Sandra Axman

Two Meatballs: My Tumultuous Relationship…With Exercise

September 17, 2015health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,bliss body yoga, finding what you love, fitness connection, healthy relationships, hi kelly, innovative fitness training, learning to love working out, no shoes no shirt sara's happy, Pure Barre North Raleigh, Sandra Axman, working out, workout hangoutstwomeatballsgetfit View all 2 comments

Besides food and men and everything else, exercise is a total roller coaster/glass case of emotion of a relationship for me. Until I saw the light, this is how I felt about people who were itty bitty with no effort!

After years of hoping and wishing and thinking and praying (#didyouseewhatIdidthere?!) that I would also somehow become one of those girls, I finally succumbed to the fact that effortless weight loss wasn’t going to happen for me, however even with this new found acceptance, for years this is how I felt about exercise and people who looooooved it!

This baby looks EXACTLY like my grandpa Apple by the by! I just didn’t understand the appeal. I certainly didn’t trust the people who talked about getting up at 5 every morning to go to bootcamp, or had to miss going out for drinks because they had a Body Pump class after work!? And don’t EVEN get me started about your friends wanting to tell every detail of their killer workout…

I was already sweating from simply existing in my 356 pound 5’4 body…why on earth would I want to do anything more strenuous than just sitting…or partying, isn’t that a workout?!

I mean, that is a squat and a curl as far as I’m concerned!

As social media and Pinterest really started taking off and I saw everyones training schedules and motivational workouts, Couch to 5k challenges and how to workout just using your own body…I felt like this would be a better plan for me.

And for years it was. When I was 24 my bestie Katie and I joined a gym, got a trainer and got serious about getting skinny. We would workout so hard during the week and eat so good, whatever fad diet or calorie restrictor, low fat craze was happening we were all about it and for us it was Smash the Fat and it was really working. Then we would go get hammered every single weekend and eat whatever we wanted. The idea of a lifestyle change wasn’t really in our plan and ultimately, after losing 70 pounds I said later girlllll to the gym….annnnd Smash the Fat. Before that I had dabble with Curves, I even saw another trainer for awhile. I joined my dads gym that was close to his work, but it was crazy inconvenient. Nothing ever really stuck and I would always just get very stuck in a routine that would end up totally boring me. It is fair to say that moving my body was NOT a priority and I gained back all the weight plus so much more. This was my idea of fitness and nutrition after I said fuck it.

But you guyyyyyyyys!!!! (this is Sara btwwwwwww’s) Everything has changed. I really understand that lifestyle change concept now and I wouldn’t say that I love working out, but that’s ok! Like any relationship, there are ups and downs, but me and working out see eye to eye a lot more now. I don’t have to love it every time, simply have to go!!! And honestly, I do really love the way it makes me feel. Even when I struggle with food, working out and moving my body has become the constant, the stable relationship if you. Also, I’ve learned what makes me happy and motivated to workout. 1. I love group fitness, I want the community experience, you know I love a team. 2. I love being told what to do (this is the only time I like being told what to do!!!) I show up, listen, do and it’s over! 3. I love not having to wear shoes…Pure Barre I get wear these adorable socks…

And in yoga I get to free ball!!!

I literally feel so free!!! And between Sandra, Pure Barre and Bliss Body, I’m getting all my happy/healthy needs met #healthyrelationship! With Sandy it’s my one guaranteed workout with my best friend and I get at least one really high intensity workout a week which is always different! This week was nutty! Slam balls planks and rowing! Oh my!!! #sarathatbuttistoohigh

With Pure Barre, I get a lower impact workout that really focuses on core and small, controlled movments, the music is loud and its just so different…plus no shoes and a great community!

And with Yoga, I have found a new level of connectedness with myself and those around me…

And this week I got all three in. Since I don’t drink anymore and I can eat exactly nothing right now, which knocks out going out to eat (although I did make it out to Kristi’s bachelorette party this weekend!!! So fun, congrats Kessie!!!

So great to see everyone outside of work)

…workouts have become my new hang out! I mean somebody look at all the fun we’re having!

Kelly came to yoga with me, I met the whole damn fam at the gym and me and Laur went to PB!!! And you’re not even going to believe what else…I have joined a challenge!!! Who am I!? Pure Barre is challenging everyone to do 10, 20 or 30 classes in September

and as of right now, I have crossed off 4 out of 10 classes…wahoo!!!

I have become the person I used to mistrust. I am blogging about fitness, taking part in physical challenges, getting up at 5am for classes and boring people (my dad) with every gory detail of my workouts. And you know what, it feels famazing and so do I. If you ever question whether you can do something or not, just know that you absolutely can, you just have to get started and find what you love. If this girl whose old motto was this…

and who still feels like this…

Can do this…

You can do anything!

Find your fitness home and make yourself a priority. This has become a great healthy relationship for me and I know it can for you. Xo

Two Meatballs: We Started From the Bottom, Now We Here!?!

