EA SPORTS Active Weekend - Day 2

On Day 2 of the retreat we had one on one time with Health and Fitness Guru Bob Greene, you may be most familiar with him because he is Oprah's trainer. My session went very well, he had some really great advice for me. Once the Challenge begins you will be able to view the interview on the EA SPORTS Active Challenge website. We also met our celebrity mom challenger, Allison Sweeney, of Days of Our Lives and host of The Biggest Loser. I asked her why she was interested in working on weight loss/health and fitness and she said that like many women she has struggled with weight and body image. I loved her candor and transparency.

We ate a great lunch - I know I have been mentioning foodMe and Monica about to get our grub on.

frequently but The Four Seasons really had excellent menus. After lunch it was on to a group sessions with Bob. We covered more health and fitness Donny and Kari Claxton

tips as well as dealing with the emotional side of weight loss. The emotional piece is the one that hit home for me and I that in order to be successful I have to take a holistic approach and address everything both inside and out. We ended the day with working out with EA SPORTSKP, the EA SPORTS Active Community Manager and Challenger

Active. I really am in this thing to make a huge difference in my life and I chose a preset workout that focused on my lower body. This thirty minute workout was killer. I truly felt the burn and refused to stop when we were switching out to a dance workout until I completed the entire thing. I am competitive but mostly compete with myself and I needed to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing a challenging workout.

All of our hard work did not go unrewarded. We went to dinner in Santa Barbara - in true style, our stretch Escalade was a fun surprise for all of us. We had dinner at El Paseo restaurant where the guacamole was made table side and the margaritas were ginormous! And no, alcohol is not partof the diet but on the last night there we had to celebrate our hard work and get the last drinks in before the Challenge officially starts!Me and Riley of EA SPORTS Active in the Escalade

The evening did not end there for me, several of us went to a club where we were treated like VIPs. The music and crowd was eclectic but on my last evening in Santa Barbara I danced the night away. In the morning I paid for it, my toes were blistered and my legs were sore but it was all worth it. After a refreshing retreat I am ready to take the Challenge.

The Challengers