Winter Shape Up Recap + finale giveaway
Hi friends! It’s about that time: we have 2 full days left of Winter Shape Up! Make sure to end it with a BANG, mmm k?
Before I share some of my thoughts on this year’s WSU, I want to announce the winner of the BodyMedia fit giveaway! I got over 200 entries -and am in the process of writing back to all of them- and in addition to being fun reads, they were so heartfelt and motivational. I especially loved your personal fitness stories and funny pictures- some had me cracking up, and others made me look for the ninja cutting onions in here.
I loved putting the program together, and you’re the ones who rocked it out 🙂
Congratulations to China, who will be getting a Bodymedia Fit to track her progress and goals from now on.
Here’s what she sent in:
I’ve been reading your blog for a few years now (discovered it in 2010, and quickly went through and read all the archives), but this is the first year I’ve participated in a shape-up (or any of your workouts, really). I have some autoimmune health issues and exercise-induced asthma, which can make it pretty challenging for me to exercise at times. I got used to feeling slow, heavy and sick, and over time, I convinced myself that I didn’t have the strength and stamina for “hard” workouts. Even though I’m a health enthusiast, I thought that I had extreme limitations. I thought my future was to be sick, overweight and strolling on the treadmill for the rest of my life.
However, I’m really trying to bring about positive change in 2013, so this year I decided to go for it. When you announced the WSU, I told myself to just try it and see what happened. To my surprise, I’ve been able to keep up (even though I had to take an extra day off in week 3 to recover from illness) and I’m showing definite signs of improvement. My weight hasn’t really changed, but I’ve gone down to the last notch on my belt, my abs look flatter, and lunges don’t hurt quite as much as they used to. Overall, I’m feeling a lot better. There’s even been a totally unexpected benefit: my skin looks clearer and more glowy than ever. I think it’s because of all the hardcore sweating!
So, thank you, Gina. Not only for creating this amazing plan, but for giving me the confidence to try it and prove to myself that I’m far more capable than I ever thought. I can’t wait to see what week 4 brings! 🙂
She also sent in a pic from each week of the challenge:
Congrats, China! Send me an email and we’ll get your prize on the way <3
HUGE thanks again to all of the companies who participated in the giveaways:
and thank you so very much to mah girl and trainer inspiration Lacey Stone for hooking us up with a killer week 3 workout. Be sure to check out her app on iTunes if you’d like to see more from her- she’ll make your muscles cry tears of happiness and sadness.
Some WSU thoughts:
-Your comments/tweets and Instragram pics were by far my favorite part of the challenge. I always love to see what you’re up to- please keep checking in even after the Shape Up is over! It will be a good habit when Summer Shape Up comes around and I’m just not ready for #eatlikeaPRO to die, mmm k? 😉
-I LOVED the giveaways. It was so much fun to post them for extra boosts of motivation and is definitely something I’ll plan for next time. Summer Shape Up will coincide with my 5 year blogiversay, so the giveaways will be pretty legendary. Buckle up!
-It’s always tricky for me to find the best method to post the workouts. Video, printable image, text image, form cues…it’s a lot of info to deliver in a concise and organized manner. I just wish we could all rent out a gym in cyberspace and work out each morning. They would have childcare and time would freeze for an hour while we got in our sweat session. Sound good? If you have any preferences or ideas for next time, I’d love to hear them!
[Yay or nay?]
-All in all, I think this WSU was a huge success because you all worked so hard, cheered each other along the way, and made WSU so amazing <3 It was an honor to watch and shake my pom-pons (and my bom-bom) from the sidelines. Keep up everything you’ve done and remember than a ball in motion stays in motion. You’ve already completed the most challenging part by getting started, so just keep going. I’ll keep the workouts, meal ideas and recipes going, too.
For our last giveaway, Champion generously offered 25 of their Show Off Bras:
Beautiful spring colors, with a comfy and supportive design.
25 lucky readers will each get a Show Off Bra in a size of their choice. I think we all know that an awesome sports bra can make or break a workout. I still cringe thinking about that one time (only time) I tried to run in underwire.
