheeses because the goat cheese is lower in calories and fat.

In light of all this type of information and my commitment to being healthy I’ll be proactive when going to parties, by eating a healthy meal beforehand and not snacking my way through the evening. It’s hard to be at a party or family get together and not drink, so I will enjoy a beer or two, but will make sure that I always have a glass of water going at the same time. It is also important to me to allow my wife, who’s been the designated driver for the past year (due to being pregnant and having our son) to enjoy herself and I can do that by being the designated driver on some occasions, I save calories by not drinking and my wife gets to relax.

The season also marks a new year. A chance for new beginnings and to start over. It is a good time to reflect and look forward. When I reflect I see all of the wonderful things that happened in 2013 including becoming an Ambassador and becoming a father. Looking forward to 2013, I don’t have to make a resolution to get healthy, but get to continue on my journey.

January 22nd, 2013 is my one year of fitness sobriety! Something to look forward to!

I hope that this holiday season finds all of you happy, healthy and motivated for an awesome 2013. Happy Christmas!