I know we say this every season, but you have made it nearly impossible to choose the Grand Prize this season! We partnered with Get Away Today for our Grand Prize for the Summer 2018 challenge: a Southern California getaway trip for two! It includes a 4-day, 3-night stay in Southern California, two adult 3-day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Tickets, and $500 cash for traveling expenses. And we are SO excited to give these prizes away to our two first place (male and female) winners...

Congrats Jennifer!

We chose Jennifer as one of our summer Challenge winners because she SLAYED it this season! We are so excited to share her story below. The thing I LOVE about using macros for fat loss is that you get just that... FAT LOSS 🎉 not just weight loss. Since she was getting enough protein to maintain/build muscle, did workouts that included strength training and stayed CONSISTENT with her carbs, fats and overall calories each day, her fat loss results were phenomenal! I love seeing that muscle pop through! She lost a total of 14.8 pounds and 13.75 inches in just 6 weeks. So motivating! Congrats Jennifer! 

Here's Jennifer's Story:

One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year was to teach my children to set and make goals. I have never been too great at this myself so I knew that I would have to follow through with some goals to be an example to them. After having my fourth baby, the weight just stopped coming off. I was very unhappy and felt myself dealing with a lot of postpartum anxiety. I knew I had to take control of something. I decided to follow through with another goal of mine- get healthy again. A friend of mine suggested Clean Simple Eats and I jumped on it. I loved that it promoted a healthy life style and wasn’t some insane diet and workout regime. I quickly noticed a change in my body, but also in my anxiety. I felt in control of my body and my emotions again. I have three daughters and I have always wanted to be an example to them of having a healthy life style and self-image. As I finished this challenge I had such a feeling of accomplishment. Not only because I completed this challenge and met my goal, but because I truly feel like it has been a change that I can and will continue. 

Congrats Michael!

Michael’s story gave us CHILLS and makes me want to jump right in to another CSE Challenge TODAY 😂 He shares so many amazing insights in his story. Make sure to read the whole thing below and continued into the comments! CONGRATS Michael! 

Here are Michael's own words:

First off this plan is incredible and transformed me physically and mentally. Backstory I wasn’t always out of shape in fact 5 years ago I was in the best physical shape of my life I was 7% body fat and training to be a Navy Seal and active 5-6 hours a day between running, swimming and working out; I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted and it didn’t affect my body. Fast forward to four years ago when I made it into the program and was working out 12 hours a day for my job and then going to bed every night completely burned out and getting about 4 hours of sleep. I continually ate whatever I wanted but it was never enough. At this time my wife actually got pregnant with our first child. About 8 months into the program my wife was almost due and very depressed that I was only able to see her on the weekends which I typically spent catching up on sleep. At work I was told I wouldn’t be able to be around for the birth of our daughter or anything for the next year and a half of training. I then made the decision to drop out. At the time I felt good about the decision and was very happy to be around for my child’s birth and help my wife get better. But I was now working a normal military job and no longer had the same fitness goals I needed to reach or free time to invest in working out. With out those same goals pushing me I lost my fitness drive and never really adjusted my eating habits because of this I put on 20 pounds that year alone. And added another 5 or so pounds every year since, each year accepting my new normal or “dad bod” as our family grew; but because my clothes still fit me I don’t think I had come to terms with just how much my body had changed. Until this year, it hit me hard, between the crippling migraines I was getting, splitting just about every pair of pants I owned playing with my kids, to seven weeks ago weighing in at over 200 lbs and 28% body fat (the biggest I’ve ever been at only 5”9”). This was a huge wake up call for me and this challenge was exactly what I needed. We were familiar with Clean Simple Eats, we have bought several meal plans for the past few years with the intent of following along but really never did. We did make a lot of the recipes but in rotation with other meals less balanced. One thing we new for sure was how good we felt after eating the CSE recipes versus other foods so we decided we really would invest our time and energy into it fully this time around. And the past 6 weeks have been life changing; not only did I lose 23 pounds but am also down to 16% body fat and my migraines went away after the first day. With a clear head I was able to see that I hadn’t been in the best place mentally and have become more present, happier and regained fitness goals and drive that had become non existent in my life. These recipes are amazing I feel more satisfied eating these meals then anything I’ve ever had. It’s also nice having the meal plan laid out and not having to bounce what’s for dinner back and forth with my wife for an hour before deciding on something unhealthy and fast. With these recipes I don’t even want to eat out; I can’t remember a time where I felt so in-tune with my body, where everything I’m eating is working for it rather then against it. Because of this and all of this extra energy from the well balanced meals I couldn’t wind down at night without a good workout which makes it easy to stay motivated. I’m feeling better today then I ever felt 5 years ago when I was technically much more physically in shape. I am in a much better headspace and looking forward to continue this CSE lifestyle and reaching the new goals I set for myself both mentally and physically.

Get more details on our next challenge.