September 10, 2015health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,Call her!, cheerleader, coach, fitness, fitness guru, get a trainer, having someone believe in you, hey kel hey, High intensive interval training, innovative fitness training, learning to believe in yourself, Sandra Axman, Sandra...you saved us!, Saving yourself, transforming bodies, workouts with your bestie, www.innovativefitnesstraining.comtwomeatballsgetfit View all 4 comments

You guys! Sandra Axman has been with us since the beginning. If you are new to the blog, Sandra is the owner of Innovative Fitness Training http://www.innovativefitnesstraining.com and reached out to us in our Two Meatballs infancy. She offered to train us for a month. We were so nervous, but we thought it was such a great opportunity, so we quickly accepted her generous offer. Jenny and I had started Paleo and joined a gym, but really had NO idea what we were doing! We walked into CORE fitness studio on the Wade Ave exit and were met with hugs and the most motivating person on the planet. That was in April of 2014 and we haven’t looked back since. Look how cute we were!!!

We have seen Sandra once a week for almost a year and a half minus some major illnesses on my part and several vacations between the three of us and it has been so amazing. She is helping us transform our bodies. She is teaching us how to be strong and how to lift the right way. She is coaching us, helping us remember that we can do anything and that it’s all about being in the moment. Just look at all the fun we’ve had, the sweat that was produced and the progress we’ve made. #loveyousandra

We went from binge drinking to taking a sledgehammer to a giant tire!!! And she is so creative, every workout is different!

There were times where we thought, she has to be kidding…

We can’t do box jumps…doesn’t she know that we’re fat!!!

I’m going to puuuuuuke!!!!

But she never stopped believing that we were capable of anything that we set our minds to…and she was right! We learned how to work out on our own!

Even on vacation!!! She also helped us feel confident enough to tackle group fitness!

Here are some of our favorite before and afters…just look how confident!

Look how far we’ve come!!! This is our first workout to now.

Sandra!!!! You mean so much to us. We love you so much. You have taught us everything and we could never thank you enough. You are our favorite part of each week. Xoxo

Which brings us to this week…didn’t you miss these inventive car selfies!?

We were both pumped this morning. I tried to do Jenny’s half bun so we could be twins buuuuut, I got too hot after the first circuit today. Up first, treadmills! We have both been so excited and grateful for this weekly workout since our extended hiatus ended!

Jenny was doing some amazing mid air bust your ass if you’re not careful jumps on the treddie, but I was too close and missed it…here is the best one I could muster!

She told me I ruined it, hahahahaha. Even though we work at the same place we really don’t get to spend any time together bc we are both really busy which is a blessing. So this time with Sandra and our warm up especially we get some great quality time in. We talk about all the dumbest stuff on the planet and we love it. We both are surprised every single week that we aren’t in any of the pictures on the wall in the workout room! Any who, then Sandra came in and told us it was her birthday and that we were her only clients that day. After much yelling and fanfare on our part, we moved on to the only thing keeping Sandra from celebrating…our workout!!! Today was so challenging! First circuit, pushups, high back rows for me and bridge back rows for Jenny and then full sit ups for Jenny and sit up meet leg for me! This was as many rounds as possible in a time frame.

Then we did a kettle bell, farmers walk, squat circuit that was hell. So hellacious in fact there are no pictures. Just imagine the worst thing you can think of and that is what it looked like.

We ended up recreating it in the end:

Thennnnn we did a tricep, bicep burnout. I think we both lost it here!

But like it happens every time, all of the sudden it was over. We did some stretching and some posing!

I know it sounds awful, but you guys, there is something so amazing about showing up and having someone who genuinely cares about you, guide you through a challenging workout. Also, I highly recommend that you do it with your best friend. Sandra can help you find your best, healthiest body. She is an expert in fitness and well versed in nutrition. But more than anything, she really cares about you and wants to help you get where you want to go. She works at your pace but pushes you and that is exactly what these meatballs need. Sandy, you are our rock and our constant. We love you. Seriously, go see her today and feel better today!

Two Meatballs: Can You Say Soooore!?!?

March 13, 2015health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,back on track, Feeling good, innovative fitness training, reunited and it feels so good, Sandra Axman, the gym should be our home, We need our team!!!twomeatballsgetfit View all 5 comments

Today we were reunited with our beloved trainer! #thankgoodness We have literally only seen Sandra once this year before today between the weather, illness and charity walks! I’m not going to lie…I was really nervous about today!!! Pneumonia really knocked the wind out of me…get it?!?! And it has been a tough go building my stamina back up. Sweet Jenny came to pick me up this morning! #lovethisgirl

I shared my fears with Jenny…I told her I was scared I was going to pass out on the treadmill. So I had to act it out, but I couldn’t stop laughing!

Time to loosen up! Get back in the game!

We had a great hug fest when we walked in. Sandra is such a part of our Meatball journey and we realllllly missed her. Then we hopped on the treadmill for a warmup! We both survived #notdeadyet Time for a circuit in the little gym! We alternated between 2 exercises on each circuit, then switched for four rounds! First circuit was chest press with two 20 pound weights, 15 reps and the other person did squat wall balls with a 15 pound ball.

