Why you need strength training to transform your body! Awesome Olympic HIIT Workout!

Happy Saturday, sweet friends! It has been another awesome week in the studio. We love seeing each of your smiling faces! Each day is on step closer to the right direction when you are staying accountable to your goals! Continue to strive for progress- this weekend! Please try to book your exercise sessions for the week ahead and come 11:30 Tuesday to the FREE Transforming Goal Workshop! Sign up online, email us, or use the app (Special Events tab) so we know how many to expect! The lululemon ladies will be teaching all about how to reach your goals and we will have fun prizes & giveaways! 

Caroline Ward, Demetria Hunte, & Katie Woodall

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Dee wanted to share with you why she feels strength training is so important to transform your body! 

It has been such an amazing 2 weeks working full time at TransFit and continuing to meet so many inspiring and dedicated women! What an amazing constant reminder of how much of a blessing TransFit and the TransFit family have been in my life. I am looking forward to a new season of growth and inspiration!

TransFit is so unique in that it provides for women something that is so commonly left out, strength training! Strength training is just what your body needs to fight the loss of muscle, bone mass and strength that comes with age. Resistance bands and balls, hand weights, barbells, and even your own body weight can be used as resistance when designing a strength-training program. Even better, all that new muscle and strength pays off in a long-term boost to your metabolism, which helps keep your body lean and sculpted. Suddenly, dumbbells sound like a smart idea! Below are some extra benefits to help explain why we as women should and need to build resistance training into our fitness plan.

Benefits of strength training for women:

• Improved body composition & increase lean body mass
• Increased metabolic efficiency (burn fat!)
• Increased bone density
• Decreased psychological stress
• Increased energy levels and mood

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Here is an awesome workout we want to share with YOU! This workout can be done anywhere and is great to take with you when you travel! Check out the video below!  

Olympic HITT Workout- TransFit Athens

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Dee is pictured doing the squat with shoulder press here! 

Let's work to finish this August strong! We know that you can achieve those goals you set at the beginning of the month. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help you! 

Blessings, 

Team TransFit

Power Up with this Plyometrics Workout!

Happy Monday everyone!

This June Transfit wants to light a fire in you, and this plyometric workout is just the way to begin the flame. Plyometrics used to be called "jump training" when it emerged back in the 1980s. It mimics fun activities kids do, like jumping on the trampoline, playing hopscotch, and skipping, and is a high impact workout that boosts muscle power, strength, power, and agility.  If you aren't already in shape you may want to start slow with this exercise. Plyometrics can help people to train for any activity which involves explosive movement, including basketball, volleyball, running and football. Just in case consistency is an issue for you this summer this plyometrics workout can be done less frequently and still deliver powerful results! Plyometrics are also great for summer months and vacations because it can be done with little to no equipment! All you need is a sturdy bench or step!

Check out pics of Kaitlyn and I demonstrating some explosive moves from this workout while kitten sitting our lovable new kittens!

Think you're up for the challenge? Here is a regimen for the whole workout! For best results the plyometric workout should be done 2 times a week, always add in strength training, and steady cardio on additional days!

Hope this workout is effective for you! With determination and perseverance you'll be sure to see results in no time!

Blessings,

Caroline

Client Spotlight: Amazing Katie Collins!

Katie Collins and I met over a year ago! She is the most amazing wife, mother (of two precious boys), and friend! How she finds time to do it all—I will never know! She has committed to changing her lifestyle over the past year by exercising 2 days a week at TransFit, running, walking and doing yoga and has seen great changes physically, mentally and emotionally! She has lowered her body weight significantly but primarily has decreased body fat multiple percentage points! Katie always has a positive attitude in the TransFit studio and in every workout she trys to push herself to the next level! Her hard-working attitude and determination is contagious and inspiring to all who are around her!! Katie is a real life example that hard work, sweat, and dedication really do pay off!! Congratulations Katie- so proud of you- continue to reach your goals!!! 

Two years ago, my family began building our new home in Bishop & everyone had new changes ahead of them.  I wanted a healthier lifestyle for myself & my family to be one of those changes.  I knew of Caroline & her successful & inspirational fitness program & I finally had the opportunity to join TransFit!

So, 14 months ago & 20 pounds heavier, I began my journey towards healthier choices.  Working on one thing at a time, initially, my goal was to get back on a consistent weekly exercise program.  Finding motivation to exercise is not an issue with me, it is making the time during the day.  2-3 days of strength training, 2-3 days of cardio training & 1-2 days of yoga/toning is what I decided to schedule.  With my kids in school, my motivation, & Caroline's accountability, that change was an easy adjustment.  

