Another WTF moment!

So I taught my class at Dufferin Mall yesterday. I was excited, because according to the manager of my gym, this was a big favour to the gym as they were going to have a huge turn-out for their rennovation completion party. Normally I work my Flight Centre job past 6pm each day (which is why I teach at 730pm each night). But because of the favour, I arranged to leave early (before 5pm) so I could get to Dufferin Mall and get acquainted with the gym before class.

I got there, and found the gym, which is located in the centre of the mall. I don't know if my expectations are too high, but I expected some sort of greeting, but as I arrived nobody so much as said "hi" until I came out and said "Hi I'm Rob the Turbo Kick Instructor!". At that point I got a "Oh hi, the Aerobics room is around the corner".

I was slightly bewildered. I got to the room, which was mostly empty, except for garbage littered throughout the room, chairs scattered and GNC suppliments scattered on a couple of tables. I honestly thought I was in the wrong place.

Since I was by myself, I cleaned the room, moved the chairs, setup my music and hung out in the room. At about 2minutes before class, there was nobody there. I found this really odd, because the whole reason I was there was to help them out of a jam, being that SO MANY people were going to be there, which is why they had to have my class.

7 ladies showed up right at the last minute as well as a couple ladies from my gym (Hanna and Liliane rock!!!). So the class was ultra small, but went GREAT! The ladies were great and did a phenomenal job catching on and I have a feeling that some, if not all of them will pop over to our gym (since they can go for free) in the near future!

I think class went wonderful, and wanted to get feedback from the manager, who had watched much of it from either the doorway, or on the monitor at their front desk. But apparently she left for dinner just as my class left. So my exit was much like my entrance...very lackluster. Like I said, perhaps I have high expectations, but I would have thought at least a "HELLO", "GREAT CLASS" or at the very least "THANKS FOR HELPING US OUT" would have been awesome!

All in all however I think it was great, because I already know that these classes are about the members, not the managers of the gym, or the staff or me. So if the members loved Turbo, which I think they did, that's ALL that matters!!!

This morning I taught my 630am class and it rocked! I walked in to at least 20 posters advertising our Turbo Kick Event this weekend! They are up a little later than would have been ideal, but they are UP and EVERYWHERE!

Class was GREAT today and I am completely wiped from it! I'm eating my face off right now to fuel up for the day (and for class#2 and my P90X workout)!

Extra Class this week!!

Well I just got home from class and got surprised with a Special request today. Another location of Fitness One is in a jam and has asked if I would headline their Customer Appreciation Party with a Turbo Kick Class!

So this week I get to check out the Dufferin Mall location (which I've never taught at, but apparently is their busiest location). It should be fun, and I can feel the butterflies already! Teaching at a new location where nobody has ever done Turbo feels like I'm starting all over again! I'm so excited and nervous!

I'm also SUPER excited about this weekend! I have my best friend, Heather arriving on Thursday night from Arizona and my friends Christine, Heidi and Lynn coming in from New York on Friday! I'm so excited for Saturday's event that I can't think of much else right now!

Having Christine in my class is a little nerve-inducing too (but mostly just SUPER exciting). Christine is the National Promotions Director for Powder Blue Productions. Basically this means that she is in charge of all of the Area Promotions Directors (who I desperately want to become this next year) who certify all of the new Turbo Kick Instructors!

So this week class schedule:

Monday - 730pm - Charles Street
Tuesday - 530pm - Dufferin Mall
Wednesday - 630am - Charles Street
Wednesday - 730pm - Charles Street
Friday - 730pm - Charles Street
Saturday - 900am - Charles Street EVENT!!!

Unfinished Goals

This past year has been amazing for me. I've had so many goals, and whether it has been my weight loss, my attendance at Turbo Kick Camp, Teaching Turbo Kick™, or Being a part of the Turbo Jam™ Infomerical I have done them all!

I've set goals for my 5km and 10km races, and accomplished them. I set a goal for the CN Tower Climb, and blew it away! This year has been phenomenal.

