Summer Food Journal Challenge📔🍓🥗

Sweet friend,

A new week and fresh start is upon us! We have hope that change can happen in and out of the studio! Let's take ACTION in all areas of our lives and LIVE transformed. There is power in the present and there is such hope for the future! 

This week, along with our 8-Week Summer Transformation Challenge we are ready to fire you up with the FOOD JOURNAL CHALLENGE. We love doing accountability checks like this because it helps us to refocus our minds; and to be intentional and mindful while eating. Making journaling a healthy habit can jump-start your transformation. 

Remember that it's never too late to start changing your life for the better. Counting your macronutrients can propel your progress. Join the Food Journal Challenge starting Monday with us!
We RISE STRONGER TOGETHER.

💙Two favorite truths to encourage you to give your best daily and never give up! 💙

James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that thetesting of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

James 1:12 “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

What Is The Challenge?

Keep a food journal starting Monday and go through Friday, 5 DAYS! Download the free MyFitnessPal app and log your food, outlining the details of your meals and snacks throughout the day. You can also write down your nutrition in the notes section of your phone and send us your journal Friday or Saturday! We want to help hold you accountable! The challenge is for YOU! So whether you choose to do 1 day or 5 days- come out of your comfort zone, be accountable and try something new! 

Why Take The Challenge?

Using a food journal is the number one way you can take control of your healthy lifestyle. Everyone struggles with what we put in our mouths and self-awareness helps us to realize what food, beverages, and portion sizes we are actually fueling our body with daily. Journaling is an amazing tool for weight loss, assessing a food intolerance, or to treat a deficiency.  We have seen the MOST effective results with our nutrition clients who have kept a food journal and showed it to us weekly! The week of accountability can be one important key to unlock your success in reaching your personal goals.

You can live anywhere and take this challenge. No excuses, friends, you CAN DO this challenge!  We are here for you and will be your partner in this journey! Let’s do it –plan for it today, start tomorrow, Monday! Ready for a great week! 

5 Helpful Tips to Get Started on the Food Journal Challenge!

1. Download the MyFitnessPal app and create an account! You can also do a handwritten food journal if you don't care for the app.

2. Commit to doing the food journal every day for 5 days.

3. Write down 3 goals for the week right now, tell someone your goals, or text/email them to a TransFit Staff!

4. Be honest! We are not judging you on what you eat- the challenge is for you to become a healthier person and by journaling, you will gain a greater awareness of what you are eating daily!

5. Clean out the pantry and refrigerator. Start the week off right; any food or beverages that are tempting to you- TOSS! You don’t need it and neither does your family! Start the week fresh with a clean refrigerator and pantry so that you can restock with fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. YES, YOU CAN!

   
   At the end of the week email or text us a picture or show us  the weekly challenge and be entered to win a prize!
   We believe in you! 

You CAN commit to 5 days of food journaling! We want to provide you accountability! Accountability is a key to your success! 

Let's fill our mind with positive thoughts, inspiring goals and give our best for the remainder of June, starting July encouraged! Have you filled out your summer goal sheet? If not, download it and challenge yourself to finish this summer strong! If you fill it out, send us a picture because we would love to hear what your goals are and encourage you throughout the rest of the summer!

The time is now if you are ready to walk, run, jog your first Half Marathon! The AthHalf will be here in October! Check out these plans for your best race here!

Studio is open all week and we will be seeing clients 1-1, semi private, traveling and group sessions. Please bring your sparkle towel and water when you come to the studio.

1-1 Session’s are a great way to reset and get the results you need. Email us for more details and to set up your 1-1 Personal Training Session.

Reminder! We have a FREE meal plans and recipes on our website under the Healthy Living tab of the website! Also, if you're on vacation check out our workout videos on YOUTUBE! 

Email us if you have any questions or would like to schedule a 1-1 with one of our Personal Trainers or Nutrition Consultants to help you reach your health goals! We are here to serve you! 

Check out our website for blogs, inspiration, recipes, workouts, and more!

Let us know how we can serve you!

Blessings, 

Team TransFit

🎄 5 Tips to Manage Holiday Parties This Year

Sweet friends,

The holiday season brings so many wonderful things to our lives! We get to spend time with our families and friends and celebrate the birth of our Savior. There’s so much to get excited about!

However, with these holiday celebrations comes holiday parties where we are surrounded by endless amounts of food! Often, we are surrounded by such homemade goodness that we can’t help but over eat, and then we feel guilty afterwards! Let’s not feel that way this holiday season!

Below are FIVE tips to help you navigate holiday parties this Christmas season!

1. Drink a large glass of water before the party.

Drinking water can help you feel full for longer. Drink 1-2 glasses of water before you go to the party to help eliminate mindless snacking. You can also carry a glass of water with you at the party to give you something to hold and drink without reaching for unhealthy snacks!

