Ultimate Athletic Fitness » Callie

Cambridge Training Spotlight Sunday: Amie Breton

Callie — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:00:30 +0000

Welcome to another edition of Durbrow Performance Training’s Spotlight Sunday. Today we’re featuring Amie Breton. Amie joined our family over the summer and came into our program a little bit unsure and nervous. After a month or so of realizing that she CAN do it, Amie has become one of the hardest working and most supportive members of our team. Not only that, but she has dropped over 10 pounds in the last few months and is working hard on her nutrition. Congrats Amie!

I have always struggled with my weight yo-yo’ing, until I went to college and was fortunate enough to be a nice size six, that I did nothing to deserve. That is to say, I was skinny, but not healthy.

I smoked, drank and ate horribly. Then in 2001, I was diagnosed with epilepsy.

The seizures I have are small, they are called absence seizures and last for 10 seconds or under, you wouldn’t even know I am having them. The problem? Sometimes I have them multiple times a day and one of the only medications that controls them makes me gain massive amounts of weight.

The most recent time I gained 30 pounds in 8 weeks. My neurologist and I decided that the weight gain and the risks was a side effect that was just not worth it as it could lead to other health issues. The meds also made me incredibly tired and I had no energy.

Having tried this medicine in the past, I figured that the weight would come off once I stopped taking it. That was the way it always worked in the past. To my genuine surprise, it didn’t happen this time. Given now, I was in my 30′s, had a baby a year before, but still, that scale wasn’t budging and only 1 pair of pants fit me. I was miserable and embarrassed.

I wasnt used to carrying around this extra weight or being tired all the time. I had played sports in high school, was pretty sure my dad had a baseball glove on me moments after I came out of the womb and had run the Falmouth Road race the year I was pregnant with my daugher.

When my friend Jill suggested this bootcamp to me, I was reluctant because I hadn’t tried it and my self esteem was in the gutter. It was a lot of work, but I was so proud of myself that I was taking control of the situation and Callie has been so helpful in giving me advice on nutrition and how the meds could have affected my metabolism. And you know what? She was right.

I just put on a pair of jeans the other day and actually gave myself the thumbs up sign. I know that sounds corny, but I deserve it after all of that hard work!

And Emily is just the greatest trainer ever, she remembers when I have struggled with certain exercises and notices when I improve. Best of all? She notices and holds me accountable (in a nice way of course) if I am not at a workout. We hugged after I hadnt been there for 2 weeks. I ask, what other trainer hugs you?

I am lucky to have such an amazing family and support network. I have a beautiful daughter, Maggie (2 years old) who is my life. She is really a miracle and is the best part of my day every day. When I started exercising, I really hated taking time away from her and now she realizes when I get dressed in my sweats I am “going to the gym with Jilly.”

I realize I am not only doing something good for me, but setting healthy examples for her at a young age. My husband Mike is amazing, he has been my number one cheerleader and has always encouraged me to put my health first. That means when I want to workout, he works his gym schedule around mine. He wrote on my birthday card how proud he was that I was keeping up with bootcamp.

My mom is also an amazing source of support, she is far away in Florida and she still knows when my workouts are, what I am trying new in nutrition and what my trainers names are. My mom is in amazing shape and has always worked out. She is a great listener and a wonderful work out role model. We trade tips!

Since I started in July I have lost over 6% body fat. My mom was so proud after my last weigh in when I sent them to her that she keeps talking about them! I did hit the 29% body fat zone, which was huge.

I was SO embarrassed and unmotivated when I first walked into Durbrow Performance. I would only wear large sweatpants and t-shirts (mainly b/c that was all that would fit me.)

I had never done a “Bootcamp” and was in fear of people yelling at me. It could not have been more different. Emily and Callie and all of the people who become your gym family are so supportive, pushing you to work to your potential, but are encouraging, never yelling, always telling you how awesome you are doing.

I am so proud I have stuck with this. I feel more fit and healthy. I wear tank tops, I fit into old jeans, and I just recently dropped another pant size!

I am stronger over all. I used to have trouble doing kettle bell dead lifts to the point I would skip them and showed that exercise who was boss during my session last Thursday!

When I first filled out the form about exercise background and came to the question about how motivated I was to lose weight, I put 2, meaning not very motivated, now, I am definitley a 5!!!!

My favorite exercises are pull ups, anything involving the boxes you jump on, currently the one legged box squats and believe it or not push ups. Oh and of course the ropes and Prowler!!!!

