BOISE, Idaho, June 2, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This January, Bodybuilding.com — the Internet's most-visited fitness website – 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. Motivated and ready to rock, this year's winners dropped a whopping 115 pounds, which equated to a loss of over 40% body fat. Overall, participants in the challenge shaved nearly 35,000lbs 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.
With so many participants in this year's challenge, picking the overall male and female winner was a daunting task. 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, MO, and Nina Nam of Santa Monica, CA. You can check out their epic reaction when we surprised them with gym bags full of cash here: $200,000 Winner Surprise Video.
2015 Male Winner, Chandler Camden:
After serving his country for 14 years, Chandler ballooned up over 250 pounds since his honorable discharge. He battled with his weight and was tired of all the yo-yo dieting. It seemed like every time he would lose some weight he would put it all, if not more back on. "I was pretty much sick of how I looked and felt. I decided to lose weight and managed to lose about 70 pounds in one year. Then things in my life started going downhill, and once again, I found myself in a yo-yo situation," commented Chandler.
His motivation came from his wife, "On January 5th, 2015 I got married to my wife Erin, and I knew she deserved a better me." Erin encouraged Chandler to enter the Bodybuilding.com $200,000 Transformation Challenge and together they devised a program that would keep him on track for the next 12 weeks. Chandler states, "I threw myself mentally and physically into my transformation with everything I had. I was constantly adjusting my plan to ensure progress. I became more self-motivated as time went on due to the positive changes I was experiencing both physically and mentally."
In just 12 weeks Chandler lost an astounding 41 pounds and 11.5% 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, please visit his BodySpace at http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/chancam77/.
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% body fat. To see Nina's remarkable before and after pictures, please visit her BodySpace at http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/gratefulBEAST/
2015 "People's Choice" Winner, Luke Petersen:
This is the first year with a "People's Choice" category. This new addition has given a voice to the people and awards contestants based on what their fellow competitors deem as prize worthy. 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. This 35-year-old husband and father lost an incredible 53 pounds and 15% body fat. In a heartfelt reply, Luke stated, "It makes me really emotional to know how many people I've connected with, not only through this challenge, but over the years as well. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful support system that was genuinely excited for me." To see Luke's winning before and after pictures, please visit his BodySpace at http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/writelukehere/
For more information on the Bodybuilding.com $200,000 Transformation Challenge, please visit http://www.bodybuilding.com/200K.
About Bodybuilding.com
Based in Boise, Idaho, Bodybuilding.com is the world's largest online sports nutrition store. The site carries more than 13,500 health and fitness supplements and accessories, shipping to customers in more than 155 countries. Bodybuilding.com helps more than 30 million people every month achieve their health, fitness and appearance goals by offering over 35,000 pages of FREE information, including more than 25,000 articles and 10,000 videos, expert-designed online training programs, and new content added daily. For more information, please visit www.bodybuilding.com.
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