Body Recomposition: Transforming From Fat To Muscle

Weight loss contests, especially the Biggest Loser, where obese people drop insane amounts of body weight - like 10, 15 or even 20 lbs in a week - have become extremely popular. Many people say they get incredibly inspired and motivated watching these huge weight losses take place right before their eyes. I agree that fitness contests are a powerful motivational catalyst. But I also believe that there are some fatal flaws in contests that encourage rapid “weight loss.” That’s why I finally decided to host my own body transformation contest - the “Burn The Fat Challenge”…

But Our Contest Was NOTHING Like The Biggest Loser…

Our fitness contest is different because it’s a body composition transformation contest - not just a “weight loss” contest.

If you’re not hip to what “body composition” means, then the results of our first contest (2009) are going to blow your mind: Josh Ketter, the men’s champ, and Ryan Cochrane, one of the top finalists, only lost one pound.

You might be thinking, “what kind of weird body transformation contest were you running where the winner and the finalists only drop a pound?”

Well, it might seem weird if you thought success at body transformation ONLY meant dropping large amounts of weight on the scale, but…

What About The Difference Between Fat Loss and Weight Loss?

What if you gain muscle while losing weight? Think about this - if you gain muscle in a weight loss contest, you get penalized, right? But shouldn’t you be REWARDED for gaining muscle as well as burning fat? Wouldn’t that be the ultimate prize?

That’s the fatal flaw of “weight loss” contests: Most people are obsessed with scale weight but don’t pay any attention to their body composition - the all-important fat-to-muscle ratio.

Of course, some of the contestants in our last Burn The Fat Challenge contest DID drop a lot of weight - 14, 19, even 26 lbs in only 7 weeks.In our upcoming 98 day challenge those amounts could be double that. But the person who drops the most pounds is not necessarily voted the winner in the Burn The Fat Challenge.

Some contestants became winners because they made astonishing improvements in their muscle to fat ratio, even though they didn’t lose much weight.

For example, Josh lost LESS than a pound because the solid new muscle weight replaced the fat weight. As you can see from his photos, he looks leaner AND more muscular, but the scale hardly changed at all!

How Gaining LEAN Muscle While Losing Fat Helps Women Get Fit, Sexy and Bikini-Ready…

The Burn the Fat System works for women too, and replacing fat with muscle is EXACTLY what most women need, but aren’t getting, because most women are worried about getting “bulky.”

Women who don’t train for more muscle are making a BIG mistake! What most women don’t realize is that if you strip off fat AT THE SAME TIME as you put on lean muscle, you don’t get bulky - you get strong and sexy!

The idea that women who gain muscle will look bulky or masculine is completely false (except for women who take anabolic steroid drugs, and I would NEVER recommend that!)

Take a look at Sarah’s before and after photos below. She gained an astonishing 7 pounds of muscle during the last Burn the Fat challenge contest. Her body transformation pics put to rest the idea that women get bulky from gaining muscle. They also reveal why the scale can play tricks on you…

Take note especially of the muscle Sarah added to her shoulders and arms (did you know that adding muscle to the side of the deltoids/shoulders creates an “optical illusion” of a smaller waist? It’s one of the tricks of figure girls, fitness models and bodybuilders).

Look at at the numbers too: She actually GAINED a pound of bodyweight according to the scale, increasing from 119 to 120 pounds, BUT her body fat decreased from 19% to a ripped 12.6%.

That’s a 7.9 pound GAIN in lean body mass and a 7 pound loss of body fat!

Bulky? Manly? I don’t think so!

This is what burning the fat and feeding the muscle can do for the female figure!

These results are definitely not typical. Most people don’t lose 7 pounds of fat weight and replace it with 7 pounds of muscle weight in 7 weeks. More typical results might be 1-2 pounds per week of fat lost (7-14 pounds in 7 weeks) and, if you do everything right, 2 or 3 pounds of muscle gained at the same time.

However, these body composition transformations do show what is possible with hard work, a goal, support and accountability.

