Sunday, June 10, 2012

How To Maximize Your 90 Day Challenge Results

In recent weeks, I have been contacted by a number of individuals posing the question of, "What can I do to maximize my Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge results?"  I would like to preface this by saying that the challenge is about a complete lifestyle transformation, and that it is more than simply living a sedentary lifestyle, and drinking a couple of shakes per day.

The ultimate goal of the challenge, is to assist each member with developing and implementing new habits with regards to exercise, diet, attitude, and discipline, which will allow individuals to not only achieve their desired weight loss goals, but to also maintain their losses after their personal challenge goals have been reached.

Each new member that joins the challenge, receives a personal website, which comes complete with a BMI calculator, a metabolism tracker, a meal plan, an exercise plan, and an online community of challenge members that provides the opportunity for each member to seek out accountability partners.  Research shows that success rates for weight loss programs drastically improve when participants attack their goals in groups, as opposed to going at it alone.

For the sake of today's blog entry, I am going to share some additional tips for lifestyle changes that will assist each member on the challenge in achieving consistent results, in minimal time, by simply creating new habits, and sticking with these habits on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The goal is to highlight each new habit, and to then explain the reasoning behind these suggested changes.

Get Moving

The first and most IMPORTANT step in this lifestyle plan is to establish an exercise routine. Research studies have shown that exercising first thing each morning allows you to burn fat more efficiently.  The idea here is to begin with at least 30 minutes of cardio each day.  Something as simple as brisk walking should do the trick.  The most important note here is that the exercises should be consistent, and immediately upon rising each morning.

We want to move away from the idea of simply lying around with a television remote, chips, and pizza, and simply sprinkling in a couple of shakes each day.  The plan here is to strengthen the heart, which tends to a longer and a more healthy life, and to also speed up your metabolism, which is vital to any weight loss program.

Stay Hydrated

In recent studies, people who drank two 8-ounce glasses of water prior to each meal, lost on average 5 pounds more than nonguzzlers.  In addition to drinking two glasses of water prior to each meal, it is also a great practice to begin each day with two glasses of water. 

In addition to drinking water first thing each morning, and prior to each meal, the best way to determine approximately how much water you should be drinking on a daily basis, is to take your bodyweight, and to divide it in half.  Your water intake should equal half of your bodyweight in ounces.  Ex. A man who weighs 200lbs, should be drinking at least 100 oz. of water each day. The water cleanses the body of toxins, reduces hunger cravings, and adds a general feeling of wellness, vitality, and energy.

Have a Vi-shake For Breakfast

Upon waking up in the morning, your body immediately begins to produce a hormone called, "ghrelin." This hormone is often referred to as the, "feed me" hormone. When ignored, the body will produce greater levels of this hormone, and the end result is often binge eating.

The best way to avoid this, is to have a shake for breakfast, within one hour of rising. Each 90 day challenge member receives access to more than 100 shake recipes, and this variety makes breakfast one of the more exciting things that you can look forward to with each passing day.

Eat a Normal Lunch

I'm throwing a bit of a wrench here, in terms of the usual advice for challenge members, which is to drink a shake for breakfast, and a shake for lunch.  One of the more common problems that I have observed is that individuals who are on the challenge, often forget to consume enough calories throughout the day, which pushes the body into starvation mode, causing it to actually retain fats.

The best way to avoid this, is to eat a normal lunch, but to focus on healthy meals, as opposed to traditional fast food items. The goal here is to consume 300-500 calories for lunch.  As you can probably imagine, this caloric allowance provides the opportunity to enjoy the delicious foods that you would normally eat.

Do Your Strength Training In the Evenings

Your body temperature reaches it's highest point in the evenings, and so naturally, this would be the time when you are primed for peak athletic performance. According to one particular study, individuals who did strength training in the evenings built 22% more muscle than those who chose to do weight training in the mornings.

