If you’re interested in getting lean you’ve probably heard of this new “Twinkie Diet” diet the media has been going nuts about.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock that is.

Seems it’s been touted as the big solution by everyone out there.

“See? Proof! Just get your calories right and you’re golden.”

Whatevvvvverrrrrrr…..!!!!

I think it’s all bullsh*t (oh, pardon my language, but seriously… here we go again hoping for that magical fix and being led around by the nose by the media who knows it’s human nature to look for the ‘easy way out’ of anything that requires real work).

And getting lean requires real work.

I was gonna vent off about it all today, but my friend and colleague Tom Venuto pretty much already said everything I would have said, so I’m sharing his straight-to-the-point and informative article on the topic here instead.

Read it in full. It will clear up the facts vs. the fallacies for you. In spades.

And then join me in my ire!! LOL!

And get back to work and back to eating the kinds of foods that get you CLOSER to your goals, not FURTHER.

Thanks for letting me share, Tom! I appreciate it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nutrition Professor Loses 27 Pounds on Twinkie Diet:
What Should We Make of It?
written by Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

The most controversial weight loss story on the web this week: Mark Haub, a nutrition professor from Kansas State University, lost 27 pounds in 10 weeks on a “convenience store diet” with at least two-thirds of his food consisting of Twinkies, Little Debbie Snacks, Doritos, Sugary Cereals and Oreos. The rest of his intake included some vegetables, protein drinks and a multi-vitamin. The weight loss wasn’t surprising, since he limited himself to 1800 calories per day on his “Twinkie diet,” which was part of a class experiment. What surprised most people was that his health indicators (HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride) got better, not worse. What now? Should we trade in our fruits and veggies for ding dongs?

Since CNN reported on Professor Haub’s experiment earlier this week, the blogosphere has lit up with some (very divided) commentary.

Haub’s experiment, which he documented on his facebook page, has been drawing ire from the natural health, nutrition-fanatic, anti-junk food crowd who say the experiment was irresponsible and that publicizing the results is sending the wrong message. They’re saying, “It’s about nutrition and food quality above all else!”

On the other hand, it drew responses of “no duh” or “nothing new” from other people who claim that “It’s about calories in versus calories out above all else.”

Haub’s hypothesis: it’s the calories that matter for weight loss. His results certainly support that.

Ironically, people on both sides of the argument are right and wrong at the same time. The way people have interpreted these results and the way they’ve gotten so riled up about this makes it clear to me that most people STILL don’t get it.

What does Haub’s “Twinkie Diet” experiment really prove?

This is simply a great anecdotal example that weight loss really is a matter of calories in versus calories out. Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight

Obesity is caused by an energy imbalance. Consume more calories than you burn and you will gain weight.

For people in this day and age to deny the truth about thermodynamics in weight loss – a truth which is published in hundreds of nutrition, physiology and exercise science textbooks and thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers – is unfathomable.

Denying that calories matter in weight loss is like denying gravity (you can ignore it if you want, but the consequences could get ugly).

But such is the power of personal belief systems. People believe in all kinds of weird things about health, food and weight loss, which they sometimes defend with religious ferocity.

All over the world, we still see people swear that obesity is caused by ____________ (fill in the blank): hormones, toxins, ph imbalance, inflammation, grains, meat, fat, carbs, or … ITS THE JUNK FOOD! …

Whatever dietary or physiological scapegoat they want to blame it on, as long as it’s … ANYTHING BUT THE CALORIES!

(because it couldn’t be as simple as that … could it?)

Does junk food contribute to obesity? Sure it does – because it’s calorie-dense and easy to over-eat, (and some argue, addictive), especially the high fat plus high sugar combination, and especially liquid sugar in the form of soda.

But that brings us full circle to calories in versus calories out doesn’t it? If you eat foods that easily lead you into a surplus, you get fat. It happens whether the foods are “clean” or “unclean”, whether they are protein, carbs or fat, animal-based or vegetarian.