I consider my workouts to be a priority and for sure live by the mantra you can’t out train a bad diet. For the first 4 months or so of training, I was eating the exact same, chips with my sandwich, bagel sandwiches from Dunkin Donuts, fries with sandwiches, unmeasured sugar in my coffee and anything my daughter didn’t finish off of her plate.

Nevermore. Once Callie told me about carb cycling I could not beleive how easy it was to follow. I instantly dropped 4 pounds and 10 inches at my next weigh in, and if I give myself too many cheat days in a row, not only do I feel guilty, my body physically feels worse, I notice I am sluggish and tired. I dont use sugar in my coffee except for the weekends and drink a low carb protein shake every morning for breakfast. I also try to eat on a timed schedule now.

I can’t say enough about Durbrow Performance and my training family!

How to Be Awesome, Excellent, Lean and Strong

Callie — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:00:04 +0000

Hey, I hope you’re doing great in your little corner of life. I was thinking the other day about how we all get into our “bubbles” and sometimes forget that there’s a life going on around us and outside of that bubble.

It kinda sucks and it’s a bit scary that with all of the technology, we are definitely able to connect so easily but it makes us distant at the same time.

Whoa, deep…..

I just wanted to take a few minutes to share some of the blog posts that I’ve written that were really special to me. They were the ones that really touched into what I believe in and I hope that they helped you out a bit too.

Remember that life is WAY too short, just try to be cool and take care of your body.

Enjoy!

61 Ways to Be Your Most Excellent Self

The 2011 Recap of Awesomeness

The 11 Random Fitness and Life Rules I Live By

9 Ways to Live Life Aggressively

My Love Letter to Fitness

Emily’s Journey

Here are some of my favorite posts by some folks that I follow regularly…..

101 Ways to Be Epic

Heroes versus Cowards

Nobody Likes a Grumpus

The Pussification of America

Drop me a quick comment at the bottom and let me know one thing that you do to enrich your life. It can be super simple. Love to hear your thoughts!

Also just click “Like” at the top of the page to share this knowledge with the Facebook world

Cambridge Personal Training Spotlight Sunday: Jane Yi

Callie — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Today’s Spotlight Sunday features one of our most favorite people and one of our longest standing members. Jane Yi is not only an amazing addition to our program but also one of my closest friends. Check out her story….

Hi, this is Jane Yi, first time Sunday Showcase, long time DP enthusiast. My story starts back on April 1, 2009, the fated day I met Callie Durbrow, or as we call it, our “Friend-a-versary”! Prior to working with Callie, I had been doing your standard gym workouts: lift and then run, lift and then run. Sometimes, just to shake things up a bit, I’d run and then lift. I was a creature of habit and as such, was basically maintaining the status quo for my body.

I asked friends what they did, read articles and received advice from various other trainers, to little or no great success. But alas, with age comes wisdom and I sought out someone who did not follow the crowd, did their own thing, and could really tailor a workout program akin to my personality, my goals and my body.

In retrospect, I think I got on the fitness wagon late. Growing up, my parents focused mostly on academics and allowed for sports if I wanted it bad enough and it didn’t interfere with school. I played mostly intramural floor hockey in high school and college (I liked that I could hit people). I hit the gym a bit in college but mostly on the way to the cafeteria buffet…and I took full advantage of the “all you can eat” option.

Anyone who knew me back then, and even knows me now, knows I LOVE food. I was one of the lucky ones and ate whatever I wanted but at some point, all good things must come to an end and so did my ever speedy youthful metabolism. Enter Callie. She showed me what it was to eat healthier (but still eat hot dogs and bacon), the value of eating breakfast, that I NEED to drink more water, introduced me to protein shakes, almond milk and that “yes, I can push her car down the street and no, I don’t need your help, kind sir, but thank you for offering.”

Callie told me that the number on the scale didn’t really matter for me but I didn’t really believe it until she showed me my first set of results. Back in April 2009, I was at 28% body fat and that was with going to the gym 3x a week on my own and running on the side. At my next measurement 6 weeks later, I was already down 4%.

From there, it just kept dropping. When I hit 30 and 18% body fat, I thought, “this is where I peak”…yeah, totally wrong on that. I’m only human and have my cheat days, my lazy moments and I also get sick and take vacations and miss workouts, but through the conditioning of Durbrow Performance, my metabolism was still kickin’ it even if I wasn’t!

