Need to lose 6% body fat
LaraAnnCan
Posts: 6 Member
So I signed up for a six week challenge at a local cardio kickboxing gym. They asked for $500 down and I’ll get it back if I lose either 6% body fat or 25lbs. At the time they kept saying I would only have to loose approximately 10-12 lbs and I thought for sure I could do that and get my $$ back but now that I’m 2 weeks in, down 7lbs and my body fat has only budged by 1% according to their scale, I’m starting to wonder if it signed up for something impossible.
5
Replies
-
To be very honest at this point the best thing to do is probably accept that you will lose the $500. What they are promoting is an unsafe rate of weight loss for a person your size. On top of that this challenge would be biased towards the heavier people who could drop weight quicker and possibly stay within a healthy range.
The weight you have lost is still a little bit on the aggressive side, but proof that you can do it. it would be better in my opinion to take the financial loss and learn from it.
Move on with your life and continue to lose weight if you feel like it. I would also stay far away from the place that is promoting this challenge, as they obviously don't have much health regard for their customers.22 -
These scales are notoriously unrelated to reality. Most likely this was a safe bet for them because they knew their scale’s measurement of your fat loss would not budge.
Regardless, one percent of bodyweight per week is generally considered the maximum safe rate of loss unless you are under a doctor’s supervision, and not all of that is likely to be fat, so six percent body fat in six weeks is unhealthy. To lose 25 lbs in six weeks, you would need to lose 4.2 lbs a week which would be feasible only if you started at 500 lbs.11 -
You got taken to the cleaners.
You may want to consider whether you want to threaten them with a small claims or BBB action for promoting un-healthy practices and essentially lying to their customers about this being a safe endeavour and an honest offer, or just accepting that you got taken and use your time to get started on a better path for the future.
In terms of your future interactions with them... they've established their trust-worthiness.
As to the rest of it, I've heard that you can try to increase your water weight (thus reducing your apparent fat %) by over-eating on calories and carbs and sodium the day before. Then you can repeat the same the morning of the weight in by having a large low fat high carb high sodium meal. And making sure to show up with a full bladder that is ready to burst!
A nice skin safe electrical conductivity gel applied to hands, feet, and anywhere else they might measure conductivity may also be beneficial for your results.
Don't overdo this to the point that you get sick. Hence make sure to keep electrolytes in balance and that your blood sugar and blood pressure and kidneys can cope and any gel you get is safe for your skin!
<I am sure they will complain you are cheating. I would skip any intermediate weight ins that they can use to establish that you're cheating, assuming your paperwork allows you to. As to the morality of this: they scammed you first!
>
Ha! I knew someone would have written something on this! https://weightology.net/cheat-your-body-fat-test/9 -
Most of your initial weight loss was probably water, not fat. I'm afraid you're likely to be out the $500. 4 lbs a week is really aggressive unless you are seriously obese.3
-
Yeah it felt shady right away when they advertised it as “free” but then sit you down and hard sell it as give us money then you can earn it for free. I wasn’t given a copy of the paperwork but they said for every lb we didn’t lose they would only keep $10 but I’m not signed up for lbs so not sure what that means for the body fat percentage or if any of that is even true since I don’t have a copy of what I assume would have been the rules and fine print. It was also mentioned that the whole amount could be rolled over into a membership no matter what at the end but the memberships are over 1500 a year 😒 definitely a learning experience. Guess I will suck it up and work a little harder to get as close as I can and recoup as much as I can.5
-
Work on this for your own health.
Cheat for your money. Or write it off.
They have no intention of making it easy to escape with much money.
They have every intention of scaming your "sunk" payment into a bigger investment into their gym.
Whether their gym is worth the final price, that I don't know (it could well be. Or not).
Whether I would personally enjoy dealing with a gym that hard sells and scams I guess is best answered by the fact that I don't have a gym membership!4 -
Yeah it felt shady right away when they advertised it as “free” but then sit you down and hard sell it as give us money then you can earn it for free. I wasn’t given a copy of the paperwork but they said for every lb we didn’t lose they would only keep $10 but I’m not signed up for lbs so not sure what that means for the body fat percentage or if any of that is even true since I don’t have a copy of what I assume would have been the rules and fine print. It was also mentioned that the whole amount could be rolled over into a membership no matter what at the end but the memberships are over 1500 a year 😒 definitely a learning experience. Guess I will suck it up and work a little harder to get as close as I can and recoup as much as I can.
If you have the time, it might be worth hassling them for the contract, and/or checking with the local BBB or any other business regulating agencies in your area. A lot of that could depend on the laws of the state, but the contract details could be key.
I would strongly question what the contract states you get in return for the money. And if it's nothing other than a down payment (assuming you lost no weight) then that should be specific in the contract. Also check to see if they were required to give you a copy of the contract if in fact you both signed it.
