So FREAKIN excited!!! Voting for the next round of Body By Vi Champions starts at Midnight PST and I am proud to say Lauren Purcell has entered the results of her last Challenge, the Fit not Fat Pregnancy Challenge!!! Here is the link for voting. https://challenge/champions/vote/818891 Lauren and I have been training together for about a year a half and I have seen this amazing lady build strength to an impress 185lb 4 rep bench press!! When she found out she was pregnant, she stopped the heavier lifting but continued on a regimen to keep her strong and help her get lean. Her eating habits were spot on during her pregnancy and she worked out up until 2 weeks before delivery under guidance of her doctor. Enough from me....here is Laurens story in her own words.... I have spent nearly my entire life being overweight. It was a culmination of bad choices with regards to food and exercise, meaning that I ate poorly and did not spend anywhere close to enough time being active. By the time I was in senior year I was a size 18, and that didnt strike me as really fat because many of my friends and family were also bigger. Years went by, weight gain continued. I finally decided to make a change about 7 years ago. I joined a gym. Fast forward 5 and ½ years I was the biggest I had ever been! I had gone to the gym faithfully 3 times a week. I thought that what I was doing was the right thing. I was so wrong. I didnt realize that you can run like a hamster on a wheel and get nowhere. I got pregnant for my first son in 2009. I tried to keep active but found that I had no energy. (Had only I know about the Vi shakes at that point!) I managed to convince myself that pregnant women shouldnt go to the gym (how wrong I was!!) and the weight continued to creep up. I started to think like many other women at that point, that I was eating for two and allowed myself to make poor choices. When all was said and done I was tipping the scales at 235 lbs! A year home with my baby did little to better that situation. I continued back to the gym afterward but hardly made a dent in the weight. Then.. enter the CHALLENGE. I watched Patrick ( Body By Vi Male Active Champ) Ryan, my better half of 10 years take an idea and make it a reality for himself. I was with him all along the way, sweating and pushing myself to limits that I didnt know possible! I, with a proper diet, and a proper training partner learned how to build muscle and lean out. I am not a small girl, never will be, but I had learned to make better choices when it came to nutrition, basing my diet on 2 shakes a day and eating smaller portions with the proper foods. We completed 5 challenges together, but I never felt that I should enter to win as I always was just there to support him! It was about saving his life. I didnt realize that I too was saving my own! I went on the Transformation Vacation with Patrick and all the inspiring champions of 2013 and decided then that I was worthy of a championship myself! I was ready to push the limits. I began to train hard.. working my way from bench pressing (very unsteadily might I add) 45 pounds to putting 180 pounds up 4 times!! And then I got pregnant! I was very excited and ready to continue to work at my own pace to stay healthy and active. Patrick presented the “Fit not Fat pregnancy challenge!” in hopes to keep me accountable and to inspire moms to be to stay active throughout their pregnancy. It was NOT easy, especially in the first trimester where most of me just wanted to stay on the couch and sleep after work. But I persevered and lowered my weights and increased my reps. I stay focused on my diet and continued to drink 2 shakes a day. I increased my protein intake and continued to see results. (The best moment was when I realized via a video blog from Ashley Sarnicola that I could indeed have one PRO a day!!) As the months went by I realized that I was indeed inspiring women from all over the continent! I would receive several Facebook message thanking me and encouraging me to continue my journey. I have never felt more proud of my abilities. In all I have gained 13 pounds this pregnancy. I started at 188 lbs and am now 201 lbs, which according to the Canada Health Guide is a very healthy weight gain for my BMI. I have built muscle and inches have decreased everywhere with the exception of my belly! But the best part of this Challenge is that I have proven to myself that I am worthy! I am strong! I can inspire! And this is just the beginning! 2014 will see me getting myself to the point that I can finally be proud of myself completely! — with Lauren Purcell and 19 others.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 05:07:27 +0000
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