Yuck…i look awful! Haha, Jenny, your butt looks great! #powersquat This was harrrrd! Circuit number two was in the big gym and we alternated between ropes for 45 seconds and a back row, 15 reps. Again we did this circuit for 4 rounds.

Round Three was back in the small gym and consisted of boos ball sit ups for a minute and kettle bell swings for 45 seconds. Spoiler alert, 4 ROUNDS!

I had to swap out the kettle bells for another arm exercise bc I ran out of air! We stayed in here for our next duo. We switched between slam balls with a 15 pound ball and squats to military presses with 2-15 pound weights!

Now, back to the big gym for our final circuit! We did exercise ball wall sits and alternated with a weird run in place/punching bag slaps. You’re never going to guess…we did it for 4 rounds! 😉

It was really hard, but it was so great to be back. Sandra is so motivational! She kept reminding us to do one rep at a time, to make each movement count, to breath through it and to dig deep. We love Sandra so much and our journey was so off track while we were apart. Sandra, we can never thank you enough! You have been such a huge contributor to our success and we cannot wait to get back in the swing of things. Thank you thank you thank you , Love you love you love you.

We are both still up from our lowest, I guess we love a challenge. But my client Sarah was so right. We do better together. We feel better when we eat healthy and when we work out! We need each other and our support group. I’m sick of hearing myself say it, but we are finally back on track and dammit it feels great. Now, if we could just remember this! Xoxo

Two Meatballs: A Sea of Thank You’s!!!

November 21, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,bill leslie, Coquette, get fit with sandra, grateful, innovative fitness training, love our trainer, meatball nation, Sandra Axman, Starbucks, thank yous, thankful, workouts, wraltwomeatballsgetfit View all 6 comments

With Thanksgiving coming up these Meatballs have so much to be thankful for. First off let me say thank you so much for the birthday wishes, flowers, cards, paleo desserts, mixed cd’s #thankskelly, gifts and facebook love!!! It really was the living best day of life! Being thankful has really become a theme for us over the past couple of weeks and I love it. Life is so much easier and perspective is so different if you live in a constant attempted state of grateful. With this theme in mind we wanted to continue thanking our weigh in photo shooters! So tonight was Cara Dempsey night at our most favorite place on earth Coquette. Cara said fries were her weakness so what better place to go! Right away we ran into some of my favorite clients… the Wicklines!!! Shout out to Jen, Ryan and the fam!!!

We had the best conversations and sooo many laughs!!! We talked families, fierce conversations, exercise, holidays, what to do for the next shoot and even budgets. It has been so nice getting to know Cara better!!! We ordered three entrees and shared them…our favorite!!! Jenny got Beef Bourguignon…#imablogger

Dempsey got the Scallops…

And shocker I got the Steak Frites…

WE all avoided the yummy bread at all cost!!!

#sooohard

Everything was amazing and we mapped out a plan for the weigh in shoot!!! So exciting. You guys, it was so f-ing cold outside that we decided to go get a Starbucks treat!!! But the walk there was brutal! Why is it winter already?! #babycold

This will warm us upppp!!!

Cara thanks so much for helping us out!!! We can’t wait to work with you again! Xoxo

Our next segment is a little get to know you sesh with our dear buddy Sandra!!! She has been so incredibly instrumental in our journey to fitness and wellness. She has taught us how to take care of ourselves physically and believed we were capable of more than we ever thought possible. It feels so nice to feel strong! Talk about empowering! So we want for you to get to know our amazing trainer a little bit better!!! I mean look at her…why are you not already seeing this woman!

1. How and when did you find fitness?

I was a dedicated athlete in high school and active during college, but I struggled to find a place for fitness after college when I entered the workforce. Plagued by unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits, my weight spiraled out of control. I hit my breaking point when the scale reached 160 lbs and my 5’2” frame was wearing a size 14. Fortunately, I found my way back to a healthy weight through healthy eating and exercise. I exercise because I love what it does to my body both physically and mentally. Proper nutrition affects the way you feel throughout the day and gives you the energy you need to get through that workout. I can truly say that I FEEL better today than when I was in my early 20’s.

2. What was your biggest weight struggle in the past?

My weight spiraled out of control when I was in my late 20s due to unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits. For years, I always found it a struggle to find a “diet” that would work for me and become a lifestyle. Today, I follow a very clean diet eating lots of proteins, vegetables, fruit and nuts. I stay away from processed foods, grains, and I try my hardest to avoid gluten. This past year, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, and I’ve been struggling with the fact that I’ve actually gained weight despite the clean eating. It is certainly a mental struggle but I’m going to keep pushing hard and continue eating clean because I truly feel better eating this way.

3. How do you set yourself up for success?

Three things: 1) Surround yourself with positive influences and those that reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel. 2) Plan Ahead. Portion out your proteins and healthy snacks and prep your veggies, salads, and fruit ahead of time so you don’t get tempted when you are hungry. 3) Make your workouts an appointment on your calendar. If you don’t make it a priority, it will get pushed further into the day and sometimes never get done.

