A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to the Winners of our 2o11 Spring Fitness Challenge!
1st Place: Kristy! Won $100, a free month of camp, and a Camp MissFits workout shirt
2nd Place: Heather! Won $50, a free month of camp, and a Camp MissFits workout shirt
3rd Place: Charlotte! Won a free month of camp, and a Camp MissFits workout shirt
Congrats to ALL of our Challengers for working hard and making life changes. We’re very proud of your success!
What did they have to do?
Here are the four components of the Challenge:
Fitness:
They commit to working out hard in our boot camps or through private training on a regular basis every week.
Nutrition:
They complete Usana’s 5 Day Reset program (a low glycemic, high fiber cleanse), take Usana’s supplements twice daily, and work at making their meals low glycemic.
Knowledge:
They must read Dr. Ray Strand’s Healthy for Life book which is a great manual and resource for learning the importance of low glycemic eating and how to make it a lifestyle.
Support:
They need to share their progress on our blog, with their friends and family, and of course our MissFits community! The more support and accountability they create for themselves, the higher their chances of success.
Here are the 2011 Challengers (from the top, left to right): Veronica, Tanya, Kristy, Ingrid, Heather, Debbie, and Charlotte. May the best MissFit win!
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- Beginning of 8 Week Challenge
Keep up the good work ladies. Final week finish strong and have fun!!!
What I’m planning on doing this last week is eat as much as low glycemic food and workout as much as can
Staying healthy is going to be a long life battle for me, so I’m just going to keep eating well, exercising, and pushing myself to try to live the healthiest life I possibly can! The last few weeks I have come to realize how much I really enjoy how I feel after a good workout and it has motivated me to workout more and try different classes at the gym to challenge my body. I look forward to seeing how i’ve improved in the last 8 weeks. See everyone Saturday!
My plan to finish well this week actually started last week. I bumped up my workouts mostly. Since I’m getting to be pretty good at eating low-glycemic the majority of the time, I figured adding more workouts to my week would be the way to help get me over the plateau. Last week I worked out 6 days adding in 2 runs and a long walk 3 days in addition to my 3 boot camps. I plan to do the same this week as well. Regardless of whether or not I win or come in 3rd or win nothing at all, I’m incredibly proud of everything I’ve accomplished for myself throughout the last 8 weeks. I feel the best I’ve felt in years and I see myself getting stronger every day!
Hey Heather reading ur comments and very impressed. Sharing the same DNA
I understand the struggles we have turning down certain foods. I also know that we have very strong minds and know that if we put our minds to something we can over come anything or cravings.lol Wishing you the best of luck and keep up the good work.
My “why” is because why not!! I feel so much better now that I’ve lost some weight and have my energy back. Even though I’m only half way through my weight loss journey I know the key to keeping the weight off for good is making it part of my lifestyle and I think and hope I’m doing that. Losing my father to heart disease at such a young age has really made me realize the importance of taking care of your body and not taking it for granted. I have learned to love exercise again and eating foods that make me feel great after I eat them, not tired, bloated and sluggish like I used to feel.
I would agree with Heather. Initially I really wanted to drop some weight before me trip back home to AK however I am actually feeling like my old self again from before a disaterious time in my life. I am feeling healthier more energetic, I’m more active getting out every chance I can as oppose to just being a couch potato, & after being diagnosed with Rhematoid Arthrits my energy level droped tremendously & I now have the energy level & not tired or fatigued @ all how I use to be. So for me losing weight is great but feeling this good is WAY better than any number on the scale!!!
My “why” when I started is much different than it is today, it has sort of evolved which I think will help me jump over my obstacles. When I started this challenge it was to help me lose some weight and get in better shape for my September wedding. Now, my “why” is more to be healthy permanently. I’ve moved from wanting to lose weight for a special event to lose fat for the rest of my life. Reading Healthy for Life, listening to fellow MissFits’ journey’s, and seeing the results of making lifestyle changes has helped me realize that it’s not about seeing the number on the scale go down as much as it is feeling myself get healthy from the inside out. I believe that when I tell myself “why” I’m making these daily changes (choices) to better my health, it will push me over the obstacles of making poor food choices and not wanting to workout.
Choosing to workout regularly and pick low-glycemic foods will help me feel better and look better in the long run. It’s just as easy to make a good, healthy choice as it is to make a bad one.
Well, it’s week four and I have to say I personally feel it’s getting easier because for me it seems as if it’s routine now as I workout almost daily, if not at bootcamp then on my own. I knew for me to make it sucessful I HAD to have a rountine so even if I felt I was to sore to work out I would still go to the gym and do a simple rountine, just to get in the habit of going to the gym. Also making “food sacrifices” dosen’t seem like sacrifices anymore because for one, I certainly don’t crave them like I use to, and also once you start omitting and changing your diet to a certain eating habit it becomes just that, a habit. This off week actually came at a great time for me as I will be running in my first 5K in years this upcoming Saturday and so my main focus will be on just running to gear up for it, however wednesday will be the excpetion as I will be attending the Zumba class which I am very excited for as I have been wanting to try it just haven’t had the opportunity and now here’s my chance!
