My name is Cheryldene and 3 months ago me and my family embarked on the UBA challenge. My son Zac is 12 years old and has been overweight all his life. Besides being overweight he is also ADHD. At the beginning of March Zac came to me and said ‘mom please help me lose weight, I don’t want to be fat anymore’. My heart nearly stopped thinking my child is being bullied and teased about his weight. Kids can be cruel!! My sister-in-law, Charlene, did this challenge a few months ago and the results were amazing and she made me contact Claudia. After my zoom meeting with Claudia and her son Jamie, my Zac was so motivated to start. We embarked on this journey as a family, I realized that Zac will never be able to lose the weight on his own. My kids are picky eaters and are used to a certain lifestyle, and as a mother I was very overwhelmed not knowing what to expect. Three weeks into our challenge and with lots of motivation from Claudia, I started feeling more confident. I started following the recipes on the App and keeping to the challenges. Like in every challenge we also had our highs and lows. There were times Zac and hubby refused to eat certain foods or drink certain greens, but as a mother I just had to compromise. You can’t force kids to eat things they don’t want to. Believe me, they have a will of their own. As a mother there were times, I had to be strict and raise my voice and use threats. I just wanted Zac to reach his goal. It wasn’t always easy because we still had to go on with our everyday lives. We still had work, school, extra murals, side hustles, exams, projects, cooking, cleaning, and the list just goes on. We did this challenge as a family and the results were amazing. Our whole family wanted change for the better. Our view on foods has changed. We no longer do dairy and we don’t even miss it. We don’t do meats and my kids don’t even ask for it. Our snack cupboard is filled with healthy snack and they get one treat every week. We are more active and spending so much more time outdoors. As a mother looking back on this journey, I’m not just proud of our weight loss achievements but I thank God for being with us every step of the way, for the strength, the will power, and the grace to face every challenge as it came. My encouragement to everyone embarking on this journey with kids is to stand your ground as a mother or father, motivate your kids daily, praise them on the smallest achievements and boast about them in front of them. And let God have the glory.