After several months of a consistent exercise routine with not much change in my body composition, I knew my nutrition needed to be more of my focus.  WILL POWER is my biggest enemy.  Caroline's tips about portion control & more thought into meal planning was the turning point.   Once I began taking the extra time to plan our weekly meals, then I made better decisions for myself & my family.  As an added bonus, our eating out habits decreased, our household produced less trash, our grocery store trips & bills decreased, & we were having ENJOYABLE family meals together AT HOME! 

My most recent accomplishment was, again, inspired by Caroline. 

She offered me an entry 5 DAYS PRIOR to the Chick-fil-A half marathon.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I read her text.  My first thought was "REALLY!  Who just up & decides they can go for a 13-mile run without training?!?"  I've always had 3-4 months to prepare my body &, more importantly, my mind!  So, after initially declining her offer, the thought kept eating at me.  I knew I had the endurance & the strength & I decided that I was going to be "THAT GIRL" who decides to go run a little 13-mile race! I didn't finish with a PR or anything, but I felt good afterwards & was so glad I decided to run!

I still have a ways to go to reach more goals I've set for myself, but I'm beginning to see changes in how my clothes fit, I'm receiving compliments on how I look, I feel good & most importantly, to me, the healthy choices I'm making are automatic some days.  Previously, I had to think about when I was going to fit in exercise or what my lunch would be for the day.  Now, because I'm getting used to a routine & I have healthy choices readily available; I don't have to think so much!

Nutrition & food choices are still a daily battle for me.  But, I can honestly say I am more conscience about the foods I am eating & realizing just one bad choice doesn't have to snowball into bad choices for the rest of the day or continue on all week.

I'm trying to incorporate more vegetables into my diet and I am not very creative, nor do I really enjoy being in the kitchen cooking for long periods of time.  So, when I find easy, quick, healthy, recipes I stick with them.  I will say my children haven't gotten on board with these side items, but my husband has, so that's a start!

I have truly enjoyed my weekly workouts with Caroline, but meeting & working out with all her amazing & inspiring clients makes it that much better.  So, THANK YOU ALL  FOR helping me with my journey, as well!!!!

Thank you Katie! You decided on a lifestyle change and stuck to that decision amidst all the things going on in your life!

Here is a recipe that has Katie and her whole family enjoys! Check it out below:

Blueberry Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

Olive oil for coating, plus 1 tbsp.

Good quality sea salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

4 oz. Greek-style yogurt (can substitute plain yogurt)

2 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh lavender leaves (can substitute herbes de Provence)

1 small apple, peeled and chopped

½ red onion, finely diced (you can leave out if necessary)

1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and dried

¼ cup roasted chopped almonds

Spinach for serving

Directions:    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat the skin on the chicken breasts with the olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 30 minutes, or until no pink remains. Cool. In a small bowl, whisk the 1 tbsp. of the olive oil, yogurt, vinegar, lavender, 1 tsp. of the salt, and 1 tsp. of the black pepper. Add the apple and stir to prevent browning. Add the onion, blueberries, and almonds; mix well. Remove the skin from the chicken breasts and discard (or freeze for use in making stock). Separate the chicken and shred or cut into 1-inch pieces. Add the chicken to the yogurt-blueberry mixture; stir gently to combine. Serve on a bed of crisp lettuce or spinach or in a whole wheat pita.

Blessings,

Caroline

February Client Spotlight: Lauren McElhannon

The month of February we are trying to focus on LOVING our bodies. What can we focus on to treat our bodies well?  Exercising, eating well, nurturing our skin and our spirits can help us appreciate what God has blessed us with-- wonderfully made bodies.

February's client spotlight is someone who has truly been an inspiration to me and many others. She is perfect for the month of LOVE Client Spotlight! Lauren McElhannon's consistent hard work and dedication to healthy living is incredible! She constantly pushes herself harder and strives to incorporate her positive energy into everything she does. She has also completely transformed her family's habits by adding yoga to their weekly routines and including healthier foods in their meals. When I asked for a picture of her this week, she said she "definitely wanted a family picture since this is such a family effort!" I love this thought, and I love watching Lauren continue to transform her life!  Congrats Lauren!!! So proud of you!!!

The summer of 2012 I had a 1 year old, 5 year old and 6 year old and was in a slump.  I wasn’t sleeping well (lots of night waking kiddos), not exercising consistently other than a yoga class here and there, and my eating was not well planned out.  Being a full -time working mom of 3 young children, not a lot of time was dedicated to me.  Some of my friends were working out with Caroline and I decided to try it, even though it meant less sleep!  But I was ready for a change and needed to push myself.

