For the past 12 years, I have observed countless challenges at Inner Fit Studios. One person walks away as the big winner, losing the most % of body weight, while the others, who started off strong in the challenge, get frustrated and end up throwing their hands in the air while saying, “F&*$ IT!, I am not going to win anyway so what’s the point?.”

It’s a little bittersweet as the winners and close top 10 worked really hard, but several gave up fast.

What I love about any challenge is seeing those who did amazing and lost the weight. It’s such a wonderful thing to see when people achieve their goals and the results of their hard work is so inspiring!

On the other hand, what bothers me is only a handful of participants end up making an appearance for the final weigh-in.

Challenges are an incredible way to motivate people, but is it enough?

A “winner takes all” challenge, especially with a big financial amount in the “pot” does motivate people, but when they don’t win, it can actually have a damaging effect to a person’s self-confidence.

For the past few months (years actually), I have thought about how I could bring a challenge to the studio that wasn’t about the money or competition (easier said than done.)

We have become so used to the idea of having a “winner” that old habits die-hard and with anything “new”, I always receive a fair amount of pushback which I know is simply people’s fear of being vulnerable and fear of finding their own courage to make changes. Change isn’t easy but it’s what we need to do to grow as a person and if you aren’t growing they say you are dying.

This whole process has lead to many sleepless nights reading over survey responses, asking questions, taking notes and researching what it is that my community needs from me, the coaches, and a challenge.

The hard truth is – we all want to lose weight. When our bodies release unwanted body fat, our clothes fit better, fitness is easier and our confidence is boosted – there is no arguing those facts, but if losing weight makes us feel so good, then why is it so damn hard to lose weight?

The reason it is hard to lose weight is because it is overwhelming. In order to lose weight, you need to eat less bad foods, nourish your body with good foods and burn more fat through exercise (no brainer, its simple science) but it’s not that easy. We are overwhelmed as humans and trying to meet unrealistic expectations. Life is busy and we are putting everyone else’s needs first.

When we are overwhelmed by life, we often turn to what gives us a sense of relief and instant comfort and that is food so we eat and we eat and we eat. This leaves us feeling even worse about ourselves. So what do we do? We decide to go workout, but the HARD Truth is – you cannot out exercise bad food habits, period. And so … the cycle continues.

So how do you break that cycle? Sometimes I think this is the million dollar question or maybe it is actually so simple that we got lost and need to find our way back.

What I have discovered on my own journey of losing 70 lbs in 3 years (+ or – 10 lbs depending on the month lol) is people need simple tools that work, accountability, a reasonable period of time, and goals that have meaning to you, oh – and you need to keep your 6 basic human needs in check. When I feel “off” or unmotivated, I know I am missing something big I need to work on.

Humans have 6 basic needs: certainty, variety, significance, love and connection, growth and contribution. And when we are not meeting those needs, we lose our way. If we are not feeling significant for example, we turn to food. If our future feels uncertain, we turn to food. If we are not feeling loved, we turned to food. If we are bored (lacking variety), we turn to food. Our needs get lost and food is an easy solution.

When I created the 42 Day Weight Loss Challenge, I took those 6 basic needs to heart along with my research and asked myself, “how can I meet these needs for participants?” And the more I continued to ask myself this questions, the more the answers flowed and the 42 day challenge was born from 20 years of coaching experience and 20 years of learning from others.

My intention is to create a weight loss challenge about building self-confidence and creating intrinsic motivation to help everyone reach their weight loss goals.

Growth as a person

Having strong focused goals that are achievable

Creating accountability

Helping connect people

Education

Body and self confidence

Keeping things fresh and fun

A clearly defined path for 42 days

Yes, you will have accountability tools like weigh-ins, measurements, photos but your greatest accomplishment throughout this challenge will be completing all 42 days and your measure of success will be defined by you when you set your goals and find your “why.”

Some may choose to focus on a measurement goal. Some a number on the scale. Some a recreational pursuit. And for some, it will be how they want to feel.

As Susan Kemp said it best, “Every challenge you learn something new about yourself. You get to add a new tool into your tool box that may help you down the road.”

Why Join the 42 Day Challenge? Let’s leave the old belief patterns of “I can’t lose weight” and transform them into “holy crap, I really lost the weight” and venture into something new that has nothing to do with external competition or money and everything to do with self-confidence and health. 

“It takes courage … to endure the sharp pains of self discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives.” ― Marianne Williamson

Let’s take a chance and see what happens…

I hope you do join in because I believe in every ounce of my being that this really is going to help change the way we think about weight loss at Inner Fit Studios and help you FEEL FREEDOM from the burden of carrying unwanted body fat so you can experience how amazing weight loss feels and whether you lose it fast or you lose it slow, all that matters is you keep moving forward. 

