Camila Banus (Gabi)
* “Get organized. I’ve noticed my workouts are far more effective, if I write out a list. For some, it may be on their phone. For some, it may be on their tablet. I personally like to have a paper written out with little boxes I can check off as soon as I get that exercise done. I feel super-complete and super-rewarded that I finished my workout for the day.”
* “Fashion is one of the biggest motivators for fitness for me, putting together a cute workout [outfit]. Styling my hair, whether that’s putting it in braids or a cute ponytail or spraying on some hair spray to slick back the frizzies that I have … Making myself feel really together for the gym to get myself to conquer a workout is rewarding for me and really motivating.”
* “It really helps for me to meal prep at the beginning of the week, whether that be Saturday or Sunday. I’m okay to eat the same thing, although maybe one day I’ll eat something different, for the entire week. I love that. But I do have a huge problem with drinking [enough] water. Nothing worked except two things. One of them is a really cool bottle I purchased on Amazon. It keeps me motivated. It has little positive notes on the outside of it for every hour, like, 9 a.m., ‘You did it,’ 10 a.m., ‘Good job, keep going.’ The second thing is I add a couple of pineapple chunks to that bottle of water. It gives it a little bit of an acidy pineapple taste and makes it really easy to drink.”
Brandon Beemer (Shawn)
* “What you put into your body, you have to put out in energy and activity. That’s how I keep a balance. If I want to eat bad, I feel like I have to earn it before I decide to eat bad, instead of saying, ‘I need to work it off’ after I eat something [unhealthy]. So get ahead of it first and earn it.”
* “Instead of feeling like you have to go to the gym all the time, because sometimes it’s hard to get there, just go out and take a walk around your neighborhood. Take a long fast walk and get your body moving, get your circulation going. If you have a dog, go out and walk your dog twice a day.”
* “I don’t ever keep sugar in the house. I weaned myself off of it by not having it here. I buy a lot of fruits, so I get a little bit of [sweetness]. It helps fill that void [so] when you wake up the next day, you’re not going to be craving a Twix. It calms the mental brain that’s craving the sugar, and it gets easier as the weeks go by.”
Galen Gering (Rafe)
* “You have to look at the overall calories that you’re putting into your body on a daily basis and really pay attention to that. Once you do that, you can figure out how you get a calorie deficit. You obviously have to burn more calories in a day than you’re putting in your body [in order to lose weight]. It’s a simple formulaic thing that a lot of people fail to do. Once you do that you’ll realize how much you’re snacking throughout the day and adding calories to that pile, when you may not even be hungry. For me, when I want to lose weight, that’s the first thing that I look at.”
* “One of the other main keys for me is not eating past 7:00 at night, and I’ll eat a light dinner. Then I’ll usually wake up hungry, which is great, and I’ll have a good breakfast. And you want to eat healthy, clean food, obviously. You don’t want to be putting fried or processed food in your body. It’s not only full of saturated fats, but it’s going to slow your machine down. We don’t want that. We want our metabolism to rev up. We want to put things that are natural into our body.”
* “Do some sort of exercise every day, even if it’s just walking. Getting out, getting fresh air, is oxygenating your blood and getting your body moving. I get bored with going to the gym every day. I like to mix it up with different things. I’ll be like, ‘I’m going to allocate three days a week to go to the gym. I want to go on a hike at least one or two days. I want to do yoga two days.’ Then, maybe I’ll mix in something else that’s more active. Maybe that’s snowboarding or going to play beach volleyball or taking a bike ride. I like to keep it interesting and have friends involved in my journey, so you start making plans that you have to stick to and stay motivated.”
Lauren Koslow (Kate)
* “My first tip is the time to start is now, right now, whether it’s a new exercise program or it has to do with your diet. One of the disservices we do to ourselves is procrastination, just putting things off and trying to wait for the perfect time. There is no perfect time except now.”
* “Remember to be kind to yourself as you start on your new program. We can put our best efforts in, but sometimes we fall off the wagon. The important thing is the next day or even the next hour to get back on track. If we’re more forgiving and understanding of ourselves, we have a better chance of continuing on the plan that we have for ourselves.”
* “In terms of exercise and diet, I find it helps to think in terms of health and wellness and not necessarily in terms of weight. Make it a decision to be in the most healthy condition that you can be in. Some of the tips along that line, especially if you’re thinking about a plant-based or more healthy diet, is when you’re at the supermarket, read labels. Also, try to shop the outside aisles of the market, where they have fruits and vegetables, and stay away from processed foods. Try to shop organic, when you can, or sustainable or local.”
