#TransformationTuesday meets #FatBlast50

Everyone loves a good #TransformationTuesday photo op - it's such a celebration of how far you can come and the amazing victories that you are able to accomplish when you really put your mind to something. Recently, we wrapped up our second annual #FatBlast50 competition where we kicked the sugar and grains to the curb to push our bodies mentally and physically and start 2015 off right! It’s kind of sad, really. The 50 days of #FatBlast50 have come to a close. We had over 50 energetic, motivated and focused individuals join our #FatBlast50 transformation challenge to kick off their 2015! The Goal Start 2015 off right by building healthy habits with a clean diet, more movement, consistent exercise with accountability along the way. The Benefits On top of fat loss, there was a list of other benefits that challengers noticed:  “More energy!”    “More focus” “Sleep better and through the night!” “No more bloated feeling!”    “Tighter tummy” “Stronger”    “Leaner”    “Feel lighter” “Cravings have gone away” “I haven’t felt this good in years!” “Better control of my moods” “Definition in body shape” “My pants are too big” “I fit better into my clothes” “I have to buy new clothes” “My back pain went away” “My knee/shoulder pain is under control” “No longer hooked on Advil” “My osteoarthritis is under control” We're so proud of all our challengers. Check out the winners below!

The Top 3 #FatBlast50 Winners The results were great and competition was tight! So on #TransformationTuesday we're shouting out to our top three winners! Congrats ladies -- your hard work speaks for itself!

3rd Place - Patti Patti wins a 3X/Week - 5 Week Bootcamp session + a 6-Week Small Group session of her choice ($294 value) Patti lost 14.5 lbs, 3.1% Body Fat, 3.5 inches off her stomach and 10.5 inches overall! She was the 3rd most consistent daily logger. Patti, you rocked this!

2nd Place - Anne-Marie Anne-Marie wins $200 + 3X/Week - 10 Week Bootcamp session ($577 value) Anne-Marie lost 14.4lbs, a whopping 4.5% body fat and 9 inches overall! She was our MOST consistent daily logger and almost had a perfect score of 300.

1st Place - Dwania Dwania will be receiving $400 + 2 Free In-Home Personal Training Sessions ($580 Value) Dwania dropped 17lbs, 4 inches off her hips and 15.5 inches overall! Consistency pays off with only missing out on 14 points throughout the entire challenge! Way to go girl!

We’re proud of all our #FatBlast50 challengers. We LUV hearing about your lifestyle changes and hearing your stories throughout your journey. The Key Takeaway  Don’t underestimate the power of social accountability, support and consistency in your health and fitness journey! Oh yeah… and sugar is the devil :) Moving forward, remember that a simple tweet out to your @jqfitness family or showing up to your iluvthis Bootcamp class can give you the encouragement and support you need to keep on going when you feel defeated, down and discouraged. We’re here to come alongside and build you up to be stronger, healthier and achieve your goals!

20 Minute Workout - Dumbbell 3 Circuit 6x6 AMRAP

AMRAP means As Many Rounds As Possible... in other words, push yourself to get the most amount of work done in the 6 minutes allotted! This week, get a timer and your dumbbells (DBs) and complete this without compromising your form and with as little rest as possible.

WARM-UP
Before you start the timer, do the following circuit 2 times to get warmed up:
10 Reps - Prisoner Squats
10 Reps - Alternating T-Stands
20 Reps - Mountain Climbers
10 Reps - Push-Ups
30 Reps - Jumping Jacks
Complete this warm-up 2X

Now, grab your timer and your dumbbells (DBs).

Start your 6 minute countdown timer on your phone and go....

6min AMRAP #1:
6 Reps - Bentover DB Rows to DB Reverse Flies
6 Reps - Push-Ups
6 Reps - Knee Grabs
Repeat as many times as possible in 6 minutes

6min AMRAP #2:
6 Reps - (Combo) DB Deadlift to Bicep Curl to Overhead Press (that's 1 Rep)
6 Reps - DB Front Squats (DBs at shoulder)
6 Reps - Knee Grabs
Repeat as many times as possible in 6 minutes

6min AMRAP #3:
6 Reps - Air Squats
6 Reps - Jump Squats
6 Reps - Burpees w/ Pushup
Repeat as many times as possible in 6 minutes

How heavy should those dumbbells be? I'd like to see them at about 60-70% of your 1RM (1 Rep Max) of your Overhead Press. (e.g if you can lift a max of 40lbs. overhead in total, use 12 lbs DBs or if you can lift a max of 135lbs barbell, use 80lbs or 40lbs dumbbells). 