4) How have your recent health issues affected your journey?

We are all on our own journey to good health. I eat clean and exercise so that I can feel strong, have energy and feel well. Unfortunately, in the past year, I became excessively tired, irritable, moody, anxious and even depressed on occasion. To make matters worse, I was gaining weight despite eating a clean diet and training consistently. It was determined that my thyroid gland was underactive (Hashimotos disease) and that I have high levels of metals, particularly mercury and lead, in my system. These metals are blocking my thyroid gland from making hormones and getting my metabolism going.

To address this issue, I now follow a strict Paleo-type diet. It has actually made me more disciplined because I hit a breaking point where I was just so tired of feeling bad. To be honest, I actually enjoy eating this healthy and cannot see me ever going back to how I used to eat before. While my weight is still an issue, I have to keep reminding myself that I am human too. Just because I am a trainer, sometimes there are outside factors interfere with your fitness journey. You can’t let them get in the way of your overall goal. I know I will overcome this. I am too strong to give up now.

http://www.innovativefitnesstraining.com is her website and (919) 601-3140 is the best way to contact her. If you are struggling to find the motivation to work out or you simply just don’t know how, call Sandra. She will literally change/save your life and do it all with a smile! We love you more than you’ll ever know Sandy! Now, onto the ass kicker and the most exciting news the meatballs have had to date! You guys…thanks to our blogging buddy Melinda…WE ARE GOING TO BE ON WRAL FOR A SEGMENT WITH BILL LESLIE! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…I mean could this week get any better!? He is coming to the salon to interview us on Monday morning but today they sent a super awesome camera man, Tom Normanly to shoot us working out with Sandra! And boy did she give it to us today!

Tom was so fun and you could see him shimmying to the music that was blasting over the speakers. He told us after he got his shots that he was on his own journey and had just lost 100 pounds!!! Incredible Tom!!!! We are always amazed at how universal this struggle is and it’s so inspiring to meet other people in the same journey! Xoxo Tom! We don’t know when the segment is going to air but as soon as we do we will post it!!! Now like I said Sandra really upped the anty today! So here is a montage sans words bc I think I blacked out for most of this!

I’m sweating just looking over it again…and we did all of this for two rounds!!!! Then we died! Jk…then we jackassed around!

Best day ever…we’ll keep you posted on our first tv appearance!!! Love y’all and thank y’all so much!

Two Meatballs: The Burden of Having a Fabulous Life!

November 14, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,Before and Afters, class, color, education, get fit with sandra, hair painting, innovative fitness training, Mark Debolt, ombre, progress, progress not perfection, Sandra Axman, well haircolor, Wella, wella color, workoutstwomeatballsgetfit Leave a comment

So Sara and I have the greatest jobs in the world!!!!! We meet amazing people everyday, we get to be wildly creative, our bosses are fantastic, we love working hard and learning new things, and we have each other!!! What more could a girl ask for?!?!? Ahhhhh Mark Debolt!!!!!!! Mark is a Wella educator who shared his knowledge with the team this week. AAAAAAAAAmazing! He is just so damn likable!!!! He was here back in Febuary this year and we liked him so much our bosses got him back in!!!!

OMG!!!!! Look how much I have changed!!!! It is amazing to see how far I have come since February!! love this guys!! He is so fun to listen to!! He showed us what we can expect in color trends for 2015! and guess what ladies?!?! Ombre is here to stay……..we are just going to constantly see different variations of it. So Mark just got us super excited about advanced hair painting!!! So before he started tansforming the models….we took some selfies!!!!!!!

Sara and Laruren looking CRAY!!!!

This reminds me of the famous Oscar selfie!!!

Our awesome team!!

His first Model……… Cutie Chelsea!!!

So Chelsea had a variation of ombre going on. Her roots were very dark against her blond ends. Sooo Mark wanted to take ” the layer of Charcoale” of her hair, add highlights and brighten her ends.

Here she is getting Shampooed!!! And here is our Final Product!!!

Our Second Model………..Carolyn!!!!!

She has beautiful dark hair and was just ready for some natural dimension and warmth for fall.

I love hair painting!!! and Anything that is wrapped in plastic wrap!!! It was a fantastic class, I feel so inspired to come into work everyday!!! so fun! Thank you Mark Debolt! These meatballs love you!

Ok now it is Time TO Work OUT! Here we are being dumb in the parking lot!!!!

Ok Sara…lets do this!!!!

Low Rows on the Trx…already feeling the burn!

Lets do some weights!! clean press

Bosa Ball push ups!!!!

And Bosa Ball Crunches!!

Back to the TRX for Squats!!!

Bosa Ball…. Hips up and Clean presses!! sexyyyy

Bosa ball burpees, always want to say herpes!!!!

Jump together squats on the TRX!

