Quitting is not an option?

Let's face it. The FB4U tagline is that "Quitting is not an option," but some people quit. You may even be one of them. There are a bucket full of excuses we can pull from, most of which should probably not be given the time of day. Do you agree that most of life is a mental exercise? Sure, we have to move our bodies from point A to point B. A lot of that is physical, but everyday is about making mental decisions-- even our first roll out of bed takes some mental strength. But, hey, we're human, so I want to challenge you to make an important decision: To commit to whatever it is you need for your health, to commit to whatever it is your family needs for your health, to commit to whatever a friend needs for their health. That sounds like 3 decisions, but most times they are all intertwined. If you say, I need motiviation to lose weight, don't shy away from it. If your family misses your energy and life, be energized about your workouts. And if a friend or a workout partner needs you, be there to encourage him or her in their goals.

And then, please share your experience with us: how you came to the place where "quitting really was not an option" for you.

Ashley S

Flex Pass Edit

* 6 session price is $150
* Sessions must be completed 90 days from start date

Coming Soon!

Thanks,

FB4U

New Flex Pass!!- Begins this week

We heard you loud and clear when you said you'd love to attend more camps, but needed a flexible amount of time in which to complete your sessions. Your work schedule's crazy; you're a traveler; you have kids who tell you the day before that you have to take them here or there. We get it, and we are hopeful that our new initiative will suit you well.

It's called the Flexible Option Pass. With this pass, you will have 10 weeks to complete a specified number of classes:

3 session pass at $81
6 session pass at $125
9 session pass at $198
12 session pass at $240

You may notice a host of other changes soon, and these are all to make your experience with FB4U all the better. Thank you for your continued participation.


Sincerely

FB4U

I don't have to tell you this, but it's HOT outside! After living in Syracuse, Denver and NYC, I had almost forgotten the weight of Houston's humidity. I also have a slight problem. I am terrible at drinking the water I know I need to stay hydrated. Here is an article from WedMD with some helpful tips about exercising outdoors this summer: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercising-in-the-heat . Please take a look.

If any of you are expert water drinkers, please send me your tips.

Thanks,

Ashley S

My last day

I can't believe that camp is over. I did it! I was so excited when week 4 hit, and then the last day was another great (hard) workout. But not being in camp now is such a strange feeling. I miss it, and I plan to do another one soon. There is a lot to reflect on, but there are a few things I think are important to share with you. Always challenge yourself. Life is full of making decisions. When you do something out of your comfort zone and commit to it, you are able to discipline your mind for the next challenge, the unanticipated one. As others have said, there is a point when you're not just working out to be skinny. It's deeper than that. You're working out to be fit and to be strong. When you see an "older" person, who is healthy and mobile, it brings you joy to know that that person did what was necessary to be able to enjoy the richer, wiser parts of their life. That doesn't mean that I am not happy that my c-section childbirth pudge is nearly gone. Also, when you go and tell your friends about the camp, make sure to include that fact that you do what you can. Instructors are motivators, and though this is a military-style boot camp, you are not a Navy Seal. You're just going to learn what an up-down is. But really, this gave me comfort. I always knew that if I really couldn't do it, no one was forcing me to do it. Workouts are definately modified if you have a physical limitation that warrants it. But I knew I could, so I pushed myself to do my best (along with my motivator). My husband, who has been in the fitness industry for years, has always said during his classes a certain phrase: "Enjoy the burn." Now that sounds crazy. What's to enjoy about it? But it made us laugh through the pain. I hope that all your boot camp experiences are enjoyable in a sense. Mine certainly was. Until we meet again . . . Ashley S

It's the third week . . . the workouts have changed. Getting up at 4:15 am is hard now. I try not to psych myself out in the mornings. You just can't overthink it. I'd kind of just get up moving, mad sometimes at the world and thinking I am crazy, but I'm moving. Finding the motivation is hard, even though you feel better and stronger. Some days you're just not mentally strong. Today, there was a workout I really didn't want to do. I was agitated. Without giving it away, it was one of those workouts in which I had trouble getting into a rhythm. So that made it hard for me to zone out.

I'm sharing this with you, so that you know that I am human. I may talk a lot about mental and physical strength. I think it's beautiful outdoors to see the midnight blue of the morning. and a sky of stars I feel I rarely see so bright in this smog laden city. But . . . that's just me. I honestly enjoy challenging myself, and I am probably somewhat of a romantic. That doesn't mean I don't feel the pain. The nausea feeling came back again in week 3.

Sometimes I just want to know what I'm made of. If you knew me, it may all make sense. Please share your thoughts on this question: What is the best part about challenging yourself?

Today was hard. The alarm clock went off at 4am, and I was not at all mentally ready. I wondered again why I was doing what I was doing. If anyone could find a valid excuse to get more rest, it was me. I have an almost 2 year old, and was babysitting a 2month old beginning at 6:30 that morning, but I got up, got dressed, brushed me teeth-- while not at all mentally ready. The weekend had been relatively painless, compared to not being able to walk the Sat before. But today there were new workouts, and when working out I got that nausea feeling I had gotten on day one. I was not a happy camper. (hehe) I needed serious motivation. Thank God for "M", who I can always count on. Sometimes you need a partner in pain. There are times when I know I would have gone half at it, but somehow with a partner in it all you can get to the best mental place-- that place that makes you just keep on going, that reminds you that your legs aren't really going to give out. Your breath won't really leave you. Just keep moving. And when you get to that point where you have mentally decided to push yourself, that's when you feel strong.

I could barely walk on Saturday. My body ached. It was hard just to get in and out of the car or to walk down the stairs. One of my legs felt like it gave way every time I took a step. I know this sounds dramatic, but it's simply the truth. You know it's bad when sitting is worse than standing, and you'd rather stand because getting up from the chair is really hard. I did get some type of strange satisfaction out of the situation, because at least I knew that the work outs were working (as if I had any doubt). I worried about the first day of my second week. My quads were still so sore, but I made it through the workouts. I was told that the first week was the worst, that I would never be as sore as I was after the first week. It was true. I went through week 2 knowing it was hard, and knowing that I could only make it through the workouts without focusing on the workouts. But I was halfway there.

I was so sore from Wednesday, that I knew Friday would be hard. Surprisingly, the exercise was not as bad as day 1. I didn't get the same nausea feeling. I wasn't reminded of labor pains. And when the workout started wearing me out, I tried to just stare straight ahead and look at the trees to not focus on being tired. I know I could have focused on how hard everything was, but I also knew I didn't want to give up. I began to look at this experience as an excercise of mind. I am already an overthinker, so maybe that's why I enjoyed the challenge of not letting the workouts get to my head. You'll see as I share more, that it didn't always work completely, but the idea of developing mental strength did push me. And there was something beautiful too about being outdoors that allows you to go to some other place, even in the worst of it.

Camp Day 1: The idea of doing a 5am bootcamp seemed insane at first, but as a stay at home mom, I thought, that maybe 5am was not such a bad time aferall . I have no time during the day, and evenings are busy. The first day of camp was as expected. It was hard. It pushed me to limits I would never reach at a gym as my own trainer. Nausea came on at mid-workout, and at the very end, I breathed quick breaths and reminded myself that labor pains are worse than this, and I tried to think of anything else other than how tired I was. But I made it through, and as the day went on, I noticed a difference in my body. It was a strange feeling. With tightened muscles (mind you, tighter than ever before) I felt like I had a new posture and a new body. I was already beginning to feel strong.