More Winning Body Transformation Secrets

Discover more body transformation secrets in part two of our interview with our 2009 Burn the Fat Challenge champion. In this post you’ll learn How to overcome cravings, how to press onward and upward even when you’re tired, how to harness the motivational power of before and after photographs as an accountability tool and how to make a “results not typical” (better than average) body transformation in as little as 7 weeks.

Interview continued from PART ONE

TOM: You said that you had days with low energy and days you felt really hungry. That’s going to happen to just about everybody who has their calories reduced for fat loss. So what did you do, either physically or mentally, to stay on your eating plan even when you were hungry, and stay on your training plan even when you were tired?

HANNAH: One thing is I would tell myself that I’m in charge of myself, so I can have anything I want, as long as I wait 30 minutes. A lot of times, just delaying that instant urge to put something in my mouth would be enough to either make it to the next meal or realize I didn’t want it. Another thing was that being around kids and food all day long, I had to tell myself I wasn’t the garbage disposal. That may sound funny, but when you’re picking up food all day long, it’s easy to finish off the kids’ portions of this or that. So I put a halt to that and it really helped me. Drinking a lot of hot tea was another way that satisfied both my sweet tooth and cravings for other things.

As far as being tired, sometimes it was just mental and I pushed through it. I really saw a reward and felt more energy from just getting up and doing the workout. Other times, especially as a mom, I think you have to listen to your body and sometimes you need sleep. There were nights where I was up all night with a sick kid. The next day, I just allowed myself to sleep, or have a nap. That really helped with being able to recover and stay on track, because if I got overly tired, I was not able to make good judgment decisions, as far as what I was eating. Sometimes you just need to sleep.

TOM: In one of your very first challenge journal posts, you wrote, “Blechhh. I can’t believe I posted those pictures.” I know that posting before pictures takes a lot of courage. A lot of other women - and guys - in the challenge felt the same way, because I heard it from so many of them. People asked me, “Do we really have to post pictures to be in this contest?” So I’m curious: Looking back, how do you feel about having posted your before picture, when you can now put it next to your after picture?

HANNAH: At the time, I definitely thought I was insane. That’s not the type of thing I would have ever done or considered doing at that point. The pictures were almost what made me not do the challenge. But now, I feel like that was invaluable and I totally understand that requirement today. Measurements and numbers are great, but they’re hard to believe in your head. Being able to actually see the change in your body in a picture - that’s totally invaluable. I wouldn’t be able to believe the numbers without seeing the picture. The picture also really kept my feet to the fire. There was no way to hide what you really looked like with the pictures right there.

And the difference between pictures and the mirror??? HUGE. I can’t really even explain that. Something happens when you look in the mirror that does not happen when you look at a photograph. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how our brains fool us that way. But I could look in the mirror all day long and not see what I can see from a photograph.

TOM VENUTO: For anyone who’s thinking about entering the next challenge and they’re terrified to take their picture and post it in the website, what would be your advice to them - coming from someone who felt the same way, but did it anyways?

HANNAH: I completely sympathize and I understand how hard it is. But it really is invaluable and it’s the best way to really admit where you’re currently at and to see the milestones you pass and be able to see the changes in your body. It’s definitely invaluable.

TOM: Our summer transformation contest is the big one – 98 days across the entire summer, but our winter contest only ran from Thanksgiving to the first week of January. You came down 6% body fat in those 7 weeks. To put that into perspective, for most people, it would take 12 weeks to drop 6% body fat. About a half a percent a week is typical fat loss. How did you get results that were so far above average and what is your advice for other people who want to make a “results not typical” transformation?

HANNAH: The first thing would be the goal setting techniques from your book. The goal card really helped me - just having that written down goal, instead of some vague idea that I needed to improve, kept me totally focused. Second was using feedback from measurements and actually tracking my progress numbers and being accountable to others on the forum. Third was the pre-planning of when exactly I would work out and what I would do, and menus that I would follow.

TOM : Do you think this whole Burn the Fat challenge changed your perception on how much you can transform your body in a short period of time, as in our 7 week challenge?

HANNAH: Absolutely. I had no idea it was possible. I’ve always looked at those ads, showing pictures of people changing and I thought like that was just a huge fake. I thought it really wasn’t possible and that it would take at least a year to see visible changes of long, hard, hard work, and that has always been a deterrent for me. So knowing that I can put in a concentrated effort for a certain amount of time and actually see visible results is really encouraging to me.

I feel like you could probably advertise the next challenge by saying that if you just finish the challenge and stick to your goals, you will achieve the untypical results, the above average results. Because so many of the finishers did, just by having the accountability of a challenge like this that you don’t have doing it alone. So many of them worked so hard and lost so much weight or changed their body composition so much. It was just amazing to see.

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

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Over the next two weeks, I will be posting all the contest details, how to enter, what are the rules and regulations, plus more interviews with our past champions and finalists and tips on how to make your best transformation.

Eligibility for the 2010 summer body transformation 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.

14 May, 2010 posted in