We took our measurements and looked at our results before we had breakfast and hit the road back to LA. Here is how I did:

Pounds: I lost 2.5 lbs in 5 days. I think that was pretty good, but I was more interested in the next metric …

Inches: I lost 2.5 inches in 5 days. 1 inch of that was in my waist which is my trouble zone. But again, I was more interested in the next metric …

Bloodwork: Remember back on Monday when I reported that all my numbers were slightly over the limit? Well, 5 days of diet and intense exercise and lots of water later, all my numbers are now BELOW the maximum limit and in the healthy zone. Amazing. This was absolutely the biggest motivation for me.

Overall – I really loved my week at PFC. I have ALWAYS wanted to do something like this – and this was a great camp for me. My biggest takeaway was the need for SCHEDULING and STRUCTURE in order to keep your goals alive. I loved how we ate every 3 hours to keep our blood sugar stable and how we knew what we would be doing all day.

My Fit Tip from the Week would be to schedule the time to exercise and have your healthy meals. Make them non-negotiable so that when “life happens”, you are strong and properly fueled up to handle it!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about my journey. I hope that if this is something you have been thinking of doing, that you seriously consider investing in yourself. If the timing isn’t right for your at this moment, I hope that there were some tips here that might work for you!

Special thanks to Nicole and the whole PFC team for making my whole experience so positive. Thank you to my BFF Mary Anne for finding this camp and kicking ass the whole time she was there and to our baby (and new PFC King) – keep on getting up that hill!

xo
Maxine

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6:30 a.m. The dreaded Double Peaks Hike: One thing I have always known is that I’m not the fastest car in the lot. It always made me dislike running, hiking etc. because I always feel like people have to wait for me. However, one thing I have learned about myself here at camp is that I may not be the fastest – but I am consistent.

I’m like the turtle, and I will just keep going until I get there. I also have a “2nd gear” that kicks in midway. I think that may mean that I have more stamina than I thought. At any rate, this was a killer hike, all uphill, but it is blessedly short. People completed it anywhere between 21 minutes and 55 minutes. I came in at 42 minutes!

8:30 a.m. Breakfast: Egg and veggie scramble, a corn tortilla and guacamole. This was such a treat!

10:00 a.m. Flex Friday: The theory behind this class is that you work with Wendy, the Fitness Director, and create a strength training program based on the principles of Push, Pull, Legs and Core.

12:00 p.m. Lunch: There was a great “ceremony” called Kumbaya, where we all receive our camp nick names, and a certificate of completion. I was named “Take it to the Max – ine” Also, a Queen or King for the Week is crowned (yes, there is a crown). Last week, it went to Carole, a 60 year plus young powerhouse of a woman who is such a cheerleader and leads by example.
She told the story of how a camper inspired her last week when he was throwing up going up the Double Peaks Hike due to exertion and dehydration. When she stopped to help him, he simply said, “Next week we’ll be better.” That camper was Leo – and it was soooo touching when Carole passed her torch on to him.

12:45 p.m. Healthy Grocery Shopping Tour: Six of us piled up in a mini van, and Jessica took us to Sprouts. She explained that they have a philosophy of sourcing healthier options (i.e. no high fructose corn syrup, No MSG, etc.) which makes the whole process easier. These were my top 5 favorite items from the tour that I would like to incorporate into my life:

• Orgain – I mentioned it before but this Organic protein powder is really yummy.
• Alive! Vitamins – This comes in a liquid form and I hate swallowing pills so the option to throw it in your morning shake is super appealing to me.
• Jorrow Coconut Oil – Coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils to cook with in large part due to its high smoke point but I don’t always love everything tasting like coconut. This option is flavorless.
• Arctic Zero Ice Cream – Since my normal fave contains over 600 calories for a small container and this one contains 150, I am definitely open to trying this frozen treat.
• La Tortilla Low Carb tortillas – They taste almost the same to me, so what’s the point of the extra carbs?

2:45 p.m. Energy Snack: We had a protein bar. Jessica isn’t necessarily a fan of these if “real food” is available, but they will do in a pinch and she recommends we limit them to one a week due to an often high sugar content. She told us to try and keep our added sugars under 7 grams per bar. I tried the Jalapeno flavor, and I like this combo of salty, sweet and hot.

