My name is Julie Lloyd and I live in Uxbridge. I have just finished the 7-week Challenge at Body Fit Gym. Although I did not achieve the 15 pounds of fat weight loss, I did lose 10.8 pounds of fat which I am pleased with.

I started this program because I got sick of hearing myself complaining about how I looked, and how I felt. I quit smoking 2 and half years ago, which was a massive life change, I started to feel and look healthier, the downside to that life change was some weight gain. It wasn’t suddenly apparent it just crept up on me and Bingo… I’m 20lbs heavier than I wanted to be. At 42 years old it’s harder to keep that weight off.

I am a mother of two boys, and I work full time, leaving Uxbridge at 7:30am and returning at 5:45pm doesn’t give you a lot of time, when you have dinners to prepare and other daily activities to attend. The most challenging part of this program for me could have easily been the time comittment working out 5 days at week, and two of those days at a designated time can be tough. But I’m glad that I had my Husband and kids there to support me.

My biggest fear was the NO Coffee, NO Alcohol.. 7 Full weeks. Could I do it.??? I’m happy to say that I still socialized and was fine doing it. It surprisingly didn’t faze me at all.

The diet I found to be easy to maintain, although I wasn’t one that would normally eat breakfast I quickly got into a routine of it. Meal prep is your best and easiest solution to keep you on track, my new favorite snack is Apple with Peanut butter, this coming from someone who had never eaten peanut butter before!!

The workouts were very rewarding and tough. I loved the group I was in, and our trainer Christina she is fantastic!! And certainly no pushover. Just got to say.. I hate Burpees

Would I recommend this program to my peers..? Absolutely!! I haven’t felt this good in years. It’s not just your body shape that changes. You stand straighter and you feel healthier. If you have the willpower, and you do need that to finish this challenge you will be fine. It’s not a walk in the park, no pain no gain!

I am looking forward to joining as a full member and continuing on with my fitness regime.

I have had a membership with Body Fit for a couple of years but took 6 months off during my pregnancy and after having a baby in October. Understandably, I was finding it difficult to make the time and find the energy and motivation to get back to the gym. Due to the sleep deprivation that comes with a newborn, I was living off of caffeine and take-out food. I was lacking in energy and I felt horrible. Each month I would see the membership fees come out of my account and think “this month I’m going to make a change!”

I debated cancelling until I saw a friend on Facebook (Michelle Steckley) post about the challenge and her success after having two kids. I knew this was a good opportunity for me to make my health a priority, gain back my strength and lose the 15lbs of pregnancy weight. To be honest, I thought it couldn’t be that difficult.

The first week was really hard. I had to give up my daily extra-large café mocha from Tim Hortons and all of the sweets and junk food. I also had to start making and preparing food for the week. By week 3 the caffeine headaches had subsided and I was used to the diet; I could also feel myself getting stronger. Week 5-7 were really hard. There were times when I wanted to give up. If it weren’t for the support from my family and the other members of the challenge, I probably would have.

I am so proud of myself for pushing through and finishing the challenge. I have more energy to play with my daughter and I am sleeping better at night (when I do sleep). Now that I have carved out the time for the gym and made it part of my weekly routine, I am excited to continue with this lifestyle and look forward to wearing all of my pre-pregnancy clothes again this summer!

Thank you to everyone that contributed to the challenge. It was a really good experience and I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in making a change – it works!

After having my second baby in May, I was starting to feel really down about my body and wanted help to get on the right track with my diet and physical activity.  This is what motivated me to join the seven week fitness transformation.  For myself, the transformation provided me with an opportunity to really commit to something, while providing the motivation to stick with it.

The first week of the diet was a big transition involving headaches, fatigue and hunger.  However these feelings quickly went away as my body transitioned and ‘accepted’ my new eating habits. The workouts were my favourite part of the program.  I was working out twice a week with a great group of people and had an amazing trainer, Carole Ann.