So at 31, I am literally in the best shape of my life and hit an epic low of 17%! Yeah, serious “holy crap” moment.

I am excited for the warm weather not only b/c I can wear my dresses again but I am outside pushing the Prowler and showing the Cambridge locals what we do.

I heart kettlebells and have the t-shirt to prove it. When Callie first showed me what a kettlebell was, I could barely press the 5lb-er!

I love that despite being just 5’3″ and 125lbs, I can push more than twice my body weight on the Prowler, squat more than half my weight in kettlebells and with a little friendly competition, I can lift/lunge/push-up/press more than I thought physically possible.

I sleep better, am happier, eat healthier and am leaps and bounds more knowledgeable about my body and what I do to it. I still eat whatever I want but have more portion control and try to mix in more proteins and veggies. And more importantly, I have accepted that this is the body I was given and not measure myself against any others except against the potential that it can be.

Also, my boyfriend loves what it’s done for my butt.

An added bonus: I’ve met some wonderful people whom I am happy to call friends. Here is to year 4 of our Friend-a-versary!

Why You’re Not Losing Fat

Callie — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:00:45 +0000

Have you seen this video yet? It’s pretty much gone viral on Facebook among my personal trainer friends and I passed it on to a bunch of my clients. This is one of the funniest things that I’ve seen in a long time because most of those things, I’ve heard from clients over the past 7-8 years.

It’s also kind of sad that I’ve heard all of those things.

Check out the video first and I’ll explain….

It’s really, really simple. Women do NOT know how to lose fat. Sure it’s pretty easy to lose weight but how do you actually lose the fat, shrink the cells and make sure it never comes back?

It really boils down to the one thing that people struggle with.

Nutrition.

You can’t out-train a bad diet. I know I say that all the time but it’s so true. I’d go as far as to say that nutrition is about 80% of the game.

So many people come to me and say that they “eat healthy.” I’m not blaming or poking fun at this, it’s just the sad fact that people don’t know what healthy is.

We’re being bombarded with so many diets, tricks, tips and media advice that it’s pretty tough to keep up.

So I’m not blaming you if you don’t know. What I AM blaming you for is acting like you know it all and then getting pissed when you’re not losing fat.

Here’s what you can do to fix this little nutrition issue and get your ass (and the rest of your body) into amazing shape. AKA lose fat:

1. Stop being a slave to the scale. I don’t care what that number says unless you have an extraordinary amount of weight to lose that is a detriment to your health.

2. Focus on the inches and get a professional to test your body fat percentage.

3. Stop eating grains. They are pretty much useless.

4. I can tell without even looking at you that you have a crappy response to insulin. So many people do. Starchy carbs are killing you.

5. Limit the carbs to sweet potatoes, oatmeal and quinoa.

6. Have a serving of fruit with protein in the morning.

7. Be sure to take 1-2 servings of essential fatty acid each day to help improve your metabolism and increase insulin sensitivity

8. Get 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Otherwise I can pretty much guarantee your cortisol levels are high, you’re not recovering and you’re fueling up on sugar to get through the day

9. Strength train. Hard. Lift heavy weights (get someone to instruct you perfect form on this) and boost your metabolism.

10. Avoid steady-state cardio. It sucks, a lot. Instead check out some alternatives….

http://ultimateathleticfitness.com/cambridge-personal-training-fat-blasting-sprint-workout

http://ultimateathleticfitness.com/cambridge-personal-training-how-to-lose-weight-without-cardio

http://ultimateathleticfitness.com/cambridge-personal-trainers-renegade-cardio-movement

http://ultimateathleticfitness.com/body-weight-workouts-are-not-for-wimps

11. Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water each day

So much of losing fat comes down to really optimizing your hormones, controlling your nutrition plan and attacking the right kind of training. It sounds pretty difficult but if you follow some of the steps above, your metabolism will quickly start to respond and you’ll become an efficient fat burning machine.

If you enjoyed this article do me a huge favor and click “Like” at the top of the page to share with some friends. I’m on a mission to help out as many people as possible because I’m pretty sick of seeing people struggle with fat loss.

Cambridge Personal Training Spotlight Sunday: Amber Massaro

Callie — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 08:00:05 +0000

Hey, check out our latest Spotlight Sunday. This week we’re featuring on of our favorite members, Amber Massaro. Amber is seriously one of the most dedicated individuals I have ever met. We’ve spent so much time chatting about nutrition, exchanging emails, logging food and getting everything just right for her food plan. This just goes to show how important nutrition is for fat loss.

