After a recent move from New Orleans to New York, makeup artist Brandie Hopstein found herself 30 pounds heavier, unhappy, and ready for a change. So when she met Prevention’s Transformation Challenge Coach, Chris Freytag, at a photo shoot for last year’s Challenge, she knew she had to join Prevention’s massive group effort to get fitter and eat healthier. Within days of starting the Challenge, Hopstein saw her energy transform, and after a few weeks her clothes started to fit better as stubborn weight began to melt away. When the Challenge ended, Hopstein was inspired to keep going with her workouts and eating clean. Four months later, Hopstein shed 23 pounds and a seriously gloomy mood. “I let go of bad choices and brought good things back into my life,” Hopstein explains. “I pushed myself physically and realized that the only reason I wasn’t doing these things before was because I was telling myself I wasn’t strong enough to make it happen.” Why not live your own success story? Begin your own Challenge Now, and take a tip or two from Hopstein’s playbook: Take it easy Hopstein eased into fitness with just 25 or 30 minutes of daily activity:The 28-Day Challenge’s Workouts of the Week, more frequent gym sessions, and Jillian Pransky’s Calm Body, Clear Mind yoga DVD for times she couldn’t squeeze in an active outing. She made smaller changes, too: walking briskly every chance she got, downloading apps to help track her progress, and choosing activities like jogging with a friend instead of Netflix binges. (You can try Jillian Pransky’s Easy Yoga For Weight Loss here.) Make it fun When her motivation dipped, Hopstein got creative. She bought flattering workout gear to inspire her to sweat, tried new classes (Zumba, yoga, and cycling), and made sweating a social event by joining a local running group. Swap, don’t sacrifice Hopstein traded bad habits for better ones, replacing soda with herbal tea, soothing cravings for sweets with raw nuts, and stocking her fridge with homemade veggie-packed meals on the weekend to avoid takeout temptation during the week. Pay attention The key to her diet’s success, she says, was tuning into what she was eating and why. When cravings got tough, she would stop, breathe, and ask herself why she wanted to eat the food—the answer wasn’t usually hunger. “Food is no longer a way to deal with stress,” she says. (These 7 simple ways to control cravings can help.)
