Well, we’re more than halfway through January!

How are those New Years Resolutions coming anyway?

Still working on keeping them and making them permanent this year?

Or is your resolve starting to crumble, yet again?

Luckily my good friend Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle, The Body Fat Solution and The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program is here today to honour us with a guest post to help you get your head back on straight and keep you firmly on the path to making those New Years Resolutions REAL this year.

Thanks Tom. This is coming to us just in time to keep us motivated and on track!!

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5 EXCUSES THAT WON’T FLY IN 2011
By Tom Venuto

It’s 2011. Your old excuses for not getting in shape won’t work. As Dr. Evil (Austin Powers) said, ZIP IT! I don’t want to hear them anymore! Read em’, then haul your excuseless butt to the gym!

1. I have no time.

According to a story in a recent issue of Men’s Health magazine, Barack Obama works out for 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week. Obama doesn’t just play basketball either. Our new president stays fit to lead with cardio and weight lifting. He also says he wishes he could train 90 minutes a day.

Have you ever seen what the daily schedule of a U.S. president looks like?

If the busiest man in the world can train every day for 45 minutes a day, then what’s your excuse? ZIP IT! You ain’t got one!

2. It’s too expensive.

Getting in shape certainly is expensive … if you keep wasting hundreds of dollars, month after month on worthless “miracle” weight loss pills, internal cleansing gimmicks and “magic” potions that all claim to make you slim.

Deceptive advertising and slick marketing for bogus diet aids is more rampant than ever. 2010 was the year of the wu-long tea scam, the acai berry scam, and, of course, the ubiquitous “cleansing” and “detox” gimmicks.

Unless you put on your critical thinking cap and learn to investigate before you invest, then you’ll get scammed by 2011’s flavor of the year as well. Your quest for those elusive “6-pack” abs will not only continue to be expensive, you’ll go broke. Walking, jogging, calisthenics and body weight exercises are FREE.

If you want to know what’s really expensive, tally up the cost of legitimate expenses like natural food, gym memberships, fitness education, dumbbells and so on, and compare that to your doctor’s bill when you’re sick.

3. No one will support me.

Experts on social influence say your income will be approximately equal to the average of your 5 closest friends. Not only do I think that’s pretty darn accurate, I also believe that your health is your greatest wealth, and your physical condition will be about equal to the average of your 5 closest friends. It’s a real challenge to stay positive, focused and active when you’re surrounded by critical people and negative influences.

However, in 2011, lack of support is no longer a valid excuse. Online social networking is exploding (check out Twitter and Facebook ) and more IN PERSON friendships and associations are being made from an internet connection than ever before.

Training buddies can be found online. Connect with them.

Mentors and coaches are easily found online. Hire them.

Support forums have been around for years. Use them.

No support from your current friends? Stop whining, start reaching out and go make new ones.

In 2011, support partners and new friends are just a click away.

4. I can’t lose weight because of my genetics.

The marvels of modern medical and biological research are astonishing. Our top scientists have mapped the human genome! In the past few years, numerous genes linked to obesity have been discovered.

However, the obesity epidemic we’re facing today has only developed over the past 50 years and genetic mutations that lead to serious obesity are extremely rare. Genetic predisposition only means that you have a tendency. It’s when the genetics meet lifestyle and environment that the genes express themselves.

If you have a family history of heart disease, is it smart to smoke, eat junk, be a stressed-out, type-A maniac and a couch potato? Well of course not, and it’s the same with obesity. If you have a tendency predisposing you towards obesity, you’d better be the person doing the MOST exercise, not the least. You’d better be the person paying the MOST attention to your nutrition. You’d better be the person with the healthiest lifestyle.

But unfortunately, it’s usually the opposite. Most people throw up their arms in frustration saying, “what’s the use, I was dealt a bad hand.”

Sorry. That won’t fly in 2011.

The latest research says genetics are a factor, but a tendency is not a destiny!

5. I don’t know how.

The lamest excuse of them all in 2011 is “I don’t know how.”

NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DO ANYTHING UNTIL AFTER THEY HAVE ACTUALLY DONE IT! Ponder that for a while.

You don’t need to know how at first. To get started, you only need to know WHAT… what is the goal? Setting well-formed goals is the master skill of success. Not wishy-washy resolutions that have no resolve behind them, but real goals. In writing. With emotional ooompf!

As you continue to affirm, visualize and focus on your goal with clarity, belief, and expectation, your new goal or intention will be received by your subconscious. Once a goal is accepted into your subconscious mind, your brain, being a goal-seeking mechanism, will turn on your attention filters to seek out all the information you will ever need to reach your goal. It will also turn on an infallible navigation system to guide you to your goal like a torpedo to its target.

As your brain guides your attention, your direction and your behavior, you will discover that today, in 2011, there is more good information, coaching and instruction available than ever before. And when you’ve activated that “success radar” in your brain by setting goals effectively, it’s not as hard to find honest, accurate and helpful HOW-TO advice as you might think. In fact, you found this webpage, so you’re doing pretty good right now, aren’t you?

No more excuses. In 2011, remember my Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle Creed: You can either make excuses or get results, but you can’t do both!

Your friend and coach,

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com

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Thanks again Tom. I know I speak for everyone here when I say we appreciate you taking the time to share your opinions and knowledge with us here today.

As I’ve said many times before, Tom really knows his stuff.

Both of his programs can go a long way to helping you build more muscle, burn more fat and get that body you really do deserve this year.

So while you’re here why not check out Tom’s incredible fat loss and muscle building programs for yourself?

They are both very worthy investments and picking them up now is just one more step in the right direction to making those Resolutions stick this year.

Check out time-tested and proven bestseller “Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle” Here

And take a look at the revolutionary and groundbreaking “Holy Grail Body Transformation Program” Here

IT’S NOT TOO LATE !!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

You need a good timer to optimize your workouts. Get the one I recommend here:

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Hey Gang!! How’s it going today?

I felt like going to the gym the other day, just to change it up and get under a barbell (cuz I don’t have a barbell at home).

Man, when will I learn?  Commercial gyms just aren’t for me.

What I experienced at the gym inspired this little rant.

After I calmed down and read it back to myself I thought it was pretty funny … so thinking you might enjoy the chuckle, too.

Trust me, this isn’t directed at you or anyone you know (I hope).  But jeez, some guys in the gym can be such morons.

Here’s my little diatribe:

Open Letter to Men in the Gym

Hello sir.

You are hot.

You are fit.

You are muscular.

You like to lift weights, that’s sooo obvious.

You are big and burly and I’m sooo impressed!!

Can I please feel your bicep?

Oh, wait, scratch that last one.

Can we replace that last line with “Excuse me, may I work in?” and not have my request be met with a sniff of derision and a look down your nose at me like I just asked you to give me your last protein shake?

Yes, I’m a woman and I like to strength train, too.

No, I’m not big and burly like you.

Yes, the damn gym has a damn “Ladies Area” … but have you SEEN the Ladies Area, sir?  It’s quite lacking.  In fact, it’s downright ridiculous.

They give us pink plastic 5lb dumbbells.  I can’t get ripped with those, sir.  I can’t even feel a pump with those.  My purse weighs more than those little things.

And, they give us “Hip Toner” machines but they don’t give us any barbells or squat racks.  I can’t get ripped with that kind of equipment, sir.

So, please sir, may I work in, sir?

Okay, seriously now!!

Listen guys, yah yah yah, you’re there to be guys, you’re there to work hard and you’re not there for distractions or to flirt around looking for dates.

Yah, no kidding.  Neither are we.

We are there to work out and get fit … just … like … YOU!!

We have as much right to be there as you do and we pay just as much in membership fees.  So why the heck do you treat us like we’re in your way and a total bother to have us working in with you on your set when you’d be perfectly content to let some other ‘dude’ work in with you instead?

And YAH, I DID overhear you saying to your friends ‘effin’ broads, why can’t they go in their own area?”

