When I really stop to think about it, I think that my story of my “weight loss” journey is probably similar to many people’s story.
I went to Florida A&M a slender 195 lbs (at 6’ 5”) and graduated at a chunky 270 lbs. Suffice it to say, my “freshman 15” turned into 15 lbs, or more, a year.
Although I played sports, I was never into working out, but at this point it became necessary. So, like many other people in the mid-90’s I joined a health club (or 2 or 3 or more) in the search of a way to shed the weight that I put on.
Over the course of time, I learned about things that allowed me to improve my eating habits. I had my good stretches, my bad stretches and a lot of different things in between. The bottom line is that I never had a solid approach to weight loss that worked for me consistently.
The good news in that scenario is that I do believe I improved my health – although I never saw the scale really return to the weight of my early college days. My weight tended to fluctuate between 260-280. Like many people, when I looked in the mirror at my waistline (aka STOMACH), I wasn’t that happy with what was looking back at me.
Check out Vince’s backstory here.
This February, I found myself back on the high end of the scale at 275. From there, I was semi-successful at losing 20 lbs over 6 months with a variety of popular home-based workouts 5-6 days a week. I even began logging my calories with an app/web-based calorie tracker.
The reason I say semi-successful is that I felt for the level of effort I was giving, my results were paltry at best.
A good friend introduced me to the Body By Vi – 90 Day Challenge during a time where I was stuck at a plateau for 4-5 weeks, the scale just wouldn’t move and I was getting frustrated (ok, I was beyond frustrated.) The simple system based around incredible nutrition just made sense to me – that’s what I was missing.
Not only did I break through my plateau within my first week of the Challenge, but I went past it to lose 10 pounds in 2.5 weeks. It took me 6 months to lose 20 lbs and then 2.5 weeks to lose 10 just through improved nutrition in an easy system. In the past I have paid a ton for very restrictive nutritional plans with small results, this was the complete opposite in that I was saving money by buying fewer groceries with better results.
I’ve comfortably been in the 240’s, a weight I haven’t seen for 20 years, for almost 2 months. Now I’m working on changing my body composition by gaining more lean muscle. The great news is that I’ll always have goals for maintenance or better fitness, so I get to start a new Challenge now every 90 days.
For more information on Vince’s journey click here.
**UPDATE**
I joined the Challenge in August of 2012 and I was successfully able to manage my weight with the nutrition of the Challenge without participating in regular workouts. 70%-80% of anyone’s health goal comes from nutrition and I attribute my weight loss success to the effectiveness of the nutrition of the Challenge.
I started an all new Challenge on 12/9/2013 to take my health to a place that I’ve never been along with an overall desire to be more fit. I am now working out regularly to gain more lean muscle and reduce body fat for a physique that I’ve never had. The comparison picture of me in 1993 vs 2014 shows that I’m literally in better shape and overall health at 43 than I was at 22!!
It’s been incredible that in 18 months through the Challenge my team has helped individuals lose collectively more than 15,000 lbs! Additionally, the health reversals that have taken place have literally been life altering for over 1,000 people!
For anyone looking to get to healthier place in life and enjoy a higher quality of life, I know without a doubt that it can be achieved through the Project 10 Challenge!