Down below are the results for the Keto, Gluten-Free 30-day challenge
This was the first Keto, Gluten-Free Challenge that Improvement Warrior Fitness has put on. The results speak for themselves.
Please take a look at the before after pictures and their stories and leave a comment below for who you feel is the winner of the Keto Gluten-Free Challenge.
To check out the actual Keto- Gluten-Free Challenge and to enter yourself please click here.
Good luck to everybody!
Stay Strong, Stay Positive, Be The Improvement Warrior!
Finalists (In alphabetical order)
Chris Corbin
BEFORE
My expectations of the 30 day keto-gluten challenge are to help teach me to permanently change the way I think about food and what I eat. In the last 6 weeks, I have committed myself to going to the gym 4-5 nights a week, and change the way I live my life. I have been overweight most of my life, and I am doing something about it for the first time in a long time. While I have been staying very active, my diet has been all over the place. I have seen some results on the scale and in the way my clothes are fitting, but I think a well thought out diet is something that I have been lacking. I believe the keto-gluten challenge will show me the results I have wanted to see for the last 6 weeks, but have eluded me. I believe getting my body to start burning fat as fuel instead of carbs, as well as ridding my body of all the toxins I have been eating will be what I need to take my new lifestyle to the next level. I have seen an increase in energy and have been in a better mood since I started working out, but I don’t always feel that I am feeding my body the correct nutrients to see the most success.
I am not going to put a goal of weight loss on this challenge, rather a goal of dropping a pants size. I know I have been building muscle and losing inches, but the number on the scale doesn’t always drop. I haven’t let that discourage me, and I won’t let it discourage me in this challenge either. I look forward to seeing a change in many aspects of myself in 30 days, and I look forward to making the group of people in this challenge as proud of me as I will be of them for their success.
AFTER
The keto – gluten free challenge was a bit more than I could handle. It went well for 2 weeks, but after a sinus infection, I got lazy and fell off the wagon. I was seeing results, but just got too overwhelmed with the food planning and preparation. I blame myself for not planning well enough. I am a picky eater, and didn’t have a lot of foods on my list of things that were ok to eat. They were fine at first, but after two weeks, I had grown pretty tired of them. I could have been more creative with my meals, but that didn’t happen. I have seen some results after a month, but I know if I would have stuck it out, they would be a lot better. I think my failure all boils down to lack of planning.
I have continued to exercise regularly, mostly doing weightlifting. I think that mixed with a diet that has been up and down the last month has only yielded a 5 lb loss. I had weighed myself after two weeks and was at 9 lbs lost, but my eating has brought a few pounds back on. I am looking for the motivation to get back into this diet again, because I know it was working. I am going to do more research on meals and come back to it with a bigger list of meals that will be much more diverse, I think that will be the key to my success. I kept thinking about the quote “Fail to plan, and you plan to fail”. This rings very true.
This challenge laid a good foundation for me to go back and do it again, next time with better planning and results. I am glad to see that others in the challenge did well and they are feeling better overall. I think I feel better overall, too. I just am down on myself for not completing the whole month, but continuing to exercise 4-5 times a week has kept me motivated to keep going.
Neck: 17.5/16.5 -1
Arm: 15.5/16 +.5
Chest: 49/ 48.5 -.5
Waist: 54/52 -2
Hip: 52/51.5
Thigh: 26/24 -2
Calf: 17/17 -0
Total inches lost: 5″
Total Weight Lost: 5 pounds
Jeannie Porter
Before Essay:
This is what I have to say about the Keto Challenge – I know I’m not the biggest loser, there’s not a huge change in my appearance and I’m pretty sure I won’t be taking home the prizes! However I’m ok with that! For me, I did win & win big! I started in the Change You Challenge with setting goals, my biggest one being to stop drinking soda. I kicked that goal in the butt, haven’t had any soda since January! Then I moved to the Keto Challenge and here I learned some things about myself. I like more veggies than I knew, I don’t need bread for every meal, eating bacon is good, I cook a lot more, I ate brussel sprouts and liked them, sweets can be found in other places besides candy, cakes, donuts, etc! Finding out all of these things, trying new stuff and learning from others is a win in my book! For me my next goal is to add the exercise back in and push to the next level! Thanks to everyone for all the tips and recipes and a big thanks to Jason Yun for the challenge and getting me started on my way again!
