First off, you realize that you can do it. Yes! You commit…You push yourself, your teammates push you, rise to the challenges your trainers put before you and accomplish tasks that you thought were impossible.
Stykued, Thank You and Fit 4 Summer
Sure as spring, summer, fall, and winter, it comes around every year. And we always anticipate it with great enthusiasm, commitment, hope and a small measure of anxiety as well! New ideas, new exercises, new friends, new challenges, new eating plans, new habits, new workouts, new trainers, new recipes, new workout buddies, and new goals. It arrives all wrapped up in a big, bold package called the Fantastic 4 Fit 4 Summer Contest! It challenges us to change ourselves, our thinking, beliefs and overall attitude. It is life changing!
Our successes, our failures and the people we meet along the way shape our lives. Most of us tell our stories and describe our lives by remembering events (both good and those not so good) that we often describe as before and after. For a moment, picture your life before and after having children; before starting your career and after much career success or even throw in retirement; before moving into a new house and after making that house your home; before joining a gym and after being a member for several years. Participation in the Fantastic 4 Challenge qualifies as one of these defining moments. You are one person pre-contest and a very different person post contest. And I’m not just talking about weight and inches! Yes, there’s that, but so much more! It changes you and defines you. You will never be the same. And every single participant that sees the challenge through emerges a winner!
Behaviors change and the new habits become us and part of our DNA. Much of our future fitness and health success is built upon the habits and behaviors that the Fantastic 4 Contest initiates. One of the first steps necessary to bring about change is making yourself accountable and finding like-minded people to support you. Change is difficult as any one of us can attest to, but change within the parameters of a Fantastic 4 team that is encouraging you every step of the way is powerful and can positively infiltrate many aspects of your life.
So how does the contest change you?
First off, you realize that you can do it. Yes! You commit, you do the workouts, you follow the diet, you do your homework! You push yourself, your teammates push you, and you rise to the challenges your trainers put before you, and you accomplish tasks that you may have thought were impossible. Who would have thought that you could row over 1200 meters in just five minutes? You develop a can-do attitude. You’re less stressed, less anxious. You sleep better. Your health improves. Your mindset changes, you feel stronger, more capable and accomplished. Your posture improves, you carry yourself differently. You smile more. You’re happier! The contest gives you confidence and makes you feel better about yourself before you even lose one inch or one pound! You come away from the contest, healthier, smarter, more energetic. And then, of course, there are the tangible results. You walk away several pounds lighter and inches smaller! You lose body fat and increase muscle mass. You look and feel amazing. Since the contest’s inception, thousands of pounds and inches have been lost, and thousands of lives have been improved!
The Contest began in 2009, and each year we try to improve the experience. This year’s contest was elevated to a new level with the introduction of the new Styku technology. Contestants were assessed and evaluated using this innovative and sophisticated 3D scanning mechanism. Styku collects and displays levels of fitness in traditional numerical terms and through stunning 3-dimensional modeling. Measurement data, shape, body composition, and other information are processed and displayed so you can track real changes in your body as it responds to the exercise and nutritional guidance during the contest. Styku is truth, and truth is power!
We know about what you lose in the contest. You leave behind the baggage of extra weight and inches at the finish line. But here’s some insight into what you gain! Here’s what several contest participants have to say about what they take away from the contest:
Michelle Matthews
(Team Weapons of Mass Reduction)
“Accountability! For me at least, it keeps me on track with my goals. It is very easy to lose your way when you are on your own. This year I have also learned that the number on the scale doesn’t really matter. It wasn’t very kind to me. Having the Styku imaging redone halfway through the contest with 12 inches total loss reconfirmed that it doesn’t matter what the scale reads.
This is my third contest, and it has helped me to keep off 35 pounds of FAT!! Love this contest…it gets me ready for summer too!”
Joe Lloyd
(Team Strongballs)
“For those who know me, I’m much more about self-deprecation than I am about shameless bragging. Today, however, I cast humility aside and rejoice in the fact that for the first time in about 20 years, my weight doesn’t start with a ‘2’.
A special thanks to all the good folks at Fitness Incentive in Babylon for making the gym a fun and enjoyable place to go. No quick fixes here, just eating smart and working hard. Now if only there were something I could do about my repulsive feet…(see photo above)”
Heidi Manzo
(Team Dream On)
“One of the most significant takeaways for me is that I feel like I can maintain the changes in my eating habits permanently. I really appreciate that Erin did not suggest that we eliminate complete food groups or restrict our “diet” in a way that we would not be able to maintain for the rest of our lives 🙂 For example – we could eat fruit, maybe an occasional glass of wine or one “carb” a day. I can continue to live that way. I didn’t want to eat one way for eight weeks and then not be able to continue those behaviors going forward. While I knew before the contest about eating less processed foods, more vegetables, less alcohol, etc., it was nice to see that if I really did that CONSISTENTLY, I could lose the 10 pounds that I had put on over the last three years.
I have really enjoyed working with the teammates I was paired up with – and we have decided to keep training twice a week with Erin!
Holly Regan
(Team Hanging Tough)
“So happy that I decided to join the contest this year. I couldn’t have asked for a better trainer or team. Our team, under Carol’s skillful and tough leadership, has very quickly become close confidants and motivators to each other. There hasn’t been a day yet that’s gone by where we haven’t seen each other, worked out together, or at least all texted one another whether it’s what we did for exercise that day, what we ate for the day or what we wish we could eat for the day! We truly have attacked this contest with enthusiasm and humor while building each other up, not down. The challenges have been super fun so far and have inspired us to do things we never tried before like the dragon bike and rowing machine. Whether it’s running on lunch break, running to the gym or ensuring we take a class before a 16-hour shift…we are all doing a great job trying to squeeze in anything we can whenever possible.”
“Oh, and the new 3D Styku Scanner is absolutely fabulous. For once in my life I’m not focusing on the scale…the Styku scans show exactly where your body is improving and where it’s changing. The decrease in body % numbers is a much better motivator than the scale when you are trying to make a serious lifestyle fitness change!”
So if you want results and are open to change, mark your calendar for March 2018 and the next Fantastic 4 Fit 4 Summer Contest. And just in case you don’t feel like waiting, our amazing Personal Training Staff is ready to help you NOW!
To see the complete Contest Results, click here.
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About the Author…
Laurie Gilfedder
Laurie Gilfedder manages the Personal Training Department at Fitness Incentive.
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