[John M Berardi]

The PN Challenge
Grand Prize Winners

Well everyone, it’s time for the moment of truth.

That’s right; after a few weeks of deliberation, we’ve finally done the deed and chosen our PN Challenge Grand Prize winners!

It's been a long road as we've had to narrow down the top 16 finalists from the over 400 people that started the challenge.

Then we had to narrow these down to 4 age-category winners - 1 man and 1 woman over 40 and 1 man and 1 woman under 40.

And finally, we had to choose 2 grand prize winners from these very worthy age category winners.

But we're satisfied that we did a great job with the selection process and therefore are happy to announce our grand prize winner...

2007 GRAND PRIZE PN CHALLENGE WINNER
Rebecca E.

And our 2007 runner up is...

2007 GRAND PRIZE PN CHALLENGE RUNNER-UP
Lionel D.

Congratulations to both of our finalists!

It was absolutely a touch choice deciding between our four age-category winners. But it was especially tough choosing between these final two.

However, both of them are getting some awesome prizes -

Rebecca - A year's worth of free groceries and supplements

Lionel - Either 6 months of free groceries or 3 months of delivered meals.

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For more on each of these two awesome challengers...scroll down.

And if you'd like to kick off an amazing body transformation of your own, pick up Precision Nutrition now and do what Rebecca and Lionel did.

Follow along with the program, use the PN forums for support, and watch as your health improves, your performance increases, and your body fat drops.
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About Rebecca E.

Growing up, I was an active kid and involved in lots of sports, but I always had an unhealthy relationship with food.

When I hit high school, it got out of control. I quit all of my activities and began an extremely unhealthy sedentary lifestyle. It worsened when I reached college.

I was lethargic, sick all the time, and depressed, so I self-medicated by stuffing my face with unhealthy food and then crash-dieting. I was extremely frustrated that my weight-lost efforts always failed, so I drank and binge-ate to numb my insecurities. I was on a path of self-destruction.

In 2006, I was blessed to meet someone who broke this pattern, encouraging and supporting me as I gave a healthy life another try. Slowly but surely, I began pulling myself from dangerous behavior I had slipped into. Instead of pigging out, I wanted to go swimming and play basketball with my friends.

But years of unhealthy habits and sedentary living left me incapable of doing what I wanted to do. It was time to make a change.

I began working out again in December of 2006. I was 220 pounds of pure fat, couldn’t jog for more than a few minutes, and I was so weak that I could barely lift the bar. I began lifting weights and doing interval training several times a week.

My interest in nutrition began at the same time, when I read Julia Ross's "The Diet Cure". That was my first introduction to eating well for physical AND mental health. My health, weight, and emotional well-being all began improving, and I was inspired to learn more about nutrition.

My investigations led me to Precision Nutrition. I started PN in March.
When I heard about the challenge in the middle of July, I had already lost 15 pounds of fat and my fitness had considerably improved, but I was still nowhere near where I wanted to be.

I saw the challenge as my chance to finally hold myself accountable to the goals I've had for my whole life. I set the goal to try out for my college's varsity soccer team in the fall. With the help of Precision Nutrition and lots of hard work, I spent the summer losing over 30 pounds and gaining strength, speed, and endurance. When I arrived at pre-season camp, I was in tip-top shape.

I just finished my first season of college soccer as one of the starting players who helped carry my team through a successful season. I never imagined that I could step back on the soccer field after 5 years of being obese and unhealthy, and end up a starter.

I never thought I had what it takes to earn the body I always wanted. I have achieved and surpassed my goals- I rarely get sick anymore, I have become much faster, stronger, and more agile, and I feel, perform, and look great! It has been an amazing journey, and it is an incredible triumph!

Setting a good example is the best way to help others improve their health and fitness. Since starting PN, I have seen distinct changes not only in myself, but in the habits of my friends, family, and teammates. Every day, I eat in a cafeteria full of other students. While my pizza-eating peers initially questioned and scorned my eating habits, I have seen more and more vegetables appearing on the plates of my friends.

I no longer have a shortage of workout buddies. Becoming physically active has made me visibly happier and healthier, and when others observe this pleasant change, they are motivated to make the same change for themselves. When I push myself harder on the soccer field, the rest of the team does too.

I know many young women who are discontent with their bodies and health, but feel discouraged and helpless to make a change. Nobody ever thought that I would be able to seize control of my life and change my body, but with the help of the right information, I did. Success is contagious. I help others make positive changes in their lives by showing them how happy I am and how great I feel!

