Over the last two months, I participated in the Gunnar Challenge, with the goals of getting my pre-baby body back, eating healthier, and losing 10 pounds. I started with a bang, documenting my calorie intake with the food diary, exercising as often as I could, and trying some of the snacks and recipes that were part of my food plan.
As the weeks progressed, and I followed my progress on the weight loss leaderboard, I stayed on track, for the most part. I missed a day or three in my food diary, and I spent more time running than doing the weight lifting workouts, but I still ended up losing 11 pounds and being #34 on the leaderboard. (Go me!)
It was an entirely positive experience for me, and I am so thankful that I participated in it, because I desperately needed that kick in the pants to get me back on track. It is so easy, especially with our busy lives, to let diet and exercise fall by the wayside. I found myself eating too much, exercising too little, and just not paying attention to how I was taking care of my body. This Challenge helped me refocus on taking the time to make better choices about my health.
Is the Gunnar Challenge for everyone? No, but it does have a lot of great things going for it. If you have never exercised before, the workout sequences are fantastic. Each exercise comes with a short instructional videos from Gunnar, so you know exactly how to execute the perfect Superman or Mountain Climbers. If you need a village (like me) to keep you on track, there are awesome forums, twitter streams to follow, and a leaderboard to check. It is also built on a solid foundation – eat the right things (and less of them), get moving, and once you reach your goal weight, it even gives you tips on how to maintain your weight and adjust your calorie count accordingly.
the last “wildcard” workout…Even if you have an established workout plan, you can still benefit from the assigned routines. There are even “advanced” versions, so you can amp up the level of fitness. One thing that could be better is the catalog of foods to add in the food diary. I found myself manually adding foods quite a bit, which skews the graphs of what percentage of protein, fat, sugars, etc. you are consuming. However, you only have to add it once, which makes the second entry much simpler. Also, there weren’t many “kid-friendly main courses, which made it difficult to use for my family’s cooking. I definitely used more of the breakfast and lunch options.
Will I jump into the next challenge? Probably not, just because I have reached my goal weight for now, and feel comfortable maintaining. However, if you are looking for a plan that is realistic, practical, and it works…the Gunnar Challenge is for you! Have fun!
