That may be the quintessential question of 2020, at least for retailers of home fitness equipment like us. There is not a day goes by that one of our stores isn’t asked that question.

And we understand why. Living in the midst of a global pandemic, health is at the top of everyone’s mind. And fitness isn’t far behind for many. Now more than ever, at-home fitness solutions are front and centre.

If you’re been searching for dumbbells, plate weights, spin bikes, workout benches or cages, or even a trampoline, you’ve probably been met with the same response from everywhere: “We don’t have that in stock, but can I put you on a waitlist?”

That’s not the answer you wanted to hear. And we understand your frustrations. People just want to take care of their health and fitness from the safety of their home, and we haven’t been able to help with that. And for that, we’re very sorry. We recognize we haven’t been able to give our customers the level of service we strive to deliver: whether that’s answering phone calls in a timely manner or having the items you need. We sincerely appreciate the patience of our customers and how they’ve continued to support us during this unusual time.

What is causing this lack of equipment?

Simply put, there’s been a huge increase in demand for fitness equipment, with gyms closed and people needing to work out at home. But what does this actually mean? Here are a few examples to put into perspective what “a huge increase in demand” looks like:

• Before the pandemic, we’d typically get about 200-300 calls per day across all our stores. In one single day near the start of the pandemic we received over 2300 calls. In one day.
• In some product categories, we would keep about 2-3 usual months worth of stock in our warehouse, and we sold through that in 2-3 weeks.

We do want to explain that you’re not alone in your frustrations. The fitness industry everywhere is facing similar issues. Chances are, if you’ve turned to other retailers for fitness equipment, you’ve heard the same disappointing news we had to give you.

This lack of equipment is a trend seen globally. Online orders for sporting equipment increased by 169% in May over last year, and 122% in June, according to research from BazaarVoice, a company that works with online retailers. There were massive supply chain disruptions from overseas and China in particular, not just for the products themselves but often affecting the raw materials needed to make them (i.e. factories could not get access to steel and rubber to make dumbbells).

Dumbbells – worth their weight in gold

Let’s look at dumbbells, one of the most sought-after fitness items, as a perfect example of how one factor after another contributed to such shortages worldwide. On the surface, it seemed like a simple issue of supply and demand, where the demand vastly outpaced the supply. But it really wasn’t that simple.

About 95% percent of the world’s dumbbells are made in China, and when the pandemic started, the country ordered strict lockdowns from January to April. Highways and public transportation shut down. Factories weren’t open, workers were at home, and no one could make the dumbbells. That disruption trickled all the way down to retailers.

In March, COVID-19 hit the rest of the world: gyms closed down and stay-at-home orders were issued. That meant people needed to stock up on home-use fitness equipment, causing a surge in demand. But fitness equipment companies were ill-prepared for such a surge, especially at a time of year when many start to see a slowdown in sales. New Years resolutions aren’t front-of-mind anymore, and with the weather getting warmer, people traditionally start to go back outside or back to gyms. So it’s usually a safe bet for retailers to order less inventory.

But in this year’s unexpected case, retailers were caught short for the unanticipated demand. That problem was exacerbated by the unusually drastic effects the pandemic caused suppliers. Dumbbells sold out everywhere in record time, but they could not be replenished quickly and there was nothing coming soon to fill the gap.

Even with restrictions now lifted, it can take months to fill up the supply chain again. As an example, one of our manufacturer partners, Bowflex, is tripling its production capacity for the second half of 2020. But it isn't as simple as just making more product right away - finding new factories to work with and ramp up production can take them up to 8 months. We used to operate within 90-120 day buying cycles, meaning we could order product and expect new stock in that amount of time. Now we’re looking at 6-12 months to get new inventory in some cases.

So, what does the future hold?

We are hopeful the inventory situation will get better in the next few months. Factories have reopened and production has re-started. We anticipate some new product coming in for the holidays. This will help the situation for sure, but it’s not going back to normal levels for some time.

There are many factors that suggest demand for home fitness equipment will continue. Traditionally, our busy season starts up with Black Friday and holiday shopping, so we expect an increase in demand at this time. A consumer survey about holiday shopping found that while overall spending will be in line with previous years, 19% of people will increase their spend. As well, holiday shopping will start earlier than past years for about 25% of people, beginning in November.