I thoroughly enjoyed the workouts that we were provided with, and felt so good about myself every time I completed one.  Unfortunately around week 5 the headaches, migraines, fatigue and light headedness returned.  I was beginning to experience periods of hypoglycaemia, especially in the afternoon and evening.  Due to these issues I had to modify the diet to suit my body needs, and thanks to the help of Carole Ann I feel great again.

I am very glad that I participated in the seven week transformation as it has allowed me to learn better eating habits and appropriate workouts.  My goal with this transformation was to have some fat loss, but it was more important to me to be a healthier, happier me.   I am planning on continuing with personal training and my goal is four workouts a week.  I am looking forward to my new fitness future 🙂

Kristen

After the Christmas Holidays, I knew it was time to kick my ‘healthy lifestyle’ back into action.  I have always been active and have tried to maintain healthy eating habits.  However, sometimes the chaos of everyday life simply gets in the way.  I no longer seemed to have time in my schedule for exercise and all healthy eating was being pushed aside for quick & convenient.

And then I discovered ‘The 7 Week Transformer Plan’ @ Body Fit.  At first I was reluctant,…it really did seem too good to be true.  However, after reading some of the testimonials and learning more about the plan, I signed up.

And so began the 7 weeks…….

I was fortunate to be grouped with 4 other amazing ladies and to have Christina as a coach.  I quickly began to look forward to our group sessions and was amazed at how quickly the hour flew by.  No more watching the clock counting down the minutes.   Every session was different,…never giving you the opportunity to get ‘bored’.

And then there was the nutrition plan.  This was the piece that I was most nervous about.  However, much to my surprise, I found I was eating MORE that I normally ate in a given day.  The plan taught me correct portion sizes, the proper combination of foods and simply ‘when’ to eat ‘what’.  I was amazed to see that small changes in your diet and choice of foods could make a huge impact.

Although I have not reached my goal, this experience has definitely positively impacted the quality of my life.  I have gained muscle and lost inches.  And the biggest win,…I feel better about myself.

A special thank-you to Christina and my entire Transformer team for all of the support.  I would never have got there without you!

Jodi

I was a walking disaster waiting to happen. I was doing all the wrong things. With a family history of stroke, the only thing I was doing to help myself was taking Blood pressure pills. I was not exercising, not watching what or how much I ate. And I know better.   I had to be careful at work not to hurt my back and I couldn’t lift my grandchildren.   I knew I needed to change, but lacked the incentive to start. Andy gave me that incentive. I was watching a poster being printed for him at Staples-the 6 week Challenge of before and after pictures for that group and remarking that it looked like something I should doing. I didn’t realize that Andy was standing at the counter and I heard his voice saying ‘You should do it’. Yes, yes, I should do it. It had the incentive that I know I needed…the carrot of getting my money back if I was successful (I hate losing money) and it offered the support and commitment that I knew I needed to pull it off. What was I waiting for??? Nothing….there was no reason not to join in. So I did.

I’m not going to say it was easy. I haven’t been in a gym since high school….I couldn’t do anything. Dear Christina….she had to coach me through each exercise way more than the others. Those first squats, planks, pull-ins, chest presses, etc. were abysmal. I could hardly lift the 10 lb weights. At the end, we were using 20 and 25lb weights…I’m impressed with myself. And Jennifer had her hands full in her MuscleMix and Spin classes whenever I would join. Again, I was way behind everyone else’s ability but I felt it was making a difference in me. She was very patient and I’m sure the class loved the comic relief…I can’t believe they all can balance on those giant balls! Slowly, well it seemed slowly, my pants got less tight, my stomach area smaller, my legs slimmer and the fat started to come off. Each week the exercises grew more challenging (who thinks up this stuff….really…put your feet on a ball, a weight on your stomach, now lift your bum). There were words we grew to hate…rainbows, burpees, frog jumps…but we were all in it together and together we got through it. Thank you to my lovely compatriots, Julie, Jodi, Michelle and the ever bubbly Sarah.   If you could do it, I could try too. And it wasn’t all exercise….there is the meal plan of plain eating. It is something everyone should do every once in awhile. Stop the bad stuff, sugar, flour, fats and let our bodies work at processing food, not gumming it up with crap. That wasn’t easy, trying to stick to the schedule in my life had it’s challenges. I spent hours portioning foods, counting carrots and almonds, but I think it has all paid off.

