I was 7 months postpartum when I saw the ad from Bodybuilding.com to win a share of $250,000. I had just finished my first trial run of my 12 week program, “The FIT Mom Guide” and lost 8 lbs! At the time I didn’t have a nutrition plan with the program, was still making adjustments to the workouts and just purely focused on the workouts while eating really unhealthy.
I saw the ad and thought to myself, “This will be perfect to keep me motivated to lose the rest of my baby weight,” plus it was free to enter!
I submitted my before photos (7 months Postpartum), wrote out my own general workout and nutrition plan, and went for it!
The Final Results are in!
By the end of the 12 weeks I lost 20.6 lbs and 15.1 % Body Fat which was more than HALF of my total body fat since I started at 29%. I ended up weighing 110 lbs and was at 13.9% body fat. I had dropped body fat so quickly that I no longer had a period about 1 month into the challenge.
I literally put all my time and efforts into winning this competition. As other people were posting their transformations on social media I became more and more confident that I had a very high chance of winning or at least making the top 25 Peoples Choice. When the Peoples Choice results came in I was shocked that I didn’t make the list, but… that meant I either won the whole thing or I didn’t win anything at all. I began comparing my results to those that made the top 25 list. I was freaking out that my results were better than many of the girls that were picked in that list. I can honestly tell you that every part of me KNEW I had won the Grand Prize! I told myself every day of that competition that I was going to win and I worked hard enough to deserve it and I knew it was about to come true!….and then…nothing.
I was in complete denial that I didn’t win. All my confidence and self accomplishment went out the window in that one moment. All my HOURS of exercise, 100% clean eating, and all the moments with my daughter and husband missed from practicing flexing in the mirror and obsessing over making my food fit my macros EXACTLY…..all were a waste….Because I wasn’t good enough, or maybe not pretty enough, or not toned enough, or WHATEVER!
The Secret To My Drastic Results
Curious how I did it? Let me just put it this way…To get my body to transform the way it did took a lot and I mean a LOT of pure obsession and sacrifice.
I sacrificed so much time with my Family because of my Obsession…
-With working out 6 days a week for 2+ hours
-Weighing myself multiple times a day
-On social media multiple times a day posting and commenting to get noticed by those judging the competition
-Being so strict with nutrition that I literally ate the same 10 foods for 12 weeks. (also with NO seasoning or flavor whatsoever because of my worry that it would ruin my perfectly tracked macros.)
-With winning the $100,000 grand prize
-With having the most perfectly toned body
-With practicing flexing in the mirror
BLAH BLAH BLAH!! Now, I completely understand that wanting these things in life or taking the process I took to get the results I did isn’t necessarily a bad thing…IF I was capable of maintaining balance with all other aspects of my life. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do so and I know many of you out there struggle with it as well.
Here comes the Yo-Yoing…
Immediately after the competition I only worked out maybe 3 times a week and ate whatever I wanted! Because I had lost my period, I was trying to put fat back on my body to get it back. However, I put on too much fat. In a few short months I had gained about 12 lbs. I finally wasn’t thinking about food 100% of the time but now my body felt like crap and all my self confidence went down the drain.
During the competition I was cranky way too often, impatient at times with my family, guilty about one bite of a treat, thought about food all day long, yet had my dream body and all the confidence in the world. Immediately after the competition I never thought about food, was happy, enjoyed desserts daily, but felt unhealthy, tired, discouraged, embarrassed, and had zero confidence in myself. I couldn’t figure out how to have both a healthy body and mind.
What I learned
I was completely devastated that I didn’t win anything from the Bodybuilding.com competition. I didn’t win any weekly prizes, I didn’t get top 25 Peoples Choice, and I didn’t Win the $100K Grand prize. However, I did win something much more meaningful than these cash prizes….
I won knowledge. I won humility. I won experience. I won confidence. I won opportunity.
I know you are thinking, “McCall are you crazy? How is that better than a huge cash prize?” Let me explain.
I Won Humility
It taught me that there is so much more to life than money and a 6 pack! No skinny and toned body or any amount of money is worth it if the process it takes to get you there makes you cranky, impatient, and not pleasant to be around!
