At just shy of 50 years old, Suzannah Feichter dropped from 155 pounds down to 137 pounds, slashed her body fat, trimmed her waistline, built muscle, and made a stunning visual transformation in only 12 weeks…
But before she achieved these inspiring results, she wrestled with the question of whether it was possible to experience a great body transformation at 50. She wondered if things just “have to give” once you reach a certain age.
Or, was she only using age just an excuse, she questioned. On top of the advancing age, Suzannah had to contend with injuries including a torn rotator cuff, hip bursitis, and aches and pains all over.
Her doctor told her she was in perimenopause, she wasn’t sleeping well, she felt bloated, and said her body simply wasn’t working like it used to.
“Why bother?” she asked herself. But she knew she had to do something or it would only get worse.
She stumbled onto the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program and read the book. From there, she learned about Burn the Fat Inner Circle and the 12-week Burn the Fat challenge body transformation contest.
With the support of her husband, she decided to enter. Prophetically, she chose the username “Fitat50.”
At the end of the challenge, she couldn’t have been happier that she made this decision. She won her division (women’s muscle and physique) and indeed finished fit and looking like a physique athlete.
To learn more about Suzannah’s transformation, you can read it in her own words from her Burn the Fat Challenge essay below…
– The Burn The Fat Inner Circle Team
Body Transformation At 50?
“I’m about to turn 50!” Was that my first excuse? “I’m getting older. Do things just have to give at some point? Is it even possible to still be fit at 50?” I asked myself.
Along with age, I had all kinds of other excuses, but I knew if I didn’t do something serious then things would truly spiral out of control.
I was lying on my bed sobbing. I had torn my left rotator cuff (RC), had bursitis in my right hip. That was not only restricting my exercise, but also, I couldn’t sleep.
On top of that, my doctor had just informed me I was suffering from perimenopause. My sleep was terrible, I ached all over at night, and my tummy was always bloated and uncomfortable. My body just didn’t look or function the way it used to.
“Why do I bother?” I was telling my husband. “I don’t eat junk, I don’t drink alcohol, I feel like I’m constantly depriving myself, I go to the gym and yet my body just keeps getting bigger.”
My hubby replied, “I know it’s a struggle, but imagine if you didn’t try at all, think how much worse it might be. Just be consistent and things will start to change.”
The Burn The Fat Challenge
That was when I found Tom Venuto. The first thing I did was read his book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. It made so much sense that I couldn’t believe it was something I’d never done before. No trainer in the past had ever taught me this method.
One of the biggest pieces of advice for me, was finding out what my baseline calorie intake currently was, so I knew where to set my calorie deficit. That way I didn’t start with my calories too low, and I had somewhere to go if I needed to adjust it (down) during the challenge.
I then joined the Burn the Fat Inner Circle, not only to enter the challenge (which is free for Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle readers), but also to get my hands on all the other tips and tools in the members area.
I plastered my almost naked body on the internet for all to see and thought to myself, “If this doesn’t get me motivated to take charge, pay attention to detail, and be accountable, then nothing will.”
Tom constantly sent emails out to Burn the Fat newsletter subscribers, which I found extremely motivating and always looked forward to receiving. There was one in particular that really helped me. It was about being consistent and what some of the most common excuses were that people used to sabotage their success. They were all my excuses! Too tired, menopause, injuries, getting older.
Consistency And Accountability
That was it. I had the plan, I knew I just had to stick with it consistently. I told myself the challenge is only three months, but if I can change things in that time, then this will change my whole life! I will then know it can be done, I will know I can do it.
I bought a set of skin fold calipers (for body fat testing) and informed my husband he would be pinching my body fat every Sunday for the next 12 weeks. This kind of structured tracking and accountability was exactly what I needed. I knew I had to micromanage my diet and exercise.
I found that I started looking forward to my Sunday weigh ins, so I could see what I’d achieved for the week and know that I had tracked everything to such a point that there was no one to blame but myself if things didn’t work out.
I took the challenge seriously, I used Tom’s calculators on The Inner Circle website to calculate my macros, I wore a Fitbit to monitor my calories burned, and I reduced my calories as necessary based on the results I was achieving each week. I always kept my protein intake the same and tweaked my carbohydrate and fat intake if I needed to drop the calories.
Overcoming Obstacles And Difficulties
We went on a family holiday during the challenge and I took all my food with me so I knew I would be eating all the right macros and calories. I even packed my skin fold calipers and scale as the holiday was going to fall on a Sunday and I didn’t want to miss entering my weekly progress report.
This may sound over the top to some, but I wanted to succeed and I knew to do that, I had to be consistent, especially considering my training was not as hard as I would have liked it to be due to injury. If that meant that I didn’t eat the pasta when we went out, but rather ordered only the protein, then that was what I did.
My picture was on the internet, and that was a huge motivator. I couldn’t give up as everyone would know I threw in the towel. It’s easy to lie to yourself but not to the world. I wanted to be proud of myself, proud of my efforts and look at that before and after photo and know I had done my best.
I was restricted at the gym due to my shoulder and hip, but I kept going (working around it), I kept logging my workouts in my little green book. My weights were slowly increasing over time, and I was moving from rubber bands to cable machines.
I stuck with what the physio would allow me to do, and made up for any physical restrictions by being super focused on my diet, which I logged every day in My Fitness Pal.
Goal Achieved!
Well, I did it! I finished and I’m super proud of myself. People at the gym even started to comment on my progress, even though they had no idea I was doing a body transformation challenge.
I actually fit into a pair of jeans I haven’t been able to fit into since I was 32 years old! My bloat is gone due to the clean eating and not overeating, my sleep is better, I think my hormones have normalized, and my strength has really improved despite my injuries (you can see in my after photos how underdeveloped my left shoulder is compared to my right due to my rotator cuff tear).
I found out through this process that you can be fit at 50 despite all the roadblocks, you just need to work a lot harder than when you were 30. Tom and the Burn the Fat Inner Circle gave me the tools to do this. Thank you.
~Suzannah
The Next Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Body Transformation Challenge Starts On May 18th, 2024
See the contest calendar here
Resources mentioned in this article:
Book (Official Guide To The Burn the Fat Challenge)
Burn the Fat Feed The Muscle: CLICK HERE
Burn the Fat Inner Circle
Support Community For All-Natural, No BS Body Transformation CLICK HERE
Macro Calculator
Members Only CLICK HERE
Keys To Consistency: How to Stick To Your Diet And Training Plan
Members Only CLICK HERE
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