Just want you all to know, I had an emergency hernia operation yesterday morning. It hurts everytime i move...I'll be home recovering for the next 2-4 weeks. i give another update in a few days when i feel better...

All Prayers Are Welcome,
Robby

The Las Vegas Marathon is Sunday December 4, 2011. The full marathon is 26 miles and the half is 13.1 miles. I am training for the half marathon. Last year they had over 30,000 poeple running and walking in this monster race! It looks like this year they are expecting over 25,000 runners and walkers in this race. What is making this marathon extra unique is, this year it will be a night race!

They litterally block off the entire Las Vegas Boulevard Strip from Tropicanna all the way to downtown Las vegas for about 5-6 hours while everyone finishes the race. At each mile they have a different Rock & Roll band performing. At the same time there will be thousands of people cheering the racers
on from the side walks.

My specific training for this race started about 6 weeks ago. My trainer Nancy Dickenson laid out my workout and training plan. Basically Monday, wednesday and Friday I do 2.5 -3 miles on the treadmill. Then Saturday is my long day. My first Saturday I did 3 miles. The following Saturday I did 4 Miles
and so on.This weekend I did 9 miles.

After this specific workout, I felt some pain in the ball of my right foot. YUP, you guessed it. BLISTERS! A double blister! As soon as I got home, I iced both feet as per instructions from Nancy, my trainer.

Training for a full or half marathon requires putting in miles every week. rain or shine. The other side of trianing is the food one easts during training. It's no secret one of my problems over the year was eating to many sweets! Well last night I was playing a gig at the Bellagio Hotel for best selling author and entrepreneur Bill Walsh. Don't you know I was playing the DESERT after dinner party. Check out the photo!  They offered me some treats! I didn't exercise my will power, I exercised my WON'T POWER and didn't even have a taste!

At least One day a week I am doing my walk/jog out doors. Tuesday and Thursday I workout with Nancy and a group of her clients for some high intensity strength training. In short I workout 6 days a week.

Once the Las Vegas Marathon is finished, we will be switching gears to train for Mt. Kilimanjaro!
I'll keep you posted!!!

Keep Being Brilliant,
Robby

On August 4, 2011, Football Great Bubba Smith Died From a Diet Pill Overdose!

The obsession to lose weight, look good, at almost any cost is alive and well. Bubba Smith was one of my football heros growing up along with thousands of other kids at that time.  At 6ft 7inches, he was larger than life. He was Big, he was Tough and he was an AWESOME Football player! Then after football, acting in movies and TV commercials kept him busy.

But the sad fact is, Bubba Smith died from an over dose of diet pills! Freakin Diet pills!!!

From what I've been reading, it looks like Bubba also had a history of High Blood Preassure, and Atherosclerosis, which is the thickening of the artery walls of his heart. A coroner spokesman said, according to various articles, there were high levels of the weight loss drug, "Phentermine" is his system.

My first question that comes to mind is, who is Bubba Smith's Doctor?
Was his doctor aware of Bubba's pre-conditions?

Then again, maybe Bubba didn't do regular checkups. I really don't know.

Bottomline...it doesn't matter! He died because he overdosed with a diet pill to LOSE WEIGHT!

Everybody wants that magic pill to solve all their problems, to make the problem go away without any effort or work.

Folks, there is NO MAGIC PILL! Especially for dieting and weight loss!

Food, dieting and weightloss is BIG Business. But when you're talking abouit, diet, weight loss and eating disorders, it dangerous, life and death dangerous.

I was fortunate enough to have been part of the 8 part docus-series called " Addicted To Food" which aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Last year I topped the scales at 360lbs.I'm happy to say, I've lost 82 pounds. Though I still have a ways to go, I got my life back. The experience opened my eyes to the life and death reality and issues of surrounding eating disorders, which include, Compulsive Over Eating, Anorexia Nervosa,and Bulemia.

When I was in treatment at Shades of Hope, they never talked or focused on weight loss. Rather, they focused on all the issues surrounding why one eats and uses food to medicate those issues and pain.I burried a lot of issues and pain with food. I was happy on the outside and and miserable on the inside!

Which brings me to the Jay Leno Show...
Recently Jay had a guest that was going from Fit To Fat To fit. This guy is a trainer with 6 pack abs! He's ripped.