Weighted lunges

Wall squats with bicep curls!!! woooooof

Lateral lunges on the TRX

Bosa Ball planks for a minute!!

Triceps!!!

kettle Bell swings

weighted abdominal twist

crunches and leg lifts!

What better way to end, then with suicides!!!

We did it!!! Love you Sara! It is amazing to become emotionally and physically stronger together!!! So thankful for this experience that we will always share together. Then we both went to our fabulous job!!! oh hey there friend!!

Hey y’all!!! It’s Sara!!! I just wanted to close this piece out with some a workout montage!!! It’s been 20 weeks with Sandra and we can’t even begin to express our gratitude. She literally changes our lives every week and here is the proof!!!

Wooooooooooooooow you guys!!!! These get me soooo fucking pumped!!! But here is the real kicker!

#progresstimesamillion

Ok have a great weekend guys and call Sandra today and start your own before and after! http://www.innovativefitnesstraining.com

Two Meatballs: I Don’t Think I Can Jog Anymore!?!

September 12, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,ball slams, bicep curls, core, crunches, hard ass workout, innovative fitness training, meatball workout, rope slams, sandra, Sandra Axman, treadmill, tricep dips, www.innovativefitnesstraining.comtwomeatballsgetfit Leave a comment

Goooood morning you guysssss!!!! You probably noticed that something was tragically missing last week and you were right!!! Sandra texted us Wednesday night to let us know she was under the weather. Being sick is the worst!!! So this morning I said…maybe today will be easy…then we laughed for the rest of the ride! Cause guess what you guys…it just keeps getting harder and that is what is supposed to happen!!! So on our drive this morning there was construction and Jenny freaked out and missed our turn!!! I have never laughed sooooo hard…she just kept trying to turn in and then freaked out and blew right past it. But we are both ocd early so even with the detour we were still early enough to take some selfies!

Then it was on to the ass whoopin…we def made up for missing last week! We started our down on the matts doing 3 rounds of alternating between push ups and planking with mountain climbing legs!

Then we got onto the treadmill and Jenny ran and I briskly walked at an increasing incline for a bit!

Then we did sumo squats with a 15 lb dumbbell (12) and then something with a G squats (12) and 6 rounds of this decreasing the G squat down by 2 each round…

Then we did a back circuit alternating through back rows on the TRX, seated back rows and slam balls…for 3 rounds

Then we got back onto the mat and did crunches, elbows to knees crunches and flutter or scissor kicks for time…

Then we did 4 rounds of alternating rope slams and arm workouts…

We did the abs and ropes and arms for two rounds!!!

At some point in this we also did the treadmill thing again!!!

Then we finished up with a 5 minute choose your own adventure…bicep curls as many as you can until you cant and then tricep dips and then tricep extenstions as many rounds as needed! I lost it and decided to get on the tire! #showoff

We survived!!!! Love you so much Sandra!!! You looked so glowy today!!!! Xoxoxoxo have a great weekend!!!

Two Meatballs: Guess What We Did In Our Workout Today…Yep Squats!!!!!!

August 8, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,hard ass workouts, innovative fitness training, Sandra Axmantwomeatballsgetfit View all 2 comments

It has now been 12 weeks of working out together with Sandra of Innovative Fitness Training!!!

I mean hard work really pays offfffffff you guyyyys! One last start to finish pic!

Today was soooooo fucking hard! It was def a starry eyed black out type of workout!!! Here are our befores…we just cant keep our clothes on!

We started out on little benches and hit chest hard with 25 lb bar chest presses…

We did like a million of these with full and half extensions. Then we did a little cardio with 8 lb weights alternating between walking lunges, side walk squats and a low shuffle.

Then we went back to the bench and did more chest presses and chest flies!!!

Then we did two alternating core exercises with the bars…the first one was an overhead bar pressed up with crunches then the other was lay flat and lift the bar over you while meeting your knees!

Then we did trx two alternating back row exercises… a low and a high…

Then we got back on the mat and did alternating leg and arm floor warrior pose thing…

Then we did another set of both of these exercises! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Then we got back on the trx and did these assisted lunge things…

Then we did trx curtsey lunges and then a series of curtsey to the right, center squat, curtsey lunge to the left for fucking ever!!!

Then we did tricep dips and did these two exercises for another round!

Then we did two rounds of three bicep adventures…bicep curls, hammer curls and a rainbow thing…

There was other stuff in there too but my brain died around the second round of chest press sooooooo I think your best option is just to book an appointment with her and find out just how hard and rewarding it really is to get your ass handed to you!!!! You will feel soooooo strong!!!!!!

We love you Sandra!!! And we love you guys…have the living best weekend!!!

Two Meatballs: Transformations and Tank Topsssssss!!!!

