Bonnie has always impressed me with her determination and hard work at EVERY workout. When she joins us, she is hardcore as you will read below. She is very committed, also. I always laugh, because she ALWAYS pulls in her boyfriend to do it with her (they are very cute). This last Hot for the Holidays Contest, she leaned out so quickly, she looked incredible. She was living proof with the right tools, guidance, and her own determination you can accomplish anything! She took 1st PLACE!

I always enjoy her at camp and love that she uses us to get back on track. That is what it is all about. When you lose focus, get accountability and use the tools that work. Find an incentive. Find a SOLUTION, period! She did just that, and had amazing results from it.

I always enjoy her and Jon at camp and look forward to their next return and running the Rock N-Roll Half with them.

Her is Bonnie's Story…

Whatever I do, I do it with passion and intensity…so when I work out, I do it intensely and when I slack off, I do it intensely too. I first found Get a Grip on Groupon last year and purchased a month of bootcamp for myself and my boyfriend Jon. At about the same time Jon gave me a bunch of belly dancing DVDs and outfits and had found classes that a friend recommended. I had been in one of my slacker modes for quite some time and was too embarrassed of my belly to even think about going to a belly dancing class. I had recently got back into yoga, and then joined a gym. I was getting back into things at the gym and seeing some results, but nothing spectacular. So finally, last April I decided to start my month of bootcamp with Carrie – wow, what a difference in my workouts! When my month was up I decided to do the belly blast while Jon did his month of bootcamp. The workouts were going so well I decided to get back into doing some triathlons and signed up for a sprint in May, Olympic distance in October and half Iron distance in November. Between the diet plan and bootcamp I leaned up quite a bit in a very short time…lookout belly dance class, here I come… or so I thought.

A few days after I finished the belly blast I smashed up my foot with a SCUBA tank (the perils of having a gear warehouse in the garage). I did manage to hike up (and down) Mt. Washington with a busted up foot (not a great idea)  but it put a big dent in my training plan…and was too easy of an excuse to use for why I wasn’t working out. Summer is always hard to stay motivated here between the heat and rain and step-kids being here for a summer visit. I went into total slacker mode. Diet went to crap. Training went to crap. I managed to get things back on schedule a bit in August; training for my Olympic distance tri was going well…then for some reason in September I hit slacker mode again, at least for working out.  We started working on the house a bit and did that to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. At least I have a fully functionally, and absolutely gorgeous master bathroom to show for it:). In October I did the Longleaf Olympic distance triathlon and somehow managed to pull off third in my age group. I had a PR on the bike and one of the worst runs of my life (have I mentioned that I HATE running!) but finished on the podium with crappy training…which of course makes you think about what might have happened if you trained well….

Now Jon and I had the half Ironman looming over our heads. Instead of kicking up the training we kind of went into denial about what we should be doing. There was a lot of talk about training plans but very little training! That’s when Carrie started sending out emails about Hot for the Holidays. I was going back and forth about whether to do it or not and finally decided to sign myself up (and Jon too) at the last minute. The contest lit a fire under both of our butts! Going into it, I didn’t think I had any chance of winning, but I was using it more to get myself back into shape and back into a regular workout routine. After week one of the contest I completed my first half Ironman distance triathlon (ouch!) then hit the diet and workout hardcore. Any time Jon or I were tempted with a unhealthy decision or wanted to skip out on a workout I would remind us that we were in this to bring home the money! Even though that really wasn’t either of our ultimate goals, it was a fun motivator. My other great motivator in this contest was Gwen – every weigh in she was 1-2 pounds down more than me, so she became my target. Everything we did at bootcamp I tried to do at least as fast, or faster than her. I made sure I used more weight. I ran at least 3 days a week. I stuck to the diet. I cut out beer and booze (except for the beer at the end of Tough Mudder…after running 12 miles of mud and obstacles painted as a clouded leopard, I earned it!)

I was realistically looking to lose 10 pounds during the contest – a challenge, but not unattainable. I reached that goal by week 4. By week 5 I had taken 10 minutes off my run time for 2.5miles and was easily running 7+miles on my long run days. This time around my fitness gains have been much more dramatic – week one of the contest I was using an 18# kettle, at the end of week six I was using a 28# kettlebell. My running has improved by leaps and bounds. My “skinny” clothing is loose and I think I need a whole new set of sports bras – the old ones are not tight anymore!

Carrie – Thank you for giving me the tools to aid me in getting back in shape, but if I hadn’t put as much effort and determination into my workouts and getting my lifestyle back on track, I never would have seen the results that I did. Carrie gives you the tools – you have to find the desire and will to use them to your maximum advantage. So what’s next? I’ll see a bunch of you at the Run for the Manatees and Rock and Roll Half Marathon in February, and watch out belly dance class…here I come!!!

Bonnie and Jon NOW!!!! Congrats to you both! You look GREAT!