20 Minute Workout - Leg Quake + Ab Finisher

Alright #FatBlast50 people, for this 20 minute workout you’re going to need a timer, your dumbbells (DBs), a jump rope (optional) and complete AFAP (As Fast As Possible) with QR (Quality Reps)

WARM-UP

Before you start the timer, do the following circuit 2 times to get warmed up:

10 Reps – Prisoner Squats

10 Reps – Alternating T-Stands

20 Reps – Mountain Climbers

10 Reps – Push-Ups

30 Reps – Jumping Jacks

Complete this warm-up 2X

Now, grab your timer, DBs and jump rope! Do the following Leg Quake ladder circuit 2 times before ending with the Ab Finisher (do this one 3 times).

Start your timer and go….

LEG QUAKE WORKOUT

10 Reps – Squat and Overhead DB Press

20 Reps – Jump Squats

30 Reps – Walking Lunges holding DBs in hand (limited space? do alternating DB lunges)

40 Reps – Speed Skaters

50 Reps – Jump Rope (use imaginary rope if you don’t have one) 
Complete this Circuit 2X before moving on to the Ab Finisher

AB FINISHER

10 Reps – Up-Up-Down-Down Plank to Pushup

20 Reps – Cross-Body Mountain Climbers (10/side)

30 Reps – Bicycle Crunches (15/side)

Complete this Circuit 3X and record your time!

How fast did you complete it and how heavy were your weights? Comment below.

7 Rules for Eating

1. Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
“When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can’t pronounce, ask yourself, “What are those things doing there?”

2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients; or ingredients you can’t pronounce.

3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store.
Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.

4. “Twinkies aren’t food.” Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot.
“There are exceptions — honey — but as a rule, things like Twinkies that never go bad are not food”

5. “Always leave the table a little hungry”
It is not just what you eat but how you eat. “Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full. In Japan, they say eat until you are four-fifths full. Islamic culture has a similar rule, and in German culture they say, ‘Tie off the sack before it’s full.’”

6. “Eat meals together, at regular meal times.”
Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It’s a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. “Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?”

7. Don’t buy food where you buy your gasoline.
In the U.S., 20% of food is eaten in the car.

Meet Charmaine - A busy, working mom of 2 who kills it at bootcamp

We LUV travelling with our clients on their fitness journey. How Charmaine changed her outlook on fitness and herself.

Like most of you, Charmaine's life is pretty hectic. She wants to be healthy and have the energy to keep up with her kids to be the best mom she can be!

With such a busy schedule, how does she find the balance to live a healthy life?

Charmaine and her hubby schedule their workouts so that one of them can be with the kids while the other one gets in their training. If they aren’t scheduled, it’s not going to get done. Active family time is key - going for walks, playing sports or going swimming together.

Has exercise always been important to her?

She never used to like exercise but now LUVs it. It helps her reduce stress and gives her energy. Exercise no longer feels like a chore, but rather something that she looks forward to.

What kind of exercise does she LUV?

Kickboxing classes and the Tabata circuits that we throw into our bootcamp. The variety and fast pace makes the time fly by and it quickly burns fat and builds muscle!

And the exercise she dislikes the most?

Yup… the full body gauntlet called the burpee :)

What was her ‘aha’ moment?

In January, Charmaine participated in our #FatBlast50 transformation challenge. She eliminated sugars & grains. On top of that, she strived to exercise for 30 minutes a day and track everything to stay accountable. Yep, for 50 days! 

She was the queen of tracking and this allowed her to really listen to her body. Once she eliminated grains and sugar from her diet, she felt better than she ever thought possible - more energy, better sleep and improved mood.  In those 50 days, she shed 11lbs and 9.5 inches!

What’s her go to for breakfast?

A delish smoothie every morning with protein powder, greens, berries and chia or flax seeds, a healthy habit she developed during #FatBlast50.

No more eating bread and grains for her?

Eating grains are now the exception, not the norm, and she feels fabulous! She does have a go to “cheat” meal of tortilla chips, salsa and fajitas from Lone Star. (who can blame her, they do taste amazing :)

She’s got more energy for her kids and can fit back into her old jeans!

