Billy’s Blog

Hello folks,

Hope all is well!  I’m doing great!  Had a really good week.  The gym is really doing well thanks to YOU!  Ya know, there’s something to be said for “word of mouth!”  We don’t do any advertising.  Well, other than me riding my stationary bike on Virginia Beach Blvd right in front of the gym occasionally is our only form of advertising!  Then again, that’s wrong too, because our members(YOU) are walking advertisement for us and we greatly appreciate that.  I can’t tell YOU how many of YOU have steered friends and family our way.  THANK YOU!  So, what’s my point?  Thank YOU for putting YOUR faith in us to help YOU accomplish YOUR goals, whatever they may be….to get bigger, smaller, tighter, or just to feel better.  Most importantly, YOU took YOURSELF serious enough to get in shape and stay in shape and YOU picked our gym!  All we ask is that YOU meet us half way!  We can’t want it more than YOU.  So, continue to take YOURSELF more seriously.  Have fun, but if YOU take YOURSELF more seriously, work hard to change YOUR body, and get as much as YOU can out of YOUR workout, improved eating habits, and YOURSELF! If YOU do that, then YOU will truly amaze yourself!  You get it?  IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU!!!  Keep grinding folks!

Make it Happen!  Face the Pain!!!

Check out www.facethepain.com

Your friend,

Billy 

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Hello folks,

Long time no hear from, right?  I’m sorry!  Would you believe that I’ve been busy? WELL, WHO ISN’T BUSY THESE DAYS?!?!  I hope you’re having a great summer!  Our summer just keeps getting better.  We just started going to Wave Church.  It truly is amazing!  We love it there.  It’s very comfortable, nondenominational, there’s always a positive message, and they have an incredible youth program that William will benefit from. 

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but there is nothing like making a connection.  I’m talking specifically about making a connection with people.  It’s kind of like flicking the light switch on brightening up a room.  It is a great feeling!  I am passionate about helping folks get into better shape and feeling better about themselves.  Some connections are better than others, though.  I often get people that say, “ya know, I’d like to lose this and tighten this.”  But, for some reason they don’t/can’t follow through.  And there have been times when I have blamed myself.  All I ask is that you meet me half way.  I can’t possibly want the results for you MORE than you do yourself. 

Anyway, I’m pleased to have finally made another connection with a guy that I train, we’ll call him G.  G has been coming in for about 2 months now and has some serious health issues.  Sure, he works out hard everytime he comes in.  His problem was his eating habits.  Once he decided to put forth the effort outside the gym that he does inside the gym, G really started seeing the results that he wanted.  Putting him through the Fried Foods Ab routine may have influenced him as well!  ;-)  Glad we made a connection.  Keep grinding folks.  Train hard!  Sweat!  Eat better! Don’t forget to check out www.facethepain.com!

Make it Happen!  Face The Pain!!!

Your friend,

Billy   

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Hello my friends,

So what’s 92 to 9?  Well, 92 is how many days my son, William, spent in the NICU when he was first born and 9 days his how many days he gets to spend on his first trip to Aruba.  As you know, he’s come a long way!  Yep!  That’s where we are….ARUBA!!!  We’re here with our friends Pam and Doug.  Being here reminds me of how fortunate we are to be here with our son.  You have to take the tough time with the good in life.  The tough times make the good ones that much more special! 

This is one of the most amazing places that we’ve been in our lives.  We’re so happy and fortunate that we we’re able to bring William.  We are having a wonderful time!  If you need a break from the everyday rat race, I highly recommend that you come here.  Thanks to Jayme and Becky for taking care of Zeek.  Also, fortunately, we have friends like Wesley, Nikki and Sheri taking care of the gym while we’re gone.  In that regard, I can’t exactly say that I’m facing the pain right now.  There is no pain In Aruba!  :-)  Although we are on vacation, I can’t stop the wheels from turning.  My mind is constantly on  overdrive.  Can’t stop thinking about how to improve FTP Gym or FTP Media Enterprise.  Ofcourse, you know what the gym is and I’ve touched on my production company.  In short, it is a company that I created  that will be the number one source on health and exercise for kids.  It involves a cartoon, a few e-commerce sites, and different ways for kids and parents to learn and interact concerning better eating habits and exercise.  Anyway, the saga continues.  The amount of work involved is unbelievable, but well worth it!

We hope all is well is back in the states.  See you next weekend.  Might be a few shades darker because the sun is sooooooooooo bright! 

Don’t forget to check out www.facethepain.com!

Make it Happen!  Face The Pain!!!

