I’ve wanted to do a transformation challenge for absolutely ages but never seemed to have the time, or maybe confidence to get one started but when nutritionist Debbie and I had our monthly catch up back in September once the kids had (finally) gone back to school, we decided the time was right to get one created and go for it.
Debbie and I have worked together for the last 2 years doing 30 day challenges which have been absolutely brilliant so we knew the formula worked but we also realised to make it a 6 week challenge, we would need to change things up.
Out of the brainstorm, “Choose To Lose” was born and over the next month, we honed in on the detail and came up with a full 6 week challenge which incorporated our two passions of nutrition and exercise. Graphics produced by the lovely Mia Horton from Hey Scandi and we were ready to launch – nervous as hell and just hoping that people would put their trust in us to let us help them.
We were absolutely buzzing when we got 13 women signed up and ready to go to start the challenge in November – to do 6 weeks work with us before Christmas. Now the real work had to kick in – we needed to make sure each lady felt supported, informed and confident in what they were doing and why they were doing it. We set up a closed facebook group and each member was added – this was where everything happened!
On the nutrition side of things, we introduced a new topic every week from blood sugar balancing, emotionally eating, essential fats, etc and shared some amazing tools and techniques to help coach and lead the group through the challenge to ensure that they understood that this was a lifestyle change and not a diet. We wanted to ensure that everyone understood the “why” behind the changes as education is just as important as eating more fruit and veg and doing a squat properly! For us, sustainability was one of our key aims for the participants of this challenge.
At the same times as overhauling their diets, we also wanted to embed exercise into their weekly routines. The group received 2 workouts via YouTube every week – each workout was 20-30 mins long so could be easily planted into everyone’s schedule. There were two levels of workout – Beginners for those right at the start of their journey to fit and Intermediate to push those more active members of the group. YouTube was used to enable the group to fit the workouts in when appropriate for them. Life is so hectic right now, we didn’t want to add the stress of having to be somewhere at a certain time and day into the mix.
So how did it all go I hear you ask?! Well maybe not, but here’s what the participants had to say!!
Well it went pretty damn well if we do say so ourselves! The group was amazing. From Day 1 they were posting on Facebook asking great questions, thirsty for more knowledge about why we were doing it all, posting pics of their food to inspire others to try the new recipes, shouting about achievements and asking for advice if they were struggling. It was exactly how we’d hoped it would be (geeky but very true!!) It was all about women supporting women and building each other up to ensure that no-one falls.
Overall we got a 9/10 rating for how successful they’d found the challenge and 90% hit their goals within the 6 weeks and the other 10% were well on their way making some excellent progress towards them. Each individual’s goals were different. Obviously everyone wanted to lose some weight but some of the top 3 benefits we received from the feedback questionnaire were amazing.
They’d broken their long term sugar addiction, they had more energy, they’d broken bad habits or more importantly were educated to be more aware of those habits and realised that they found better coping mechanisms rather than grabbing their favourite snacks.
One of the best questions we asked in the questionnaire was what are your key takeaways for the future. The responses were brilliant – they had a better understanding of nutrition, some lovely recipes to keep long term, they’d learnt about balance and mindful eating, meal planning, scheduling exercise into a routine, drinking more water. All the vital things which will help sustain this for the long term.
For many this was just a start in their long term journey to fitness but it has had a huge positive impact on their lives and that for Debbie and I is exactly what it’s all about. The accountability of doing it in the group setting has meant that they can start 2021 in the best possible position to smash their goals.
There were a few highlights that really stand out for me. The first was on week 3 when the real changes started to show and people were starting to realise how amazing it all was in terms of more energy, no longer hungry and just grazing for snacks in the kitchen and the second was seeing friendships form. 2 or 3 of the group met up and went for runs together – seeing the group supporting each other without our input to reach those common goals was amazing.
To finish off, I’m going to share some of the feedback comments from the participants so you can read in their words what their thoughts were about the challenge.
We’re hoping to run another 6 week challenge later in 2021 (when the kids finally go back to school hey!!) so please get in touch if you’d like to know more
“I thought the challenge was excellent. I achieved the goals I set out to meet and I have the tools to do more now. I wish I’d moved a bit more and done more of the workouts as I wonder how much more I could have achieved”
“I really changed what I was eating and learnt a lot about swaps that would never have occurred to me. It was great having ongoing support from the coaches and the group was great fun to be part of”
“Great start and so educational to changing diet and adding in exercise, thank you”
“Great recipes to help me change my mindset and stop my reliance on carbs. Loved the challenge of two workouts a week”
“My experience was great! I’ve tried a lot of weight loss programmes and this was the only one that worked by giving me the tools to know what to do with a really supportive online group to keep me accountable. The exercise element was brilliant too”
“An amazing challenge with a really supportive group of women. Lovely recipes that you can incorporate into everyday life and family friendly. Try it, you won’t regret it”
“It was definitely a challenge at the start but was so easy to follow. 6 weeks was great to change your mindset and create new and more consistent habits. The support of the group was incredible. I’d pay to do it all over again”
“Thank you so much Debbie & Becca – the challenge has made such a huge difference to me. The support offered was amazing. As well as feeling lighter and healthier, I’ve had a complete mindset makeover when it comes to food. Thank you SO much”
“Loved this challenge. All the people taking part were very supportive too. Loved the menu planning ideas and exercises for beginners”
“I loved it, Debbie & Becca were so responsive and helpful and created a group of women that were really supportive of one another. Nothing but praise for it!”