Eat the Frog Journey

3/28/22 First outdoor workout

8/27/23 Final Session

In January 2021 my friend Tonda started sharing with me information about a new gym her friends were opening. I knew I needed to loose the extra weight I gained during Covid. I was at my heaviest ever in my life. Tonda is one of the individuals who I have known since I moved here in 2018, and is one of the kindest individuals I have met, so if she knew Mike and Heidi they had to be good people too and I had to go see what this Eat the Frog was all about. 

January 2022 Signed Up

Saturday, January 22nd or 29th was the first open house at the gym and Tonda and I were going to meet there in the morning. The day came and Tonda needed to go early in the morning  and I was left to go on my own. I decided I would go there on my way to Trader Joe's and as I started driving there, I chickened out. I rationalized that I would go to Trader Joe's, then home to put my groceries away. If it was meant to be they would still be there when I was done. Clearly I was planning to clear my pantry clean it and put my 3 bags of groceries away all morning. The entire time at Trader Joe's, I kept debating why I should or shouldn't go and that my situation was not going to change if I did not go. On my way home I saw the tent, balloons, signs and thought it looks nice I should stop but hesitated and kept driving. As I got to to Rufe Snow I found myself turning around and parking. I sat in my car and thought you can't do this -you are so out of shape, this place is not for you - which then turned into that is why you need to check it out and see if it works. I was nervous as I walked up to the table, I was quickly greeted by Carrie and we talked - her friendliness, encouraging words and sharing with me that the gym would be available 24 hours a day sealed the deal and I handed over my credit card. Below are a few highlights of my time at Eat the Frog!

In the beginning 

There were delays in the opening but there were updates in our VIP group. Eventually the first fit camp outdoors started and I wanted to walk to my car after 5 minutes and give up. The inner struggle was real but I also couldn't figure out how to get to my car without being seen and realized that would be more embarrasing then enduring to the end. When the doors officially oppened, I once again was intimidated but walked through them. My first coached workout with Coach Kayla kicked my butt and I was embarrased, I thought I would solve that by jut attending virtual sessions and when I tried to unlock the door it did not work. I sent a text message not expecting a response but within seconds Robyn answered and helped me get in. In the beginning the only person judging me was myself, everyone there was supportive and kind.

50th workout 12/24/22

As I started working out I thought I would try every other day as my knees were aching. As time went by I eventually started working out 4 or 5 days a week I think 6 times a week with a couple of double days were done. I had a goal to reach my 50th workout by 11/14/22 just in time to leave for Thanksgiving in CA and share with my family that I was getting back to being healthy and physically active. However, my world was turned upside down when my nephew called me the morning of 11/2/23 to let me know his dad, my brother, had passed away. I booked a flight, stayed at work to organize my calendar, and finally headed home to pack in a daze. I realized I had a workout scheduled that night and sessions scheduled for the whole month. I knew I didn't have time to cancel all my sessions so I stopped by and let Martina know I would try to cancel all my sessions. She asked if I was ok and I shared with her about my brothers unexpected passing. Without hesitation she told me not to worry and she would take care of everything and gave me a hug. Carrie heard what was happening and she too gave me a hug and asked me to let them know if I needed anything. I went back home to CA and ended up being there all of November. I missed the workouts, the coaches, and all the other frogsquad members. When I returned in December, I came back with a sprained wrist and couldn't workout so I modified to just riding e a bike for each session. That is how I accomplished my first milestone of 50th workout on Christmas Eve morning. 

100th on 3/15/23

By this time my friend Rachel had joined and it was fun having a  friend be a part of the Frog Squad. Saturday mornings were fun not only because it was time to spend with Rachel but as a bonus we had Coach Kayla. I learned my friend Rachel was a beast at the gym. I mean I knew she was strong but this strenght was a new level. I sometimes rowed by the Olympian aka Bailey. It was what helpful because the rower sounded amazing and  when I wanted to slow down or not push myself, I remembered I wanted to be half as good as the Olympian! Then there was Superman 1 and 2 aka Markie Mark and Matt P. It was fun to watch them workout and push each other. I also learned I wanted to use rowers 2 or 4 because rower 3 was Hayden's rower. She never tole me, I just knew and I liked rower 4 the most. She reminded me of when I was young and starting life  as an adult. It took me a while to figure out Superman 2 was her dad and they were Rockin Robins family. I then met Landon and then Mason and quickly realized that if Keller ever has a family of the year I am nominating the Pitre family. I had a cheering squad. Dora, Tamara, Crystal, Myra and Chris. Chris was the one who challenged me to double up to reach my 100th milestone workout. Then there was the singing duo that also happened to be engaged - Joelle and Daniel. Low by Flo-Rida was playing and I was singing along in my head or maybe very softly, when suddenly I heard singing and though be quiet you are singing out loud only to realize it was not my voice and I looked around and we smiled at each other as we were singing. When Chris, one moved, AZ joined and they became part of my cheer squad - aka Jennifer and Bill. There was also Papa K aka Keith and his wife Lisa. It was fun to hear Keith tell us how Lisa forced him to do the rower, or keep working and not retire as he wanted. There are so many more people who as I worked out and saw their progress inspired me and others, we encouraged with kind words, fist bumps, high fives and also celebrated milestones occuring outside of those walls - becoming granparents or newlyweds. 

150th workout on July 1, 2023

In April I was finding my split time anywhere from 2:15 to 2:45 it may not seem like the best but it was progress from the 3:00 - 3:40 I started at. I also hit over 500 calories in one session. I was excited and looking forward to reach new personal records. While consistently reaching a  2:15 in a cardio workout and trying to get to 2:10 I felt some pain on my left knee - but I did see 2:09 for a few seconds. However, the pain on my knee progressed and slowed me down from reaching my next milestone  by mid May. During this time the coaches once again had to help me modify some things and at times I just found myself riding the bike. July 1, 2023 was the day I reached my 150th workout - I was the 18th person to reach it. Yes, I counted. I began to plan my workouts to 200 and hoped to reach it by mid August. Unfotunately, I only managed to get to 165 on Sunday, August 27th. I had planned to do the 9:30 Cardio class on Sunday but was waitlisted as #5; I did not think I would make it so I did the 8:10 session. When I was about to walk out Heidi asked me where I was going as I had a session. So I doubled up for the last time. That morning was bittersweet as I ended my sessions withthe coach that I started with the Singing Dancing Queen - Kayla. The first session had a bonus of seeing a Beautiful Mind - Tylyn (often tell myself 'It's a beautiful day for a beautiful mindset") and while doing the final session the coach with the mean voice - aka Amanda walked in to cheer us on. By the way did anyone ever hear her mean voice?

8/23 celebrating milestones

If you made it this far, you now know why Eat the Frog means so much to me, and why it was my happy place. I hope if you were part of the ETF journey you know you probably impacted someone there in a positive way. So wherever you may go just keep shining! I once told Coach Carrie during a session "There is nowhere I would rather be then here with y'all!" So it is only appropriate that I close with a quote from one of my favorite movies: "How lucky I am to have found something that saying goodbye to is so damned awful."