Challenge Winners Circle Alumni

Words from 2016 Summer Strong 2nd Place Overall Winner Jennifer DuLaney!!

This is my 2nd year with WLG Fit Camp and my 3rd Challenge. The first challenge seemed impossible. I have worked out my whole life, but thought that because I worked out I could eat whatever I wanted. When I first saw Kendra’s meal plan I didn’t think I could ever stick to it. About halfway through I started to get serious about eating clean and little by little I started dropping some pounds. By the end of the first challenge, I was mad at myself for waiting 6 weeks instead of sticking with the meal plan from the beginning. But that challenge finally motivated me to keep going.

After the first challenge I continued to follow Kendra’s meal plans, rotating through them. Then in July I did her 100 mile challenge and the pounds kept coming off. I was excited to start the second challenge. This one was hard too. It seemed like I had some sort of event every weekend – a class reunion, family reunion, Halloween, Thanksgiving and holiday parties. I did as many bonus points as I possibly could and never missed a day of clean eating, exercise and water. I did have deductions but I always got my base points in every day. I was really disappointed when I didn’t place in the top five that time.

Once again, I stuck with the meal plans – now I had 24 weeks of meals from completing two challenges. When it came time to weigh in, I had kept off all of the weight I had previously lost. This last time was different though. I really didn’t think I could lose much more. I figured I would never win anything because other people were hoping to lose 20 pounds or more. What kept me going this time was the chance to earn as many bonus points as I wanted. Every challenge, Kendra adds something new or different to the mix and this time it was the extra bonus points. I went to WLG boot camp on Mon, Wed, Fri and Saturday. I went to WLG boxing every Thursday. I tried to run a mile before or after every class and I stayed after class to do the bonus workout. I went on long runs every weekend and walked every night. All of that hard work paid off and I lost 5 more pounds.

Now my challenge will be to keep this up. One of the things that I learned was how much water I need to be drinking daily. I have an app that I use to make sure I am getting at least 2/3 of my body weight in ounces every day. I also finally figured out (in the words of the wise woman LaneAnn) that I can out-eat any workout that I do. At the end of the day, I need to eat fewer calories than I burn.

I am so thankful to all of my fellow WLG workout friends, especially Debbie Krueger for encouraging me to come back to class. If it wasn’t for her, I never would have tried the first challenge. Debbie changed her schedule so that we could go to 5am class together and she stayed after with me every class to do the bonus workouts. Kendra has created such a positive and supportive atmosphere – WLG is truly a family!
 
Jen DuLaney, WLG Athlete

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