By: Kay Rivera
We can hear the bells! Or are those weights clanking? We hear both, actually!
Tone House couple, Allyson Shurmur and Pierre-Adrien Villenave are getting ready to walk down the aisle, but will be putting in work on the Turf before they do. They are taking advantage of this year’s TFRT challenge to prep for their big day.
The Train, Fuel, Recover, Transform (TFRT) challenge is Tone House’s annual body composition challenge, focusing on the total percentage of body fat lost over 90 days. A huge part of athletes reaching their body composition goals is determined by their nutrition. In this challenge, in-House Sports Dietitian, Ryan Turner, RD, CSSD, assists athletes in understanding their optimal nutrition needs to achieve their goals through personalized fueling strategies and education.
It is common knowledge that in order to lose body fat, the body must be at a caloric deficit. However, the barrier many run into is under fueling themselves which limits their performance. This is where Ryan helps athletes understand what an appropriate deficit is. He often hears from the athletes he works with that they are surprised to see how they have enough energy while still losing body fat while in an appropriate deficit. Ryan walks through the necessary calories, macros, and food options to provide adequate fueling for performance.
Ryan states, “We are able to empower everyone to get in a Tone House class and perform well. Once the performance is there, we know the body fat loss is going to come along with it.”
Now for Allyson and Pierre, with the nutrition services available and classes to take, they are well prepared to face this challenge to head on before they say “I do” this summer.
We hear more from the couple below:
Q: Why did you register for this year’s TFRT Challenge?
We are #sweatingforthewedding! We are excited about 2023 and getting in shape for our wedding this summer! It’s exciting to create and maintain new, healthier habits together and it is so much easier to do it with a partner! It will be great to see results in 3 months, but even better to see what we can do for our wedding in 6 months!
In addition, from a health perspective, I (Pierre) have always struggled to properly count calories and have a strong understanding of what constitutes healthy macros and nutrients intake. So working with Ryan on this challenge is educating me.
Q: As previous participants, in what ways did last year’s TFRT challenge you?
We were challenged big time! For the best of course. We worked very hard and followed Ryan’s instructions pretty closely and saw really great results. We were challenged to make sure we let our bodies recover. We are both fast paced people with a lot of commitments. We were working harder than we had in the past, so our bodies needed more rest. We were challenged to say no to late nights and extra work, so we could get more sleep ensuring our workouts were more efficient and we could make sure we made good food choices. One of the toughest part of the challenge is to maintain the routine when results slow down halfway through. It gets difficult to stay disciplined.
Q: What learnings did you have from last year’s challenge that you’re ready to apply to this year?
We learned a lot about the nutrition our bodies needed. We both make much healthier choices in our day to day life, especially more protein in our diet. Even if we got off the wagon for the last few months, we always kept what Ryan taught us in the back of our minds.
Q: (If you worked with Ryan last year) What was your experience like working with Ryan? What changes in your fueling do you plan for this year’s challenge?
Ryan is great! He has an amazing spreadsheet to tailor our diets, workouts and recovery to our goals and our bodies needs! We became much more conscious about the amount of protein we get in our diet. We recognized how important it was to curb hunger and promote muscle building.
Q: How do you plan on training this year?
We are focusing on strength training. We will both be increasing our strength classes each week. We love the 7 am class so we get the day started with a workout before we both head to work. We are also both working on perfecting our form in squats and bench press to make sure we don’t get hurt since adding an additional strength workout
Q: What goals or milestones are you setting for yourself this year?
We would love to win TRFT! But most importantly we would both like to lose 4% PBF!
Q: How will you support each other as co-challengers during the next 3 months?
Thankfully we are doing this together because it makes it a lot easier to wake up and meet at the gym. We are helping each other stay accountable to the regimen Ryan has us on for the next 3 months by planning meals on Sunday and cooking for each other!
We wish Allyson & Pierre the best of luck in the TFRT challenge and huge congratulations for their next step!
Interested in Nutrition services from our in-House Sports Dietitian, Ryan Turner, RD, CSSD? Schedule a complementary discovery call to discuss your current habits and fitness goals to determine if you are a good fit for Nutrition services.