What is the Burn the Fat Summer Challenge?

The Burn the Fat Summer Challenge is a 98 day competition held on Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat Inner Circle membership website where members (or contest entrants – people who have bought Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle) compete to see who can change their body composition the most dramatically. Unlike other competitions – this contest is NOT based simply around weight loss. Why is this important? In almost every weight loss competition, there will always be a large group of people who lose weight using unhealthy means – crash diets and diuretics – just in order to see their scale weight go down. This is always really annoying for people who are looking to make real changes in their bodies – namely gain muscle and losing fat. And yet in most competitions, the people who lose tons of pounds (of which MOST is water and muscle mass, with some trace fat) usually win.

Not in the Burn the Fat Summer Challenge. You cannot win the Burn the Fat Summer Challenge without getting in shape the right way. Winners are chosen according to who gained the most muscle and lost the most fat. Crash dieter need not apply.

And winners get to go to Maui.

Not bad, huh?

So what are we really talking about when we say “body composition” contest?

Last year’s Burn the Fat Summer Challenge winner lost only one pound. That’s right, one pound. So what happened? Its easy – fat was replaced by muscle. In a traditional weight loss contest, you would NEVER be rewarded for adding fat burning muscle to your frame even if this is in your best interest! Scale weight is so much less important than your muscle to fat ratio.

Take a look!

If you cut your calories too low, and don’t take proper steps to preserve your muscle, it is almost guaranteed that as much as 50% of your scale weight lost is muscle. This is a huge problem as 1) muscle is active metabolic tissue which helps you burn calories and be healthy and active (vs fat which is pure dead weight) 2) This is what will give you that dreaded “skinny fat” flabby look at the end of your diet. What a waste!

Women – Pay Particular Attention as Gaining Lean Muscle is Exactly What You Need!

Too many women shy away from building muscle because they are afraid of getting bulky. Most women will never get insanely muscular or look masculine if they lose weight. Take a look at Sarah’s before and after pictures below:

Sarah actually gained one pound over her starting weight while losing almost all of her belly fat and saddle bags. Of course, you may not want to get as lean as Sarah or build quite as much muscle. That’s totally fine. But as you can see, Sarah has a definite feminine athletic look to her figure – not a huge male body builder look!

Most women want to look lean, with a small amount of muscle, and not too much definition. For this reason most women avoid anything that can cause them to gain muscle because they don’t want to look bulky or fat. Here is where the program is going wrong – if you gain muscle but do not lose fat, you WILL look fatter and firmer. But if you carefully lose fat and preserve (or build small amounts of muscle where you need it – ie your BUTT unless you want a flat pancake butt after losing tons of fat) muscle – you will almost always end up smaller, leaner, fitter, and able to eat more in the long run.

So just remember – what most women are mistaking for muscle – is really fat.

Who Should Consider a Body Transformation Contest?

Anyone who is looking to lose a little, or a lot of fat, currently unhappy with the way their body looks (no matter the size), and is interested in making positive changes with a like minded group of people.

While the Burn the Fat Summer Challenge is already underway, its not too late to participate unofficially. Simply join Burn the Fat Inner Circle,  check out Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle or Holy Grail(specifically for building muscle while losing fat), start an accountability forum thread, and follow the progress of other members. Or feel free to stop by my blog all summer as I will be blogging my progress!