Here’s a quickfire round of Q&A with Nicole Solomon, our third place winner in the ladies weight loss category in 2016’s 8-week Ultimate You Challenge.
- Give us a short history of your journey to health & fitness before the challenge.
This is my second challenge. I came 4th in the first one and well… between completing that challenge and starting this challenge I had gained more than half of what I had lost. Being the queen of yo-yo dieting I knew I needed to undo the way in which I did things. I joined the most wonderful team – #SassyBySummer. These ladies were all about doing it the right way, not the fast way as it became very apparent that this was going to be about a journey, a long, lifetime journey and not an 8 week sprint towards winning a prize and then, sliding backwards again.
- What prompted you to join the 8 Week Ultimate You Challenge?
I decided to join this challenge after being asked by several friends who felt I had inspired them in the first challenge with my posts etc if they could join up with me and be part of a team. This was exactly the team I needed.
- Give us an overview of your eating & training plan for this challenge.
I think the biggest part of this being a successful challenge for me was food prep, without prep one cannot win. I exercised 5 to 6 days a week. I walked, then jogged, then “ran”. I did loads of home training DVDs and took part in as many activities as possible.
- If you could three pieces of advice to any new challengers, what would they be?
The advice I would give to anyone else is join a team, have a plan, prep your day and live… really, really live. The busier you are, the less time you have to over think or worry about food.
- Did you take any supplements during the challenge? If so, what did you take?
I took Vitamin C every day, that’s it.
- What did you find most valuable about this challenge?
Being a real homebody I used this 8 week challenge as a spring board to launch my life into many different directions. I didn’t say no to one single invite or opportunity to do something during the 8 weeks of the challenge. My thinking was, keep yourself too busy to miss eating or living life. I went on 7 different dates, I made a clay pot, I picked strawberries, I read to an elderly woman who was blind, I swam in a group swim (it was terrible and terrifying but I did it), I read 3 new books, I caught tadpoles, held a snake, danced with a stranger and helped feed dinner to a group of homeless people. I lived, really, really lived and it was FUN and so good for my mind, my soul and my weight loss.
