4everandever...

October 2, 2006 is a day that Ann Morley will remember FOREVER! It was this day that she began working with Deanne at Forever Fit. Now four years later it seems appropriate for her to be our next featured forever fitter. 


Ann was one of Deanne's first clients. I believe they were introduced by Emma (Ann's neighbor and now Deanne's boot camp Assistant). After Ann's third baby was born, she continued to fight the baby weight and in her frustration began to gain even more. She had tried other weight loss programs but was not consistently successful. She was exhausted, heavier than she had been before, and at a loss as to what her next step should be. In Ann's words:


I was introduced to Deanne and an entire new way of thinking about food and exercise.  I must admit (and I am sure Deanne will remember this), I was very doubtful that her plan would work those first few weeks.  First of all, it was more food than I would have ever eaten on any other plan.  It couldn't work!  I wasn't starving!  I constantly asked her if she was sure we shouldn't lower my calories!  But it worked!  In a safe, healthy, correct way.  

Those of us who know Ann, can see that obviously Deanne's plan (along with Ann's hard work), certainly did bring success and continues to do so... But...you probably want the deets (I know I did) How did she get from point "A" to point "B"??...


Ann reports that those first several months she stuck to Deanne's menu/food plans to. the. l e t t e r ! She lost 8 pounds in the first six weeks. Then after 3 months she was down 16 pounds. Although she didn't lose as fast as she had with some other attempts at weight loss, this felt different to her. Healthy eating was becoming a habit. She did admit that she would have times where she would "fall off" the plan but each time that she did, her deviations got smaller and smaller and she started to see the real benefits to her new lifestyle. 


In six months Ann reached her initial goal (30 lbs. lost). And within a year of working with Deanne, she had lost 40 pounds!! In the Spring of 2008, Deanne introduced a new set of menus which Ann remembers as "The Bikini Menus". As she followed the new food plan...she lost even more weight and was smaller than she had been since before she had babies. In January of 2009 when Deanne started her first boot camp series, Ann was quick to sign up. Deanne set up a few contests (complete with prizes:) and Ann won the "Most Pounds Lost"! Bringing her new "total lost" number up (or down...however you look at it) to 52. With an 18% loss in body fat and 30% weight loss.

Ann is first to admit that this weight loss experience certainly has been a journey for her. As I interviewed her, I realized that she has a lot of life tips and advice that we could all benefit from....

stay tuned for tips from Ann and others on how to make this 

fit lifestyle last forever and ever!!

Kathleen Allen, 2010

Semi Annual Forever Fit Beach Run Saturday November 20th at 7am

Our semi-annual beach run and breakfast from Something Homemade is coming up November 20th. This is such a fun event for everyone. Whether you run the 3 mile or the 6 mile course, you will love the scenery, the company and the food!

If you have done this event before, we would love your feedback on the blog. If this is your first time and you have questions about the event, this is a great place for your questions.

The Turkish Get-Up

Last week in Friday's class. We began working on the Turkish Get-Up. A full body strength exercise that challenges every muscle group to work in concert. In my opinion, this is one of the most (if not the most) important strength exercises we will be working on in our bootcamp classes. We started it with no weight last week and just worked on the movement pattern. I found a great video clip of Anthony DiLuglio, from The Art of Strength, (the company from whom I buy my ropes) breaking this move down into 6 segments. If you can, watch this on your computer and practice with him. After a few days of this, you will feel comfortable putting it all together. And then we will add some weight so you can really feel how challenging this move can be. On the right hand side of this blog, under "What to Work on At Home" there is a youtube link to see Anthony's breakdown of the Turkish Get-Up. Let me know how it goes.

Tabata What?

Last week in Friday's class, we used a new methodology to jack our heart rates up in our heavy Cardio Class. It's called Tabata Training. Here's a background on Tabata Training.

Ahh. Dr. Tabata, or as I refer to him in my bootcamp classes, The Evil Dr. Tabata. Once you have tried Tabata Drills you will understand why this form of training can be so darn effective. This simple to implement training can burn a ridiculous amount of calories. And the great news is it only takes 4 minutes. Come on, you can do anything for 4 minutes. Right?

Add this to your workout routine and you will substantially increase your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. It was the result of a 1996 study Dr. Tabata did on Olympic caliber athletes and this routine wiped them out. So work your way up to doing the full four minutes.

The reason it is so effective is E.P.O.C., exercise post oxygen consumption. An acronym that refers to calories burned after you stop working out. Tabata drills can continue to burn calories for up to 2 days. This can add up to 75 calories burned per day to your total. 7 times 75 equals 525. Nice.

This is a very simple technique you can use to up the intensity of your daily workouts, whether it is a strength day, cardio day or combo day. You are not limited to doing squats, you can substitute push-ups or jump squats. You can do this on the elliptical trainer or spinning. Essentially anything that gets your heart rate up. You will do as many reps of a designated exercise, as you can in 20 seconds. If you are on the elliptical or spinning – sprint for 20 seconds. Follow this with 10 seconds of rest. 20 seconds of intense exercise followed by ten seconds of rest. Repeat for 4 minutes. You can choose just one exercise or you can alternate (like we did Friday) between 2 exercises. Be very strict on the timing for maximum results. This is where your gymboss timer comes into play.

Here is the drill we did on Friday. I dare you to try this just once on your own this week. Share this with one of your workout partners. They may never forgive you! Comment on the blog and let us know how it went.

Tabata Drill #1: 20 seconds work/10 seconds rest

1. High Knee Runs for 20 seconds/10 seconds rest
2. Squat Jumps for 20 seconds/10 seconds rest

Repeat 3 more times

Tabata Drill #2:

1. Split jumps, scissor lunges or cross country skiing
2. Push-ups – fast

Repeat 3 more times

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A GOOD USE OF YOUR WORKOUT TIME :)