August 1, 2014Big Changes, Cardio, Family, Fitness, Fitness, Motivation, Plus Size, Health, Beauty, Humor, Friends, Goals, Health, health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,, Life change, motivation, Torrid, Two Meatballs:A Love Story#meatballnation, Batik, Before and Afters, best friends getting healthy, custom tanks, HIIT, innovative fitness training, KC Batik, Kristen Crumbly, meatballs, progress, Sandra Axman, TABATA'stwomeatballsgetfit View all 6 comments

First of all….thank you guyyyyyys so much for all the support and love with the weigh in yesterday!!!!! This is really happening and we couldn’t appreciate y’all more! So here is a quick run down of before and afters!!! Also….as you are reading this I am getting my 4ttttttthhhhhh laser treatment on my little lady so please send all your pain free vibes to my crotch! Bahahahahahahah #yourwelcomeforthevisualthatkeepsongiving

I’m not going to lie…the first one is my fucking favorite!!! Every time I see that special little picture of us at Christmas I just think…. we look so tragic ( I also think for everyone who doesn’t reaaaaalllly know us we must look like sad little crazy cat lady dorks!!!) but were soooo happy…but we are soooo much happier now! Now onto the workout before and after…

Sooooooo… a couple of months ago I thought wouldn’t it be adorable for us to have meatball tank tops to work out in!?! The first person who popped into my mind to make this wish come true was my fabulous client Kristen Crumbley!!!

She is the proud owner of KC Batik!

She made a shirt for my nephew Chase for his 3rd birthday and he was over the moon!!! He literally liiiiiived in this shirt. This woman has soooo much talent!!!

So I proposed the idea and sent the saddest…crudest sketch of life!!!

Bahahahahahahahahahaha! #I’mafiveyearold But she totally killed it…I mean look at this!

wpid-received_m_mid_1405792440915_78ba957b9ded2e9a04_0.jpeg

wpid-received_m_mid_1405792449818_27369523442fca7844_0.jpeg

There is a bow for me and a lip for Jenny and a hashtag and I just feel like it couldn’t represent us any better…Kristen you are an artist!!!

Batik technique is something that I didn’t really grasp so I’m going to let Kristen explain this awesome process…

These are a total labor of love and art!!! Annnnnnd here is what she can do for you…

And here are some examples of her other work…

Obvi she is the living best so contact her and get your own adorable custom made KC Batik creation. You can also order a #MeatballNation tank if you so choose….which you totally should!!! WE could all wear them to a 5k or something!!!!

You can shop her one of a kind designs through http://www.etsy.com/shop/kcbatik and http://www.facebook.com/kcbatik and follow her on instagram @kris10apr_kcbatik

Thanks soooo much Kristen…we love them!!!! And you!!!! look how adorable!?!?!

Now….lets see those tank tops in action…it’s Sandra time at Innovative Fitness Training!!!!!

First let me say that I love nothing more than dressing alike…#twinning #gymselfies #iliveformatchymatching #bedhead #jennyyouralwayslooksgooddammit

Today was a strugggggggglllllleeeee! I don’t think either one of us sleep that well on a weigh in post night which equates to crabbiness #bigtime but we showed up and sometimes that is all you can ask of yourself! Sandra had us start by jogging this morning…we both love this!!! So it was a great way to start! #whoarewe

Then we did the worssssssst thing!!! OT’s this thing where you do like a plus one. So they were TRX squats and you could wither come out of the suat into a small jump (Jenny) or stay low and pulse into the next squat (Sara). So the first time you do 1, then 2 on up until you hit 20….ouch!!!

Resulting in 210 squats…TWO HUNDRED AND TEN SQUATS!!!! Then we did 3 rounds of push ups starting with 30 seconds for round 1 45 seconds for round 2 and 1 minute for round 3.

Then we did the same time sequence for 3 rounds of wall balls!!!

Then we did three rounds of alternating between two exercises. The first exercise was to lay flat on a yoga mat and pass a yoga block from your extended arms to your extended legs. touch legs to mat then lift back and pass to arms!!!

The next exercise was to put the yoga block in between your knees and then do leg up crunches with heel taps!!!

We did these for three rounds of 30, 45 and 1 minute increments! I can already feel these big time!

Then we did 3 rounds of back rows in the same increments!

Then we did slam balls…I love these! Same 3 rounds!

Then we did shoulder presses, round 1 2 20 lb weights, round 2-2 15 lb weights, wound 3-210 lb weights…this was murder…

Then we did the plus one with 3 lb weights! This went on for 12 rounds!

Then we died…but it was amazing and over!

We love you Sandra!!!

Two Meatballs: #progress

July 18, 2014Big Changes, Cardio, Family, Fitness, Fitness, Motivation, Plus Size, Health, Beauty, Humor, Friends, Goals, Health, health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,, Life change, motivationagility, endurance, fitness, fleet feet, friends getting healthy together, getting healthy, girls who lift, healthy, innovative fitness training, Jenny Smith, life makeover, obstacle course, plus size, Sandra Axman, Sara Beardtwomeatballsgetfit View all 3 comments

You guyyys!!!! You know what day it is…workout with Sandra day!!!! But first we wanted to show you guys another little progress report of our workouts!!! Sandra Axman of Innovative Fitness Training reached out to us in April and our first workout was 24th!!! We were weak and out of shape and I think we both thought we were going to legitimately dieeeeee after our first session. But Sandra’s enthusiasm was enough to hook us and we knew that working out was going to have to be a huge part of this new life. Here are some photo collages!!!!

