Winners Circle! 3rd Place Heather Skipper!

Heather Skipper - 25.5 pounds LOST!  20.7 inches GONE!

Heather's Story!!
Looking back over the last 12 weeks of the challenge and I've got to say, "Wow!"  I feel amazing and STRONG now.
 
When I began the journey at the end of summer I was feeling what I can best describe as fluffy and puffy!  We enjoyed our summer, let's just say that.  So I told my hubby that I was going to sign up and I told myself I will commit all the way for 12 weeks.  What is 12 weeks out of a lifetime right?!  Prior to this challenge, I thought my family and I were eating healthy Monday - Friday and I was working out inconsistently.  I had about 20 pounds of extra weight sticking to me and it wouldn't budge.
 
So yes this challenge was during football season, lots of tailgate parties, Halloween costume parties and right on up to the holiday parties.  Good thing I have an amazing team of friends and family to support me.  I packed meals and snacks to take on the go to all the events and moved on.  I also hovered over the veggie platters at parties too!  Yes I gave up alcohol for the challenge although when we took a Disney cruise I allowed myself some wiggle room each day (though I still worked out daily and made healthy choices with food).
 
What worked?  Sticking to the menu and planning ahead. This was my go to:
 
1) Thursdays: Print the menu and make the grocery list.
2) Friday Nights: Great time for grocery shopping - Food Lion was empty!  (Secret: I would also get a head start on some of the more difficult to find ingredients!)
3) Saturdays: Prep and cook for the week ahead.  (Sometimes a little prep and cook on Sundays too).  My husband and I became a well oiled machine working together in the kitchen to prep.
4) Post menu on kitchen cabinet.  Yes, I'm type A so I checked off each meal as I ate them.  I also kept a copy at work.
5) I worked out 7 days a week, did my cardio and then picked 3 bonus workouts each week.  I put all of this on my calendar for the week ahead to make sure I made time for it.  Did it mean that sometimes I was in the gym at 7pm one night at 6am the next morning?  Yes, from time to time but it didn't kill me (as Kendra says: this will not kill you, everyone before you has survived!).
 
Some other areas that helped:
1) WLG 101 was a great class to take each Monday evening.  It was my first class at WLG and a great way to get started with many others who were in the challenge.  Strength in numbers!
2) We had the option of becoming part of a team for the challenge.  I didn't know that many folks so I thought it would be great to meet more folks.  This was a great idea.  We had a team leader and a private Facebook page to access.  The FB page was a place to ask questions, share advice, and cheer one another on.  It worked - as we won both team challenges and got access to private training with Kendra as a team!!
 
Takeaways:
1) My 6 year old son now talks about "his meal plan."
2) I lost over 25 lbs through hard work, lots of sweat and dedication.
3) It was all worth it!  Just set your mind to it, stick to the plan and it will work for you.  It doesn't matter what your goal is, if you give it all you have you will definitely be healthier at the end.

​- Heather Skipper, WLG Athlete