Neck- 17/16.5 -5″
Arm- 16/16 -0″
Chest- 44/43.5 -.5″
Waist 42.5/42 -.5″
Hips 53.5/52.2 -1.3″
Thigh 26.5/26 -.5″
Calf 16/16 -0″
Total Inches lost -3.3″
Total Pounds Lost- 5.2 pounds
Jocelyn Smith
Before Essay:
I am doing this challenge because I have dealt with intestinal and digestion problems and want to figure out what the cause is for those problems and thought this would be a perfect place to start. Also I am a college student who needs a lot of energy to make it through the week successfully but in a healthy way. I want to feel better about myself and have enough energy to make it through the day naturally. I am running a half marathon in October with a couple 5Ks before that and I want to make sure my body is the healthiest it can be before training for those events. I am excited to see the results of this challenge and hopefully I can make it a lifestyle.
After Essay:
Found it hard to do the keto part of the challenge but really kept with the gluten free which was my real goal. I will continue to be gluten free as much as I can.
Thanks for an awesome challenge!
Upper arm (left): 11″ -0
upper arm (right): 11.2″ -.1
chest: 33″ -1.2″
upper thigh (left): 23″ -1.4″
upper thigh (right): 23.2″ -1.2
waist: 29.2″ -.5″
neck: 12.4 -.2″
diaphragm: 29″ -.5″
abdomen: 34.8″ -1.2″
buttocks: 39.6 -.1
calf (left): 15″ -.2
calf (right): 15″ -.2
upper knee (left): 18″ -0
upper knee (right): 18.2 -.3
TOTAL INCHES LOST- 7.7″
TOTAL WEIGHT LOST- 5.8 pounds
Joel Bradley
Before Essay:
The reason I am participating in the Keto Gluten-Free challenge is to help kick start my renewed effort to lose weight and get healthier. I smoked for years and was up to two packs a day by the time I quit in 2008. To this day quitting smoking has been the most difficult thing I have done. After quitting smoking I gained about 40 lbs. On top of already being somewhat overweight. I realized that I had quit in order to be healthier and yet I let myself gain a lot more weight in the process. So, in 2011, I signed up for
Boot Camp classes with my partner TJ. I was able to actively participate for about 6 months. During that time I lost about 50 lbs and felt better than I had in years. Now it’s a few years later some of my unhealthy eating habits have crept back into my life. At the age of 43 I have realized that I shouldn’t put this off any longer and need to take action.I look at the challenge as a sort of Boot Camp for healthy eating and refocusing on eating well and getting myself prepared to get back into a good frame of mind for the Warrior Fitness training. I expect that I will lose weight but also help to get myself back into healthy eating habits and routines. I don’t have an expectation of getting to a certain weight. I am more focused on making lifestyle changes and developing better habits. I want to achieve better health and am looking at long-term results.
Both the challenge and the fitness training are part of achieving my over all goals working to strengthen and improve my mind, body, and spirit. My partner and I are hoping to adopt a child and I want to be the healthiest me that I can be, both to set a good example and to be able to enjoy my quality of life for as long as I can.
AFTER
When I started the Keto Challenge, I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be. During the first week I felt somewhat run down and frequently had a mild headache, which I think was due to my reduced caffeine intake. I was surprised at some of things that I found myself missing at first, such as crackers and cheese for snacks. However, by the second week it wasn’t very difficult to stick with it. I made a habit of taking my lunch to work and also having snacks so that I didn’t get hungry. Usually I would take grapes or raw almonds. I did also have a little bit of trouble cutting out Diet Coke, but I stuck with and have not any for the last month.
The only times that I really strayed from the plan were a few times when I was either at a dinner for work or at a conference for work. On those occasions I did have a small bites of mashed potatoes or chicken that had some gravy on it. I did also stick to the 2 cups of coffee a day pretty well. I did supplement with some tea, but without any sugar.
We also started back with the training, we started classes during the 3rd week of the keto challenge. The classes have been great and I feel like I am getting back into the habit of exercising on a regular basis and am starting to feel much better after the exercises.