Here’s how to enter:
-Leave a comment with some Winter Shape Up feedback so I can make it even better next time around! What did you like/dislike? Any ideas or changes you’d like to see? If you didn’t follow along, what was your reason?
-Follow me on Pinterest for an extra entry – leave an extra comment to let me know
-Have a friend enter for you. If that entry is one of the random winners, you’ll both be included in the 25 prizes
I’m closing the computer for study time, so if your comment doesn’t show up right away, I’ll approve any first-time comments in the morning!
I hope you loved WSU as much as I did <3
xoxo
Gina
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Started following you on Pinterest!
I loved winter shape up! The circuits were fun, different & kept my attention without me getting bored or restless. Also loved the meal plans & recipes, ,Walsh planning makes healthy eating so much easier 🙂
I also follow you on Pinterest already! 🙂
I’m entering this for my daughter, one passion we share together is exercise & health. If we won, we could match on our weekend hikes 🙂
I thought this was the best shape up yet! I love the schedules and meal ideas!
I really like the videos for the workouts, I love following along!
Although I’ve followed along almost all of your winter shape ups and workouts…This one has been a lifesaver! I recently totaled my car (no injuries!), but my fiancé and I are stuck sharing one car. Betweeny two jobs and his school and job, needless to say, I haven’t been making it to the gym. I’ve been kicking my butt at home the last four weeks with your easy to follow but challenging workouts. Thanks for all the encouragement and helping me kick my booty into tip top shape!
WSU was so much fun! I’ve watched you guys go through WSU and SSU in the past, but this is the first ttime I’ve participated. I started lifting weights last summer and your workouts came at just the right time! I needed different routines since the only ones I knew weren’t producing results.. and your workouts broke my plateu. I’m certainly excited for SSU, so hellllllooooo bikini! The only recommendation I can think of is keep the giveaways coming! They’ve been amazing 🙂
following you on pinterest! 🙂
I follow you on pinterest!
I think you do an awesome job with WSU…it is easy to follow, yet challenging and easy to apply to every level. Thanks for the time you put in!
I think you did such an awesome job with WSU…it was easy to follow and so much fun!!!
Love this blog! It motivates me just to read it. You seem similar to my personal trainer, so I always share with my bootcamp group your blog on our forums.
I like the picture cues (like the one above) best for when doing your work outs in the gym.
I don’t always comment, but I follow you on facebook, instagram, and your blog, of course.
Thanks Gina for inspiring me, introducing me to Stitch Fix and, for always giving me something to read.
I would like to see maybe some more cardio machine workouts or easy to follow weights routines. I’m in college so it’s hard to find the equipment necessary to do all the workouts!
I didn’t follow the winter shape up b/c I didn’t want to let myself down if I didn’t follow it
I didn’t follow along because I just found your blog TODAY!
xo
hi! welcome!!
follow on pinterest
http://pinterest.com/dlw47/
xo
I loved that the workouts changed week to week. I was never bored with these workouts! I also loved how you posted them with the pics. That way I can rock out to my own music, while doing it in my living room and look at the pics for reference. Overall I loved it and it was a really nice mix up for my workout routine!
I did not follow along — but only because I am well into marathon training! Definitely referencing some of the workouts in the future! I love upper body training ideas and new/creative ab exercises the most, since I have an easy time self-motivating for cardio.
I already follow you on pinterest 🙂
I like the way you’ve been posting the workouts – it makes it easy to print and take to the gym and I appreciate actually seeing the move. I also like when you post short videos showing all of the moves and alternate variations.
This is my first year participating in the shape up and I loved it! It was just the confidence booster I needed to feel comfortable in the weights section of my workout and to get my started on a healthy and positive 2013!
Following on Pinterest!
I didn’t follow the workouts to a T but I loved being able to take the moves and incorporate them into my workouts. And the graphics of the workouts really helped! For a couple of the weeks I wasn’t sure how much weight I should have used the first time I did the workout so maybe have some sort of key for the amount of weight to use based on fitness level?
But the best part about the WSU was the motivation that you provided along with it!
WSU was awesome to help me begin shaping up for my wedding this May, Thanks!
