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December, for some, brings on stress,
worry, weight gain and empty bank
accounts… that is if you think about it
with a negative mind.
For me, December happens to be one
of my favourite months. I watch as
people warm their hearts to others, give
freely without expecting to receive
anything back, bundle up and enjoy
family time with winter activities; but my
favourite part about December is the
close of the 6 WEEK MELTDOWN.
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We have two more weeks left. We
have be grinding it out with runs,
weight lifting, personal challenges,
upper & lower body blasts and the
dieting… oh how we have created
self-control by saying no to those
Christmas goodies and yes to our
prepped meals.
At the end of it all, we will walk into
Christmas feeling our personal best
knowing we have accomplished a
goal and will be ready to prepare for
the New Year and what it has in store
for us.
Stay focused and continue to work
hard. The end is near and the reward
for you hard work will be worth it all.
THERE IS SO MUCH HAPPENING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH
BODY ZONE AND WE ARE EXCITED TO SHARE IT ALL WITH YOU.
it matters!
A big congratulations…
to our bikini competitors who stepped on
stage for their first bikini competition.
Each one had their own journey to stage
and why they chose to compete; but
there is one story that sits close to my
heart that I felt like sharing with you:
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Amy’s fitness journey is one that we
have shared throughout the years. She
started with Body Zone Fitness back in
2011 and is one of our biggest fans.
Charlene Reaveley, co-owner of Body
Zone, met Amy when their children
ended up in the same class together. At
the time, Amy was 183lbs, dealing with
massive anxiety and self-conscious
issues. After a few months of building a
fr iendship, Amy was inspired by
Charlene’s drive towards her fitness and
watched her as she began training for
her first bikini competition that Spring.
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That year something happened that we
all weren’t prepared for. Charlene was
taken from us unexpectedly due to the
drinking and drive accident. Lots of lives
were drastically changed due to her
great loss and every day she is greatly
missed.
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Thinking back on Charlene’s love for
helping those around her, Amy called
me. She wanted to start personal
training to help her reach her fitness
goals. She watched Charlene make her
fitness a priority, regardless of the fact
she had 4 little kids running around and
knew if Char could do it, she could do it
too. So her fitness journey began.
The years went by and pound after
pound started melting off her body. She
went from a size 34 to a size 26. Losing
over 60lbs.
In November, Amy
completed something a lot of people
could never achieve… she stepped on
stage for her first bikini competition.
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Her reason for competing wasn’t to show
everyone the weight she lost, it was to
complete something that Charlene wasn’t
given the chance to. Charlene was her
first inspiration and encouragement to
achieve her fitness goals and she wanted
to step on stage to show the world that
one personals voice can change the way
one lives.
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Amy has over come her insecurities, she
has grabbed a hold of her anxiety but
most of all Amy has also become an
inspiration to many.
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And for those of you who had the
chance to meet Charlene, something a
little extra special happened the night
when Amy walked out on stage. Amy
wore the same bikini that Charlene was
suppose to wear and the moment Amy
stepped on that stage “Bruno Mars Amazing” started playing. The same
song that was dedicated to Charlene the
day we mourned her passing. R.I.P
Charlene… your love for fitness and
changing lives will never be forgotten. "
-Lisa Pineda
WWW.BODYZONEFITNESS.CA
MAKE A CHANGE THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON
Planning to relax and kick back your heals with some wine and treats this Christmas? Well why not,
you’ve earned it. Drink, food and festivity is what December is all about, but the fact is that a lot of people
take a step away from fitness during the festive season. It is the cause of the New Year resolution. The
pounds pile on, caused by excess calories from carbohydrates and fats, so this plan focuses on trying to
use these calories to full advantage instead of letting them turn into fat.
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Without further a due, here are the top 5 tips we have to stay fit and lean for 2013!
5. Stay Active
There are things to do over Christmas that don’t just involve a couch and a glass of wine. Try to stay as active
as possible. If it snows, get out there and get active in the snow. Go ice skating, do some extra window
shopping or go for some nice cool walks downtown. Even play with your kids and their new toys. These are
all low intensity exercises that burn fat. What’s not to enjoy about that?