3:15 p.m. Tabata: My last PFC Workout! This class was led by Wendy and Kandice. Here is a video of them showing us how to do Star Jacks. Don’t worry! They always show modifications, so I opted for half jacks. The theory in this class was 4 circuits, 3 times through. You do 20 seconds at the highest intensity you can muster, and then 10 seconds to transition to your next exercise. It’s intense but only lasts 20 minutes or so. This training reminds me of Boot Camp, so I liked it.

4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. WEIGHT LOSS SPA TIME: As PFC campers, we receive a free pass to enjoy the pool and Roman showers, jacuzzis and saunas. I was finally able to book a massage and was set up for 7:00 p.m., deep tissue with Kristen. It was amazing. I usually tell people I like my pressure Medium +. I want it to be relaxing but also therapeutic. Getting the lactic acid out of your muscles and just taking your stress levels down is as important to overall health as diet and exercise.

Fit Tip of the Day: Shop Smart! Jessica had so many great tips and easy hacks when you are time crunched and I felt a little more empowered in the Nutrition Area. I don’t cook, so this aspect can be overwhelming to me. I wish Jessica was here to hold my hand.

The post A Week at PFC Fitness Camp: Day 5 with Maxine appeared first on Premier Fitness Camp.

8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Potato Chip Hike: Another field trip! We all piled into our 2 shuttles, and headed to Potato Chip Mountain. This hike is pretty famous and to be honest, I was a little scared with the reports that this hike is anywhere from 6-8 miles.

Our trainers Debbie and Wendy assured us that we could also take the Lake Route which is what I opted for considering we have another hike tomorrow called Double Peaks which is ALL uphill. I wanted to save my feet a little.

That being said, make no mistake – this is still a hike with hills and switchbacks. It took us nearly 2 hours to complete our loop. With my extra time, I treated myself to my second meditation by the lake.

12:00 p.m. Lunch & Learn with Jessica: After a pretty challenging hike for the group, we were a quiet bunch back at PFC Center Court. Jessica gave us a Nutrition pop quiz during lunch and helped us ingrain those habits that we’ve been learning.

I really liked our lunch today, chicken with grilled veggies and cherry peppers. Yum!
Mary Anne wanted another calorie burn, so we headed up to the La Costa Fitness Center for some pre-Pilates cardio.

1:30 p.m. Pilates with Renee: Renee took us through a challenging and fun Mat Pilates class with PFC Trainer Kandice as her form model. I always love Pilates and I found it interesting that all of my reformer work back in LA could translate pretty easily into a mat class.

3:00 p.m. Stretch: Renee and Kandice stayed after to take the team through a Stretch Class, but since this is Adult Fitness Camp (meaning we make our own choices), Mary Anne and I headed to the pool for a pre-dinner swim.

5:00 p.m. Dinner Outing: Part of the weekly program is that the group goes to a local restaurant and our nutritionist Jessica shows us what the healthy options on the menu are. We went to Tin Leaf, and I chose the Tri-Tip with quinoa taboule and Asian Green Beans. I forgot to order to the green beans without the sauce, so I asked them to bring me some without, which they gladly obliged. This is definitely easy to do back home as well.

Post dinner, Mary Anne brought her own car, so Leo joined us and we headed over to Sports Authority for more KT Tape since I have used all of Mary Anne’s. I have to say taping my arches before a long hike or intense workout has been a game changer.

Fit Tip of the Day: Watch the hidden sugars at dinner! I could tell that the sauce that came with the Tri Tip was loaded with sugar so I switched it for mustard. Also, the Asian Green beans had a sauce so sticky you could see it. Those are both dead giveaways that they are loaded with sugar.

The post A Week at PFC Fitness Camp: Day 4 with Maxine appeared first on Premier Fitness Camp.

6:30 a.m. Vegan protein shake in chocolate. YUM.

7:00 a.m. Spin with Todd: We had our choice of Interval Training on the lawn or Spinning. Even though we had just spun yesterday, I really wanted a day completely off my feet. 10 of us walked over to the La Costa fitness center and set up for our private Spin class. I actually liked this one better than yesterday’s class.

8:15 a.m. Breakfast & Learn: Today’s breakfast was blueberry pancakes, canadian bacon and fresh fruit and agave syrup. I was so excited! Amanda, one of the life coaches, gave us a lecture on IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient), and how that can affect how we process our emotions. I know that I can be an emotional eater so I enjoyed this session.

9:00 a.m. Life Coaching Session: Everyone else did their Muscle Max class, but I had my private Life Coaching session. I love this kind of “Inside Work” so I found it really indulgent to have 45 minutes dedicated to me.