I tend to prefer to handle change gradually (if possible) -- I’m such a creature of habit.  So when Caroline said for my goal to be exercising 5 times a week, I knew that was unrealistic for me – going from 0-1 times a week to 5?  No way, not right away (but definitely at some point).  In my mind, I was inching toward my 5 times a week goal slowly and exercising 1-2 times a week was more do-able and realistic for me at the time.  After that, exercise became a habit, I increased my days every month or so and now am exercising most days of every week!  I usually go to Caroline’s 2 times a week, run 2-3 times (about 4 miles) and do yoga almost every day at home with my family, and at least 1 time a week at 5 points yoga.  Now that my children are 3, 6 and 8, I’m sleeping better, exercising consistently and eating so much better.  We all have our own yoga mats and exercise balls and enjoy family time exercising in the living room!  

For awhile there (before the cold set in), my husband and I were running a 5K a month.  We liked the idea of having the event to keep us moving, to support worthy causes, and to do something fun and healthy together!  We are looking forward to running the Barrow Boogie 5K at the end of February!  

As far as my diet and nutrition goes, when I became a parent I started paying much more attention to what I ate, what I was feeding my children, where the food came from, etc.  But with children also came the snacks and crazy schedule, which ultimately led to too much snacking and rushed meals.  After almost a year of working out with Caroline consistently, I wasn’t seeing the weight coming off as it should have been, so I started nutrition counseling with her, started meal planning and being very conscious of my eating (journaling).  I loved the meal planning – I knew what I was supposed to eat, no big questions or concerns!  I have lists of snacks/breakfasts/lunches/dinners and pull from the list every week.  That way I don’t make a thoughtless choice very often!  The nutrition counseling really helped me move forward with weight loss and helped me learn more about portions, balancing my diet and self-control.  I have done a 3 day Journey Juice cleanse 2 times now and have encouraged so many friends and family members to try it too.  By cleansing in this way, I really reflect on my eating choices, habits, reasons for eating, and feel more in control after.

Tea is something that I drink daily – my mom is a medicinal herbalist, organic gardener and more, so she’s always telling me about teas I should be drinking and bringing me freshly dried herbs right over!  One of my favorite mixes right now is lemongrass, holy basil and peppermint – delicious hot or cold.  The nutritional benefits are amazing – lots of vitamins in these herbs!   I try my best to live as green as possible, and to eat local, fresh and organic.

I’ve lost  weight, feel lighter, healthier and stronger now, but I still have more work to do.  Currently, my goals are to keep exercising most days of the week, eat at least 8 servings of fruits/veggies a day, and to drink half my body weight in oz of water daily (and for my children to do the same).

Something I like most about exercising is reaching my goal, then going further.  And being excited about making new goals to conquer.  I live off of lists, calendars, reminders, deadlines, so setting goals works for me – check it off the list and keep going!  No extra time is what makes exercising hard.  Being a working mom, there’s some guilt about spending what little extra time I have away from my children, but they and my husband are huge supporters of me on this journey!  I’ve definitely rubbed off on them in positive ways – they are so much more conscious of making healthy decisions.  Right now they are ON IT with our water challenge!  Most days there’s something that doesn’t get done because I’ve chosen to spend a little time exercising, but I’ve learned to let that go.  Exercising is THAT important to me – for my mind and body – that I’m okay with the chores never really being “done.”  Are they ever anyway??

I’m so thankful for all that Caroline has helped me with!  I really attribute so much of where I am today to her, her support and encouragement!

Something I eat almost every day is homemade granola – I make a big batch over the weekends and eat about a cup a day.  It’s great with cottage cheese, yogurt, sprinkled over oatmeal, sprinkled in pancake mix or all by itself!  There are so many optional yummy things to add – make it your original!

Lauren’s Granola:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole organic oats
• 1 cup brown rice cereal (I get mine from Earthfare)
• 1 TBSP cinnamon
• 1 TBSP pumpkin pie spices (or ¼ tsp ground ginger)
• A few shakes of salt
• ½ cup raisins (or dried cherries, cranberries, chopped apricots, etc.)**do not bake – add after
• ½ cup roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds (or any chopped nuts you like)
• ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
• ½ cup ground flax meal
• 1/3 cup local honey or agave
• 2 heaping TBSP refined coconut oil
• 1 TBSP vanilla

Heat oven to 300 degrees.  Mix all dry ingredients.  Mix wet ingredients (honey, oil and vanilla) – you’ll need to mash and chop the oil up.  Pour dry ingredients into 2 large baking trays, then plop evenly the honey mixture over the dry ingredients.  Put trays in oven for 2 minutes so the oil can melt a little, then take out and stir, allowing the honey mixture to coat the oat mixture.  Once coated, put trays back in oven and bake 10 minutes, stir, then bake 10 more minutes.  Cool granola for about 10 minutes before breaking up and placing in container.