With winter approaching, cardio sales have started to pick up. Cold weather means people aren’t exercising outside but going back indoors. And research suggests many people will not be heading back to their gyms, even if they’re open. A survey conducted in the US found that 59% of Americans say they don’t plan on renewing their gym memberships once the pandemic is over. Similarly, another poll in August found only 14 percent of respondents said they would feel comfortable going to the gym in the next month.

More locally, large outbreaks like the one at a Hamilton spin studio are causing people to rethink their fitness options, and if they haven’t yet, they will be looking for more in-home solutions.

What does this mean for you, the customer?

Pay attention to current trends: this may help you get a jump on buying equipment now that’s going to gain popularity and sell out quickly in the near future. Treadmills are trending highest, so consider buying one sooner than later. And with the move to virtual fitness classes, products like the Schwinn IC4 spin bike or Progression Club 40 bike are going to be popular.

If you know you want something specific in the next few months, don’t delay. Start looking now and buy it if you can. And if no one has it in stock, get on a waitlist. Call your local Flaman Fitness store to inquire today!

We are starting to put some products on pre-sale, where you can buy in advance. Or else, sign up for our stock alerts, and get notified when product arrives at your local store. You can find the link for stock alerts on the product page.

Finally, check for used equipment on sites like Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace. Take care to not pay too much and always inspect the equipment to make sure it’s in working order before you buy. You should check with the seller to see if the equipment is still under warranty. Sometimes warranties only last months, not years. And some brands do not allow the warranty to be transferrable. Used equipment can be economical, but that cost savings is negated if you have to spend money to repair something like an electronic console out of the warranty period.

We’re all in this together

It is truly an unprecedented time right now, but we’re all trying to navigate this together. Reach out to your local Flaman Fitness store to talk about your fitness needs and we’ll do the best we can to support you. Our ultimate goal is to help people get fit and healthy to live a better life. Even if we don’t have the product you’re looking for, there may be another option to meet your goal. Or ask about waitlists and anticipated arrival times. We are truly thankful for all the customer support we’ve received, and we hope we can continue to serve you in the near future.

If left unaddressed, long-term stress has the ability to affect the immune system and the body’s overall health: associated risks include weight gain, heart and respiratory problems, and increased depression. To minimize far-reaching consequences, it’s critical to actively develop and maintain positive, healthy stress management habits like the ones below.

Make Smart Food Choices

Oftentimes, we tend to engage in mindless snacking when we’re stressed, bored or upset. A steady junk food diet doesn’t exactly lend itself to a healthy lifestyle, and has actually been shown to have an impact on our mental health.

Try to look at food as fuel for success rather than just a way to distract yourself. Consuming the right amounts of fresh, natural foods like in-season produce, lean protein, and whole grains will help to balance out your plate, and ultimately, your mood.

Take a Deep Breath

Meditation is one of the fastest-growing wellness trends today. It’s also becoming easier to do, thanks to smartphone apps like Insight Timer and Calm, that help to guide users through a variety of different mindfulness techniques.

Making an effort to develop a meditation habit is crucial to stress management because it encourages a participant to recognize negative emotions while separating from them, enabling them to gain perspective, problem solving and coping skills. It takes practice, but even reserving five minutes a day can help you build up your ability.

Sweat it Out

Much like improving your diet, higher physical activity levels have been shown to correlate to better mental health. It can seem difficult to stick to a workout routine while in an emotional rut, but the payoff is worth it.

If you find yourself having trouble maintaining a regular regime, don’t be afraid to seek out some additional support. Try scheduling time to work out with a buddy to ensure you don’t skip, using a workout app, watching instructional videos to feel more comfortable, or enlisting the help of a personal trainer. The attendants at your local gym can also be used as a resource - they’re there to help you use the facilities safely, so don’t be afraid to ask for guidance!

Set Boundaries

Learning to say no is hard for some people. However, if you don’t set boundaries in your personal and professional life, the risk of becoming severely overstressed rises dramatically.

Take a critical assessment of your current capacity: workload, available free time, emotional state. Understand and accept that it won’t be the end of the world if you leave your work at work, and you’re not a bad person if you turn down doing a favor for a friend. If you don’t have the bandwidth to do something, don’t do it.

Ultimately, since stress takes on different forms for everyone, the road to living a stress-free life isn’t a clear, straight path. Find solutions that make sense for you, and never be afraid to seek professional counseling if you feel overwhelmed.

