The Speed Of Change

The first ever Venus Index transformation contest has started and there is some words of wisdom we can learn from past winners of the Adonis Index transformation contests. Yes I know they’re men and you’re women, but the fundamental principles of successfully completing a transformation are the same so listen up.

Venus Index Transformation

It's time to make a commitment to yourself.

1) Don’t try to to do too much – If 3-4 workouts per week is good that doesn’t mean 7-8 are better. You will have to find an amount of work that you can handle without breaking down and going into over training. We have had guys do this in the past and set themselves back weeks. Don’t do this. Start with either the Venus Index main program or the Circuit program and work up form there if you feel like you can do more. But only if it feels good and you can handle it. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

2) Stick to the system – All of the guys that won the Adonis Index contests stuck to the system and only made minor additions and adjustments. If you want our help then you gotta stick to the system so we know exactly what you’re dong and where we can help you. If you start adding workouts and ideas from other systems we can’t help you tweak that because those other things aren’t designed to get you to your ideal VI.

3) Trust the numbers – As you move along you will have some ups and downs, but as long as you’re following your system you should always be progressing forward over time. Your body weight, strength and measurements will fluctuate within each day. Dont’ focus on day to day fluctuations but rather week to week progress.

Finally, twelve weeks is not a very long time in the grand scheme of things. This is a commitment to yourself for twelve weeks, that’s all. This isn’t for the rest of your life. The change you can make in this short of time frame will likely be beyond what you expect as long as you stick to it. And that is where the Venus Index Community comes in.

You’re going to need support along the way and the best place to find it is in our community.

Find your rhythm and stick with it for the next 3 months, it’ll go by much faster than you think…and we hope to see you in vegas!

John

LISTEN:

Venus Index Contest Rules and Regulations

You must be a Venus Index customer to be eligible to compete in the contests.

About previous contests

Contest Rules And Regulations

The contest judges will evaluate final entries based on the following factors; weight loss, muscle gain, Venus metrics, and presentation. The judges need to see these changes in the pictures so it’s important that both before and after pictures are in focus and taken at appropriate angles and with good lighting.  Take the time to to use a camera with a timer or have someone with a steady hand take the pictures.

Clothing for contest pictures: a bathing suit/bikini, or something that shows off your waist, shoulders and hips (some sort of workout shorts will also do)…just remember we’re trying to judge overall change, if you hide your body in this picture it might work against you if you make it difficult for us to judge how much you change.

There are 4 required pictures at the start AND at the contest end.

1) Front – Facing camera with arms at your side

2) Side – 90 degrees to the camera with your arms at your side

3) Back – Facing away from the camera, with your arms at your side

The pictures need to be full body head to toe. It is very important that for your front, side, and back poses your arms are down at your sides but not covering your waist and that they are full body head to toe pictures.  Do not crop out your face or your feet.

4) Newspaper picture –   This should be a current issue of the national newspaper in order to validate the day you took the picture. You need to take a picture in this same group of pictures with the current day’s newspaper in your hand and the front page visible.

Here is a perfect example of a contest entry;  Full head to toe, hands at sides, and newspaper picture.

Here is a perfect example of a contest entry; Full head to toe, hands at sides, and newspaper picture.

 

Take the following measurements per page 175 in the Venus Factor Fat Loss Manual:

  • Shoulders
  • Waist
  • Hips
  • Weight
  • Height

At the end of the contest all of the above requirements are needed as well as an essay

End of contest Essay – 250 Word Essay on “My experience with the Venus Factor system”.

Cover model pictures  – In addition to the front, back, and side pictures please submit additional cover pictures.  These will be used in judging the “presentation” of your transformation.

Transformation contest prizes

The Transformation Contest place has prizes for placements:

  • First place: $500
  • Second place: $350
  • Third place: $250
  • Fourth place through tenth place: $200

Cover and Calendar girl category

With each contest there is a Cover and Calendar girl category for previous contest winners or any Venus customer who is close to their Venus Ideal shape and wants a chance to be in our calendar or on one of our covers.  Submit a picture at the beginning of the contest before the deadline so that we know who is in the running.  There are no prizes for this category.  The “before” pictures will not be used for judging or shared with anyone; they are merely for entering the contest.

Be creative and have fun with this category.  Pictures do not have to be bikini model or fitness model pictures – but they can be if you want!  These may be used on workout covers.

You can model a favorite dress or outfit, jeans and T-shirt, sports or hobbie clothing, creative fashion modeling, whatever your style; just have some fun showing off your new beautiful Venus shape.

 

Additional rules and regulations

All entries become the property of the Contest Sponsor and will not be returned.

