Source: http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/public/1120print.cfm
Mindset and motivation will either carry you through if it's strong or stop you in your tracks if it's weak.
1. Strong personal drive: Motivation is a fire from within, and not something someone else can ignite for you. I turned my initial "curiosity" into a "fire from within," and that translated into a burning desire to create a lean and sculpted physique.
That fire gave me the strength to never, ever throw in the towel.
2. Commitment: Before the 49-day challenge even began, I had booked an appointment with my photographer. I told my husband that I was going to win the most ripped award. He believed that I could, and supported everything that I did.
I sorted out issues I had with food choices, discipline and timing before the challenge began so that I could hit the ground running. Commitment was the glue that bonded me to my goals.
3. Teamwork and support: I joined a great team of ladies, who before the challenge, had never met. The support, encouragement, expectations and belief we shared for each other helped us where we may have otherwise failed.
The wider community of the Inner Circle was also a valuable part of my broader support network. It's a place where complete strangers from across the globe come together to help each other. In fact, my team, and the IC on a larger scale, are anachronisms for the word T E A M...Together Everyone Achieves More.
4. Retaining focus: I found inspirational images every day that were relevant to how I felt at that particular time and posted these onto my Challenge thread every day; which helped to remind me of my daily goals and helped to renew my focus. If I lost focus, it I ate too much or just missed a workout I simply got straight back on track. Strength comes not from falling down but from getting up after you have fallen down.
NUTRITION
"Great abs are made in the kitchen." It's soooo true. It was only by eating clean that I achieved great results. You simply can't "out-exercise" junk food and this is the reason that bodybuilders and fitness models pay such detailed attention to their nutrition.
I learned to not only eat "clean" but to use the following very effective nutrition strategies to "trick" my body into letting go of its beloved stores of fat while at the same time preserving and adding muscle.
1. I did the math: I've always loathed the idea of counting calories. It just wasn't for me. Worse still, counting macros was just plain OCD...right? WRONG! I learned that to achieve great results I needed to know EXACTLY what I was burning and what I was consuming AND I also needed to understand Macros.
For the first two weeks of the challenge I tracked everything that went in my mouth and at the end of the week I did the math. I knew exactly how many calories I'd eaten, my weekly weight change and that 3500 calories = 1 pound of weight. My mathematician alter ego figured out that I burn pretty much exactly 2300 calories in a normal a day.
2. I planned: "Failing to plan is planning to fail." Another great quote I love. I worked out three separate daily meal plans dividing up my nutrition into five or six meals with similar quantities of protein, carbohydrate and fat in each meal. (yikes! more math!!!) I used the menu templates in BFFM to create menu plans for HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW days and made sure that I had a minimum of 130g lean protein each day.
I divided my calories up into 35% protein, 50% carbohydrate, 15% fat (baseline plan) for high and medium days, and 40%P 40% C 20%F for low days. Each meal contained lean protein, starchy carbs, fibrous carbs and healthy fats although on "low" days one or two meals sometimes had little or no starchy carbs. I left as many carbs as possible around the pre and post workout meals.
3. I swung high and low: Cycling both calories and carbohydrates was a very important strategy in keeping my metabolism switched into overdrive. My "HIGH" days would go into SURPLUS calories to promote muscle growth, with the extra calories mostly coming from carbohydrates. My body got used to churning through a lot of calories on these days so that when I suddenly dropped both calories and carbs my body churned up fat very quickly.
At the beginning of the challenge, approximately half of my days were either at maintenance or surplus (about 2500 cals) and half were in deficit (about 1500-1800 cals). Towards the end of the challenge, I had more days in deficit. I also enjoyed one or two cheat meals a week on the HIGH days.
4. I cooked in bulk: "The more you value your time, the more value it brings." I was able to save an enormous amount of time cooking and cleaning the kitchen by simply cooking in bulk. That time was instead used for training and for quality "me" time. I cooked nutritious and tasty meals and stocked my freezer with meals that were exactly 300 calories each.
Then, each morning I would simply grab two or three freezer meals to heat later in the day. My non-freezer meals were mostly oats and non-cooked food such as nuts, non-fat yoghurt, wholemeal bread, whey, raw fruit and raw veggies.
5. I stayed well hydrated: Water would have to be the best kept fat burning secret around. If it didn't come out of the faucet for free someone would be making a fortune. I drank about a gallon (3.5 litres) of water every day including green tea. I got in the habit of having three glasses of water every time I went into the kitchen.