But there is one fitness related goal I have fallen short on...several times. P90X. For anyone who doesn't know, P90X is a pretty intense, ok REALLY intense workout program. So intense that with everything else I've been able to do, I haven't even made it through a month of P90X before giving it up. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Turbo has been such a big part of my life, and doing both was pretty taxing.

Well talking with my friend Suzie today, we decided that the two of us are going to start a 1-Month circuit of P90X. We're not interested at a full 90X right now, but we both feel that doing this between now and Christmas will not only help us with our fitness goals, but also help battle the winter blues! We've decided that we'll start on Monday and go straight to Christmas day. From there, we'll decide what's next.

I'll still be teaching my Turbo Kick™ classes, so I'm going to have to eat a little more (and plan a LOT better) than I have been! It's going to be one crazy month! I can't wait to get started!

I'm going to be blogging every day, like I did when I was losing my weight. I'll blog about my workouts, my classes, and my food! I know there are some people who read my blog pretty regularly, so feel free to keep me accountable if you see a day go by without an entry between Monday and Christmas! I think this is the best Christmas Present Suzie and I could give to ourselves!!! It's gonna be a blast (I think!) ;)


By the way. I'll put a link for Suzie on my blog soon, but until then, if you wanna see her, she's over on MYSPACE

http://www.myspace.com/the_sooze

I freaking LOVE mornings!!!

As a self proclaimed NON-morning person, I think I'm coming around!

I mean I still hate crawling out of my warm bed at 5am, but once that necessary evil has been accomplished...MAN!!! What an awesome way to start the day! Walking on the quiet streets, taking the empty subway train on its first trip up the Yonge Street Line, and walking into the gym to see a half dozen ladies on treadmills and working on weights.

A morning class is such a different dynamic than an evening class. It could be the very same ladies (and in some cases it is), but the way they feel and act is MUCH different at 6am than it is at 730pm!!

All the ladies were in the room, stretching, or QUIETLY sitting patiently waiting for class to start. When I saw quiet, I mean QUIET. You could have heard a pin drop! Everyone keeping to themselves, and just trying to force those last sleepies out of their body.

I even find myself talking a little more softly (at least until the music starts). By the time I've climbed the stairs to the 4th floor when class is held, I'm ready to go, but until the music actually starts, I'm still kind of in sleep mode myself.

I LOVE watching the smiles emerge on these ladies as the blood starts pumping through their bodies and seeing how much they physically and emotionally change over the period of only 1 hour! Those ladies who walked into the gym at 6am are NOT the same people who walked out at 730am!!!

What an awesome morning!!!!

How much do I love Turbo Kick?

Enough to turn down a free all-expense paid trip to Barbados!

I entered a contest a few months ago at work, and today I got a call from the Barbados tourist board letting me know that I had won! I was invited to travel to Barbados for a week, and race in the Barbados marathon!

Debbie for Tourist board - "Hi Rob, You've won! Is your passport current"
Me - "Yes Ma'am!"
Debbie - "Can you be in Barbados from Nov28-Dec4"
Me - "Ooph...No I'm sorry I can't"

There is no way that I can be away, even for a free trip to Barbados when I have this event! Not even a consideration. Oh well. Someone else will get this amazing trip because I turned it down so really I guess I got to make someone else's day today too :)

Class was GREAT tonight! Absolutely packed, and the energy level was through the roof! The windows were completely fogged and we had an absolute blast!

Words to live by

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. -Theodor Seuss Geisel"

A first time for everything!

I just got home from class, and like always it was great! Isabel "Izzy", an absolutely AWESOME gal from Michigan came to check out Turbo in Toronto today! Izzy was certified a few months ago, and like me and so many others, is simply addicted to Turbo! Her form was awesome, as was her enthusiasm! I'm so excited that she came to class!