Billy

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Hello friends,

You know there is something really special about being part of a small gym like Face the Pain.   Not only is there less traffic and congestion, but because of this, there is more interaction with our members.  There’s a huge difference between walking into a place where everybody knows you or visaversa and walking into a place where you’re just a number.  It’s kinda like walking into a shopping mall versus going home.  You know the old addage, There’s no place like home.  Well, its true.  I think we’re a lot more comfortable in familar surroundings.  Because of this, we a have nice cross-section of clientele.  Ranging from teenagers to professionals to seniors.  We’re like one small, happy family.  Every family has its situations though.  I recently had one of our kids come back.  He told me that he didn’t have as much playing time on his baseball team because he got into some trouble.  I have no idea what he did and I didn’t ask.  We had a heart to heart.  Next year, if he doesn’t have more playing time, it won’t be from horseplay!  ;-)  One of the perks of being a gym owner/personal trainer/counselor/Mr.Mom/Dad/Enforcer……

Make it Happen!  Face the Pain!!!

Don’t forget to chexk out our website, www.facethepain.com!  Stay tuned for new testimonials!  You’ll be able to listen to them.  Yep!  Modern technology, folks!!!

Billy

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Good morning friends,

It’s not too often that I go to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Actually, yesterday was my first time and I grew up in D.C., go figure! Wow! It is absolutely beautiful! In a word, it is GINORMOUS! I had the priviledge of attending my mom’s graduation. She received her doctorate from Wesley Theological Seminary. I am so proud of my mom. This is a tremendous accomplishment. If you knew her story, you’d understand. In short, my mom is a recovering alcoholic and has faced some tumultous events in her lifetime. Way to go mom! Officially, she is Reverand Doctor Jean Robinson Casey, but she’s still mom to me.

No matter what stands in your way, keep grinding people! You’ll be amazed at what positive thought and a determined attitude will do for you.

Make it Happen! Face the Pain!!!

Don’t forget to check out www.facethepain.com

Billy

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Hello friends,

It has been a while since we last spoke.  A lot has happened in the meantime.  Brandon nd Nikki got married, and Jayme and Becky are next!  Nervous Jayme?  :-)  Unfortunately, we spent 16 days at CHKD with our son, William.  A week after receiving a new shunt, he got an infection.  So, that landed us back at, as I call it, “Hotel KD”!  Talk about facing the pain.  Have you ever slept in a fold-out chair bed?  It stinks!  But, the important thing is that my son was comfortable(well, sort of).  Let’s just say that he had better sleeping accomodations.  :-)  Can someone please tell me why they have nurses come in EVERY 2-3 hours to check vitals if you’re in the hospital to get well?  Recovery requires REST, correct?  WELL, HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSE TO GET REST IF THEY WAKE YOU UP EVERY 2 HOURS???!!  Aside from that we are grateful to all of the medical staff at CHKD, especially all of the nurses that cared and loved all over William.  And I can’t leave out Dr. Dilustro.  What’ s up Doc!!!  William is great!  Aside from a few night terrors, he is back to his loving, jumping, crazy, drooling, giggling, million-dollar smile self!

A few weeks ago we participated in the March of Dimes Walk for Babies which was held at the oceanfront.  We had a huge turnout and far surpassed our goal of $2000 in donations.  With the huge help from our gym, Waymar, Gold’s Gym, Holly and numerous friend s and family we raised almost $6ooo!  Yep, TEAM BABY WILLIAM was a huge success.  It was a great day!!!  We look forward to next year!

The gym is doing great!  We have a lot of new members and even quite a few returnees that were missing in action for a while.  Even an old friend (Hi Rhonda!) from wayyyyyy back came through the door.  The word is out folks!  FACE THE PAIN is on the map and we’re here to stay.  We’ll be celebrating our 4th year pretty soon.  Stay tuned for our customer appreciation party!  Keep grinding and working hard!  STAY POSITIVE!

 Make it Happen!

Face the Pain!!!

Billy

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Hello folks,

I hope all is well in your world.  Still grinding at FTP!!!  The atmosphere and mood has been great!  I’m going to toot my horn for a second.  I don’t do this very often, but I have to mention this.  Where else can you go where members will actually stop and root another member on to help them through a particular exercise?  THAT’S AWESOME!!!  Yep!  It happened again last Friday night!  I joined Brett and Russell in their leg workout.  It was pretty brutal.  The exercise that we did actually had three parts: squats, walking lunges(two lengths of the gym) and dead-lifts!  Two other members could see how difficult it was to finish, so they interrupted their own workouts to give support.  Only at Face The Pain, baby!!!  That made me really proud.  It’s a small gym, but makes up big time on character and will power.  Russell probably suffered the most because he ran in the Shamrock on the very next day!  :-(  Congrats to Russell, Wesley, Mikey, and John on participating in the Shamrock last weekend!

