Certified Gym Rats

I love the theme of the Biggest Loser this season which is "no excuses".   Each episode takes on a common excuse that people make when facing a weight loss challenge.  This week's excuse to beat was, "I can't do it on my own".  In the first part of my journey, I had trainers with me every step of the way and I really feared the time when my Transformation program would be over with and my team mates and I would be on our own.  I'm not going to lie - it was a tough transition for me....mentally.  Our trainers are still there for us as friends and resources, but now they have to turn their attention to a new group of Transformees and we have to move forward with the confidence in ourselves, our strong set of muscles, and the arsenal of knowledge they gifted us with.

I must say that I'm quite proud of our group.  We've learned how to train ourselves and kick our own butts. We take the things we learned with our trainers and add on to them with workouts we gather from the internet, other gym buddies, TV, and magazines.  We are developing a little bit of a following as folks see how much fun we have and sweat we generate, and we love it as new people add new things and push us to new levels.  We can now relive our initial journey through our friends who make up this years' Transformation Team.  We help motivate them as they renew our fire and motivate us.  We have moved on from our initial status as rookies and are, as Marisa (our trainer...I say it in present tense because she and Jeff will always be our trainers) said today "certified gym rats."

This can be done without a trainer and a Biggest Loser Ranch.  I have a friend who, no matter how hectic his day was or the fact that it's 11:30 at night and he has to get up early the next day, gets his workout in in the gym he's created in his garage. That's some dedication! Also, there are some excellent, free tools online like www.sparkpeople.com or my personal fave: www.myfitnesspal.com (you can find me there under the user name "jenniferminter".  It's like Fitness Facebook).  You don't have to be a certified gym rat in the beginning, you just have to use the tools that are out there and find a few buddies to "do it on your own with".