Q&A with Erlin Stephens:

We sat down with Erlin who placed fourth in the Women’s Transformation category of our Sleekgeek 8-Week Challenge. We wanted to find out the secret to her success and she was happy to share it with us.

Please give us a short history of your journey to health and fitness before the challenge.

Erratic all or nothing approaches. Fitness and health in waves and disaster in between.

What prompted you to join the Sleekgeek Transformation Challenge?

Felt ready to transform my life, mental health and prioritise sustainable goals and choices. Ready to address my unhealthy coping strategies and understand why they were being used in the first place.

Give us a quick overview of the nutrition and eating plan that you followed during the challenge.

Although I am vegan – there are a lot of vegan junk foods. So, I focused on trying to achieve 80% calories on whole foods, plant based and 20 % processed/refined. I followed 1600 calories per day for 6 weeks – increasing to 1800 calories for weeks 7 and 8.

Give us a quick overview of the training and exercise plan that you followed during the challenge.

My job is very active. 10k steps at work alone, so focused on running and home workouts. 4-5 days a week. I set a goal to complete a half marathon and achieved that!

If you could give 3 pieces of advice to future challengers, what would they be?

Your value is more than your appearance. Self-respect is the best gift you can give yourself. Good choices flow from self-respect.
Ditch the all or nothing mentality. Don’t let one treat make you give up on the whole day or weekend!
Choose sustainability over quick fixes. Build treats and incentives into your plan.

Why should people enter the challenge?

It is more than a weight loss/transformation challenge. It’s an opportunity to invest in yourself and give yourself a chance to address your vulnerabilities and unhealthy habits in a real way. With understanding and compassion you can learn how you got to where you are. Once that’s done you become so aware of triggers and challenges and how to best overcome them in a realistic sustainable way. This challenge gave me the time to heal and changed my life.

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