I am very happy that I decided to take the challenge. I feel like it has helped me to accomplish what I set out to. As far as eating is concerned, I plan to keep up with it for the most part. I will reintroduce some health grains like Quinua and others, as well as some other items. I do feel like it has helped me to break some bad habits and get back on the right track in terms of eating healthier. After a month, I feel more like I get to re-introduce some food rather than give things up. All in all, I feel like I am back on track to reaching my goals.
Neck: 17.75/15 -2.25″
Arm- 11.5/11.5 -0″
Chest 39/38 -1″
Waist 40/39.75″
Hips 42/39.75 -2.25″
Thigh 20.5/20.25 -.25″
Calf 15.5/14.75 -.75″
Total Inches Lost- -7.25″
BMI- 27.2/25.5 -1.7
Total Weight Lost- 10.8 Pounds
Marnie Brannon
BEFORE
I’m joining the Keto-Gluten free Challenge because I want to make a strong finish to the other fitness challenge I’m doing, the 69-day Change You Challenge. In fact, I wish the two would end the same day so I could get that extra time (and momentum!) to reach my 69-day goal. I’ve been doing reasonably well with the 69-day challenge, but even with plenty of discipline and attention to nutrition, weight loss has been a slow: 10 pounds these first 6 weeks. We live in a fast world with full schedules, and I’m proud I’ve been able to work in all of these new habits, meditations, breathing techniques and workouts. I guess it is an artifact of that fast world that makes us feel so ambivalent about good, steady progress because it’s slower than we want. I do feel stronger and more confident. I do feel better. I’m finally ‘in the groove’ of this program. A few days ago I came across an internet article about how most people have long abandoned their New Year’s Resolutions by now. The fitness expert said we are too impatient about weight loss, and abandon good nutrition plans and fitness programs too early because they don’t work fast enough to please us. In the words of NJ Gov. Chris Christie, no stranger to weight issues, “Rome was not un-built in a day”. I’m going to keep that in mind and rev up my un-building!
What do I expect from this challenge? I expect to learn a new healthier way to eat. I’ve been using Atkins on and off for 10 years and it has been effective when I apply myself. I‘ve always been aware that sweeteners and additives are unhealthy and I’ve never really addressed that, because it worked for me. Mostly I think I’ve never understood how unregulated this stuff is, in spite of the appearance that there are all sorts of strict rules administrated by the FDA. After watching the documentary Food Inc. a month ago I learned that most of our prepared food contains some sort of corn product and what that is doing to our bodies, the animals we eat, the people working in the food industry and our planet. I had never considered corn to be a problem: Its corn, right? It’s natural, right? I’d never considered the other implications of GMOs, additives, antibiotics and glutens. They’re all connected and the big picture, when you step back and see the whole, is ugly. I’m willing to change my purchasing, eating and food prep habits to improve myself physically and to learn a new way of living that sends a message to these greed-based industries that I don’t want poison in my food. I expect to find new recipes, techniques, products, and eating habits to help me implement this long term.
Update:
I have come to the end of both of the challenges mentioned above and I have some results and observations.
Results:
Keto-GF: Change-you:
Pounds lost: 5.6lbs 15.9lbs
Inches lost: 7.5 18.75
After Observations:
Though I was able to do Keto-GF as outlined in the challenge, I feel for me, it would much harder to maintain long term and not any more efficient for weight loss than the modified version of Atkins (I eat fruit, primarily on days I work out) I was already doing. I am already experiencing ketogenic loss with this program and I have decided that though it is healthy for those who need it, I have no problem with glutens and do not need to avoid them. That said, there is not a lot of opportunity to eat glutens when living according to Atkins anyway, bread, carbs and sugars of all kinds are very limited. This also may explain why I noticed little difference when cutting them out. The recommendations I will definitely adopt include: using only grass fed beef and dairy, switching to herbal tea after my second cup to limit caffeine intake, using stevia in place of Splenda, avoiding additives and preservatives in the foods I buy and drinking only filtered or bottled water. I have switched to stevia ginger ale though I have had a total of 4 cans since January 13th. A miraculous change for me! I have switched almost exclusively to drinking water and have come to find all foods much more salty than I had previously thought. Maybe the sugars and artificial sugars we eat dull our sense of the saltiness of food? From Change-You, I intend to adopt daily list making, meditation, breathing, less news (though not none!) improved posture, and positive thinking and visualization as outlined in Maltz. It was not easy to adopt all of the new things in both challenges at once and I look forward to settling into something of a routine with these ones now that the challenges have ended and I know no new directives will be added until I choose to add them. Kind of a challenge fatigue, I see the benefits but feel like I need to ‘catch up’ with all of these new changes, a feeling I think will go away once these ones have become habit. I will add back my weekly treat as well, it was dropped during the Keto-GF challenge.
