A brief breakdown of the changes that participants on the EPIC FIT Lifestyle Design Challenge can expect to experience.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT?

8 Weeks sounds like a long time, right? To the body, it is a very short amount of time and it would be unfair to expect any major changes. Although, you can expect to start your journey towards learning to incorporate new habits and tasks into your daily, weekly and monthly regimen. Maintaining these changes will be what ensures your success lasts for long after the 8 weeks has come and gone.

In this EPIC FIT challenge, we will be using the body scan, before and after photos, and your Progression Session results as an indicator of change.

The most important aspects of the body scan are your body weight, muscle mass weight, body fat percentage and visceral fat level. These 4 scan factors are all crucial in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

WHAT DO THESE TELL ME?

Weight:

Firstly, if your body weight was higher or lower than it should to be, we would expect to see a change in this figure by the end of the 8 weeks. Your weight should move towards the healthier weight for your age, height and gender.

Muscle mass weight is a top priority, as having sufficient muscle in your body means you are strong and you have a better basal metabolic rate (BMR). This is that rate at which your body converts fuel to energy; essentially, your fat burning capacity. The older you get, your ability to grow muscle reduces, so it is important to maintain and add to what you currently have. Regular resistance training with the right amount of weight and load is important for everyone. Don’t forget that strong muscles = strong bones.

Body Fat:

Body fat percentage indicates the 2 types of fat you have in your body, ‘subcutaneous’ and ‘visceral’ fat. Everyone has a healthy level they should be aiming for, so bringing this percentage closer to the best level for you is a change you should expect to see over the next 8 weeks.

As we mentioned above, visceral fat is a type of fat that we all have. Although as you may know, this particular fat is very dangerous at high levels. On your EPIC FIT body scan result sheet, your levels should be between 1-9. This can take some time to change, but you should be able to change your number by at least 1 over the 8-weeks.

Photos:

Photos will be an excellent visual representation of physical changes to your body over the 8-weeks. The most common changes include:

• Less subcutaneous fat around the belly (abdomen) area.
• Reduced bra/back fat (particularly for women).
• Less subcutaneous fat the around hips/lower abdomen areas (often called love handles).
• Less subcutaneous fat around the thigh/upper leg area.

The 8-week period is a great time for water loss, so the major physical changes are a reduction in fat in the areas that you hold it the most. Sometimes, but not often, (depending on where you started the challenge) you may be able to see more muscle definition in certain areas. We do not expect to see much muscle definition in the 8 weeks as it takes long to define muscles and requires a rather strict eating regimen.

Remember the Lifestyle Design Challenge is a kickstart to the new lifestyle we hope you will continue with after the 8 weeks. Typically, the slower your results, the longer they will last for.

Progression NOT perfection

Progression Sessions represent your physical abilities before and after the 8 weeks. We are confident that an 8-week period of improved eating, increased training frequency and an effort to create healthy habits will result in a stronger, fitter and faster you. You should be able to do more push-ups or progress your form, your plank time should be longer, and your cardiovascular capacity should improve, thus reducing your 3km bike time.

We are so excited to be on your side, helping you and guiding you through this 8-week challenge.

We know you will make changes, but we want you to have fun and focus on progression rather than perfection.