It seems like the internet is full of throwback photos from 2016, and here’s a very random moment in my life: I was on a reality TV show called American Grit, hosted by WWE/Movie Start John Cena.
American Grit is the story of 16 civilians divided into 4 teams led by real life elite military heroes called the Cadre. Each week we do tasks inspired by actual training missions (called evolutions) done in each branch of the military. The winning team gets immunity. The three losing teams have to face The Circus: a brutal obstacle course followed by an endurance test that continues until someone gives up or their body gives out. In Navy Seal fashion, the loser has to ring a giant bell signifying to everyone that he or she can no longer move on.
From the audition process, to facing each military-style challenge, and having to keep it secret from everyone until the show went live, it was a truly insane experience.
My main goal was to not get kicked off in episode one. There were nine episodes and I made it to episode five, which was amazing. Two of my teammates actually won the whole thing! And they truly deserved the win. Clare Painter was an Alaskan fisherwoman who won Crossfit competitions.
Our mentor was Noah Galloway, a purple heart recipient who lost his leg and one arm in the Iraq War. His catchphrase was, “Y’all be humble when you win.” It was unfathomable to complain about anything realizing he literally gave an arm and a leg in service to our country.
I’m still scratching my head at how I ended up on the show, lol. My claim to fame was that I lost 50 pounds by entering a bodybuilding bikini competition and blogged about it on SheLosingIt.com. (In this picture I’m standing in my old jeans, holding my memoir, “She’s Losing It!” which is actually pretty funny. It’s like a Rocky for moms and is available on Amazon.)
Every time a team won a training mission, John Cena would give them a reward. Our team kept winning, so we saw him more than the other contestants. The coolest thing ever was winning the first mission, where we had to carry a heavy log up a hill, answer some riddle and set it upright.
Each evolution got harder that pushed us mentally, physically, and emotionally. Honestly, I loved it. Unlike other teams snickering with each other (it was a reality-TV show after all), our team really clicked.
We were all given clothes to wear in our team color. (Team Noah wore green). The funniest thing about reality-TV is that even though it was snowing outside, they wanted the women to wear crop tops and shorts. (It was on FOX…) I was too cold to wear shorts, like Clare, but since I was a bodybuilder, my abs were looking pretty good back then! My book might be named She’s Losing It! but during covid I found the cookies again, lol. This picture is inspiring me to hit the gym, honestly.
Carrying trunks through the snow
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Our team after winning evolution 4Save
That water was freezing!Save
Team Noah wins evolution 2!
The women on the show were some truly badass chicks. Also, they taught me make-up tips. Ivette Saucedo has like 512,000 followers on Instagram and is a model, so I took notes!
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Ivette Saucedo gave me make-up tipsSave
Goldie defying the odd to survive the first circus
Maria Kang (She’s known as the No Excuses Mom) gave me some marketing advice for selling my book and we got a chance to meet up once at a Prevention Magazine convention in Austin, back when I was an active fitness blogger.
All good things come to an end, and ultimately it was a running competition that did me in. When your team loses, the mentor picked someone to face “the circus”. Since I was the one who made us lose, I asked Noah to let me face it. We agreed if I finished the task I’d come back more confident, and if I didn’t, it was ok too, because I’d be able to go home to see my son sing in the first grade Christmas choir. It was a sprinting contest, running up and down a ramp. I was competing against a form NFL player and a triathlete. I mean, sure, miracles can happen, but not for me that day. Everyone who lost had to ring a giant bell, which is a Navy tradition.
One of the strangest (but also the most fun) experiences was watching the show live with my family and friends at Hanover’s in Pflugerville. I wish I had more photos but they got lost on my old phone (grr). But here are two photos I found.
After the show I kept in touch with other cast members (mostly over Instagram). That year I was training for a half marathon to fundraise to cover the medical bills for my husband’s best friend’s son, JJ, who was in a car wreck and paralyzed from the neck down. Several people from the show helped with that, including Touchdown Tony (NFL), my teammates and Brooke.
I remember meeting up with another cast member, Brooke (a gymnast who lost use of her legs for two years), to go to Barnes and Nobel to see a book reading by one of the cadres Nick “The Reaper” Irving (he was a decorated sniper). You can read about it here: Stories of Grit.
I also had other opportunities that year. I promoted my book on several morning shows and got interviewed on Bikini.com (I was a bodybuilder in the bikini division.)
And a video with my reaction to the first episode.
It’s hard to believe that was ten years ago! I had several extremely embarrassing moments (like having a literal panic attack during the very first task), and a few moments where I surprised myself (helping my teammate cross an icy river then setting up tents when I couldn’t feel my fingers), and ultimately I felt stronger from the experience.
Today, I’m a full-time writer, only now I write fantasy novels, like To Rescue a Witch and To Condemn a Witch and sell them with my husband on weekends. My kids are now teenagers!