In the last week of the challenge I drank 8 litres of water every day. This, and a few glasses of wine over the festive season was all that I drank.
6. I relied on food: My only supplements are a daily multivitamin and Omega 3 supplement. I relied on clean eating to get the results I got. Typical day you ask? It went something like this:
TRAINING
"Train hard and expect success!" Hmmm, where have we all heard that one! This is what coach Tom tells us, so I trained hard for months and months and I succeeded! I made my strength workouts aerobic and my cardio workouts anabolic (muscle building) using resistance based cardio workouts and volume based strength workouts.
In this way I reduced the amount of time spent training and enjoyed the benefits of both muscle building AND fat burning in every workout. I was very careful in my post workout nutrition to take in both protein and carbohydrates immediately following all workouts to refuel my muscles and to promote muscle growth.
1. STRENGTH: Getting ripped is a bit like digging for gold: You want to be able to find the gold (muscle), after you have dug (burned the fat); otherwise, you will not get "ripped," you will just get "skinny."
I used a 4-day split weight training routine as follows:
2. CARDIO: My cardio workouts were cycling and rowing, each of which worked in nicely with and enhanced my strength work. When possible, I would also do "fasted" cardio; especially first thing in the morning (before breakfast) to promote fat burning. My cardio sessions followed these very simple formats.
3. CYCLING: (Two minutes effort , one minute easy) x 10
4. ROWING: (Three minutes effort, one minute easy) x 8
At the beginning of the challenge I did only two cardio sessions a week but as the challenge progressed, I worked in more cardio in Week 6 peaking in intensity at two cardio sessions per day. I took one day of rest from training each week.
MY PERSONAL TIPS:
1. Use a visualization picture ("viz-pic"). This is a very powerful tool where you find a picture of a physique model that you would like to look like that has a similar height and basic build to you and then "photoshop" your head onto their body. By looking at your viz-pic daily, you gradually change the way you perceive yourself.
I don't delude myself about where I am but I do use my viz-pic to honestly identify the work I need to do. Try Pizap.com; it's a free website that is easy to use.
2. See yourself through a different pair of eyes. As your weight and shape changes it is useful to see yourself through someone else's eyes in order to continue moving forward. Having an objective evaluation from a fitness coach would be ideal.
And if friends and loved ones don't have the courage to offer you "the truth" about your progress, then find someone who will. Having honest, accurate and constructive criticism is extremely important.
3. Focus on your own goals and not on the (Maui) grand prize. We would all love to win the big trip to Maui. But if all you focus on is the trip, and you notice someone else is having a more spectacular challenge than you, you may lose heart and give up. If you develop your personal goals enough where the trip is not the only reason you are in the contest, then you are more likely to stick it out when the going gets tough.
4. Check into the Inner Circle daily. The Inner Circle is so much more than a place to post your weekly stats. It is a source of knowledge, camaraderie, and inspiration. Checking in daily helps to keep you cued in, focused and accountable.
5. Finish strong. There is no point running the whole race and falling over at the last minute. My final tip is simply to maintain your focus and finish strong.
In closing, I wanted to give a huge thank you to Tom, Kyle and the rest of the IC team for making these challenges possible. I also want to extend a personal thank you to coach Tom for designing such a wonderful program and for his very personal and genuine support on the Inner Circle forums.
All my best to everyone,
-Rowena Dalzell
Most Ripped Female, Season 7. Visit her challenge thread here.
YOU Could Be The Next Success Story!
The Burn the Fat Challenge is a twice-a-year event sponsored by Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) and hosted at the Burn the Fat Inner Circle.
There's nothing like a BIG GOAL and a CHALLENGE for ramping up your motivation (the chance to win a trip to a tropical island to show off your new body doesn't hurt either).... and when it's done inside a community like our Inner Circle, the support skyrockets your chances of success compared to trying to go at it alone.
Join us for the next challenge and join us in the Inner Circle to stay motivated and connected to positive people all year round. Your membership at the Inner Circle gets you free enrollment in all our challenge events and remember, it's never too early or too late to get started.
Winning the Burn the Fat 49-Day Challenge "Most Ripped" award was both an honor for me and the realization of a major personal goal. I got in the best shape of my life and I'm delighted to be able to share with you the secrets and strategies that I used for success.
MINDSET AND MOTIVATIONMindset and motivation will either carry you through if it's strong or stop you in your tracks if it's weak.
1. Strong personal drive: Motivation is a fire from within, and not something someone else can ignite for you. I turned my initial "curiosity" into a "fire from within," and that translated into a burning desire to create a lean and sculpted physique.
