Belle Isle Adventures!!!!!!!!

Last nights Summer Challenge event was at Belle Isle!! It was a very exciting and fun night. There was lots of sweat and great teamwork!

The night started off with the summer challengers hiking around the island. Periodically, there would be team vs. team challenges. There were four "bonus" pound challenges, and they were:
1) Run up a hill without using your hands- Darwin's Revenge had the most team members make it up without using hands, so they won that round
2) Relay race- The summer challengers battled in out in an old fashion footrace. The Flaming Albatrosses put up a good fight, but Darwin's Revenge won.
3) Frisbee Toss- This was Frisbee with a twist. Each team had to choose one person to throw the Frisbee and one person to catch the Frisbee. The twist was that the catchers had to out on the rocks!!! Christine Walters and Micah Edwards participated for Darwin's revenge and Eric Stalling, myself and David Pijor(who tagged in) played for the Flaming Albatrosses. We found out that it is very hard to throw a Frisbee across the water and Darwin's revenge won by default since the Frisbee made it to the rock
4) The last challenge of the night was to find a shirt that had been hidden. We we given clues to the location, but after searching for 15 minutes , it was discovered that the clue giver gave the wrong directions and so everyone was looking in the wrong place!!!!

All in all it was a fun adventure on Belle Isle. There are a great number of hiking trails and lots of other fun activities. I recommend that if you have not been to Belle Isle, that you should try and go! It is a great Richmond landmark and offers lots of ways to exercise and have fun!!
-Rachel Garmon

Check back in next week because the Summer Challengers will be checking out the new Short Pump American Family Fitness!!!

Bump....set....spike!

Last night the summer challengers got to play volleyball at the Richmond Volleyball Club!!!! Darwin's Revenge and the Flaming Albatrosses battled it out for 5 games for the bonus pounds and the win. The Flaming Albatross were down a couple teammates, but they battled hard, but alas they lost to Darwin's Revenge
Congratulations to Darwin's Revenge for winning the bonus pounds!!!
Thank you to the Richmond Volleyball Club for teaching us how to play and letting us play at your place. Hopefully we will be back soon!!
-Rachel Garmon

This is getting good...

We're very proud of our supportive environment. Not only do our Summer Challenge teams have members that are supporting each other and encouraging each other to meet at American Family for the next work out, but all of the participants have really been pooling together with that sense of camaraderie and being in this together.

So of course, we had to raise the stakes.

It was announced this week that the prize for having the best Team Weight Loss at the end of the summer was a limo ride for the entire team to dinner at Penny Lane Pub. (Even healthy eaters get cheat meals, right?) And then, it was announced that teams would get the chance to get Bonus Pounds by winning mini-contests over the summer that would count towards their total team weight loss amount. Well, the gloves have come off.

Our first Bonus Pounds Challenge is this coming Monday night at the Richmond Volleyball Club, where the team with the most wins of the night will receive the first Bonus Pounds and will be well on their way to that limo celebration in September. It's gonna be Darwin's Revenge vs. the Flaming Albatrosses in a serious Galapagos smackdown. Balls will be flyin'. At least one of the ComedySportz players is going to cry. And another will leave with a bandaged appendage, but I won't say what. Or who.

Weight loss is a serious sport, folks. Especially when a limo is involved.


- Dave "Catman" Gau, Summer Challenge Host

Sweet sweat

First off we have mister David Pijor to thank for the AMAZING layout for the blog...It looks great!

Second, Thanks to the heat and lack of ac in my house I think I have sweated off a pound or two. But everyone should remember took stay hydrated during these hot times and wear sunscreen..summer is officially upon us

Third, Tonight the summer challengers are going to be getting a lesson on nutrition from VA Wellness Associates..WOOO HOO

-Rachel Garmon

Donuts, Chocolates and Beer

There's a donut just down the hall from me at work that has been calling my name all day. A whole tray of them, in fact. Right next to the coffee. Sure, I gave in to the coffee. That's not going to add too much in the fat department.

But the donuts? Oh, man. It is seriously hard to fight the temptation to just down the entire tray. I've got these mini Dove dark chocolates in a bowl on my desk. I've rationed myself to one a day, as dark chocolate actually has many health benefits. But today? I've had two, and have been fighting the urge to simply dump the entire contents of that bowl, wrappers and all, right down my gaping pie hole. The donuts must have emailed the chocolates and told them I was weak.

Creating healthier eating habits is a main focus of the ComedySportz Summer Challenge. Sure, we're competing to drop the most pounds and battling to see who can sweat the most, but all of that exercise is for naught (yeah, "for naught") if we follow it up with 5 Happy Meals. I've been working on this for a while, personally. But that sure doesn't mean I've mastered it.

Take for example the recent and amazing Richmond Improv Festival at CSz last weekend. Awesome shows, every single one. But as with any addiction, I associate enjoying comedy shows with drinking beer. Mmmmmmm. Beer. But since the Summer Challenge had just gotten started, I was determined to keep that to a minimum. Which lasted all of maybe a half-hour. During those 3 days, I made a serious dent in the CSz Bass supply. Woops. So much for my healthy willpower.

At ComedySportz, we teach that mistakes are golden, and we should celebrate them as we learn from them. I think I celebrated that mistake by opening another golden Bass.

So my Summer Challenge remains conquering my sweet tooth (and my Ale tooth, apparently.) This coming Monday we're welcoming one of our awesome sponsors, Virginia Wellness Associates, to come and give our participants a session of nutrition counseling so we can all work towards making the best food decisions we possibly can. In the meantime, I'll just stay here at my desk, doing whatever I can to resist the alluring call of temptation.

I blame the donuts.

- Dave "Catman" Gau, Summer Challenge Host

Week 2

Woot!! well we're are officially done with week 1 of the summer challenge. At our weigh-in there were plenty of happy faces and low numbers!!! The comradore among the summer challengers is great. With people supporting each other and working out together!!!

More exciting news later, but feel free to check Byran Dunn's own weight loss blog. http://thedunnchronicles.blogspot.com/
He is the captain of the Flaming Albatrosses!!

Here's to a healthy, happy summer!
-Rachel Garmon

Week 2, a skeleton plan!

Hey All!  It's the 2nd week of the challenge, how's everyone doing?  In case anyone wants ideas or plans on what they should be doing for the week, here's my plan.

Monday 2nd - Cardio!

Tuesday 3rd - Lift (Lower Body)

Wednesday 4th - Cardio!

Thursday 5th - Lift (Upper Body)

Friday 6th - Swimming

Saturday 7th - Body Pump class at the West End location, 10:30 AM

Sunday - Rest

If people call me, or email me (andrew.s.burns@gmail.com), each day I could give you a better idea of what times I'll be in the gym, I'll always welcome workout buddies.  Hit cardio every day if you're mainly looking to lose weight, make sure you're eating snacks during the day to keep your metabolism up, and never resistance train two days in a row.

OK guys, have a great week!  Stay healthy!

-Andy