2. Keep moving!

Go to the party with the mindset that the party is for fellowship and spending quality time with friends or family and isn’t about food! Make your way around the room talking and enjoying others’ company, and you won’t think about the treats!

Make sure you are exercising regularly! Stay on track with your exercise goals during the holiday season. Block off workout times in your schedule and don’t miss! When you are exercising regularly, you won’t want to undo all of the hard work that you have put in!

3. Eat a high-protein snack before the party.

A high-protein snack can help you curb your cravings and help you be full before you arrive at the party! After eating your snack, you will be full and satisfied and will be less likely to mindlessly snack while you are there. Often, people eat less in preparation of a big party to try to “save calories”, but this usually leads to overeating foods that will not satisfy or fuel your body in the long run! Good examples of high-protein snacks are:

• 1/4 cup of nuts

• 1/2 cup of trail mix

• 1 cheese stick

• 1 hard boiled egg

• 1/2 cup of cooked edamame

• Kind bars

• Turkey roll-ups

• Rice cake layered with nut butter and chopped walnuts

  4. Chew sugar free gum.

  Chewing sugar-free gum is a great way to stop those sugar cravings! It will give you something to chew, but will save you the calories! Instead of reaching for that piece of chocolate or sweet treat, pop in a piece of sugar free gum!

  5. Bring a healthy snack or treat!

  Bring something to the party that you know you can munch on without feeling guilty. Your friends will thank you, too! Some great options for healthy dishes are:

• Lean meat and cheese trays

• Fruit or vegetable trays

• Homemade trail mix

• One of our TransFit winter recipes!

• Strawberry Edamame Salad
  

Don’t forget about our Favorite Things Luncheon this Thursday, December 13th from 12-1 in the TransFit studio! It will be a wonderful time of fellowship with our TransFit community! Think of something that you LOVE (valued around $15). Bring ONE of your favorite items. We will draw names and everyone will go home with a NEW FAVORITE THING!

The cost of attendance is $12 to cover lunch from The Pine. Sign up on our app at the link below under “Special Events.”

Thank you to everyone that has brought in a gift for our Giving Tree! There are a few ornaments still left on our tree if you would like to participate. Just bring your wrapped gift, put it under our Giving Tree by Friday, December 14th.

We also invite you to come help deliver these gifts to Downtown Academy next Tuesday from 12-1! We will be meeting at the studio at 11:30 a.m. and then going to Downtown Academy! You can also meet us at Downtown Academy!

We only have two more Tuesdays in 2018! Can you believe it?! We want to encourage you to finish out 2018 strong and reach your goals and dreams! Come join us in the studio for a session! Over the next few weeks, please sign-up for sessions in advance as we are operating on a holiday schedule. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at transfitathens@gmail.com. We can’t wait to see you soon!

Blessings,

Team TransFit

4 Exercises to Improve Your Posture

Good morning sweet friends,

Do you ever slump your shoulders? I often I catch myself with a rounded upper back and shoulders. I know as a middle school girl I was embarrassed by my chest... or lack thereof. I vividly remember my friends complaining of having too much in that department, but I always slumped forward in shame. My mom would always come behind me, tug my shoulders back and tell me to hold my shoulders back and head up high. “Remember your posture, Caro,” she would say on rewind. Now, with my own girls and clients, I hear myself saying the same cues hourly. All this talk about posture had me diving into how to improve our body posture. God then whispered, “nothing happens in isolation— everything is connected, body, mind, and spirit. Your physical posture is important but how is the posture of your heart?”

All this posture talk coincides with a term we use at TransFit “Exercise is Worship.”
Really?!?! Are 50 kettlebell swings considered worship?

But here is what we mean by “exercise is worship”: authentic worship is less about the movement of our body and more about the posture of our hearts.

The posture we assume when we come to know Him instead of trying to do for Him.

The posture we take when our spirit is in awe of the gracious and loving mercy-giver who created everything, yet who loves us so.

The posture we need when we feel at our weakest but through a relationship with Him we can be made strong.

Exercise is worship! Let’s stand tall with our best posture keeping our eyes and heart focused on Him.

Worship is an attitude rather than an activity.

Worship is a gift not an obligation.

Worship is the posture of our heart toward our Savior.

Let our worship be in every minute, every movement, and in every day. Let our hearts remember His loving-kindness toward us, which never ends. Why? Because, He is worthy. He deserves the praise of our whole heart - our best posture.

Let our worship as the posture of our hearts be the way we are inside, instead of something we do or who we are on the outside.

Moving into this holiday season help us all to remember:

It is not the posture of our body, but of our heart, that is most important. Everything we do “flows from our heart.” When we worship, let our hearts be lifted in adoration, gratitude, and humility to our gracious God. Let’s stand taller today, sweet friends, shoulders pulled back, head held high because we have been given the most amazing gifts.