We look sooooooo different!!!! But I think it is hilarious and ironic that we are wearing almost identical outfits!!! Ok on to todays ass whipping. Today was all about agility and endurance….two words I didn’t know that I hated until today! Winky face Sandra…sort of! So we were locked out when we pulled up and made our own fun in the parking lot!

This is how I felt about being locked out…

But the weather was sooooo nice!!!

We did a little pre workout balance beam…

Played a rousing game of find the meatball!

#creeps

Then a scary rape van pulled into the parking lot and right next to us. I instantly went into fight mode(I have no flight, just fight) and my don’t eff with us aura made them pull right back out. #noharrasmentneededsir #nomeansno But just in case they didn’t get the message Jenny sent a new one!

I wouldn’t mess with her! #powerfulthighs #thatfaceisnotintimidatingjenny

Then we finally got let in and walked into an obstacle course.

The 4 in me thought wahooooo, the 3 in me thought, oh shit!

So for round 1 we did every station for 1 minute 15 seconds. There were 12 stations. Did you read that…..TTTTTWWWWWEEEEELLLLVVVVEEEE stations. I just wanted to make sure that was clear. Here is a little walk through courtesy of Sandra.

Station 1: Fireman’s ladder side to sides…

Station 2: Box Jumps or for me Box Step Up Crunches (this is actually Jenny)

Station 3: Planking

Station 4: Kettle Bell Dead Lifts

Station 5: Push Ups

Station 6: Alternating Crunches and Sit Ups:

Station 7: Bicep Curls

Station 8: In In Out Outs on a Step

Station 9: Tricep extensions

Station 10 Bosu Ball Burpees with overhead Crunches

Station 11: Pushing the Sled

Station 12: Pulling the Sandbag

So here is what it looked like when we did it. This happened for two rounds, but on round two each station was only a minute.

Can you feel the utter exhaustion!? I thought I was going to blackout! But we finished and we’ve come sooooo far!!! Now the time has come…for us to be dumb. I seriously don’t know where the energy for this comes!!! Take me for my chariot ride!!!

#digdeep

Cheersing our sips of water so we don’t barf!

We love you Sandra!!! One more week behind us and now we are stating the countdown to the next weigh in!!!!

Have a great weekend y’all!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxox times a mil! Ps have you called Sandra yet!?! www.innovativefitnesstraining.com

Two Meatballs: Fireworks, F@%$ Ups and a Fat Crushing Workout!!!

July 4, 2014Big Changes, Cardio, Fitness, Fitness, Motivation, Plus Size, Health, Beauty, Humor, Friends, Goals, Health, health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,, Life change, motivation4th of july, abs, america, arms, back, best friends getting healthy, best friends losing weight together, biceps, cardio, cheating on your diet, chest, confidence, curves, endorphins, fitness, fleet feet, getting healthy, hard work pays off, healthy, HIIT, innovative fitness training, Jenny Smith, meatball nation, merica, motivation, new lifestyle, no fat shaming, obese, overweight, patriotism, plus size, positive body image, quads, salon, Sandra Axman, Sara Beard, sexy, supportive team, sweat, Tabata, taking care of yourself, trainer, training, triceps, Two Meatballs Get Fit, uplifting, weigh in, weight loss, workouttwomeatballsgetfit View all 10 comments

First off….HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!! #merica We hope your weekend is full of sparklers, fireworks, bodies of water, cookouts, family and friends.

#kelseyisthecutestever #butsooooisdustin #salonpatriotism#mericanails #leeisthebest

This weigh in felt epic! We hit 20,000 views on Facebook for Two Meatballs: Grin and Bare it!!!

Holy shit!!! We feel great, we are getting a million compliments and together we’ve lost almost 100 pounds!!!

So what have we done…gotten cocky and started getting a little slack! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I did better on vacation than I have this week…who does that?!! Jenny and I made a pact on Tuesday morning to give up our personal vices for one week. She said goodbye to dark chocolate and I said adios to pistachios (NOOOOOOOOO)!!!

Thank you Nikki and Jack for the immersion therapy! #canyoutelljackiseatingpistachioandnikkiiseatingdarkchocolate #masicsm

So we started this month with great intentions. Then we posted the weigh in and the praise and compliments came pouring in (thank y’all so much) and that little voice in the back of our heads (not blue cross blue shield) said….YOU’VE ARRIVED!. Surely we must be done right?! We look great, we feel great…time to eat! We went to Ale House Wednesday night to celebrate..again with great intentions…what’s more Paleo than WINGS!? But then I ordered onion straws and we both ate our weight in bleu cheese. Woooooooof… We felt so awful when we left…I felt stuffy and like I had a cold and we both felt hungover and can you say BLOATED. What a way to celebrate right!? Lesson learned. BUUUUUUT then I met up with some girlfriends last night that I hadn’t seen in a million years and we went to Coquette. Love you Robyn and Ellen!!!

