- [Rebecca] Going into this you've agreed
that we're gonna work together for three months.
- [Nina] And we just found out
that we're probably going to have to work from home.
I'm starting to get a little nervous
that my wedding is not even gonna happen.
I'm overwhelmed.
I'm not handling it well.
(dramatic music)
Hi, I'm Nina.
You may know me because I'm a producer here at Buzzfeed
and I'm getting married this year.
When you're getting married,
there comes a lot of pressure to lose weight
and be fit and be healthy
so that you can look your best for the wedding.
I don't really wanna fixate on losing weight
or achieving a certain size goal.
I do wanna look my best
and I think that I'll look my best if I feel my best.
And I think I'll feel my best if I work a little bit more
on my fitness and nutrition.
So for the next few months leading up to the wedding,
I am going to be training with Rebecca.
She is a celebrity personal trainer,
and she's also gonna be giving me my meal plan.
I have a few concerns going into it.
Number one being just managing time and stress.
I'm worried that I won't be able to keep up with it.
Hopefully I survive.
I'm scared.
(laughing)
- Hi sweetheart. - Hi
- Welcome.
I'm Rebecca Kordecki, I'm the owner of RK Fit as you know .
Going into this you've agreed
that we're gonna work together for three months.
I'm gonna give you a fitness plan.
I'm gonna give you a nutrition plan.
I'm gonna be your biggest fan and support system
while you're doing this. - Thank you
- You're in good hands.
- I feel like my biggest struggles,
like up to this point have been just consistency.
It's like I'll be consistent for a while
then something will happen and I'll fall off the track
and then it's hard to like build it back up again.
- Sometimes life gets the best of us.
I'm gonna design something
that's almost like more bang for your back.
When you do one exercise,
it's gonna be like doing two or three.
And so imagine I'm spending about 60 minutes
- Okay
- in your workouts and I'd like you to carve out
that time in advance.
You have to schedule yourself like you're a client.
Like you're an appointment it has to become a priority,
but I'll also give you shorter versions
so that if let's say you don't have 60 minutes one day
you could cut it in half and do 30 minutes
and still get an amazing workout.
- All right so fitness is obviously one part,
but then nutrition is another part.
So how should I be eating?
- I am just a huge believer in eating clean whole foods,
non processed foods.
I like lean meats.
And then as many vegetables as you can.
- I have a lot of allergies.
- Okay, talk to me about it - Unfortunately
I'm allergic to nuts.
- Okay
- I'm allergic to lentils, tofu.
I know what I can't eat.
- Okay, so that's all? - Yeah
- What I'm gonna design for you
is gonna be some suggestions - Sure
- And there'll be plenty of things that you can choose from,
like mix and match.
You're good, we got this.
All you gotta do is show up that's all.
- Okay
- I can't do that part for you.
- I can do it.
- Can you do it? - I can.
- Give me.
(laughing)
Okay I got you.
What I wanna do mostly with this workout
is introduce different modalities of training,
different styles of moving your body
to see what you acclimate most to.
But mostly I want you to also see that
it's fun to move your body in different ways.
So let's get started.
Typically a workout with me consists of
giving clients a workout that not
only makes them look better,
but also makes them be able
to move through life better, right?
It might include strength, training,
a circuit, boxing.
It might include hit training
where we do some fast movements,
take a rest and then hit it again.
So I play with that.
- I'm worried about not being disciplined enough
to do well with this fitness and nutrition regimen.
When I get stressed,
I tend to just kind of drop everything.
So I'm worried that I'm not gonna meet the goals
that she sets for me
and that I even set for myself.
And I'm also worried about disappointing Rebecca.
I'm a people pleaser.
And I worry that if I don't do this well enough,
she's gonna be mad at me.
- All right girl you've crushed it.
- Thank you.
- You did so good, am serious
like really proud of your baby.
- Thank you.
- So proud of you.
- I feel a sense of accomplishment that's slowly fading
in a way as I feel very weak.
I think I knew it was gonna be hard and a challenge.
I'm very tired.
(laughing)
(upbeat music)
I was really really sore
after my first workout with Rebecca.
So I'm definitely a little bit nervous to get going in it.
So I just finished my first circuit.
I'm tired, I'm sweaty.
Now I gotta do another
that I basically have to do this all over again.
It wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting,
but I'm so tired.
Rebecca's meal plan
involves me eating five times a day and it's
some combination of three meals and two snacks
or two meals and three snacks.
And every day includes a protein shake as well.
Okay so I've never made a protein shake before
or had one in my life.
So I'm about to make one
and let's hope that it goes okay.
(juicer mortar roaring )
Its got maybe a little bit of an after taste,
but not the worst thing in the world.
I think it looks pretty good.
Here's all the foods that I'm bringing today.
It's more preplanned than I normally am.
Oh, I think I prepped it pretty well last night.
