Fit to Print Volume 25 Issue 3 September 2016 | Page 27

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Just Fantastic!
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doing. We would communicate through
text, constantly checking in, and I
wanted to support my team (and wanted
us to win some money of course!), so
having a team was an effective way to
keep me accountable. Eileen and Jillian
were GREAT! Eileen sent out consistent
emails with helpful information about
what we should be consuming and how
that impacts our daily regimen. On top
of that, they held weekly group workouts

Before and After: Gabrielle Anderson

winning Fittest Team (and for me,
individual). It all began with that 2-Week
Free Trial! I'm so glad I came in to try
that—it led me to the new friends I have
met and a new gym I now call home.”

Gabrielle Anderson
Gabrielle became a member of Fitness
Incentive a few years ago while she was
in college taking advantage of our Winter
and Summer memberships. “I then tried
other gyms,” she says, “but ultimately
came back because the classes and
proximity to my house are second to
none. Fantastic Four Fit 4 Summer
Challenge 2016 was my first time
participating in any fitness/gym
challenge, and there were two
motivations that sort of happened
simultaneously. The first was that I put
on a pair of dress pants that I have had
for several years, and I could not even
get the zipper up by itself or just button
them by themselves. When this
happened, I also realized that for the
entire winter I was only wearing
leggings, no jeans, nothing with a zipper
or a button. I turned to leggings because
nothing fit. I think I attributed this to
“these just came out of the dryer” and
never really considered that I had been
gradually outgrowing my wardrobe. This
was also right around my 26th Birthday
and around the announcement of the
contest. It seemed like a sign.
Gabrielle was placed on an already

partly assembled team. “The team
coalesced randomly,” she explains.
“We all were interested in the same
trainer and same time-slot. I'd
reviewed all of the trainers' past
histories with the contests, and I did a
lot of question-asking at the front
desk. Fortunately, one of the staff had
had Eileen as a trainer in the past and
said her no-nonsense attitude really
helped push her through the contest.
That was pretty much all I needed to
know.”
Gabrielle is not new to exercise or the
gym environment. “I am a long
distance runner from 5k to 50k (50
miles come this October),” she says. “I
do it for pleasure, not competitively. I
was never a runner before. Then, four
years ago, I joined Team in Training, a
fundraising arm of the Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society that trains you for
endurance challenges while supporting
and spreading awareness for blood
cancers/specific research portfolios.
Other than that, I was in and out of
the gym and had a trainer once before
at another facility.
Participants often cite the team
format of Fit 4 Summer as one of the
most appealing aspects of the
contests, and for Gabrielle, it was no
different. “The Team format was
definitely a driver of how I focused my
attention, on how I was fueling my
body and the amount of exercise I was

for anyone being trained under them in
the contest. They were constantly in
contact with us and were available
whenever we reached out. What's more,
but they were extremely complimentary
and supportive every time we reached
our goals, which was a huge driver in our
success. I enjoyed the group training
sessions. The circuit training format for
the group training was fun and a great
way to mix up the work. We were all
over the gym using different sections,
which was great because I learned so
many new exercises.”
As far as the “sustained results”
approach to health and fitness—the “fit
for life” philosophy—Gabrielle values the
learning aspect of her experience,
particularly when it comes to nutrition.
“I think that being Fit for Life and
sustaining these results is built into the
nutrition and how you're fueling your
body,” she says. “I came to this
realization when I re-evaluated what I
was eating after having started keeping a
food journal. I realized that because I
was running, I thought I could eat
anything. But there is no substitute for
eating real, whole foods to fuel the
physical workouts and achieve success.
Sustaining the results means that I am a
constant work in progress, always

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Autumn 2016 FIT to Print

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