Military Spouse’s Weight Loss Transformation Surprises Husband Returning Home for Holidays

Dec. 18, 2012 - PRLog -- On November 30, Jenna Leach won the grand prize in the Ship Shape Challenge, a weight loss contest sponsored by Utah-based body shaping company IdealShape (www.idealshape.com).

But the real surprise: Leach’s husband, who has been deployed with the U.S. Military, had not seen his wife since before her 70-pound weight loss transformation… until now.

Leach says she wanted to get in shape as a homecoming surprise for her husband, Jordan Leach, who has an active lifestyle in the military. He returned home on December 16, after an extension, just in time for the holidays.

Leach, a 27-year-old mother of two young children, began a diet and fitness regimen in April that included components from IdealShape’s Weight Loss Plan. The North Carolina military base resident has lost more than 70 pounds in the past seven months.

“My husband has always been proud of me regardless of my weight,” Leach said. “I just wanted to do something for him, to surprise him, and to live a healthy life for our kids. My husband is very fit and works out a lot. Now that I can keep up with him, that’s something we can do together.”

For Leach, who had always struggled with her weight and diet, the challenge got worse when she became depressed following her husband’s deployment. She was also struggling to shed baby weight. She tried other programs with little success prior to trying IdealShape.

“I really buckled down and decided I was going to make it happen this time,” Leach said. “I was looking for ways to improve my health and eating habits when I came across IdealShape. I had tried other supplements, Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, but they were expensive to keep up with. I really love the aspect that [the IdealShape shake] was easy enough to prepare and take with me. Once I started losing weight, I started getting more active and running. It was a real jumpstart.”

IdealShape launched the Ship Shape Challenge in 2011 to inspire people to work toward achieving their “ideal shape” by submitting stories of their weight loss journeys and posting progress photos in a Facebook community. The contest is open to IdealShape customers who use products such as its shake, weight loss supplement, or Brain Training weight loss hypnotherapy program. Participants are also competing for prizes.

“The contest is not just a way to win prizes. We’ve created an online support community where everyone’s cheering each other on—that support and accountability is so important in effective weight loss,” said Carla Meine, CEO of IdealShape, who started the company with her husband in 2003 after conquering their own weight and health challenges.

In addition to the meal replacement shake, Leach also credits her success to the positive energy of the IdealShape program creators.

“They’re the most amazing family I’ve ever met, so generous,” she said. “Fitness became a passion for me. It was before, but they took it to a whole new level. Now I want to spread the word and help other people.”

Monthly winners of the Ship Shape Challenge receive cash, a one-month supply of IdealShape meal replacement shakes and weight loss supplementation, and—for each first-place monthly winner—a weekend retreat in Park City, Utah. This October, IdealShape flew its first round of 12 winners to Utah from around the country to enjoy their weekend retreat, visit IdealShape’s headquarters and compete for the grand prize in a final round of voting on Facebook.

Leach was voted winner of the grand prize for her inspiring transformation. She won a 7-day cruise, round-trip airfare and $1000 to share with her husband.

“When my husband called, it was great to be able to give him some amazing news during this difficult time we are going through due to a deployment extension,” she said. “He was due to come back in November, around Thanksgiving, but they got extended so we were just waiting. And now he’s home!”

The Ship Shape Challenge is now in its second season. First-season winners’ stories can be found at www.idealshape.com/ship-shape-challenge and www.facebook.com/idealshape.

For interviews, photos or more information, contact Marilyn at Marilyn@IdealShape.com.

About IdealShape: IdealShape is a Lindon, Utah-based body shaping company that creates nutritional meal replacement shakes and weight loss support supplements. Founded in 2003, the family-owned company also offers Brain Training CDs created by co-owner David Meine, who is a Certified Weight Loss Hypnotherapist. His upcoming book, “Think: Use Your Mind to Shrink Your Waistline,” will be available in bookstores and on Amazon in January 2013.