Previous Health & Wellness Journey
My health journey started after a doctor told me some startling news—I was developing a fatty liver. That was when I decided to take control of my health by starting a HIIT program for regular exercise. Unfortunately soon after, I started down this road toward wellness, COVID-19 hit and we were in lockdown. I started to slowly gain all of the weight back. Around November of 2020, I hit a point where I knew I had to do something if I really wanted to regain control of my health once and for all. That’s when I signed up for the Grand InBody Challenge.
The Grand InBody Challenge is a community-based event to promote health and wellness awareness. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Grand InBody Challenge transitioned to a virtual national competition that focuses on improving your body composition over the span of 10-weeks. The challenge is measured by an at-home body composition scale at the start, middle, and end of the challenge. The virtual challenge includes the use of the InBody mobile app, weekly email reminders, educational content, as well as two virtual experiences to help you stay motivated!
Why the InBody Challenge?
With a flood of fitness challenges out there, I chose InBody because I was introduced to their body composition analyzers at my gym and trusted their technology. I joined the challenge as a way to stay accountable and to ensure that I track my progress every week, which in turn helped me to improve my health and wellness while staying motivated regardless of the ups and downs along the way.
The entire process really spoke to me because it focused on more than just weigh-ins and what the scale had to say about my progress. The focus on body composition really helped me track success in a much more meaningful way than just a number on a scale. Not only would the challenge keep me motivated and accountable, but the fact that it was also available from anywhere in the US as a remote challenge, made it even more desirable with the ongoing emphasis on health during the COVID pandemic.
Remote Challenges
It’s understandable that some people may be uncertain about the results you can get by leading yourself through a remote challenge. However, it really worked for me! It was convenient to have the InBody app, which made it easier to know where I was in my journey and track my progress. I liked that the InBody H20N smart weight scale had Bluetooth compatibility because my results would go straight to my phone onto my InBody app.
Since I wasn’t able to test on the professional InBody unit there, it was nice to use the H20N at home and track my progress from there. The remote aspect allowed me to stay on track despite what was going on with the pandemic.
Staying Motivated Throughout the Challenge
It’s always challenging to find motivation when nothing is holding you accountable. I wanted to make a real change in my life, and my lack of motivation was the main reason why I couldn’t remain consistent. If I ever started to feel this lack of motivation during the challenge, I would tell myself “I can do it” and remind myself that there is a huge community holding me accountable in this challenge. There were moments I wasn’t there mentally and physically and even times where I started to lose confidence in myself. However, I was committed to making a difference in my health, and if I didn’t do it now, then I probably never would. I played off of that mindset throughout the entire challenge. It helped when I was able to go to the gym and do a detox that helped me with energy levels and doing cardio.
You just have to find the things that keep your head in the game and then just keep taking that next step forward.
Steps towards the right direction
I made many positive changes that I am proud of. I worked hard to change my diet based on information I found online. I did mostly keto, which included high protein/fat and low carbs. With the carbs that I did have, I had Ezekiel bread (as a carb alternate). I tried to include plant-based food also. I incorporated other things such as cutting back on calories, completing intense workouts in an hour where my goal was to burn at least a thousand calories each time. I wanted these things to be more than just something I did for the challenge and more about positive changes I would continue on in my life.
The power of support
To be successful at anything like this, you really need a strong circle of support. My family and friends encouraged me to better myself and keep going when I really wanted to give up. My housemates and I would make healthy meals together which helped keep my diet and hold me accountable. People at my gym were huge supporters throughout my entire journey, and that certainly went a long way toward my success.
Support is, without a doubt, just as critical as doing the actual work. We all have moments of weakness, and support is what helps pull us through those really tough times.
Finding the balance with your mental health
When you start focusing on your body, you really have to remember to balance your mind as well. To help with that, I would go to the sauna at my gym, and it helped with a lot of my stress. At some points, I was having issues with energy levels and sleep consistently. Going to the sauna actually helped improve both of those things. I finally felt rested and ready to tackle new challenges. I can honestly say I never truly wanted to give up. Once I saw my results taking place, I got really excited. That in itself helped keep me motivated to do more.
Focusing on THE right numbers
Throughout my whole life, people would focus on the number on the scale, but they don’t realize if you want to lose 20lbs, you don’t really know where those 20lbs are coming from. I always wanted to lose weight but more body fat percentage. When I found out about InBody H20N scale, it was a game-changer since it tells me everything. It’s not just focused on the number on the scale but rather your entire body composition. The scale tracks the entire history of weigh-ins and tells you the entire story. Finally, I had something that was not just basing my success off of a few lost pounds but a total focus on body fat loss.
My Advice to Challenge Participants
I hope that my story motivates and encourages others to join in on a challenge. The challenge is overcoming the mental roadblocks you may have set up against yourself. I would encourage people not to worry so much about the weight itself. Try to find a workout regime and diet you like to do and understand what works best for you.
Personally, I enjoyed doing cardio more than lifting weights, so that’s what I focused on more. There’s a ton of workout videos you can do online and not go to a gym. When it came to eating right and working out, most of my information came from online sources.
Where I’m Going From Here
This journey has certainly inspired me to move forward. I would like to create a YouTube channel and make videos of what I do to keep a healthy lifestyle to encourage and motivate people. As far as my stats go, I started at 35% body fat, and now I’m around 22%. I’m going to make a video at 22% body fat and create another video “on the road to 20%.” I want to get into the best shape of my life and reach between 8-9%, so I hope to share my story and create a lot of videos following along my health and wellness journey.
I believe this process is something many people can relate to, and I’m just happy to encourage other people to live a healthier lifestyle, too.