That fire gave me the strength to never, ever throw in the towel.
2. Commitment: Before the 49-day challenge even began, I had booked an appointment with my photographer. I told my husband that I was going to win the most ripped award. He believed that I could, and supported everything that I did.
I sorted out issues I had with food choices, discipline and timing before the challenge began so that I could hit the ground running. Commitment was the glue that bonded me to my goals.
3. Teamwork and support: I joined a great team of ladies, who before the challenge, had never met. The support, encouragement, expectations and belief we shared for each other helped us where we may have otherwise failed.
The wider community of the Inner Circle was also a valuable part of my broader support network. It's a place where complete strangers from across the globe come together to help each other. In fact, my team, and the IC on a larger scale, are anachronisms for the word T E A M...Together Everyone Achieves More.
4. Retaining focus: I found inspirational images every day that were relevant to how I felt at that particular time and posted these onto my Challenge thread every day; which helped to remind me of my daily goals and helped to renew my focus. If I lost focus, it I ate too much or just missed a workout I simply got straight back on track. Strength comes not from falling down but from getting up after you have fallen down.
NUTRITION
"Great abs are made in the kitchen." It's soooo true. It was only by eating clean that I achieved great results. You simply can't "out-exercise" junk food and this is the reason that bodybuilders and fitness models pay such detailed attention to their nutrition.
I learned to not only eat "clean" but to use the following very effective nutrition strategies to "trick" my body into letting go of its beloved stores of fat while at the same time preserving and adding muscle.
1. I did the math: I've always loathed the idea of counting calories. It just wasn't for me. Worse still, counting macros was just plain OCD...right? WRONG! I learned that to achieve great results I needed to know EXACTLY what I was burning and what I was consuming AND I also needed to understand Macros.
For the first two weeks of the challenge I tracked everything that went in my mouth and at the end of the week I did the math. I knew exactly how many calories I'd eaten, my weekly weight change and that 3500 calories = 1 pound of weight. My mathematician alter ego figured out that I burn pretty much exactly 2300 calories in a normal a day.
2. I planned: "Failing to plan is planning to fail." Another great quote I love. I worked out three separate daily meal plans dividing up my nutrition into five or six meals with similar quantities of protein, carbohydrate and fat in each meal. (yikes! more math!!!) I used the menu templates in BFFM to create menu plans for HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW days and made sure that I had a minimum of 130g lean protein each day.
I divided my calories up into 35% protein, 50% carbohydrate, 15% fat (baseline plan) for high and medium days, and 40%P 40% C 20%F for low days. Each meal contained lean protein, starchy carbs, fibrous carbs and healthy fats although on "low" days one or two meals sometimes had little or no starchy carbs. I left as many carbs as possible around the pre and post workout meals.
3. I swung high and low: Cycling both calories and carbohydrates was a very important strategy in keeping my metabolism switched into overdrive. My "HIGH" days would go into SURPLUS calories to promote muscle growth, with the extra calories mostly coming from carbohydrates. My body got used to churning through a lot of calories on these days so that when I suddenly dropped both calories and carbs my body churned up fat very quickly.
At the beginning of the challenge, approximately half of my days were either at maintenance or surplus (about 2500 cals) and half were in deficit (about 1500-1800 cals). Towards the end of the challenge, I had more days in deficit. I also enjoyed one or two cheat meals a week on the HIGH days.
4. I cooked in bulk: "The more you value your time, the more value it brings." I was able to save an enormous amount of time cooking and cleaning the kitchen by simply cooking in bulk. That time was instead used for training and for quality "me" time. I cooked nutritious and tasty meals and stocked my freezer with meals that were exactly 300 calories each.
Then, each morning I would simply grab two or three freezer meals to heat later in the day. My non-freezer meals were mostly oats and non-cooked food such as nuts, non-fat yoghurt, wholemeal bread, whey, raw fruit and raw veggies.
5. I stayed well hydrated: Water would have to be the best kept fat burning secret around. If it didn't come out of the faucet for free someone would be making a fortune. I drank about a gallon (3.5 litres) of water every day including green tea. I got in the habit of having three glasses of water every time I went into the kitchen.
In the last week of the challenge I drank 8 litres of water every day. This, and a few glasses of wine over the festive season was all that I drank.
