The 2nd Transformation Challenge impresses change.

- Dixon, CA

September 8th, 2007 was a night of celebration, victory, and tears - the happy kind. Twenty two Challenge finishers celebrated the end of a 12 week fitness and nutrition journey along with their family and friends at Mary's Pizza Shack in Dixon, CA. Joined by Anytime Fitness owners Jim and Brandy Hall, Anytime Fitness' Personal Trainer Alex Adams and Dr. Andrew Bremer from the UCDavis Medical Center's Fit Kid Program, the participants swapped stories, congratulated each other and expressed heartfelt gratitude to the people they had come to know and rely on for the past 12 weeks.

The overall grand champion was Doug Prichard who lost an outstanding 32% of his existing body fat. Individual team winners included Ed Ballerini for the Orange Team, Debbie Signorello for the Purple Team, and Sarah McBride for the Green Team. It is also worth mentioning that Sarah McBride showed the biggest drop in body fat at 13%, and Ed Ballerini made the greatest change in his overall body fat percentage - dropping from 15.4% to 8% - signifying an overall loss of 48% of total body fat. The Orange Team proved victorious with a cumulative drop of body fat total of 66.3%.

Some of the most memorable moments of the night included Doug Prichard's wife, Mary, who talked about the influence the Challenge has had on their family. She was very proud of their daughter who came home from school with a giant cookie in her backpack, saying that even though it was a classmate's birthday, it wasn't her "free day" so she couldn't eat it. Other inspirational speeches came from members such as Sarah McBride, Barbara Stacey, and Anjie Prather who talked about their journey through The Challenge and how they had formed new friendships and gained a familiarity within the gym that helped them meet their goals. Despite the fact that participants were placed on seperate teams during the first week, an overall feeling of camraderie and support pervaded the atmosphere of the gathering.

Perhaps the greatest value of the Challenge program is the participant's private access to coaches. Via this access to coaches, each participant can get individualized support that is designed to address specific problems or questions the individual is having at any time during the Challenge. Since everyone comes into the Challenge with different experience levels and references, this benefit is critical to the overall success of the program, and is credited by all successful Finishers as being the differentiating factor when it came to sticking with the Challenge.

At the end of the Challenge, a portion of all entry fees are donated to the UCDavis Medical Center's Fit Kid Program. During the dinner, Jim Hall stated "We want to not only help the adults achieve fitness, but was want to help give children a good start in life by supporting programs that teach healthy life styles and eating habits to children." Anytime Fitness - Dixon donated over $1,500 to the Fit Kid Program.

The Transformation Challenge is a 12 week fitness and nutrition program that focuses on strength and cardiovascular training, and developing a healthy eating style. Participants are divided in the three teams - Orange, Purple, and Green - which are put into an overall team competition against each other. During the first 2 weeks of the challenge, free classes are provided to the participants which gives them the necessary materials to help them during the Challenge. Participants are encouraged to document all work outs and eating habits during the 12 weeks and meet with their teams every week to discuss progress and encourage each other.

The Grand and Team Champion winners are judged by comparing the difference between "before" and "after" photos, along with a completed essay questionnaire, submitted by each finishing participant at the end of the Challenge.

Doug Prichard: Doug is an ex-collegiate football player and understood the mechanics of lifting weights, but lacked the understanding of how nutrition and cardio could effectively be used all together to produce a positive result. After trying many of the "fad" diet programs available today, once Doug learned fundamental principles of exercise and nutrition and how they worked together, he was able to combine them with his commitment to change and produce an award winning change not only in himself, but also in his family.

Ed Ballerini: Works in the medical field and was a Transformation Challenge #1 participant. After making great progress in Challenge #1 and just missing the top team award, Ed came back for a 2nd time and turned it up a notch. Ed ended Challenge #2 in top form and used his experience to help lead and inspire his less experienced team mates.

Debbie Signorello: Debbie works in the legal field and her journey is quite extraordinary. Debbie had little fitness background and stopped by Anytime Fitness on the last day of Challenge #2 sign-ups. Debbie didn't currently belong to a health club, and wasn't sure how to make changes on her own. What Debbie did have was a strong desire to change, and the dedication to learn and apply. Debbie is a shining example of the fact that it doesn't take experience to create change. With sound guidance, combined with an open mind and dedication, Debbie created amazing changes in her life that she can now pass on to her family.

Sarah McBride: Sarah recently finished her surgical tech training and was a member of Anytime Fitness, but her attendance was a bit lack-luster. Being a Dixon resident for some time, Sarah recognized people from the previous Challenge and decided she wanted some of that success for herself. Sarah was a bit apprehensive at first, but was able to use friendly competition with her brother-in-law (Doug Prichard) to spark massive changes in her life.