By Lauren Linhard – moxie.lauren@gmail.com

I was staring into the freezer last night, deciding whether to not to crack into the frozen chocolate muffins stored away as a special treat.

Then I heard the following from the television two rooms away: “I can’t do this. I’m a mom of four from the midwest – I raise babies.” My inner-feminist made me shut the freezer door in outrage at any woman thinking they couldn’t do something because they are a mom.

Her name is Jill May and she is one of 10 women competing on NBC’s new show “Strong,” a fitness competition that pairs 10 regular women with 10 of the world’s most elite male trainers. Sounds familiar right? Get ready for the plot twist – this show isn’t about losing weight, it’s about finding the balance of mind and body to achieve a new level of personal strength.

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Over the next hour, I  forgot completely about my chocolate muffin craving by watching each of the 10 women transform in front of my eyes. I was amazed and inspired by the strength of these women doing leg presses to lift their more than 200 pound partners or rocking inverted sit-ups to toss a ball in a basket.

The best part – not a single one of them gave up. It was amazing to hear the “I can’t” become “Holy crap, I just did that” as the two challenges per episode commenced.

And I didn’t have to sit through some unjust voting off process where, inevitably, a person who deserves to be on the show has to leave. Instead the team that won the challenge picks a team to go head-to-head with the losing team on an elimination strength and cardio challenge referred to as “The Tower.” The team that truly gives their all lives to train another day.

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What really resonates about this show is the teamwork involved. The trainers aren’t just bystanders, they are actively training with their partner and competing in challenges alongside them. It creates a level of trust, accountability and drive other “weight loss” or “healthy challenge” shows don’t consider.

I invite you to join the Strong team with me every Thursday at 8 p.m. (EST). Make it a personal goal to work out at least three times a week, including Thursdays before the show starts. Let’s be accountable to each other and find our own personal strength – also known as the “Holy crap, I can do this” attitude.