Now on the flip side. Today was the FIRST class I've ever taught where I was VERY frustrated. Our gym doesn't have a mic, so I have to do class A CAPELLA. Normally its no issue, but sometimes there are gals in class who like to chatter. Now I have no issue with loudness, excitement, and chatter, but when its loud talking, ESPECIALLY when I'm explaining things so the NEW folks won't feel lost, I get really frustrated. Today was EXCEPTIONALLY rough in that respect. I don't want to say "HEY QUIET DOWN", because I beleive that grown ladies should have the common sense and respect to realize that they are being disrespectful to me and to those in the class, whose faces clearly showed the frustration with the noise level.

I hope I don't have to address it in class, because I don't want to take the wind out of anybody's sails, but these girls really need to talk about their days before class or after class, not in the middle of it while class is going on.

Ok venting done. All in all I had a great day!

Mornings ROCK!

I am SO glad I decided to teach an early morning class! I know it's only one day per week, but it is SUCH a great way to kick off the day! It's so amazing to watch my morning class (which is growing like crazy too) wake up! 630am is very early for some people, and at the beginning of class you can totally see it on their faces! I kind of giggle to myself about it actually, seeing the "I just don't do mornings" look on so many faces. Yet, despite that these ladies are up, at the gym and giving it their all when most of their friends are fast asleep!

I normally teach facing the same direction as the class, but have recently been spending more time facing the class, and "mirror" teaching. I find that this is especially fun in the mornings! Seeing the expressions change as the class goes on, seeing the energy levels climb and the endorphins released is such an amazing thing!

By the time class ends, you wouldn't know that its only 730am! The energy that these ladies generate is through the roof!!

Time to get moving for me! Breakfast is done, lunch and dinner is packed, as well as some clean gym clothes for tonight's class!! :)

The Bike is Dead.

Some folks have their first dog or a cat, some their favourite running shoes, even their first car. Some thing that holds a special bit of nostalgia. Well for me, I had my bike. "Emma" has been my constant companion for years. I built her from the frame up. I even built the wheels, one spoke at a time. I've put literally 10's of thoushands of miles on her over the past 5 or 6 years.

Well as I was riding her home after teaching class on Friday night I noticed that my seat was loose. This was not uncommon, because I have a really nice saddle on this bike and have been the victim of attempted theft several times while she has been locked up outside. I have a strong cable permanently attached to the saddle (the other end to my frame) to deter would-be thieves.
But sometimes the thief gets the seat loose before noticing that it's secured onto the bike. So I thought THAT was the issue. I WISH.

I got home with my loose seat and notice that the entire frame had broke! The seat tube had literally snapped off! This bike has taken me so many places, over so many miles at both my heaviest weight (and my current weight). She's been a real work horse. But this break is un-fixable. I had to get rid of her now. Emma has been the most wonderful companion and by far my favourite bike ever. But today, she is dead.

December 2, 2006 - FUN FUN FUN!!

New Day, More Turbo!

Well as if the week of Infomerical Fun wasn't enough! I flew from the OC to Rochester NY yesterday to see some of my Turbo Kick Girls and a good friend of mine, Neva all get certified by Christine Dwyer! I flew from Orange County to Newark, NJ and then after a 3 hour layover, headed in on a quick flight to Rochester! I made it from the airport to the hotel, dropped off my junk and then straight to gym where I arrived just in time to do the first of Two classes with the girls!

WOW! :) I forgot that I was supposed to be tired after all this travelling and jet lag stuff!! class was AWESOME! I've known Christine for a while now and have taken a PiYo class from her, but have never been lucky enough to take a Turbo Class from her!

SERIOUSLY folks, Christine is up there with the ANNA-RITA's and Chalene's of the world! This girl has POWER and intensity and although I expected her to ROCK, I wasn't expecting her to be THAT freaking incredible!

I sat in the back during much of the certification, trying to learn as much as I could! I really want to be an APD (Area Promotions Director) for Turbo Kick and getting to learn from Christine was great! I've done the same with Mindy at her certifications and I love how each of these awesome gals put their own twist and perspective on the certification! Anyone would be lucky to get certified by either of these phenomenal Presenters. If I am fortunate enough to get to their level and I am half as good as they are, I'll be a huge success!! They rock!!

