During our 5 week nutrition challenge CFJG athlete Ed lost 13.3 lbs, decreased his body fat by 2.6% and lost 6.5 inches. See his full story below!
Introduce Yourself:
“Hi, I’m Ed Hotchkiss”
You just finished the 5 week nutrition challenge, why did you sign up?
“I signed up for CrossFit to get in better shape and for weight loss. I was making steady progress with that for the first six months, but I hadn’t really focused on nutrition. A lot of members spoke highly of the nutrition challenge, so it looked like this might be a good way to start the new year and speed up the progress.”
Did it help?
“For sure, I think the first six months I lost about 20 lbs without incorporating nutrition. In a five week period dropping 13.3 lbs is definitely speeding up the process. I achieved the results I was looking for.”
You have lost weight and been on a steady trend down, that’s awesome. What other successes did you have during the challenge?
“As far as workouts go, the cardio ones, I feel like I wasn’t getting as winded. With the workouts overall, I feel like I had more energy.”
What was the first thing that you were like, yeah this is working?
“At the end of the first week, I didn’t feel as bloated as I normally do. I cut out some of the unhealthier foods out of my diet, felt a little better just walking around, health wise and energy wise too.”
Was there any results that you had that maybe your coaches wouldn’t have noticed?
“Part of the challenge was incorporating 15 minutes for yourself, for stress relief. In the middle of each day I would take a time out from working and just kind of a stress relief. I would be able to refocus my efforts at the end of the day for work and also here.”
What was the biggest obstacle during the nutrition challenge that we helped you overcome?
“I would say, I eat vegetables but not to the extent that I have been on this diet. Early on it felt like my body went through a little bit of shock. The prescription plan that we were given, the first couple days were the toughest, but overall I wasn’t hungry the entire time. I got used to my prescription plan and that was huge in helping me to stick to it and stay away from the less healthy foods I would typically eat before the challenge.”
What would you say are the top factors that helped you have the success that you had during the challenge?
“I would definitely say the Facebook group for all the people who were participating. I’m not that active on social media, but it’s good to know that other people are doing it with you. People are sharing ideas and recipes and if they were having difficulty or if they were having questions that you might have, you can get it answered in the Facebook group.”
If someone was sitting at home in the same shoes as you five weeks ago, what would you tell them about the nutrition challenge?
“I would tell them – give it a shot. If you’re thinking that you want to lose weight or increase muscle. Clearly everything I have done in the gym, you guys know what you’re doing so I have seen nothing but results. I would say give it a shot if you’re thinking about it. “
