I Haven't Lost Any Weight!

Hello UBCer's. I hope everyone had a fabulous, and extremely active weekend. For me, I spent 6 hours on Saturday working on my Bronco restoration project, trained with a client Sunday morning, then hit the slopes with the fam.

Okay, let's get down to business. If I had a dollar for every person that has told me, "I haven't lost any weight!", I'd have... 3 dollars. Still, since it's only 3 dollars, I'm sure there is another dollar or two out there.

The UBC treats everybody different. We hear of students losing a gob load of weight right off the bat, which leaves other students wondering what the heck is going on. Let me explain a couple of things.

First of all, we have only completely 3 weeks of the program. Be patient. Let's think about the title of the program. ULTIMATE BODY CHALLENGE. In order to develop the Ultimate Body, it takes time. It's definately something that can't be done in 3 weeks.

"But, what about the others in the program losing weight?"

A whole book can be written on the subject of why some people lose body fat faster than others. And, it would be written by a smart doctor. Here is the most important thing to take away from this blog:

There are basically 3 ways to lose weight.
1. Lose water weight
2. Lose muscle mass.
3. Lose body fat.

Now, there are diets out there that will allow you to lose a lot of weight within 3 weeks, but you are going to be losing #1, #2, and #3. In the Ultimate Body Challenge, we are only trying to lose #3- body fat. We are not going for shear weight loss. We're going for increased muscle mass and decreased body fat. Perhaps you've experienced weight loss from all 3 in the past, so you're trying to compare it to now.

Try thinking of it this way. You can take a whole steak and cut it in half and throw it away. You just decreased the weight of the steak by 50%! At the same time, you threw away a good portion of water weight and muscle mass. The other thing you can do is to go around the steak with your knife, carefully cutting out the fat, and only the fat. That is what we are doing in the UBC program.

We've asked all three people how their clothes are fitting, and all 3 said the exact same thing... "pants are looser...", "more room in the thighs...", "had to buy new pants...". You know what I say? Throw away your scale! The thing is useless. The only reason why we use the scale is to subtract the skin fold measurements from the total weight to get your lean muscle mass.

Remember, muscle takes up A LOT less room than fat does. The flip side is that it weighs more, but who cares. Your muscle mass development is leading to increased bone density, daily stamina, reduced injuries during recreational activities, healthier joints, and you burn more calories with every pound of muscle you add.

The UBC is a program that is going to build a stronger, healthier, fit looking body. A diet that will make you lose 20 pounds in 3 weeks will make you look like a skinnier version of how you presently look. Needless to say, you'll feel weak, lethargic, and you'll have done nothing to really create a stronger, healthier body. In addition to that, you'll most likely yo-yo back to your starting weight, if not more, since your metabolism will be so out of whack.

You can't yo-yo in the UBC because you've created a body with profound results. Results that are real. Results that were based on sound guidance used to develop world class athletes. And, although you are not training to be a world class athlete, it doesn't mean we can't have the body of one, right?

Check out what one UBCer said last week-

You asked how we are feeling - well here it is in a nutshell - great, sore and great! With the exception of the days that I am really sore I am feeling fabulous. I have a lot more energy and I love that I am already seeing a difference in how my clothes are fitting. I love the extra push you and Rachel give us when we are wanting to take a break, so thank you for that! I love the classes and love that they are always different!

A-

See you all in class!

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
The Academy of World Taekwondo