Fitness Challenge - FINAL RESULTS!

The fitness challenge is over! I met my goals!! I've been meaning to write my recap for the blog, but this week has been pure insanity. The dogs are on a total rampage right now. Their mission: Destroy my house. It exhausts me just thinking about it, so I'll save those stories for now.

I had to provide a recap to the journalist for her final article (coming out December 2nd..watch for it!!!) so I thought I'd just re-post it because it really sums up what I have to say.

I think the challenge has been a really positive experience for me. It has taught me that if I really want to achieve something I can. I just have to put my mind to it and do the work.

Biggest surprise: How easy it was. Sure, the first week was pretty hard. I had to totally change the way I was eating. I suddenly had to start eating right and at first I missed all my favorite foods. It got to the point where I hated eating because what I had to eat didn't sound good. However, after that first week of shock (hell week as I call it), it got so much easier. I started getting creative with my meals by adding different spices or switching out one healthy option for another so I wasn't getting bored. Now, it's just become how I eat. The cravings for all the bad stuff went away for the most part and it started actually being less stressful planning my meals because I ate so similarly every day. Now I don't dread my meals, but look forward to them. Sure, I still get cravings here and there, but it's never anything I can't get past! Before I started the challenge I figured I'd be "starving" all the time, as is typical with most diets. However I was pleasantly surprised that my meal plan was balanced so that I am really never hungry! I feel like I have more energy as well.

Challenges: Making time was the first challenge. I'm constantly being rushed around and finding time to cook meals and fit in longer workouts took some planning. After a couple weeks I started getting the hang of it and settling into a routine. I frequently make meals ahead of time and always try to go to the gym at the same time each night, so it just feels like it's a part of my normal routine. It was also hard for me to openly talk to people about my challenges with weight. I'm a pretty reserved person so it took a lot to get used to people I hardly knew seeing my "fat picture" then coming up to me and asking "so, how much weight have you lost?" I was really put off at first, but realized that by being a part of the challenge has opened me up to these sorts of questions. Now after finishing the challenge I feel like I am more comfortable openly talking about what I'm doing to achieve my goals. People keep saying they are really impressed an that's a huge confidence booster.

Advice: My biggest piece of advice to anyone wanting to lose weight is to get in the right frame of mind. The only person responsible for your body is you. You have to make the decision to get up and go to the gym every day. You have to make the decision to eat chicken instead of pizza. I'm always thinking about my long term goals for my body and have gotten in the habit of weighing the pros and cons of each decision before I make it. Sure I can have that slice of cake if I really want it, but do I want to spend an extra 45 minutes at the gym burning it off? Probably not, but sometimes I do! Also, my schedule is really busy, but I've managed to find time each and every day to get in that gym. There's always time!! You just have to make it work for you!

I was in a huge rut before this challenge came along and didn't quiet know where to start. I've always been an active person, but my diet clearly needed to be changed. I feel comfortable now reading labels and knowing exactly what I need to eat to fuel my body and lose weight. I don't plan on "stopping" after the final weigh in either. I see this as a life changing experience and plan on living this new lifestyle from here on out. I'm so happy this happened right before the Holidays because now I feel like I am ready to face them head on and will continue to eat right because I love how I look right now, I still have a little bit left to lose and I don't want to stop this momentum! I love the new me :)

And now without further delay: The Pictures!

BeforeSeriously, I looked like this? Really? Disgusting.
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After

That's more like it.

The Stats:
Weight Lost: 15 pounds!
Body Fat Lost: 9%!
Inches Whittled Away: I can't remember!!!! Ah! I'll have to ask the trainer! It's enough so that nearly every pair of pants I own is too big. My work pants are hanging on me. So I went from looking pudgy to looking frumpy. Awesome. Haha! I'll take it though! I want to say I lost 5 inches around my waist though! Holy hell!
The Wedding Dress: FITS! Almost too big!

And I'm not done yet! The holidays might just be a "lets maintain this" period, but I'm not stopping, no way.