About the Chicks!

About Stacey

I started this blog as a way to track my progress as I strive towards becoming a more fit “chick”. A year ago I was extremely overweight and decided it was time to do something about it. I’d always been somewhat active, hitting the gym and skiing in the winter but I knew if I wanted to achieve my goals it was time to step it up a notch.

I started working with a trainer – Devin at Kalev Training – and that made a huge difference. Working with Devin is what motivated me to finally make the changes and keep pushing myself to not only meet but exceed the goals I had set for myself. It focused my workouts so I was getting the most out of them and inspired me to start changing my lifestyle. Now it isn’t just about working out in the gym but trying new things – climbing, running and a ton of other stuff. The closer I get to my goal weight the more I focus on those activities than the workouts at the gym. It’s now become about having fun AND working out. One of the key things Devin said to me was “try everything, how else will you know what you’re passionate about?” That statement has motivated me to try a ton of new stuff and it keeps me going at times when I don’t necessarily want to.

I also took steps to clean up my diet. I was following the Weight Watchers program which was excellent in terms of helping determine how much to eat and making smart food choices. I still check in with my weight watchers “points” from time to time just to make sure that I’m in track. The more into the process I got, though, the more I started to notice how different foods affected my mood, energy levels and ability to do the things I love (skiing, running, climbing) from there I started to make additional changes to my diet, adding more and more fruits, veggies and “clean” foods and less (almost none at all) processed foods. I still have days where it’s tough to stay on track but I try to keep my motivation high and allow myself to have a “cheat” day to stay on track.

A year and a half into the process I’ve now lost 134 pounds and am at my goal weight! Now that I’ve reached my goal weight I’m training for some of the fun stuff I love to do – skiing (I want to add backcountry, telly skiing and skate skiing to that this year), climbing and trail running (with a goal of a marathon and then an ultra to work towards). Oh – and I want to do a pull up. Just one.

I get a lot of motivation from listening to others stories so if you’re reading this and you have a story to share – it can be about weight loss, getting fit, training for a special event – anything – send it to me at stacey@getfitchicks.com and I’ll be happy to post it!

About Caroline

About two months ago I was in such a great routine of working out. I did one abs class and one yoga class per week and went to the gym 2-3 more times per week. I was also rock climbing (indoors) on Saturdays and sometimes playing tennis or golf on the weekend. It was probably the most active I’ve ever been in my life.

Then it came screeching to a halt. I went to England on vacation for two weeks where working out as intense as running to catch the tube or bus. After a week of being back home, it was really hard to get back into my routine. And then I stopped working which meant I didn’t have access to the abs class and the lunchtime workouts. To top it all off, I recently injured myself so it’s hard to rotate or lift weight on my right side. As a result, my workout routine is now non-existent.

How am I worthy of writing on this blog?

Truth is, I’m not…at least not yet. But, it’s the hope that one day I will be active again and have lots to blog about describing that journey.

For now, I need to change my lifestyle. At any stage of working out or training for something in particular (marathon, triathlon, etc.) we set goals and have certain expectations. I believe that whether it’s taking that first step to workout or running the same distance only seconds faster, we all need to strive for more. For a while, I didn’t really feel that motivated to workout immediately. It wasn’t until I got a handwritten note in the mail from my abs instructor.

Sometimes we all need that kick in the butt to get moving and keep pushing ourselves. Consider this a push to you if you need it. Please, please, please don’t give up on yourself. You deserve to reach your goals. Do it in baby steps, if that’s what it takes.

I hope you will join me on my adventure of slowly getting back into some form of a healthy routine.

About Shannon

I am a friend of Stacey’s. In August 2008 I gave birth to a baby girl and I have recently gone back to work. Stacey asked me to be a part of her blog and write about my experiences as I work to lose my baby weight and then some!

I’ve run into a few challenges since last August. While I started out losing weight fairly steadily, about three months after my daughter was born I had to start taking domperidone to help my milk production. What I didn’t find out until after I’d stopped taking it nine months late was that one of the side effects can be weight gain or at least cessation of weight loss.

Now that I’m off the domperidone, I’ve started losing weight consistently at about 1.5 lbs a weeks. Before I went back to work my daily exercise was a walk of at least 45 minutes, some yoga and a weekly kick boxing boot camp. Now that I’m back to work, I plan on taking a regular yoga class and swimming twice a week and walking at least 10,000 steps a day.

Stacey is a huge inspiration and I’m looking forward to blogging with her!