The big question has been for members: What is my monthly fee paying for? Why do I have to pay for this challenge? Here is the simple answer – your monthly fee pays for your classes. It’s a fitness pass. Financial accountability plays a role in challenges. It’s you making a commitment to yourself.  Your coaches and myself are putting their time and effort into creating an amazing experience for you and everyone enjoys being compensated for their time 🙂

New to Inner Fit Studios – Welcome! I am inviting you to join and the best part is your registration includes 2 months of unlimited fitness with the best fitness community out there!

If you are ready, you can register on your app or online at www.innerfit42.com

With Love,

Coach Seay

Rest Vs. Active Rest

No, taking a rest day doesn’t mean you should be sitting on the couch eating chips, chocolate or cookies all day long. This, as you might imagine, won’t do you much good and could destroy all your progress from the week prior.

Instead, an active rest day is meant to be a light or easy day where you’re still moving, but not at the intensity level you normally move.

According to Athlete’s Edge, active rest:

“Involves performing light exercises (often swimming or cycling) that stimulate the recovery process without imposing undue stress on the injured body part.”

Taking an active rest day will quicken your recovery, making you feel stronger and faster when you’re back in workout-mode—as long as you don’t overdo it.

Plus, it’ll help you feel less sore and stiff after an extra tough workout day.

The perfect active rest day is indoor cycling at Inner Fit or a Yoga class. Choosing to not doing anything active is counterproductive to your training.

We live in a time where people rarely go for a walk longer than 30 minutes and the rest of our time is spent on the phones or watching Netflix or sitting around with friends. We simply need to move a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, period, or engage in one hour of exercise daily to simply be healthy as a baseline.

And I hate to be the one to break it to you folks, but we are not hard core athlete training 4-6 hours a day to deserve a “do nothing” rest day. Activity is very important for our daily health both emotionally and physically.

Wake up, kick off your “active rest day” with a cycle class on a Sunday morning versus “taking a rest day” and make it an awesome day. Cycling wakes up your mind by activating your brain, creates fluidity in you fascia and prevents injuries.

If you can’t make a morning class the odd time, make sure you get outside for a power walk as your active rest activity.

Let’s rethink the way we use the words “rest day” as they have a powerful affect on how our day unfolds.

When was the last time you submerged yourself in nature? If it has been a while, have you noticed a shift in your mental and physical energy? Have you been feeling tired, sleepy, unmotivated? Have you noticed a change in your energy? The good news is nature is the fastest way to restore our bodies and simply feel better and here is why …

As humans become less connected with nature, we lose an essential health buffer. “There is mounting evidence that contact with nature has significant positive impacts on mental health,” said Mardie Townsend, PhD, an honorary professor at the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University in Australia. Continue reading →

If your goal is weight loss, do you know your numbers?

So many people have an unhealthy relationship with the scale and it’s simply the society that most of us were raised in.

Over the years, people have slowly attached their self worth to the number on the bathroom scale and it is simply not true. Your worth comes from who you are as a human being.

The first number you should always know is your current weight. This should never be a guessing game of where you stand. Continue reading →

Who is sick of eating for weight loss? Who is fed up with giving up your favourite foods, only to crash and burn on the latest “fad” diet?

What if food was less about weight loss and more about healing our bodies and helping us feel better?

It’s time to change the way we view food for good. It’s time to stop obsessing over what we eat and make changes that in the long run will heal our bodies, give us energy, help us lose weight, and prevent illness in the future. Continue reading →

Monday is your fresh start day. Let’s forget about the weekend “damage” and kick ass on our fitness goals this week.

Imagine how awesome you would feel by next Monday if you created a shift today? Or better yet, imagine how awesome you would feel at the end of an kick ass workout today?!

Here is 10 simple ways to kick the Monday blues in the butt and have a stellar week… Continue reading →

Why bother setting a goal? It is one more thing I can add to my failure list!

Sound familiar?

Goal setting seems to be something the “successful” people in life do. And if you do not think your worthy of experiencing joy for yourself, then what is the point?

Let’s start with asking yourself a question: Are you worthy of a little extra time to discover what you are capable of? Or is your time allotted to making everyone else happy and leaving yourself at the bottom of the pile?

People don’t one day wake up and say “I am not worthy”; it’s something that happens over time when life gets busy “adulting.” Continue reading →

Our feelings serve a purpose for many areas of our life, however fitness is not one of them.

When it comes to getting in workouts each week, so many people “see how they are feeling” when making their decision to workout or not.

When we give our feelings that kind of power it’s like giving a two year old a bowl of ice cream and saying “don’t eat it.” Of course the two year old is going to want to eat the ice cream, same goes for you when you don’t “feel” like working out. We know who wins – the feelings. Continue reading →