What’s next?
I plan to continue on this plan as long as possible. I often get sloppy about it when my father comes to visit for the summer and begins cooking all my childhood favorites to make me ‘happy’ and taking us out to dinner to make up for missed holidays and birthdays. He’s the ‘food is love’ type so it’s hard to say ‘no’. And no, he won’t see reason about what is or isn’t good for you. He adopted what he learned in the 70’s and 80’s and won’t hear of anything else. (Cholesterol and butter are killers! Low fat is best. Veggies cooked until they are grey and therefore he doesn’t like them or include them much. etc…) I do have about three months before he comes and hope to get to my goal weight before that. Hopefully doing so will help solidify my resolve to stay on track.
Neck: 13.25/12 -1.25″
Arm Left: 12/10.5 -1.5
Arm Right 12.25/11.5 -.75
Chest 40.5/40 -.5″
Waist 34/32 -2″
Hips 42.75/41 -1.75″
Thigh left 25/24 -1
Thigh right 25.25/24 -1.25
Calf 14.5/14 -.5
Total Weight Lost: 5.6 pounds
Total Inches Lost: -7.5″
Sarah Elston
BEFORE:
I accepted the Keto-Gluten Challenge to prove to myself that I can finish something. When it comes to “diets”, I am never afraid to accept a challenge but I have a hard time finishing. I am so afraid to be successful because I have spent my whole life hating my body and I do not know how I feel about loving it. The mentality I have adopted over the years is failure. I have accepted failure but it’s not acceptable anymore. I always think “later, I will really do it later”; but later is always later. It’s never now. Obviously, one of the goals of this challenge is to lose weight; however, I would like more energy, feel less pain in my knees and feel like I’m actually doing my body good. I want to learn how to reward my body instead of punishing and with the help of this group, I feel like I can be successful.
Another reason for joining this challenge is to learn how to eat to live so I can teach my daughter the same. I do not want her to develop my horrible food obsession and allow it to rule her world. I feel like a prisoner to food and I do not want that for her. My husband and I eat like we are in a race to kill ourselves and it’s disgusting. I have heard so many things over the years about what is good and bad for me that I get so confused about what to eat. I think this challenge will take the confusion out of eating and make it easy to make the right decisions. I am ready to change my life and be free of the food obsession that I have allowed to take over and rule me for so many years.
AFTER:
I originally accepted this challenge to prove to myself that I could finish something. Not only did I finish the challenge, but I am proud to say that I feel better than I have in so long. I am so proud of myself and feel like I can do anything. This challenge taught me how to eliminate the bad foods and discover ways to make the good foods even better. During the challenge my meals were never boring and my husband enjoyed them as well. I have always pictured my dinner plate with a carbohydrate but during the challenge, I was able to fill my plate with so many vegetables and fats that I didn’t notice that the carbs were missing. I did lose some weight, inches and I dropped a jean size which makes me feel a little more confident. However, I am still not comfortable with my weight and will not quit.
The first week of the challenge was not as hard as I expected but the second week was the hardest for me. It seemed that temptations smacked me in the face at every turn. I was ready to quit because that’s what I do but instead I was able to say no and walk away. After the second week, I felt amazing. I noticed a difference in my pants, my shirts, my skin and my ability to kick ass at
boot camp (IWF FLO) and not feel like I was going to puke or pass out. It was so helpful to confer with the facebook group during this challenge and the exchange of ideas helped to keep my meals fun.
Post challenge I have introduced carbs back into my diet which makes me feel so guilty. Why would anyone introduce crap back into their diets after working so hard to cut it out? I am so sick of hating myself for failing. I cannot revert back to my old habits so I have decided to make this a lifestyle change instead of just a challenge. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this challenge.
Neck: 14.5/14.25 -.25″
Left Arm: 15/14.75 -.25″
Right arm: 15/ 14.5 -.50″
Chest: 45.125/45 -.125″
Waist: 46/45.5 -.5″
Hip: 48.5/47.5 -1″
Left Thigh: 28/27.75 -.25″
Right Thigh 28.125/28 -.125″
Calf 15/15 -0″
Weight: 200.2/189.6 -10.6 Pounds
Total Inches Lost 3″
Scott Hockenbery
Before:
Why I am willing to have pictures of myself, in my underwear, on the Internet
By Scott Hockenbery
So, here I am again. I have written a similar essay before, for a transformation contest. I failed miserably
at that contest because I was not ready for the changes that I needed to make. I believe the difference this time is I have been participating in the 69 day Improvement Warrior Fitness Change YOU Challenge that started January 13, 2014. I really started at the first of the year. I am committed this time, and I have made many of the changes I need to make to be successful at reaching my goals. As of 3/3/14, I have already lost a total of 30 pounds, and feel a whole lot better. I believe this 30-day Keto Gluten Free Challenge is exactly what I need to continue to change, give me the edge I need to continue to be successful.
To me it seems like I just woke up one day and was out of shape, but the reality is, my struggles with weight loss have occurred slowly over about twenty years. There are many different reasons for my weight issues. Some can be understood, but others are self-inflicted and inexcusable. My weight has been down at certain times like after army bootcamp or some other type of training, and up after events like my father passing away, or my wife being pregnant. I have had the bad habit of gaining weight when I am stressed, or depressed, and sometimes even when I am really happy. I used to impose a max weight for myself at 200. Then I would bump it up to 225, because I was doing all the things I used to at this weight, so I thought it couldn’t be too bad, right? Then one day I was 248 pounds. The sad part was, being that heavy, I did not see myself as fat or overweight. When I looked in the mirror, I saw the in-shape, fit, me.
It wasn’t until I started seeing my newborn son with some fat guy. The fat guy being me.
After reaching my highest weight of 248 pounds, and the birth of my first child, I decided that I needed to do something to try and get the weight off. At the same time, I was also being told I might deploy with my Army unit. I struggled, but eventually lost 50 pounds, breaking the 200 pound mark. Unfortunately, life threw me some curveballs, and I gained back all the weight I had lost, mostly due to stress. Plus, about 25 extra pounds. The worst part was I worked really hard to get in shape, then threw it all away because I was not prepared mentally. Again, I believe I have corrected that problem, with a lot of help from Jason Yun, and the Improvement Warrior Fitness Change YOU Challenge.
So like I said, here I am again, about to post pictures of myself, on the internet, not looking like I would like to if I were to be on the internet. I am willing to do this because it is a real motivation to be successful, and I am a competitive person. I want to win this contest for me, and for my children. When I feel good about me, everything else seems to fall in place, and I can deal with life in a much more positive way. I always say that a person cannot expect their kids to be happy, if they themselves are not happy. I have found that feeling good about myself helps me to be more successful at my job, have better relationships with my family and friends, and life is just a lot more rewarding overall.
Maybe the biggest reason of all is I lost my father when he was 46. I do not want my children to have to go through anything similar.
Everything that is worth doing takes time and effort. People always want that new secret exercise, secret celebrity diet, or new little pill. The secret is, THERE ARE NO SECRETS! I have at one time or another tried them all, even though I know they do not work. I have lost weight, and gained weight, so many times that I know what works for me, and what doesn’t. All the stuff that works is right in front of my face. I just have to open up my eyes to see it. There aren’t any short cuts to getting in shape and losing weight.
This contest is the perfect opportunity to continue to take everything that I have learned and use it to be successful. I have motivation beyond just myself. I also have a renewed outlook on life that I know will help me be successful keeping the weight off in the future. I am being honest with myself knowing what I can and cannot do, should and should not do.