We had a quiet evening last night, that consisted of some good food, a couple drinks and some great conversation! I slept LONG for the first time in a week (10 WHOLE HOURS!!!!! YEEE) and I am so excited to sit down this week and set some new goals, and make a list of how I'm going to accomplish them!!

Infomerical Final Cut!

What a day!!! Long, tiring and the best experience ever!! We did some more testimonials, we got prepped and did a KILLER workout on film (with the Turbo Jam weighted Gloves). HOLY COW!! I've used the gloves before, and totally love how they add to the workout! But MAN! Today, I was sweating just thinking about the workout, so with the gloves on and working out for a couple hours, we were all drenched! It was awesome though!!!

We did some talking about the gloves themselves (BY THE WAY, they are coming out with a NEW model of the weighted gloves, that I got to test during this shoot, and they ROCK!) They are more comfy than the old model and I liked them A LOT! I can't wait to get them!

Now...I'm about to check out of the hotel and then head to the airport for our long flights home. Ali and I are flying back to Newark together along with Elizabeth a really cool gal from MA. that we met this week! Ali is HOME in Newark, where Elizabeth heads on to her home state, and I'm connecting to Rochester!

I just talked to my lovely wife and she's safe in Rochester with my friends Neva and Pete! I'll get to see them all shortly!

This is going to be the best end to an already spectacular experience!

I've got to see friends I've missed, meet a tonne of new amazing people and this is another experience I will never forget! I am SO fortunate to have been a part of all of this! Chalene, and the Turbo Jam crew were all amazing and it really has been a surreal experience!!

Now I have to start thinking of things to do to keep me on this high!!!

Infomercial Day2 - Done!

What a day! After Chalene's class I met up with Libby, who I hadn't seen since August when we were out here for the Turbo Kick Camp and we headed over the site filming to meet up with everyone who had earlier calls than us.

We got there just in time for lunch, so our parts in the infomercial were off to a bit of a slow start, but the food was great! :)

I got to see everyone else dressed up, through hair and makeup and getting their pictures taken! They looked SO good! Being the only guy in this infomercial was weird, and seeing how AMAZING all these ladies looked made me wonder why the heck I was there! I mean seriously, all these girls are just amazing!

I got to go through and show the folks the clothes I had brought and between those clothes and the wardrobe they had on site, we were able to piece together my interview clothes, and my workout clothes for the pictures (and for tomorrow's workout).

The interview was like nothing I had ever done! The camera was rolling almost the whole time, with just a couple small cuts, but what a weird, neat, uncomfortable, cool, fun experience! Totally something completely foreign to me! I sure hope that between my rambling nonsense that they can edit together some sort of sane comments!

I was really surprised how organized everything seemed to be too! The folks at Beachbody and the production team doing this really have taken great care of us, and have done a bang up job with this whole thing so far! I can't WAIT to see the finished product!

We all rushed after filming and most of us were able to get back to the 24hour Fitness gym (where I was this morning) to take a class lead by Anna Rita!!
SOOOO good! Her class is really advanced by the look of it, so the routine she did reflected that! A bunch of stuff I had never done before which I loved! We did some of the round that I am teaching right now too, which was great! Anna Rita pulled me up on stage for a bit which I loved too! Jackie and Missy also rocked the stage during class!! A couple of friends of Anna Rita's spent most of the class up on stage and they are kick-butt! Class was such a blast!

We headed to dinner and ended up at the CHEESECAKE Factory. I have heard about this place but never been to one. All I can say is BIG. Big everything, including PORTIONS! I made it through about 2/3 of my meal...Super tasty and not expensive, but BIG! We had a really good time!

I REALLY like everyone we're doing this experience with! I really feel fortunate to have even been included in this whole adventure! I am beyond words really...and for me that's tough!

Well tomorrow morning is more fun. I am not sure all we're doing, but I do know that our filmed workout is happening and for that, I am Giddy!!! Who would have thought...An awesome trip to California, out of the freezing weather in Toronto...What do I remember the most? (besides the most amazing people in the world I get to hang with). The workouts! We're constantly looking at our schedules to see where/when we can fit in a workout and how long it would take us to get back! What an odd bunch we are! :)

until tomorrow!
I'm wiped!

