A New Challenge
A few weeks ago, I was looking on Gilt City and they had a special offer for a 10-week bootcamp. The company, Ferrell’s Extreme Bodyshaping, looked great…beyond great! I checked out their website and the results of others were just amazing. The workout program is a combo of fitness kickboxing and strength/resistance training. But really, I think the one thing that stood out to me more than anything else, was their tagline, “Results Are Typical.” How often do you see the EXACT opposite of that!?
I must admit, I didn’t spend much time thinking about it. I was on their site for a few minutes, I spoke with their Chicago location for a few minutes and then I just dove in headfirst and purchased the 10-week package – 10 weeks, six days a week @ 6am, NO EXCUSES! What the heck was I getting myself into?!?
I should go back a bit…
Back in October, work got insanely busy. Between work, the holidays and some major personal upheavals in my life (ahem, divorce…), the last quarter of 2011 was like a tornado for me and one thing suffered greatly: my workouts. Before October, I was working out at a local CrossFit gym that combined CrossFit and rowing and I really loved it. I thought that I had finally found something that would stick, but when all of that stuff was going on in my personal life, I realized that it wasn’t the right gym for me for a few reasons.
Anyway, here I am at the beginning of 2012 and I’d been feeling for a few weeks like I just needed something totally outside of my comfort zone to kick my butt. I’ve lost a good amount of weight over the last year and a half, and I’m just really ready to go the distance. When this popped up, it seemed like the perfect avenue to help me reach my goals.
We had our orientation this past Saturday. This is the inaugural 10-week session for the Chicago location. It just opened and it’s really exciting to be a part of the first group. Saturday was a little overwhelming: weight check-in, body fat, flexibility test, step test, measurements and PICTURES! Ugh, I hate pictures! LOL
It was really fun though. We learned a lot about Ferrell’s and how it started. There were about 25 volunteers that all drove in from surrounding states for the orientation – this in the middle of a snowstorm that went on ALL day Friday. In spite of that, you could tell how happy they were to be there. The energy was GREAT! We also learned a great deal about accountability. They literally said that if we don’t show up, expect a phone call. Not your everyday gym experience, huh?
Another thing I like about the Ferrell’s program is that they combine nutrition with the workouts. Honestly, as much as I’ve tried to ignore it over the years, there’s no way to get to and maintain a healthy lifestyle and a fit body with only one or the other, exercise or diet. It’s got to be both. Ferrell’s promotes a healthy plan of 6 small meals a day consisting of one protein, one carb and one veggie (although not at all 6 meals). I personally refuse to go on any plan that cuts out a major food group (I know this works for MANY people, but I’ve just never been able to stick to those programs long term) and this doesn’t do that at all. There’s no counting calories or weighing your food – it’s just a matter of portion control and picking the right foods (they gave us a great chart to help out with what to choose). As you can imagine, dietSNAPS fits this program PERFECTLY!
Well, today was Day 2 (out of 60!) and I feel great! The gym time just flies by. In-and-out in 45 minutes. And trust me, I hurt! It’s a fast workout, but so effective.
I’ll be blogging about this experience throughout the 10 weeks. If you have any questions or thoughts or advice, I’d LOVE to hear them. Wish me luck!
Category : Blog &Daily Blog
