30 days fitness challenge — snatched waist & toned abs
If you have ever dreamed about having that waistline of a fitness influencer, then I would like you to take a moment and consider trying this challenge. It’s not a crazy diet with green juices that will starve you, it’s more like a fun challenge to collect points that will build healthy habits over time.
Healthy habits is the key to a snatched & toned body!
Take an athlete and the average American for example, what’s different? The athlete tends to wake up early and get movement in before it’s too late because she’s aware that energy drops later in the day or she’ll get busy later on. She built a habit to prevent her from skipping gym. The American spends her day eating fast food, then feeling sluggish and building up resistance towards the gym.
Building habits is not about perfection from the beginning, no corporation was built over night, systems are built over time, takes patience and some trial and error. Some days you’ll manage to complete 10 small goals and other days you might just do 2 and that’s ok. Think of it as collecting points, you’re still collecting points at the end of the day even if it’s just 2!
So in this challenge you’ll get a list with 10 habits that have helped me get snatched and toned abs, and I don’t complete all of these every day because for example I can’t train abs every day since they need rest and recovery just as any other muscle group, but it’s still part of my list of points to collect.
☆ Start your workout with abs
How many times do we tell ourselves to train abs at the end of the session and then just end up skipping it and telling ourselves we’ll do it the next day? Yeah many times, start doing abs in the beginning of your workout instead. No need for 20 minute circuits with 5 minute planks, 2 exercises is enough.
☆ Start going for walks everyday
Walking is underrated, I had the best shape of my entire life when I lived in Marbella and walked everywhere because it was close enough to not need a car. 30 minute walk to and from the gym everyday easily got me 10k steps every day. 10 thousand steps isn’t a magic number, but it can actually help you burn 100-300 calories (depends on your body size). I know hitting 10k can be hard with a full time job, so instead focus on just taking a walk every day.
☆ Stop eating takeaway & restaurant food and replace with home made food
The main thing i find in common with my clients who come to me and complain about not losing weight and constant bloating is the amount of take away and restaurant food they eat. These meals doesn’t have to be bad, but they do use extra oils and sugar to make it taste better so that you’ll come back for more (even if it’s just a salad).
☆ Start eating enough high quality protein
I’m talking meat, seafood, dairy and even whey protein. Although, you want to pair the whey protein with other satiating food to make it a meal. You need 1.5-2g of protein per kg bodyweight to make sure there’s enough to build muscle and and not lose any if you’re in a calorie deficit.
☆ Maintain a calorie deficit
“Abs are made in the kitchen” is kinda true actually, you need to have a low enough fat percentage to have that toned and snatched waist line. How big deficit depends on where you’re starting and how much fat you have got to lose. Generally a 200-300 calorie deficit together with the steps will help you lose about 0.2-05kg per week.
☆ Stop eating snacks with refined sugar & unhealthy fats
Another common reason why my clients look puffy and have no definition even if they’re at a lower fat percentage is constipation and inflammation. We have a very delicate balance of bad guys and good guys i our gut, they protect you. But eating those common snacks that are high in refined sugar and saturated fats feeds more of the bad guys and over time causes issues such as constipation, bloating and inflammation.
☆ Hit you fiber target
This might just be as important as hitting your protein goal if you want to avoid being so bloated that we can’t see your fine ab lines. Just cutting out snacks isn’t enough if you’ll just end up eating plain white rice, pasta and bread. These aren’t unhealthy if you have a healthy digestive tract. Fiber keeps your good guys happy and things moving along so you can do your daily duty. 20-25g of both soluble and insoluble fiber is a good target.
☆ Limit artificial sweeteners
I know it’s convenient to switch to all these sugar free syrups and sodas to curb sugar cravings, but trust me too much is never good of anything. Just think about the, first the whey protein in you breakfast together with the sugar free syrup in your coffee. Then a sugar free energy drink or two. Your pre workout is most likely flavoured as well. Protein shake after workout, a zero soda. Maybe cut down a little bit and drink bit more plain water instead.
☆ Start hydrating more, drink more water
Water isn’t magic, but it’s kind of necessary. Well for started you’ll die if you get that dehydrated. If you only get a little dehydrated you’ll run into problems like constipation, muscle cramps and headaches. Water flush out toxins, waste and fat. Water is used in cells for anything like muscle contraction which is needed to build muscle as well.
☆ Start prioritising sleep, you need 7-9 hours per night
Beauty sleep is a thing, because if you give your body enough time to recover you’ll both feel and look better. Some people need 7 hours, others 9. But less is generally not enough because you only get about 10-20 percent deep sleep where the magic happens.
How many points can you collect?
There’s 10 per day and 30 days, so a total of 300! Now of coarse, you’re not meant to collect all of them because just as I mentioned in the beginning, you won’t be able to train abs every day so it’s fine to leave that unticked some days just as you might not have the possibility to get even 5k steps. It’s not about perfection, but rather about doing small things that matters that adds up over time.
Here’s a point tracker (or as I’d like to call it; a progress tracker!) that you can download and use as a screen saver to remind yourself and you can save it in a folder and use the editing tool to tick a box off as you complete a task!
I know 30 days isn’t enough time for most people, you can’t expect a major transformation but it’s a good way to start and get used to a healthier lifestyle before you’re ready to commit completely. You can do this 30 day challenge as many times as you wish until you get the results you want or you can join my 6 week challenge for guaranteed results.