NOV CHICK OF THE MONTH

We are heading into our final stretch of 2013 (where the heck did the year go?!) and we are still rocking & rolling at The Coop.  Our Dec 2wk Holiday Xpress Bootcamp starts Dec 2nd, our first “chick approved” nutrition workshops start Dec 5th and we already are filling up our 2014 Spring retreats…lots of healthy love to go around!

Keeping on the healthy love tip, it’s time to celebrate another awesome Chick of the Month story with the fierce Jill from our Toronto Harbourfront location!

Before: The Fierce Jill

Jill joined us in Sept 2013 and came in with a fierce focus and commitment that has helped push her strength, conditioning and overall rockstar-ness through the roof!  After starting her fitness journey in 2012, losing 35lbs & completing 4 marathons,  Jill took on this new challenge and the results speak for themselves….take it away chick!

AFTER: 35lbs down & maintaining an awesome lifestyle!

What made you decide to join FIT CHICKS and start on your fitness journey?

I work long hours and I have a hard time motivating myself to go to the
gym before or after work.  It’s very easy to say “I’ll just work a
bit longer” and then be too tired to exercise.  I knew I needed to
find something challenging and fun that would make me want to exercise after a
long day at the office. Also, I love having a set time twice a week that I
know I have to go to- there is no debate. Once its in the calendar, its
hard to ignore.

Some days it feels like a pain to have to go after work but the minute I’m there, I feel energized and the stresses of the day are forgotten- at least for that hour.

I love the ever changing workouts of the bootcamp. I never get bored and I’m always pushing my physical limits. Many of my friends belong to FIT CHICKS so I went online to see the times and locations.  Once I saw Tuesday and Thursday classes at 6:30 on the same street as my work, I knew it would be perfect for me.

What have your results been like since starting on your healthy journey?

I’ve only been with FIT CHICKS since September but January 2012- March
2012 I lost 35 pounds, which I’ve kept  off through exercise and
diet.  In the last 3 years I’ve run 4 half marathons and taken 22 minutes
off my time!

When I started working out, I could do 2 “man” pushups.  At the time, I thought that was great. Now, I can do 3 sets of 15 “man” pushups and I am really proud of that. My goal one
day is to do a proper pull-up 🙂

Livin la Vida FIT CHICK is based on 4 healthy principles. How do you incorporate them into your everyday life:

Principle 1 – Fitness: Move Everyday…makes it a conscious choice!

I try to get 3-4 structured workouts in a week, depending on my work
schedule.  I  have 2 dogs that require a lot of walking so
when I have the time,  I make it an extra long walk. Its good for all
of us! At work, I take the stairs instead of short elevator
rides.  I walk instead of taking cabs if at all possible. When I go on
vacation, I suggest we rent bikes instead of taking the car everywhere.  I
always look for ways to incorporate fun with fitness.

Principle 2 – Nutrition: Eat real, whole foods made with love.

As I mentioned, I have been fairly active the last few years but it
wasn’t until I really focused on my nutrition that I was able to lose 35
pounds.  Exercise is essential for a healthy life and it toned
my body but the nutrition was the key to dropping a significant amount of
weight.  There really isn’t a lot of magic to it- lots of lean protein, veggies and whole grains. I’m very diligent with portion sizes and I still weigh and measure much of what I eat.  I remember hearing that you should only really shop the outer aisles of the grocery store and I always thought that was strange until about a year ago I realized I rarely ventured into the middle of the store anymore.

Eating well takes a commitment- but it is totally worth it. I spend about an hour on Sunday washing and chopping my veggies for the week. I can go into my fridge at any time during the week and put together a huge salad in 5 minutes.

I will precook a few pieces of chicken or hard boil some eggs and I have salads and proteins ready for my lunches.  I realized bringing my healthy lunches and snacks for the day was absolutely necessary. There is nothing worse than being hungry at 3:00pm at your desk and having to resist the cookies at the local Starbucks.  Now I ensure that I have healthy snacks ready to go at any time.  I joke that I arrive at work with a cooler of food.  I eat more often, but weigh less. It’s great!

Principle 3 – Wellness: Give yourself love

Its very easy to focus on work or chores around the house and let your
wellbeing slide.  There may be days you absolutely can’t workout, but
that’s okay. Every day is a new day and you need to find the time for your
health as much as possible. If you fall off the wagon, don’t beat yourself up.
Just get up the next day and start again.

My whole life I’ve wanted to be thinner and I’ve hated every picture of myself.  When I looked back, I realized I had been very hard on myself at times.  Now when I think about how much thinner I would like to be, I remind myself that I live a healthy, well balanced life and I am strong.

Principle 4 – Pay it forward: Spread the healthy love to those around you.

It’s a great motivator to sign up for an event– something to focus your training on and work towards. Over the years I’ve succeeded in getting friends to participate with me for each of my 4 half marathons, a few 10K’s and the Mud Hero. It is much more fun to work towards a goal together and my friends were great motivators for me.  If they were out training and I was on the couch, I would usually get my butt out the door as well.  On race day, they always cursed my name, but once it was done they would say “what’s next?” 🙂

What’s your fave FIT CHICKS workout and why?

I love them all! I love that the class is always changing and I don’t know what’s coming next. I love that Francesca always gives us different options of the levels of exercise so that we can push ourselves.

CHICK SERGEANT SHOUT OUT:

You kick so much butt in bootcamp and it shows. Your strength and conditioning has gone through the roof in improvement (those push-ups are fierce!) and the way you push through every burning rep keeps the other chicks motivated too! AMAZING – keep it up!!

Amazing job chick…can’t wait to sweat up a storm again with you next month!

FIT CHICKS XO