Summary: Here's your new interview with one of the contestants from the 5th Venus Index Transformation Contest. Today John talks to Liss Graham who finished second in the contest and earned herself a spot on Venus Index Calendar. Check out her transformation pictures from the 12 Week Contest: When Liss pulled out the pictures on her PC she couldn't believe this was really her and her husband had a pretty similar reaction. The Day-to-day changes are almost unnoticeable and when you look at yourself in the mirror you usually see only the flaws. When looking at the pictures though you can be more objective and if you have both before and after photos than you can truly see your progress not the skewed version in a mirror. ...And don't worry about getting good pictures. Liss took some advice from her friend Alisha (previous VI winner) from the VI community about taking pictures and setting up lights. She went through a couple magazines, pinned a couple pictures, set up a mirror, her sister in law helped her with the lighting and taking pictures. Then she got babysitting for the evening, took a couple pictures for each pose and that was it, nothing complicated. Here is one more picture from the shoot: Liss always felt like a giant kid. She told us that compared to other girls she wasn't that tiny and cute like others, she was big and a bit overweight for her age. She didn't feel pretty. In her freshmen year she weighed 140 pounds. She started playing tennis and lifting weights, but throughout the years her weight often fluctuated up and down, which was quite exhausting. She would work hard to lose the weight, only to relapse and gain it right back. She was a victim of what's called the "yo-yo diet". It was because her diet was very low in calories and highly restrictive - high protein, low carb and only certain food. This type of diet wasn't sustainable so she would fall off here and there often resulting in binging. It All Starts with the Decision to Get Better Liss decided to make a change. She began first by researching how much celebrities weigh; she looked up Julia Roberts and a few others. It was here when she realized that while those women are lean and in shape it's not what you would call the "ideal" shape for women. Nevertheless, she began searching for more of a "fitness look". This search is what ultimately lead her to the Venus Index. VI offered her a set of metrics, a goal to shoot for--an ideal shape, all while being able to measure the progress without having to do a fancy DEXA analysis every month just to know if she was on track. Beyond a shadow of a doubt Liss was happy to have found Venus Index! She could go to all the social eating events, throw away the "fat clothes" and put an end to the crappy approach of yo-yo dieting. If she didn't feel like working out, her kids would constantly ask her if she was going to the gym or her friends would text her asking where she is - her accountability to fitness was at the highest it had ever been, which set her up for success. Having these systems in place, a proven workout program, and help from the VI community she was destined to succeed and she did, just scroll back up and look at the pictures. Now, if you wanna hear more about her journey, psychological barriers she had to overcome, what worked for her and what didn't, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the play button to listen to the interview. Tips from Liss: Track your strength and try to improve every time you hit the gym, even if it's just for one more rep Don’t argue with people about it, if they wanna know what you are doing I post every little chart, weight, and measurements on my blog in the community When you finally get fit everything becomes so much easier Avoid destructive behavior patterns, one thing leads into other – couch potato, bad food, no workout, no results
