Nutrition A Hit the Target (HTT) Diet attempt

[Niek Schokkenbroek]

Hi everyone,

I just stumbled on Fabio Zonin's article a few weeks ago on the Hit The Target (HTT) Fat-loss Plan. My wife and I thought to give it a try and I would like to keep track of some progress here, but mainly share some experiences and doubts we had and have along the way.

At this moment we are almost a week and a half in the program. The total weightloss of me is just over 2 kg and my wife 1 kg. So far this is quite good, but not in a sense that I have not seen it before as my weight varies over time. Just before we started the diet, we spend a weekend in a hotel and made use of the things that are not allowed in this diet (and we actually hardly eat in general), i.e. pastry and the like for breakfast. So we both started with a bit higher than regular weight in this diet.

For both of us, it is quite straight forward with which types of food are allowed and the fact that you have to reach a minimum of protein points and stay under a maximum of points for fatty foods and fruits. The thing is that the total amount of food that we are supposed to eat is way more than what we were used to. Right now we managed a few things that prevents us to eat too much in one sitting, but still it is much more than that we were used to. Especially my wife has trouble to reach the total minimal points. So we have somewhat the idea that the progress is somewhat slower than what I have seen on the forum, or in the responses of the post.

One of the other reasons might be that we did not eat much carbs before we started HTT, on our jolly day we had some oats with banana again, ordered some sushi, but no high sugar, high carb galore. We both had a spike in the weight chart afterwards nonetheless (me even for two days...), but both again under the target for that last jolly day.

Myself, I am currently on the final bits of my preparation for my SFG1 Cert, which takes place just after the 8 week program. My wife is doing a variety of workouts with kettlebells as well, but not as specific as mine for the SFG1.

I hope to update this post every week with some new results, insights and maybe new questions. In the mean time also curious what other people's take is on the somewhat lower weightloss results we're seeing.

Niek

 

[Bret S.]

Myself, I am currently on the final bits of my preparation for my SFG1 Cert, which takes place just after the 8 week program. My wife is doing a variety of workouts with kettlebells as well, but not as specific as mine for the SFG1.

I hope to update this post every week with some new results, insights and maybe new questions. In the mean time also curious what other people's take is on the somewhat lower weightloss results we're seeing.

Hello Niek, I can't comment on weight loss, I've read the article but don't need to lose weight...
What caught my eye was SFG prep, just make sure you get enough calories for training and for the cert, you'll need them, the prep work is heavy and the cert is physically and mentally demanding.
Best of luck

 

[Steve Freides]

The "Hit the Target" Fat Loss Plan | StrongFirst

Link to blog article above.

-S-

 

[Fabio Zonin]

Hi Niek,

First and foremost I thank you and your wife for your trust and for giving a shot to my plan!

For both of us, it is quite straight forward with which types of food are allowed and the fact that you have to reach a minimum of protein points and stay under a maximum of points for fatty foods and fruits. The thing is that the total amount of food that we are supposed to eat is way more than what we were used to. Right now we managed a few things that prevents us to eat too much in one sitting, but still it is much more than that we were used to. Especially my wife has trouble to reach the total minimal points. So we have somewhat the idea that the progress is somewhat slower than what I have seen on the forum, or in the responses of the post.

One of the other reasons might be that we did not eat much carbs before we started HTT, on our jolly day we had some oats with banana again, ordered some sushi, but no high sugar, high carb galore. We both had a spike in the weight chart afterwards nonetheless (me even for two days...), but both again under the target for that last jolly day.
Niek

If you have been used to a low carbs/low calorie diet for a while your weight loss will of course will slower that that one experimented by someone who completely changes his nutritional habits.

It is interesting how some people that have been through the plan have cut their food intake quite a bit, while others ended up eating more than before. It's interesting how in both cases most people got good results. This is probably because it's a self-regulatory plan.

Those who cut a lot their food intake lose weight quicker and have to enter their jolly days earlier. Those who eat similarly to what they used to (or even less) lose weight more gradually and therefore their jolly days come more seldom.

A similar situation applies to the days that follow a jolly day. Those who binge and eat everything that doesn't bite back gain more weight and will have to wait more before they are up to another jolly day. Those who instead eat more than usual, but with moderation and by selecting carefully the quality of the foods gain less weight and will have to wait less for another jolly day.

Keep me posted on your results!

 

[Niek Schokkenbroek]

Hello Niek, I can't comment on weight loss, I've read the article but don't need to lose weight...
What caught my eye was SFG prep, just make sure you get enough calories for training and for the cert, you'll need them, the prep work is heavy and the cert is physically and mentally demanding.
Best of luck

Thanks Bret, but I am not that afraid of the amount of calories. During the preparation I do not feel drained or starved, quite the opposite actually...
And regarding the "physically and mentally demanding": challenge accepted

First and foremost I thank you and your wife for your trust and for giving a shot to my plan!

You're more than welcome and thank you for sharing your experiences! And thank you for taking the time to reply to this post.

If you have been used to a low carbs/low calorie diet fr a while your weight loss will of course will slower that that one experimented by someone who completely changes his nutritional habits.

It is interesting how some people that have been through the plan have cut their food intake quite a bit, while others ended up eating more than before. It's interesting how in both cases most people got good results. This is probably because it's a self-regulatory plan.

Those who cut a lot their food intake lose weight quicker and have to enter their jolly days earlier. Those who eat similarly to what they used to (or even less) lose weight more gradually and therefore their jolly days come more seldom.

A similar situation applies to the days that follow a jolly day. Those who binge and eat everything that doesn't bite back gain more weight and will have to wait more before they are up to another jolly day. Those who instead eat more than usual, but with moderation and by selecting carefully the quality of the foods gain less weight and will have to wait less for another jolly day.

Keep me posted on your results!

This is something we also discovered, right now 'recovering' from our last Jolly day and aiming for the next target. The Jolly day had its effect in two days of gains, so some adjustments to the implementation of the Jolly day are in order.

Best thing so far is that it hit a nerve with my wife, who is sceptical about all diet related things.

She is quite happy with the program and seeing the results. She even suggested to continue with these eating habits, since we can really see the results when you attend to the rules (and also when you don't...) We'll see how this continues, after all we're only two weeks in now.

At this day we are at a weight loss of 2,6kg (me) and 1,3kg (her). Hopefully the week will progress with a rapid loss just like it did last week.