Eight In Eight Winner Carla Repost

I'm so proud to annouce Carla as our winner of the Eight Pounds in Eight Weeks Challenge. She blew it out and when you read all about her you will see that she is one determined Momma!

She won two months of training with me and some mean bragging rights! On a side note, I want to say that she is also one of the girls first to offer advice and tips (just like Rachel) and that is a key to her success. She gives as much as she receives from her PNP pals.

Congrats to both ladies and we will announce our winning team tomorrow!

Pounds Lost in Challenge: 15.2!!!
Inches Lost in Challenge: 9.75 inches!!!

Average Weekly Schedule
I started runnning during this challenge and do that three times per week.  I do other interval cardio programs on three other days.  I do ST four times per week or five depending on what kind of workout routine I am following. 

Typical Menu

For the first 4.5 weeks of the challenge I followed one of Corinne's diets straight from the PNP forums.   I printed out the diets and every meal I chose a meal from her diets.  That simple.  The last 3.5 weeks I started to use my off-season diets from when I competed to change things up.  This meant I went to eating tilapia, sweet potatoes, brown rice, squash, oatmeal, egg whites, protein powder, chicken, broccoli, and flank.  I am lucky in that I can literally eat anything and eat it for days So I pretty much eat the same thing everyday and then change things up every few weeks.   I did not do MB/Cheat meals.  I did mini-splurges because I do better with that.  If I get a big meal, it is hard for me to pull the reins back in and get back to tight eating.  So, I did mini-splurges on the weekend to give my body a break.  

What I Learned

I learned that no matter how much you may wish, or how much you would love it to be, there is no magical formula that will take all the weight and the bad habits away.  It's very simple--it's YOU--you have to eat clean, you have to do cardio and you have to Strength Train.   If there were a magical formula, believe me, I would have found it.  I learned that I still love to train and I still love to do cardio--but dieting will always be hard.  However, it is something that I have learned to deal with and I simply eat to eat--end of story.  I had to let go of pleasure-eating except when it was allowed--like for mini-splurges. 

I also learned that just because I didn't train to be a runner my whole life doesn't mean I can't become one. 

My Results???
The results are fantastic.  I gained all my weight b/c I neglected my body for 9 months when I should have been taking care of it.  I put trash in it for 9 months and it showed.  I had no right to do that.  Just because I am a mom now doesn't mean I should not take care of me.  These results have really put in perspective that it is about taking care of myself and being an athlete again.  My team, Awesome Achievers, was absolutely fantastic at motivating and making me want to do better and try new things.....like training for a half-marathon.  I would never have considered that if not for this team and this challenge.  I can't wait to see what kind of results come with the next challenge.