During yesterday’s Facebook Live I covered some really great techniques that our fat loss challenge participants used to lose 10 lbs or more in 30 days

For those who don’t know, we started a fat loss challenge called FastCut30 on Jan 7th and it just ended on the 5th of February. Participants interacted with each other, were given an exact plan to follow, nutrition guidelines, and they were given support through the private Facebook group.

I was there coaching folks, helping people meet their goals, overcome their obstacles and helping them navigate the challenge that losing weight and putting muscle is all about.

From these interactions I was able to see the techniques they used and in this post, I will share with you the secrets they used to lose 10lbs or more in these last 30 days. Everyone who participated had a great time and I am sure you will enjoy hearing about how they succeeded despite having busy schedules, such as work, being invited to dinners, family, etc.

I’m happy to say that the top 3 participants lost 10 Lb's or more by the end of the challenge

Here are the hacks they used to achieve this.

1.Intermittent fasting

Not a lot of people know what this is, especially the participants in our fat loss challenge, but they ended up loving it as soon as they started using it. Intermittent fasting is restricting your eating to a certain number of hours per day. Some modalities include eating only on certain days of the week, like fasting for a day and eating the next, but the most popular one is the 16 hour fast and eating during the 8 hour window.

How intermittent fasting works is simple. You would skip breakfast, have lunch, and have dinner. During this 8 hour window, you give the body a chance to fast which comes with a slew of positive benefits. When fasting, your human growth hormone, a hormone that fights fat, is elevated which signals your body to start pulling into your fat stores for energy. When you don’t eat for an extended period of time, the body runs out of carbs to use, so it finds that energy elsewhere. The body usually gets its energy from what you eat or from the fat you stored and for the body, the fat is the energy source that is saved up for future use. Unfortunately, with people eating large amounts of meals constantly, the future use never happens unless you give it a reason to. Intermittent fasting is the reason.

Not only is intermittent fasting excellent for losing weight, but it’s also convenient as you don’t have to spend time making breakfast. This can save you plenty of time when you’re getting ready to start the day. Now, being disciplined on this fast is crucial. If you have any calories at all during the 16 hour fast, the HGH hormone disappears and your insulin goes up, therefore breaking the fast and interrupting the process of using fat storage as energy. So it is important to keep disciplined and adhere to the strict conditions of intermittent fasting if you want to see result.

2. Don’t Combine Carbs With Fat

Insulin is a storage hormone. it takes whatever you have from what you ate and stores it in your fat cells. When you spike insulin too much, the food is going to be stored as fat. Carbs are what usually spikes insulin the most and combining the two will make the spike even higher than ever.

Use this as a rule of thumb. Protein and fat is ok. Protein and carbs is ok, Carb and the fat is not ok. When you’re planning your meals or going out to eat, keep this rule in mind so you do don’t halt your results. Veggies don’t count as carbs. You can have veggies at will. A salad with some oil and chicken breast is fine. What's not good is something like a baked potato and butter. French fries are a big violator to this rule. They’re a starchy carb and it’s fried which goes directly to your waistline.

Just remember to not combine carbs and fats and you’ll do fine.

3. Have A Plan (Workout)

You want a workout plan that’s clear, efficient, and flexible. It has to be clear because you want to know what to do when you get to the gym rather than wandering around trying to figure out what to do. It’s gonna confuse you, frustrate you, and halt your results. This could possible make you want to quit going altogether.

Flexibility is another important component. You don’t want to be stuck with a workout plan that’s so specific that not doing them in order or completely will make the workout ineffective. The participants in the FastCut30 challenge used a workout I made called the Quick Chisel workout plan that included 3 workout days with an optional 4th. This ensures they get the necessary amount of work done while also leaving the opportunity to do more.

4. Support System (Accountability Partner or Virtual Group)

You really want to have people in your life who know what you’re doing and have them support and motivate you. There are days where obstacles and hard times occur, like late nights at the office or social gatherings, or illnesses that make it difficult to continue. This is where a support system can come in handy to give you that extra push of motivation to keep going.

Accountability partners are perfect for this role but people who work out with you can serve this purpose as well. In the fat loss challenge, the participants supported one another by posting progress, meal preps, and encouraging posts. One participant, Nora, was great at this. She posted memes almost everyday to get people motivated and fired up for the workouts. I was also able to stay on top of them, coaching them and providing the extra motivation needed to rally the participants.

5. ‘WHY’ (Mindset)

Your ‘WHY’ is the reason you’re starting. This is a very powerful and, I would argue, the most important hack out of all of them. Ask yourself why you are doing this. Make sure it’s not something simple like, “Why do I go to the gym? Because I need to lose weight”. Ask yourself why in the sense of something deeper. Knowing your 'WHY comes from your essence and is something very personal to you. You are linking the healthy lifestyle you want to have to what it’s gonna produce for you in the world.

Ex. why does it matter to be at your fittest and your best. Start thinking about what that allows you to accomplish. Who would you be at work? More successful, energetic, more motivated, productive. Who would you be at home? Better at relationships, a role model to your kids, inspiration for your family members. Who you you be in your community? Someone who can lend a helping hand.

Being the best you is going to elevate you and make it easier to express your purpose. Your 'WHY' will be your reason for fulfilling your mission in this world. Being fit and healthy will make it easier to meet your goals and meet your potential

Motivation doesn't last forever as a great example will be the New Year's resolutions. People wanting to lose weight in the new year are super dedicated the first week and then their motivation tapers off the next few weeks until they stop going altogether. Internal motivation ends in the first few weeks so you’ll need something else to inspire you. The support system works fine, but keeping your why present will get you through those motivation dips and keep you on track towards your goals.

What helps is focusing on one word and making it your mantra. This word has to inspire you to make you what you want to be. Some examples can be pride, epic, dedication, or strong. The choice is yours. Having that one word in your mind often will kick in at the right time when you’re tempted to fall off course. (should I have sweets or an apple). This will override the negative thought and replace them with the right one.

So these are the 5 hacks my fitness challenge participants used to progress in their fitness goals. With it, the successful ones lost 10 lbs or more in the last 30 days and with these hacks at your disposal, you can do it too!