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4. Moderate the Vino and Don’t Mix with food!
Have a few glasses, but try not to over-indulge. Christmas booze is a big factor in holiday weight. If you’re
a wine drinker, try adding a little diet soda water or 7-Up free to your glass. Not only will it reduce your overall calories but it will leave you a little fresher come the alarm bells next morning. If you’re a beer drinker, try
switching to bottles or having a drink of water in-between pints. Not only will this reduce calories, but it will
keep you nice and hydrated. Remember, dehydration is a cause of stress which can lead to fat storage."
There is also an effect that alcohol has on how you digest your food. Alcohol is a separate energy source to
usual food containing protein, carbs and fats, and it contains its own calories. As you drink alcohol, your
body senses it in your system and turns it into your primary energy source. As you drink, you burn the
alcohol as fuel. Doesn’t sound too bad, until you consume a meal at the end of the night and all the
unnecessary calories from fat and carbs are stored as body fat."
Have fun, but try to watch your over-all drink intake and what you eat during. It could make a big difference
in how you look and feel come the New Year. Stay hydrated!"
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3. Keep Training
Training (especially metabolic conditioning) increases your daily calorie expenditure, meaning that more of the
calories you eat over Christmas will simply be burnt off. If you stay in an energy burning state you’ll get away
with eating more of the wrong things, having a massive impact on how you’ll look come January. You can of
course tone it down in and around the key festive days, but try to maintain your fitness and muscle structure
over the season by getting to our Fitness Classes when you can.
You could leave it, resulting only to picking up the pieces in January, or maintain your fitness by attending maybe
1 or 2 classes a week.
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2. Train like you Eat
The one thing that can be said about Christmas feasts are that they can support the growth of muscle. You
should know by now that muscle is the main variable in your metabolism, so adding some muscle in
December will really help you stay lean and increase your fat loss efforts significantly come January.
I wouldn’t expect anyone to take it to this extreme, but I actually train on Christmas Day! I know it sounds
nuts, but it’s a great tradition for me. By training my muscles hard and burning all their stored carbohydrates
I can eat loads of chicken, turkey, potatoes and stuffing guilt free. The proteins contained in the meats are
helping regrow the muscle fibres I’ve just trained. The high GI carbs in the potatoes and stuffing etc are
used to replenish my lost glycogen stores, instead of hanging around the body waiting to be turned into fat.
The excess fats found in the Quality Streets that are bound to be consumed have less of an impact on my
body as my metabolism is still charged and some calories are being burnt off as heat.
It takes any guilt out of feasting, and actually serves a purpose. My muscles feel full instead of my belly. It’s
a Christmas Miracle.
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1. Have a Christmas Nutrition Plan
Here’s a fantastic tip we definitely recommend for greatly minimizing excess calorie storage during the festive food
plunge. Along with on-going training, this will be the biggest factor on whether you come out of December looking fab
or feeling glum. So let’s look at what you can do.
Many diets are formed around eating a large portion of your calories in one time, instead of spreading them out. I
wouldn’t usually recommend this, it actually goes against the metabolic diet we follow, but what makes it perfect for
the festive season is in the similarity of your Christmas feast to the calorie loading meals of these diets. Of course
over Christmas we eat a little more than normal anyway, and then we follow these up with much larger feasts. We
are already powered, and then we whack a serious amount of calories into our systems. Like over-charging a battery
that was full. But what if our batteries were low…
I can promise you little to no weight gain if you follow this plan:
Mark out your festive meals. These are the big meals or splurges that are likely to put on your holiday weight by
storing the unused calories. Seeing as our body can store a certain amount of carbohydrates in our body in the form of
sugar (muscle/blood/liver), we should deplete our bodies of these sugar stores before we feast. This means that a large
portion of the carbohydrates you eat will be used to replenish muscle glycogen. As I said earlier, training depletes
muscle glycogen better, but you can also do it to some level by removing carbohydrates from your diet in the few days
before your big meal.
