Steve, Rebooted

I was driving through Danbury, CT, today and noticed a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk next to a business that was closed. Conveniently, a Burger King was right next door to where he was. Without much thought, I went into the Burger King and bought a $1.00 double cheeseburger. I walked over to him, asked him if he was hungry and told him I got him a double cheeseburger. Though he didn’t say much, he smiled, I shook his hand, and then went back to my car. As I was driving off, I saw that he was happily munching away on the burger.

In this case, the convenience and low cost of fast food allowed me to feed a homeless person within minutes and without me having to go to the grocery store, buy some lettuce, vegetables, maybe some nuts for a garnish, and some extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar for a dressing. Unfortunately, I do not carry a portable salad making station in my trunk stocked with all the ingredients to make a great, healthy, nutritious meal every time I see a homeless person (and I do see a lot of them; my heart goes out to them every time).

For the rest of us, the convenience and low cost of fast food makes it all too easy for us to overeat and eat the “wrong stuff” with entirely too much frequency. Why is it that — from the perspective of both cost and convenience — eating fast food is “economical” in the sense that it takes minimal effort and as little as one dollar to get a sandwich that really isn’t all that good for us? A rhetorical question, possibly, but l offer this solution:

If you really want to change your body, it begins with changing your mind. Make a decision to make a change, and the rest will follow.

On Saturday, April 3rd at 2PM, I will be speaking at Borders Bookstore on 110 Federal Road in Danbury, CT. During my presentation, I will be giving personal testimony on how I applied the elements of proper nutrition, regular exercise, and a positive mindset that allowed me to lose 45 lbs. in a 5-month time frame, rebuild my body and strengthen my mind. I hope to see you there.

Until then, I ask:

How bad do you want it?

For those of you that may be wondering, here’s how to pronounce my last name:

Skip-e-oh-nee

There are a number of items I’d like to clarify/correct:

I lost 45 lbs. in a 5-month timeframe, from June 09 to Nov. 09. The article states 40 lbs. which is 5 lbs. short of what I achieved.

At first blush,  losing my job may appear as a misfortune.  There are blessings in disguise all around us. This has proven to be true many times over in my life. We just have to pay attention to the signs.

Losing my job on Sept. 11, 2009 has been the greatest gift because it has afforded me the opportunity to pursue my dream.

My wife’s cousin was 44 at the time of his death, not 45 like the article states.

I am a Motivational Speaker and Lifestyle Transformation Coach, I don’t do “personal speaking” as it states toward the end of the article. It appears to be an erroneous concatenation (and gratuitous editorial error to boot) of the terms “personal training” and “motivational speaking” which makes little sense from both conceptual and practical points of view.

We are living in challenging times. Now more than ever, it is important that we take responsibility for ourselves. This begins with taking care of yourself by eating properly, exercising correctly, and adopting a positive mindset, so you can live life to its fullest and follow your dreams. What’s your passion? I’d love to hear about it.

For more details on lifestyle transformation coaching and motivational seminars, please contact me at: 203-241-9770 or steve@finallyfitatforty.com

And don’t forget, I’ll be speaking at Borders Bookstore on 110 Federal Rd., Danbury, CT, 06811, on Saturday, April 3rd. at 2PM!

I’ll be speaking at Borders Bookstore in Danbury CT on Saturday, April 3rd. at 2PM!

Best shape of my life by May 30, 2010, my 40th birthday.

As you can see, the last time I made a blog entry was 11/13/09. With the holidays, along with some personal challenges I’m currently going through, I kind of fell off the blogging bandwagon. The good news is that I’m still hard at work on my Lifestyle Transformation Success Program and am in negotiations with two Borders bookstores in Connecticut to do some public speaking. I’ll post more information as these developments materialize.

I’m still on track to be in the best shape of my life by my 40th birthday, May 30, 2010. My goal is to see my abs. I know I can do it.

Stay tuned…

I put up the 70 lb. dumbbells for 9 reps on the flat bench press today! I had previously been doing incline presses, which are more difficult; as such, one typically can’t lift as much on the incline as on the flat bench. I had a little difficulty lifting them into position (my forearm strength is comparatively weak) but once I locked them into position, they went up nicely.

The 75s are next!!!

Today’s weigh-in: 229.5 lbs!!!! I’m only between 10-14 lbs. away from my goal weight of 215-220 by 12/15/09!!!

When you have a plan, the right plan, weight loss (or rather, fat loss) is inevitable. I am creating a course called Steve Scipioni’s Lifestyle Transformation Success Program (LTSP) that will be workshop based as well as delivered online. The message forums are up and available at www.finallyfitatforty.com/forums. The site will eventually be subscription-based (a nominal fee of about $9.95 a month) but you can sign up and participate for free now until I get the ecommerce backend working.

Please join and participate in my forums.

I weighed in at 231.5 lbs. the other day. I feel great and am getting ready for my first motivational seminar, which is on Wednesday, Nov. 4th at 5:30PM at The Spa at Glenpointe in Teaneck, NJ.

I’ve been working with Carlos and John at Adrenalin Gym on my incline dumbbell bench presses. I told them I’ve never been a strong lifter, and they won’t accept that (in the best way possible).

Yesterday I did the 60s for 12 reps, then John helped me (I lifted the weight all myself; he helped me prepare psychologically for the lift) do the 65 lb. dumbbells for 5 reps! I couldn’t get the dbs in position at first, and my mind was fried at that point, but John wouldn’t let me quit. I got back on the bench and repped ‘em out for a good quality 5 reps! Thanks to both John & Carlos!!!

The mind is a powerful motivator (or if you let it, “demotivator”). Next time, I’m going to try for the 70s!!!