Fitness is a career, passion and major stress reliever for Kathleen Randall and Tony Arnold.
Fitness is a career, passion and major stress reliever for Kathleen Randall and Tony Arnold. Staying active and eating right has rewarded the Palm Coast couple with healthy minds and bodies, and they recently earned something extra for their efforts.
Randall, 41, and Arnold, 34, were named "America’s Fittest Couple" by Oxygen Magazine in February.
The duo participated in the magazine’s eight-week America’s Fittest Couple Challenge 2 from Oct. 28 to Dec. 25 last year. They competed against about 500 other couples nationwide in a transformation challenge judged by contestants’ "before" and "after" physiques.
The challenge was hosted by "transformation specialists" Chris and Heidi Powell, who have a television show similar to "The Biggest Loser," called "Extreme Weight Loss," on ABC. As winners of the challenge, Randall and Arnold won a free trip to Hawaii in October, as well as a free training session at the Powells' training facility in Arizona this month.
Randall, fitness director of Serenata Beach Club in South Ponte Vedra Beach, and Arnold, an athletic trainer at Medical Exercise Associates in Daytona Beach, were inspired to get back in shape through the challenge. They moved from Port Orange to Palm Coast together a few months prior to the challenge, which had hurt their fitness regime.
"We both got busy like everybody else and just kind of slacked off," Arnold said. "We just used it as a way to reset ourselves, or jump back into our fitness routines and get more of a jump start into what we were doing."
Randall, who has participated in other challenges on her own, said it was also a good opportunity for her and Arnold to do something fun together. Randall said having a common goal helped improve their relationship.
"That’s something I was looking for too, was just something for us to do together," Randall said. "I think we’ve improved as a couple."
Randall and Arnold were part of a private Facebook group with other participants, some of whom posted progress pictures. People with a wide range of fitness levels and ages participated, some getting hurt or dropping out before the end of the eight weeks while others drastically improved their physiques and health. Randall and Arnold said they were happy to see others succeed, and winning the contest was unexpected.
"There were a lot of really good, serious transformations," Arnold said. "I was pretty impressed by a lot of the transformations."
Not-so-challenging challenge
Considering they work in the fitness industry, have been active their entire lives and were formerly in great shape, returning to the gym full-time was not difficult, Randall and Arnold agreed. They tried a few of the workouts the plan offered, but otherwise simply resumed their normal workout regime.
Each couple received a meal plan and weight training program upon entering the challenge, but it was up to them whether they followed it or not. Randall and Arnold said the plans were a jumping off point, which they adapted to suit their needs.
Both Randall and Arnold like high intensity interval training, or HIIT. Arnold described it as intense bursts followed by rest periods. They both lift weights in addition to HIIT, and they supplement that with a little bit of cardiovascular exercise. Randall and Arnold said they both very much prefer strength training.
The diet aspect of the challenge was not difficult, either, but was rather more of an adjustment.
Diet wise, carb cycling was new to Randall and Arnold. Carb cycling is eating a normal amount of carbs one day and 30 percent of that the next, and carbs are only eaten early in the day.
Tips from the pros
Rather than working out, Randall and Arnold said the most important part of not only losing weight, but also creating a healthy lifestyle, is to follow a healthy diet plan. Both agreed, though, that diet is usually the part people struggle with most.
Randall said she believes most people could have a reasonably healthy diet with some determination.
"It’s just putting forward that little bit of effort and mindfulness as to what you’re eating," she said.
Another common piece of advice Randall gives is to be mindful of how long it took someone to reach their current physical state and keep that in mind through their fitness journey. It takes time to get fit, she said, and there isn’t instant gratification.
Arnold said there is no easy path to becoming fit — it takes hard work without cutting corners.
"There is a wealth of information out there, and a lot of it is terrible," Arnold said. "It’s really not complicated. You have to eat right and work hard."
Randall and Arnold both stressed that even as winners of the contest, professionals in the fitness industry and all-around healthy people, they are "still human" and have the same temptations, bad days and weaknesses as most people.
"We got into a slump, and we got busy just like everybody else," Arnold said.
Although she loves working out, it is not always easy to feel motivated, Randall said.
"There are definitely times when I go in the gym and I’m like, ‘Ugh, I do not want to do this today, I just do not want to do this.’ But when I’m done, I feel so much better, and I’m so glad I did it," she said.
Randall and Arnold both said they have their "off" days at work, too, but they love what they do and get fulfillment from helping people with their personal health and fitness.
"I just know how exercise makes me feel, and what it does for me, so I know that it can do the same thing for other people," Randall said. "Any kind of stress you have in your life, I’ve never had anyone say they regretted spending time exercising or working out. Ever. Because you always feel better when you’re done."