It's hard to put into words how I feel after my first week of the new program, Core de Force. It seems rather odd to me that a program could bring me to tears. Perhaps it is grief coming out sideways, but this program is changing me and I absolutely love it! There are so many reasons for that and I plan to share them below.
I had the opportunity to meet the super trainers who created this program at our Summit this summer. Joel Freeman and Jericho McMatthews are their names. {Joel and Jericho, or J & J} There are just so many things I appreciate about them as people and who they are. See, Jericho is a new mama and she shared with us at Summit that it would have been easy for her to focus on getting awesome results while creating the program and really dialing in her nutrition, workout super hard, etc., but she realized that would have compromised her son's milk supply, so she opted to not do that. She choose her child's health and well being over her results, which I just love. I love it for so many reasons: we live in a society that is so hung up on body image, and looking great and putting ourselves first. Jericho's also a super trainer, so I would imagine it might be a bit more "amped up" in that line of work? Maybe not, but my guess is there is some pressure? {I don't know this for a fact, this is merely my guess.} I love that she knew her child's well being was better than her results and that she declared that publicly with no fear or no shame. She was true to who she is as a person and I love that about her. So, when I did get to meet them and I told her how beautiful I thought that was, I started crying. Yup, I was crying right before this picture was taken, lol! {In true transparency, I had just met Chalene, who I adore, and was most excited about, so I was surprised at my response to meeting them, ha ha! I thought I would cry with Chalene, so the emotion I felt with J and J surprised me.}
I also just really appreciate who they are as people and their style of training. They are just kind and gentle people and you can tell that from their videos. They aren't screaming and up in your face, they are simply walking you through the moves and explaining form while encouraging you to do your best. I love it! The other thing I think that resonates with me about Jericho is she is soft spoken. She is showing me that you can be soft spoken, be strong and still kick booty!
Now that I've raved on about J and J, let's talk about the workouts and the FOOD, shall we? Again, in true honesty, I was SCARED.TO.DEATH of this program! Why? Because if you look back on my pattern of fitness, it's been more dance oriented {Country Heat, Turbo Kick, Cize, etc.}, or low impact....hello, PiYo, one of my all time faves! This is truly the first hard core program I've ever done. 22 Minute Hard Corps, Insanity, P90....those are all our programs, but not ones I have done. And, yes, I do have T25, but haven't done it all the way through....I quit it! So the fact I've done a whole 7 days of this one is a huge deal!
I think part of the reason is I know my WHY behind it. See, weight loss, toning up, or anything physical aren't my reasons for doing this. My why is to PROVE to myself I can do it, to prove to myself that I am strong and to prove to myself that I can do and finish things that scare me. This program is so far out of my comfort zone, and honestly, if our team of coaches wasn't doing it together as a team, I'm not sure I would be attempting it. But, I am learning to be stronger than my excuses, to be stronger than my fears and feelings and that I CAN do hard things. It's very empowering, to be honest and the confidence I'm gaining from it is carrying over into my life. I love that, it's an awesome ripple effect on life!
So, deets about the workouts: They range from 21 minutes {that would be active recovery day} to 47 minutes/workout. As always, there is a workout calendar telling you exactly what workout to do when so you are getting optimum results and getting a full body workout. All the guess work is gone {ugh, it reminds me of when I would go to the gym and never know what to do. Thankful those days are gone.} They are fun, energetic and empowering! There is a lot of focus on learning the movements and getting the motion and form right vs. speed and killing yourself. They teach the moves well and it's easy to get a good feel for how to do them. The music is good and the workouts go by fast, which surprised me! Always a good thing at 5 a.m., right? There have been a few times I've actually caught myself smiling during them.
Food plan....again, another LOVE. It's the same plan as the 21 day fix. All the portions are laid out for you, as are the food choices. The nutrition guide gives recipes and meal plans and is very straightforward and easy to follow. I also love that this week, I get to add another fruit. Wahoo for more food, lol!
All in all, I'm loving this program and am so thankful I stepped out of my comfort zone to try it. I'd like to thank Joel and Jericho for being such great trainers and creating this program that is impacting not only my body, but my life. Thank you, also to Team Transformers, for being a part of my journey. So thankful to do this all together!
If you have questions about Core de Force, or would like to be part of my next virtual fitness group, please let me know. Love hearing from you and helping you on your journey!
