In many ways January and early Feb are the hardest times for a fitness plan, as the cold, dark days can leave you feeling demotivated and low on energy. But despite these challenges, the finalists gave the challenge their all.
AND, THE TWO FINALISTS ARE (drum roll, please!)....
NIKKI CAPUTA & KATHY SNYDER!
NIKKI CAPUTA
AGE: 40!OCCUPATION: Freelance hairdresser.
BEFORE:
Waist :28 1/2"
Hips: 34 3/4"
Right leg; 21 1/4"
AFTER:
Waist; 27 1/2"
Hips; 34"
Right leg; 21"
Left leg; 21"
Left leg; 21"
The most important thing is that the challenge (and Caroline!) has inspired me to retrain and hopefully become a personal trainer myself. Having spent most of my life having not much confidence in my body, I have used both challenges to focus myself and to achieve things I never really thought i could. I can now take this self belief and use it in a positive way to help me realise my dreams, one of which is to build my own personal gym at the bottom of my garden, another being to focus on training people outside like Caroline does.
I took my after pictures in a bikini I bought about four years ago. Until the pictures i had only worn the top half as the bottoms were far from flattering. Now I can`t wait for the summer to show it off and plan to continue with a good maintenance plan so that I retain my shape up until then. Also I bought two new pairs of skinny jeans in celebration of finishing the challenge ................size 10 of course!!"
You can see that Nikki looked pretty good at the start (despite trying to hide it in those boy shorts - ha!) by most standards, but that was thanks to her hard work in the December challenge!
To strip those last few pounds and look as great as she now does took loads of hard work and determination to not settle for 'average' - and you can see that the results are definitely something to be proud of!
KATHY SNYDER:
Chicago, USA
Occupation: Independent Manufacturer’s Representative (Sales Rep for Network Analysis Products)
Age: 49
BEFORE:
AFTER:
"Why Kettlebells?
Kettlebells are awesome, but I’ll admit I would never have picked them up on my own.
I was introduced to kettlebells by my trainer in August when I was endeavoring to prepare for upcoming knee surgery. The trainer had me perform crab walk and lunge supersets with kettlebells – the first time I’d ever used them – and I thought I was going to pass out. THAT intrigued me – no other activity in the gym ever made me feel like I was going to keel over. He said it was likely my blood pressure was to blame because of the overall demand the supersets put on my body, but that it should improve with time. So that became my challenge. I knew that this was the piece of equipment that could cause profound and immediate stress to my body. The feeling I got when I used them at the club was different from any sensation I’d ever experienced with any other type of exercise. I knew I was improving, and I wanted more.
Why KettleBelleBody?
After my surgery, I discovered Skwigg writing a lot about how much fun kettlebells were to use, and how impressed she was with the KettleBelleBody program. When Caroline announced the 6-Week Love Your Body Challenge for 2009, I just had to participate. Being accountable to an on-line group was something I wanted to try. I purchased KettleBelleBody and my first kettlebell soon after. I started practicing the exercises and routines the last week of December.
My Experience
I love the KettleBelleBody workouts! They are challenging, and make me feel good and exhausted in a pleasant, whole-body way.
Several things stood out for me during the Challenge. What amazed me the most about the experience was the impact this program had on my mid-section. Within a couple of weeks, I noticed how all of my pants fit better, and my waist was down over an inch. That kind of success has been a huge motivator.
Another aspect I enjoyed was how good it felt to do the complete warm-up and cool-down programs. Others commented about how the stretches improved their flexibility and made them feel more limber. This was true for me as well, which was a nice surprise as I have never been excited about stretching. I now look forward to the warm-up and cool-down. My back cracks every time, without having to go to a chiropractor.
I had an “ah-ha!” moment on January 31. That was a Core1 day, and to that point, I was still doing partial workouts. That day as well I told myself it would be okay to just do 3 circuits. Then something clicked - I hit a groove. For the first time, I pushed myself to perform all four circuits, and I felt invincible the rest of the day. My caloric burn for 101 minutes was 780, and I wanted that feeling again. Since then I do all circuits, and burn over 500 calories every session.