Infomercial Day2 - Off to an EXCELLENT Start!

So 3am rolls around and I am wide awake!! Dang Jet lag...So I wander around my room, pull check the status of my workout clothes that I washed in the sink last night, and try to tidy up the hurricane that I created in the room yesterday!

I had a chance to talk to Heather shortly after that (the first BENEFIT of a 3hour time difference!) and then called Jackie at 6am as she was likely almost ready for her casting call (7am).

Since I don't leave until 1145am for mine, I had time to burn, so off I go to 24Hour Fitness at the Irvine Spectrum area to take class from Chalene!!! Oh man!!! It was amazing!!

It started off amazing, because Janie, one of the other girls from the infomercial, who is staying at the same hotel as us showed up, then my friend, Summer arrived!! After that a few other familiar faces including my friend Heather from Powder Blue! I got to meet Kristi, who works with Chalene and whom I have emailed with but never met yet!!

Chalene arrives (I got my hug and an AWESOME intro to the class), and the class is packed!!! All of a sudden the door opens and someone popped in that caught Chalene's attention. I couldn't tell who it was though because there were so many people! This mystery person weaves her way through jabs and crosses up to the front, just in front of me..It was Anna Rita!!! She stopped working out, ran over and gave me a hug, and then we got going!

We did Round29! It was out of this world! For anyone who doesn't know, this is the new Routine that Chalene is working on that isn't scheduled to be released yet for a bit...All I can say is that it is probably my favorite one! I've either DONE, or WATCHED about 15 of the 29 rounds and this one is AWESOME! The mirrors were completely steamed by the time class was done, and the floor was so wet that EVERYONE was slipping all over the place. It was fun, a little dangerous but amazing!!!

The aerobic room was REALLY cool too. It is a new concept that 24Hour Fitness is doing called "THE ALLEY". It basically makes the Group Fitness area look like a dance club. There is a HUGE disco ball up top and a lighting system that is tied into the sound system. So big bass gets lighting changes etc...So cool! Its decorated REALLY classy too! Just a wicked environment to do class in!!!

Summer gave me a lift back to the hotel, and now I am about to get cleaned up, and in 1hour, the shuttle will be hear to wisk me off to wardrobe! LOL :)

Conclusion of Day1

Phew...What a day! Hours and Hours of travel (no luck on the upgrade of my second flight) but I'm here!!! My friend Jackie Bull was waiting for me at the airport when I landed with my two new friends Missy and Gen!! These ladies all rock!! We got to the hotel, checked in, got our WELCOME packages and met up with Ali, another friend from NY who was already here! The 5 of us threw our stuff into our rooms and then headed off to catch a Turbo Kick Class with Holly!

It was AWESOME, we had such a blast!!! Afterwards we were ALL wiped! Even though it was only 9pm (it felt like midnight for Ali and I with our EASTERN TIME ZONE jet lag)

I am just giddy with the excitement of what is to come over the next two days! I know its going to be long days, but THIS is SUCH a treat! Getting to share with the world, the KEY to getting me from being the lazy, fat, obese, unhealthy person, to the man I am today!

Until tomorrow!

Infomerical Adventure Update - Houston

FUN FUN FUN!!! The first leg of the trip for me is Toronto to Houston Texas. I will post this after I land, but I am writing this as I sit in First Class on the plane from Toronto to Houston! When I checked in at the Airport, I got to talking with the lady who was doing the boarding passes (they were surprisingly NOT busy). So in passing I did mention to her that I would LOVE it if there was any way possible to get upgraded to First Class. She told me that she would do what she could and to meet her at the departure gate. So I get through security and bump into a friend of mine, who happens to be a professional Olympic Distance Triathlete (also a client of mine at the travel agency and a former coworker of mine when I worked at Celestica). She was flying to Cancun today for a race! So we hung out for an hour before her flight left, then I headed over to my Departure gate where I met Angela, the super nice lady who checked me in earlier. Sure enough, she was able to bump me up to first class! While in first class its been such a BLAST! I have my Mac book here with me obviously, so I was chatting with the flight attendants and ended up telling them WHY I was going to California, and showed them my Before and After pictures! The conversation then takes a TURBO turn! We talked about nothing but Turbo Kick / Turbo Jam for the next while, and I showed them what the workouts looked like (happened to have one of the Turbo Kick workouts loaded on my laptop) :)

