Fit Challenge Competitor, Brittany Rinker - Week 3

What a week! I am seeing and feeling the results of my efforts to be healthy and give it my all. My whole body felt extreme soreness a few days this week but what shocked me is the hurt made work harder and because I know its working! Eating healthy isn't so bad and I enjoy having so much more energy during the day and I sleep sooo much better at night! Still can't do the Greek yogurt but I am expanding my horizons and I am happy I say it's going great! Ready for weigh ins next week! Exciting! I must say I love how this is turning out! See ya all soon!

Fit Challenge Competitor, Samantha McVee - Week 4

Week 4:

Our first weigh in!! I was nervous as all get out! I know I feel better and my performance while working out is getting better, I'm definitely feeling stronger. But I was just apprehensive as to how much I had actually lost! So to say I was ECSTATIC when I saw I had lost 3% body fat is an understatement! That was just one more piece of evidence that the scale doesn't REALLY tell all! Not too mention almost FOUR INCHES around my belly button, an inch in my neck.. yes that's right.. my NECK and a few more inches everywhere else! I was definitely feeling amazing when I walked out of the gym on Sunday! I think everyone was! I believe when we added it up all together we lost over 70 lbs collectively! AMAZING!!! 

Now to keep that going and do it again on the next weigh in!! Here we GOO!!!

Fit Challenge Competitor, Samantha McVee - Week 3

Well, well.. Week 3 has come and gone! And all I can say is I'm sick of chicken.. and turkey! But I have found a new love for eggs, beans and cottage cheese! I do not like vanilla protein powder.. I am definitely a CHOCOLATE GIRL!! And that's all for the nutrition report! 

The workouts were great this week! They are definitely doing the job. I was more sore this week then I have been previously. I think I need to take more time to stretch And I need a massage! Mentally I am having a hard time this week. I am learning to shift my vices from eating my stress and/or anxiety away to working it out in the gym! No more retail therapy, or "sappy" (aka sad/happy) eating for this chick! The "high" I get from the increase of my endorphins from working out is becoming SO addicting. I love the way I feel after a tough workout. Mentally knowing I have challenged myself and survived, is like a little victory everyday that carries me through to the next day! I love letting my stress out physically "productively" verses harming myself by eating crap food. That was only ever a temporary band-aid anyways. 

I think the biggest thing I have learned this week is to just keep going. Even when I didn't want to, I went. And I felt great after the workout and I would think to myself.. "why didn't I want to come again?" Perseverance baby! That's what it's all about! You are stronger then you think.. You body is stronger then you think. You are your own worst critic and skeptic.. BUT if you turn that around 180 degrees.. you can become your own BEST MOTIVATOR and your BEST & BIGGEST FAN!! 

Until Next Week! 

Love, 

Samantha :) 

Fit Challenge Competitor, Heather Wright - Week 4

There are no magic bullets. If only. 

See over the holidays I managed to gain 14 pounds. So not only did I have my normal overweight-weight to lose but all of the cookies, wine and other indulgences that I really enjoyed at the time. That was even gained while working out a few times a week. This is the impact all of my  yo-yo dieting in the past has done to my metabolism. When your metabolism is in good shape in such a scenario you will still gain weight but probably not as much. Certainly I could have been working out more consistently over the holidays but truly what I could have been doing is making better choices without feeling like I am missing out. A great quote that I read in a magazine recently that has stuck in my mind is, "You can't out-exercise a bad diet". Too true. Well I mean you probably could but you would be really fatigued! Plus you would have no time to live your life and most importantly, enjoy it. 

So feeling discouraged,  I asked Nicole after my Tuesday strength-training class, "Is there a way just to go hardcore for a while and get rid of my holiday weight gain then go back to the healthy eating I am doing right now?" She smiled at me and said, "Nope!" My face fell, I was hoping to get some insider tips and tricks. She explained, "I know some things that you could do but I am not going to tell you what they are. If it is a habit of yours to go crazy at Christmas or other pitfalls during the year and I tell you how to make up for it, you are going to continue that same behavior and be stuck in a bad cycle." I thanked her, knowing she was right and left wondering how I am going to achieve my fitness goals just by eating right, writing down my daily nutrition and exercising. I still was feeling unsure that it wasn't enough and there had to be something more I could do but yet her words were still sticking with me. 

Hmm, I mused to myself. How am I going to get to where I want to go with two months left? How am I going to continue on my right path after this is over?

That night I went to a friend's house for dinner, she made chicken tacos. I was running around busy and knew I needed to get another snack in and grabbed a few pieces of Trader Joe's deli turkey an hour before I went over there but it wasn't enough. So when I got there I snacked on chips and when the food was ready I made two huge tacos with flour tortillas. Granted it wasn't like they were doused in oil or anything but I realized the next day my error in not preparing. I should have made the time to make a healthy snack so I wouldn't have been as hungry at her house. I should have also brought my own whole wheat ones, she is my friend after all so she wouldn't have been offended. 

