Spring 2017 Nutrition Challenge Results and Testimonials

This gave me amazing energy throughout the week and helped with mental clarity

The muscle gain and leaning out was the biggest thing for me

During my workouts I felt stronger and felt like I had more energy to get through workouts

I now have more energy than I did when I was not on the challenge and I definitely felt more positive and happy throughout the challenge

The challenge has made me very aware of what I eat!

My performance in the workouts really improved. I felt like I was able to push myself more and to keep going

I really liked always having food ready. I would recommend this challenge to anyone

I PR’d both my snatch and clean & jerk, plus increased my strict pull-ups

By planning balanced meals throughout the day and always having healthy snacks on hand I was able to combat the sugar cravings

Eating more nutritious/balanced meals and tracking my macro intake resulted in much better sleep, clearer thoughts, and better recovery/performance in workouts

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Spring 2017 Nutrition Challenge! This was our fifteenth Nutrition Challenge, and you can find past results here:

Below you will find some before and after photos and testimonials from those who completed all six weeks of the Spring Nutrition Challenge (2017). I am really proud of the hard work everyone put in. You all approached it with an open mind and a willingness to make positive changes. Big congratulations go out to every single person who finished, and honestly this was one of the most difficult challenges to choose a winner because everyone had great results and communicated well throughout the challenge.

There are a lot of factors that go in to choosing a winner, from before and after results based on measurements, to communication and upholding the guidelines during the challenge, to benefits that go beyond just physical looks and measurements. I take into account how diligent someone was with their logs to the comparison of before/after measurements. However, to make it to the end of the challenge requires determination and drive, and everyone featured below had some inspiring results to show.

WINNERS: Congratulations to Katie J and Kelsey S!

Please read below from our challenge participants to hear about their experiences and share in their accomplishments. Awesome work everyone!

KATIE H

The main thing that I noticed was a change in my body composition. Since this coincided with me starting back to CrossFit after a 4 year hiatus, the muscle gain and leaning out was the biggest thing for me. The total weight loss was 7 pounds and a few inches off of my waist.

I felt great throughout the day. Before doing the challenge my energy would always dip around 3pm. I found it a lot easier to push through with healthy snacks vs a cup of coffee! It made workouts a lot easier to recover from.

Planning my meals ahead of time made the work week a lot easier and allowed for healthy choices even when working Downtown next to a ton a of temptations. This gave me amazing energy throughout the week and helped with mental clarity.

The key for me to making this work was cooking for the week on Sundays. Not only did this make for easy meals but it saved a lot of money vs multiple trips to the store.

HILLARY S

I noticed some change in my body. I found that my clothes fit looser and I was able to wear some clothes I hadn’t fit into for awhile!

At first I found myself getting really hungry around 3pm and very sleepy. After the second or third week I felt much better and actually felt full all the time. During my workouts I felt stronger and felt like I had more energy to get through workouts.

My energy levels have been great! Unfortunately I had a shift change for work and worked some day shift then switched to nightshift. Surprisingly, the transition seemed much easier than I thought it would be for me and I definitely think it had to do with my nutrition. A lot of nightshift workers eat terribly and feel awful but I felt great. After switching back to day shift for the last part of the challenge, I found I needed less sleep than before and my thinking was much more clear during work.

Although this was really hard for me at first because I love pastas and bread and chocolate, I find that I don’t really crave them at all. I will definitely continue to eat this way with some exceptions like special occasions where paleo food isn’t available.

CHRIS M

I did the last nutrition challenge in the fall and I was interested to see how this time around would be different, if at all. I noticed this time going into the challenge that my body composition had even changed since the last challenge. For me, my body composition this time around was more built in terms of muscle mass than it was in the previous challenge. I think my end results this time were different than last time in the fact that I did lose some weight but gained more muscle this time around and lost more weight last time. I did lose a good amount of weight and looked better overall than at the beginning of the challenge.

I definitely felt cleaner, lighter, more active, and energized throughout the challenge. Especially when I changed my fat and carb intake to reflect the want to burn as much fat as possible. Once I began eating more fats and less carbs throughout the day my performance increased even more and was doing really well throughout the workouts.

I now have more energy than I did when I was not on the challenge and I definitely felt more positive and happy throughout the challenge which was a big deal for me as I find it’s important to be on top of your mental health. This definitely helped me out in that aspect and was very pleased.

I highly recommend any and everyone to take part in the challenge. It’s true to its name, but the results are great and have definitely helped me view how I eat food and what I put into my body, which can be one of the greatest gifts. I can’t thank Scott and the team enough for all their support throughout the challenge and for my past year here. I’ve seen such a difference in the day I look at my body and myself. Thank you, all!

KATIE J

This challenge was interesting but a great experience. I’ve never tried paleo or measuring macros before. Trying to hit my macros everyday was the hardest part for me. After the first week, I could already feel a difference in my body. Over the course of the challenge, I leaned out and lost around 15 lbs.

