Archive for April, 2011

Pam Handfield – the Journey continues

Saturday, April 30th, 2011
Pam - 84 pounds down!

Pam - 84 pounds down!

I’ve posted here before about star boot camper and kettlebell “swinger”, Pam Handfield.

Well, Pam continues to do amazing things and I had to give her more props. Pam participated in the 2011 End of Winter Clean Up but went 8 weeks instead of 4 without processed foods, alcohol, sugar (the real and fake stuff) and refined carbs, and she got AMAZING results.

Pam lost 17 pounds during her 8 week Clean Up. That puts her total weight loss since last summer at 84 pounds!

Congratulations Pam!




Franzi Petermann’s Clean Up story

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Franzi at the start of the Clean Up

Franzi at the start of the Clean Up

Franzi - week 4 of the Clean Up

Franzi – week 4 of the Clean Up

Franzi Petermann is a dedicated weekday boot camper and dragon boater who took 2nd Place for Body Transformation in the 2011 End of Winter Clean Up. During the four week challenge she lost 4 pounds and a total of 7-1/4 inches! Franzi committed to the Clean Up and it shows. Just look at those abs!

Here’s Franzi’s success story:

I really enjoyed the Clean Up experience even though it was tough sticking to the plan at times. While it was no issue for me to cut out sweets and candy bars, I did miss pasta and the occasional glass of wine quite a bit. It was very motivating going to the store that weekend before. Buying lots of healthy food – some new that I had never tried before – was exciting and I couldn’t wait to get started. Planning ahead for the day (snacks and lunch) was probably my biggest challenge. I managed to do okay on that for the first week and then just winged it most of the time by grabbing something protein plus a piece of fruit from the fridge. The food diary was definitely not a favorite of mine and I stopped writing everything down after about half way through. It was helpful, though, to go back and look over the first week and see where I did well and what wasn’t so good. Also, having to write everything down made me think twice about if I really wanted to eat that food at that particular time…

Breakfast was challenging as I grew up on rolls with butter, jam, cold cuts and cheese. And I do love my Kashi cereal. However, I discovered that I like steel cut oats (and so does my husband now) and I am crazy about Ezekiel bread. I will definitely keep those in my diet. But I will also allow myself a nice whole wheat roll every now and then as a special treat on the weekend – we call it German breakfast day.

After about two weeks, I noticed that my clothes fit much better, more comfortable; especially my skinny jeans. There was an overall “skinny” feeling after about two weeks. I just felt so much better in my own body. While I didn’t lose a lot weight – about 4 pounds – I was extremely excited to find out that I had lost about an inch all around. That is awesome!

My husband joined me – partially – in my effort and we tried out lots of new recipes, some of which have become new favorites. We cooked much more instead of eating out and took more responsibility for what we ate. A nice side benefit was the much lower credit bill. :-)

Congratulations to Franzi on her success. Look for more Clean Up success stories next week.




2011 Clean Up Winners

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

For 4 weeks in February and March, 26 Performance Fitness clients, boot campers and “friends” participated in the End of Winter Clean Up. A nutrition challenge in which they ate real food (in other words minimally processed food) and eschewed sugar, artificial sweetener, alcohol and refined carbohydrates, like white bread.

There were tears (I’m not exaggerating) and irritability for some. For others the Clean Up was the beginning of a new way of life in terms of nutrition. And for everyone, whether the 4 week challenge was loved or hated, the Clean Up was eye opening, helping each individual to gain insight into his or her nutrition habits and (hopefully) change some of those habits.

We awarded four winners. Two prizes were awarded for best lifestyle transformation. These went to the two people who really grasped the concept of the Clean Up and had the biggest challenge and success in terms of changing their mindset and the way they ate. The other two prizes were for body transformation. These went to the two people who lost the most inches.

And our winners are…

  • Franzi Petermann (2nd Place for Body Transformation)
  • Marti Keegan (2nd Place for Lifestyle Transformation)
  • Marisa Guerin (1st Place for Body Transformation)
  • Karen Vento (1st Place for Lifestyle Transformation)

Congratulations, ladies!

Check back here to read their success stories.