Contest Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies assume no responsibility for lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, illegible, incomplete, postage-due, garbled or misdirected entries or entries that have been submitted through illicit means, or do not conform to or satisfy the Contest Rules or for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any entry to be received or traffic congestion on the internet or at any website, or any combination thereof including any injury or damage to an entrant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from playing or downloading any material in the contest.


The Contest Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel or suspend this Contest should an external circumstances arise which are beyond the reasonable control of the Contest Sponsor. The Contest Sponsor is not responsible for any errors or omissions in printing or advertising this Contest.

The Contest Sponsor collects your personal information for the purposes of registration, program evaluation and to keep you informed about contest. The Contest Sponsor may, if consent was given during registration, also contact you from time to time with information about other ways you can lose weight.

The Contest Sponsor will not share any personal data about entrants with any other party. The personal data collected for this Contest will not be used for any other purposes unless entrants provide explicit permission as indicated on the entry form.  Please also see our privacy policy.

By entering this Contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Contest Sponsor and their respective employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives, successors, assigns, advertising and promotional agencies from any liability for any loss or damage of any kind to the entrant or any other person in connection with this Contest or participation in any Contest related activities, including but not limited the taking of a urine test or, if declared a winner, the use or misuse of a prize or any portion of a prize including personal injury, death or property damage.

This Contest will run in accordance with these Contest Rules, subject to amendment by the Contest Sponsor. Contest Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, amend, modify or terminate this Contest or the Rules at any time in its sole discretion and without notice.

Entrants must comply with these rules, and will be deemed to have received and understood the rules if they participate in the Contest.

Venus Index Transformation Contest

You must be a Venus Index customer to be eligible to compete in the contests.

About previous contests

Contest Rules And Regulations

The contest judges will evaluate final entries based on the following factors; weight loss, muscle gain, Venus metrics, and presentation. The judges need to see these changes in the pictures so it’s important that both before and after pictures are in focus and taken at appropriate angles and with good lighting.  Take the time to to use a camera with a timer or have someone with a steady hand take the pictures.

Clothing for contest pictures: a bathing suit/bikini, or something that shows off your waist, shoulders and hips (some sort of workout shorts will also do)…just remember we’re trying to judge overall change, if you hide your body in this picture it might work against you if you make it difficult for us to judge how much you change.

There are 4 required pictures at the start AND at the contest end.

1) Front – Facing camera with arms at your side

2) Side – 90 degrees to the camera with your arms at your side

3) Back – Facing away from the camera, with your arms at your side

The pictures need to be full body head to toe. It is very important that for your front, side, and back poses your arms are down at your sides but not covering your waist and that they are full body head to toe pictures.  Do not crop out your face or your feet.

4) Newspaper picture –   This should be a current issue of the national newspaper in order to validate the day you took the picture. You need to take a picture in this same group of pictures with the current day’s newspaper in your hand and the front page visible.

Here is a perfect example of a contest entry;  Full head to toe, hands at sides, and newspaper picture.
Here is a perfect example of a contest entry; Full head to toe, hands at sides, and newspaper picture.

 

Take the following measurements per page 175 in the Venus Factor Fat Loss Manual:

  • Shoulders
  • Waist
  • Hips
  • Weight
  • Height

At the end of the contest all of the above requirements are needed as well as an essay

End of contest Essay – 250 Word Essay on “My experience with the Venus Factor system”.

Cover model pictures  – In addition to the front, back, and side pictures please submit additional cover pictures.  These will be used in judging the “presentation” of your transformation.

Transformation contest prizes

The Transformation Contest place has prizes for placements:

  • First place: $500
  • Second place: $350
  • Third place: $250
  • Fourth place through tenth place: $200

Cover and Calendar girl category

With each contest there is a Cover and Calendar girl category for previous contest winners or any Venus customer who is close to their Venus Ideal shape and wants a chance to be in our calendar or on one of our covers.  Submit a picture at the beginning of the contest before the deadline so that we know who is in the running.  There are no prizes for this category.  The “before” pictures will not be used for judging or shared with anyone; they are merely for entering the contest.

Be creative and have fun with this category.  Pictures do not have to be bikini model or fitness model pictures – but they can be if you want!  These may be used on workout covers.

You can model a favorite dress or outfit, jeans and T-shirt, sports or hobbie clothing, creative fashion modeling, whatever your style; just have some fun showing off your new beautiful Venus shape.

 

Additional rules and regulations

All entries become the property of the Contest Sponsor and will not be returned.

Contest Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies assume no responsibility for lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, illegible, incomplete, postage-due, garbled or misdirected entries or entries that have been submitted through illicit means, or do not conform to or satisfy the Contest Rules or for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any entry to be received or traffic congestion on the internet or at any website, or any combination thereof including any injury or damage to an entrant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from playing or downloading any material in the contest.


