WLC Results

Today was my first day off the Whole Life Challenge. To be honest, it turned out to be just like any other day ... I was trying to figure out something that I might want to eat - a little taste of something ... but there was nothing. I just went about my day as usual. It did feel a bit strange. I mean, I know I've said that the progress I've made has been reward enough, but there was still something inside that felt like I should have some sort of treat ... At dinner there was a lot of food and that's when I 'strayed' - I had a tiny corner of bread, less than an inch, 1 French fry, and less than a teaspoon of garlic sauce ... no big deal. I didn't particularly care for any of the foods; I could have definitely eaten more if I wanted to, but I didn't. I guess I just tried it to see if my tastes had changed -- and I'm pleased to say they have!

Dessert was on offer and I declined - just sipped on my water and felt absolutely fine.


The Whole Life Challenge was exactly what I needed to take that next step in my health and fitness progress. There are a lot of people who eat clean and exercise regularly; there are many others that do either one or the other; and many, many others who don't do either.

Before the challenge I definitely fell into the middle category - exercising, but not really eating as clean as I could/should have ...

Dropping the grains, dairy, sugars, etc. made a massive difference. I exercised everyday for the past 8 weeks, though some days it was just for 20 minutes (10 min of active workout + 10 minutes of cool down). In the beginning I was watching what I ate AND counting calories. By the middle of the challenge I stopped counting calories because I realized I was eating so healthy that in the end it didn't really matter if I had 1 or 2 servings of what I had cooked. Though I didn't count my calories, I did watch my portions. I always measured how much oil I used, and I didn't overeat - ever. I stopped when I was full.

I ate 3 full meals a day - e.g. eggs for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch, fish and veggies for dinner - lots of lean protein, lots of veggies. I sometimes had a few snacks during the day - banana, apple, grapes, dates, peanut butter + celery, raw nuts and raisins. If I didn't feel hungry, I didn't eat.

My biggest problem is still the amount of sleep that I get ... I need more sleep. I really, really need more sleep. That's something that I'll continue to work on.

So, without further ado, here are a few pix to illustrate my progress over the past 8 weeks.

First of all, my weight, measurements, and fitness achievement (did the same workout today that I did 8 weeks ago and compared my progress). Here are the results:

I am incredibly pleased with these results. Of course I wanted to lose exactly 10 kg, but I really can't complain. I was so happy to improve on my baseline test as well. Maybe I'll do it again in 8 weeks to see how I compare!

Here are a few more pix for you :)

This is a pic of one of my closets before the challenge:

I went through and tried on all the clothes; they were almost all way too big. Some of them fit ok, others finally fit right. Here's what it looked like after the purge:

Here's the first stack of clothes that I'll be giving away. I still have 2 more closets to go through!

I feel really shy putting up these progress photos, but this is just to demonstrate the change over the past 8 weeks.

I still have a long way to go, but I am even more determined than before.

It's not easy, but at the same time it's not difficult. You just have to make the decision to make the change and then DO IT. Stick to the plan for 8 weeks. You need to be patient for the progress to occur.

Patience, persistence, and in the words of Norma - constant vigilance :)

A huge shout out to Jenn for getting me involved in the challenge and for putting me under your affiliate. This is just what I needed to take me to the next level.

Stay tuned for post-Whole Life Challenge plans ... coming up tomorrow!!