Well, now you know why don’t go in our own “area”.  Our area SUCKS!

So be nice to us, would ya please?  If YOU were forced to work out with the equipment they put in “our” area, you’d bail out, too. 

You probably wouldn’t even keep your membership to a gym that insulted you the way the “Ladies Area” insults us (and believe me, I’ve already told off the “Gym Owners of the World” about this very fact).

Although, I have to admit that since I started doing Squat Cleans, and other similar moves in the “Big Boy Weight Room” where you can all see me, not many of you treat me with derision anymore … most of you big buff boys don’t even do Squat Cleans, now, do you?

Heck, I’ll bet a bunch of you don’t even know what a Squat Clean is!!

Don’t be afraid to look it up though. 

And then feel free to come thank me once you’ve discovered them for yourselves.

But my point stands.  We’re human.  We’re there to get fit.

Stop being jerks to us and let us work in for crying out loud.

And for that, I thank you.

Sincerely,
Me

~~~ end of tirade ~~~

HA HA!!!  Funny, eh? I just wasn’t in the mood to be treated like a “chick” in the gym today!

No wonder I don’t go often and prefer to workout at home!  LOL

Anyway, thanks for letting me share that with you.  A little vent feels good now and then, doesn’t it?

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BTW, There’s one guy I know that I’ll bet doesn’t treat women in the gym this way. This guy GETS IT when it comes to working out … for EVERYONE, not just guys. He knows the value that lifting heavy has … not only for guys but for women as well (and no ladies, you won’t “bulk up”) …

… and he’s a total sweetheart to boot. I know cuz I’ve interviewed him in a past blog post (Interview with Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle).

Yep, I’m talking about Tom Venuto, and his fitness and nutrition manual Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is fantastic.

I should know. I’ve worked it (several times now) and I count it as one of my main fitness bibles and ‘go-to’ resources when I just want the FACTS with no fluff or ‘smoke and mirrors magic-tricks that don’t exist‘ (which is always).

I recommend this resource for ANYONE looking drop some fat fast, efficiently and effectively to get that lean, toned and fit look.

Grab it now ==> Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

Summer IS coming, after all!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day (and long weekend!)
Girlwithnoname

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SQUEEAL!!

*ahem*

Sorry about that. I don’t usually lose my head and make girly noises, do I?

Well, I’m making an exception for this one.

Tom Venuto, author of one of MY personal fitness-resource favourites “Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle” is pre-releasing his fantastic new fitness program “THE HOLY GRAIL Body Transformation Program“.

And he’s taking the entire fitness industry to task for the claim that you can’t gain muscle AND lose fat… at the same time.

Tom knows I think he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread when it comes to health, fitness, muscle building and fat loss …

… and if you don’t believe me then check out this interview he sat for me late last year, which by the way if you haven’t checked out yet, you really should, it’s absolutely chock full of great information:

Interview with Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle.

If you’ve been hanging out with me for ANY length of time at all, you KNOW I don’t recommend stuff I haven’t personally read or worked…

…so when I asked him for an advance copy of The Holy Grail Transformation System, he happily shot one over.

You know why? Because Tom doesn’t write crap. End of story.

He knows if I love it, I’ll say so (and if I hate it you’ll hear that, too).

He had the confidence in his new system to send it to me for my review within about 30 minutes of me asking for it. And, rightly so.

(Thanks Tom, as I’ve said before: you’re one of the greatest guys in the fitness industry, bar none).

So I spent yesterday afternoon pouring over it and deciding right then and there that I’d be adopting this program next time it’s time for me to change up my own program.

Yah, of course I love it. It’s Tom Venuto. And he doesn’t write crap. Like I said.

He knows his stuff. And then some.

Alright, so what is in The Holy Grail anyway? Glad you asked.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll learn inside the “Holy Grail Body Transformation System” ebook:

* Why you MUST understand “energy partitioning” – the fat burning, muscle-building process BEYOND CALORIES-IN vs CALORIES OUT! (page 13)

* The keys to forcing your body to drive energy and protein INTO MUSCLE CELLS and pull calories OUT OF FAT CELLS! (page 13)