Self-discipline when it comes to food is very difficult for me, especially in social situations. Superbowl? Had every intention of eating right and had done so all the way up to when I got to my friend's house. With the tri-tip, cookies, homemade chips and guac a plenty I surrendered. I didn't drink anything though and probably would have eaten worse had I been inebriated. Do I have to stop eating out and socializing because it is too difficult to resist temptation? That isn't realistic for anyone.

 Of course there are going to be times where I let myself enjoy whatever- I just need to keep those times fewer and farther between. If I don't let myself enjoy tempting foods every once in a while I won't get anywhere. The key to it is always having a vision of the end game stuck in my head. If I don't have my eye on the prize of course I am going to succumb.

I also need to really take a closer look at what I am eating every day. Can I be honest with myself and say I am doing everything I should be doing?Truthfully I should completely phase out egg yolks at least for a while. I could pay closer attention to how much olive oil I am using and count every time I reach for a square of chocolate because they all add up. These are the little tweaks I can make to the healthy choices I am already making  that will make a difference. Most importantly I need to always have snacks with me so I never get hungry, I have been told when we are hungry our body is telling us it is starving. No bueno. I need to do a little more self-check in. None of these things are drastic, just having a little more consciousness.

So the truth is, I can be my own worst enemy and I can be my best magic bullet. At the end of the day it is a matter of having keeping my goal top of mind and the self-discipline to accomplish it.

Fit Challenge Competitor, Barbara Byrge - Week 4

Week four reflections: this week was messy. Oh boy was this week messy! Life is messy, and life with a one year old, a wedding less than 100 days away, a full time job and a committment to workout five days per week gets even messier than normal. I can see why the fit challenge program offers 5 allowed miss days. They realize that life is messy, but they also put limits on how much you ought to let life's messiness impede your ability to take care of your own health. Five days in a 12 week period, to be exact. I missed 2 of those 5 days this week. I spent the Super Bowl out of town, and missed my 1st 6am workout on 'Super Bowl Monday.' I was honestly bummed about that because it was important to me to stick to the program, and be consistent for 12 whole weeks. But Stacey and her trainers are realistic. 


They know people have lives, and they live by example of how to fit your 
fitness into your busy day. Most of the trainers work long days, but they get their workouts in. We got home Monday about 3pm and I was exhausted. Travelling with a toddler and the interrupted sleep routines and punishing fatigue that follow left me feeling tapped out. We unloaded the car, and I hit the couch. All ready to snuggle in and finally relax. Then I realized if I didn't exercize now, it was not going to happen that day. I sulked a few minutes. I cursed to myself. I anguished a bit. Then I got off my giant butt and got my running shoes on. I made a committement. I publicly announced that I would workout 60 times over the next 12 weeks, and I wasn't going to let one long weekend get in my way! So I waded through the undone dishes, and stepped over the undone laundry and hit the pavement. No gym. No trainer, just me and my self motivation. What, I did what? YES I CAN! I mean, Booty Camp is in essence a 'teach a man to fish' type deal so in the end I'll have to summon the will to workout despite life's messiness from within so I guess I better get on it now. 


The weeks workouts were tough and vigorous and challenging and I sweat like a pig. I got pushed to my limits and I felt great after reaching new heights. I am getting stronger now. I can jog a whole two laps without walking (don't laugh, it was hard for me), I can do more pushups now, and I can do at least one burpee right (LOL). Its all coming along! Diet has been another challenge too, always. Getting back on track after being gone the weekend means finding shortcuts to the 'shop, chop and mop' required for healthy home cooked meals that usually get made in advance on the weekends. Sometimes I had to make better choices instead of the best ones. Sometimes I found myself in front of a plate of 'uh oh' and had to employ portion control of a last line of defense. My diet has come a long way. Any white food, save egg whites of course, have slowly but surely dissappeared from the kitchen. I enjoy smaller portions of brown rice pasta,quinoa is in the cupboard, and collard greens are in the crisper. Healthy eating is happening, but I'll admit as I have in previous blogs that I'm definitely not 100% there yet. And I think that's why some of my teammates have excelled beyond my accomplishments in terms of results at our first weigh in. 


I had to miss Friday this week to head to the bay area and go bridesmaid dress shopping with my girls. It was the mutually amenable weekend, and that's just the way the schedule worked out. After missing Monday, I was double bummed. Friday is also our nutrition couselling day, and hated missing it because I always hear new tips, and learn from Stacey and my fellow fit challengers about what to eat, what not to eat, great products and all things food. I was in the car most of the day, ate road food (at least it was a grilled chicken sandwich - and half), and ended up at a remote motel by dark and just could not squeeze in an exercize that day. The next day I was at a friends house, and took advantage of my newfound habit of waking early to get a run in before anyone else woke up. It felt good to get my sweat on, and be showered and ready for the day before anyone else. Something about working out in the morning just makes you feel like you got a jump on the day! I was glad I did get some cardio in, especially because this was a celebration weekend in anticipation of my wedding, so of course we enjoyed a nice cocktail at lunch,and some wine in the 
evening! I felt like it was such a special occasion that it was worth sacrificing a few oucnes of weight loss to have some wine. But I did feel guilty, knowing all the hard work Stacey, Nicole and the booty campers are putting in me, and the results they deserve from me. 