And IF you happened to charge the $500, it might be worth speaking to your credit card company about. If nothing else this might give you time to look further into it. Often local news stations investigate shaky business practices, and combined with the unsafe weight loss goal, they might prefer to refund your money vs deal with the potential bad publicity.2 -
The fact that your readings are taken at different times of day means that the entire “contest” is illegitimate. The baseline readings are not valid, therefore there is no way they can make a legitimate comparison. I would be curious to know the make and model of the body fat analyzer because I am pretty sure they are not following the manufacturers standards for testing.6
-
I shouldn’t have googled the place. The franchise even seems like they scam the location owners.
https://www.ilovekickboxing.com/transformation/studio/668
https://www.ilkbuniversity.com/p/ilkb-6-week-transformation-training
1 -
maybe point it out to them and ask for you $ back?1
-
Is it this place?
https://www.ilovekickboxing.com/studio/index.php?id=6850 -
So I signed up for a six week challenge at a local cardio kickboxing gym. They asked for $500 down and I’ll get it back if I lose either 6% body fat or 25lbs. At the time they kept saying I would only have to loose approximately 10-12 lbs and I thought for sure I could do that and get my $$ back but now that I’m 2 weeks in, down 7lbs and my body fat has only budged by 1% according to their scale, I’m starting to wonder if it signed up for something impossible.
The problem with the “10-12 lbs” of weight loss statement is that, when you are basing results on body fat %, the target scale weight is a moving target. Your body composition changes as you lose weight so the starting “goal weight” will change as well.
Putting aside the fact that, by not following standard conditions when measuring you, the numbers are not as accurate as they need to be, here is what has happened:
At 156.3 lb and 28.5% BF, your starting “target weight” based on a 6% BF reduction was 144 lb. That assumes that all weight loss is fat—which never happens, so they are either really ignorant of basic physiology or disingenuous, or both.
According to your numbers, since 5/4 you have lost 7 lbs. Almost 4 of that is fat (which is not bad), the other 3lb is muscle and water. Given the various fluid shifts that occur when starting a weight loss program, this is a very predictable pattern. Based on your current Lean Body Mass, your 22.5% BF is “target weight” is now 140 lbs.
To get any accuracy with bioimpedance, you have to do measurements under the same conditions—eating, drinking, hydration status, exercise status, etc. If you exercise before taking a reading or are dehydrated, it will inflate the BF numbers. But you can’t slug down a bunch of water before the test because that will inflate the numbers as well.
I think this is less of a scam and more like a carnie game—there is enough possibility to win so that it’s not outright theft, but it’s difficult enough that few people will do so. And they win whether you win or lose.
But stick with it and you might pull it off. If not, at least you will have lost 10 lb or so of fat and you’ll have a gym membership, albeit an expensive one with less than honest people.7 -
Yeah it felt shady right away when they advertised it as “free” but then sit you down and hard sell it as give us money then you can earn it for free. I wasn’t given a copy of the paperwork but they said for every lb we didn’t lose they would only keep $10 but I’m not signed up for lbs so not sure what that means for the body fat percentage or if any of that is even true since I don’t have a copy of what I assume would have been the rules and fine print. It was also mentioned that the whole amount could be rolled over into a membership no matter what at the end but the memberships are over 1500 a year 😒 definitely a learning experience. Guess I will suck it up and work a little harder to get as close as I can and recoup as much as I can.
Report this business. Shady and unethical.0 -
Is it this place?
https://www.ilovekickboxing.com/studio/index.php?id=685
Yes it’s the company but not the location. I’m in Wisconsin but ours isn’t advertising the challenge anymore that I could find.
0 -
You might be able to beat the system by going keto a few days before your big weigh in. The resulting glycogen depletion/water weight loss might help you. And its not unusual to cut 5-7 lbs of weight very quickly by doing that.6
-
You might be able to beat the system by going keto a few days before your big weigh in. The resulting glycogen depletion/water weight loss might help you. And its not unusual to cut 5-7 lbs of weight very quickly by doing that.
If it was a weight loss goal I would agree, but my understanding is that this would raise bf % for a bia scale.
0 -
You might be able to beat the system by going keto a few days before your big weigh in. The resulting glycogen depletion/water weight loss might help you. And its not unusual to cut 5-7 lbs of weight very quickly by doing that.
If it was a weight loss goal I would agree, but my understanding is that this would raise bf % for a bia scale.