My weigh in is tonight and I hope I made it. Not so much for the money but to say ‘I did it! I pursued a goal and made it.’   I AM stronger now, I AM carrying less fat, my body IS working better, I CAN lift my grandkids, I DON’T have a back that hurts, my Blood Pressure IS down and I AM HAPPY about all that. As a bonus, I made some new friends along the way. And I want and need to continue this journey. I am setting a new goal: to get down another 15 lbs. by September.   Thanks to this program and the team at BodyFit, I am well on my way.

I have never been much of a gym person.  Physical activity has always been something that happened to other people. The birth of my first child a little over a year ago inspired me to make a change, however.  When I heard about the program at Body Fit I decided I would give it a try.  I have never been one for quick solutions and have never bought in to fad diets.  Body Fit’s 7 week challenge sounded like something I could get into and the results from previous rounds spoke for themselves.

The first few days of the program were not easy.  I cut out coffee and alcohol completely and drastically changed my diet.  While I was enthusiastic about starting the program, I found the water consumption particularly challenging and by the end of each day I had headaches that just wouldn’t quite.  I remember thinking, “I can’t take much more of this!” But I could, and after three days or so the headaches cleared up and I found myself full of energy.

What was most surprising to me was how much I enjoyed the work-out portion of the challenge.  The small group work outs were fun as we all banded together to help the time pass enjoyably.  Our trainer was superb, quickly identifying our strengths and challenges and working with each of us to help get us the most effective workout possible.  She also took plenty of time to help explain the individual work outs to us so we felt comfortable coming back on our own for the other days of the program.

The program itself was excellent.  Very little thing was completely spelled out, so there were no questions or worries.  Whenever I needed support the whole team was available through Facebook.  My workout group was especially helpful when I got stuck or faced stress in my everyday life.  I think this support is what surprised me the most.  I remember my first few days on my own in the gym having random strangers encourage me, help me with an exercise, or support me through a difficulty.  Not only where the staff and trainers on board with the program, it seemed all of the other people at the gym wanted to see us succeed.  It also amazed me how well I felt I fit in at Body Fit; never having been in a gym before I was worried that I would stick out.  Over the course of seven weeks I never once felt out of place, no matter what exercise I was doing, or what machine I needed to use.

In truth, I cannot believe how quickly the program passed by.  The first few weeks may have passed slowly, but after the mid-point weigh-in the time has gone by like a flash.  New workouts every week or two kept the process interesting and helped to keep me motivated.  The series of extra challenges were also fun to try and made it clear how easy it was to work physical fitness into my everyday routine.

On a whim I decided to give this program a try.  Seven weeks later I am in better shape that I have been since university, I have lost over 30 lbs, and I have more energy to play with my daughter.  I am so grateful to the team at Body Fit for everything they did to contribute to my success.

I signed up for the Body Fit 7 week weight loss challenge because I needed to make a change in my lifestyle. Over the past few years eating healthy and taking care of my body became less of a priority. I focused more time on other aspects of life and seemed to forget what was really important, my health.

After committing to the program I was both excited and nervous. My nervousness was short lived, after our first personal training session with Christina. Everyone in the group was so friendly, and Christina was so motivating. Each week was an exciting challenge and I could feel myself getting stronger. The group sessions were by far my favourite part of the program. As a group, we worked hard, pushed each other, shared our complaints and tips about the food and had a lot of laughs.