* “The power of hormones to dramatically shift fat to muscle… discover what steps you must take to achieve hormonal control for maximum muscle growth and fat loss (page 13)

* The 4 “X-Factors” of concurrent muscle gain and fat loss – these are the special conditions that allow above average muscle gains while losing fat at the same time (page 9)

* The 5 “X2-Factors” that influence your ability to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time; They all depend on your current body composition (lean or fat) and dieting status (dieted down or not dieted down)… Depending on which category you’re in, it can totally change your approach (page 11)

* How to choose the right body transformation goal: should you focus on burning fat, gaining muscle or doing both at the same time? (page 14)

* How to steal the proven system of training periodization from world class athletes and apply it to your muscle-building and fat-burning goals…

* How nutritional periodization might be the single biggest breakthrough for building muscle and burning fat at the same time – This is HUGE! (page 17-21)

* 5 post-workout nutrition strategies to improve muscle growth and optimize recovery from your workouts… (page 23)

* Carb tapering and carb targeting strategies explained for 2010… These are the latest updates to the time-tested techniques used by some of the best bodybuilders, fitness models and figure competitors in the world (page 24-25)

* Cycle dieting techniques under the microscope… find out which methods work and which ones will actually make you fatter (page 27)

* 4 reasons why cardio can help you gain more muscle and lose fat at the same time, if you do it right… and why you will get weaker and smaller if you do it wrong (page 33)

* 8 carb-cycling menu plans … all DONE FOR YOU, laid out meal by meal, calculated for precision and results (appendix 1)

* Burn the Fat Foods 2.0: … the official new calorie and nutrient database – it’s a CLEAN EATING food list – NO JUNK. This is the list of foods you SHOULD eat … (appendix 3) (I think Tom might have written THIS chapter JUST FOR ME … you know how I feel about clean eating)

* Tom Venuto’s NEW WORKOUT SYSTEM – “TNB” Training – As Seen in Men’s Fitness Magazine … the perfect way to train while following the Holy Grail nutrition plan (FREE BONUS! See bonus section)

Oh, and women, this book is for YOU, TOO (just cuz it was in Men’s Fitness doesn’t make it any less valid for us, we want lean, toned bodies too, right?).

Like I said, next time it’s time to change up my routine I’m gonna use The Holy Grail program. And I can’t wait.

So, unfortunately this only is a Pre-Release of The Holy Grail. And he’s only leaving it on the market from now until Friday (THIS Friday) March 5th at Midnight (pst).

But wait for this!! The way to get your hands on it is to purchase Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle and Tom’s throwing it in for…

… wait for it …

…FOR FREEEEE!!!!

If you’ve been thinking about getting yourself a copy of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle, I’m here to tell you that the time to get it is NOW.

RIGHT … NOW !!

And I think I saw somewhere that he’s planning to put The Holy Grail on the market as a stand-alone in a couple of months for $47.

So, if you ask me, grabbing Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle and getting The Holy Grail for FREE now is a pretty great deal.

Particularly since either program by itself is worth its weight in gold and anyone serious about building muscle and losing fat for better health (and to LOOK GREAT) should definitely have both of them on their bookshelves.

BUY “BURN THE FAT FEED THE MUSCLE” NOW

GET “THE HOLY GRAIL” FREE

ummm… by the way, if you already have Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle, you can still get yourself a copy of The Holy Grail for FREE by joining Tom’s Burn The Fat Inner Circle. All members there are also getting access to it this week up until Friday March 5th.

More info on Tom’s Inner Circle at: Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat Inner Circle

*Phew*

I meant for this to be a short information-sharing post and my excitement has now worn my fingernails down (I’m a hard typist, my computers all hate me).

So, I guess that’s it for today!

Enjoy Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle AND The Holy Grail. They’re both fantastic.

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day!
Girlwithnoname

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WOO HOO!!! I’ve got HUGE and EXCITING STUFF for you TODAY!!!!!

I managed to nail down Tom Venuto for an informative interview on all things fitness and fat loss related.

Boy, does this guy know his stuff!

And wow, what a nice guy, too!! I really enjoyed speaking with him, learned LOTS and I’m extremely excited to be able to share this with you guys!!!

Listen in as we discuss his books “Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle” and “Body Fat Solution“.

He also gives us some inside scoop about his Inner Circle and the great services and forums contained therein…

…if you’re looking to get fit (or fitter) and need moral support or better tools to help you along, THIS is the place for you… You’ll find Tom’s “Burn The Fat Inner Circle” immensely helpful.

And then we get into the details about his upcoming Holiday Transformation Challenge running over the holidays where you can win a TRIP TO JAMAICA (and the doors close to more entries in only another day or two, so you’d better hurry if you’re going to enter).

Heck, I even managed to extract some nifty workout hints and tips from him.



THANKS TOM!!!

A great listen… really NOT TO BE MISSED. (I’ve already listened to it twice since we recorded it!! So many great tips and advice I just keep replaying it and making more and more notes! LOL)

Enjoy!!

And, here is an “audio only” version for anyone who doesn’t care about all my pretty pictures, or wants to download the interview and keep it for reference (like I often do with awesome interviews like this):

Ok, Tom has a lot of cool things on offer, don’t you think? I just realized I threw a lot of links at you throughout the interview trying to make sure you were all linked up to his great stuff.

Here it all is again just in case any of it wasn’t clear or went by too fast:

Grab Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle here:

Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Save yourself a trip to the bookstore by grabbing The Body Fat Solution Hardcover or The Body Fat Solution Audio Book here:

The Body Fat Solution Hardcover

The Body Fat Solution Audio Book

Join Tom’s Burn The Fat Inner Circle here:

Burn The Fat Inner Circle

And, last but not least enter the Burn The Fat Holiday Challenge here (but hurry … because like Tom says, the CONTEST CLOSES AT MIDNIGHT PST THIS WEDNESDAY, November 25, 2009):

Burn The Fat Holiday Challenge

…and don’t let me hear you say I never hook ya up!! LOL

(pssst… this is the resort in Jamaica Tom is sending the winners to … tempting, huh? oooooo… I’m dying to go!!!)

Wow!! What a day!! Good Luck in the Contest!

Have a fit, fun and fabulous day and we’ll see you again soon!
Girlwithnoname

oh and ps. if you DO win the contest PLEASE do not send me pictures of you with your awesome Jamaican tan. I’m jealous enough as it is!! LOL

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Hey you guys… I found a fantastic article written by Tom Venuto. Give it a read and you’ll see why I’m so hyped up on his fantastic book. He knows what he’s talking about and he speaks the truth!

The 2 Pounds Per Week Rule and How to Burn Fat Faster
By Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com

Why do you always hear that 2 pounds per week is the maximum amount of fat you should safely lose? If you train really hard while watching calories closely shouldn’t you be able to lose more fat without losing muscle or damaging your health? What if you want to lose fat faster? How do you explain the fast weight losses on The Biggest Loser? These are all good questions that I’ve been asked many times. With the diet marketplace being flooded every day with rapid weight loss claims, these questions desperately need and deserve some honest answers. Want to know where that 2 pounds per week rule comes from and what it really takes to burn more than 2 pounds of fat per week? Read on.

Why Only 2 Pounds Per Week?

The truth is, two pounds is not the maximum amount you can safely lose in a week. That’s only a general recommendation and a good benchmark for setting weekly goals. It’s also sensible and realistic because it’s based on average or typical results.

The actual amount of fat you can lose depends on many factors. For example, weight losses tend to be relative to body size. The more body fat you carry, the more likely you’ll be able to safely lose more than two pounds per week. Therefore, we could individualize our weekly guideline a bit by recommending a goal of 1-2 lbs of fat loss per week or up to 1% of your total weight. If you weighed 300 lbs, that would be 3 lbs per week.

Body Weight Vs Body Composition

Weight loss is somewhat meaningless unless you also talk about body composition; the fat to muscle ratio, as well as water weight. Ask any wrestler about fast weight loss and he’ll tell you things like, “I cut 10 lbs overnight to make a weight class. It was easy – I just sweated it off.”