Maybe.. it would show lean body mass loss.0 -
While I am not morally against cheating the scale I’m pretty sure I can’t physically do that without vomiting 😂 I’m just gonna hope for the best and keep on with the diet and unlimited use of facilities for the rest of the challenge. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I may not get all or any of my money back. But it is a fun and effective program. Thank you all for your insight and advice.1
-
Most places like that prey on people's insecurities. "You gotta put some skin in the game to motivate you", it's all bs they usually make the goals unrealistic and nearly unattainable. Depending on what you BF is 6% could be tough. I'm trying hard to lose 3% at this point.0
-
Here’s my two cents. You work their program 100 percent and achieve some respectable results that gives you momentum once your short membership period is over. You may not win the bet but gain something worth greater than your down payment investment. You also learn a valuable lesson about hastily signing on the dotted line.
Guess what? You’ll be a winner.
Something to think about.3 -
Is this type of offer common?
Just a couple of days ago I watched a fitness video on youtube, where the guy was promoting his site,that had the same money-back offer, if losing 25lbs/6%bf as long as you followed his training plan (and probably meal plan, I forget).0 -
i mean, if they're gonna be shady, you can be somewhat shady back. When you do the final measure do it in the lightest clothes possible, hit the sauna for a bit before hand... laxatives or something if that's safe. That would probably amount to like 6 pounds.
If you cut out carbs and and a lot of salt intake over the next couple weeks, you'd also likely shed a good deal of water weight as well.4 -
I happened to sign up for the challenge in Boston as well. And I feel pretty stupid that although I knew it was impossible, I was bought into that diet. I guess I just wanted to believe that I can lose 25 lbs [or 6% of the body fat] in 6 weeks. My first InBody measure showed my body fat % 25.3.
Their diet is pretty strict and typical to a bodybuilding diet, only less calorie intake. Macros are 50% lean protein, 30% carb, 20% fat which adds up to about 1300-1400 calories a day for my weight [180 lbs]. You have to attend 3 sessions of kickboxing, where I burned 500 exercise calories in each session. I also do additional workouts-3 more 60 min workout during the week that is either HIIT or water rowing.
The question is, is it really possible to lose 6% body weight? They said their success rate was 87%. Lame?
0 -
Not the first time we've seen someone fall for this scam here. Won't be the last.0
-
LaraAnnCan wrote: »I shouldn’t have googled the place. The franchise even seems like they scam the location owners.
https://www.ilovekickboxing.com/transformation/studio/668
https://www.ilkbuniversity.com/p/ilkb-6-week-transformation-training
So, tell them you'll go to the media with information about this scam if they don't refund your money, all of it.
They are also legally obligated to give you a copy of any contract, signed by both parties.
Stand up for yourself.
Sadly, common sense seems to have died with the Baby Boomer generation.0 -
LaraAnnCan wrote: »
Sadly, common sense seems to have died with the Baby Boomer generation.
You sound like a super educated winner. Thanks for your opinion though.6 -
I’m at the end of my 6 week challenge. My husband and I did it together to kickstart our lifestyle change. The workouts are mainly circuit training with kettlebells and kickboxing on Wednesday. He lost 23 lbs and and at week 4 for me I had lost 3.7% fat. If I make 5% I reach the goal. Drink lots of water and stick to the plan. We cut out all grain, dairy and alcohol. Good luck!1
-
LaraAnnCan wrote: »I shouldn’t have googled the place. The franchise even seems like they scam the location owners.
https://www.ilovekickboxing.com/transformation/studio/668
https://www.ilkbuniversity.com/p/ilkb-6-week-transformation-training
So, tell them you'll go to the media with information about this scam if they don't refund your money, all of it.
They are also legally obligated to give you a copy of any contract, signed by both parties.
Stand up for yourself.
Sadly, common sense seems to have died with the Baby Boomer generation.
Luckily, tact and compassion seem to have made a comeback.5 -
LaraAnnCan wrote: »I shouldn’t have googled the place. The franchise even seems like they scam the location owners.
https://www.ilovekickboxing.com/transformation/studio/668
https://www.ilkbuniversity.com/p/ilkb-6-week-transformation-training
Sadly, common sense seems to have died with the Baby Boomer generation.
Since this is a weight loss forum and not a politics forum I'm gonna mostly hold my tongue... And I say this with much love to my Boomer friends... But ya'lls stewardship of the world has generally been... Not great. Perhaps best not to pass judgment on other generations.
But anyways, regarding the OPs original issue, going to the media is actually not a bad idea. Local media most places usually has some sort of "eight on your side" scam stopper where they go yell at sketchy businesses with a camera in their face in an attempt to get your money back. Might be worth a try. It also is a good idea to report them to your states department of business. At the very least, it seems like this could be considered unlicensed and unregulated gambling on their part. It is good to fight back against them. If not for you but so that they can't scam others with this down the line.
9 -
Sadly, common sense seems to have died with the Baby Boomer generation.
My intellectual response to OP's post while also stating Lynda's post was rude was removed for being inappropriate.
1) OP; apologies for trying to help, I should have posted separately so it remained.
2) Attacking the "common sense" of a generation is derogatory of a group.1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 424 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions