Chasing Dreams Across the US: Diana Chaloux-LaCerte
The multi-talented and gorgeous Diana Chaloux-LaCerte is originally from the beautiful state of Vermont, but she currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri where she and her new husband run their business, Hitch Fit.
Growing up Diana Chaloux-LaCerte was very active. She didn’t watch a lot of television, didn’t have a computer and didn’t play video games (unlike most kids these days who you can’t separate them from). Diana’s parents got her involved with sports at a young age, they let her try a wide variety of activities, swimming lessons, basketball leagues, tennis, gymnastics (which she said she was NOT good at), and skiing. When she got into high school she ran cross country, played field hockey and basketball.
The Early Years with Diana Chaloux-LaCerte
Diana’s freshman year of high school is when she was first introduced to the gym and strength training. She started dating a guy who played football, the football team always got up early before school and went to the gym to work out before classes began and she was invited to tag along — she loved it immediately. She didn’t know 100% what she was doing at that point in time, but Diana Chaloux-LaCerte mimicked what she saw others doing and she loved how strong she became and how her confidence began to steadily grow as a result. Diana was terribly shy throughout high school, sports is where she found her voice and the place where she belonged. She continued playing basketball throughout her college years where she was team captain. Sports have always been an integral part of her life, she loved the challenge of playing, loved the team spirit and the camaraderie.
Even though she loved playing sports, Diana Chaloux-LaCerte didn’t know what she wanted to do in life. She graduated from college with a degree in Business Administration. The one thing that she did know was that she wanted to get out of Vermont and start traveling to see where her ventures would take her. She moved to New Hampshire first and took on a job as an administrative assistant and hated it. Diana Chaloux-LaCerte started brainstorming and thought about the things that she really enjoyed and loved — something she could do for the rest of her life. Those were the thoughts floating through her mind one day while doing cardio on an elliptical machine at the local Gold’s Gym when suddenly a light bulb went off. THIS is it! The gym! She set out that day to figure out what she needed to do to become a personal trainer.
Within a few short months, a lot had changed, she had packed up and moved cross country to Park City, Utah to be a part of the 2002 Olympics and enjoy mountain living with a bunch of friends from college. Diana Chaloux-LaCerte landed her first gym job working as a front desk attendant shortly after the move. She studied for several months for her trainer certs and in early 2002 landed her first one through AFAA, and then a few short months later another through ACE. She then found a vocational school in Maui, HI that was a 6-week long program focused solely on the education of personal trainers. It turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of her life. After 2 months in Maui, she was a new woman, totally inspired, totally motivated to take on the fitness world. It was around this time that she started fervently reading Oxygen Magazine. She was determined that one day she would grace the pages of that magazine.
New Opportunities for Diana Chaloux-LaCerte
It was not until five months later when she got a phone call out of the blue that the man on the other end of the line explained that he ran the fitness program for NCL and would like her to come on board as one of their fitness directors on a cruise ship. It was her dream come true to be able to personal train and travel at the same time. Within two weeks of the call she had quit her job at the gym, given away everything that she owned (except for what would fit in her car), and hit the road to drive cross country by herself so that she could store what was left of her belongings and car at her Dad’s house in Vermont.
Diana Chaloux-LaCerte spent a year on the cruise ship and taught all these fitness classes and still dreamed daily of one day stepping on stage as a Figure competitor. But there was one problem — the food on the cruise ship is rich and high in calories. By the time her stint on the ship had come to an end, she had packed on over 30 pounds (tipping the scale at 170 pounds). Her poor choices and poor eating behavior had taken her in the exact opposite direction of her dreams even though she was teaching all those classes on the ship.
Then with ship life over, it was time to figure out where her next move would be. Her older sister lived in San Antonio, TX and she invited her to move there so she packed her things and went to Texas. San Antonio was where she finally buckled down and got serious about her goals. She got a job at a gym, still read her Oxygen magazine religiously, and talked incessantly about how someday she would be in it. Diana Chaloux-LaCerte had dropped around 10 pounds since being on the ship, but she was still at a weight that was too heavy for her and was still uncomfortable and insecure about it.
The Competitive Spirit
One day a co-worker said to her, “Diana, I heard you say you wanted to do a figure competition. What are you waiting for?” That one little comment hit her like a ton of bricks. That was July 5, 2005, her last day for making excuses.
After searching for some time, Diana found the biggest show that was in her area, the NPC John Sherman Classic 2005. She changed her diet completely, changed her training completely, changed her sleep and work schedule completely, eliminated all partying, eliminated all negative people and poured her heart into getting in the best shape of her life. 18 weeks and 40 pounds later, she stepped on stage at her first show and won her height class. She was hooked! She competed again the following year at the 2006 Ronnie Coleman Classic and once again took first place. Diana then decided that she wanted to focus on competitions that offered Fitness Model categories. In 2007 she switched to an organization that offered this and ended up winning her Pro Card, then went on to win their North American Championships, and then in 2008 she won their Pro Fitness Model World Champion title. Diana Chaloux-LaCerte then set her sights on the WBFF which gave her many more opportunities than the other organizations she was a part of. In September 2008 she went up to compete for her first time with the WBFF and ended up taking home the WBFF Figure World Champion title. But even greater than that was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream — she shot for Oxygen magazine for the first time.
One short week after winning that title, her life was about to take another major turn. Things were going really well in San Antonio and she had hosted a fitness competition there, had built great relationships with local media, and was honored to train former NFL running back Priest Holmes for the entire 2008 summer. Diana Chaloux-LaCerte then headed to the Olympia 2008 in Las Vegas to network and see fitness friends and that is where she laid eyes for the first time on Micah LaCerte — the man who would end up being her husband and partner in all things. They had known each other via the social networks and had developed a platonic friendship just out of mutual respect. But when they first met it was like they had known each other their whole lives. She claims it was love at first sight.
Leaving Micah at the end of that weekend (he lived in Kansas City) was tough. Over the course of the next 6 weeks, she would travel up to Kansas City or Micah would drive to where she was doing events so they could spend time together. Her first time in KC, she looked around and tried to figure out if she could really make this work. After some thought, Diana Chaloux-LaCerte moved to Kansas City to start her new life.
The Start of Hitch Fit
Micah and Diana shared a mutual passion, both in their faith and in the world of fitness. They both have a strong desire to change people’s lives via fitness. Micah had been working on a business concept that was similar to what she had been working on in San Antonio, only Micah had a great knowledge of the marketing and social network side of things, which she didn’t. They teamed up and launched Hitch Fit Online Personal Training in February 2009. Through this program, they were able to work with clients worldwide on achieving their fitness goals by putting together their nutrition programs, workouts and more, and supporting them through the entire process via email. In July 2009 they had the opportunity to actually open their own personal training studio, and so Hitch Fit Gym was founded.
Now Micah had done a load of stuff within the fitness industry, he was already one of the top male fitness models in the world and had features in hundreds of magazines. She introduced him to the WBFF and they decided that we were going to compete together at the World Championships 2009. Diana Chaloux-LaCerte took home 2nd place in the Pro Figure division and Micah placed 8th in male fitness model. But even greater was the myriad of opportunities that came along with competing. At this point in her career she had determined that the only place she will continue competing is at the World Championships — the rest of the year will be focused on building the business and pursuing other projects.
2010 she switched over the Pro Fitness Model division. She loved dressing up and this category was just a better fit for her personality. Micah and Diana headed up to Toronto again and she took home 4th place in Pro Diva Fitness Model and Micah took home 5th place.
Hitch Fit grew throughout this whole period of time as well, they now had two locations in Kansas City and had a team of trainers that ran things the way they did, focusing on transformation training and getting clients to their goals via proper nutrition and training. The focus of this was not to do personal training that would have clients coming back to them forever and ever. The focus was not on sales. It was on transformation. It was on getting people in, and getting them out in as effective and efficient a manner as possible. The goal is to teach people the tools and skills that they need to not just lose the weight but to keep it off for life and live a healthy lifestyle. They teach them how to eat, how to work out, and most importantly how to believe in themselves. That is a critical piece of the puzzle. They always ask that clients be 100% ready for change when they sign up. If they aren’t ready then they aren’t going to be successful, but when they believe, and they come in ready to give their all, amazing things are possible. Speaking of amazing, another exciting thing that happened to Diana was when Micah proposed in July 2010 during a wonderful trip to Maui!
Continuing to Make A Difference
Coming into 2011, the WBFF had decided it was time to begin holding shows in the US. They were thrilled and delighted to be chosen to host one of the first-ever US WBFF shows in Kansas City. The WBFF Central US Championships were held on May 21, 2011 and was a major hit. They will continue to hold the show here on a yearly basis as they continue to grow alongside the WBFF and aid in opening doors within the fitness industry to the well-deserving athletes. 2011 was also a big year for both Diana and Micah as they got married on July 16, 2011.
Diana Chaloux-LaCerte also loves to write, in fact, she and Micah recently just released their latest book “Hitch Fit: Keys to Transforming Your Life” which is available on Amazon.com. She’s in the process of writing yet another book that will be released later this year. She’s been writing columns for years and loves focusing on motivational topics for the most part, but will also include nutrition and training articles for good balance. Diana Chaloux-LaCerte writes for World Physique magazine, Bodybuilding.com, for multiple local newspapers and publications and they are launching a new Hitch Fit online magazine in 2012 as well.
Diana’s best tip for anyone out there is if you have a dream of getting on stage, then don’t procrastinate. Just do it. Her biggest fear is that she would wake up one day and wonder “What would have happened if….” Sure it’s scary, and it’s tough, and it takes discipline and determination and dedication. But you learn so much about yourself along that journey, you learn what kind of inner strength you possess, you learn what you’re really made of. It’s worth every single step!
She would also advise that you seek guidance from someone who has been there before, you will need help with your nutrition, with your training, and you will need someone for moral support. You also want to find someone who will help you get to your goals in a healthy way, which is very important for the long term. If anyone would like Diana’s or Micah’s help with show prep you can check out the online programs they have to offer at www.hitchfit.com.
Hitch Fit online personal training is now in 46 countries and has a wide variety of programs including Lose Weight/Feel Great, Bikini Model Program, Fitness Model Program, Couples Programs, Gluten-Free Programs, Muscle Building, and Competition Prep. Micah and Diana also own Hitch Fit Gym based in Kansas City. They have two locations and a team of 18 trainers at the moment, and they are just in their infancy. 2012 they will continue to grow and expand and continue working towards their goal of touching as many lives and transforming as many people as possible during our time here.
What’s Next?
So the question now is where will Diana Chaloux-LaCerte be in 10 years after accomplishing so much already? Her response was “In ten years I see Hitch Fit growing by leaps and bounds. Micah and I both have entrepreneurial spirits, we both love seeing our “baby” Hitch Fit, grow. We work incessantly to see it do so. In ten years I believe I will still be involved with the world of competition, only likely more as a judge and show host/promoter, I believe we will have multiple Hitch Fit locations across the US and likely in Canada by that point in time. Hitch Fit will be franchised. I believe the Hitch Fit wall of transformations will have numbers in the thousands. I believe we will be highly active with multiple charities, right now we sponsor 10 children via the Bridges of Love program for Monadnock Bible Conference, and I believe in 10 years we will sponsor entire schools of children in Haiti. We will have published more books, and you will likely see me on QVC and HSN selling Hitch Fit products. The possibilities are endless! Micah and I may have started a family by that time, the verdict is still out on if and when children are in our future, but it’s a definite possibility. Most importantly, I believe that in 10 years I will still be walking in the path that God has set for me, and I will still be waking up happy with the man I love as we continue to pursue our goals and dreams.”
There are many people Diana Chaloux-LaCerte would like to thank for helping her get to where she is today. “I’d like to thank God first and foremost for planting a desire in my heart that I could not ignore. I thank Him for holding my hand every step of the way, and always being there for me even when I turned my back or stumbled and fell. I’d like to thank my family for always believing in me, though I’m sure there have been many times they thought me completely crazy. My sister Linda without whose love and support I would never have achieved my goals. Thank you to Micah for being the man that you are and for making me the happiest woman ever. Thank you to Paul and Allison Dillett for creating an amazing organization in the WBFF and allowing me to be a part of it! Thank YOU for the interview!!”
*I conducted this interview with Diana Chaloux-LaCerte on behalf of FitTreasures Magazine who has now gone out of business. The interview and title image was approved for use through its original use on the FitTreasure Magazine website.*
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