EHD Team Fitness Bet

A few months ago we started a workout bet at the office, which is right when we took this pic. We all put $100 in a jar (5 of the 6 of us are participating, Ginny isn’t feeling it this time). You have to workout 4 days a week for at least 45 minutes – and not just a power walk. If you fail in making it 4 times you drop out (although you are allowed to buy back in one time). You have one ‘pass’ week and if you are sick you get a pass as well. I’ve done this bet now 5 times in my life and it WORKS. It forces you to workout on those days that you wouldn’t normally. Working out used to be a daily thing I did, but since kids it’s virtually impossible to do unless it’s 5am or 9pm – and both times are extremely unattractive. The goal isn’t to win the bet, it’s to make it last as long as possible to the point where everyone feels so good and reaches their goal. My friend, Bri from Design Love Fest, did a similar one last year and I loved following along so we figured we’d document ours a bit over here on the blog.

Update: That bet ended a few weeks ago. I dropped out a month or so ago, and it was down to Sara and Brady, who both got into killer shape – Brady literally transformed his body into a body builder (that photo above is from the beginning of the bet, by the way . . . you should see his after pics now – proof is in the pudding people – working out really works!!!), and he ended up winning the bet.

We all did a variety of workouts and tried to do a couple together every month (we would have done more but my schedule has been so stupidly insane). We worked out with my fitness expert (and very good friend), Jenny. Let me tell you a bit about Jenny. She is a broadway choreographer who is certified in EVERYTHING fitness-wise and is a total inspiration. In between shows she has always taught classes and had personal training clients. The best part? She is a huge fan of moderation and having fun in your social life. She’s just started a new Instagram called Burn This, Earn This, and it’s a genius and yet totally approachable concept. The more (calories) you burn the more you earn (food and drink-wise). I have followed a decent amount of fitness “experts” over the years on social media (especially as we were researching a marketing and social media plan for her, which was a trade that my company did in exchange for group workouts). Most of them, I’ll just say, I don’t relate to. At all. So it had been killing me that Jenny didn’t have a brand. She’s so modest and un-narcissistic. But she is now taking ownership over her expertise, experience, and general likability and she is looking to help people who want to get into shape realize that they don’t have to give up EVERYTHING in order to do that. Anyway, you’ll hear more about her over the next however many months, but in the meantime please follow her on Instagram as she is not only a good friend, but a total workout and health inspiration to me (she is the one in purple, above and pink, below).

OK. So why am I telling you about a workout bet that we HAD? Well, because we are relaunching next week. All of us, besides Brady of course, feel like we need the motivation (Brady is doing it too, but he never stopped so he’s still motivated). We will be working out 4 times a week, with hopefully at least one group workout in there.

It is INSANELY hard to find the time to workout right now. Elliot wakes up at 6am, and leaving to workout feels so selfish. But she normally goes back down at 7:30am, so I could go then, but Charlie wakes up right around that time.

This is the most boring paragraph that I have ever written.

All you parents know how hard it is to workout when you have kids and you work (and even if you don’t work). Jenny was coming to my house for a while to train me (which is a serious luxury, I know) but she is really busy, too. But, I figure if we are all doing it together then I could sacrifice work time to workout with my team during the day – like we’ll all meet for a SoulCycle class at 8:30am (which we did and it kicked our butts – see below for photo proof), or do a lunch time yoga class. We can do it. I can do it. I feel WILDLY better about my life when I do it. It needs to happen. It’s not just the extra baby weight, it’s the stress, the adrenaline, the endorphins, feeling young, etc. The time that we did do a SoulCycle class together before work I couldn’t believe how much happier and more motivated I was after I walked out of the class vs. the hour before the class.

So, we’d love to hear what you guys find to be the best, most fun, most effective and most endorphin creating workouts out there?