The diet change was the toughest part of the challenge. I am a person who loves to cook, however I found the dietary restrictions very limiting and I quickly became board with the bland taste of the food. The first week was the most challenging. I seemed to always feel hungry and I was craving the forbidden foods such as coffee, salt, and sweets. I eventually adapted and began to enjoy some of the meal plan. I loved the breakfast and snack options, so much so that I will continue to eat these when the challenge is over. The lunch and dinner options were the most difficult part of the diet. Fortunately my husband provided me with enough support to help me get thought the meals (he even ate some with me). I found that towards the end of the challenge we became more creative with the spices to help make the meals more exciting.

I can honestly say that having the support of my husband provided added encouragement towards my progress, as we would often go to the gym together. The Boy Fit 7 week challenge was an educational experience and has taught both my husband and I about healthy eating and the importance of regular exercise. We both have decided to take what we have learned and continue this healthier lifestyle. We have made this commitment to each other and it is a lifestyle we want to continue to live.

I am so happy that I signed up for the 7 week challenge and completed it even though it seemed so daunting at the beginning. I am extremely pleased with the results. I feel stronger, I have more energy, and I am so happy with the way my body looks and feels.

I would like to thank all of the staff at Body Fit for their support throughout the 7-weeks. Thank you to Andy for creating this program and for pushing us every week to challenge ourselves. Thank you to Christina for being such a positive and motivating trainer. I am really going to miss the group workout session and especially my workout buddies. You all made this experience so enjoyable!

 

Samantha Hall

My name is Lisa Gay, I am married with 4 kids. As I am nearing 50 I have found it more and more difficult to keep the weight off. I have always been a fairly active person and have always worked out in some way for many years. However, over the past couple of years I have put on weight despite my working out and fairly healthy eating habits. I joined this challenge to put me into high gear to lose the weight once and for all and learn how to keep it off moving forward. That’s the key here is keeping it off.

I really enjoyed my morning workouts with my group. I found Elaine, Lyn and our trainer Carole Anne to be a great source of support, inspiration and sounding board to complaints about the early morning time (which I actually prefer) or lack of a certain food (usually wine which I consider a food group). We had fun while working hard for our common goal and kept learning new things which kept it interesting. I’m surprised at the progress in the short period of time and while I’m not at my personal weight goal yet, I have been given the tools I feel that will help me achieve it.

I feel stronger than I have ever been and while I still can’t do more than 6 or 7 military style pushups, I am confident that as I continue on this new path I will achieve the 20 that was my personal goal.

Following the food plan wasn’t too difficult, in fact I found I was eating too much food! I did miss some things. Wine as I already mentioned but also things like avocado and a nice big glass of milk! I’ve discovered I actually enjoy and prefer just balsamic vinegar and lemon over any salad dressing and can’t see me changing back to anything else.

My job has me sitting at a desk all day so I know the importance of making sure to keep moving. I found the work outs we did kept me energized throughout the day which is why I preferred the early morning workouts. I didn’t get tired anymore at 3pm. I felt energized right until I got home and although I was ready for bed by 9pm I feel I got more accomplished throughout the day.

Thanks to Andy for putting together this program and allowing me the opportunity to be a part of it. Thanks to Carole Anne for being a great trainer and motivator and last but not least, thanks to Lyn and Elaine for being my partners in crime working together to achieve our goals. I look forward to seeing everyone around the gym.

With Warm regards and a Cheers!

I started this program the same way I start every weight-loss/exercise program – feeling uncomfortable in my own skin and desperately looking for a change. I finished the program exceeding my goal and comfortable with myself. Something that I have never obtained in such a short period of time.

Losing the weight was one thing but as I continued on in the program I felt myself getting stronger and stronger every week. Having Christina, my trainer, pushing me every week had me using heavier weights and seeing results faster than I ever have. I also made new gym friends to workout with on non-trainer days. That made working out more enjoyable and something to look forward to.