Sunday was a mandatory weigh in day. I was ready to leave the bay at 5am, and drive straight even with the baby to get here on time and weigh in with the team. Luckily Stacey had a seminar later the same day and offered me a later time slot to weigh in, so I took the opportunity to leave at 9am instead. I was bummed for the third time that week because I missed the energy and momentum of everyone weighing in together, celebrating pounds and inches of success! We've all been working out hard together, feeling the burns, doing the laps, putting in the time, so it felt raw to miss the celebration. But that's ok, we are only 1/4 through the process at the end of week 4, and though I was solo I did my weigh in and measurments and found out I've lost 2 inches of fat around my hips, and 1.5 inches around my thighs. Take THAT scale! Booya! Bring it on week 5!

Fit Challenge Competitor, Emily Hanson - Week 4

Ah yes… week 4.  This week was pretty much my “bleh” week.  My biggest accomplishment was finally not throwing up after a 6 am workout!!! Yay!  I know that it’s not good to work out on an empty stomach and so I was trying everything under the sun in the morning but nothing was working.  I mean, I tried oatmeal, wheat toast w/ almond butter, banana, protein shake, protein bar, hard-boiled egg and the list goes on!  Finally, Stacey told me to try a cup of greet yogurt RIGHT before going to bed on the nights where I have an early morning workout the next morning, since it’s a slow releasing protein, there would still be something left in my stomach the next morning.  Well, hallelujah something finally worked!  Now my goal for next week?  To finally drink a gallon of water in one day.  

I’m definitely the type of person to set “visual” goals.  For example, I have a picture that stays on my bookshelf of a crossword puzzle that I made with some goals encrypted in it (pictured above).  It’s just the constant reminder of what I ultimately want out of this challenge and what I want to continue once it’s done.  I decided to do another thing this week, something a little more interactive.  You know how when you’re in kindergarten you make those paper chains for how many days are left in the school year?  WELL, I made one of those with each chain representing a pound that I want to lose.  It’s a rather long chain, but I’m slowly but surely going to get there!  I’m excited to say that at the end of week 4, I was able to tear off 11 of the chains!!!  I did the same thing my last quarter at UCSB before graduation.  There is just something so satisfying about ripping those damn pieces of paper to shreds.  I couldn’t wait till the end of the day to tear them up, and now it pushes me harder to be able to tear them up faster.

Oh! And the other highlight of my week? - Getting a new pair of shoes.   Definitely can’t wait to hit the track next week and tear them up.  More to come… enjoy your week y’all!  Ciao.

Fit Challenge Competitor, Chelcie Holguin - Week 4

I am strong, motivated, loving, caring and a fighter. But why is it that when I look in the mirror all I can ask myself is WHY? Why do I look like this? Why did I allow myself to get this big? Why can’t the weight come off fast? Why must I work so hard and not see results? Why can’t I eat all the good stuff and stay away from the bad? Why can’t I just be happy with the small progress I’ve made and always want more?

Week 4 is over and I am exhausted. I worked out every morning for 13 days straight. That shows motivation and dedication, but I must be crazy because I am one tired lady. I even got up at 4:30 to do cardio. Then worked out with Nicole at the 5:00am boot camp and then went to our 6:00am nutritional training and did the stadiums. WOW I think I might have gone a little wacky in the brain. It must be all the lack of sleep. My sister looks at me like I am some psycho.  I will say I feel so much better during the day and I am sleeping better at night. Can you call 7:30 a bedtime? Well I do and it’s earlier then my girls to go to sleep.  Just call me Crazy Chelcie. 

I might be the only person who doesn’t know how to shop at Trader Joes and Whole Foods. I go in there and I think all their food is healthy food, so I can eat whatever I want. WRONG!!! Those places are so intimidating. I walk around like a lost dog looking for a bone. I think that explains me in general when it comes to eating healthy. I always thought all I had to do is stay under a certain amount of calories and I’d lose weight. WRONG again. I want to be able to eat low calories and lose the weight since I’m working out so much. Is that too much to ask for? 

So at the end of week 4, I am now aware that I need to eat different things and just because it’s low in calories doesn’t mean it’s good for you. I also have learned that I can exercise 5 hours a day but I won’t’ lose weight. I am building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. I have made so many new friends during this challenge and I cherish you all. I am so grateful for this opportunity and I will give eating better a chance.