I think they were hooked! I mean could they not be! So I think all in all, LEG1 of my flight has be OUTSTANDING! I gave my email address, blog address, and Turbo Kick / Turbo Jam addresses and TK Fanatics Info to the girls on the plane, as they were SUPER excited about Turbo JAM (being flight attendants, their GYM schedule can be pretty tough!)

I really feel like the Canadian Ambassador of Turbo today! ;)

California Bound!

Well I woke up this morning (or should I say last night because it was so dang early) and felt so awful. Sick like a dog. Typical! I get excited, possibly over excited and I get sick. Happens all the time! Anyways, my awesome wife, Heather did ALL my packing for me, including my carry-on luggage and sent me on my way just before 5am this morning. I felt much better by the time I had gotten through security and besides some sniffles I feel pretty great right now as I wait at the gate for my flight to Houston (from Houston I head to Orange County). It's going to be a long day, but SO worth it!
I mean seriously, there is NO way a year ago when I was over 260pounds that I would be in the best shape of my life, and heading to California to be a part of an infomercial for the best Fitness Workout on the planet! But here I sit, and I am just bursting I am so excited!

Those of you who know me well, know that I am having a tough time sitting still right now. Even at 630am, when I am excited about something I am bouncing, literally! I have a feeling that the next few days will have quite a bit of bouncing!

I have my schedule (at least what I know about it). I know that I arrive at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California at 440pm this afternoon. I know that I have a meeting at 1145am tomorrow to do my testimonial and interview. Other than that I have no idea. I know there will be pictures, filming and working out, but I don't imagine I'll know the times for that until I check into my hotel this afternoon!

I'm meeting my amazing friend Jackie at the airport when I land, along with some of her Texas Success Story Buddies (Gen and Missy). Between these 3 ladies, they have dropped well over 200pounds with Turbo! Crazy Stuff!

I'm a phone-a-holic too, so I have been calling all my friends in California and otherwise to chat before I go! I can't wait to meet some of these new people and to see some friends I've been missing like crazy!

I will be taking some Turbo Kick classes FOR SURE this week! I know a few friends (if you have the Turbo Jam DVD's you'd know some of the faces) who teach in the OC, so I am REALLY hopeful that we can drop into a class or 6 while we're in town!

I know that when I get to Rochester on Saturday morning, I will be ready for some more Turbo fun though!

I'm already missing all of my local Turbo Girls! I'm sitting here at the airport, and it is now 650am...Right about now, we'd be at the TURBO section of our morning class, and I would already be getting excited, and thinking about how much fun our Wednesday EVENING class is going to be!

As much fun and as much Turbo as I am going to be doing this week, I am MOST DEFINITELY going to miss our classes and I can't wait to get back at them on Monday!

Just another friendly reminder as well. Saturday, December 2, 2007 is going to be the biggest, most crazy, and action packed Turbo Class we've ever done! If you thought we had fun during our Master Class on Oct21 when we learned Round 27, you just wait!! I've already got some REALLY cool prizes to give away, including some actual SASSNSWEAT workout wear (www.sassnsweat.com), another huge gift bucket of supplements from Sports Nutrition Depot (SND) and a tonne of other cool stuff!!! I am SO excited for this! The DEC2 class will start at 930am (GET THERE FOR 9AM) and will run through the lunch around (until about 2pm). There WILL be refreshments and food to get you going, there will be a break and we WILL be doing a PiYo Intro class as well (SUPER AMAZING, FUN class!). Remember this event is FREE to all members AND non-members, so feel free to bring a friend or 10! :)

I will write more, and update you all as my Turbo/Infomercial Adventure continues!!!