You’ve also probably seen people that went on some extreme induction program or a lemon juice and water fast for the first week and dropped an enormous amount of weight. But once again, you can bet that a lot of that weight was water and lean tissue and in both cases, you can bet that those people put the weight right back on.

The main potential advantage of any type of induction period for rapid weight loss in the first week is that a large drop on the scale is a motivational boost for many people (even if it is mostly water weight).

Why do you hear so many diet and fitness professionals insist on 2 lbs a week max? Where does that number come from? Well, aside from the fact that it’s a recommendation in government health guidelines and in position statements of most nutrition and exercise organizations, it’s just math. The math is based on what’s practical given the number of calories an average person burns in a day and how much food someone can reasonably cut in a day.

How Do You Lose More Than 2 Pounds Per Week?

Can you lose more than 2 lbs of pure fat in a week? Yes, although it’s easier in the beginning. It gets harder as your diet progresses. How do you do it? My rule is, extraordinary results require extraordinary efforts. An extraordinary effort means a particularly strict diet, as well as burning more calories through training because you can only cut your calories so far from food before you’re starving and suffering from severe hunger.

Simply put, you need a bigger calorie deficit.

If you have a 2500 calorie daily maintenance level, and you want to drop 3 lbs of fat per week withe diet alone, you’d need a huge daily deficit of 1500 calories, which would equate to eating 1000 calories per day. You would lose weight rapidly for as long as you could maintain that deficit (although it would slow down over time). Most people aren’t going to last long on so little food and they often end with a period of binge eating. It’s not practical (or fun) to cut calories so much and in some cases it could be unhealthy.

The other alternative is to train for hours and hours a day, literally. People ask me all the time, “Tom, how is it possible for the Biggest Loser contestants to lose so much weight? Well first of all they’re not measuring body fat, only body weight. Then you have the high starting body weights and the large water weight loss in the beginning. After that, just do the math – they’re training hours a day so they’re creating a huge calorie deficit.

But without that team of trainers, dieticians, teammates, a national audience and all that prize money, do you think they’d be motivated and accountable enough to do anywhere near that amount and intensity of exercise in the real world? Would it even be possible if they had a job and family? Not likely, is it? It’s not practical to do that much exercise, and it’s not practical to cut your calories below a 1000 a day and remain compliant. If you manage to achieve the latter, it’s very difficult not to rebound and regain the weight afterwards for a variety of physiological and psychological reasons.

For Fast Fat Loss: Less Food Or Harder Training?

Trainers are becoming more inventive these days in coming up with high intensity workouts that burn a large amount of calories and really give the metabolism a boost. This can help speed up the fat loss within a given amount of time. But as you begin to utilize higher intensity workouts, you have to start being on guard for overtraining or overuse injuries.That’s why strict nutrition with an aggressive calorie deficit is going to have to be a major part of any fast fat loss strategy. Unfortunately, very low calorie dieting has its own risks in the way of lean tissue loss, slower metabolism, extreme hunger, and greater chance of weight re-gain.

My approach to long term weight control is to lose weight slowly and patiently and follow a nutrition plan that is well balanced between lean protein, healthy fats and natural carbs and doesn’t demonize any entire food group. To lose fat, you simply create a caloric deficit by burning more and eating less (keeping the nutrient density of those calories as high as possible, of course).

But to achieve the extraordinary goals such as photo-shoot-ready, super-low body fat or simply faster than average fat loss, while minimizing the risks, I often turn to a stricter cyclical low carb diet for brief “peaking” programs. I explain this method in chapter 12 of my e-book Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle (it’s my “phase III” or “competition” diet).

The cyclical aspect of the diet means that after three to six days of an aggressive calorie deficit and strict diet, you take a high calorie / high carb day to re-feed the body and re-stimulate the metabolism. Essentially, this helps reduce the starvation signals your body is receiving. It’s also a psychological break from the deprivation which helps improve compliance and prevent relapse.