I joined this transformation contest to kick start the beginning of the rest of my life.
Neck: 16.00/17.00 (-1)
Chest: 53.00/ 50.00 (-3)
Arm (right bicep): 15.50/ 16.25 (+.75)
Waist (@umbilicus): 43.00/ 45.00 (-2)
Hips: 43.00/ 45.00 (-2)
Thighs (right): 22.50/ 23.00 (+.5)
Calves (right): 16.25/ 15.50 (-.75)
Weight: 232 (-18)
TJ Brown
BEFORE:
I am both excited and nervous about the challenge. We are getting ready to begin the
classes (IWF FLOs) again, and I am excited because I hope that this will serve as a kickstart to the program. I had a lot of success with the program before. I lost about 30 pounds the first time. I really want to start the program off on the right foot and I think this is the way to accomplish that goal.
My problem was always nutrition. I could go for short periods of time eating the right foods, but I always fell back into my old habits. The worst was turning to fast food and fried foods when I would get nervous, stressed out, or upset. This consistently sabotaged my goal of loosing weight and being healthy.
I hope that having a 30 day goal will allow me to develop long term, or hopefully, permanent habits. Hopefully by changing my habits and exercising regularly again I can pick up where we left off and become the person I want to be. I’ve seen what has happened to some of my family members when we quit taking care of ourselves. I have no desire to continue on that path.
I’m nervous about failing in the challenge. This fear is mitigated because Joel and I are doing the challenge together. Not only does having Joel with me help provide additional support, but it also helps provide a healthy level of added competition. We tend to be a little competitive with each other so we will work to try to outdo each other while offering constant encouragement.
In all I think this will be a great experience. I’m looking forward to, after the next 30 days, being healthier and making better choices. This is the first of many steps, but if we don’t take the first step we will never reach the finish line.
AFTER
Wow, I can’t believe it has been 30 days. The first week was rough. I think the hardest thing for me during that first week was giving up condiments. I also found the first trip to the grocery store frustrating. It was difficult to find items without sugar, soy, or grains. I never realized how much of these items I was eating each day. After the first week things turned a positive corner quickly.
I was able to skim the latkes quickly for the things I should be avoiding. I also began to notice some new things. Food began tasting better. Blackberries were perhaps the most interesting change. Beyond the taste of foods I began feeling better. I slept better than I had in a long time. I also began noticing that I was losing weight and wearing clothes that had been sitting in the back of my closet. Everything really took off once we began exercising again. Now after 30 days I have to decide where to go from here.
Looking back I want to keep sticking primarily to this new eating plan. I tried a couple things I had not eaten over the last 30 days and my tastebuds have definitely changed. I have enjoyed the results from this new plan both physically and mentally. I have also enjoyed the outlook they have given me on the future.
I felt like I had hit a rut in weight loss and a healthier lifestyle. The combination of the eating plan and the
Improvement Warrior Fitness program have shown me that I can reach my overall goals. I’m looking forward to seeing where both take me. Joel has been great during this process and I’m glad that we took this journey together. I’m looking forward to the positive long term impact on my health that this will have.
Neck: 18.25/17.5 -.75
Arm: 13.5/13.5 -0
Chest: 46.5/45.5 -1.0″
Waist: 47.25/43.5 -3.75″
Hips: 47.5/45.75 -1.75″
Thigh: 39/38 -1″
Calf: 17.5/17 -.5″
Total Inches Lost- 8.75″
BMI: 34.5/32.4 -2.1
Total Weight: 247.8/232.2 -15.6 Pounds
It looks as though we all had some good results out of this challenge, proud of everyone for sticking to it! I know I’m continuing my journey as I type! Take care everyone!
With that said, I am casting my vote for TJ BROWN!
I vote for Scott. Congrats to everyone!!
I would like to vote for everyone but if I can only pick one, my vote is for Scott Hockenbery.
Everyone won! I’m so impressed with everyone’s results and pictures. Way to kick it! Scott, you lost the most weight, and amazing job! You get my vote.
I vote for Sarah – I can really see a difference from the before to after photo. Way to go everyone! I know these 30 day challenges can be really hard!