6. I relied on food: My only supplements are a daily multivitamin and Omega 3 supplement. I relied on clean eating to get the results I got. Typical day you ask? It went something like this:
- Breakfast: Protein porridge (i.e oatmeal , whey powder) orange, green tea
- Morning tea: Protein porridge, yogurt, raw veggies, almonds
- Lunch: Freezer meal (eg Red kidney bean curry: egg white, beans, veggies, brown rice), almonds
- Post workout snack: Banana, yogurt, whey powder
- Dinner: Freezer meal (eg: spinach and lentil curry: egg white, lentils, veggies, brown rice ), almonds, green tea
- Supper: "chocolate fix" (yogurt, cocoa and stevia mixed together),watermelon, almonds, green tea
- Anytime snacks: raw carrot, raw celery, raw tomatoes
TRAINING
"Train hard and expect success!" Hmmm, where have we all heard that one! This is what coach Tom tells us, so I trained hard for months and months and I succeeded! I made my strength workouts aerobic and my cardio workouts anabolic (muscle building) using resistance based cardio workouts and volume based strength workouts.
In this way I reduced the amount of time spent training and enjoyed the benefits of both muscle building AND fat burning in every workout. I was very careful in my post workout nutrition to take in both protein and carbohydrates immediately following all workouts to refuel my muscles and to promote muscle growth.
1. STRENGTH: Getting ripped is a bit like digging for gold: You want to be able to find the gold (muscle), after you have dug (burned the fat); otherwise, you will not get "ripped," you will just get "skinny."
I used a 4-day split weight training routine as follows:
- Shoulders and triceps
- chest and biceps
- legs
- back & abs
2. CARDIO: My cardio workouts were cycling and rowing, each of which worked in nicely with and enhanced my strength work. When possible, I would also do "fasted" cardio; especially first thing in the morning (before breakfast) to promote fat burning. My cardio sessions followed these very simple formats.
3. CYCLING: (Two minutes effort , one minute easy) x 10
4. ROWING: (Three minutes effort, one minute easy) x 8
At the beginning of the challenge I did only two cardio sessions a week but as the challenge progressed, I worked in more cardio in Week 6 peaking in intensity at two cardio sessions per day. I took one day of rest from training each week.
MY PERSONAL TIPS:
1. Use a visualization picture ("viz-pic"). This is a very powerful tool where you find a picture of a physique model that you would like to look like that has a similar height and basic build to you and then "photoshop" your head onto their body. By looking at your viz-pic daily, you gradually change the way you perceive yourself.
I don't delude myself about where I am but I do use my viz-pic to honestly identify the work I need to do. Try Pizap.com; it's a free website that is easy to use.
2. See yourself through a different pair of eyes. As your weight and shape changes it is useful to see yourself through someone else's eyes in order to continue moving forward. Having an objective evaluation from a fitness coach would be ideal.
And if friends and loved ones don't have the courage to offer you "the truth" about your progress, then find someone who will. Having honest, accurate and constructive criticism is extremely important.
3. Focus on your own goals and not on the (Maui) grand prize. We would all love to win the big trip to Maui. But if all you focus on is the trip, and you notice someone else is having a more spectacular challenge than you, you may lose heart and give up. If you develop your personal goals enough where the trip is not the only reason you are in the contest, then you are more likely to stick it out when the going gets tough.
4. Check into the Inner Circle daily. The Inner Circle is so much more than a place to post your weekly stats. It is a source of knowledge, camaraderie, and inspiration. Checking in daily helps to keep you cued in, focused and accountable.
5. Finish strong. There is no point running the whole race and falling over at the last minute. My final tip is simply to maintain your focus and finish strong.
In closing, I wanted to give a huge thank you to Tom, Kyle and the rest of the IC team for making these challenges possible. I also want to extend a personal thank you to coach Tom for designing such a wonderful program and for his very personal and genuine support on the Inner Circle forums.
All my best to everyone,
-Rowena Dalzell
Most Ripped Female, Season 7. Visit her challenge thread here.
YOU Could Be The Next Success Story!
The Burn the Fat Challenge is a twice-a-year event sponsored by Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) and hosted at the Burn the Fat Inner Circle.
There's nothing like a BIG GOAL and a CHALLENGE for ramping up your motivation (the chance to win a trip to a tropical island to show off your new body doesn't hurt either).... and when it's done inside a community like our Inner Circle, the support skyrockets your chances of success compared to trying to go at it alone.
Join us for the next challenge and join us in the Inner Circle to stay motivated and connected to positive people all year round. Your membership at the Inner Circle gets you free enrollment in all our challenge events and remember, it's never too early or too late to get started.
No comments:
Post a Comment