Amber has made some amazing transformations, check it out and leave her some love by clicking “Like” at the top of this page….

I’ve lost 25-30 lbs before. Twice. I lost 25 lbs to reach my Weight Watchers goal weight in high school, yes, high school… as a sophomore.

I lost the freshman 5, instead of gaining the infamous 15, BUT then I put on 25lbs the summer after my freshman year when I started my first real job as an intern. I lost 30lbs on my own again, during an internship as a sophomore in college. Both times it was about eating right and working out. We all know the cold truth. There is no miracle drug, powder, food, juice, etc. It always comes down to the basics. Eat right and put in the work.

So, it’s crazy to think that I let myself become unhealthy, yet again. You’d think I’d learned after working my tush literally off twice.

I’ve always loved sports, specifically soccer, but I grew up “knowing” I wasn’t fast. I was an enforcer. I’ve had to push around the smaller strikers on the field, and at home it was my brothers and brothers’ friends. Now I’m a Project Manager for a construction company, and again I’m the tough chic. But when I got engaged in December 2010, I didn’t want to be the tough bride. I wanted to be beautiful.

I wanted photos that I could look back at and see the happiness, not my flabby arms. That’s when I saw the Buy-With-Me deal for Callie’s gym, Durbrow Performance Training. My only regret since signing up is that I didn’t do it sooner.

Callie and Emily have helped me remember what it’s like to be an athlete again. I know I can get healthy again without them if I had to, but I DON’T WANT TO! They push me further than I would ever push myself and whenever I have a question, they’re right there with an answer. And it’s not just them.

My whole experience at Durbrow Performance has been amazing. The people I’ve met, and the friendships I’ve made have me looking forward to my workouts instead of dreading them. We encourage each other, which I know doesn’t happen at the big name gyms.

This amazing support system has helped me help myself to a better life.

I’ve lost 30” throughout my body; 3 whole pant sizes!!! I’ve lost 11lbs of fat and gain 15 lbs of muscle. But it’s not just about numbers. I eat better and feel better. I can see the change in my performance. I can do multiple repetitions of full push-ups, not just from my knees. And my core has improved beyond compare.

I can’t thank Callie, Emily and my co-trainees enough! And I can’t wait to reach my next set of goals! Oh, and those wedding pictures…LOVE them!

A Peak Inside What I Eat Every Day

Callie — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:00:25 +0000

I was talking with a couple of our members last week about what I eat. A few weeks ago we had a nutrition seminar at the studio and a few people were asking me that same question.

It’s kind of a complex answer as I’m constantly adjusting my nutrition and trying different things in terms of timing, etc.

This is not what I recommend to you because that’s not your job. I’m constantly experimenting with different tactics but I’m always keeping similar frameworks in my style of eating.

Here’s a little peak into my daily nutrition and what I’m doing now.

5am or 6am- wake up and perform my 5 minute neural warm up/mobility circuit. After that I’ll have:

1 serving of Prograde Genesis
1 cup of non-fat Fage Greek yogurt mixed with 1/2 cup of frozen cherries (I mix this the night before and then the cherries are thawed in the morning)

Pre-workout:
1 serving of Prograde Workout

11am:
Approximately 200 calories made up of protein and fats. Usually this is 4 ounces of lean meat and a small serving of nuts. I’ll also do a small salad or some mixed cut veggies

2pm:
Protein shake mixed with water and 1/2 tablespoon of flax oil (healthy fats)

5-6pm:
Another protein shake if I’m at the studio or if I’m home I’ll have something similar to my 11am meal

7-8pm dinner:
3-4 ounces of lean meat (usually chicken, pork or a filet) and unlimited veggies and a big salad with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar/1 tablespoon of olive oil

For beverages I’ll drink about 80 ounces of water and probably 4 days per week I’ll have 1 cup of black coffee in the morning.

Supplements- Prograde Multi-Vitamin, EFA Icon (essential fatty acid)

The whole premise of my nutrition plan is that I’m eating my first two meals with low glycemic index carbs (basically from fruit and from my pre-workout shake). There are no starches at all. This works out perfectly because both of these are pre-workout.

Then later in the day my focus is completely on protein, veggies and healthy fats. I’m splitting my meals into really small portions, about 200 calories. This keeps my energy high without getting sluggish.

Also I’ll have a cheat day on Saturdays although in January I have eliminated all sweets so I still have another week to go. That’s tough for me but I really wanted to drop some body fat over the next few months.