I travel with my 10-pounder. It makes my bag a little heavier – a reason to get searched – but that just adds to the fun. I can do a good Blaster with 1-arm Swings and Turkish Get-Ups in any hotel room, which is very cool.
I enjoyed the Challenge, and am embarking on another 6-Weeks, this time with the “2s” of the Multi Focus 4 Days Per Week schedule as I prepare for Spring Break. Thanks for a great program! "
Kathy has done really well, and in addition to the entry I wanted to share with you her continued results and additional comments since the challenge has ended:
"I know the first part of the Challenge wasn’t my best effort. I’m still not proud that I missed all of Week 2, but I must say my diet was a lot cleaner and my exercise was more intense after Jan 25.
By getting back on track she did get great and obvious results. Not as good as had she stayed on track for the whole time, but a lot better than quitting altogether at the first challenge.
Six weeks is much harder than 30 days for a challenge, but also even 6 weeks is not long enough to get ongoing results when you have a target that is far off. There are always going to be moments when you break your respolve, miss a workout, eat something you had planned not to.
The important thing - get back on track as soon as you can! Enjoy the deviation for what it is (don't feel guilty!), and then get right on with things.
You can see on my Muscle in a Month challenge blog that my Valentine's Weekend was a dietary disaster - but I still did the workouts and got straight back onto the nutrition. Some people would have said 'if I can't do it 100% I won't do it at all' but you can see from Kathy's results that that is just not true, especially when it comes to something as long term and ongoing as eating and exercise.
We make a clean start every second - and every choice we make takes us closer to or further away from our goals. Once something is done, it is done, and there's no point making the next step backwards just because the one before was!
Kathy has proven the power of persistence and is well on track to hitting her ultimate goals. I am just proud to have been able to contribute to her success in this challenge!
I took my after pictures in a bikini I bought about four years ago. Until the pictures i had only worn the top half as the bottoms were far from flattering. Now I can`t wait for the summer to show it off and plan to continue with a good maintenance plan so that I retain my shape up until then. Also I bought two new pairs of skinny jeans in celebration of finishing the challenge ................size 10 of course!!"
You can see that Nikki looked pretty good at the start (despite trying to hide it in those boy shorts - ha!) by most standards, but that was thanks to her hard work in the December challenge!
To strip those last few pounds and look as great as she now does took loads of hard work and determination to not settle for 'average' - and you can see that the results are definitely something to be proud of!
KATHY SNYDER:
Chicago, USA
Occupation: Independent Manufacturer’s Representative (Sales Rep for Network Analysis Products)
Age: 49
BEFORE:
AFTER:
"Why Kettlebells?
Kettlebells are awesome, but I’ll admit I would never have picked them up on my own.
I was introduced to kettlebells by my trainer in August when I was endeavoring to prepare for upcoming knee surgery. The trainer had me perform crab walk and lunge supersets with kettlebells – the first time I’d ever used them – and I thought I was going to pass out. THAT intrigued me – no other activity in the gym ever made me feel like I was going to keel over. He said it was likely my blood pressure was to blame because of the overall demand the supersets put on my body, but that it should improve with time. So that became my challenge. I knew that this was the piece of equipment that could cause profound and immediate stress to my body. The feeling I got when I used them at the club was different from any sensation I’d ever experienced with any other type of exercise. I knew I was improving, and I wanted more.
Why KettleBelleBody?
After my surgery, I discovered Skwigg writing a lot about how much fun kettlebells were to use, and how impressed she was with the KettleBelleBody program. When Caroline announced the 6-Week Love Your Body Challenge for 2009, I just had to participate. Being accountable to an on-line group was something I wanted to try. I purchased KettleBelleBody and my first kettlebell soon after. I started practicing the exercises and routines the last week of December.
My Experience
I love the KettleBelleBody workouts! They are challenging, and make me feel good and exhausted in a pleasant, whole-body way.
Several things stood out for me during the Challenge. What amazed me the most about the experience was the impact this program had on my mid-section. Within a couple of weeks, I noticed how all of my pants fit better, and my waist was down over an inch. That kind of success has been a huge motivator.