So it didn't take me too long this morning to do anything.
Dalen how's your meal.
- My meal is fantastic.
The seasoning just right.
Got salmon cooked it perfect medium.
- What do you think of my meal?
- Looks terrible.
(laughing)
- Rebecca gave me a lot of variety in my meal options
in order to make it a little bit easier for myself,
and for me to be able to like meal prep,
I'm gonna reduce my number of options.
So here's my meal.
The food's a little bland,
but I guess that's how you transform for your wedding,
by being a little bland in the months preceding.
I think one thing that is like,
maybe that feels like a little bit depressing,
Friday night, Saturday night is usually like the nights
when I have a good glass of wine
or hang out and see friends
and get a meal together.
And this is the first night of me
kind of not doing those things
and just staying at home,
but it's okay.
I guess my green beans will comfort me.
It's the first day of Buzzfeed advising employees
to work from home if it's not necessary
for them to come in
for the rest of the month due to concerns
about the spread of COVID-19.
The one tiny, tiny silver lining for me personally,
is that it will make it easier to do my workouts
because I don't have to worry about
getting to work at a certain time
or budgeting in time for my workout at my commute.
I'm feeling decent I think.
And I did day one's workout again.
I got through almost the entire thing.
And so I felt like pretty bad ass about it.
And it was actually kind of a big confidence boost.
I'm feeling pretty good.
I won't say I've been perfect the entire time
because I haven't,
I'm striving to be like,
I think like 80% on top of everything.
And I have noticed that
over the last couple of weeks I've dropped about
five or six pounds.
(dramatic music)
So we're in my apartment
because things have changed quite dramatically.
There is a global pandemic.
So now me and my coworkers are working exclusively at home
and we are encouraged to stay inside our homes
as much as possible.
I'm nervous that I won't be able to have the wedding
that I envisioned having.
And I think
what makes part of this whole nutrition fitness journey
a little bit harder is that
part of it is also trying to achieve certain goals
by the wedding.
What if I'm doing all of this strict nutrition
and exercise for an event that's not gonna happen.
If we have to push my wedding,
I don't know if I can continue doing this
for like six months
or like eight months.
That part of it makes me a little bit anxious
and fearful I think.
So I'm gonna check in with Rebecca
and update her on my progress.
Hi,
- Oh my goodness.
Hi sweetheart.
I was like,
how do I do this
(laughing)
how have you been?
- These two weeks I think because of all the world's changes
has felt like an eternity.
In some ways it's felt easier and some ways harder.
On the one hand I can work out whenever I want,
because there's so much time.
- Right
- I could see how much progress I made
in how hard it was the first time versus
how much easier it felt when I did it on Sunday.
So that was a good amount of progress,
I think.
- Yes, we'll take it.
Let's all acknowledge that what we're in right now
during this time has thrown all our schedules off.
We've all been going going going going because
of jobs and traffic and work and stress
and now we're forced
to slow down.
- It has been this thing where,
when I look at myself
in the mirror,
it's not necessarily that I've seen any physical changes,
but I do feel better.
There's something about the energy of my body
or my mind where I feel really good.
- Let's do a next level then,
I love it.
(upbeat music)
- Smoothie time.
Goddamnit.
(juicer mortar roaring)
Suddenly the protein shake has become
my favorite meal of the day.
(upbeat music)
Someone's joining me today.
- Oh boy
- Are we having fun?
- So much fun.
Well, I'm not 18 anymore.
(laughing)
(upbeat music)
- Everyone on Instagram is baking cookies and making bread
and trying out all these fancy new recipes
and what am I doing?
Eating the same old
(beep)
It's week six and I'm a little worried
that I'm kind of plateauing.
It's really just kind of like
eating at my mental health.
Cause I haven't noticed as many bodily changes
as I did in the first few weeks,
like the first three or four.
And so I guess now I'm just worried that like
Oh, does this mean that all progress is over
or is progress just gonna be slower from here on out?
I feel like I just wish I knew.
We just found out that we're probably gonna have
to work from home through the end of April.
I'm starting to get a little nervous
that my wedding is not even gonna happen.
And that very much concerns me.
(upbeat music)
Woke up sad yesterday.
So I just didn't work out because I didn't feel like it.
This weekend was supposed to be us flying back
to Chicago to do our menu tasting, cake tasting,
floral samples and my bridal shower
and the hair and makeup trial.
We were going to just like knock it all out in four days.
I feel like it's more and more likely
that I'm just not even gonna have a wedding this year.
It's really difficult to stay motivated,
to keep working out.
(upbeat music)
- [Rebecca] Hey sweetie, how are you?
- I'm so glad to have received the next set of workouts.
I did the first one yesterday.
Around like week four or five,
I was feeling,
I don't know like I hit some kind of plateau,
but then after weeks four and five,
I feel like I started to see more progress again.
So I was like, yeah, I think I'm ready
to push myself to the next level.