Fall running

Tip 1. Don't be apprehensive about being too cold at the start of the run. You may feel cold at first, but you will warm up quickly.

Tip 2. Experiment until you find your perfect running attire!

Everyone's fall running wardrobe will vary slightly depending on their internal temperature gauge. My training partner, Tara, and I are perfect examples of this. We ran together last Sunday and I had on long pants and two layers on my upper body. She had on shorts and a tank top.

You'll figure out the wardrobe that works for you with some trial and error.

Tip 3. Invest in a few key pieces.

In general, a tuque, gloves, arm warmers, and a good running jacket are all good investments. A running jacket with removable sleeves is practical because you can wear it in the fall and winter.

Tip 4. Get a jacket with pockets.

In my opinion, the most important feature of a running jacket is pockets. Pockets allow you to take off your gloves, arm warmers, or jacket sleeves and store them once you are warmed up.

Tip 5. Don't forget to wear sunscreen and drink water.

Harmful UV rays are still out there even when the weather gets colder, and even though the cool temperatures may not make you feel as hot and sweaty, your body still needs fluids.

Quick side note: Running outdoors in the fall will make you ditch that treadmill forever. Watching the leaves change colour is beautiful and the temperature is often perfect.

Winter running

Tip 1. Layer.

Some runners are willing to warm-up as they run, but I hate being cold. I need to be warm right from the get-go, so for me, layering is key. I love wearing arm warmers, leg warmers, gloves, hats, and even a balaclava. Basically anything I can take off as I warm up. For example, I usually start wearing both a hat and the hood from my running jacket. Once I warm up, I just wear the hood.

Tip 2. Wear tall socks or pants that are tight at the ankle (or both).

My biggest winter running pet peeve is when cold air causes the skin above my ankles to become cold and dry. Make sure your clothing protects your ankles.

Tip 3. Consider changing your route.

I also change my running route in the fall and winter. I do multiple small loops so I can easily get home if I want to drop layers off or pick layers up, or if I fall and want to get home ASAP. (I have become more cautious after falling on black ice last year.)

Tip 4. Be flexible.

If I want to run when it is dark or extremely cold, I allow myself to run on the treadmill. Sometimes runners adopt the mindset that treadmill running is not "real" running. The problem with that mindset is that it can become an excuse to stop moving during the winter. Sure, running on the treadmill is not the same as running outside, but some movement is always better than no movement. And since the belt forces you to run at a constant speed, you can use that to learn how to pace yourself during speed intervals.

Tip 5. Persevere.

Every runner will adapt to running in the cold differently; it took me years to perfect my rituals. If you freeze on your first cold-weather run, don't give up. Try again, take the time to figure out what works for you.

One final thought: Running is awesome exercise, but it is not the only exercise out there. Use the colder weather as incentive to try different athletic activities. Running can lead to overuse injuries, so mix it up! Try skiing, snowboarding, lifting weights, and doing yoga.

My first show was at 6:00 am our time and I had a new host I hadn't had before and a new model. That first 10 minutes on air I am always most nervous.

They don't usually say much, mostly just what camera to look at, but I do wear an ear piece that literally ALWAYS falls out and sometimes as its falling out I get nervous and flustered so by the last show I just asked to not wear it.

The hosts and everyone at TSC really are so sweet and just supportive and really make me feel comfortable.

I will never get over how awkward I feel when I'm on air, or how many times I am saying 'absolutely' or the weird hand grasp thing I do with my hands. But truth being told it is all still fun because I get to share my story with so many people. And each of those people who ordered a machine because of something I may have said - that is just beyond special.

All the love and support throughout the day from my friends and family sends me is more meaningful then I can even put into words. I wouldn't be able to do this without them! Because really I am just a mom who loved this machine and wants people to know that if I can, they can do and these trips are just so special to me.

So if you ordered a machine and decided to invest in yourself and make the change, and start. I'm proud of you. Loosing weight is hard, and it's not always fun. But you can do this!!

So here's to an amazing week!
-Chandell

To catch you up, Finding Your Fit is "A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit: it provides readers with practical tools that will allow them to connect the dots between wanting to make a health and fitness change and actually making it. Finding Your Fit is the "anti–Biggest Loser" handbook for realistic, lifelong health: a motivational handbook with realistic strategies and practical information to help readers initiate and then follow through and adopt a long-term healthy lifestyle."