“Lord, direct our focus always toward you and teach us to follow you in gratitude and love. Adjust the posture of our heart to be fixed and focused on your love and grace. Amen”

For your physical posture here are 4 exercises you can do today to improve your posture. Maintaining the natural lumbar curve in your low back is essential to preventing posture related back pain. This natural curve works as a shock absorber, helping to distribute weight along the length of your spine. Adjusting postural distortions can help decrease back pain.

Frequently getting up from a seated position and doing these 4 quick and easy realignment exercises can help you re-educate your muscles and improve your posture.

 1. Wall Angel

Stand with your back against a flat wall with your feet about four inches from the base. Maintain a slight bend in your knees. Your glutes, spine and head should all be against the wall.

Bring your arms up with elbows bent so your upper arms are parallel to the floor and squeeze your shoulder blades together, forming a letter "W" Hold for 3 seconds. Then, straighten your elbows to raise your arms up to form the letter “Y.” Make sure not to shrug your shoulders to your ears.

Repeat this 10 times, starting at “W,” holding for 2 seconds and then raising your arms into a “Y.” Do 2-3 sets.

2. Hip Flexor Stretch

Kneel onto your right knee with toes down, and place your left foot flat on the floor in front of you.

Place both hands on your left thigh and press your hips forward until you feel a good stretch in the hip flexors.

Contract your abdominals and slightly tilt your pelvis back while keeping your chin parallel to the floor. Hold this pose for 20-30 seconds, and then switch sides.

3. The X-Move

Kneel onto your right knee with toes down, and place your left foot flat on the floor in front of you.

Place both hands on your left thigh and press your hips forward until you feel a good stretch in the hip flexors.

Contract your abdominals and slightly tilt your pelvis back while keeping your chin parallel to the floor. Hold this pose for 20-30 seconds, and then switch sides.

4. The V-Move

While standing, stagger your feet so one is slightly behind the other. Grasp the handles, or the ends, of the resistance band and lift your arms upward and slightly outward away from your body about 30 degrees.

Keep a slight bend in your elbows. Stop at shoulder level; hold 3 seconds and return slowly.

Make sure to keep your shoulder blades down and back straight. Repeat this exercise for 8-12 repetitions for 3 sets.

Click on the button below to view a demonstration of each exercise from Caroline! You can also view other exercise and stretch videos on our YouTube channel HERE.

We want to encourage you to finish the last week of November nourishing your body and with the best posture! Please let us know how we can help you live transformed. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a one-on-one, please email us at transfitathens@gmail.com.

Blessings,

Team TransFit

Revive Your Body, Mind, & Spirit This Week at TransFit! 🙋🏼💗

Happy Sunday, sweet friend! 

We have an amazing week we planned for you in the studio, as we revive our bodies, minds, and spirits for Spring!

Our TransFormer sessions will be revived and supercharged this week, a new Uplift Session tomorrow at 11:30 AM and Thursday night will be amazing!  

We wanted to let you know about our FREE community workout THIS Thursday! This event will be on Thursday, March 22 at 6 PM and is specifically for Hope 139 house! This workout will be filled with lots of energy, fun, food, and fellowship as we sparkle together while supporting Hope 139! We want to invite you and any of your friends to come join us! The community workout is for all women of the Athens area, so we would LOVE to see you! The workout will be a transforming whole body workout for any age and fitness level! 

In case you missed our previous blogs about Hope 139, here is a quick overview of who Hope 139 is and the needs and services that they will provide! Hope 139 is near and dear to the hearts of the ladies at TransFit because our very own trainer, Shelley Tanner, started this non-profit organization! 

Mission: 

Hope 139 House, Inc. is a 501 (c)3 non-profit incorporation seeking to provide housing and support for women in crisis pregnancy and parenting situations.  This maternity and second chance home will provide hands-on training in many areas through a Christ-centered environment so that mother and baby have a better chance of staying together as a family unit and having hope of a beautiful future together.

Plans for the Home:

• Provide adequate, comfortable housing for up to 16 women in crisis during or after pregnancy through maternity home
• Housing for women and their young children for those at-risk of being separated due to various individual circumstances in the second chance home
• Lessen the strain on the foster care system by providing women with alternatives to their current situations, where mother and child can remain together under supervision, implementing a plan for behavior change. 
• Both mom and child will experience the extravagant grace and love of Jesus Christ and be forever changed by Him

Services Provided:

• Education- traditional and skills training, GED
• Bible study
• Parenting and life skills training
• Counseling services through partnerships
• Mental and physical healthcare needs
• Career training
• Behavior modification strategies

Current Needs

• Prayer
• A building for the home
• Funds
• Staff
• Van or other vehicle for transportation
• Many other needs for furnishing the home when the building is secured

We are so excited to offer this FREE community workout to raise support and donations for Hope 139. Feel free to share our flyers with your friends! We hope that you will join us! Sign up on our FREE app under SPECIAL EVENTS! 

