How are you being active this month?

Three teams have been selected by the City of Surrey to participate in the Be Active Challenge during the month of October, which is Healthy Living Month.

Each team has received a month of healthy lifestyle coaching, including healthy eating tips, and eight personal training sessions.

Each team has also received a one-year free facility pass for use at all city-operated recreation centres and facilities.

The teams' progress during October will be tracked online, in video and in a weekly update in the Now newspaper. Join us every week to hear how the teams are doing.

At the end of October, each team's story will be featured on the City of Surrey website and residents will be asked to vote for their favourites. The winning team will receive a $500 active getaway to Whistler.

Read our write-ups about each team to learn what they want to achieve and how they plan to "Be Active" this month.

And residents can get their fitness on for free this month, too. The City of Surrey is offering free fitness drop-in classes throughout the month of October.

For more information visit www.surrey.ca/beactive.The Now

Julia and Lori

Julia: This challenge has taken us to new levels. There have been lows (I mean come on, it was just Thanksgiving). The flip side is that we are working out three to five hours weekly.

We walked the track at Guildford Recreation Centre, took our time and even lost track of it!

We also did a five-km walk, and bought some fresh fruit. Maybe we have a fear of Surrey watching us fail, but it's making us move our butts!

I bought a bike and Lori got a bike trailer so she can pull the kids. This week, we meet our personal trainer and maybe we'll even lose some weight!

Lori: I can't believe my picture in the paper. I look huge! (Now I'm motivated!) I'm scared and excited at the same time.

I can't believe I've walked so much this week. It appears the dog (Ozzy) has started the challenge; the stare from her to go for a walk is motivating instead of annoying.

Mala

My first reaction to the news that I'd been chosen for the training under the Be Active Challenge? One word describes it completely: apprehensive.

By the time I met Dan, my trainer, I was so tense that during the warm-up on the treadmill, I clutched the heart-rate monitor hard and it didn't work! However, Dan was really encouraging and reassuring and soon I was at ease.

By my second class, I could see the benefit of these sessions. I could feel myself exerting parts of the body that I'd never before worked on.

To me, the most tangible benefit of this challenge is commitment. I stuck to my plan of yoga on Monday, workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday and long walks, including steps, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

More importantly, I went away for the long weekend and booked myself in hotels with fitness rooms and planned long hikes. And I packed foods that allowed me to eat healthy during my trip.

Noel, Roxanne and Ashanti

Our first training session with our personal trainer Kerry Marion was great. She zoned in that we are a close family and she catered to that by teaching us exercises that we could do as a family, aside from our own personal goals.

I (Noel) am getting used to being back in a workout routine. I'm doing 30 minutes cardio per day, stretching, walking, bike riding and isometrics.

By far, our biggest challenge is finding time to get to the gym. We have begun eating whole foods -creating meals from scratch and prepping meals for lunch rather than eating out.

Roxanne has been bike riding, doing yoga, rebounding, walking and cardio. She is happy that we have been given the opportunity to be active in new ways with much needed support.

Ashanti is active in cheerleading three times a week and bike riding and shooting hoops.