Xperience Xcellence Challenge

BOOKMARK THIS PAGE AND REFER BACK TO IT OFTEN FOR INFO, SHORTCUTS, AND TIPS TO MAKE YOUR XPERIENCE MOST XCELLENT!

Who: All X Gymers! This means Kirkland club members, online members, and App subscribers.

What: A 14 week blitz (3.2 months)

When: Starts March 14, 2022 and goes through June 20th – just in time for summer!

Where: Online from anywhere, live at the X Gym, or both.

Why: To trade fat for muscle and get healthier! If you are the competitive type, then you can shoot to win prizes and the fame, recognition, and bragging rights of being the champ! One male and one female over a winner will get the glory. Women compete against women and men against men.

How: Follow the steps below, at your own pace. If you are one of those competitive types, you can win prizes and recognition! If you’re not the competitive type, you can still participate with all the benefits but without the pressure of competition.

Rules: For the competitors, whoever has the highest percent change in bodyfat wins! This way, scale weight is no factor, and muscle gain is a good thing. Dehydration and other “cheats” (like they do in the TV show Bigest Loser) only hurt your chances. This is the healthy way to do a contest!

The non-competitors (“auditors”) Also get to track this percent change, of course. This will be the main focus for everyone.

Now read on to see how past participants have found success, and remember, go at your own pace for maximum success. This is about creating healthy habits and lifestyle changes that can be permanent! 

Step number one: WATER, WATER, WATER!

Being hydrated puts your body in fat-burning mode while being dehydrated keeps it in fat-storing mode.

• Start each day by drinking 16 oz. within the first hour of your day. This will get you back to even as you lost at least this much in Xhaled vapor while you slept.
• Never pass a drinking fountain without stopping and taking 7 swallows.
• Keep fresh water in your car so you can drink while you drive ;). Get in the habit of chugging at every stoplight.
• Don’t worry about beating a path to the bathroom – especially in the beginning of this new habit (because that will happen). This just means your body has been chronically dehydrated and is learning how to handle proper hydration. This inconvenience will pass.
• Drink 8-12 oz. before you take your first bite at every meal.
• Keep water with you at your desk. Sipping regularly throughout the day will help you absorb it optimally and minimize the bathroom trips.
• How much water should you drink? For those who weigh between 100 and 300 lbs. just divide your body weight in half and drink that many ounces per day.

Step number two: EAT MORE GREENS!

Green veggies have the nutrients and fiber necessary to burn fat, nourish your body, and increase your health faster than any food on the planet. Greens also raise your metabolism faster than any other food, through their “thermic effect,” which is more potent than any other type of calorie.

• Pretend you have OCD about green veggies, and you can’t get enough.
• Make sure greens are at every meal.
• Greens for snacks are great too!
• Eat your greens first at each meal and take your time, chewing thoroughly. People who do this end up eating 1/3 less other food in that meal because chewing is satiating, but also, the satiety mechanism is allowed to kick in (because it takes 20+ min. to register).

Step number three: START WEANING YOURSELF OFF SUGAR.

Sugar (including its derivatives like high fructose corn syrup) is poison to your fat-burning metabolism and a sure way to slow it down.

• Try to eat as few refined and processed foods as possible.
• Read your labels, because sugar is found in large quantities within foods you might not expect. Most Americans are physically and mentally addicted to sugar, so if you can’t go “cold turkey,” just chip away at it, and the less you eat, the less you will continue to crave it.
• Another technique, while you are weaning, is to eat your sugar foods in the middle of the day instead of the morning (which would disrupt your natural am fat-burning state) or instead of at night (which would put you into fat-storing mode while you sleep).

Here are some additional web resources on the subject:

1. http://www.nutritionsecrets.com/15-foods-you-wouldnt-expect-to-have-dangerous-amounts-of-sugar/
2. https://authoritynutrition.com/10-disturbing-reasons-why-sugar-is-bad/
3. http://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-sugar-addiction

Step number four: HOP ON THE BRAIN TRAIN!

Once you sign up for this Xperience, you will get the discount code for PJ’s Brain Type Test. On the results pages, you will find your top six brain training lessons, for your unique brain type. These will help you get through struggles easier and faster in the short term, as well as rewire your brain for long-term change which will be the key to keeping the weight off for the rest of your life.

Step number five: GET CLEAN, HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN!

• Start your day with organic protein to kick up your metabolism and continue your fat-burning state from your night’s “fast.” Check out the links in this blog post for more articles on this subject.
• Meat is the best source, but it must be wild or grass-fed if it’s red, organic and free range if it’s fowl, and wild from clean waters if it’s fish.
• Try to get organic protein at every meal, and eat it second, after your veggies.

