Hugo Challenge Follow Up

So, the Challenge was absolutely a success for me. I dropped 6 lbs. - gaining nearly 2.5 lbs of muscle, and losing nearly 8.5 pounds of fat. This brought my overall body fat down from 20.4% to 14.4%. Far more than I ever imagined would happened. In fact, I thought I might have only lost 2 pounds if I was lucky, and had hoped for at least a 1-2% body fat loss. So, needless to say I am thrilled.

There are others in this Challenge who haven't had such big changes with weight or body fat. The common thread that I have seen in all of these where I've looked at their food journal has been a lack of protein with each snack and even with some meals. I've also seen that they may have even skipped meals or snacks.

The common school of thought holds that if you eat less food you will lose weight. Unfortunately this is a huge misconception. Especially when working out intensely like we do with CrossFit. The body needs protein to build and repair muscles. During a CrossFit (or any other intense workout) you break down muscles. The way to repair them is to take in protein immediately following your workout (preferably within 20 minutes), and also to take in protein all day long with each meal and snack (preferably 3 meals and 2 snacks).

Eating properly is often hard to do, and each person needs to find the right combination for them. This is all a process and all along the way there will be both success and "failures". But, a failure is NOT a failure if you learn something from it. When you feel as if you have failed, take a moment to wallow in your emotions, then snap out of it, review what you did, find out what went wrong, learn something from it, and try again!

There can be no failures when you take this attitude because without "failing" there would be no successes. And, I can tell you, I've had MANY "failures" along my road to this most recent success. I've made so many mistakes, tried so many different methods, pills, diets, and more. Yet, along the way I've learned so many things and have come so far. I'm grateful for it all because without those experiences I would not be where I am today.

Stay strong, stick with it, learn, and keep learning, and keep growing!! This is what it is all about!