There were so many great entries in this months Unstoppable Fat Loss contest I couldn’t help but choose 2 winners. Based on your responses it is absolutely clear to me that the large majority of you are well on your way to achieving your dream body. It was very rewarding for me to hear and see so many of you on the brink of incredible success. From the past 2 contests you now have a better understanding of what it takes to achieve fat loss success and the action steps required to get you there. I’ve kept you waiting long enough. Here’s the winners of this months Unstoppable Fat Loss contest…
Andrew Fahey and Daniela
Here’s Daniela’s comment:
Very similar to Annie above, I had major surgery and wasn’t allowed to do anything for the last 4 months. I broke my neck and my limit for lifting things is 5kg, which is really like nothing. (I even weighed the cat to make sure that I could pick her up – she is 4kg so that was ok). At the start I was really quite motivated and would walk every day even though I could only do 10min at a time.
Now I finally had the clearance from the doctor to start again – slowly, but rather than get into it, I partied to celebrate, which was fine. But I have not stopped for a month now and am completely off track and starting to feel sluggish and fat. As I can still remember having an awesome body – fit and toned – I want to get it back before I get more off track. So here is the plan:
Swim in the morning on Mon, Wed, Fri
Walk in the morning on Tue, Thu
Do half a cycling class at the gym on Tue & Thu night (I can’t do a full one yet after the surgery)
Start doing two sets of very light weights on just one muscle group per day (5min going up to 15min by X-mas)
Prepare a huge pot of steamed veggies for the week on Sundays
Prepare a big batch of protein muffins to freeze and have as snacks on Sundays
Have egg white omelets as breakfast
Prepare a batch of brown rice and veggie frozen packs to grab to take to work for lunches (I add a can of tuna or some chicken bits when I am at work) on Sundays
Prepare yogurt and fruit packs for morning teas at work
Have a bottle of water on my desk at work at all times and set reminders into my outlook calendar to fill it up 3 times a day
My goal is to look toned and healthy and have more energy by the time I next see my neurosurgeon on 7th Dec. Last time he saw me I couldn’t move – next time I am a “fit chicâ€
The second goal is to look beautiful in my new purple dress that I bought to go to the annual Mayor’s ball for X-mas
As you can see, for me it’s all about being prepared – if I don’t have something healthy to grab quickly, it is so hard to stick with the plan as a piece of chocolate is so much easier to grab than to make a healthy snack.
The above was the “tough†bit I am willing to do but since having had a major accident, life for me is a lot more about enjoying every minute of every day while you can! So while I am prepared to do the above, life is also about the small pleasures that make it worth while. So in addition, I will:
smile at myself in the mirror whenever I see one
see friends and laugh with them
pick a positive thing that happened during the day or notice a positive change in my body to reflect on every night
swim in the ocean
enjoy a wine on Friday nights
plan a holiday
I chose Daniela’s response based on several things. First, her will to overcome a challenge. Second, her very detailed preparation of foods and planned activities. Third and more important than anything else is the attention paid to the simple pleasures in life. After all there is no point on developing your dream body and great health if you can’t enjoy life and appreciate the little things. I am so happy that you included this Daniela. It was beautiful.
Here’s Andrew’s comments:
As you said, having all the tools for getting your dream body is a huge part – you can’t fix the car with just will-power alone right?
BUT to get your dream body you need more than just the tools, you gotta use them!
So – to get my dream body, here’s how I see things have to work:
1. NO more excuses! A great body bursting with health will be priority numero uno – I think (and your emails, blogs have only reaffirmed this belief) that a strong healthy body is the best foundation upon which to build the rest of your life.
2. A commitment to action – I’ve “felt†empowered so many times in my life, but haven’t done anything about it – and guess what? the empowerment just vanishes. So I’m going to employ the most tried and tested method of making and keeping commitments – build a plan, and execute it! No tricks, no complicated tactics – just build a solid plan (using the tools you provide) and carry that plan out. Simple equation, but I’m certain it will lead to outstanding results.
3. Take pride in what I’m doing – damnit, looking after my health and wanting to and becoming the very best that I can be is something to feel really good about!
4. Keep an eye on my progress by keeping a detailed journal – I need to keep an eye on just how far I’m going and what the experience is like, so if I’m ever tempted to to get sidetracked or give up, I’ve got my own record of how much hard work I’ll be giving up.
5. Have fun! Life is so valuable to waste on being full of negative junk – and the little experience I have had in fitness and working out has shown me that aside from all the incredible benefits (the list of which increases daily!) I enjoy doing it, and I enjoy having something so rewarding to dedicate myself to – so I’m going to go do it!
To sum up, I’ve been very very overweight, and also quite fit in the past. I made the journey through trial and era from a heavily overweight teen to a high level of fitness.
But then I got really “busy†and what do you know? I lost the edge totally on my fitness, gave up other important things in life to feed extra time into study and work and before I knew it, I was wondering where all my achievements had gone.
It’s been a difficult road to find my way back to one of the most important areas of my life. Having been very overweight for almost my entire childhood I have a good appreciation for how important fitness and good health is, where I have fallen down in the past is turning my “ideals†into actual progress and results.
So Scott – this month’s competition is really important to me because even though I came a long way from that unhealthy kid (something my family, and myself, are really proud of me for doing), I’ve never reached my dream body because I fell down on the using the tools part.
So I want you to know, even if I don’t win this month – it was an awesome focus and question you put out there, and it’s really made me think about my own priorities, my own goals, how much I want them and what I’m willing to do to get them.
Much respect Scott – you’re out there on the front lines, changing lives!
Peace,
Andrew in Australia
I chose Andrew as a winner of this months contest because of his powerful action steps that were emotionally charged. Plus he was the first to really get the point of my contests and that’s to get you to seriously think about what it takes to achieve your dream body, what action steps you are willing do to, how your life is going to change, and much more. I encourage you to go through my blog posts and look for the previous contest and the responses which people shared. I’m sure many of you have learned a lot from asking yourself these questions and from hearing other responses.
From the bottom of my heart, it has been a great honor in building a positive and trustworthy relationship with so many of you. Your comments are open, honest, and so many of you are not afraid to hold back and share some very personal information.
I’m so proud of all of you. I totally feel like we are in this together as a team. You trust me enough to tell me like it is and you share what you believe is holding you back and you are 100% committed to change in a positive direction.
You comments help me guide you in the right direction and to provide you with the information that will be most beneficial to you. Your feedback really helps me do the best job that I possibly can and I appreciate that.
There may be times when I may overwhelm you with emails, but it’s probably because I get so darn excited about certain things and can’t wait to share them with you because I know that you will benefit from them.
These monthly contests where I give away my products are to reward you for the massive action that you are willing to take in order to live a better, more productive, happy, and healthy life. It’s to give back to you after all that you have given to me.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for participating in these contests every month because I do believe that you all have so much to offer and that myself and everyone else can learn a lot from your experiences, challenges and successes.
Keep up the great work! You are all frickin awesome! And I mean that in a wonderful way.