In the first 10 chapters of Finding Your Fit I outline various tools, motivation tricks, and philosophies that readers can use to put together their "unique recipe." In chapter 11 I help readers apply all the information outlined in the book so that they finish with a tailored and effective exercise program.

I dedicated my previous blog to outlining the main take-aways from the first five chapters. Curious? You can read the blog here.

Today, my plan is to outline the main take-aways from chapters 6 through 10. My next — and final — book-centric blog (out October 1st) will outline the main take-aways from chapter 11. I lovingly call chapter 11 the "chose-your-own-adventure" chapter; in it I connect all the dots. I give readers the practical guidelines they need to create and then implement their individual health recipe. One of the main take-aways from the book is that if you want to adopt a healthier lifestyle for life, you need an individualized plan. There is no one-size-fits-all health plan; everybody is different. Everyone requires a tailored recipe for success.

We all have to stop trying to follow someone else's version of a "perfect" program. For long-term success, put together a unique and realistic plan tailored to fit your individual lifestyle realities.

Five main take-aways from chapters 6 through 10

1. Our eating habits are tied to our emotions, our established habits, our lifestyle, and our childhood eating habits.

Maintaining a healthier lifestyle long term involves figuring out the WWHH of your eating habits — WHAT you eat, WHY you eat, HOW you eat, and HOW MUCH you eat. The operative word is you.

2. For long-term success consider setting up a "health entourage."

A health entourage is a personalized network of support; it can include supportive friends and family, a fitness buddy, an accountability buddy, a nutrition buddy, or even an entire fitness club. Everyone needs to find ways to set themselves up for health and fitness success. A health entourage helps you do just that.

3. Stop fixating on reaching a certain weight and/or conflating thinness with health.

Fixating on the weight on the scale — and using "thinness" interchangeably with "health" — is ultimately not healthy or helpful. The scale doesn't differentiate water or muscle loss from fat loss, and losing weight in an unhealthy way — even when weight loss is needed — is not beneficial to your long-term physical or psychological health.

4. Stop unknowingly sabotaging your health progress.

It is one thing not to reach your goals if you are eating fries every day and skipping workouts, but it is extremely frustrating to work hard and still not succeed. In chapter 9 I outline four reasons why you might not be seeing results despite your best efforts: not doing strength training, not getting adequate recovery, ignoring the importance of high-intensity interval workouts, and not being mindful of your eating and exercise habits.

5. One way to stay motivated — and avoid the dreaded fitness plateau — is to mix up your workouts

If you always spin, try yoga. If you always do weights, try running. If you always work out alone, join a group.

For more info on the book, read the first review here (hyperlink https://www.flamanfitness.com/blog/how-to-get-off-the-sofa-and-out-the-front-door). For more information on how to put together your unique recipe for health success, check out my website kathleentrotter.com, or follow me on Instagram, Facebook (www.facebook.com/KathleenTrotter), Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/KTrotterFitness), or Twitter (@KTrotterFitness), or order Finding Your Fit here https://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Your-Fit-Compassionate-Trainer's/dp/1459735196/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471442503&sr=1-1.

So, I wrote a book! It is called Finding Your Fit. Needless to say, I am pretty excited! The book hits stores October 1st, 2016. I feel like a kid getting ready for Christmas; I am counting down the days until I can walk into Indigo and say "Where would I find Kathleen Trotter's new book?" I am assuming the answer will be "In the health and wellness section," but maybe I will get lucky and it will be on one of the "staff recommendation" tables. Fingers crossed!

My next few blogs will outline a few of the main take-aways from my book. (How cool is it that I can say "my book"?) The first review is out. You can read it here (hyperlink https://www.flamanfitness.com/blog/how-to-get-off-the-sofa-and-out-the-front-door).

The official media blurb is that Finding Your Fit is "A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit: it provides readers with practical tools that will allow them to connect the dots between wanting to make a health and fitness change and actually making it. Finding Your Fit is the "anti–Biggest Loser" handbook for realistic, lifelong health: a motivational handbook with realistic strategies and practical information to help readers initiate and then follow through and adopt a long-term healthy lifestyle."