Folks, if you really want to get the most out of yourselves, and particularly out of your workouts, then you have to be true to yourself.  If you really want to get into better shape and get rid of that belly, then you have to be more mindful of your eating habits on the weekend.  Sure, it’s ok to fudge it a little on the weekends (no pun intended), but taking a cab through a Taco Bell drive-thru is a little much!  Busting your butt in the gym so that you can eat like that is a poor excuse!  Fortunately, this person is back on track now and on a mission to get his old body back!  Take pride in your workouts and take pride in the results you get from your workouts.

Make it Happen!  Face The Pain!!!

Your friend,

Billy

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Hello friends,

It’s been a while and I apologize.  Although I haven’t posted a message in a while, I have been grinding every day.  Sometimes my week seems like one longggggg day.  I’m sure you can relate. 

Thanks to you it has been really busy at FTP.  We’re going into our fourth year and this past February was our BEST month ever!  THANK YOU!!!  A private, results-oriented gym atmosphere is definitely IN! 

Everyone that works out in our gym works hard, but I have to talk about one person in particular.  His name is Jayme Campbell!  Wow!  You talk about getting the most out of every repetition and every workout.  Jayme is truly dedicated to changing his physique.  Not only does he push himself through some intense weight training and cardiovascular workouts, but he has also commited himself to healthier eating habits.  Jayme never had a problem with working hard.  His problem was what he ate.  Ever since he changed his eating, it has made all of the difference in the world.  I’ve had a number of men and women comment on his improved physique.  One lady barely recognized him as he was leaving yesterday.  Yep!  The changes are that dramatic!  The funny thing is, he can’t see it!  Go figure.  That happens a lot.  You work out so hard to change your body and are, in fact, making incredible gains yet you fail to visualize your OWN progress.  Friends, don’t be fooled and don’t get discouraged.  Keep pushing yourselves and working hard to attain a healthier, stronger body!  Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps!  If it were easy, then everybody would have a perfect body and I wouldn’t be writing this blog. 

I realize a high priority for a lot of us is to reduce the belly fat, but remember to keep everything in perspective.  The moosh in the middle will tighten up in due time!  Remember, you get out of it what you put into it!  Think about how much stronger you are, how much better you feel, how much more energetic you are, and how everyday tasks are easier to perform. All of these little things matter!  When you add all of the little things up at the end of the journey, you will be extremely pleased with what you have accomplished.  By the way, the journey never really ends because you’ll have to keep your new body tight, right? 

 Keep grinding!  Make it Happen!

Face the Pain!!!

Billy

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Hello friends,

So what keeps me going when I get a little discouraged? Yes, even I get discouraged. I can be a great motivator, but at times find it difficult to stay focused on driving forward. At times I cannot find the right words of encouragement even for myself. So, when all else fails I resort to old faithful…..a picture! You know what they say…a picture speaks a thousand words, right? I can always depend on a photograph to get me charged up. I’m sure you have a picture of the “old you.” You know what I’m talking about! The picture of you when you’re wearing that old dress that you can no longer fit into. Or guys, the picture of you from years back when you WERE NOT ashamed to take off your shirt at the beach!

The picture that motivates me the most is the one you see in the upper right hand corner. It is a picture of my son, William, holding onto my wife’s finger. William was born 14weeks prematurely on September 11, 2006 at 1lb 14ozs. After being told by his doctors that he would not live through the week because of severe bleeding to his brain, fluid on his lungs, a seriously low blood pressure, problems with his blood, 5 surgeries(2 of which were brain surgeries)and that he may not be able to see, or breathe on his own I sit and type to you this evening with William in my lap. Yep, he’s almost 17 months old! He is my motivation! I often tell myself, “If he can do it, so can I!” The most encouraging part about this picture is the that he’s holding on with his right hand. This is the side that is mostly effected by the disease known as cerebral palsy. He’s not suppose to be able to do anything with the right side of his body, but he does! Therapy, exercise, love and prayer! A little bit of this everyday has done wonders for my son!

It was so amazing to see him smile during the most stressful of times. It’s funny because it often brought us to tears. There he was with all these tubes and iv’s running in and out of him and he’s smiling! Go figure! That’s my boy! Not only has he inspired me to work harder, but he’s the reason I started working on a program for children. What started out as just an animated cartoon series is now a major production. I could go on and on about this, but I won’t.

So, in closing, if you have a new or old picture that motivates you or puts things into better perspective, then take a look at it every now and then. Put it on your refrigerator, on your sun visor, in your purse or wallet. Keep it nearby because remember, a picture speaks a thousand words!

Keep grinding!

Make it Happen! Face the Pain!!!

Billy

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