We're pleased to announce our 2006 First Place Winner of the GHF Fitness Challenge: Megan Peters. Throughout the last 12 weeks of our contest, by following our Online Fitness Program, she lost more than 7% body fat, increased her strength and improved her cholesterol considerably, and totally changed her life around! Please take a moment to read her essay and take a look at her very impressive photos below. We're confident that you'll find them as inspiring as we did and we hope they motivate you take action and enter our next contest. We’re currently accepting competitors now!

"This Contest has taken me from a very dark place in my life to a whole new world!! It wasn't to long ago before I joined GHF that I was overweight, on medication for depression, quit college, was unemployed, and was a smoker and addicted to junk food. I look at myself today and I cannot believe a team of health experts from the other side of the world (I live in Australia) helped me and gave me the motivation I needed to get to where I am today.

Previously, my days consisted of chain smoking, eating bad food and sitting on the couch all day, every day. I knew deep down this couldn't continue but I was so depressed with who I had become and my life, I didn't have that jump-start I needed to get me motivated and on to a healthier lifestyle. Earlier in the year I had some very stressful events in my life and I used that as an excuse every time I put bad food in my mouth or didn't exercise.

I joined GHF, hoping and praying their personal guidance and 12-week fitness contest would give me the support and motivation to do something, though I had no expectations that anything would change. I didn't even think GHF would live up to anything they said, like responding within 24 hrs and having access to all the best health experts in the fitness industry. Once I joined, I started reading all the forums and articles and something was sparking inside of me, I started receiving emails from Chad and Dani with my diet and fitness programs, as well as prompt answers to all my many questions. Once their support kicked in I realised that was all I needed to get me going. Dani designed a program for me that had great variety and was tailored specifically for ME…and Chad designed a customized meal plan that produced phenomenal results. I told him what I liked and didn't and he factored that in, it was really great.

When I joined I truly didn't understand how personalized their services would be, it really helped knowing I could email and get a response in no time at all, no matter what it was about. I used GHF as my main source of inspiration, just reading the forums, articles and success stories; it gives you that edge you need to keep going. And the contest gave me focus and the ability to focus in other areas of my life.

Before I knew it, my body started to transform and so had my life. I am working full time; I am off all medication with approval from my psychiatrist; I have cut down from smoking 2-3 packs of smokes a week to 1 pack a month, I know it isn't zero yet but I’m nearly there. It seems that since I started exercising regularly and eating properly a lot of my stress, anxiety and tension has lifted, I did read on the GHF website that exercising can cause the body to release endorphins which then leads to mood elevation.

Through GHF I didn't learn how to diet, as they will tell you there is no such thing as an effective, long-term diet. If you want to lose weight permanently, you need to make this a lifestyle change. GHF helped me learn how to make those changes so I could live a more fulfilling and active life.

I found that if you can just get past that first hurdle and you start to see some results, it all snowball's from there and it becomes easier and easier. What I think people needed to remember and what I learned from GHF is that you can't achieve the body you want, and what you want in life in general, without moving out of your comfort zone. You become so adapted to your lifestyle any change seems to hard, but if you can just put in the effort to get past that first hurdle, trust me, it only gets easier. GHF taught me I needed to step back and look at what is holding me back and assess how I can change those obstacles to move forward.

I have now stopped looking for that MIRCALE pill that will melt away all my fat and problems in a matter of weeks, there is no pill that will ever give you the happiness and the body you're dreaming of. And the ones that promise it or the surgery you can have (gastric bypass etc), even then all the instructions with these say to maintain a healthy diet and exercise program. So if you still want the quick/easy options, they won't work if you don't change your lifestyle. That is the key to making it permanent.

The journey to where I am today has definitely been challenging, and it wasn't always an easy road, but GHF made it a simple road. It helps so much to know each day what routine you're doing and have a plan for your exercise. GHF gave me the blueprints to my new life and I just applied them and built my new world around me. So I owe so much gratitude and thanks to GHF and all of their wonderful staff and experts! You didn't just show me a fad diet and a list of exercises I should do, you tailored it to me and personally guided me every step-of-the way. Everything I needed was all at my finger tips. THANK YOU!!!"

Megan Peters
megsyp70@hotmail.com

Congratulations, Megan! We're very proud to have you as a GHF member; it's been a real pleasure helping you achieve your fitness goals. You are going to have an amazing time on your first place Hawaiian vacation!

GHF members, want to take a look at the Before and After photos and essay of our previous winners? Click here! And if you're interested in seeing our vacation photos from past winners, click here! We really hope these photos and essay provide the motivation and inspiration you need to know that you too can make amazing improvements in how you look, feel, and perform. If you're ready to make a change, we'd love the opportunity to personally help you reach your full potential.

In the words of Michael Jordan, "You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take." Ready to take the challenge? Ready to take the challenge? Click here to get started.