Second Time in the Winners Circle!

My second 3rd place finish!!  Not too shabby!!

For those that are wondering, I just completed a 49 day Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle Holiday Challenge.  This was my second Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle Challenge.  AND my second THIRD place finish!!

Here is what the judges wrote about me, I highlighted my favorite two quotes:

Second runner-up (3rd place): Cyana Briles

Here are Cyana's before and after results by the numbers: weight down 20 pounds, body fat down 9.6%, lean body mass up 2.6 pounds. She also dropped 4.25 inches off her waist and 3.5 inches off her hips. 

What's most striking about Cyana's results is that she didn't just lose weight or become a smaller versions of her old self, she achieved true body transformation - the reduction of body fat AND the building of sleek, lean muscle. The end result is a body that almost doesn't look like the same person - she's got a whole new body shape!

We also couldn't help but notice how one of Cyana's success strategies was using a "visualization picture." That's where she pasted a photo of her face on the body of a top former IFBB fitness olympia and current WBFF figure athlete. This "vis pic" technique is very popular with our members because it allows you to see yourself in your minds eye with the new body you want and much more easily re-program you self-image.

It's uncanny how well this kind of visualization strategy has worked for "burners" in past challenges and Cyana is a stunning example - her arms, legs and shoulders have all started taking on that "figure athlete" look.

The look is unmistakable and very distinctive: a rounded "cap" on the shoulders, which makes the waist look smaller, solid bicep and tricep muscularity in the arms, nice calves and super tight legs with that "line" defining the muscles down the side of the leg.

Even if you're not a professional physique judge trained to notice these things, you can still look at her physique and see that it's visually stunning. You just say, "Wow!"

 

This kind of body doesn't come from dieting alone. It comes from pumping iron, a lot of sweat and a mind totally focused on clear goals for each day, week and the entire 49 days. See it in the mind, take action and the body will follow.

As all our champions have in common, Cyana knew that fat loss is a first a math equation of calories in versus calories out, so she focused diligently on her calorie deficit. With her target calories pinned down and carefully tracked, her calories came from carefully chosen farm-grown natural foods. That combination of the right quantity and the right quality of food did it! 

Every so often we come across a contest entry that was tracked for 49 days, but we knew that there was a long history which came before that. Although this contest was judged only on the 49 day holiday period, if you looked back to Cyana's initial starting point and compare the "before before" photos to the most recent after photos, you would have to agree her overall transformation in the past year is one of the greatest we have ever seen.

This most recent 49 days was just one goal - one segment - of her continuing journey, and the fact that she's made so much more progress after already having come so far is truly impressive.

One more thing: This was not her first time in the winner's circle: Cyana also entered the 98 day summer Burn the Fat Challenge and made the top 3 in that one as well. Being in the winner's circle twice is a rare honor held by very few others. Congratulations!

 

Completed My Holiday Challenge!

While most people are just getting started on their New Year's Resolutions I'm wrapping up seven weeks of very healthy living!  This is the first time I've ever found myself at the New Year in better shape than I was at say......Thanksgiving.  In fact I'm in best shape of my life and I'm 46 years young.  For the past seven weeks I've been a challenger in the Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle Holiday Challenge.  For the past seven weeks I've been tracking everything I eat.  I've been making sure to get enough high quality protein to help me get strong and lean.

Thank goodness for 20,000 little brown organic cage free egg laying birds.  Well I didn't eat that many eggs but I did eat a bunch of them.  Eggs are so economical and such a wonderful source of protein.  I have to admit that I never separated an egg white from an egg yolk.  First, it just seems like a lot of work.  Second, nature made it that way, Third, the fat in the yolk helped me stay full longer.  Eggs are a nutrient dense food.  The amount of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and healthy fats (remember that many vitamins and minerals need fat present in order to be metabolized properly) present in eggs is high for the number of calories in an egg.   Okay can you tell I like eggs?  I make my living supplying these eggs for the grocery stores so I hope you like eggs too. 

For the past seven weeks I've been going to the gym at least four times a week and working out.  I've been lifting weights and performing a workout routine that was recommended by my friend Audrey.  She was the Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle Summer Challenge Champion.  If that workout was good enough for the past champion it was good enough for me.  The workout is by Tom Venuto and is called TNB (The New Bodybuilding)  It's a great full body routine you can perform at any gym, it features a split workout routine which is great.  That way only half my body was sore on any given day instead of my entire body.

In addition to the strength training I've been doing some sort of cardio workout every day, sometimes twice a day.  Going into the challenge I still had a bunch of fat that needed burned so that the muscle I was working on so hard would show up by the time the challenge was over.  It was important for my cardio to be enjoyable, or at least as enjoyable as possible.  I will have to admit that an hour of cardio on the elliptical machine at the gym was not the most entertaining type of cardio I performed.  Great music to jam to on my I-pod helped me stay motivated.  I also used all time spent doing cardio as "visualization time".  Cardio tends to be a little mindless so I though; why not utilize that time with constructive mental exercises? It soon became a habit for me to really get a picture in my head of my dream body and what I wanted to achieve.   I have to say this visualization habit has flowed into other parts of my life I now visualize my dream body achieving great goals.  My biggest goal is to be inspiring.  I want other people who are struggling with their weight and with their health  to know there is a safe sane way transform your life.

Okay.......enough about what I've been doing the last seven weeks.

Here's some before and after pictures that represent what I accomplished in that seven weeks.

 
So as the title suggests I've completed my seven week Holiday Challenge.  I entered myself for judging.  Thousands entered!  Only ten to twenty percent of the people who enter finish.  Out of those only one female and one male will be crowned the "Champion" and win a killer vacation to Maui!!   It will be about two weeks before I know how I placed.  I'm hoping to at least be in the top ten and of course my goal all along has been to be the Champion. 

If you've followed my blog or just read back to the beginning of it you'll find out that my transformation from fat to fit began back in May of this past year when I first found Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle and competed it a fourteen week long Summer challenge where I placed third overall for the women.

Here's a picture of me at the beginning of that challenge and then the end of this challenge.  This pictures represents my total transformation.......Thus far!!

 

Please if you've stopped by my blog and you were inspired in any way or have any questions, please leave me a "comment".  I'd love to hear from you!

If I could do this, so can you!

One Week left in the Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle Holiday Challege!

Time has flown by!  Six weeks to be exact.  It's passed in a blur.  I try to look back but I only see workouts strung together one after another, I see menu plans and pages full of numbers. I try to wrap my brain around my transformation but it's too big and multifaceted to grasp easily.

I exist in the present moment.  In this moment I weigh 169 lbs and my body fat is 25.3%.  I started this challenge six short weeks ago weighing 186 lbs and my body fat was 33%.  One week left to see what I'm made of.  One week left to challenge my limits.  One week left...........then I'll be able to say I gave it everything I had for 49 days. 

To officially enter myself for judging in this challenge I will have to post my "after" pictures and write a winning essay. This will take place in one week!  I'll be sure to post my after pictures here too.

Stay tuned!