The Contest Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel or suspend this Contest should an external circumstances arise which are beyond the reasonable control of the Contest Sponsor. The Contest Sponsor is not responsible for any errors or omissions in printing or advertising this Contest.

The Contest Sponsor collects your personal information for the purposes of registration, program evaluation and to keep you informed about contest. The Contest Sponsor may, if consent was given during registration, also contact you from time to time with information about other ways you can lose weight.

The Contest Sponsor will not share any personal data about entrants with any other party. The personal data collected for this Contest will not be used for any other purposes unless entrants provide explicit permission as indicated on the entry form.  Please also see our privacy policy.

By entering this Contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Contest Sponsor and their respective employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives, successors, assigns, advertising and promotional agencies from any liability for any loss or damage of any kind to the entrant or any other person in connection with this Contest or participation in any Contest related activities, including but not limited the taking of a urine test or, if declared a winner, the use or misuse of a prize or any portion of a prize including personal injury, death or property damage.

This Contest will run in accordance with these Contest Rules, subject to amendment by the Contest Sponsor. Contest Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, amend, modify or terminate this Contest or the Rules at any time in its sole discretion and without notice.

Entrants must comply with these rules, and will be deemed to have received and understood the rules if they participate in the Contest.

Becoming a Venus PART 2: Interview with Ali Scott

Venus Index Ali

Ali at her Ideal VI

In last weeks interview with Alison Scott we talked about the workouts, the mindset of focusing on proportions and shape and setting the target of the Venus Index Ratio instead of body weight.

In today’s podcast we’ll talk about diet, the Body Centric approach to eating and specifically what Ali did to get into her current shape.

We’ll discuss the social eating patterns and thought processes that she went through developing her own personal body-centric eating patterns that helped her shed between 15-20 pounds of excess weight to reveal her true Venus figure.

At any given moment in our modern western societies food is available, and lots of it. Even if we’re not intending to eat somehow food seems to finds it’s way into our mouth if we’re not consciously avoiding it. If this sounds like an issue you have dealt with in the past (or are currently dealing with) then today’s podcast should help you out.

Ali shares all kinds of tricks and tips that helped her navigate the daily minefield of the North American 24/7 food culture and get into the best shape of her life.

She’ll also share more insights and mindsets that helped her navigate her social circles and daily routine to keep her on track.

As you might have already guessed, getting to your ideal Venus Index requires more than just a workout, and more than just a diet…it’s the combination of the right workout with an eating pattern that fits your lifestyle.

There is no right or wrong way to eat, there is just the way that fits for you that gets you to your goals. Your life has it’s own unique set of challenges and it would be foolish for me or anyone else to tell you  exactly how to eat, when to eat, what to eat, what not to eat etc.

Venus Index Interview Alison Scott Part 2

Following inflexible diet “rules” will just lead to failure. Instead general dieting “principles” that are flexible to your lifestyle are the real path to weight loss and body transforming success.

With that said, there are many useful tips and trick in today’s podcast that I think you will find useful. Not ALL of them will apply to you, but I guarantee SOME of them will.

John

READ:

Download the transcript here:

Becoming a Venus PART 2: Interview with Ali Scott

LISTEN:

Becoming a Venus: Interview with Alison Scott

Having a fitness or athletic goal is great, if your goal is truly a fitness or athletic based measurement. But what happens when those goals disappear and your days of being a competitive athlete are over? Do you just stop working out?…hardly…but the identity has to change…and the Venus Index is the perfect goal to shoot for once you don’t have to be ‘bigger stronger and faster’.

In todays podcast I interview Alison Scott (some of you may already know her from the forums and as one of the Venus Index ‘models’).

Venus Index Transformation Ali Scott BeforeVenus Index Transformation Ali Scott After

Ali talks about her struggles with body image, feeling feminine and changing her exercise and diet goals from an athletic performance base to an body shape base ala the Venus Index.

Ali explains how the new goal of achieving her ideal Venus Index gave her a new found confidence in her body and feeling feminine and ‘sexy’.

Venus Index interview Ali Scott

Working out changed from being a tool for athletic performance into a tool for shaping her body and to some degree her own self perception, her confidence and what it means to be feminine and attractive.

Finally having a definite target to shoot for (other than an arbitrary body weight goal) was the key to Ali’s transformation into something she thought she could never be.

John

READ:

Download the transcript here:

Becoming a Venus: Interview with Alison Scott

LISTEN:

How to Get Rid of Loose Skin

This is a question we’ve been seeing a fair bit so I figured I’d catch up with my buddy and plastic surgery resident Bryan Chung to try and answer it.

In order to figure out how to ‘get rid of’ loose skin we first have to determine what it is and how you might end up getting it in the first place.