We wanted to remind you about our March Recharge Nutrition packages! We have three different packages that are fit to your needs! You can find them on our website HERE under SERVICES. Let us know how we can help you transform! 

If you have any questions, please email us at transfitathens@gmail.com. 

Blessings, 

Team TransFit 

Are you ready to reset, recharge, feel your best? FREE Transform Runners Workout!

Happy Tuesday!

Sadly, summer is coming to an end and the school year is about to begin! What better way to get active this month, than to prepare for a race! Whether it's a 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon, or the race of LIFE... we want to encourage you and help you allow your body to feel its best! Today, we want to share with you our Transform Runner's Workout! In the midst of your "full" week, this is a great quick workout to help strengthen your core, quads, and glutes! Set your timer for one minute intervals, completing the workout for a 45 second blast of strength or cardio with a 15 second rest! Don't forget to get in 2- 3 sets! Check out the video below to see the each exercise! 

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October in Athens= ATHHALF! We hope that you will join our TransFit team, as we prepare for the race! This year, AthHalf is offering a 5K and half marathon! Whether your running or walking, we hope that you will set a goal to come out and race with us! We believe in each of you and know that each of you can do it! In preparation for the half marathon, Lisa, our TransFit Running Coach and Caroline have made an eBook just for you! This eBook features a half marathon running plan leading up to the race, runner's workouts, and a meal plan specified to runners! Click HERE to purchase the eBook! 

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Ladies, we can do this! Let's make it a goal to complete a race before 2017 ends! Come join us at 5:30 AM on Tuesday's for our Running Group with our running coach, Lisa! If you would like to meet with one of our trainers for more information on how to prepare for a race, please email us at transfitathens@gmail.com and check out or website for more information! 

Blessings, 

Team TransFit

Fun and Healthy Businesses in Athens- THANK YOU!

As many of you know, we are gearing up for the Holiday Extravaganza! GAME ON!! Last week's post showcased how the competition works and some of the cool prizes everyone has the opportunity to win. Many of these prizes wouldn't be possible without the help from some amazing local businesses, so I'd like to take a moment and thank the community for all its support! Some people only know Athens because of the University of Georgia, but I've been blessed to discover great companies and people who make Athens a fun and healthy place to live.

Athens Running Company- A locally owned, non-franchised store that carries shoes, apparel, and accessories for runners of all sizes and speeds. They professionally fit runners for shoes using video gait analysis so everyone can find the best pair of shoes for their needs.

Big City Bread Cafe- A family owned and operated restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner Monday-Saturday, as well as brunch on Sunday. Or swing by and pick up some of their freshly baked breads and pastries. Yum!

Canopy Studios- A flying aerial trapeze studio which offers camps and classes on the art of the trapeze, aerial yoga, and aerial fabrics. Instructors also offer private lessons for any level. Too scared to take to the skies? Canopy also has year end performances that are fun for all ages to watch.

Fire & Flavor- An Athens based store selling a variety of cooking products from cookbooks to turkey brine. Products can also be ordered from the website.

Glenn Alex Dentist- Dr. Glenn Alex and his caring staff provide great preventative, general, and cosmetic dental care. A healthy smile is an important part of a healthy body!

Journey Juice- A store offering a collection of all natural, local, cold pressed juices perfect for snacks, meals, or juice cleanses. Each bottle contains at least 2.5 pounds of raw vegetables & fruits, adding important vitamins and nutrients to daily diets.

Lululemon- Lululemon provides high quality yoga and running clothes for men and women. They also have accessories like bags, scarves, yoga mats, and water bottles.

SPARC Athens- A sports performance a rehabilitation center that provides training, massages, nutrition consulting, and performance evaluations. SPARC offers science backed, customized programs to maximize training and improve performance.

Spin Revolution- Spin Revolution offers cycling classes with unique combinations of music and choreography for fun workouts. Classes are scheduled at different times every day with different instructors, ensuring that you can find a class that fits your needs.

Two Story Coffee- A local coffee-house that offers more than just a delicious cup of coffee; Two Story also has art, music, and open mic nights.

YMCA- An extensive network of gyms, with one located in our very own Athens. The Athens YMCA has a great facility with state of the art fitness equipment, as well as amenities like a pool. Camps for children are also available, to make this a great, family friendly center.

If you would like to add in a prize for the gift baskets - it is not too late--please email me at transfitathens@gmail.com

Also, it is not too late to join the challenge! Weigh-in's will be going on until Wednesday at 12pm! The Holiday Extravaganza is the best way to keep you accountable over the holiday season! 

Blessings,

Caroline