My plan for the off week workout is to attend one Wash Park boot camp and get up early and workout before work 2 additional days this week as well as Saturday. I will do a combination of the off-week workout and a couple new Wii exercise games I just bought (Zumba being one of them!).
I will continue planning my meals from Healthy for Life as well as High Speed Slimmin’.
What I plan to do for the off week for fitness is go to the ZUMBA class and do the workout that Priscilla sent out on April 4.
As for meal planning I am going to print the nutrition information for the restaurants that I visit or plan to visit. You can do this by using the internet. Most restaurants have this information on there websites. Reviewing this infromation will help me decude what order before I get to the restaurant.
The eating habit that I want to improve this week is planning weekday evening meals that are good for us. I am trying to defrost meat and plan what to make ahead of time, because if I wait until I get home I am just to tired and lazy? to think about it.
Weekends usually provide more time for meal planning, but the last few weekends have been so packed with demands that I fast food has been a temptation. After I eat it, I regret not taking just a bit more time to go to the store instead and buy something better for me.
I am looking forward to the shopping class in april cuz I don’t know how to identify a low-glycemic protein bar from a “bad one”. I seriously need some help in stocking my cupboards/fridge to be prepared.
I did forget to tell you what I am doing this week or in general to reach my goals.
First my Goal is to be at a healthy weight for me by July 1st. Realistically that is losing about 24 pounds. I lost two this week. Even though I am traveling this week I am committed to doing some sort of exercise each day. Yesterday I did the tread mill for 20 minutes and wall squats for 10 (learned the wall squats from boot camp – and I saw the ball at the hotel gym and thought why not….). Then today I did a free Yoga fitness program that was on the TV. Tomorrow I think I will hit the gym again before heading to the airport. I am also watching what I eat and drink. Normally there would be a Pepsi by my bed. Today there is a large bottle of water. I pan to make one small improvement a day.
Hi All – Great Job Ladies ! . I am not part of the challange… but would like to share just the same. I start the 5 day reset on April 4th. Until then I am trying to eat well. Had to order Healthy for Life (sold out of all of the book stores). Will start my supplements soon ! I am very excited.
Great job ladies. Keep up the good work. Protein bars are my go to food when I am busy-just make sure they are low glycemic. Hope to see some of you at 6am at ACC sometime.
The one eating habit I plan on improving this week is making/eating dinner during the week and eating regularly on the weekends. During the week it’s easy for me to eat every 3-4 hours because I pack my lunch the night before, but then I get home from work or get busy doing chores on the weekends and don’t feel like making a good, healthy dinner. I will make a conscious effort to figure out dinner (or lunch and dinner on the weekends) as soon as I get home and get that out of the way before I get busy with life!
Priscilla-My sweet cravings are slowly subsiding! When i feel like something sweet but not really feeling hungry, I’ll chew some gum (Spry). That seems to do the trick. If I am hungry, i’ll eat some pineapple (YUM) or an apple. Last weekend, I found an ice cream that I fell in love with that is low glycemic! I was so excited. I can’t remember the name, but it’s a dark chocolate coconut milk ice cream…i think there are 4 ingredients, maybe five. Controlling myself and not eating the whole pint in one sitting is the new challenge….it is so yummy.
Tanya, I encourage you to focus on the positive things you are doing for yourself! We all struggle with our emotions (heck, we’re women!) But, learning to cope with them through exercise and non-food related activities will help to not end up in a downward spiral…where we feel depressed, so we don’t want to work out, and we want to eat brownies or fries, which leads us to getting angry at ourselves for giving in, which makes us feel more depressed…and so the cycle goes. Come to boot camp for encouragement, do your favorite workout video, walk with a friend or family member, or even do as many pushups as you can until you collapse from anger!
Deb, one thing that helps me is to pack my food the night before. It does help to cook on the weekends, but even throwing in fruit, yogurt, lean meats (tuna, hard-boiled eggs, rolled up lunch meat), veggies, string cheese, and nutrition bars in a bag the night before your work day will help in making good food choices during a hectic day. I hope this week is better for you!
Looking forward to seeing you make continued improvements this week, Charlotte! And maybe next time, YOU can suggest to your friends where to eat out.
Hope you’re feeling better and make some good food choices this week! Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Hi Heather! How’s the meal planning going? And what types of healthy options have you thought of to help your sweets cravings? Some good options are Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts, Usana’s bars, a limited amount of dark chocolate covered almonds, and even a little premium ice cream. Yes, I did say that. Premium (with the shortest list of ingredients possible) is your best low GI option…but serve it in a small cup with 1 scoop, eat it slowly, and enjoy it on a special night. Then you don’t feel so deprived!
Ingrid, keep focused on your long-term goal. Get rest when you can because sleep is essential to your success! Please call me as soon as you’re able to so that we can check in, okay?
