CoachMeFit Blog

“Biggest Loser” contestant Joelle Gwynn is a client at the CoachMeFit studio in West Bloomfield,  MI.  She works out with the owner of the studio, Catherine Munaco.

“Biggest Loser” airs Tuesday’s at 8:00pm on NBC.

Catherine will be blogging weekly first-hand updates from Joelle’s training

Catherine Munaco and Celebrity CoachMeFit Client, Joelle Gwynn

Joelle had an interview with Matt Lauer last Tuesday on the Today Show, so I didn’t see her to workout on Monday or Tuesday. Thankfully, the Today show went off without much drama. Joelle and Carla both looked great, they were friendly, and most importantly they got to show off the hard work they’ve been doing!

Now that Joelle has been eliminated and the interview rush has subdued, we got to spend this week refocusing and getting back to our regular schedule. Joelle meets with me four days per week for her most intense workouts, and then she fills in with cardio classes or recumbent bike riding. The weather in Michigan is FINALLY starting to thaw, so we even went for a short jog together. This week marks the first time that Joelle has jogged a mile straight. That may sound simple, but, like most overweight or unathletic people, Joelle never jogged when she was younger. I started with a mile so she would realize that she could do it. Joelle was extremely proud of herself, and she should be! We’re already talking about road racing together. We’ll probably start with a 5k, but eventually I would like her to run/walk a half marathon with me (she doesn’t know this yet…) The great thing about jogging, if you can do it without your joints hurting, is that it burns a lot of calories and you don’t need very much equipment (a good pair of running shoes is enough). You can get a decent workout in by jogging around your block, even when time is limited. You don’t need to waste time driving to the gym. Plus, with regular jogging you can see vast improvements in a relatively short amount of time, especially for beginners. If you’ve never jogged before, try this beginner routine: Jog for 3 minutes, and then walk for 3 minutes. Go for at least 30 minutes. If you do this every day for a month, you will see you won’t need to walk as long. You may not even have to walk at all!

Joelle is looking forward to being able to run longer distances at a faster pace, but she has been working hard on her treadmill intervals. Every week we’ve tried to increase her speed or her pace. This week she’s running 8.5 mph for 30 second intervals on the treadmill (she walks in between intervals to recover, and does about 12 intervals in all). Next week we’ll increase the speed again. Joelle’s goal is to be able to do intervals at 10mph for 30-45 seconds.

On a personal note, it’s great to have Joelle focused and motivated. I definitely noticed a change since she came home from New York last week. We have a little over two months and we are going strong!

“Biggest Loser” contestant Joelle Gwynn is a client at the CoachMeFit studio in West Bloomfield,  MI.  She works out with the owner of the studio, Catherine Munaco.

“Biggest Loser” airs Tuesday’s at 8:00pm on NBC.

Catherine will be blogging weekly first-hand updates from Joelle’s training

Joelle was voted off the ranch last week in week 5. Watching the show air has been difficult for Joelle, so she was happy to not have to watch herself on the show anymore. Joelle never knew how the producers were going to edit the footage (keep in mind they take over 800 hours of footage down to the two hours that are broadcast), so it was constantly a source of worry and distraction. She was nervous as to how she would look on national television—and needless to say she was a little disappointed with how she was portrayed. Now that she’s not on the show, she can refocus 100% on what matters—her workouts and looking great in May.

Because its now common knowledge that Joelle was eliminated in week five, we could also start doing some local interviews. Joelle and I had an interview on the NBC local affiliate: WDIV (Channel 4) Morning news. We had to be downtown and ready to interview by 5 am! Joelle and I aren’t exactly morning people, so the 3:30 am alarm was less than appreciated, but it was still a very worthwhile experience. It was really neat to be on set and to see how everything works. (A video of our interview is posted below in the previous blog entry)

I also got a few seconds of national fame when they showed a quick clip of me and Joelle working out during the “Where are they now?” footage. Joelle and Carla are both doing great! Joelle is keeping up with her workouts and we are very pleased with her weight loss. I keep telling her that we have plenty of time to reach her goals—IF we stay focused. There have definitely been setbacks with scheduling around work or weight loss plateaus, but those are difficulties that anyone has while trying to lose weight. That’s why workout buddies or personal trainers are so great—they help you remain focused with life becomes distracting. I like holding Joelle accountable. Her goals are lofty, but very doable! Plus, there is a lot of pressure and scrutiny on these contestants (the NBC blogs and comment pages can be cruel!) Sometimes Joelle needs a dose of normalcy—there is nothing normal about dropping over half your body weight in 8 months while being away from your home and being filmed 24 hours a day—and I get to be her voice of normal reasoning. Joelle has always been an extremely hard worker, and I remind her that no matter how she is portrayed, she can still work hard and look great in May. They can’t edit a live finale to make her look heavy! I’m also maybe a little bit competitive (don’t look so surprised…) so I use that to motivate Joelle to look great in the finale and quite all of her naysayers.

Joelle from NBC’s “Biggest Loser” was interviewed by NBC affiliate WDIV this week along with her personal trainer, CoachMeFit owner Catherine Munaco.

Catherine talks about how she and her staff at CoachMeFit in West Bloomfield are holding Joelle accountable to her goals in preparation for the final weigh-in in May.