Can you believe that you’re three-quarters of the way through your 8-Week Fat-loss Figure Trainer? We’re really entering the home stretch. I want you to reflect on that during today’s Rest and Reevaluate Day. I’m going to give you a shorter overview today. If you want a more detailed assessment of what you should do today, you can refer to Day 35, last week’s Rest and Reevaluate Day. My suggestions are essentially the same. Still, I want you to go through all of the necessary steps and activities that you perform on each of these 7th days of each week. Let me remind you.
YOUR DAY 42 TO-DO LIST
WEIGH YOURSELF: Do this right after you wake up—before you take in any fluids, protein or food. Do it before you shower! The key is to see how much your weight has shifted since last week as well as since you began my 8-Week Fat-loss Figure Trainer.
I want you to record your weight, but this is only for comparison to previous weeks. Remember that the way you look is more important than how much you weigh. In fact, at this point, the biggest issue should be to assess if you’re losing more muscle mass than is desired as you also lose body fat. Excessive weight loss may be a sign that you’re losing too much water and muscle mass rather than body fat. At this point, you could reasonably have lost about 10 pounds. But I want to make sure that your muscles are looking full and toned, rather than stringy and depleted.
TAKE PHOTOS: Take your photos today to keep up the record of your progress. You should take these photos the same way you have done on each previous photo day. That means wearing the same clothes, using the same photographer (even if that’s you). Shoot yourself from the same angles in the same place with the same lighting. And position your body as you did for your “before” photos.
UPDATE YOUR JOURNAL: Make sure that you continue to record all of your workouts and meals. Review the past week to make certain you didn’t forget to record anything. I do love this activity. I like to rethink every workout I performed and meal I consumed over the past week and visualize how each step is helping me achieve my long-term goal.
CHEAT MEAL
Get in your cheat meal today. Remember this is not just a reward: It’s a benefit moving forward, especially when you’re this deep in your 8-Week Fat-loss Figure Trainer. It doesn’t matter what time of day you take in this meal—choose the time that works best for your life. Remember that larger meals help rev your metabolism and restock muscle glycogen for the intense training you’re getting back to tomorrow.
Still, this meal should only be about 5 calories for your target weight. That means, if you’re trying to get to 140 pounds as your end goal, you can go with up to about 700 calories for this meal. As far as foods go, I don’t want you to go with just fast-digesting carbs (sugar-based foods). You can consume foods such as pizza, pasta or hamburgers that contain protein, dietary fats and carbs. Choose the foods that you’ve been craving that fall within my parameters. And, while it’s a cheat meal, it’s a moderate one, not a free-for-all binge.
REST ACTIVITY
As I said on other Rest and Reevaluate Days, you can also perform some activity today. Just because it’s a rest day, that doesn’t mean you need to sit at home on the couch. It’s okay to make this an active family day or date night. The key is to give your body a break from your typical weight-training and cardio routines. At this point in the program, though, it is okay if you feel a little lazy and don’t want to perform a huge amount of activity. We’re gearing up for our final push to the end of this Trainer series. I want you to be ready for tomorrow’s training. That’s what’s foremost in my mind when I’m 2 weeks out from a contest.
OTHER BOOSTERS
When you’re on an intense training program with restricted calories, you can also rely upon other supplements such as fermented Glutamine and fermented BCAAs. While BCAAs are included in Amino Synergy, you may not be taking that product on your rest day. Consider adding them in while in your recovery mode.