If you’re looking to get some of the best supplements around, I highly recommend Prograde. You can certainly use other stuff but with myself and many of our other clients I’ve found they are the best.

—->Click here for Prograde Supplements

If you enjoyed this post do me a favor and click the “Like” button above. Also leave a quick comment about your favorite protein shake or smoothie. I need some new ideas

Cambridge Personal Training Spotlight Sunday: Caitlin Calonge

Callie — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Welcome back to another edition of our Cambridge Personal Training Spotlight Sunday. Today we’re featuring Caitlin Calonge, one of our hardest working and coolest members.

Caitlin started training with us over the summer and has literally revamped her body and her lifestyle. Check out her story here…..

I am a 23 year old stay at home mom of two awesome kids, and wife to the most amazing man in the world . I don’t really have a fitness background, before coming to Durbrow Performance, I was walking at least 3 times per week for about 1 or 1 /2 hours, doing pilates in the mornings, and thought I was eating a decent healthy diet.

I had found a deal online for a 3 month trial for bootcamp. Honestly what did I have to lose ???

If I hated the class I wasn’t wasting a lot of money, I didn’t feel like I was unhealthy or overweight before. So I just did it. I joined with my friend and have been coming to Durbrow for almost 8 months now!!

I come from a very big family, I have 5 younger siblings, my parents both came from large families also, so there are tons of cousins and aunts and uncles around. I am married with two kids and want to live a healthy lifestyle to set an example for my family members. I believe that health and fitness are very important and can not imagine my life now without it. I want my kids to grow up living healthy so that when they get older they don’t have to struggle with such a big adjustment later as I am doing now.

Growing up I was always pretty small and have always been the smallest of my sisters, I feel because I never had a significant struggle with my weight it is harder for me to set an example for my younger siblings because I’ve always been “the healthy one” aka the skinny one. (Just because you are small does not mean you are in shape/healthy!!!)

I feel stronger, am eating healthier, have more energy, and am happier all around now! I want to share this with my family also, last night was my younger sister’s first workout with Durbrow Performance, and I think that was my favorite class that I have come to yet. Being able to see her doing something that is good for her and helping her achieve her goals will make me so happy. I am so happy to say that I have the most amazing trainers I could ask for, not only for myself but to recommend to family and friends.

Callie and Emily have a way of making you push yourself so that over time you are more motivated and want to change your entire lifestyle, not just go to bootcamp. One of the most important lessons I have learned coming to Durbrow Performance is that YOU CAN’T OUT TRAIN A BAD DIET!!! It is so true no matter how hard or often you train you must also give your body a healthy diet to work with!! Which is why the nutrition advice is so helpful for me.

When I started in June I weighed 144 pounds, my most recent weight was 133 pounds. I have lost 9.5 pounds of fat and gained muscle. I have set goals between measurements and am very happy with how things have turned out each time! I will continue to set more goals with my nutrition because that is one area that I struggle with.

Some of my favorite exercises are the ropes and push ups. I feel like they are both equally physically and mentally challenging exercises for me. I also like the Prowler and lots of core exercises.

My lifestyle is changing a lot and I am now working on making more changes with my family and having healthy eating, and exercising become a part of their lives too. I can not thank Callie and Emily enough for everything that they have helped me accomplish and taught me over the past months!

Cambridge Personal Training Client of the Month: Lindsay Ford

Callie — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:30:50 +0000

Congratulations to our December 2011 Client of the Month, Lindsay Ford!

Lindsay has been training at Durbrow Performance since February and quickly became one of our favorite people. All of our members love her and she’s truly a joy to train.

You may have recently seen a feature on Lindsay. She was our Sunday Spotlight just two weeks ago. Straight up rock-star.

The awesome thing about Lindsay is that she has truly transformed her body. She came in with a pretty weak core and minimal upper body strength. Since then Lindsay has been working her way up the kettlebell ladder and now swings 20kg and routinely completes sets of 20 push ups at a time.

Lindsay’s body shape has completely changed. The scale says she lost two pounds. That’s not the whole story. She has actually lost over 10 pounds of PURE fat and over 20 inches from her body.

This is the ultimate story of a complete body make-over and just goes to show that the scale kinda sucks

Congrats again to Lindsay and keep working hard, we love ya!

Click “Like” above this post and show Lindsay some love!

The 11 Random Fitness and Life Rules that I Live By

Callie — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:30:23 +0000

This post was inspired by Craig Ballantyne. Craig is one of the editors of Early to Rise, a great blog about mindset, lifestyle and business.