My unofficial blurb is this: "If I have learned one thing from my 15 years in the health field it is that there is no one-size-fits-all health plan; everybody is different. Everyone requires a tailored recipe for success.

We all have to stop trying to follow someone else's version of a "perfect" program. For long-term success, put together a unique and realistic plan tailored to fit your individual lifestyle realities.

The plan should take into account your goals, your health history, your lifestyle, your finances, your genetics, and your unique relationship with food. You can stress eat or binge eat out of loneliness on any diet — lots of people overeat gluten-free cake and Paleo treats. If you don't become aware of your eating patterns, your personal food habits will simply follow you from nutrition program to nutrition program."

In the first 10 chapters of Finding Your Fit I outline various tools, motivation tricks, and philosophies that readers can use to put together their "unique recipe." In the final chapter I help readers apply all the information outlined in the book so that they finish with a tailored and effective exercise program.

Here are a few of the main take-aways.

1.Own your health choices; take the time to actively "set yourself up for health success" — the key words being own and actively.

You are an adult; take responsibility for your health choices. Adopting a healthier lifestyle isn't a passive process. If you don't take the time to set yourself up for success, you might as well be setting yourself up for failure.

2. Always have a plan...and then a back-up plan.

For example, don't decide you are "destined" to be inactive when you have a busier-than-normal week. Instead, use my "piggyback" strategy. Pinpoint daily, non-negotiable habits that you already do, then turn them into a workout: turn your daily dog walk into a jog or interval workout or have meetings with your colleagues while walking.

As for nutrition, decide in advance how you will handle every event. When going to a restaurant, read the menu online and decide in advance what you will order. Going to someone's house? Offer to bring a healthy option. When in doubt, opt for a lean protein and lots of vegetables, never eat while standing, use a smaller plate when possible, and be mindful of your portions.

3. When you fall off your health horse, don't allow that not-so-great choice to spiral into multiple unhealthy choices.

Instead, learn from your unhealthy decisions so you get back on a more informed rider. Did you let yourself get too hungry? Were you emotionally eating? Did you not take the time to set yourself up for success? Make a mental note of what went wrong, then proactively avoid those situations in the future.

4. Some movement is always better than no movement.

Every bit of motion adds up, and every situation can be reframed as an opportunity for movement. Can't do a full workout? No problem, do 10 minutes. When it comes to exercise, getting started is usually the hardest part. So use my 10-minute rule. Tell yourself you have to do something for at least 10 minutes. Anyone can do anything for 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes you want to stop, fine. At least you will have done something. Once you start you will usually end up doing a full workout.

5. Stop waiting for the "perfect" day to start moving. Get up and go for a walk!

You can pre-order Finding Your Fit here: https://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Your-Fit-Compassionate-Trainer's/dp/1459735196/

This is why I love a new book to be released this October by Canada's fitness information leader - Kathleen Trotter – as it addresses this very issue.It is entitled, "Finding Your Fit; A Compassionate Trainer's Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit."

The book answers, "How do we find the inner motivation to go from thinking about a healthier lifestyle to actually adopting one? How do we get off the sofa and out the front door?" It provides you with the practical tools that will allow you to connect the dots between wanting to make a health and fitness change, and actually making it.

If you've read anything by Kathleen, heard her on radio, and seen her on TV, you soon realise that there is something different in her approach – in a very good way. She is driven from a perspective of honesty, health, and compassion. A quick review of her website will make this very clear.

From my fitness blogging/writing/business life, I've seen time and time again that to get started into a fitness routine or healthier lifestyle – as in "get off the couch and out the front door":

* Knowing why you should work out is not enough

* Knowing what to do is not enough

* Having the equipment at home is not enough

* Having the best equipment is not enough

* Having the time is not enough

* Hearing inspirational stories is not enough

* Discussing fitness with inspirational people is not enough

* All of the above combined is not enough

In short, I realised that "it's all on you." You can have everything handed to you to start your fitness journey – but until you decide to start and then you actually start, nothing will happen.

That's where Kathleen's book comes in - it gives you the mental key to "start" and then stay with it.

Frankly, it provides the critical missing link.

Its themes include "10 simple, practical ways to get moving, get healthy and feel great." It clarifies that you should set "fitness goals not fitness wishes." It advises you to develop "a fitness entourage." It shows you how to "set yourself up for health success."