3 Things You Must Know To Make Body Transformations Like These

My fat burning programs have helped dozens of men and women lose over 100 pounds, and up to as much as 256 pounds. I’ve published their success stories on the Burn The Fat Website, in the burn the fat newsletter and in our famous success story interviews at the Burn The Fat Inner Circle

Why then, did I show you the success stories above, where there was virtually no “weight loss”, instead of 100+ pound massive weight loss stories - the kind so popular on TV shows today?

There are 3 major reasons:

1. I wanted you to see real-world proof that it IS possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time…
2. I wanted you to realize the difference between weight loss and fat loss…
3. I wanted you to finally give up the notion that weight loss is the only goal that matters

You may have a lot of weight to lose (body fat), but weight loss is not all there is to a body transformation.

Some people are not seriously overweight, but they are seriously unhappy with their bodies.

Whichever is your situation - you want to drop 40, 70 or even 100+ Pounds, or if you don’t need to lose a lot of weight but you want to firm-up, lean-out and re-shape how your body looks, here is the perfect chance for you to do it.

We hold two Burn the Fat Body transformation contests per year. Our winter contest (the holiday challenge is only 7 weeks (49 days) long and takes place over the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New year’s Holidays.

We are running another transformation contest over the summer of 2010.

It’s NOT a weight loss contest - it’s a “BODY COMPOSITION TRANSFORMATION CONTEST.”

If you choose to enter and accept this challenge, you will take a “before” photograph of yourself between May 24th and May 30th.

You will also record your body weight AND your ULTRA-IMPORTANT body fat percentage. The body fat test will then tell you how much of your weight is fat and how much is muscle.

You may lose a lot of weight, or you may lose only a little. However, the winners of the Burn the Fat challenge will be chosen based on the following:

1. The improvement in your body as seen in your before photo compared to your after photo.
2. The improvement in your body composition (the fat-to-muscle ratio)
3. The essay you will write about your experience at the end of the 98 day contest.

I’ll be back tomorrow with details on the contest prizes, including the GRAND PRIZE TRIP TO MAUI! Full contest details will be posted before Monday, May 24th when the contest opens. The contest entry deadline is May 30th - mark your calendars now!

Last but not least, On Friday, we kick off our BLOG CONTEST, where you will have a chance to tell me WHY you want to win the Burn the fat 2010 Summer Challenge.

Just by posting your reason why you want to win in the blog comments, you’ll be entered in the drawing for a free membership to the Burn The Fat Inner Circle fat loss motivation and support community, which will also get you automatically entered in the Burn the Fat challenge!

See you here on the blog tomorrow!

-Tom V.

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4 DAYS TO THE 2010 SUMMER BURN THE FAT CHALLENGE: CONTEST REGISTRATION KICKS OFF ON MONDAY MAY 24th!

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Eligibility for the 2010 summer Burn The Fat challenge is the same as for our last (holidays 2009) contest:

1. If you own the Burn the Fat ebook, you are already eligible to enter.

2. If you are a burn the fat inner circle member, you are already eligible to enter.

3. If you’re not a burn the fat member and you don’t have the burn the fat ebook, you will be automatically eligible to register for the contest when you purchase the burn the fat program. (some restricions may apply. Contest is void where prohibited by law).

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) is the official guidebook of the Burn the Fat challenge. You can get information about the BFFM program at:

=====> www.BurnTheFat.com

“Contest Central” for the Burn the Fat transformation challenge will once again be hosted at the Burn The Fat Inner Circle:

It is not mandatory to be a Burn the Fat Inner Circle member to participate in the upcoming contest, but we invite you to learn more about our burn the fat support community here:

======> www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle

The contest will run across the entire summer. It will be a life-changing 98 days.

Some country and U.S. state restrictions may apply. Contest void where prohibited by law. Complete rules and regulations will be posted on the registration page at the official contest site when registration begins on May 24th: www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com.

19 May, 2010 posted in Transformations