We sat down with Monika who placed third in the women’s Weight Loss category of our Summer Challenge 2023. 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.
I’ve always struggled with my weight, been dieting on and off since I was about 13 years old. Mentally it does take its toll, food has always been my comfort – it’s actually so ironic – food brings me comfort/happiness when I’m feeling down. The more I “comfort” myself, the more I gain, and the more I gain, the more miserable I feel, making me “hide-away” from the world, such an unhealthy cycle. I’m 40kg down from the heaviest I’ve been, and in the last 3 years I’ve managed to not gain that all back, if I feel I’m totally messing up – SG Challenges is what I turn to in order to regain my focus.
What prompted you to join the Sleekgeek Transformation Challenge?
I keep failing at reaching my target weight, decided I needed extra support to get back on track, the challenge has always been such a great motivator for me, and being part of a team definitely helps me stay focused on achieving my goals.
Give us a quick overview of the nutrition and eating plan that you followed during the challenge.
I started off with a 28-day eating plan – food mainly consisted of non-processed foods – green salad, fruits, vegetables, chicken and beef, no sugars and limited dairy. I also did a detox soup for 5 days consisting of just vegetables. After that I just made healthy food choices and focused on staying in a calorie deficit.
Give us a quick overview of the training and exercise plan that you followed during the challenge.
Exercising – oh joy hahaha – always been a struggle. I walked between 4-6 km at least 4 times a week, participated in the roadblocks, and did some home workouts – but definitely not as much as I wanted to, and this will be my main focus to improve on with the next challenge.
If you could give 3 pieces of advice to future challengers, what would they be?
- Don’t give up if you had a bad couple of days, “just keep swimming” – consistency is key – don’t quit the challenge!
- Join a team and don’t let your team down! Being part of a team is a great motivator to keep your head “in the game”.
- Remember the 80/20 rule – as long as 80% of the choices you made were healthy ones – you’re on the right track – don’t beat yourself up if you can’t commit 100% everyday – we are human after all.
Why should people enter the challenge?
There’s really no reason not to! Whether your goal is to lose weight, to gain muscle, to tone, to eat healthy, anything you can think of really – this challenge is for you! People of different shapes and sizes and cultures with different goals, young and old, unite through this challenge to better themselves, you become part of a family and such a great support system. If you can commit to the best of your capabilities, you will never regret participating in a SG Challenge!
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