You should still eat, and even enjoy your food, just cut down on any breads/grains/fruits etc to allow your blood sugar
levels to drop. If you eat very sparingly just protein and fibre on the days before the meals, much less of that meal gets
converted to fat. The biggest effect will come from training while following this plan. You may actually lose body fat.
So you can enjoy sweats and festive treats and still come out slimmer, now that’s definitely a Christmas miracle!
Enjoy the season everybody. Hope to see you in session soon.
- Body Zone Fitness
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SAVE THE DATES….!
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Reminder there is NO DROP IN BOOTCAMP, November 29th. It has been rescheduled to December 6th @ 8am!!! "
BARBIE BOOTCAMP - December 1st
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Come dressed in Pink or Bright Colours to help build up the spirit of our "
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Barbie Bootcamp. Bring in a Barbie or Action Figure to be donated to our
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Charlene Reaveley’s Children Charity Annual Toy Drive. Last year "
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hundreds of kids were able to receive a present for Christmas due to the "
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generosity of people just like you. Let’s reach even more children this "
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year and celebrate the spirit of giving. "
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THE ZONE - Closed for December !
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The LAST session of THE ZONE will be November 27th. It will resume "
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again the the New Year."
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BOOTCAMP - Closed December 24th - January 2nd!
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Drop in Bootcamp will be held December: 15, 17, 19, 22. $10/class. " The 6 Week Meltdown finishes on December 12th. "
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Twas the night before Christmas and all through the Zone,
All the Zoners were stirring to turn off their phones,
The sweattowels were hung by the weight bench with care,
In hopes that our last bootcamp would be easy, but that’s rare.
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The boot campers were nestled all snug with their weights,
With visions of resistance bands, yoga mats and healthy plates,
Lieutenant Lisa and Sargent Sue were thinking up solutions,
To plan the best boot camps for next year’s resolutions.
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When out of the corner arose such a clatter,
Sarg. Sue and Lieu. Lisa went to see what was the matter.
There was Duncan and Justin attempting to workout,
Wanting to fit in with girls but instead let out a yelp.
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Justin’s weights were too heavy, Duncan’s too light,
Together they collided and started to fight.
Thank goodness for Laura C. and Jen J. who saved the day,
When they calmed they boys down, and taught them how to play.
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On with Bootcamp, yelled Sarg. Sue at her finest,
More Burpees, Split Lunges and Plies at their highest,
It’s the 12 Day of Christmas, It’s time we give back.
Brenda and Claudia dreaded... “Could it be a heart attack?”
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Jubilant Jenn came running in threw the doors,
It’s time for New Year’s resolutions; tell me, what’s yours?
Ahh.. but for the 12 Days of Christmas, everyone took a beating.
New Year’s resolutions seemed to be somewhat fleeting.
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At Body Zone Fitness, we have a lot of fitness to deliver,
Even Obuck, Jen G, and Heather started to quiver,
Thinking of all the hard bootcamps, just one after another,
But out of nowhere Amy W. walks in with my brother.
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Dan couldn’t make it through bootcamp without throwing up,
But hey.. we’ve all been there, we don’t need a close-up.
Shannon’s all embarrassed; Kayla’s just speechless,
But Bootcamp continues, it’s not for the weakest.
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Lieu. Lisa moves in and yells all about,
Move it you guys, we have a message to give out.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar & Honey
Prep time 5 mins - Cook time 20 mins - Total time 25 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
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1½ lbs brussels sprouts, halved
3 tbsp olive oil
¾ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp honey
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425°.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or use a Silpat silicone baking mat.
In a large bowl, toss brussels sprouts with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, kosher salt and freshly
cracked black pepper to coat thoroughly.
Transfer the brussels sprouts to baking sheet and roast until tender and caramelized, about 20
minutes.
Place brussels sprouts back in bowl. Add remaining tablespoon olive oil, balsamic vinegar and
honey and toss to coat evenly. Taste and season with kosher salt if necessary and serve.
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From all of us at Body Zone Fitness, we wish you a joyful and safe Christmas. As the year closes, may
it bring back memories that will last a life time and fulfillment that this year will close with a bang