9:45 a.m. Live Blood Analysis: This was sooooo eye-opening. I would come down to PFC again just for that. Jessica takes a drop of your blood and puts it on a blood slide – like one of my favorite TV shows Dexter! She then screens it on a large screen and you can see your blood. This was so fascinating – and she then prescribed me some supplements. I really liked this because supplementation has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Like, how do I know which ones I really need and am I missing any or taking ones I don’t need? I liked that she had screenshots of some of the things to look for in my blood sample, so it felt really tailored to MY needs.

10:15 a.m. Energy Snack: Greek yogurt, granola and berries.

10:45 a.m. Aqua Blast: First of all, I love this pool. It’s a saltwater pool, and so beautiful. One of the Fitness Trainers, Kandice, took us through an hour long aqua class that I really loved. This is something I think I want to continue doing when I get back to LA.

12:00 p.m. Lunch & Learn with Lenita Anthony: Lunch was Gluten Free Pasta with chicken and grilled veggies. This blonde powerhouse has such a great physique which is a testament to her weight-lifting passion. 2-3x a week of a good strength training program can yield really amazing results.

1:00 p.m. Mission Bay Beach Cruising: We took another field trip down to Mission Beach and hopped on some cruisers to get some sunshine by the beach. I loved this.

5:00 p.m. Dinner: Spinach Salad with Salmon. The salmon was soooo good. I’m still getting used to 3oz protein servings but the dressing was amazing.

Post dinner I tried to schedule a massage (PFC Campers get a special discount) but tonight was booked. I have one scheduled for Friday that I’m really looking forward to. Now, Mary Anne, Leo and I are just hanging out in the room talking about travel.

My favorite workout so far has been Boot Camp. I just love this style of training, and it’s something I feel like I can easily continue in WeHo especially because I already do this at a studio really close to my house. I also want to try and get outdoors more like we have here at PFC, and get in a hike, beach bike ride or pool workout a few times a week.

My favorite thing I’ve learned from the trainers is the need to stay in my target heart rate zone which is so easy because we have the Polar heart monitors that they set up for us.

As for food, this is a sustainable approach to eating. That’s one of the reasons that Mary Anne chose it. I have already set myself up to continue with a Food Delivery plan to “keep the think” out of it for now. I really have changed my palette and learned some healthy ways to jazz up food (think lemons, Bragg’s Amino Acids, Red Pepper Flakes and Apple Cider Vinegar). I want to “lock this in” so I think the Food Delivery is a good option for me right now.

My favorite meal so far has been the Thai Lettuce Wraps that Chef Jackie demonstrated for us yesterday.

Fit Tip of the Day: Strength Training raises your metabolism more than anything else because muscle is an active tissue and burns calories even at rest!

The post A Week at PFC Fitness Camp: Day 3 with Maxine appeared first on Premier Fitness Camp.

6:00 a.m. Protein Shake: I found that I like the vegan shakes better than the whey protein ones.

7:00 a.m. Boot camp: I really love this style of training. It reminds me a lot of what I do back home and was strength based so I LOVED this class.

8:15 a.m. Breakfast: Oatmeal and a hard boiled egg. Women get an average of 1350 calories here at camp – the guys get a little more. A little almond milk, Stevia and cinnamon on my oatmeal with blueberries and I was good to go.

9:00 a.m. Boxing: I LOVE to box. I used to kickbox years ago, and I do it back in West Hollywood too. There is nothing like doing boxing drills on a heavy bag to torch some serious calories.

10:15 a.m. Energy Snack: We usually get a piece of fruit and a protein and a fat of some kind. Think clementine and string cheese.

10:30 a.m. Cycology: This was our first field trip so we met curbside in front of the spa. We took a short drive to a spin studio. I don’t love Spinning truth be told, but I know it’s a serious calorie burner. The teacher Johnny is super cute and energetic and the studio monitors your heart and effort on a big screen so that definitely made it a lot more fun.

12:00 p.m. Lunch & Learn: Chef Jackie came in and taught us a delicious Thai Lettuce Wrap dish inspired by a PF Chang favorite of hers. I think the Nutrition is the biggest lesson(s) for me. Then Jessica, the Nutritionist, gave a lecture about the evils of sugar. Bye bye lemonade and regular ketchup! Yes, ketchup. There are so many hidden sugars in EVERYTHING.

1:30 p.m. Torrey Pines Hike: Another field trip! We all piled into two vans and headed over to beautiful Torrey Pines for a pretty intense hike. This really WIPED me out, and my heart rate hovered between 140 and 160.