Here's The NBC's announcement:
"Drew is a fitness trainer who's in the middle of a unique 26-week journey where he stopped working out and started eating foods that are bad for him. His goal is to educate people on what happens when you don't take care of yourself. When he reaches week 26 he's going to start eating well and exercising again." As of the TV taping he had gained about 75 pounds.

When I saw this on TV, my first thought was, "What a Freakin IDIOT!". He is either an idiot or ignorant off the charts. Either way, it's not good! He wanted to see what his obese clients felt like. You dont help cure obesity by becoming one of them.

He's a trainer for crying out loud! He may know nutrtion but he knows nothing about food.Obesity is a symptom of underlying problems. What he is doing is trying to duplicate the smyptoms without the real underlying issues. This guy is playing with fire and he has no clue as to how dangerous his pet project really is.

If he loses the weight, which I suspect he will, what does it prove? It just means, this is a guy that can lose weight without much difficulty. Try being obese for 8, 10 or 20 years with all the problems associated with Obesity, then try losing weight! On the other hand, he risks developing a real eating disorder, which I dont wish on ANYBODY! Either way, this guy is not only arrogant, but really uninformed.

So What's My Point?
Football hero Bubba Smith didn't have to die this young! He just didn't know he was playing with fire.

The only magic pill for healthy weight loss is the knowledge of, "calories in, calories out".
The Weight Loss Formula = Exercise, Food Plan, Education, Training, Support and Accountability. That is the magic bullet!

If you or someone you know is using food to medicate pain and or burry other issues, they very well could have an eating disorder. People that are Extremely Under Weight or Obese have issues with food.

Why am I ranting on and on???
I'm ranting because I'll miss Bubba Smith! He touched thousands of people hearts over the years.He's gone because he was trying to lose weight, the wrong way!

Part of my mission at this point in my life is to bring awareness to the world about the diseases of Diabetes and Obesity. If they go untreated they can DIE. Then again, if they treat their obesity with the WRONG Strategy like diets pills they can also die!

In closing...Love your self enough to go get quality help when and if you need it!

Keep Being Brilliant
Robby

The Lifestyle Intervention Conference last week at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada September 28-30, 2011 was AWESOME! This was the first national conference focused on Obesity, Food, Addiction and Recovery.

There was a rainbow of experts speaking on various topics related to Obesity, Addiction, Intervention, Treatment, Insurance, to name a few. It was eye opening. Michael Cartwright from Fit-RX and Brad Lamm from change Institute did a great job putting on the event, with a SPEACIAL Thanks to there Assistant Rebekah who was FANTASTIC!

They also had a few celebrity health experts that I can now call "My New Friends"!
Joy Bauer - from the Today Show
Billy Blanks - Fitness Guru and Founder of TAEBO
Danny Cahill - Season 8 WINNER on The Biggest Loser

During My Presentation I Announced Some Goals Achieved :To date I've lost 82 pounds. My A1C has gone from 10.4 to 4.6. My cholestrol went from 350 down to 161.

Some NEW GOALS For The Coming Year!
1. December 4, 2011 - Half Marathon (13 Miles)
2. March 4, 2012 - Participate in the Stratosphere Hotel Climb - (108 Floors)
3. April 2012 - Climb Mt Whitney
4. By June 2012 - Lose another 80-1 00 pounds
5. By June 2012 - Be 100% Medication Free
6. June 18, 2012 - Climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.

It's been and will continue to be a very exciting year!

Thank you for ALL your Encouragement and Support and please feel free to leave a comment!

Keep Being Brilliant,
Robby

If any of you missed the Final 3 Episodes of "Addicted To Food", you can watch them online for a limited time on the Oprah Winfrey Network website. Here is the link. http://bit.ly/ip31mo

I recieved a number of email and calls from freinds asking about what happen with the mixup of scheduling of " Addicted To Food". My answer is, I have no idea.

I'll be posting some final thoughts about the show in the next day or two. Once again, Thank You for all your support for my journey is really just begining.

I'll be posting some of the footage from the Half Marathon I completed. That was awesome!

That's All For Now...

Keep Being Brilliant,
Robby LeBlanc