This is also an excellent way to blow off steam from the job, prior to making your way home.  I have personally found that going directly to my gym from work places me in a tremendous state of calm, and by the time that I arrive home each day, I'm feeling refreshed, whereas before I would arrive home and crash for the evening, as soon as I touched the couch.

Eat a Full Dinner

I would suggest having dinner no later than 7:00pm.  If you're a drinker, then this is also the ideal time to pour a glass, as opposed to waiting until you're closing in on sleep time, as late drinking has been known to delay dream (REM) sleep.

Scheduling dinner at this time, also allows the body time to begin to breakdown the meal, preventing your going to bed with that full-stomach feeling each night, and eating late at night is also a recipe for disaster, with regards to weight loss.

Stay Active Following Dinner

Another excellent habit to establish would be to go for brisk walks following your evening dinner.  Keep in mind that the idea here is to avoid stuffing your body, and then hitting the couch for hours of television, allowing the foods and fats that you have consumed to slow down your digestive process.

Walking after dinner assists your body with the digestive process.  Walking is also a great way to clear your mind, and to have an opportunity to meditate, and to achieve an overall sense of calm, as you begin to wind down for the evening.  This walk does not need to be anything extensive. 15-20 minutes of brisk walking should do the trick.

Have Your Second Vi-Shake at Night

If you're anything like me, then I'm sure that you've been in this place that I'm about to share with you.  It's 9:00pm.  You're bored, and your mind is telling you to seek excitement, in the form of an unhealthy meal. Taco Bell, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, and Jimmy John's are all suggestions that tend to crop up at this time.

I have established a practice of having my second vi-shake at this time; between the hours of 8:00-10:00.  Why am I doing this? The vi-shake is an excellent replacement to junk food.  The vi-shakes are low in calories, and the healthy nutrition from the vi-shakes provides a healthy option for ending your day on a good note.

Sleep

Research studies have established the fact that going to bed each night at the same time, and keeping a regular sleep schedule, allows you to fall asleep faster each night, and to rise earlier each morning, feeling completely refreshed.

Poor sleeping habits can and will have a DRASTIC impact on your weight loss goals.  When you arrive to work tired, this often leads to binging on coffee.  As the day drags on, you're also more likely to skip gym workouts, and to have cravings for unhealthy foods, due to your overall drowsiness.

Most importantly, poor sleeping habits will prevent your metabolism from working in a proper fashion.  "Leptin" is the hormone that tells you when you've had enough to eat.  When you're sleep deprived, your body produces less leptin, and the end result of over-eating, and gaining weight, which obviously counteracts your 90 day challenge goals.

Conclusion

I certainly do hope that the information provided here will prove to be vital in your pursuit of your 90 day challenge goals.  If you have failed to produce the desired results up unto this point, then today would be the ideal time to begin to implement these steps into your 90 day challenge program.

If you are a current 90 day challenge member, then you can access meal plans and exercise plans within your personal website.  To do this, you must first log into your site.  Once you're in the site, one of the headings on the top of your page in the green toolbar, reads, "My Body by Vi." Hover over this heading, and scroll down to, "Transformation Tools." Under transformation tools, you will find meal plans, exercise plans, daily planners, a BMI calculator, and other tools that can be used in conjunction with your challenge.

Good luck to you as you continue to pursue your 90 day goals. The MAIN thing to stress here is consistency, and if you will consistently make these items suggested here a part of your daily, weekly, and monthly activities, then you will not only reach the goals that you have established, but I have reason to believe that you will blow your personal goals AWAY!!!

Let's review each of the topics shared here once more in closing, as we sign off.  The topics were:

* Get Moving
* Stay Hydrated
* Have a Shake For Breakfast
* Eat a Normal Lunch
* Do Your Strength Training in the Evenings
* Eat a Full Dinner
* Stay Active Following Dinner
* Have Your Second Shake at Night
* Sleep

If you are not currently a member of the Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge, and would like to receive more information, you can visit my personal site at: http://winslowwillis.myvi.net/freebmw/index.html