Once I started hitting my macros more, I noticed that I had more energy and felt more focused throughout the day. My performance in the workouts really improved. I felt like I was able to push myself more and to keep going.

My energy levels greatly improved. I always felt ready for the next thing. Mentally, I was able to think more clearly and make better choices for myself. Overall, I felt a lot happier. For my sleeping patterns, I began to notice that I was sleeping and waking earlier. Even on days where I wanted to sleep in, I couldn’t. I always wake up at the same time everyday now.

This challenge was an amazing experience. It really opened my eyes to how much junk we eat and what is actually bad for us. My favorite part of the challenge was meal prep. I really liked always having food ready. I would recommend this challenge to anyone.

KELSEY S

During the challenge, I lost weight that I’d recently put on, which was one of my goals. I checked in using the body composition analysis at Complete Nutrition – so from start to finish of the challenge I leaned out, losing 7 pounds total and 4% body fat. I also lost a few inches around my waist and my clothes fit much looser. I had gained weight since ordering my wedding dress last fall, and when I tried it on in March it barely zipped. I tried it on again last week, and it fit great, which was definitely a relief!

Physically I felt a lot better during the challenge, and it showed at the gym. I PR’d both my snatch and clean & jerk, plus increased my strict pull-ups. I also think cardio/longer WODs have gotten easier, which is great.

I definitely felt like I had more energy and was more alert during the challenge, but I didn’t notice any changes in my sleep. The biggest benefit was mental – I felt accomplished and more self confident after dedicating so much time to taking care of myself. That feeling alone made the eating habits I developed through the challenge worth keeping up.

BILL T

The challenge has made me very aware of what I eat! I have lose weight but also gained a lot of muscle mass! My energy level has sky rocketed!! I feel so much better! Not bloated and lazy!!

GENEVIEVE S

I lost 6 lbs and a couple inches off my hips. I felt like I leaned out in my abdomen and hips where I gain most of my weight. I was able to see some definition in my abdomen. I also noticed that my clothes fit better. A couple pairs of pants that were tight prior to the challenge now fit comfortably!

Prior to the nutrition challenge, I thought I was doing a pretty good job of eating mainly paleo but I quickly realized during the challenge that I needed to do a better job of balancing out my meals and eating paleo all the time.

This diet is restrictive so even though I had some recipes up my sleeve when it began I quickly realized how addicted I was to sugar. I also realized that I have a bad habit of skipping or delaying my meals. By planning balanced meals throughout the day and always having healthy snacks on hand I was able to combat the sugar cravings and by the end of the challenge I no longer craved sweets. I also found that making sure I was always making new meals helped me to stay excited and motivated during the nutrition challenge. I found some amazing recipes that with or without the challenge I cannot live without!

As for workouts, I mainly do strength but when I did do a Crossfit workout I felt pretty energized. I wasn’t exhausted during the workout but instead I felt like I had enough energy and endurance during the entire workout. I didn’t feel as tired after the workout either, which was nice.

Eating balanced meals each day and making sure I was having more of my daily carbohydrates around my workouts really made my energy levels feel stable throughout the day. Because I wasn’t as tired throughout the day, I had more mental clarity and I was more productive. I think my sleep patterns changed some during the challenge. I still get around eight hours of sleep each night but during the challenge I felt like I was able to fall asleep much faster at night.

In the past it has often taken a few months to get the results in the form of weight loss that this nutrition challenge did for me in just 6 weeks! The results seemed instant. I was really nervous to participate in the nutrition challenge but I am so glad that I did! I have learned so much and I look forward to continuing my healthy eating habits in the future!

VICTORIA G

Going in to this challenge, I really didn’t have a specific goal in mind, other than reducing my sugar intake (it’s a problem…) and optimizing performance. About half way through, I realized that I needed to significantly increase my caloric intake. I remember thinking, “wait, I should be eating HOW much more?!”, but I actually saw the biggest overall changes after trying to add in a few more snacks throughout the day (thanks again Scott!). Although I already had a “foundation” of recipes/meal combos, etc. to fall back on, I quickly realized that I still needed to be very intentional about planning/logging ahead of time in order to meet my macros.

I could definitely feel a difference on days I couldn’t plan ahead very well. The effort and time was absolutely worth it though! Consistent with my previous experience, I felt like eating more nutritious/balanced meals and tracking my macro intake resulted in much better sleep, clearer thoughts, and better recovery/performance in workouts.

SANA S

Felt tummy got less flabby 😉 felt arms got more muscled.
Lost 2kg/ 4.4 lbs
Felt awesome during the day – cutting out dairy made a huge difference to my energy
I feel like I can do more – very positively encouraged by energy levels and weight loss
Felt more able to stay focused – have also been able to cut out drinking coffee (was drinking 2-3 cups a day)