In the spirit of the New Year, we’re kicking things off with the Lean4LIFE 30-day Challenge! It’s popular to jumpstart the year with a month-long challenge and that’s especially true in the realm of health, fitness, and body composition. Strategically using diet, exercise, and lifestyle to reset the metabolism…and “stuff” like that.
The Challenge starts January 6th it’s exclusively available to subscribers in The Lifetime Athlete App. We’ll be using the Lean4Life course, with 21 daily lessons, along with special assignments and recommendations, online coaching, and creative, dynamic Training Tribe workouts through February 4th.
Lean4LIFE is an approach to food and nutrition that applies evidence-based principles in a way that makes it easy to obtain and maintain ideal body composition through the lifespan. The Challenge helps you to set up a system that is personalized and sustainable.
I think we all know what goes on this time of year. Many of us come out of the Holidays having gained a few pounds and maybe being a little less consistent than we had hoped in our exercise and training programs. Or you might just be saying “by gosh, by golly this is the year I’m finally gonna do it…get in doggoned good shape and lose this excess body fat.” Or something like that.
For all but the fittest among us, admittedly, that process takes much longer than one month. The real purpose of the challenge is to get everything in place so that you can achieve your body composition goals over a reasonable timeline. Lose the fat. Keep the muscle. Stay that way for life.
Crash programs in diet and exercise never work. They always suck. There are some very significant reasons for the failure of these “New Year’s resolution weight loss and fitness programs.”
- They are too drastic and harsh. Too much change is difficult for most of us to endure. Bodies (and minds) like to be coaxed more than shocked.
- The workouts are too hard and too long. They make people sore and exhausted. This leads to burnout and injury and kills motivation. Consistency of the training habit is king, and this is facilitated by reasonable programming.
- The diets are too strict, with too little food variety and extreme caloric deficits. This eventually wrecks the metabolism and hormonal balance. We must not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of good enough.
- Many of these programs advocate the 4:00am wakeup and hammer your workout mentality. Unless you really can rearrange your lifestyle so you go to bed at 7:30pm, this invariably drives your wellness train right into the ditch secondary to chronic sleep deprivation.
- Many people struggle to go it alone. Being part of a supportive team can make a huge difference.
- A lot of these programs are negatively focused. Punitive stuff that doesn’t help you to feel good about the positives but instead makes you feel bad for what you are not doing or being.
- Most weight loss programs are too outcome focused instead of process oriented. Have fun along the way and enjoy the journey. This leads to superior long term results.
- Boot camps work great for 18 year old recruits. Not so much for Lifetime Athletes.
- Many programs are developed by 20-something influencers who do not have enough professional and life experience to coach a Lifetime Athlete. It takes a lot of skill to guide athletic adults successfully.
We’ll be covering a variety of topics in nutrition and you’ll be exposed to training and education that truly blends peak performance and longevity.
- Why Body Composition Optimization is a better term than weight loss.
- What is The Earth-Based Diet?
- A better understanding of calories and macronutrients.
- Supplements and liquid nutrition.
- Food tracking.
- The art of dining and circadian rhythm.
- Sleep and metabolic function.
- Stress and hormonal balance.
- Workout fueling and meal planning.
- Self assessment.
- The muscle-sparing approach to fat loss.
- Building muscle and gaining weight effectively.
- Performance and seasonality.
The Challenge is pure magic because it doesn’t make you conform to any rigid model. It gives you information and encourages you to craft it to fit your genetics, needs, likes, and goals. If you challenge yourself to explore every lesson and suggestion over these 30 days, you’ll have your own system that will keep you lean…for the rest of your life.
All you need to do to get going with the Challenge is is become a Subscriber in The Lifetime Athlete App. Members receive daily notifications and tips and have unlimited access to Lean4LIFE and Training Tribe content.