Name: Mengtian Ye
Occupation: Analyst

Before the January challenge, I fought with my body type. I grew up in a culture where people adore the super slim body type. I always wanted skinny “birdy legs” and to be boney. I tried everything: Skipping dinner, unrealistic diets, taking weight loss pills, etc. My workout plan was set up for a professional athlete and my eating plan was designed for a model during fashion week. My body type was still the same and I was very disappointed.

Then my life got busy, and I used it as an excuse to quit gym. Once in a while I would feel a little guilty about not taking care of my body properly, but moved on because I felt I couldn’t get the results I wanted anyway. My eating got worse than ever. Most of the time I would eat two meals a day, both big enough to feed two teenage boys.

I gradually gained weight and I was mad when I couldn’t fit into my clothes from the year before. However, regardless how disappointed I was, I continued the way I lived because I was convinced that improving my weight was a long and painful process that I had no time for.

I stopped shopping because I hated the fact that my size kept getting bigger. I also stopped going out because I didn’t feel pretty in any dress. Although I didn’t talk about my body, my boyfriend noticed a change and knew that deep down I was not happy. One day, I finally opened up to him and asked for his advice. He introduced me to my trainer Heather Wilson-Phillips.

I thought training was going to be another expensive failure until I met Heather in person. She was athletic and womanly at the same time, and that was beautiful. It was the first time I wished to be something other than skinny.

I thought I wouldn’t last more than a month, but I have been with Heather for more than 10 months now. She gradually guided me how to properly shape my body and taught me a lot about nutrition. When Heather told me she was designing a 30-day challenge, I thought I was ready so I told her to count me in.

Like most people, I work a nine-to-five job, travel half an hour each way to work, and I like to eat out a lot. Hence, my biggest struggle during the 30-day challenge was to fit my workout plan and cooking time into my daily schedule. In the beginning, I felt that I was always busy. I had to make time for filling out my diet log, buying groceries, preparing food, cooking, cleaning, going to the gym, taking an extra shower and doing my laundry. It was overwhelming at first. However, I gradually developed my own system. It turned out that if I shortened the time that I spent on my phone or TV, I would have more than enough time to get everything done.

It has been two weeks since I completed the challenge and, surprisingly, I’m still keeping up my routine. The result of the 30-day challenge is so obvious on my body, it drives me go to the gym at least four times a week. I gradually got used to low-fat, low-sodium meals, and learned to eat the right amount of food for me. I haven’t felt hungry since starting the challenge, and I always feel light after each meal. I drink a lot of water and sleep at least seven hours a night.

Now I’m living a healthy lifestyle that I thought was impossible for me to achieve. Even better, I’m not forcing myself to live in a certain way; this suits me the best. I always feel energetic and fulfilled. Most importantly, I’m very happy with my body.

Mengtian’s top tips for success:

» Believe in yourself that you can do it
» Set up realistic goals and make a specific plan
» Stick with your plan
» Drink a lot of water
» Sleep at least seven hours a night
» If you are craving sweets, go with fruits
» Be creative with healthy food, it can turn out to be very delicious
» Monitor what you put into your body

Heather Wilson-Phillips:

As a fitness and nutrition coach, I’m always looking at ways to help and inspire not only my clients, but others too. It doesn’t take long to see results when making smart health and wellness decisions and following the right program. My Fierce N’ 30 Challenge was created based on years of trial and error with just some of the exercises and food combinations I’ve used successfully on myself and clients. This challenge is only 30 days and the majority of the workouts can be completed in less than 30 mins. The beauty of this program is that you can do it at home or the gym.

Follow the link for further details: www.thefitnessempire.com