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Sunday, September 21, 2008

14 Week Fitness Project

As some of you might know, we decided to run a 14 week fitness project for females. We wanted to give 3 female participants the opportunity to participate in our program, completely free. Velma Garnes, formerly of Studio Temple in Gahanna, is assisting in this project where everything will be documented.

We had about 35 people fill out applications telling us why they think they should be part of this project. We had a lot of great applications and finally narrowed the list down to 8. The week of September 8, we interviewed all 8 participants. We took measurements, videotaped them answering questions, and put them through a light workout.

From there, we picked 5 finalists. Out of these finalists, we would be picking our 3 participants and 2 alternates. We had them go through a boot camp so they could get a taste of what the fitness demands would be like.

After going through this, we decided on the following ladies: Morgan Murphy, Kelly Lee, and Aigner Angel. Each one has a different story and they all have contrasting body types, which should be really beneficial for the project.

Which the goal of this project is to show that when following a proper exercise and nutrition program, females can lose weight safely and get healthier. All the participants have to attend 3 of our boot camps a week, follow our registered dietician recommended nutrition plan, and attend a weekly meeting a week. They are only allowed to miss 2 sessions (a session can be a weekly meeting or workout session).

As the weeks progress, I hope to put up more information about these ladies, how the project is going, and other tidbits that I hope you will find interesting.

Monday, September 01, 2008

I Think We're Losing The War

I was reading the article in our local paper that was suggesting just what my title states, but more specifically to Ohio. Ohio was the 15th obese state and has moved down to 17th. The obesity rate for Ohio is almost 27 percent. The article goes on to discuss how the problem really is getting worse and that policy to try and address the issue is lagging behind.

I've been in the fitness industry for over 15 years and I'm as passionate as I've ever been trying to help people get healthier, but I don't think this war against obesity can be won.

One of the big reasons is that it boils down to money. First of all the marketing for fruits and vegetables or healthy foods in general is something just short of $1 million dollars, while the marketing spent on fast foods and all the junk (pop, beer, candy, etc.) is 50 times that at least, maybe more.

The "crap" food industry makes tons of money and really controls a lot of sectors in our country. So, these are cheaper options than the healthier choices. In a time of convenience, ready made meals, people will get the cheapest, quickest option whether it is healthy or unhealthy.

So families who are on limited incomes and work multiple jobs don't have the time to prepare healthy meals and don't have the time to stay active and burn calories.

The biggest reason though, in my opinion, is that the majority of people just don't give a shit. They really don't. It is so much easier to eat what you want and deal with the consequences when they happen, then to workout, eat right, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

It is easier to make excuses and not do anything than to put forth the effort and make a difference in your life.

It is frustrating and exhausting for me because really, my business should be filled to capacity. There are so many people who NEED our services AND can afford them, but they don't WANT to do it. What can I do? I can't make these people change their lifestyle.

All I can do is make sure I have all the systems in place so that when an individual does make the choice to get healthier, I know I can help them.

And I can help them!! I know I can!!

If you are willing to make the sacrifice, then let me help. Let's start right now by really turning our state around and get it out of the top 20 obese states. But, I want individuals who are really ready to make the change.

If you aren't ready, then I won't put up with you. I'm sorry to say that, but my time is precious and I want people who also want to make a change. If I'm going to give it my all, I expect it from you.

This time next year, I want to see a different headline in the paper, "Ohio has gained ground on the obesity war!!"

If you want to know how you can conquer this health epidemic, Click Here to read our report, 7 Steps to Skinny Jeans.