But, that would be too sensible for our “fly by the seat of our pants” kind of life style… actually in reality we’re completely the opposite, we usually plan everything out to the most minutia detail… but for some reason when it comes to hiking we can’t get our sh** together.  Don’t know why… it’s just one of those things… I’m sure we’ll get it together one of these days, but for this hike we “winged it” once again.

So what started out as a quick 1 hour jog/hike up the local mountain… ended up turning into a 5 hour survival of the fittest hike from hell.  Ok… I’m exaggerating (a little)... we were on fire roads and the trails were all marked clearly and there were many people of the trails.  What made it feel like a hike from hell was our lack of water or food.  Being the rebels with no brain… were going on 4 hours with no hydration or sustenance.

Now this probably wouldn’t have been as bad, if we had breakfast before we started.  But since Susan and I commonly skip breakfast, we’re used to working out in the morning with an empty stomach… expect for our morning coffee.  Now this is all fine and dandy if you’re doing a short quick workout (aka. MAX Workouts) or you’re going on a short run/hike that doesn’t last longer than an hour.  But.. it’s not recommended, if you’re going out for a 5 hour jog/hike from hell!

Not that you didn’t know that… because you would be more sensible than us.

Now as luck would have it, a little while later… just after 4 hours of hiking up hill with no water of food… we stumbled (literally) onto a little rest area where there was water!  Let me tell you… water never tasted so good! It’s amazing what a little water and rest will do, because shortly after we rested and rehydrated, we were able to get down the mountain to town without much trouble.

Looking back, it was a good mental and physical challenge for us.  A little pain and suffering can go a long way in helping put things into perspective.  Even for a relatively short period of time, when we didn’t have access to basic human needs… like water and food… and experience hunger and deep thirst… things that are actually important, became clear, quite quickly.  It’s easy to forget what we have… and it reminded me that I need to be more grateful for everything we have.

Now, I’m not saying that you should go out and suffer like we did… but if you’re noticing that you’re in a little rut… both mentally and physically… putting yourself in situations where it makes you appreciate what you have, can be a great way to break you out of a funk.  AND it also happens to be a great way to accelerate your fat burn.

Ok… let me clarify… you don’t need to suffer to burn more fat.  Well, maybe a little, since you DO have to workout… there’s no getting around that.  But I’ll give you a unique tip that can really help you kick start your fat burning process if you’ve stopped progressing.

Before I go on, I should warn you that this is not for beginners.  If you have never worked out… this is not for you.  If you’re looking for a quick easy weight loss method… this is not for you.  However, if you’ve been working out consistently (at least 3 months) and have been eating a healthy diet composed of mostly whole foods (... and preferably low in refined carbs) but have recently stopped seeing progress… this is something you may want to try.

Remember my hiking story… well, if you recall, Susan and I went out on a long hike without any food (the only thing we had before was a cup of coffee)... well it turns out that working out on an empty stomach in the morning actually helps you burn more body fat.  In fact, that hike ended up being a massive fat burning activity. Unknowing that the time, but we actually set up our fat burning hormones to optimally burn fat.

Here’s what we did…

1. We didn’t eat for 14 hours before we went on our hike.  We ate dinner the night before at 7 pm and we didn’t start hiking until the next morning at 9 am.  Not eating for 14 - 16 hours prepares your body’s fat burning hormone to optimally burn fat most effectively.

2. Having caffeine helps promote more fat burning on an empty stomach

3. Doing exercise on an empty stomach helps burn even more fat

*** Very low carb diet (around 50g per day) also helps you burn more fat and according to some experts, it allows similar fat burning process to occur without having to fast for 14 - 16 hours***

Combine all three and you have the perfect hormonal scenario for optimal fat burning.  And unlike our 5 hour hike from hell, you don’t need to workout longer than 20 - 30 minutes.  You can do short intense workouts… like MAX Workouts and still experience all of the accelerated fat burning.  You don’t need to have caffeine either, but if you’re a coffee drinker having caffeine will boost your fat burning even more.  The only caveat is that you can’t add anything to your drink.  Coffee has to be black… no cream, milk and certainly no sugar.  The important thing here is not to put any calories in your body to ensure that your fat burning hormones are primed to work optimally.

The protocol I’ve just mentioned isn’t difficult to do… but it’s also not easy.  It takes discipline and a little capacity to withstand some suffering.  But hey it’s not like we don’t have have access to clean water… right? Don’t over do this though… because it can be pretty hard on your body.  I wouldn’t recommend doing this everyday either… even if you regularly do intermittent fasting.  Doing exercise while fasting can be a very effective way to burn off fat, but it’s also quite hard on your body.  My suggestion is 2 - 3 times a week… three at the most if you’re an experienced intermittent faster.