I love the pictures of you doing the workout move – it really helped me understand better than just a written description of a move.
I didn’t follow WSU, only because I am training for a half marathon.. SO MUCH RUNNING lately! But as soon as the half is over I will be all over WSU, just a couple months late! 🙂 Also following you on pinterest!
I didn’t follow the plan exactly since I’m training for my first half… scared! But I definitely incorporated meal ideas, ab burners, etc, into my days… just like I always do! Thanks for all the work you do to make this site an amazing resource!
I follow you on pinterest!
I love the fact that it pushes me out of my comfort zone but leaves me in a pile of sweat. Living in the EST and a very early morning workout person, I wish the different workouts would come out the day before its scheduled.
I love the step-by-step instructions and I especially love it any time you make a video that we can follow along with. Would love a “low impact” workout as well sometime!
Oh, and following on pinterest!
I didn’t follow every workout because I was doing a ton of running. Hopefully for the next one I won’t be training as hard and I can do them all!
Thank you so much for putting together the winter shape up for us! I can’t afford to buy a gym membership right now so being able to get in a good workout at home with just a pair of sneakers and a set of hand weights means no excuses, just lots of sweating! I feel stronger and healthier and it was just the thing I needed to get back into a healthy routine after falling off the wagon around the holidays. I love how you post meal and snack ideas every sunday because it’s always hard to come up with new tasty ideas that are still healthy. I’m already looking forward to the next shape up!
PS- I follow on Pinterest!
i really liked the printables…they were so easy to take to the gym.
i also follow you on pinterest 🙂
LOVE having the pictures demonstrating the moves!!! looking forward to the summer one!!!
I follow on pinterest!!!! would LOVE one of whose awesome bras!!!!
I thought you did an awesome job with wsu. The only thing that would be awesome is to add music next time! I love when you tell us what you are listening to!
And I also follow you on pinterest.
Go China! She looks so bright and happy in the photos 🙂
I powered through the last workout today with “Am I going to half ass the last WSU??” Nope 🙂
I really wish the intro post were updated like it was planned in the beginning … I don’t think it was ever updated for week 4, and the blog doesn’t make it easy to hunt dow things. I think it’d work really well as a ‘home base’ if it were updated!
haha you’re right, i kind of slacked on week 4. sorry about that!
Followed you on pinterest!
I love the wsu!!! I try to do as many workouts as i can- so good! More weight lifting please- need to learn to push myself to heavier weights 🙂
I think this WSU was awesome! I think the form cues are a really good idea for those readers that are just starting out, so I think that is definitely something you should continue!! I also really liked how you had the WSU link over in the right column so we could click on that and find a post that had a link to everything – that was amazing and by far my favorite part of this one! The checking in part was somewhat confusing at times – finding the right post where I was supposed to be checking in, which is probably why I didn’t do it more often. Is that something you would be able to add to that central post with all the links? And maybe for giveaway purposes, only comments in a certain time frame would be considered? Does that make sense?
And of course I follow you on Pinterest!
My only feedback is that I tend to breeze by the graphics posted but yet I’ll watch and do (and then pin) the videos for whatever reason. Thanks for all of the hard work you put into each post!
I didn’t follow along, but it did look like fun! I’m knee deep in marathon training and my only feedback is probably not for WSU but in general – it would be wonderful to read a post on strength training specifically for running. I guess I can also say that even though I wasn’t doing the WSU, I was definitely motivated to do my workouts by your posts and everyone else’s participation!
I did not follow winter shape up every day but I did do each of the workouts and a the 5 minute plank challenge a few times when I had a few minutes during naps between house cleaning, I loved having a workout to follow!
Thanks for giving your time to help each of us!
I also follow your boards of course . Pinterest is an addiction.
I didn’t follow WAY because I am training for a half marathon! definitely interested in following it in the future!
i really like having the demos for the ab moves especially! i’d love more equipment free moves
This was my first time participating in WSU and I really enjoyed it. The workouts really got my heart pumping! My only feedback is that I had a hard time finding workout #4 on the intro page, so I did parts of other workouts instead!
followed you on pinterest <3