The diet was a big adjustment in the beginning but soon became second nature. I quickly got used to pre-planning and preparing my meals and it actually made life easier. There were times when I would want to eat what everyone else was having but I wasn’t going to blow all my hard work and time in the gym.

Being a wife and mother of two taking time for myself to prepare separate meals and to get my 5 workouts in each week wasn’t always easy. I had to make myself a priority and I made sure I didn’t miss a single workout or meal. In the end my family is happy for me. I believe I have taught my children that it is important to eat well, exercise and take care of your self.

I am so pleased with my results – the plan works if you stick to it! I look forward to participating in the next challenge and seeing my body transform even more 🙂

A big thanks to all the staff at Body Fit for offering such a great program and for cheering us all on along the way! To Christina, my trainer, you showed me just how strong I really am. To my teammates, I  proud of all of you and I thank you for making the last 6 weeks so much fun. And lastly, my family, your support and encouragement kept me “in the game” and I couldn’t have done it without you in my corner.

6 weeks ago I decided that I needed a change.  I needed to get out of a rut I had created for myself that included lots of junk food after recently having my new baby boy.  Being a mommy to a 5 year old and a 5 month old is the best thing that has ever happened to me…. but I lost myself in it.  Enter 6 week Christmas Crunch!
I will admit I was scared and I didn’t know what to expect.  I knew it would be hard but I didn’t realize just how hard.  Was I ready?  Was I willing to commit at least 5 days a week to exercise?  Yes and yes!  Was I ready to give up all kinds of foods that I loved and was addicted to?  NO. I.  WAS. NOT!  But I was going to do it anyway.
My journey started off as I would assume everyone else’s did.  The workouts were tough and I was sore, I was tired, I was hungry and I was craving carbs like crazy.  I would automatically reach for chocolate after a meal and then remember I couldn’t have it.  I was mad!  My husband is my best friend and the most supportive person in my life and I don’t think I could have made it without him.  I have thanked him a million times for putting up with me during my carb and sugar withdrawal tantrums- of which there were many in the beginning.  But a magical thing happened after a week… The cravings started to subside.

The diet slowly got easier but eating tofu twice a day was making me very irritated.  I had my ups and downs with this because the only protein I was able to eat was tofu.  Have you had tofu?  It’s not too bad covered in sauce or fried but sauce and oil are not on the diet.  I struggled with that.  With that said,  I have learned to think about what I was eating and the effect it will have on my body.  Too often I would think “oh, it’s just a little cookie” and 5 cookies later I was still going.  Now I understand that treats are fine to have on occasion and in moderation but they should not be an every day occurrence.  I have also come to appreciate portion sizes and what my body needs for energy.  Food is something to be enjoyed but not for over indulgence.  I am at a point now where I do not want to sabotage all the hard work I have put in the last 6 weeks.
Eventually I started to look forward to the workouts.  I actually had fun with my group (who were all lovely people by the way) and there were many laughs.  Each week was something new and the circuits kept the hour interesting and sometimes very entertaining.  The workouts we did on our own were also different and made me feel like jelly after (not to eat but how my muscles felt).  Christina always took into account the limitations my back pain would put on me and would give me options on how to complete the exercises.   When I was in pain I would carry on with either lighter weights or use an exercise ball to support my back.   As my core got stronger I was able to eliminate the exercise ball and use heavier weights more often.
I was asking my husband every day if he saw a difference in me and of course there wouldn’t be after a couple of weeks.  I kept at it.  As tired as I was, my body started to want the workouts and I wasn’t as sore after them.  I felt a huge sense of accomplishment after each training session.  I felt like I was doing something for myself after every workout, and I liked it.  The first three weeks were so difficult but the last 3 have just flown by and the second someone said to me “wow, you can really see a difference” was the second I realized that I only want to keep going, to keep getting stronger and to keep taking care of myself so that I can be the best mom to my boys.
Thank you to everyone who has supported, encouraged and listened to me vent when needed.