And just to be clear, Kathleen didn't just wake-up fit - she had her own journey that she details in her book. In fact, this segment alone is worth the read. You'll soon realise that she did, and still does, have fears and battles to overcome. So, you're not alone.

Finding Your Fit will stand in opposition to the extreme and unsustainable models of fitness that are so often propagated in the media. Finding Your Fit is the "anti–Biggest Loser" handbook for realistic, lifelong health.

Finding Your Fit is an intelligent and empathetic guide for the reader who wants both information and encouragement on their quest for long-term health and an easy-to-follow program to achieve it.

In only 136-pages and with 50 illustrations, Finding Your Fit is a "go-to" book health book: a motivational handbook with realistic strategies and practical information that helps them not only initiate but actually follow through and adopt a long-term healthy lifestyle.

Finding Your Fit will be released in October by Dundurn and available at Flaman Fitness. It will also be available from your favourite bookseller and even available on Amazon for preorder here. If you're in the Toronto area, you can attend her book launch on October 5^th

But, here's the interesting part, they also were metabolically healthier, and had different stomach microbes, than rats that keep the weight off by cutting back on food (and not running).

Sort of a diet alone vs. exercise test.

In essence, the runners, while weighing the same as the dieters at the end of the study, seemed better set up to avoid weight gain in the future.

In this new study, which was published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia and other schools first gathered rats from a strain that has an inborn tendency to become obese, starting in adolescence. (Adolescence is also when many young people begin to add weight.)

These rats were young enough, though, that they were not yet overweight.

After weighing them, the researchers divided the animals into three groups:

• Group one:allowed to eat as much kibble as they wished and to remain sedentary in their cages. These were the controls.

• Group two: the exercise group, also was able to eat at will, but these animals were provided with running wheels in their cages. Rats like to run, and the animals willingly hopped on the wheels, exercising every day.

• Group three: the dieting group, was put on a calorie-restricted meal plan. Their daily kibble helpings were about 20 per cent smaller than the amount that the runners ate, a portion size designed to keep them at about the same weight as the runners, so that extreme differences in body size would not affect the final results.

After 11 weeks, all of the animals were moved to specialized cages that could measure their metabolisms and how much they moved around. They then returned to their assigned cages for several more weeks, by which time they were effectively middle-aged.

At that point that group results were:

• Group 1 (eaters):The control animals were obese, their physiques heavy with fat.

• Group 2 (runners) and 3 (dieters) similarities:

• The runners and the lower-calorie groups, had gained ounces but had put on far less weight than group one.

• b.None were obese.

• c.Both running and diet, had effectively protected the animals against their tendency to obesity.

• Group 2 and 3 differences:

• But beneath the skin, the runners and the dieters looked very unalike.

• By almost all measures, the runners were metabolically healthier, with better insulin sensitivity and lower levels of bad cholesterol than the dieters.

• They also burned more fat each day for fuel, according to their metabolic readings, and had more cellular markers related to metabolic activity within their brown fat than the dieting group. Brown fat, unlike the white variety, can be quite metabolically active, helping the body to burn additional calories.

• Interestingly, the runners also had developed different stomach microbes than the dieters, even though they ate the same food. The runners had greater percentages of some bacteria and smaller populations of others than the dieters or the control group; these particular proportions of gut bugs have been associated in a few previous studies with long-term leanness in both animals and people.

• Perhaps most striking, "the runners showed no signs of compensatory eating or compensatory inactivity," said Victoria Vieira-Potter, an assistant professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri who oversaw the study. They didn't eat more food than the control group, despite running several miles every day and, according to the specialized cages, actually moved around more when not exercising than either of the other groups of rats.

In essence, the runners, while weighing the same as the dieters at the end of the study, seemed better set up to avoid weight gain in the future.

Hey Guys !!

Training is going great, currently just under 6 weeks out now from Toronto provincials.

As an update from my last blog . . .

My motivation is always high, in a bodybuilding prep my energy levels go up and down very frequently but I have a goal in mind and I love seeing the final result ! Nothing beats accomplishing something!

New challanges this prep is that I am carb cycling so my meal plan that my coach Aron Giberson out of Guelph Ontario gives me changes very often. So staying on top of that and dealing with feeling very hungry on my low carb days. We measure progress by check ups with pictures or in person meetings every few days as my weight drops. Right now I have no other goals in mind but bringing the best me to this show. Once this show is over, then myself and Aaron can start planning for future goals !!

