This January, Bodybuilding.com kicked off it's fifth annual Transformation Challenge. With the largest prize to date, the $200,000 contest attracted an astonishing 57,327 entrants from all around the world. The male and female winners each took home $80,000 in cold hard cash. And for the first time in the contest's history, a "People's Choice" prize was awarded.
The annual 12-week challenge was designed to motivate and incentivize participants to achieve their health and fitness goals. This year's winners dropped a whopping 115 pounds, which equated to a loss of over 40 percent body fat. Overall, participants in the challenge shaved nearly 35,000 lbs from their waistlines. Of those who entered the challenge, 474 of those who could be classified as obese finished the contest at a healthy weight.
"Our biggest competition is the couch and we want to beat it in a big way," said Bodybuilding.com CEO and founder, Ryan DeLuca. "We want to empower, facilitate, and cultivate positive change. It's our mission to fight obesity and disease, bad habits, poor health and most importantly, the couch. We are here to push people to reach their peak potential," states DeLuca.
A team from Bodybuilding.com combed through thousands of profiles to discover two individuals that stood out from all of the amazing transformations: Chandler Camden of Park Hills, Missouri, and Nina Nam of Santa Monica.
When talking about her weight loss journey, Nina was sick and tired of being unhealthy, "My lifestyle and bad habits were making me depressed," she recalls. Soon Nina was overwhelmed by negative thoughts, wanting to feel empowered and energized, Nina craved feeling alive once again. When asked about struggles and obstacles she overcame during the challenge, she commented, "The hardest part was quieting my mind, calming down, and focusing on the things I needed to do."
Nina knew she wanted to win. "I was so crazy about wanting to do this before the challenge even started." There were times during the 12 weeks that she felt tired and exhausted, but she knew giving up wasn't an option. "During those dark moments when I wanted to quit I discovered I had a deep, emotional drive to prove to myself that I wasn't a loser."
Over the 12-week challenge Nina lost a total of 21 pounds and 14 percent body fat. To see Nina's remarkable before and after pictures, visit her BodySpace at http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/gratefulBEAST.
In just 12 weeks Chandler lost an astounding 41 pounds and 11.5 percent body fat. He is truly unrecognizable to his friends and family. Chandler not only changed his body, but he also improved his health, as well as his outlook on life, and gained the confidence he's been missing. To see Chandler's stunning transformation photos, visit his BodySpace at http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/chancam77.
The "People's Choice" winner voted on from the pool of top finalists. In the end, Luke Petersen of Utah took home the $40,000 prize.
For more information, visit www.bodybuilding.com/200K.