I wanted to share some rules that I live by. After some contemplation on this I realized there were many more but here is just a little piece of some of my life rules.

1. I read business, mind-set or motivational material on my Kindle for 30 minutes per day.

2. I never check email before 9am. Typically it’s later but that’s the cut off and I only check it twice per day, never on weekends.

3. I will live my life by my own rules.

4. I do some kind of mobility or stretching every single day when I wake up.

5. I turn off all electronics one hour before I go to sleep, this helps me relax and get ready for actual rest.

6. My workouts always consist of heavy movements involving muscle complexes to burn more calories and engage the entire body in an efficient manner.

7. I believe that everyone can change their lifestyle and I don’t engage with people who disagree with that statement.

8. I have cut out all of the vampires and energy suckers in my life and only focus on the positive people that care about me.

9. I take 2-3 minutes every day to remember where I started and how grateful I am for the life I have.

10. I get my mindset right before every single workout. Focus and music gets me ready to give 100% and never waste a minute of energy.

11. I have a daily, weekly and monthly calendar on my computer. Each day is color coded and time slots are blocked out for daily tasks. This keeps me motivated and on track with my tasks.

Bonus #1- I always give myself Friday as “my” day. I sleep in a bit, train hard and usually spend time with friends or go to a movie. Occasionally I’ll do a bit of work in the afternoon but I love this time for myself to unwind and enjoy the fact that I created my own schedule and lifestyle.

Bonus #2- I’m not religious but I do pray at the church of Brady. Go Pats!

One thing I realized a few years ago is that you must give yourself permission to lead a life that you want. Part of that is giving yourself permission to get your body into shape. It’s not just the physical side, but it’s mental and it’s confidence and overall energy.

If you’re ready to give yourself permission to change your life with fitness then I encourage you to come by for a free 60 minute consult with me.

—>Click HERE to sign up for your 60 minute consultation

Cambridge Training Spotlight Sunday: Sam Beard

Callie — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:00:44 +0000

Welcome back to Durbrow Performance Training and our Spotlight Sunday. Today we’re featuring one of our hardest working members, Sam Beard. Sam joined our team just about a year ago. I remember we were closed the week of Christmas and she was calling and emailing me to sign up because she was so ready to make a change. She was so excited to start and the moment that I met her, I knew she was going to have great success. I’m pretty smart so obviously I was right….

I started working out in middle school, and continued into high school where I played tennis and softball. I’ve always enjoyed working out, but haven’t always been very motivated to do so. I got really lazy when I went to college. The gym was two blocks away from my dorm (at the other end of a wind tunnel in Wisconsin!), but I hardly made it to that area of campus unless beer was involved to warm up the walk home. Needless to say, it didn’t take long to gain the freshmen 15, then 30…and then some more. At first, I was actually convinced that the dorm dryers were shrinking my pants. Eventually, I gave in to reality.

A few years later I finally had enough. I had enough extra weight on my body to increase my risk for heart disease (#1 killer of women in the U.S.) and diabetes. I had enough information to know that I could change that fact, and I had a enough money to find someone to help me through the challenge.

I come from a family that loves to eat and knows nothing about portion control. Luckily, I love to eat vegetables (in addition to mac n cheese), but I still struggle with portion control.

Getting my body fat percentage under control has always been my number one goal, next to getting my strength back. Since I started drinking the Callie juice (working out with her) I’ve lost 22 pounds of PURE body fat. I recently hit a milestone when my body fat dropped out of the obese range and into the overweight range.

Moreover, I got my strength back. In my younger years I was the household human jar opener. Tennis and softball gave me a killer grip. I lost it for a few years, but I’ve got it back

I want to sweat and feel the burn. If that mission is accomplished without jumping or sprinting with the exception of the prowler, then I like it. My favorite part of the workout is the foam roller before and after.

I’ve become more conscious of the choices I make each day and learned a lot about metabolism. Eating has always been the hardest part of my journey to good health. Being a part of Callie’s team has helped me become conscious of my eating habits and helped me to begin to face my demons.

I’m now an early riser. I used to crawl out of bed in just enough time to rush to work. I NEVER thought I could workout in the morning, and never imagined that I would even try. Working out before work has helped me manage the stress of my job by forcing me to stick to a schedule. I think it’s really improved my overall well being!

Just a typical day, climbing a mountain….

Way to go Sam!