- That ache will be coupled
into A that, you're actually doing the damn workouts
and B, that your body is adapting
and getting ready for the next level.
Keep mixing it up,
keep throwing in new things,
keep adding weight,
keep changing the tempo.
- I feel healthy and I feel stronger
than I normally do.
- I remember when we started the first day workout
and you were scared a little bit of it.
You were like,
I don't know if I can do it.
And you're like this feels hard.
You're like a champ right now.
(laughing)
You're a champion of this literally.
And I'm so proud of you, - Thank you,
- But also excited for you.
- I think our check-ins are really helpful
because I usually only think about
how I'm feeling in the moment
or what's been going on with my diet
or my workouts in the last day
or the last few hours.
But then I think about
how I've been doing this for like seven and a half weeks now
and I'm like, no,
I'm definitely in a different place
than I was at the beginning.
I think it's really good for me to talk to her.
Up until last night,
I haven't really faced any temptation.
Yesterday I had lent a friend some hair clippers
so he could cut his hair.
He brought them back
and he brought them back along with cookies
and I love cookies
they're like my favorite dessert.
So what I've done
is I've hidden them over here behind the oat meals
so I can't see them.
Right now,
I have a goal
and I also wanna think about stuff in moderation
because I wanna take some of the things
that I've been doing during this challenge
and kind of apply them to my life beyond the challenge.
And that's gonna include moderation.
To me that's like a healthier mindset.
(dramatic music)
It's the middle of week nine
and I'm overwhelmed
with work,
with my personal projects,
with my personal life,
with just my life in general.
I am completely overwhelmed.
It's very hot.
I'm not handling it well,
I'm having some frozen food.
Frozen food is not on the approved list of foods
that Rebecca sent me.
I just needed something super warm and decadent feeling
and comforting today
because I'm honestly just really struggling.
I broke down in tears earlier today
because I was so overwhelmed and I need a break.
Look what came in the mail, beautiful cupcakes.
I'm gonna have one
and I'm gonna enjoy it.
This was not my strongest week.
I didn't work out Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday,
which is not great.
That's like the longest stretch
I've gone without working out
since I started this thing I think.
I am gonna work out today,
but now I'm scared cause I'm like
I have worked down three days.
This is probably gonna crush me.
I definitely noticed this week was a week
where I worked out more.
Like I definitely feel better on the weeks that I work out
and eat a little bit better.
Been trying to determine whether or not I noticed changes
in my body.
I feel like I definitely have a little bit of
definition in my stomach more than I did before.
I maybe have a slight bit of roundness,
maybe a little bit more than I did before
in my butt.
We have our Mexican food for cheat meal, excited
What else did we get?
- We got free takeout margaritas.
- Can't say no.
Oh, that's a good marg.
- Oh, - Hoo
I can't believe that this is my last week of doing this.
It feels crazy.
I think I'm just gonna try to finish strong.
And at the end of this week,
when I see Rebecca
hopefully she's proud of the progress that I've made.
(upbeat music)
I'm at the end of the road.
I can't believe
I did this for three months.
It feels like simultaneously,
like it has been forever,
but then also like no time at all.
Like that first workout,
I was definitely trying to smile through it,
but I was dying on the inside.
I was like, Oh my God,
how am I gonna do this.
I couldn't sit down for three days.
Once I was really in it I was like one,
it's not as hard as I thought it was going to be.
I think when you think of it
as like a lifestyle thing or something
that I wanna keep up with consistently,
it makes me feel less bad when I would stray
from it a little bit.
- That's beautiful and I hope that you'll remember
that because it's kind of about finding a space
to be gentle with yourself. - Exactly.
- When you just fall off a horse, right?
And then giving yourself permission to take a minute
or two
or a beach or three
until you feel ready again.
But when we beat ourselves up,
when we don't do it
or we beat ourselves up when we have a
quote and quote bad meal,
that's when we get in this dynamic with fitness
and diet where it becomes
something we can never overcome,
- I feel so much stronger and I think
that was something that I really wanted for myself.
- Thank you so much
for everything. - Thank you
- You've been such a wonderful help
throughout all of this
and such a great partner to have in this
and I'm so glad that you were able to work with us
and for doing all of the added extra work of handling
this during the pandemic.
I'm so appreciative.
When I started this video,
it was pre pandemic
and I still had a wedding planned for June, 2020.
And 12 weeks later,
all of that has changed.
I'm excited and hopeful that
in three months I'll look back on this
and be like,
Oh, remember when I couldn't do all that stuff.
This was a great challenge
and I'm really glad I did it for myself.
In the beginning I was like,
what the hell did I sign myself up for?
(beep)
But at the end of it,
I'm really glad that I did it
and I stuck with it
and I'm looking forward to just kinda
keep doing it until my actual wedding next year,
hopefully fingers crossed.
(upbeat music)