4:00 p.m. Stretch: Boy, did I need this after the hike. My hamstrings, feet and shins were so tight from the hike and our trainer Renee took us through some very gentle stretches that helped immensely.

5:00 p.m. Dinner: Turkey burger with mozarella cheese and grilled veggies. We were so excited to see this meal and I fell in love with the purple cauliflower.

Later in the evening, five of us headed down to the hot tub to relax our muscles. La Costa is really beautiful and it’s great to know the other campers. I was so sore that I kept my KT tape on in the jacuzzi but the stretch and jacuzzi really did help.

Biggest Takeaway of the Day: I think my biggest eye opener of the day was how much damage sugar can do and how much you can change your health for the better simply by keeping a vigilant eye on the white stuff.

Fit Tip of the Day: Keep your sugar intake under 7 grams of added sugar per serving. That stuff adds up very very quickly!

The post A Week at PFC Fitness Camp: Day 2 with Maxine appeared first on Premier Fitness Camp.

Continue reading Maxine’s Journey:

After a very busy holiday season and event after event, I am excited to take some much needed ME time. My best friend, Mary Anne, really wanted to take a fitness retreat/vacay after her crazy busy year – and after much research, found Premier Fitness Camp. She is lucky enough to be here for three weeks – and some of the campers are here for 3 months and more! As for me, I can only get away for a week but I figured that would be a perfect way to reboot and get a strong handle on my nutrition and just take a health vacation.

I am really proud though, that I have been consistent with my workouts at home – an average of 3 days a week at my boot camp class in West Hollywood, where I live, which helped a lot because the workouts here at PFC are INTENSE. Plus, it’s at the beautiful La Costa Resort and Spa in gorgeous Carlsbad so I already knew I would love the location.

I arrived last night, and had my first healthy meal in our communal dining room. The food was tasty – broccoli soup, salmon and steamed veggies. I moved into our room (so conveniently located steps from the Spa, Pool and Camp itself) and went to sleep at 9 p.m. Yes, 9 p.m. because our Orientation was set to start at 6 a.m.!

Here is a recap of my first day:

6:00 a.m. Orientation: There is a LOT to learn here at PFC and that’s kind of the point. This isn’t a quick fix type of deal – although working out 4-6 hours a day and eating healthy is pretty guaranteed to do that. The Nutrition Director, Jessica and the Fitness Director, Wendy took us 6 newbies through our paces. We each got a little backpack with information, as well as a Polar Heart Monitor and a FitBit. There is even an app with coaches at our fingertips available to help us for 12 weeks (or more) after we leave camp.

They took all our measurements and even took our blood. This was an eyeopener for me. All of my numbers were just a LITTLE on the high side, with the exception of my good cholesterol. Jessica told me that there was a good chance all of those would be within the normal range with the diet and exercise changes the week would bring. Really? Will I be able to turn it around that quickly?

8:00 a.m. Breakfast: A yummy scramble and quinoa with a bit of fruit set us up for our Fitness Test.

9:00 a.m. Fitness Test: A timed mile, timed planks and timed push ups were done to help us see how far we have come in our time here.

Workout #1
Sports Conditioning: Wait a minute. Didn’t we already workout? OK. No. That fitness test was just the baseline. Sports Conditioning. This was held outside on the grass in the midday sun which added to the challenge. Things like burpees, sleds and even suicides was a serious trial by fire. I actually liked it even outdoors in the midday sun. And I don’t really do outdoor workouts.

Workout #2
Max Muscle: This is their method of weight training, which I actually love. Push Pull, Core, Upper Body and Legs are the 4 major categories of exercises.

Nutrition Lecture: Jessica took us newbies through the PFC approach to Nutrition which is a very sensible, balanced scientific approach with holistic touches. This is a perfect approach for me as an LA girl.

Workout #3
Move & Groove: Taught by a former Madonna Dancer named Johnny, this class is a favorite amongst many of the campers.

Yoga: Taught in the world famous Deepak Chopra Center, this is the perfect way to stretch out those much used muscles.

Biggest Takeaway of the Day: I recently quit Diet Coke and I know it’s wreaked havoc on my metabolism, gut, etc. I am definitely going to take some probiotics to fill some of those holes in my digestive system.

Fit Tip of the Day: The heart rate monitor is EVERYTHING in terms of getting maximum result from our workouts. I loved that they helped us set up all the technology so that we could easily use this tool.

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