I never in a 100 years would have thought people would respond to my story like this, that someone would say things like 'your an inspiration' or that you could 'have results like me'. I really don't have words, it's so honouring and humbling.

I always say it, to me I'm a super average person. I am awkward and silly and even a touch outrageous sometimes. I don't look like a fitness model or pretend to be one, but I do just love telling people about this machine because for what it did for me and if people can relate to me that is something that I will never find words for because it's so amazing and surreal to me.

When I got to Toronto and found out they were hoping to sell almost 5 times the treadclimbers then my previous time, I honesty wanted to puke. Not that anyone ever made me feel pressured I just instantly felt so scared!

All the feelings and thoughts I had racing through my mind basically consisted of 'oh my goodness what if I can't do it and let all these people feel dissapointed'

But then off to makeup I had to go .. So no real time to sit and worry.

My first show was 10pm Saturday night with host Richard Nester.

As soon as the show started he instantly had me feeling comfortable. He was asking all the normal questions and it was more just of a conversation. After that first show my worries basically flew out the window. The sales in the first show were huge.. And everyone around the studio was beyond excited!!

In the studio it's crazy how quickly things move and happen, not to mention watching the cameras, having someone talking into your ear and seeing the screen in front of you with what he audience sees.

If your wondering during the shows it feels like a total blur, I can feel my hands doing weird things and my feet 'dancing' around and being basically just awkward. But I can't stop myself I just do and say whatever comes to my head.

As for what I'm saying every word I mean- I wouldn't do these shows if I didn't actually care about this machine.

I am truly passionate about the results of this machine, and I believe that if someone is consistent with it they will have them too. This machine honestly changed my life and I know I wouldn't be were I am today without it. That's why I always love talking about it, it why I do truly recommend it to everyone I know, or never mind when random people message me on Facebook to ask a question or want my advice and why I love doing these blogs.

I really do love the treadclimber.

I'm also a regular person so that doesn't mean I don't notice all the weird things I say and want to pick my own self apart after like;
-Truthfully, honestly
-Absoultely
-oh Exactly
-Pounding sensation

Hahaha why do I say these things, and each and every show I did and it would drive me nuts in my head like I just wanted to find different words but I couldn't, so sorry about that.

I also like I knew I would wanted to pick apart my flaws in the shows. Seeing yourself on live tv is weird. The camera are straight on and they things they catch or show sometimes are just not flattering for anyone. But that's also what makes it real. But I do want to do more core more then ever now haha

They also had me in the most hugest prettiest dressing room that I would have wanted in my own home. It was all white and just beautiful. And this picture is only half of it, I felt like a spoiled princess and I kinda loved it :)

So the second days shows went by rather quickly and we SOLD OUT again, and before my day was suppose to even be done!

Everyone around the studio was sooo sweet and just excited and of course we're beyond kind to me. They kept promising i wasn't awkward on air and didn't even believe me that I was an awkward person. That made me laugh. I also giggled at how everyone said my name, I would never correct someone ever with it but they all say it 'shawndel' so I would get a good giggle in my head the whole time.

If your wondering what my favourite part of it all - it was probably all the support and love from my family and friends. How many of my friends watched my shows, sent me messages, pictures, snaps, even made fun of me. It truly meant so much and made it all even more exciting

After each show my phone would be blown up, and it made my heart so happy each time.

I truly am beyond blessed with the people in my life!

What was the hardest part of the shows?
*Repeating yourself, and trying to remember what you haven't already said in this show and how to make it different then previous shows.
*Figuring out what to wear - the first time I went I just wanted to ensure everyone was happy and liked my outfits. This time I wanted to be comfortable and ensure I liked it. So I went with all my favourites. I also treated myself to new Nikes which I am beyond in love with!

So that was it, all the makeup and hair was fun and I loved being all dolled up

But this is me and I was glad to have a clean fresh face and go back to my boys in Saskatchewan!! :)

So to everyone that tuned it- thank you. These experiences are something I will cherish forever.

Have an amazing week guys, if you wondering my BRAND new TC200 treadclimber is being set up right now by my lovey husband so I will have a full review next week!!! Can't wait to try it and share with you!
Xo
-Chandell