Other important tips:

• LOG YOUR FOOD EVERY DAY. Studies show people get 40% better results when they log their food. myfitnesspal.com is the most common app and the most user friendly. cronometer.com is the one PJ uses because he prefers the way they do their numbers.
• TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME. If you fall off the train, just brush yourself off and get back on. Most people beat themselves up over it and wallow in their failure which always causes complete abandonment of the whole idea. It’s not the falling off – it’s not getting back on that will keep you from success. Just remember, everyone in this contest will fall off more than once but the winner will be the one who always gets back on the fastest.
• MAKE IT TO ALL OF YOUR WORKOUTS. Consistency is the key with exercise so if you miss a session, reschedule it! Twice a week is what you need for the strength training and remember all X Gymers get unlimited classes, whether 1:1 or group members!
• USE YOUR X GYM TRAINERS OFTEN FOR SUPPORT AND ADVICE! If you are struggling or have a question tell us right away. If you can’t reach your specific trainer, e-mail PJ at pj@xgym.com.
• DEVELOP A NUTRITION ROUTINE. Cook/prepare in the evening what you will eat tomorrow. Eating right takes time and effort. If you put it off or say you will do it tomorrow or in the morning you probably won’t get around to it and will then have to “improvise” as you go through the day which NEVER works.
• Remember that the first place you want the weight to come off will probably be the last place it does. Cruel joke? Yes. True? Yes. That’s because we all know our trouble spots and the reason they are is because those areas are probably the most stubborn for fat loss. You will probably lose fat first from all the areas you don’t care about and then will lose it from the spots you care about last. One of the funniest comments I’ve heard from an X Gym client is “I’ve lost 5 pounds already but it’s all from my eyebrows up”. Hang in there because as you can see, the end is the best part! Watch this video for more on this subject: http://youtu.be/uL5jAFV0cz8
• You may still be losing fat even if your scale weight is going up. Your body may just be putting on muscle fast or finally deciding to hydrate properly. Don’t let this scare you. It is often part of the whole process. By the way, STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF! This contest has nothing to do with scale weight so that won’t help you. Go by how your clothes are fitting for the best gauge. Even if you are putting on muscle faster than you are losing fat you will be shrinking because muscle takes up much less space.
• Don’t sweat the plateaus. These are normal and will kill your will if you let them discourage you. It is always the plateaus that push people off the train. Your body is just testing you to see how serious you are. It might show you an initial plateau as you start, and will certainly show you multiple plateaus along the way. This is a natural survival response to avoid death by starvation. It is especially apparent with low calorie diets and low water habits, so keep the calories up with protein and the water consumption high. Stick it out through these annoying plateaus and you will continue to lose fat. Fat loss is always in steps and never a straight line so be aware and be ready to win the standoffs.
• Remember that not all fat loss is visible. Vascular (internal) fat loss can’t be seen but is an important and necessary phase. Many people will trade fat in their muscles and by the mirror, scale, and calipers it isn’t apparent. The good news is that this phase is relatively short and when it has run its course, the visible fat comes off even faster.
• Getting there is the hard part but maintenance is much easier. Once you have reached your goals, staying there is much easier (especially if your brain is rewired) so look forward to that as another way all the hard work now will pay off later!
• Form new habits first, then break the old ones. It takes about a month on average to form a new habit. After that, it is much easier because it is ingrained and automatic. Breaking habits on the other hand takes two months or more so try forming a new healthy habit first and then work on breaking your old unhealthy habit.
• Learn how to be content. Setting short and long-term goals is important but what is more important is being content when you reach them. If you pass up your short term goals without recognizing them and at least patting yourself on the back, they will become less meaningful. If you keep moving the finish line (your long term goal) like most people do, you will never be happy with your results and fitness will just be a frustration to you.
• Stick with interval cardio for the best fat burn. Research still proves that the high-intensity interval cardio burns fat about 7 times better than steady-state!
• Xpect rapid results with full commitment. Water is really hot at 80% boiling temperature (170 degrees). It’s still hot at 99.9% of boiling (211 degrees), but it doesn’t boil until it’s at 100% boiling temperature (212 degrees). The same goes for your metabolism and fat loss results. If you are sticking to the plan 80% of the time, you can expect about 50% of the results you want (at best). If you are running at 99.9% commitment, you can expect about 70% results, but only 100% commitment always produces 100% results. This doesn’t mean you have to be perfect every day. No one is. It just means that every perfect day is a huge step toward your goal so pat yourself on the back and affirm to yourself that you can do it when you have these days!
• Keep moving! Recent research has discovered that most people have an activity set point each day where they only move a certain amount. If they work out hard one day, they rest extra to make up for the increased activity. If you understand this, you can break that pattern by making sure that you keep moving through each day, whether it’s a workout day or not.
• Come to the group meetings. Learning about fat flushing foods, brain training tricks, group support, and more, will give you a HUGE advantage over those who miss these meetings! They will be live at the Kirkland club and on Zoom for those who can’t make it in.

P.S. If you want to win this contest, here is the one thing all past X Gym competitors had in common: Zero alcohol. This was the one thing they all did the same. Other than that, habits seemed to be all over the board as far as macros, water, workouts, and more.

Sure, the winners and runners-up followed the advice given by us very closely, but this advice is unique to each person, so habits varied Xcept for this one habit of zero alcohol. This isn’t to say that you couldn’t win this contest and keep alcohol in your life, but the empirical data suggests that would be a risky move.

Notice how I put this huge tip at the bottom of the page? That’s on purpose, so only those of you who are motivated enough to read all the material you will receive during this contest will get the best stuff! 😉