This Bootcamp gets Personal Training results!

This is The Bootcamp Effect Season 6 winner announcement…

Cue the oversized novelty cheques…

Season 6 of The Bootcamp Effect’s Biggest Winner has come to a close.

Congratulations to Kelly and Szilard for losing the highest % of their initial bodyweight in 12 weeks.

Kelly took it home for the gals with 14.6% lost in 12 weeks.

Szilard took it home for the boys with 17.1% lost in 12 weeks.

As always with The Biggest Winner 12 week transformation challenge, those who participated were challenged with losing 10% of their bodyweight in 12 weeks.

Those who made 10% were refunded their entry for the challenge.
Those who lost the highest % got a picture with an oversized cheque and $500.

Here are the Group Stats:

• Total participants: 53
• Total weight lost: 605.2lbs
• Average weight lost per participant: 11.4lbs
• Average weight lost per week .95lbs

Here’s my thoughts on this season’s instalment…

Look, we’re all busy, we all want results, but maybe we don’t have the time to put the effort in. As I have said before, there is a difference between being interested and being committed. These individuals prioritized themselves and their goals for 12 weeks and were committed to make it happen.

Find Your Why and YOU WILL figure out the how.

The change and the process needs to be important for you.

At the beginning of this challenge, I asked everyone to fill out an accountability package with their short term and long term goals as well as their reason for wanting to lose weight.

This step was critical in helping to identify where they might need to focus. If time was a limiting factor, for instance, you would need to focus on scheduling in your weekly workouts. If nutrition was your weakness, you would want to work on meal prep or staying away from your trigger foods.

But enough of the serious stuff…. Let’s celebrate some results!

As I stated earlier, these are some serious personal training results. Thank you to everyone who participated. I appreciate your commitment to your health and fitness goals!

Szilard actually broke The Bootcamp Effect record for most weight lost in 12 weeks (51 lbs), as well as the biggest % of weight lost in 12 weeks (17.1% of initial weight).

When speaking with him during the challenge, I could see the determination in his eyes. His commitment in trying to hit 50lbs. I asked him to write down a few words about his experience, so that he could help other members in their weight loss journey.

These are his words:

“I always been very active in my whole life speed skating and bicycle trials riding. I moved to Canada (best place on earth ) and started working and had no time to ride on the daily basis. I got into weight lifting in 2002 until 2008, and gained a lot of muscle but never did any cardio. I pretty much walked away from any exercise for the last 5 years and got into the bad eating habits and weekend drinking with friends which is a lot of fun I’m not going to lie. 😀
Weight started to pile up pretty quick and the more I gained the less motivated I felt to do anything until 2013 when I signed up to The Bootcamp Effect! I was pretty motivated at first but again lost interest and motivation and most importantly never watched my diet. I was watching people like Troy, Derek, and Randy for example to get into the best shape of their life and losing a lot of weight and getting fitter and fitter every day. I decided that I needed to kickstart my life and by signing up to The Biggest Winner contest I feel that it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself! I weighed in at 301 pounds and shaved off 51 pounds in 3 months. I know it makes you go wow that’s insane and yes it is hard but doable by proper diet and doing extra cardio every day 5-6 times per week. I switched my diet and pretty much ate chicken and green vegetables mainly, also protein shakes with coconut milk and a banana here and there. I cut out any sorts of wheat out my diet and minimized my carb intake. I did have alcoholic drinks once every two weeks maybe but absolutely no sugar . Vodka and diet pop or soda is a better choice . My blood pressure dropped from 150/110 to 110/70 and my resting heart rate 68 to 54 which is pretty awesome I think. I feel a 100 times better and healthier now but my challenge isn’t over yet I plan on keep losing weight and getting stronger but after this challenge I have to have some PIZZA!! :))) I truly can say there is no other place that I could do this but The Bootcamp Effect! This place not only helps you to change lifestyle but also meet some amazing people and friends. Thank you Josh, Karen, Jenn, Laurie, Alicia, Erick, and Conner for your support and kicking my ass when I’m dogging it! Also thank you all the members for cheering me on and with the kindest words and as I’m writing this I have tears in my eyes to think back some of you say the nicest compliments to me. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!”

These are Kelly’s words:
My Journey which IS NOT ending here.

“Prior to The Bootcamp Effect my world was full of excuses not to exercise – family, a demanding job, long hours, and commuting to work, they just seemed to take all of my time and I was tired at the end of every day. I kept saying to myself “I will exercise and I will eat right….. one day soon. One day soon got me nowhere, except adding more weight as time ticked away. Diabetes is in my family and as I continued to add weight while watching those around me suffer from the disease, I knew I had to get rid of the excuses. A colleague at work told me about The Bootcamp Effect, I enrolled in The Biggest Winner challenge and said to myself just try it for 3 months.
My only goal at that time was to stick it out. Hopefully I would feel better, learn to enjoy the workouts and continue to show up. And not quit like I had in the past. As I started to progress, I also started think more and more about the science of food and what it did to your body. I cut out sugar and wheat. My diet consists mainly of vegetables, lots of salad (always did love salad), protein and I closely watched my dairy intake. I think my biggest weakness for snacking is cheese (love cheese more than salad). I look at food totally different today. Trying to keep blood sugar as stable as I can is a big one. I did not have diabetes, but have learned to become very conscious of the havoc different foods can do on insulin and sugar levels. It has really helped. I do have a cheat day though and limit the cheat as best I can. It’s not a whole day of cheating, just a little bit of my favorite cheating foods. I am finding the more I get into this exercise thing the better I feel and the better I eat. I leave work on time now to make it to the 4:30 session. I’ve learned you have to commit to making your health a priority…… One day soon doesn’t cut it. You won’t show up to work or your life if you don’t have your health. I am grateful to the trainers for the encouragement and help. Thank you! It’s been a great experience and reality check that you can do it, if you commit and put your mind to it. One day soon was three months ago. It has been extremely rewarding and a lot of fun! I love showing up now. I took heart to the slogans “no excuses” and “mind over matter.” I kept remembering what someone I know once said, you can achieve almost anything if you work hard enough at it.”

If I can sum up both Kelly’s and Szilard’s words, I would say the following:

• Know your why.
• Cut out/reduce sugar, wheat, and dairy from your nutrition
• Have a cheat meal each week.
• Prioritize showing up to the gym and working out at least 5 hours/week.

The Biggest Winner was not relegated to just the success of these two. We had many members who made amazing progress in this challenge. Here is a small sampling of boot camp members who deserve some recognition!

Cue the before and afters…

We also had a few more individuals with weight loss in the 10-20lb range, but I have not been able to connect with them for an after/in progress picture. 10-20lbs in 12 weeks equates to about 1-2lbs/week. It doesn’t seem like much progress week to week. But this is real life, sustainable, long term progress. Break down those big goals into small attainable weekly or bi-weekly goals and in time they will turn into big results!

If anyone wants to make a kickstart in their life, or needs the accountability of a fitness challenge. We look forward to being there for you. The next Biggest Winner is scheduled for September.

As always we are committed to your results,
Josh Saunders, BSc, CSCS
The Bootcamp Effect