Charmaine has found the key in her lifestyle to keep up with her kids, fit into her old pair of jeans and enjoy her life in the healthiest way possible:

• She schedules her workouts multiple times a week! (consistency is so key)
• Her workouts are short, intense and effective (40min bootcamp classes – you don’t need to have boring workouts in a gym, endless miles on the treadmill or train like a body builder)
• She has learned to listen to her body while changing her diet and making informed choices about food (and never feels like she’s starving herself)

• 
  

We feel so privileged to be a part of Charmaine’s health and fitness journey.

=> Join one of our upcoming Bootcamps. We'd LUV to be a part of your health and fitness journey! 

We're located in Burlington, Hamilton, Milton, Mississauga and Oakville! 

Pop it & Drop it: Why You Should Ditch The Pop

Over the last few years Soda Pop, both “diet” (filled with Aspartame, caffeine and oodles of chemicals) and the regular varieties (can you say sugar overdose) have been heralded as a huge cause of childhood obesity, and a variety of other health problems among children and adults alike.

If you haven’t already ditched the pop, it’s really something that you should think about. It might taste good and feel super refreshing on a warm spring day but it’s also got some surprising uses that might make you think twice about putting it in your body or giving it to your kids…

In addition to that lovely little display of ways you can use all kinds of pop, there's even an exhaustive list of 20 Practical Uses Just for Coca-Cola. Some of these are pretty shocking and at the very least, perfect reasons to chuck it out of your cupboard and into your cleaning cabinet instead... 

1. Removes grease stains from clothing and fabric
2. Removes rust; methods include using fabric dipped in Coke, a sponge or even aluminum foil. Also loosens rusty bolts
3. Removes blood stains from clothing and fabric.
4. Cleans oil stains from a garage floor; let the stain soak, hose off.
5. Kills slugs and snails; the acids kills them.
6. Cleans burnt pans; let the pan soak in the Coke, then rinse.
7. Descales a kettle (same method as with burnt pans)
8. Cleans car battery terminals by pouring a small amount of Coke over each one.
9. Cleans your engine; Coke distributors have been using this technique for decades.
10. Makes pennies shine; soaking old pennies in Coke will remove the tarnish.
11. Cleans tile grout; pour onto kitchen floor, leave for a few minutes, wipe up.
12. Dissolves a tooth; Use a sealed container…takes a while but it does work.
13. Removes gum from hair; dip into a small bowl of Coke, leave a few minutes. Gum will wipe off.
14. Removes stains from vitreous china.
15. Got a dirty pool? Adding two 2-liter bottles of Coke clears up rust.
16. You can remove (or fade) dye from hair by pouring diet Coke over it.
17. Remove marker stains from carpet. Applying Coke, scrubbing and then clean with soapy water will remove marker stains.
18. Cleans a toilet; pour around bowl, leave for a while, flush clean.
19. Coke and aluminum foil will bring Chrome to a high shine.
20. Strips paint off metal furniture. Soak a towel in Coke and lay it on the paint surface.

I don't know about you...But you can consider my cupboards pop-free...

You Go, Girl/Guy! #BeautifulYou

Learning to accept yourself just as you are, right not (not 5 lbs from now, or 50 lbs from now...) is probably one of the hardest things to do in the life that we have been blessed with. & It's not just women that struggle with this issue either, I know plenty of men that share in this same struggle...

How do we learn to love and accept ourselves just as we are, when the culture and world that we are living in is constantly shouting at us that we are constantly lacking - we are never enough - never pretty enough, never skinny enough, never muscular enough, never rich enough, our house isn't big enough, our clothes aren't nice enough, [insert your "never enough" here]?

Well there is one thing that I can tell you, and that thing is this...

I've had ENOUGH.

I'm tired of people telling me that I'm not enough. I'm ready for the one voice that's going to speak truth to me, and to you. That truth has the ability to change the way you see yourself, the way you live your life, and the impact that you have on the world around you. Because let me tell you something.

I am enough, and so are you.

Let's banish that negative self-talk, and embrace the truth about ourselves and the people in our lives.

You are a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, stunning creation, and the world is a little bit brighter because you are in it. You bring a unique energy wherever you go. You bring a smile to someones face. People love you. Everywhere you go, you make a difference.

You matter & you are enough.

So go out today and live in the full potential of your enough-ness - make it the most beautiful day that you've never lived before.