Let me say…Coquette had some really great options…there was a pan seared duck breast and even my fav…scallops! But do you know what I ordered!?!?!? STEAK FRITES! For those of you like my sister that struggle with French (#haricotvertshahahahahahahaha) its steak and FRIES! Like French fries you guyssss…white potato, fried shoestring French fries. And I know French so this wasn’t like oh whooopsies…I didn’t know what frites were! But they were delish and it happened. So then I woke up the next morning before our work out with our super best buddy Sandra Axman (www.innovativefitnesstraining.com caaaaaaaaaallllllll her!) and adorably hopped on my scale as if I were going to see a loss and you are never going to even believe this shit y’all….I GAINED 3 POUNDS. Duhhhhhhhhhhh Sara! Anyways I got dressed and went downstairs and sweet Jenny picked me up! And she was in a mood…a mood that much reflected how I was feeling. Neither one of us felt like exercising, we were both being bitchy and super irritated…it’s the craziest thing when you stray from what works how quickly your mind goes to fuck it mode. Sooooo we had a little counseling sesh on the drive to the gym. We both have been too slack…eating too much, eating out, not eating the right things, not getting enough sleep, being slack with water and for me skipping my normal workouts. She said I’m going to use all this anger in our workout today…#genius! A workout was just what the doctor ordered. How can you be mad when you are so physically exhausted and so proud of what you just accomplished!? And by the by…Sandra you are the greatest human…thank you for forcing us out of our funk and always being so encouraging, positive and energetic. You are a ray of sunshine that both of us desperately needed this morning and your commitment to our journey and end result is something that we are so grateful for!!!!!!! We love you to the moon and back. On to the workout…these first few pics we were still deep into bitch mode.

But we half heartedly tried to get over it!

But we really just wanted to go back to sleeeeep!

We went inside and the tom foolery began…lets be honest nothing makes us feel better than acting like children!

Then Sandra asked the question that we have heard 1,000 times this week…”have you guys been measuring?” Nooooooo we are idiots! Why didn’t we measure …that would be an awesome way to track progress! So we started today! We also got our BMI and some other important number using a Gameboy like hand held device

Aaaaand now on to the workout for real! This was both of our favorite workout ever!!! It was HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and we did Tabata which involves doing a particular exercise at high intensity for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. It’s repeated 8 times for a total time of 4 minutes! (Explanation courtesy of Sandra) First we did the dumbest cardio ever(this is Sara speaking…I hated this damn band)…it involved a small thick band that went around our ankles and then you stepped up and over a step aerobic step (#howmanytimescanyousaystepinonesentence) and we did a Tabata here.

Take a closer look at why I hated these…my poor fat ankles…my cankles/calves got eaten by rubber!

Then there were two stations both with two different exercises each. The back station you were kneeling on a BOSU ball doing reverse chest press (pull down) And at the chest station you did a chest press on a bench and we did these for 8 rounds…

Then we did the second exercise at our stations. At the back station you switched to standing trx rows and at the chest station you switched to chest fly’s!

Then we got onto our mats and did Tabata ab work…with two different exercises working two different areas. First was upper abs with crunches for 8 rounds then lower abs with leg crunches (laying flat and bringing your bent legs to your chest and then extending them back out) for 8 rounds. (There were no pics of this so we recreated this at work! #yourwelcome #mybackissoooohairynow)

Then we did a cardio thing back on the step with one leg stationary with the other leg being brought up with the knee bent and tapping the ground and bringing it back up again for 8 rounds…holy burn batman.

Then we switched stations and whoever did back went to chest and vicey versey!

Did you breath a sigh of relief and think that we were done..me too but WRONG! haha

Next was two different stations one for biceps and the other for triceps.

At the bicep station we did bicep curls while sitting on an exercise ball to engage our core! At the tricep station we had a stretchy thingy with two handles attached to an elliptical machine for stability and we had to do tricep extensions (Huge shout out to Michael for helping me figure out workout jargon…he is not responsible for the dumb shit I make up but for the correct terminology!)

Then before we switched stations we did a cardio/quad blaster back on the aerobic step. You start with your right foot fixed to one spot on the step and then do speed skaters for 8 rounds. After each round you alternate the leg that is stationary.

Then we switched bicep and tricep stations…

Annnnnd that was all she wrote! This workout felt ahhhh-mazing! Then we had to jackass around again!

And do a little homage to sweet dead Fat back Friday!

We just can’t keep our clothes on now! But look how much smaller!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

And finally Sandra (yelling this) WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH! To everyone reading this…if you are struggling to find the motivation to work out of just don’t know what you are supposed to do, this woman will educate and inspire you and help you get to your goal 1 squat at a time! Look at the difference she has made in our lives!?!?

She is LITERALLY the living best!

Enjoy your holiday weekend!!! XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOXO!