Kyle Furlow: My weight loss journey

Having a baby four months ago, I thought, "I'll have the baby weight off in a month!" That did not happen, but it's ok. I am not super woman. I am sure if I spent half my day working out and ate kale every meal then I could look like a fitness model. But that is not the way I want to live my life. I want balance. I want to spend time with my family and friends, enjoy my workouts and eat healthy (most of the time).


I want to be happy and to be free of the expectations set by society or other women. Life is too precious, so I will define my own success.

I am a wife, a mother, personal trainer, a boot camp company owner and full-time Wellness Specialist at the YMCA. Yes, some weeks I work 70 hours. I start my work day at 5:30 am and end at 7:30 pm. It's tiring, but it's awesome. I am the person that wants to help everyone. I want to help you. Do I have to work so much? No, but I love what I do and I thank God I have a family that supports me. I have the best husband in the world that takes on a lot, so my dreams can come true.

Do I make alot of money? Ha, No! But I run a company with my best friend (Boot Camp Moms) and I love my work at the Y. My boss at the Y is great and believes in family balance and work. Livestrong, Energize, and Team Approach are programs I am blessed to help run. Boot Camp has a community of women I look forward to seeing and helping with their journey. These girls are amazing. I grow strong bonds with my clients and we celebrate every little step in fitness level and weight loss goals. I get to help people every day.

I left a sales job seven years ago where I would be making six figures right now. But that was not my dream. It was not the plan God had for me. One day I realized I had to make a change. I had to follow my heart. Now, I get to help people lose weight and accomplish things they never thought possible.

Unfortunately, during all this I have not taking care of myself as well as I should. Yes, I am strong. I can bench press 135 pounds and leg press 540 pounds. My husband laughs about how he had to quit during one of my classes (he was a college athlete), but weight control has always been an issue for me. I do not think I am fat! I just know what I can be if I put my mind to it.

As a fitness teacher and personal trainer there is a lot of pressure to look a certain way. I am sure some people take my class and think, "she's not skinny ... the class can't be hard." But I sort of thrive on being doubted and enjoy handing out butt whippings to those who think my class will be easy.

I gained 22 pounds with this baby. I remember everyday someone at my work saying, "you look so great, you have not gained any weight," but I felt it. The best comment was from a older lady at work, "Kyle you look so good, you stopped gaining weight." Lets not say that to a pregant person with two months to go!

However, I never stopped working out. I even got certified to teach Insanity while I was seven months pregnant and then taught it until two weeks before I gave birth.

Now that I am back at work, I teach 10 classes a week, but I never give 100% because I get paid to make sure you are giving 100%. I can't help it. I want to take care of my clients. However, as of right now I am going to start taking better care of myself. So, I am starting my weight loss journey in front of everyone that wants to follow along.

I will workout for myself four times a week. I would say six, but lets be real. I still teach a lot of classes. I plan to track my food. I will even have my own personal trainer. Jennifer, my best best friend and business partner. Everyone needs a trainer. Even trainers need trainers. Everyone needs a push. WE love to train each other.

I am ready to embrace the next chapter in my life. I have my family of four! After having two miscarriages we finally got our baby girl. My son is seven years old and we are stopping with two kids. (I made sure no more, hahahaha.) I have a husband that supports me and we have strong faith in God.

Over the next few months I will go on a journey to change my life for good. In high school I was 5'6 weighing 115 pounds and I was the biggest of my friends. (No joke) I dont want to be that little again, but I want to be a healthy weight, not "skinny-fat." This will not be easy. I will see many ups and downs over the next few months, but I will lose the weight. I will prove to myself it can be done and hopefully I can inspire others to join me.

I plan to lose 20 pounds while having a balance of time for family, friends, work and myself. Each week I will update the world on my progress. I want my body to be a healthy, fighting machine. I want to look in the mirror and see the girl I have always wanted to be. Not skinny, not fat, but stong and fierce. This is my journey and I want you to share it with me.

Meet Megan Sweating for Two!

Meet this months spotlight Megan! 

Megan is sweating for two and is fabulous! She is expecting her second child and cannot believe how great she feels. When she was pregnant with her first child she gained 45 lbs. Currently she is 6 months pregnant and has only gained 11 lbs! She is amazed how much more energy and how much better she feels during this pregnancy and attributes it all to continuing her exercise program with Boot Camp! Megan is the essence of Boot Camp Moms. She is committed to working out, she is consistent with her workouts and with that comes success. This hot mama always strives to do her best at every workout, while continually cheering on her fellow boot campers. We sat down and asked her a few questions and here is what she told us. What is different about this pregnancy compared to your first? I'm much more active this pregnancy than with my first one back in 2012. With my first pregnancy, I was too nervous to be active and so basically all I did was take walks every now and then. This time around, I make it to bootcamp 1-2 times a week and I'm so happy to be active! How do you feel during this pregnancy? I feel great. So far I'm over halfway through, I credit Jen and Kyle with encouraging me to keep coming and showing me modifications for workouts as the pregnancy progresses.

 What do you like about boot camp? I love the friendship,encouragement and camraderie that comes with attending bootcamp. I love seeing familiar faces week after week. :)

 What can you do now at Boot Camp that you could not when you started? I have more endurance and stamina and overall more confidence in my physical ability. I'm limited right now on some of the moves I can do due to being pregnant but overall, I'm just more more active than I ever was before I discovered bootcamp!

 How did you hear about Boot Camp? Friends in Harrington Grove that were already attending it and love it. I've been coming now since May 2013!

 What is your next goal with boot camp? My goal is to continue coming to bootcamp throughout my pregnancy to stay healthy. After baby 2 gets here in mid November, I will be back as soon as possible to work on getting in better pre-pregnancy shape! :)

 What would you tell someone who is nervous about joining boot camp? I have told so many friends to come try out bootcamp and now they are regulars. What I say is: Jen and Kyle are great motivators and they work with you to show you modifications and help you build your strength and confidence! There is a great range of ages and fitness levels at each class and everyone is so supportive - it's not a competition with each other and I love that. I look forward to each class I can attend and leave feeling motivated than ever!

 Megan, you are an amazing mom, business owner and friend we love training you and we can not wait to meet our newest recruit. xoxoxxo jen and kyle #committobefit #bootcampmoms

How to stay fit on Summer Vacation

This post was inspired by "Hotel Hike"
http://blog.vegas.com/more-las-vegas-news/fitness-that-fits-you-run-hike-and-exercise-in-lasvegas-45562/

With exercises intended to build the same muscles you would target on an actual hike, be prepared to walk up a whole lot of stairs during the 60-minute Indoor Hike at Aria at CityCenter. Escalators are off limits! On the hike, your instructor will lead you through the mammoth hotel past art installations, restaurants, bars, stores, a theater, convention area, casino and tons of Starbucks. You may even venture into some of the outdoor spaces at CityCenter, through Crystals (and yes, another Starbucks) and past the unique water features at the Aria porte- cochère. The hike starts at the Spa at Aria fitness center where you receive a shoulder bag (to return at the end of class) with a bottle of water, hand weights and a yoga mat."



Summer season is here and so many of us are going on VACATION! We are enjoying the beach, Vegas, cruises, and so much more! The one question Boot Camp Moms is always asked is "How do I stay on track while on vacation?" When you are going on vacation we want you to relax, have fun, and enjoy your time off but you still have to get your sweat on and plan ahead. Don't let all of your hard work before your trip become derailed. Boot Camp Moms knows it can be challenging to stay fit while being away and eating out along with a few (okay maybe alot) of adult beverages.

 Step 1. Get snacks and healthy breakfast options for your room, stop at the store and buy bananas, apples, almonds, some protein bars etc. Try to eat breakfast and lunch as normal as possible, if eating out take advantage of the hotel breakfasts. They always have fruit, oatmeal, and usually omlet stations, choose an egg white omlet with tons of veggies and fruit. This is a great way to start your day! For lunch eat sensible as well, opt of a salad with dressing on the side, if eating at a bufftet hit the salad bar first!! Load up your plate with tons of veggies this will fill you up and then add 3 oz of a lean protein and a 1/2 of brown rice or pasta, or a healthy wrap! In addition, pack snacks this will be your secret weapon while on trips, pack your bag ahead of time with almonds and protein bars for that mid afternoon snack craving. Stay away from snacks at coffee shops and vending machines, they are usually loaded in sugar and calories and will leave you still hungry. Then when you go to dinner chose fish, chicken or filet and lots of veggies and then you can share a dessert with a friend.

 Step 2. MOVE! Workout in your hotel room with the attached video, go the the hotel gym, take the stairs, swim laps in the pool if there is one, go on a sightseeing tour with your family and friends, rent bikes and explore the city, have fun while being fit.

 Step 3. Plan alcohol accordingly. Stay away from frozen drinks, they are loaded in calories and sugar for example a Pina Colada can pack over 640 calories per 8 oz serving. Opt for light beers, wine spritzers, skinny cocktails, or two ingredient drinks (vodka and diet coke, vodka and seltzer) All of these will have around 200 calories or less! Then you will not feel so bad having 2 or 3.

 Step 4. If you go up a few pounds over vacation, it is OK. Get back on track with Boot Camp Moms as soon as your back. Life is meant to LIVE and enjoy, with these few tips you can stay on track and have a BLAST. Enjoy the moments with your family and friends and know we will be there waiting for you with a killer workout when you get back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUwsuU3Ijws&list=UUlX79Tmq611ADaw-RO5oo6A


#travelfit2014 #committobefit

Pushing All Boundaries

Today Boot Camp Moms celebrated our 4 year Anniversary! We cannot be more excited, humbled, blessed and beyond thankful for all of you! To celebrate we took the girls on a field trip to the Triangle Rock Club in Morrisville NC. Most of the girls have never climbed before, including us! When we got there everyone was excited, nervous and some a little scared. As the guides explained to us how to get to up and get down you could see everyone assessing just how they were going to do it. Kyle was first to climb up and propel down like she has been doing for years!! Others stood back and watched to see how the other girls did. One by one, every girl climbed all the way to the top! At first when some were at the top, they realized just how scary it was to let yourself go and propel down. What then happened was amazing....all of our girls stood at the bottom of the rock encouraging each one down. What was so interesting was everyone has such a different approach on how to coach the other girls down and it was if we were all needed at that very moment to encourage each one down. As time went on, everyone was going up and down the rock cheering for each other, laughing, doing tricks etc! Helen, one of our girls who had never climbed before and was quite nervous about it went up and down more than most of us! She is hooked and already has plans to bring her husband back on a date night! Today boundaries were pushed together while being fit and having fun! Today’s adventure shows the essence of Bootcamp Moms. Whether the challenge is rock climbing, Fitness, or anything else…the support of a group creates energy that cannot be duplicated by an individual. Today we conquered the wall, tomorrow we conquer the world together. xoxoxo jen and kyle