2016 YWeight Loss Challenge Completed and the Winners Are…
First Place: Andrew’s Wednesday at 3 Team - $2,000
Why did you decide to do the Challenge?
Brenda: “I had gained some weight and lost my consistent stride of working out and taking care of myself. I just needed to bring it all back in check.”Clay: “I had gained weight from just travelling and eating. Before the challenge, I had been working out seven days a week running six miles every day. I felt like I should be able to get rid of an extra 20 or 30 pounds, but it wasn’t going anywhere. I was maintaining weight, but not losing. I wanted something to kick start my weight loss, and it just so happened that they had a table set-up for this YWeight Loss Challenge. I was like THAT’S what I need – something to get me jumpstarted.”
How much total did you lose while on competing in the YWeight Loss Challenge?
Clay: “I lost 20.9 pounds, so 21 pounds.”Brenda: “16.2 pounds – we lost 9.5% of our total body weight combined.”
Was there something you learned through this competition, either through your trainer or from information provided, that stuck with you?
Brenda: “I’ve been working out here (Downtown YWCA) for a long time. I’ve been doing boot camp, etc. and I think what I learned during the challenge is when certain things in my life started to change, and I wasn’t able to work out my typical five or six days a week, I didn’t change my eating to match my decrease in exercise. Both the weekly check-in with our trainer Andrew and using personal training (where the workout was created specifically for our particular needs) were huge in reaching our goals. It helped reinforce healthy eating and workout habits. It’s good to have somebody to check-in with.”Clay: “For me, accountability was the biggest thing. Knowing that we’re going to get weighed motivated me to stay on track. I also didn’t want to let the team down. I didn’t want to be the person in the challenge who didn’t lose any weight. During the challenge, I learned that I shouldn’t always eat whatever I want. Before the challenge, I thought that since I ran six miles a day I should be able to eat a pepperoni pizza every day if I feel like it. Realizing that’s not good for you, even if you are burning off the calories, is the biggest thing that changed for me. With my busy schedule during the day, I often wouldn’t make time to eat, and then would overindulge in the evening. I learned that this is the worst way to eat. Our trainer Andrew created an eating plan incorporating smaller portions spread out throughout the day. Our target was to eat 300 calories during breakfast, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack. I still use this plan even though the challenge ended. I keep a container of nuts in my office now for snacks, where I eat a smaller snack-size portion, and not the entire jar like before.”Brenda: “I’m going to speak for myself now because Clay’s much younger. The thing that helped me was strength training. My body has always really responded well to strength training, but I had cut down on that when I didn’t have as much time each week to work out. As I’ve aged (I’m 54 years old) I’ve found my body has changed and I need to keep my muscle mass to help burn the fat that otherwise sits there. The other great thing during the challenge was Andrew, our trainer. He had this ability to motivate me to want to do well because of his training method. It wasn’t like a “boot camp, drop and give me 20” method. He was encouraging and believed in my abilities, which made me want to show him he was right for believing in me. That doesn’t mean there weren’t times where I wasn’t going “grrrrr”!Clay: “My perspective changed from “I have to work out” to “I get to work out”. I kept in mind that I choose to set aside time to really work hard, and that I should make the most of that time by working out with intensity. After that time, I can be proud of what I’ve done knowing that I used my workout time effectively. This YWeight Loss Challenge pushed me to try new exercises that I normally would not have tried. By doing multiple exercises, instead of just the same thing over and over, I’ve noticed a change in my body. It’s kind of fun!”
Anything else you’d like to share?
Brenda: “If you are really struggling, consider using a personal trainer. You might think you don’t need a trainer to help you, but it actually really works having someone get to know you personally and then figure out the best way for you to reach your individual goals. The accountability and workout customization are worth it.”Clay: “It’s fantastic to have a workout buddy during a challenge like YWeight Loss and be held accountable. You don’t want to be the one that didn’t do anything this week, and you also don’t want to skip out on a personal training session.Brenda: “Right! If you were planning on going to go to a group fitness class and something came up, you might decide to skip the class because nobody would notice. Nobody’s going to really notice, other than you, if you’re struggling. With a personal trainer, there is accountability and someone who cares.”Clay: “I used to only do one thing at the gym and that’s it. Now I do a morning thing, and I usually do an afternoon thing too. I come back on my way home and do a second workout. It doesn’t have to be crazy, it can be like a Core Fit class for 20 minutes, and that’s good enough.”
Congratulations to Clay and Brenda, this year’s winners of theYWeight Loss Challenge!
