First off - I REALLY would like to thank all the sponsors for supporting my 12 Week Challenge group! Such generosity from all of you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please take a minute to do a little retail therapy. It's stress reducing and fun :)
2.
BooJay Knits - adorable unique handcrafted jewelry - knitted metal!
3.
Brady Bands - my favorite nonslip workout headband plus it helps a great cause!
4.
A Tad Monroe - some fun and funky jewelry - trunk shows every Tuesday at 8!
5.
Sugar Love Boutique - one of my absolute favorite places to shop - I'm dying over that dress!!
6.
Sweet Thoughts Boutique - so much monogrammed goodness!
7.
Team Muzzy for the jump ropes! Cory Muzzy was one of seven soldiers from 18th Fires Brigade with the
82nd Airborne injured on February 21, 2014 in a training accident on
Fort Bragg. He has sustained many life-changing injuries including
amputations and blindness in both eyes. He and his wife Michelle plus
their support system have a long, difficult road ahead of them. While
the Army will assist with some cost there are others the family can
use assistance with including quality of life improvements to their
home. Cory's parents have graciously offered to move from New Mexico
to North Carolina to assist with his care and transition once released
from the hospital. Cory also has a 3 year old son who will need his
travel expenses covered. This fund was created to help the family
offset cost as needed for as long as possible. Any amount helps and
don't forget prayers cost you nothing! You can
donate here.
8. A
MaryKay gift pack - who doesn't love to try new product!?!
9. A
L'BRI travel set. It will consist of travel sized bottles of our skin care trio as well as samples of our most popular products. I tried some of this out and it's really great, no funky smells and was smooth and creamy on my skin. Loved!
The Grand Prize winner is.................
Kadie who lost 15.2% of her body weight!
I
would like to thank the Academy, my lovely daughter for waking me up
all hours of the night, insomnia for keeping me awake and encouraging me
to do random middle of the night work outs, and again, my lovely
daughter for having an intolerance to everything
under the sun therefore limiting my diet to nuts, meat, and
fruit/veggies. ::princess wave, princess wave:: But in all seriousness,
thank you so much for hosting this Megan
and all the fabulous Admins (looking at you, Brittany!). I was in such a
slump after having my daughter and the weight just wasn't coming off. I
learned SO much from all of you and have been inspired to keep going.
Y'all rock and I really hope we'll keep challenging one another to kick
some serious ass!
I thought I would share a few of the stories that have come from the group.
Jen.
After years of being a cardio bunny and being on the
"chicken/broccoli" meal plan, I was ready for a change. While I was
successful with that for awhile, I just hit a brick wall. I wasn't
happy. I wanted food. Good food. And chocolate. And doughnuts.
And....well, you get the idea. But more than that, I wanted to change
my body not just be a smaller version of what I was before. So about a
month before the #smchallenge started, I changed up how I approached my
workouts. I started lifting and backed off cardio. I didn't stop
cardio altogether, but I started doing the Jamie Eason's LiveFit program
along with 2-3 HIIT sessions per week. I was making good progress, but
my food wasn't where I wanted it to be.
I
had heard about IIFYM before, but didn't pay too much attention to it as
I remember what my mother always told me - "If it sounds too good to be
true, then it probably is..." Then Megan started to post about IIFYM
and blogged about her progress. She broke it down in simple terms that
was easy to understand for me. And about the same time, she started the
#smchallenge. I had my macros calculated, and I started IIFYM and the
#smchallenge on June 30.
I love challenge
groups like this because they help keep you focused. Plus, it is great
to have a place to chat with like-minded women all wanting to improve
upon themselves. And Megan was great throughout by sprinkling in
smaller challenges (booty challenge, running challenges, food tracking
challenges, etc.) throughout to change things up and keep us focused
throughout.
So, it's been about three months.
I've lost shy of 13 lbs and several inches. I'm lifting heavy. And
I'm integrating a little more cardio in to my weekly exercise schedule
with running 2-3 times/week just so I don't lose what endurance I've
built up. I'm still tracking macros, and
I'm still loving the process. I love that I can truly eat what I want
so long as I make it fit. And if you think it sounds too good to be
true, well, you're wrong. It isn't. IIFYM is a GAME CHANGER, people!
It has seriously changed my life and with each pound I lift, it is
changing my body, too.
Allison.