The higher protein intake can help prevent lean tissue loss and curb the hunger. A high protein diet also helps by ramping up dietary thermogenesis. A high intake of greens, fibrous vegetables and low calorie fruits can help tip the energy balance equation in your favor as fibrous veggies are very low in calorie density and some of the calories in the fiber are not metabolizable. Healthy fats are added in adequate quantities, while the calorie-dense simple sugars and starchy carbs are kept to a minimum except on refeed days and after (or around) intense workouts.

There’s No Magic, Just Math

In my experience, a high protein, reduced carb approach in conjunction with weights and cardio can help maximize fat loss – both in terms of increasing speed of fat loss and particularly for getting rid of the last of the stubborn fat. It helps with appetite control too. But always bear in mind that the faster fat loss occurs primarily as a result of the larger calorie deficit (which is easily achieved with sugars and starches minimized), not some type of “low carb magic.” If your diet were high in natural carbs but you were able to diligently maintain the same large calorie deficit, the results would be similar.

I’m seeing more and more advertisements that not only promise rapid weight loss, but go so far as saying that you’re doing it wrong if you’re losing “only” two pounds per week. “Why settle” for slow weight loss, they insist. Well, it’s certainly possible to lose more than two pounds per week, but it’s critically important to understand that there’s a world of difference between rapid weight loss and permanent fat loss.

It’s also vital to know that there’s no magic in faster fat loss, just math. All the new-fangled dietary manipulations and high intensity training programs that really do help increase the speed of fat loss all come full circle to the calorie balance equation in the end, even if they claim their method works for other reasons and they don’t mention calories burned or consumed at all.

Beware of The Quick Fix

Faster fat loss IS possible. My question is, are you willing to tolerate the hunger, low calories and high intensity exercise for that kind of deficit? Do you have the work ethic? Do you have the supreme level of dietary restraint necessary to stop yourself from bingeing and putting the weight right back on when that aggressive diet is over? Or would you rather do it in a more moderate way where you’re not killing yourself, but instead are making slow and steady lifestyle changes and taking off 1-2 lbs of pure fat per week, while keeping all your hard-earned muscle?

Remember, 1-2 pounds per week is 50-100 pounds in a year. Is that really so slow or is that an astounding transformation? You don’t gain 50-100 pounds over night, so why should anyone expect to take it off overnight? Personally, I think short-term thinking and the pursuit of quick fixes are the worst diseases of our generation.

If you want to be one of those “results not typical” fat loss transformations, it can be done and it may be a perfectly appropriate short-term goal for the savvy and sophisticated fitness enthusiast. It’s your call. But when you set your goals, it might be wise to remember that old fable of the tortoise and the hare, and buyer beware if you go shopping for a fast weight loss program in today’s shady marketplace.

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

Hey everyone!! How’s everyone’s week coming along?? I continue to be losing my mind (how is there never enough time in any given day?) but managed to get my workout in today anyway, sleep deprivation and all! Yes, my insomnia has returned. Oh well, I just power through it these days. Anyway, Tom Venuto and the awesome advice and principles he talks about in his book “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” came to mind again as I was sweating it out thinking about what I’m going to have for my post-workout meal. Tom is one of those guys that believes in HARD WORK and eating good nutrient-dense food as your ticket to true fitness, and he’s got the body to back it up (click the link at the bottom of the page if you don’t believe me).

I also share another recipe that I invented. I always get weird comments back when I post one of my weird oatmeal combinations but I swear!! Its tasty!! REALLY!!! :-) .. and its super healthy too, and full of protein to boot!!

I also share a little tip about how to get a complete protein into your meals if you aren’t eating any animal products in any given meal and without touching the evils of soy!!!!

Check it out!!

If you’re interested in getting Tom Venuto’s book “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” GET IT HERE!!!