I Won Opportunity
Ever since I knew I wanted to be a personal trainer, my goal was to somehow be associated with Bodybuilding.com. They are the #1 Fitness website in the world and working for them was my dream job! I thought winning the competition would be the foot in the door that I was so desperately seeking. As you know, I didn’t win or was even a finalist, but Bodybuilding.com noticed me. A few months after the competition they asked me to be one of their Brand Ambassadors. I didn’t get paid but I got lots of free apparel, merchandise and supplements to promote their brand!
A few weeks after that I was hired for a paid position as a content writer! They saw on my Instagram account that I was a Pre/Postnatal Exercise Specialist and had my B.S. in Exercise Physiology so they wanted me to write content for their website specifically for Women. I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t apply for anything and never contacted them…they came to me! I actually landed a paying job with my dream company! I literally cried I was so excited and honored to have the opportunity.
Now fast forward about 5 months… I received a letter saying that the Brand Ambassador Program would no longer be active in a few states, which included mine. They gave me an awesome thank you gift and that was the end of that.
About this time, I was waiting for bodybuilding.com to publish my first article. They created my Content Writer Bio (to view my bio click HERE) but they were taking an abnormally long time to publish my first article. They finally got back to me and said they loved the article and would publish it within the next 2 weeks! Well, this was the same time that my “boss” was about to launch her new website. Long story short, my article never got published and they stopped responding to my emails. Even though I am still technically an “employee” for Boydbuilding.com, I don’t do anything for them.
I truly thought that landing that job would be the opportunity that would take off my fitness career. Boy was I wrong, yet partially right because I now had the freedom to start my own company!
I Won Knowledge
The competition allowed me to see what I needed to have as the focal point for my own program The Fit Mom Guide… to help every woman have both a healthy body and mind for LIFE!
I hope I can teach every woman, especially every mother, that the “Perfect” body doesn’t exist, but a healthy body does! We should workout consistently and eat healthy foods daily because we want to give our bodies the best.
During my competition I realized I avoided precious moments like the one below in fear that my progress would be ruined from 1 STINKING SPRINKLE!! I cant stress enough how NOBODY should live this kind of life. Yes eating healthy and exercising is important to our health, but so is sharing ice cream on your anniversary, or eating the frosting your child is shoving in your mouth while making cookies together! Those moments are for our mental health! It is EQUALLY important your physical and mental health are together.
My program, The FIT Mom Guide, was created specifically to teach BALANCE and to be realistic. To teach women to love their body in every stage of life and to be proud of the small accomplishments.
I Don't Regret Anything!
Definitely for the first few months after the competition I had some regrets. It wasnt until about one year later that i saw the big picture and all regrets turn to appreciation. Bodybuilding.com truly is an incredible company and my business and myself would not be where they are today without this experience.
Now, do I recommend competing in this type of competition? (As in one where they choose a winner by who transformed the most ina certain amount of time)…No, not at all…Unless you are mentally prepared for it! Below are some tips to consider if you are planning to enter a transformation competition:
- Be happy with your small daily accomplishments: Whether you worked out for 10 minutes or added one veggie to your lunch or said no to the Friday donuts at work…THAT IS A BIG DEAL and is something to be proud of! Be proud of yourself for that because you are doing the best you can to make the best decisions in your daily circumstances. Remember that even a small change is still you moving forward!
- NEVER compare yourself to anyone: Many times we compare our weaknesses with someones strengths. Each journey takes time. Be happy for the person you are admiring for the accomplishments and use that as drive for your own journey. Remember they had to start at the beginning just like you!
- Don’t get down on yourself if you slip up: Every single person slips up! I don’t even really like calling it “slip ups” because they really aren’t. I like to call those moments LIFE! We need to let LIFE moments happen as I mentioned earlier. Like eating cake at your birthday, enjoying the dessert buffet on your Birthday Cruise, or laughing as your toddler shoves handfuls of goldfish in your mouth! Those life moments are not going to ruin your months of work. During my competition I didn’t understand this concept and this is why I developed a terrible relationship with food during the competition and for a while afterwards.
- Be proud of yourself even if you don’t “Win.”: I still follow many of the people that won either the grand prize or the top 25 peoples choice of the competition on social media. The majority of them, including myself, have the same story…we all rebounded. We couldnt keep up that intense and strict schedule, fell back into old habits (even creating some worse habits) and are now right back to where we started. The ultimate goal is to be healthy for LIFE, not to see how much we can change in the shortest amount of time. If you can change a lot in that short time then awesome, but finding balance to maintain that for life is the most important! The Fit Mom Guide was specifically designed to help you find that balance!
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