Today I took the Fit Couples boxing at Xtreme Couture (www.xtremecouture.ca) and introduced them to my boxing coach Billy Martin!

We had a blast! I’m happy to be introducing them to new ways of training. Using what they learned today and introducing it into their existing workouts. We learned  proper form and then 3 drills to practice with their partners. Once they have the basics down, they can amp up the boxing!

But we also had a talk.

It is not all pretty…

There is quite a bit of behind-the-scenes action that everyone does not get to see. This includes cheating, skipping workouts, feelings of giving up and loss of motivation. I had to have a hard talk with my Fit Couples as I got the sense that (not from everyone) I was getting some resistance to follow the routine. Reminder….You are in a challenge! Those were my words.

I never said this was going to be easy. I also didn’t say any of them HAD to join this challenge. The choice was theirs to commit to me and make these changes. There is no sense in joining a challenge that you give up once it gets challenging, is there?

So, we have cut out lots of badness from our diets and of course I’d love if YOU followed along (to see what our Fit Couples cut out check out this blog). Those that were 100% for the first two weeks with food I am asking them to remove coffee out of their diets and stop eating carbs, including those from fruit, after 3pm.

This is when it all went down…

“No, I can’t cut out coffee.”
“I drink 6 cups a day.”
“I heard coffee was ok.”
“I tried that but I got headaches so I gave in.”
“I don’t think I can do that.”

These are just a few of the comments I heard…and then I went on one of my famous rants which went a little something like this ( probably not, I smile and admit now).

This is a mental, psychological and emotional challenge just as much as it is a physical one. The need for you to have to have something is a concept that you have sold yourself on and a story which you continue to tell yourself every day. The body (including yours) does not need coffee. Instead you think you want it so bad, you are conditioned to thinking that you want it so bad, you have verbalized day in and day out that you want it so bad, that all you have done is tricked your body. There is no need to be a slave to anything like this.

It is not about the one cup of coffee, one bite of a brownie, one glass of wine. It is about gaining control back of your life and steering the wheel again. You can not continue to let your body run you. This is exactly how you ended up where you are. You did not have control.

So… I want to show you that yes indeed you can have control. It is up to you if you are going to allow yourself that cup of coffee or cheat. It is not an urge that is stronger than your willpower. Just tough it out…by day 3 you will see….it is amazing!

Now on to the real stuff…

Fitness Prescription: Week 3

Everyone is doing the DVD 3x per week (www.f31workout.com)
Increasing their plank times by 30 seconds each week
Completing the boxing drills they learned today 3 times
50 push-ups, retractions to strengthen shoulders and rear deltoids

Individual homework: They have been assigned individual homework based on their weaknesses and areas which need improvements

Next week:

Talking mental fitness with my life coach John Foulkes (www.johnfoulkesblog.com)

Stay tuned and join in the conversation @stefjoanne #citylinefitcouples
Special mention: A big thank-you to The Treadmill Factory for supplying our Fit Couples with boxing gloves and focus pads so they can continue to practice boxing together at home! Check them out at www.treadmillfactory.ca.