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Before PN, I was overweight, unhealthy, and miserable about it. I would go on bouts of low-calorie fad dieting and self-deprivation that always ended in massive binging episodes. If I lost any weight, I would gain it back and then some. I knew nothing about body fat testing or other progress trackers. I knew nothing about correct exercising methods.

Precision Nutrition put the tools to success in my hands. Although the desire was always there, I was sorely misinformed about what “healthy eating” meant. The ten habits gave me straightforward guidelines that are applicable to any lifestyle- even the crazy college life. I now understand how to make lasting, healthy changes. Because the PN recipes are so delicious, and because the 10% rule is always there for a nice break, I found it easier to avoid temptation.

PN not only introduced me to the right nutrition information, it connected me to a network of the best exercise resources out there. Using methods I found on the PN site, I began my fitness regime in July, and the physical gains I’ve made are enormous. Then, I couldn’t come close to a push-up, even on my knees. Now I can do five. My broad and box jumps have increased by almost a foot, I’ve taken seconds off my sprint times, and my two-mile time has decreased from 22 minutes to under 15.

I could talk endlessly about how PN changed my life- PN provided the means, and I provided the hard work!

Editor's Note:
During the course of the PN Challenge, Rebecca dropped her body weight from 205lbs to 168lbs. According to her skinfold measures, she dropped 10% body fat during the challenge, with about 31lbs coming from fat and only 6lbs coming from lean mass. These are some remarkable changes!

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About Lionel D.

I got into exercising after high school, during which time I was what you would call a computer nerd. I would eat cereal for breakfast, chips and a burrito for lunch, and jack in the box for dinner. Soda was on the menu almost daily.

Needless to say, this lead to be quite a butterball at 210 pounds. One day I overheard my dad say he weighed 170 to my mother, and for some reason that really stuck with me - that I weighed 40 pounds more than my dad. I started looking on line for some information and, long story short, I started going to the gym and dieted down to a "ripped" 150 pounds. VICTORY!

Or so I thought. After some progress photos I came to the realization that I had dieted myself to emaciation levels. My brother introduced me to T-nation and my muscle building efforts have been underway for the last 3 years.

The PN Challenge came at a time when I was questioning the amount of body fat I had put on to get to the weight of 212 I was currently sitting in July. I decided to shed the fat and see what was underneath there once and for all.

I have been eating PN style all summer long and exercising 4 days a week.

I am currently down 42 pounds of flab and now actually have a body I am happy with. I plan to continue eating under the PN system while I attempt to gain another 20 - 25 pounds of lean mass.

While I usually consider myself pretty dedicated, the PN challenge added a new level of motivation for me and set a date for my progress to be completed, which I had not had before. The PN Challenge helped me stay on track and for that I am grateful.

I think I am a testament to the fact that anyone can get in great shape. All I did was go on line, read a few articles here and there, and put it all into action.

I wasn’t dealt a genetic royal flush, I didn’t play sports in high school, and I've been everything from chunky to super skinny. I essentially started at 0 and have worked my way up to where I am today.

I have learned over the last 4 years what it really takes to transform your body. Going to the gym is not enough. Eating "right" is not enough. You must push yourself in the gym with heavy weights and hard exercises, you must do the math so-to-speak with your nutrition, you must pay attention to detail.

Going through the motions isnt going to get you there, and I have learned that over the last few years, and still have many more years of applying that same information to myself to go. The body is never finished, there is always more to go.

PN has taught me the important of food volume and eating veggies with every feeding. Before PN I barely ate any veggies and just consumed whatever food I thought would be good for my bodybuilding goals.

Now, I eat copious amounts of veggies throughout the day which helps to keep me full and satisfied. I actually enjoy and look forward to that next batch of steamed stir-fry mix veggies.

Also, PN as a system has helped me to not be afraid of cardio. I never did cardio really until this summer because I wanted all of my available calories to go into my muscle building.

With the principles of G-Flux at my side, I now realize that cardio can actually act in a synergistic way with my weight training and nutrition to help me achieve the body I desire, along with keeping me fit in the process. It doesn’t help to look good if you can barely run a mile!

Editor's Note:
During the course of the PN Challenge, Lionel dropped his body weight from 212lbs to 175lbs. According to his skinfold measures, he dropped 12% body fat during the challenge, with about 27lbs coming from fat and only 10lbs coming from lean mass. These are some remarkable changes!