**I do not bake granola with raisins so they stay moist, I add them after granola cools.

**If you like more clumps of granola, increase amount of wet ingredients to make more coating!

**My favorite way of eating this is plain or 1 cup granola, 1 cup cottage cheese and ½ cup frozen or fresh blueberries (they melt quickly).

Velena Vego- December Client Spotlight & TransFit new website!!!

TRANSFIT has a new website! Please go to www.transfitathens.com and take a peek at our new site! Give the gift of good health for the holidays by giving a TRANSFIT gift certificate to a friend or family member! Please read below about an amazing friend and client and her life transformation!

Velena Vego is the type of woman who you really want to get to know! Velena is the booking manager at the 40 Watt in Athens and Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta. Velena also started a record label, ticket company, and manages bands. Velena obviously works hard and is so talented in everything that she does, so starting a new exercise routine was just one more task for her to accomplish! Velena has completely transformed her lifestyle and through her transformation has inspired her husband to start a consistent exercise routine as well! Velena has made major changes to her diet and to her exercise routine such as not eating late at night and doing a mix of cardiovascular and strength training consistently.

velena photo (13)

"Eight months ago, I turned 50 and decided to do something for myself. For the past two years I had spent all my time on work-work-work! I was out of shape, my energy level was low, and I had gained 15 pounds. I blamed it on hormones/age, booking two venues, and managing two bands.

My friend, Cindy Clark, owner of Nuance was looking better and better every time I saw her. Finally, I asked what she was doing and she told me all about her weekly exercise routine and her personal trainer Caroline Ward. I immediately signed up!

Caroline has taught me so much about nutrition and how important weight training is to create strong muscles and to lose body fat. She always says "you gotta keep moving" so my new passion is Zumba. Not only am I burning calories but it's alot of fun! My new go to food is Greek yogurt. I eat it for breakfast and for a snack if I'm craving something sweet. YUM!

I've already lost 10lbs and my cholesterol is down so my doctor is happy. He even said, "You go girl!" I've learned it's never too late to get back into shape. Not only do I feel younger, but I feel like myself again."

Even when traveling to cities all over the US, Velena still finds time to exercise and eat her Greek yogurt! We have reached many of her goals and we are excited about the next phase in her healthy lifestyle! Congratulations Velena, YOU ARE AMAZING!

Finishing this race of life is better than starting. Patience is better than pride. Ecclesiastes 7:8

September Client Spotlight: Meg Parker

I am so excited to brag on Meg Parker this month for the September Client Spotlight!!! Meg is a highly respected financial advisor, mother of 2 precious kiddos, and a wife! Meg started exercising at TransFit 6 months ago and has completely changed her body type. She is a muscular, sleek woman and is one of the strongest women I have worked with this year! Meg has lost 10 pounds over the course of 6 months, decreased her body fat, and continues to push herself in all that she does. She is such an inspiration to so many women!

Her Field:

I am a senior financial advisor/vice president at Merrill Lynch. In a nutshell, I help my clients (individuals and families) pursue their long-term financial goals! I do this through finding the appropriate mix of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs to fit their personal objectives and risk tolerance. I monitor progress towards goals and keep the investment strategy consistent with any changes that take place in their lives and/or business. Her Fitness:

As far as exercising goes, I have always been a pretty active person. I rode horses my entire childhood, played sports in school, took an exercise hiatus in college, and then lived out west for a year and a half where we biked, hiked, jogged, and walked. For the past 9 years (prior to TransFit), I would go through phases of exercising, but it would be all weight training and no cardio OR all cardio and no weight training; then I’d take some time off, etc. So basically, I had no real pattern to my workout schedule. After 2 kids, this no-patterned workout did not work, because I was not seeing any results and I felt bloated, etc. After working out at TransFit for a few months, I finally feel like I have a great balance of weight training and cardio.

Her Food:

I thought that if I worked out, I could eat or drink whatever I wanted: a cookie here, some chips there.  Over the past 6 months I have become more aware of eating the right (and REAL) foods and drinking more water, green tea, etc.

Her Fortitude:

My clothes are fitting MUCH better, and I truly feel the best I have ever felt. I believe this is all due to a perfect balance in exercise and cutting out LOTS of preservatives and sodium, and eating MORE fruits and veggies, drinking more water, etc. I have also FINALLY lost the bloated feeling that I have had since having kids. Caroline has taught me to take much better care of my body bywatching what I put in it, stretching more (which I NEVER used to do), and following the right exercise regime.