Why doing the TT Transformation Challenge helped me to reach my goal

Where do I start! There are so many reasons why taking part in the Turbulence Training Transformation Challenge really helped me keep on track and get the results that I did. Here are some of them:

Made me accountable for my actions

We were required to post a regular journal of our experiences on the TT Transformation Challenge forum. I set a number of goals right at the start and one of those was that I would make an entry every single day of the Challenge, this included recording how many calories I had for the day and a break down of the percentage of carbohydrates, protein and fat I had for the day (another goal I set was to have 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat).

I also made a commitment not to be totally honest about my food in my journal. This was a really great incentive to eat healthily! There were so many times when I felt like a 'treat' and then remembered that I would have to tell everyone on the forum about it. The urge to eat the naughty food very quickly went!

Gave me the opportunity to learn from others

What I found interesting was that even though we were all from different parts of the world, different walks of life, male and female, we all seemed to have similar challenges. Hearing how another member dealt with yummy temptations with friends at a lunch date helped me when I faced a similar challenge a few days later.
There were days when I felt tired or a bit down, or was sick or injured and negative thoughts would creep into my mind. I would get home from work, check the forum and there waiting for me, would be amazing comments of support and encouragement from everyone.

It was helpful seeing what other people ate and how they approached the nutrition side of things. It was also great to be able to talk about the various exercises to make sure I was doing them correctly.

Gave me the opportunity to help others

It was great to be able to help others a little to achieve their weight loss goals as well. I know how much being overweight can impact on so many other areas of a person’s life and how hard it can be to lose that weight. I also know that more often than not most people who have put on weight are dealing with other underlying issues in their lives which makes committing to a healthy fitness and nutrition plan that much harder. Any help, even if it is just a little encouraging comment here and there, can make a difference.

Enabled me to have direct contact with Craig Ballantyne, the creator of the Turbulence Training system, whenever I needed to
Usually the author or creator of this type of program remains an illusive mystery. Not Craig. He was absolutely amazing at keeping up with how we were all doing and posting encouraging comments along the way. It was hard enough for me to find time to keep in touch with the small group of people I became friends with during the challenge, let alone every single participant. I think for the next one he is going to need to employ a mini-Craig! I am sure everyone will understand.

Gave me the extra motivation to get through the more difficult times I had during the challenge

I entered this challenge to help me get back into the habit of exercising regularly and to lose some weight. It was never my intention to 'compete' to win. Committing to the challenge, knowing that it was something official and knowing that friends and family were aware I was doing the challenge made me keep going in situations where ordinarily I definitely would have stopped and said I was going to 'start again on Monday' and 'Monday' may never have arrived.
Enabled me to learn so much about myself
For every kilogram (or pound!) I lost, I gained much more in the way of self-awareness, self-discipline and insight into who the real me is now.

As I said at the beginning, there are so many reasons why doing a challenge like this helped me get started on the road to reaching goals in so many areas of my life. Too many to list them all here!