Success Story #51

Name: A. Reid
Improvement: 15 lbs weight loss / 4% Body Fat Reduction
Time: 3 months
Program: 2018 Total Transformation Challenge - Summer Challenge
 
What was your biggest challenge / obstacle (s)?
My biggest challenge was changing my eating habits and going to the gym. The challenges our Trainer set up made it fun to go to the gym and having a team really helped as well. The Program’s recipes and tips on eating right also really helped keep me on track.

What motivated you to stay on the course?
Having to weigh in every Friday was a huge motivation through the week. Weighing in helped me stay on track. Our Trainer was also very helpful. He would help me schedule time for different challenges; sometimes needing to try multiple times for different challenges until the results I wanted were achieved.

Did your diet change? If so, How? Please be detailed!
My diet changed significantly. This program provides a great cook book as a guide. I started by eating three to five smaller meals a day. I cut out non-complex carbs like breads, pastries, pastas, rice, and cereal. I found awesome substitutions. For pasta noodles, I made zucchini and summer squash noodles. For cereal, I switched to steel cut oatmeal (The TTC program has a great overnight recipe). For cookies I made no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies (again program’s recipe). I also added more fresh fruits and vegetables and cut down on soda.

What advice could you give to others that want the same results?
Here is a list of tips I believe will give you the best results:

1. Prepare your meals in advance: Prepare your breakfast, lunch the night before (overnight oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, cut up fruit, fresh cut veggies, sacks in Ziploc, salad with fixings ready for the next day are some examples). It’s best to prepare for the next day after dinner, when you aren’t starving.
2. Don’t go grocery shopping when hungry
3. Eat dinner at least 2 hours before bed and dinner should be the lightest meal of the day.
4. Arrive at the gym. Once you make to the gym, you have won! Working out is the easy part, making it to the gym is the hard part.
5. Find your workout songs.... these songs must be the best, most awesome songs in the world. Find about two hours worth of jams and rock out when you are working out.
6. Tell everyone your are doing a fitness challenge. Your friends, family, and coworkers will think is cool and will give you tips that worked for them. Plus, it will explain why you aren’t eating three plates of your mother’s famous casserole she made especially for you.. you are only having one normally portioned plate.
7. There is no such thing as self-control. Don’t buy junk food and only make dinner that is in the correct portion.
8. Stop eating in front of the TV. I find that I eat twice as much while watching Netflix.
9. Have fun with the challenges. Don’t stress out if you don’t achieve your goal the first time. Sometimes it takes four times to bike x miles under x minutes. What is most important is that you keep trying and get a good workout while achieving your goal.

How is this experience going to affect you going forward?
I will be sticking with the gym. Now that I’m sure it’s easy to work it in my schedule, I’ll be going more often. Plus, I really like the way I feel. Eating better gives me more energy throughout the day and a more positive attitude.