Also (and this is a REALLY L.A. thing to say) I recently started only eating plants. Go ahead. I’ll pause for the deserved eye roll and under-breath laughter. Brian and my father-in-law had a real hey-day with that one. Bob (my father in law) literally didn’t know what that meant. Here’s the thing – they say that after you stop breastfeeding you should do a big detox to reset your body, and despite working out and eating well, I was absolutely unable to meet my goal or even see movement. Even Jenny was shocked at how my body wasn’t really reacting (stopping breast feeding absolutely helped, by the way, turns out I’m one of those women who holds onto fat while breastfeeding).

So, my friend has a sister who is a nutritionist and recommended the SoCal Cleanse, which isn’t cheap ($400), but it gives you a ton of herbs, vitamins, probiotics, etc. for 30 days along with a ‘only eat plants’ mandate. She lost 10 pounds. I don’t think you really need to buy it, and instead just do the food recommendations: Stop eating meat, dairy, sugar, anything processed, gluten, blah blah, you get it. JUST PLANTS (veggies, fruits, grains, beans). I actually still have cocktails on the weekends. Why am I telling you this? Because it has worked and it’s sustainable because it’s a diet that I like and can do forever (when convenient).

I’m not to where I want to be but the needle is moving and I’m fitting in my old clothes and feeling way more energetic and confidant. I’ve tried EVERY SINGLE DIET the last 6 months trying to lose weight in a healthy way, and this is the only one that has worked. I wish it didn’t so I, too, could call BS on it. I’m finding it really easy during the week but I cheat over the weekends and I’m still losing weight. I think I’ll reintroduce fish and small portions of lean chicken, soon.

If I didn’t think I would get a huge backlash from readers I would write a post reviewing all of the ways that I’ve tried to lose weight since Elliot’s been born, but I feel like I would be called a fat-shamer, when my goal is just to get my pre-baby body back and feel fit, not to make myself or any of you EVER feel bad about your size or body. Just pushing publish on this post gave me enough anxiety. But I believe in exercise as a fundamentally successful way to feel happier in life, no matter what your physical goals are. Simply put: The days that I workout are better than the days I don’t. Like many of yours, my life is full of good and bad stress, and exercise helps me (and my team) manage all our stress better.

Alright, back to the workout portion of this design blog.

We live in LA which is MECCA for new workout and diet programs. It’s both hilarious, annoying, and totally wonderful because you don’t have to go far to find the newest Orange Theory, SoulCycle, Freestyle fitness, Crossfit, Brick, Barry’s Bootcamp, or YogaWorks (we hear Aura Yoga in West Hollywood is amazing too – the list goes on and on, and we would love to try them all TBH). We haven’t tried very many of the new classes, but I’ll just go ahead and put it out there – if you are in LA and you have a gym or program that you want us to try, or you are an athletic clothing company with some awesome products we might enjoy and wear, please reach out (email brady@emilyhendersondesign.com) and if we love the class(es) we will give you a big shout out in our follow up posts, and let people know how we liked it and how it genuinely helped us get to our fitness goals.

Everybody here (minus Brady) tried Class Pass which I should try, too . . . Those classes can add up quickly, and I hate forcing people (my employees) to spend money. Obviously you don’t have to do a class, you can always just run, but the group motivation certainly helps and makes it way more fun. I myself am looking for REALLY intense power yoga, Barry’s Bootcamp style workouts, and I’ll definitely keep doing SoulCycle (I love it so much). I was super intimidated my first time by the culture of it but it’s obvious how effective it is and it made me feel EXTREMELY happy afterwards. We’ve got our next class booked this Monday at 8:30am in Pasadena with the EHD crew, so any of you local folk grab a seat online and come and join us for a ride, you have to check it out. Brady looks scary and serious in this photo, but he’s still the same – just serious about fitness now.

Leave in the comment what workout classes or methods you love . . . and wish us luck. Hey, even join us!! We’ll use the hashtag #EHDsweat. We won’t be hash tagging every workout obviously, but every now and again we will, so feel free to hashtag your workout. Let’s get fit and reduce this stress, folks. Happy Friday!!