by Kristen Troy
This year’s lifestyle challenge was not Jason’s first time around. In 2016, Jason competed in his first Lifestyle Challenge to push himself in his personal training sessions with Kristi Leigh Morgan to lose weight. Jason finished 3rd in 2016 and was happy with the progress he made on is weight loss journey.
As the lifestyle challenge approached this year, Jason realized that his life had gotten busy and his diet changes from the 2016 lifestyle challenge were not as sustainable as he thought they would be over the years. Jason decided to give it another go because of his good results from 2016 and his desire to lose some more weight. This time, however, he entered knowing he could make significant progress in his weight loss with the help of his long-time trainer Kristi.
His goals for the 2019 Lifestyle Challenge were to lose weight and get his lifestyle back on track. Because he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to maintain his previous diet changes, his approach to the challenge had to be different. Last time, Jason cut out beer completely and followed a low carb, no sugar diet. This time, Jason knew he had to make positive changes to eat more whole foods and less refined and simple carbs, but he realized he could have a beer… or two, and he would just have to work it off the next day or over the next week.
Not only did his approach to diet change, his exercise regimen also changed. Weight training was added to his workouts, and he made it a goal to keep up with a cardio routine. The addition of weight training made this year’s lifestyle challenge more difficult than his previous experience. It was also a supportive factor to his diet change. Jason said, “I needed calories [for weight training], they just needed to be good [calories].”
Jason credits his weight loss of 26.75 inches, 29.8 pounds, and 8% body fat to good eating, discipline, hard work, and the desire to lose weight. “I feel a lot better than when I first started so I will keep the momentum and keep pushing forward,” Jason says. Jason would like to see the number on the scale go down a bit more. He is keeping this goal in mind as he tries to move forward on his weight loss journey.
With a busy work schedule and summer approaching Jason may take a break from personal training. But come the fall, he’ll get back to his regular personal training sessions. He may join the Lifestyle Challenge in 2020 if he still hasn’t met his fitness goals. Jason commented, “The challenge is a lot of fun. I have done it twice with successful results. Hopefully, I will finish 1st place one day.”