Thanks for sharing your experience, Veronica. Plateaus are very frustrating and the RESET is often just the tool we need to break a plateau. I’m glad that you’ve learned to not give up because that’s the only way to fail! Keep it up, girl.
My hurdle I was getting so frustrated with was the plataeu. I have been working out regularly, eating low glycimic and I could not get under 160. I ate a pea and I gained a pound, I swear! Well, this week was my Reset week (so meal planning was easy) but at the end of the week I was so happy I broke the 160 scale by 5 lbs!!! But that hurdle was so frustrating it almost made me give up, b/c I was like what’s the difference if I eat a steak or a pea, my weight isn’t moving! Lesson learned, don’t give up!
My biggest hurdle right now is finding energy to workout having two jobs. Then is really hard for me to go to the boot camp on saturdays cause I’m so tiered from both joth jobs but I just thimk of my goal and I tell my self I CAN do it
Oops…didn’t put my second hurdle in my last post. Planning meals! Again the hectic schedule is kicking my butt! I will work on stocking more easy to fix low gi meal choices this week!
My two biggest hurdle right now is making the time to work out consistently even when I am busy and stressed (which leads to insomnia too – yikes). I know that if I go to camp, I may complain my way through it and whine too much to Priscilla
but afterward I will feel so much better and have more energy and probably sleep better the next night. I just have to push through and move my schedule around to make it happen!
The biggest hurdle for me is on the weedends. I enjoy my freinds and having fun with them. Some times the places they want to go are not the best for eating out. I do my best to stay on track, but I am human.
The biggest hurdle for me during the weekdays is getting to the gym after a 12 hour work day. I’ve been laying out my workout clothes so when I get home I see them out and it’s a reminder to get myself to the gym! I’m also trying to include more cut up raw veggies for low calorie snacks instead of high carb fiber bars and crackers.
The hurdle(s) I WILL consciously overcome this week are my cravings for sweets! I am very diligent about packing my lunch and including healthy, low-glycemic snacks but I have a tendency to snack when I’m bored and I always want something sweet like candy (Skittles are definitely a weakness). I’m not even necessarily hungry when the craving sets in, it’s just a bad habit that I’m working to break. I also do not enjoy cooking that much so I’m finding that it’s difficult to plan dinners when I don’t feel like cooking at all. I try to overcome that hurdle by having veggies and grilled chicken breast or deli turkey to make a good salad.
Can someone please remove my emotions for the remaining 5 weeks. Thanks!
Hi ladies,
Keep up the good work on the fitness challenge. Remember, your goals is to make permanent changes, please make sure ask your coaches if you need any help planning out your meals.
Good job ladies, success with the nutrition aspect is 90% of the battle. Keep up the good work on planning your daily meals.
I am also on the 5 day cleanse/reset this week, so no worries…it’s probably a good thing too cuz work is especially stressful and I might not have been able to plan well. I will be sure to carve out time next Saturday to look through the recipes and plan meals for the week ahead!
I have planned out my meals for the week as well as my workouts. I again have several after work functions to attend which are at various restaurants however I have already looked up their menus and have planned on what I will be ordering. Just as an update to since I’ve started attending the bootcamp I lready feel strong and can tell I am becoming more fit as I am able to do more push ups and excersizes without completely dying lol. Also, I have noticed an increase in my energy level and I am no longer feelng the “3 o’clock slump” which is awesome, especially since I have cut down tremendously on my caffine intake, which I use to rely on to get through the day. Also, I’ve gone from being able to barley run a mile to be able to complete 2.5 miles without stopping. My goal is to be able to run a 1/2 marathon in December!
I’m doing the 5 day cleanse this week. Just finished my first chocolate shake for breakfast! Should be interesting to see how much I lose in five days!
I build my grocery list off the menus listed in Healthy for Life as well as using the High-Speed Slimmin’ Grocery list. When I grocery shop, I stick to my list which has been a challenge for me in the past. I pack my lunch and snacks up at night for work so that way if I’m in a hurry in the morning, I know my lunch is ready to go.
I always plan my meals and grocery list on Sunday. It can take me up to an hour to do this because I like to cook and try new things and I spend time looking through recipes. Even though I did this before the challenge, I wasn’t eating a low glycemic diet; I included rice, potatoes, and/or pasta with every meal. It has definitely been a challenge to come up with things to make my plate complete and feel satisfied with what I am serving. Last week I was on the Reset so I didnt really need to worry about my meals cuz they were all planned for me. This week I have califlower replacing my potatoes and spaghetti squash replacing my… well my spaghetti lol. Im also making a cauliflower fried rice (no rice included). Lots of adjustments and extra planning but Im excited and up for the task. This truely feels like a lifestyle change and not a yo-yo diet and I already feel the benefits.
I went grocery shopping for foods that were under the low glycemic category. I’m also packing my lunch to work every day with only food that I’m able to eat.