Another aspect I enjoyed was how good it felt to do the complete warm-up and cool-down programs. Others commented about how the stretches improved their flexibility and made them feel more limber. This was true for me as well, which was a nice surprise as I have never been excited about stretching. I now look forward to the warm-up and cool-down. My back cracks every time, without having to go to a chiropractor.
I had an “ah-ha!” moment on January 31. That was a Core1 day, and to that point, I was still doing partial workouts. That day as well I told myself it would be okay to just do 3 circuits. Then something clicked - I hit a groove. For the first time, I pushed myself to perform all four circuits, and I felt invincible the rest of the day. My caloric burn for 101 minutes was 780, and I wanted that feeling again. Since then I do all circuits, and burn over 500 calories every session.
I travel with my 10-pounder. It makes my bag a little heavier – a reason to get searched – but that just adds to the fun. I can do a good Blaster with 1-arm Swings and Turkish Get-Ups in any hotel room, which is very cool.
I enjoyed the Challenge, and am embarking on another 6-Weeks, this time with the “2s” of the Multi Focus 4 Days Per Week schedule as I prepare for Spring Break. Thanks for a great program! "
Kathy has done really well, and in addition to the entry I wanted to share with you her continued results and additional comments since the challenge has ended:
"I know the first part of the Challenge wasn’t my best effort. I’m still not proud that I missed all of Week 2, but I must say my diet was a lot cleaner and my exercise was more intense after Jan 25.
I do want to let you know that since the Challenge, the disruption of moving to the 2nd program in the Multi Focus 4-days Per Week has been palpable. A) I’m sore (with Warm Up and Cool Down, so I know I’m exercising new muscles), and B) I have lost over a pound from my weekly average weight each of the past four weeks. I had a goal to be sub-160 by Mar 28 – my average so far this week is 165 – so if I keep dropping at this rate, I’m going to beat that goal. Do I like kettlebells? You bet I do! (Did I tell you I got one from my sweetie for Valentine’s Day? Best Valentines gift ever!)
Here’s another bit for you – I think the kettlebell training has rehabbed my shoulders. All last year, I had a lot of rotator cuff tenderness when I’d reach overhead for anything – worse if I was trying to lift something. Now? The tenderness is all but gone, and Monday I did regular Press Ups (40 of them in Strength2) and that’s one exercise I have never been able to do.
My body is changing – I look and feel stronger. I don’t really like the pictures that mark the end of my Challenge, but they do show a flatter midriff. I couldn’t be more pleased with the program, the effects, and how it makes me feel.
The reason for sharing that extra comment is the reason why Kathy made it into the final. PERSISTENCE!
She, like many others, floundered in the middle of Jan. The weather got bad, the challenge felt hard and people felt they had slipped up.
BUT, did Kathy give up (like several others)? NO! She got straight back on track, aware that her deviating from the plan might put others ahead, but she also realised that it is not the winning that really counts, but the DOING!By getting back on track she did get great and obvious results. Not as good as had she stayed on track for the whole time, but a lot better than quitting altogether at the first challenge.
Six weeks is much harder than 30 days for a challenge, but also even 6 weeks is not long enough to get ongoing results when you have a target that is far off. There are always going to be moments when you break your respolve, miss a workout, eat something you had planned not to.
The important thing - get back on track as soon as you can! Enjoy the deviation for what it is (don't feel guilty!), and then get right on with things.
You can see on my Muscle in a Month challenge blog that my Valentine's Weekend was a dietary disaster - but I still did the workouts and got straight back onto the nutrition. Some people would have said 'if I can't do it 100% I won't do it at all' but you can see from Kathy's results that that is just not true, especially when it comes to something as long term and ongoing as eating and exercise.
We make a clean start every second - and every choice we make takes us closer to or further away from our goals. Once something is done, it is done, and there's no point making the next step backwards just because the one before was!
Kathy has proven the power of persistence and is well on track to hitting her ultimate goals. I am just proud to have been able to contribute to her success in this challenge!
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