My name is Meaux and I’m an F45er!

Happy November Lovelies! Welcome back!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve written on the blog but this post is something I felt perfect to launch myself back into the blogging grind! I set quite a few personal goals this year and as a result, I’ve been going through a lot of personal changes.

About a month ago, I stepped foot into the F45 Pickering Central studio for my first workout. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I’d spent quite a bit of time not happy with how my body has looked.

My story…

I was an athlete from elementary school all through high school. I played basketball, volleyball, soccer and ran club track & field (I was a sprinter and a jumper). I excelled in all of those sports, winning athlete of the year my last year in High School. My success in track and field got me recognized amongst many universities in the United States and I earned a full ride scholarship to Ohio University.

Throughout my four years at University, I trained intensely working out twice a day five to six days a week. I looked great and felt amazing. After graduating, I continued working out however not nearly as intense as I did when I was competing. As time went on and my life started to change and take form, I stopped working out regularly.

After having the girls and gaining weight, my body totally changed. I went from having a flat tummy to a pouch with stretch marks.  I missed my old body but I felt too tired and too busy to do anything about it.  There have been many times where I wanted to start a “new lifestyle” (aka diet) and start working out at the gym then I would get caught up in being busy at work or handling family life and stop. This cycle repeated itself many times.

I heard about F45 for the first time when I found out there was a location coming to my hood in Pickering. I’d never heard of the program before but when I researched into it a bit more, I became more interested. The club was offering a free 2 week trial so I figured this would be a great time to commit to making a change. This year has been a year of learning about me and being physically active and healthy one aspect of my life that I was lacking. I met Anshoo, Head coach and Owner of F45 Pickering Central and we chatted more about the program and my desire to transform my body. After our meeting I felt great about F45 and I decided to make a 6 month commitment to working out and living a truly healthy lifestyle of clean eating and working out.

What is F45?

F45 stands for “Functional 45”. it was founded in 2012 in Australia by Rob Deutsch. The group functional fitness program features 45 minute HIIT workout classes that use stations to combine cardio, interval, and strength training to deliver a full body workout. At Pickering Central, some days (typically Monday/Wednesday/Friday) it’s all about cardio and other days (Tuesday/Thursday) is focused on strength training. Saturday’s and Sundays tend to be a combo of both cardio and strength training.

The Pickering Central F45 studio, is fairly compact and features your basic equipment like weights, bikes, rowers, ropes, medicine balls etc. however don’t be fooled – there are over 3,500 exercises, with 250 more being added quarterly. These exercises are packaged into 31 different workout programs  which have funky names like “MVP”, “Angry Bird” and “Foxtrot” so every workout at F45 is different – Angry Bird today won’t be the same Angry Bird next week and I love it!

Its CHALLENGE Day!!

I’m not talking Black Panther (although I love the movie), I’m talking about F45’s 8 week challenge!! I went from not working out at all to diving right into their challenge. F45 holds their 8 week challenge a few times a year and it consists of disciplined schedule of working out, journaling and following the challenge meal plan. There is also an app that could be downloaded to help follow your progress with the challenge.

The first step in the challenge was assessing where I was at. I did a full body scan and Coach Anshoo walked me through my results.

There were some aspects that wasn’t surprising but there were others that were – this is why the scan was great. It helped me understand my body’s composition (not just what the scale tells me) and it also let me know what I needed to focus as I go through the challenge.

October 8, 2018: BEFORE!

Next up were the workouts. The workouts aren’t “challenge specific” however it is recommended that you work out as many times as you can a week. I set the goal of working out 3-5 times a week. To keep track of my heart rate and calorie burn during workouts, I opted to get the F45 LionHeart heart rate monitor to keep track of my progress. In addition to measuring your heart rate, the monitor measures the calories you burn throughout your workouts! I really love that the monitor not only tracks your activity, it’s also generates reports of your workouts and you are able to see past workouts and patters online and because LionHeart uses ANT+ technology, it pairs with my phone so I can track activity even if I’m not working out at Pickering Central!

Because (bad) food is my guilty pleasure, I set a goal to strictly follow the meal plan. During the  course of the program, the meals change as the weeks go on. The first two-weeks are more of an alkaline plan to detox the body, followed by a four-week high protein plan, and the final two weeks are eating high fat, low carb meals to round out the challenge. Alcohol is to be avoided completely for the 8 weeks (so no wine time for me!)

The F45 Challenge app is super helpful and provides weekly meals, shopping lists and tips to help along with the challenge.

Breakfast: Mixed Fruit Chia Smoothie

Snack: Choc Coconut Balls

Lunch: Morrocan Lamb with Roasted Cauliflower

Snack: Maca, Flaxseed Protein Shake

Dinner: Healthy Lasagne

Dinner: Chargrilled Chicken, Chickpea and Zucchini Bowl

The plan includes three meals and two snacks and I’ve found so far that the meals are very filling and give me the energy I need not to mention the food tastes GRRRRRRREAT!!! I’m definitely saving some recipes for post challenge use!

After being a part of F45 for 4 weeks, I’m lovin it!! Check out my midpoint scan!!!

I’ve lost 11 pounds so far and I feel AMAAAAAZING! Going from being super fit to not being so fit takes a bit of a toll on your confidence. I lived in oversized clothes, hiding behind the excuse that I was comfortable but in reality I just didn’t like the way I looked in my clothes.

It felt so good to go on vacation with my girlfriends and feel comfortable in my skin on the beach and not hide behind a kimono.

I owe it all to my coaches at Pickering Central. They are really awesome. They are super encouraging and really push you to work hard. While F45 workouts are fast paced, the coaches care about proper technique when you’re doing the exercises. They are patient and will work closely with you to ensure you’re using the right technique and not creating bad habits. They also make time to chat with you after workouts to get feedback and tips!

Although I’ve made great progress, I still have a way to go. I’ve made great headway so far and I’m super motivated and excited for the rest of the challenge and for the rest of my 6 month journey. I’ll be documenting my experience throughout so be sure to stay tuned for more!