Venus Index Reports how to get rid of loose skin

Is it loose skin, or just a bit more fat?!

This however is harder to determine than you might think as many factors come into play including:

1) Genetics – some people are just predisposed to getting loose skin easier than others

2) Age – as we age our skin becomes less ‘elastic’ and we become more susceptible to getting loose skin

3) Weight loss – if you lose a massive amount of weight you may have stretched your skin far enough that it won’t ‘snap’ back

4) Is it Just More Fat – Many people mistakenly think they have ‘loose skin’ when in reality they just have a bit more fat to lose.

In today’s podcast Bryan and I get to the bottom of the ‘loose skin’ issue and what can be done about it (if you determine that you really do have loose skin).

John

P.S. The audio is a bit rough on this one cuz I forgot my headset, it’ll be back to normal next week!

READ:

You can download the transcript here: How to Get Rid of Loose Skin

LISTEN:

Mindtricks & Tips for Transforming Your Body

In today’s podcast we interview one of the contest winners from a past Adonis Index transformation Jason Haynes.

Jason made a dramatic change over the course of two contests and his transformation has influenced and motivated many others to commit to making a real change in their body.

Jason will share some of the insights he gained from losing almost 60lbs to fundamentally change the look and shape of his body.

Venus Index Reports How to Transform Your Body

Jason knows what it takes to make a big time change!

He’ll also give you some tips and advice on what to expect when you decide to take the next step with your body and how others will react towards you. And make no mistake about it. The same hurdles, and barriers exist for men and women so the information Jason is sharing is seriously valuable.

This is a social and psychological exploration of what it’s like to make a big time change in your body and how to deal with other people and yourself once you’ve got to where you want to go.

This is also a bit of mental preparation for those of you who are going to be entering the first ever Venus Index Transformation Contest!

So listen up this is a good one!

If you want to read the transcript you can download it here:

Mindtricks & Tips for Transforming Your Body: An interview with Jason Haynes

John

Counting Calories Part 2: Estimating Calories Consumed

Last week we talked about the inherent errors trying to count the calories you burn, and today we’re going to discuss the errors when trying to count the calories you consume.

These common errors are the reason some people thing ‘calorie counting’ doesn’t work, and from a certain point of view it doesn’t simply because you can never know for sure how many calories you have eaten or burned…you can only guess.

That is why one of our most important weight loss principles is called CALORIE GUESSING.

Calorie Counting Part 2 Venus Index Podcast

We know you can only estimate the calories you eat or burn, so trying to count them too precisely will just lead to underestimations of how much you’ve eaten and over-estimations of how much you’ve burned.

In todays podcast we’ll discuss the biggest calorie counting errors on the consumption side and how to compensate for these errors and get your weight loss program moving forward.

If you want to read the transcript you can download it here:

Counting Calories Part 2: Estimating Calories Consumed

John

Calorie Guessing Part 1: Estimating Calories Burned

Losing weight requires you to consume less calories than you burn, but the big problem is you can never know for sure how many calories you’ve burned. The best you can ever do is guess.

In today’s podcast we’ll discuss some of the major errors in guessing the amount of calories you’ve burned and we’ll show you how to account for each of these errors.

Some of the major errors include:

Overestimation of calories burned by cardio and exercise machines

Overestimation of BMR calculators

Overestimation of the ‘activity factor’ of BMR calculators

the “NET” effect of exercise vs the GROSS effect.

All of these errors contribute to over estimating the amount of calories burned on a daily and weekly basis. It doesn’t take much of an error to add up over time, and if you keep making the same error in your calculations it could be the difference between seeing a big change in your body or just spinning your wheels.

You can listen to the podcast or download the transcript.

READ

You can download the transcript here:

Calorie Guessing Part 1 Estimating Calories Burned

John

How to Get Rid of Cellulite

One of the first questions that came up in the Venus Index forums was about “Cellulite”…specifically, how do you get rid of it?!

To answer a question like this I need to recruit the aid of a good friend Bryan Chung. He is a a plastic surgery resident and has his Phd in Sports Medicine and a very informative blog at: Evidence Based Fitness

In today’s podcast Bryan and I get to the bottom of what Cellulite is and what you can do to get rid of it.

For starters ‘Cellulite’ is a slang term that has no scientific meaning, but physicians and researchers will know what you’re talking about when you refer to ‘cellulite’.

The reason women get it but men don’t is because there is a genetic difference in the basic structure of fat cells in women vs men.

Various options exist for dealing with cellulite including liposuction, fat injections (yes one of the treatments is to just cover the cellulite with more fat!) and the one I tend to favor; losing weight.

If you don’t have time to listen to the audio you can download and read the transcript here:

READ: How to Get Rid of Cellulite

John

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