six weeks

A lot can change in six weeks.  

Body by Parks Boot Camp

Holy shit.  

I would highly recommend taking some pictures if you're trying to lose weight.  It makes you feel awesome when you look at them.  Yeah, I still have things I'm not happy with and those thighs are going to be getting a second round of the squat challenge, but damn it feels good to be a gangster.  

Over 6 weeks, I lost 15.8lbs and 11.5 inches. It is not impossible.  You can make huge changes in a short amount of time, but you are going to have to work for it.  Some of the things I think were key to my success were:

• Extra workouts - any chance to get in extra calorie burn, I damn well took it.  On one day, I got up and did a 1 hr workout with sprints, arms, legs, core and cardio (burning over 800 calories), then I went and ran around a baseball diamond for 2 hours (another 500 calories), and later that night I went for a 90 minute walk (another 300-ish, didn't wear the strap).  And I still felt like I could have done more.  When you start to enjoy exercising and it isn't something you dread, you know you've hit a major milestone.  
• Cleaned up the eating - I was already eating pretty clean before the competition, but I really focused on it during the challenge (and after).  I cut out my weekday coffee (with the crappy creamer),  salad dressing (try salsa!), and granola bars (so sugary now, blegh).  I upped my protein (hard boiled eggs and canned tuna for the win) and I started chugging 5-7 liters of water every day (sometimes with mint leaves and lime - "health mojito" haha!).  It was not really much of a hardship, and I felt way better for it.
• Tracking the sh** out of those calories - Weight Loss 101 - calories in < calories out.  My Fitness Pal saved my ass on several occasions.  Do I look like I know how many calories are in an unsweetend green tea lemonade from Starbucks? MFP does.  Love it. 
• Having fun in non-embarrassing ways - I pretty much stopped drinking alcohol a long while ago (last summer, maybe?), and when your drinking team has a dodgeball problem they like to tend to with beers, it can be a bit of a struggle to stay on track.  I actually spent a weekend out in Kananaskis with them in a hotel, with booze a-flowing.  At one point I did feel a little sheepish with a giant bag of carrots and a bottle of water in my hand, but there are better ways of enjoying myself than ending up puking in a bush. Just sayin'. (It may also make you a better leg wrestler.)
• Not focusing on the finish line - If I told myself I was only going to clean up my act for six weeks to try and win a prize, I wasn't going to win the prize.  This competition was more about forcing my hand on some last lingering bad habits that I needed to drop, and pushing myself just to prove how far I could be pushed.  

Would I recommend it? In a heartbeat.  That moment when you find out that you effing won is fantastic.  Almost as good as the "getting under 200lbs" moment.  Okay, maybe better.  

What could you have started six weeks ago?  Start now.