Thank you so much for hosting this challenge. My goal going into the
challenge was not necessarily to lose weight but more to hold myself
accountable and stick to a plan for 12 weeks. During the challenge I
lost 6.4 lbs (134.8 starting to 128.4 ending I'm 5ft7), but I gained so
much in knowledge and confidence. I have attached my progress photos,
beginning is on the left ending on the right. While I don't see drastic
differences, excepting for my arms :), I am very happy with the changes
I've made the last 12 weeks.
I started following IIFYM one week
into the challenge and never looked back. Previous to this challenge, I
was counting calories and doing primarily cardio or Jillian workouts
from home. Since then, I have been relying on weight lifting and IIFYM. I
feel so much more confident about my appearance and my self control as
it relates to food. I have tried lots of different eating programs, but
IIFYM works best for me. This allows me to indulge in moderation without
feeling guilty. Before, I was so restrictive that when an opportunity
presented itself, I would take it WAY TOO FAR! Now I eat sweets after
dinner each night, and I am maintaining my weight. I can have rice and
pasta and bread and not feel guilty about it! I don't think my before
and after photos are earth shattering, but I just wanted to take a
minute to say thank you for introducing me to this lifestyle because I
think I may have found something that is maintainable for the long term,
which is what I really was looking for at the start of the challenge.
Thank you for your continued inspiration!
Laura.
I went from 196.8lbs to 178.4lbs (18.4lbs GONE!) and have had to
buy new pants AND new bras! :) I started following IIFYM after the first
couple weeks of the challenge "just to see what would happen" and the
weight has been falling off! It's more protein than I ever imagined I
would need, but not only is it working- my husband now wants me to help
him figure out his macros! :)
I went from attending exercise
classes 2x a week at best to lifting 4x a week and running 1-1.5 miles
before lifting as a "warm up" and jogging another half mile to cool down
afterward. Last weekend I even decided on a whim to see if I could run a
5k and not only did I run 3.1 miles, but I did it 5 minutes faster than
when I actually did c25k and TRAINED for it! #musclesFTW
Thanks so much for heading up this challenge- it was just the kick in the pants I needed and there's no stopping me now! :)
Amanda.

My life has been full Of Yo YO dieting, losing and gaining the same
20lbs over and over again. Dec 2013 I was the heaviest Id ever been. So I
decided to take a hold of it. NO More YO-YO dieting, didn't want to
lose just 20lbs, wanted to gain a HEALTHY life style. I found the 24 day
Challenge from Advocare, and lost 20lbs, by the end of this I
was inspired to lose more. I started to search on IG for others in the
same boat as me to help me keep going and keep me motivated. I started
this Challenge with you to change it up a little bit since I hit a minor
Plateau in July, my goal was to lose another 20 by then end of the
summer-Which It took me until the end of September and I did!! I still
have far to go- but I KNOW I can do it. I am trying to follow IIFYM, but
I cant seem to just get it right. So for now I am just counting
calories and TRYING to follow IIFYM as much as I can. I will be going on
a Cruise in April and PLAN on being in a BIKINI by then!!!!! I WILL do
whatever it takes to get there :)IG || Manda_Nicole86
Heather.
Hi there! My name is Heather! I lost six pounds during the twelve week challenge
but I gained SO much more, muscles being most important. I also cut ELEVEN minutes
off my original 5K time and I pushed passed a plateau. The best part of all, I
exchanged numbers with a fellow challenger and now we are best accountability
buddies. We check in every day to make sure our meals and workouts are on track
and we lift each other up when we're struggling. Thank you, Megan, for putting
this whole shebang together!
I'm currently doing my own challenge to lose twenty-eight pounds by my
twenty-eighth birthday. If you'd like to follow along, visit me at
Liftwritelove.com or @liftwritelove on Instagram!
Nikka.

I'm 25, an asthmatic, junk food-aholic, and getting married in may! I've
always "tried" (not even gonna lie maybe gave 60%, but never changed my
diet) to lose weight, I never had results I wanted and always stopped
when I didn't see what I wanted, finally after hearing you say that you
can't out train a bad diet I got it, I tracked my food and was able to
eat A LOT and lose weight, I've always had a mental battle and never
wanted to eat dieting, my answer was to just eat one meal a day (stupid I
know!) And "I'm bound to lose something" But it never worked, I could
never get out of the 180s, I started this challenge as a way to push
myself and i did! I accomplished alot, I've quit drinking pop for 3
months now, Monday I ran a 12:17 mile, I've started eating
better..including breakfast! I love the feeling of getting stronger,
and have finally found the addiction of lifting weights. My fiance and i
were in the gym last week working out, out of no where I decided to try
to dead left and see how much I could do after not doing any since 2006
(my sophomore year in high school) and lifted 135 twice! I've learned
to quit criticizing everything on my body and just do it. I've learned a
cheat day has to happen once and a while but isnt an excuse to
Derail
my hard work. I haven't lost as much as I'd hoped but I'm still moving
forward! My next challenge is increasing my miles on the elliptical and
to do blooms day in Spokane,wa next year! I'm hoping to be at 145 by
January! My starting weight was 172.6 at the beginning of this
challenge, today I weighed in at 167.4. I lost 8.8 pounds which I'm not
thrilled about it but I can see a huge change in my body! Thanks so much
for this challenge and the push to do what I've needed to do for so
long!
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