The idea that eating all natural, nutrient-dense food is all it takes to achieve weight loss is incorrect. You can eat all natural, unprocessed, organic, “clean” food, but if you overeat (into a surplus) you will still gain fat.

So should we follow the professor and adopt the Twinkie diet, knowing that you can lose weight on a low calorie junk food diet?

No, of course not. That’s NOT what I’m suggesting at all. Nutritional quality is extremely important for health, energy, longevity, vitality and mental acuity. The long term consumption of artificial, processed food will eventually lead to health problems of one type or another. With sugary junk foods, I’m particularly concerned given today’s epidemic of diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Why didn’t Haub get sick?

There are some simple possibilities for why this nutrition professor may not have seen decrements in his health markers:

1. This was a short term experiment. Long term results may be much different

4. Some people are pre-disposed to react badly to dietary fat and especially sugar, while others are not. Perhaps Mr. Haub was one of the luckier ones in the genetics department.

On the other hand, if his junk food eating had lead to a calorie surplus and he gained weight, which is very likely to happen in free-living (especially sedentary) individuals who aren’t carefully tracking calories like Haub did, his health markers would have gone down the sh*tter.

Here’s the problem: with the media circus that this stunt has created (even people like Rush Limbaugh have chimed in), I agree that people could misinterpret this story/experiment as free license to eat anything. In fact, that is the exact message I’m seeing all over the web among bloggers and commenters.

The media typically does a poor job reporting on these types of things – journalists are usually not fitness/nutrition experts. But there are actually some (otherwise) very smart people using Haub’s experiment as proof, to support their belief that all you have to do is get your calories right and get your macronutrients (protein, etc) right and after that, anything goes – eat what you want.

I think it’s fair to say that Haubs’s experiment supports the idea that you don’t have to be a health food fanatic. It’s ok to enjoy the foods you want and relax your diet a bit … but not too much!

When I see the kind of dichotomous thinking that suggests its either calorie quality OR calorie quantity that matters, I know that people on both sides of the issue still have a long way to go in understanding the cause of obesity and the relationship between weight loss and health.

On top of that, it’s alarming how few people are discussing the importance of body composition versus weight loss. The macronutrient ratio and nutritional quality of your diet – particularly in combination with training – can affect what kind of weight is lost – fat or muscle.

What should we make of all this? Let me sum it up for you:

Food QUANTITY for weight management … food QUALITY for health and vitality … You’d better get BOTH of them right if you want to be lean AND healthy for life.

- Tom Venuto

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yup, I’m glad SOMEONE out there is speaking with the voice of reason.

Thanks again Tom. That nailed it.

Learn more about Tom’s incredible fitness manual here:
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

I have worked it extensively and come back to it often.
Quite simply: it works!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

10705

Happy Friday!

Get your workout in yet?

Lemme hear a “hellz yah“… and hallelujah to that!

… oh wait, was that a contradiction in terms? *shrug* oh well! LOL

So, today was a hills run kinda day (not because I wanted to so much but because it was on the schedule … and trust me, if I’d had my choice I would have gone for a nice long brain-friendly endurance run … damn, I really coulda gone for that too … but no … I can’t do that EVERY day and my schedule said “do hills” so … well … I did hills) …

And, as usual I taught myself something while deep in thought on that very same (not so fun) run and wanted to share it with you.

Do YOU need a new challenge?

Are you stagnating while patiently waiting for someone or something to present you with one?

Oh, YAWN … really?

Go GET a challenge. They’re EVERYWHERE… you just gotta know where to find them…

More here:

And for those of you that need MORE than just an “internal” challenge, have I got the challenge of a lifetime for YOU!!

Wanna go to Maui? FOR FREE?

JUST for doing what you want to do anyway?

Tom Venuto, author of one of MY personal fitness BIBLES “Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle” is conducting a SUMMER TRANSFORMATION CONTEST.

If you need a challenge that you can really sink your teeth into with MORE than the internal rewards I just talked about in the video, then this is where you need to be.

C’mon!!! You CAN do it!

You can get the body of your dreams and get that self-same kick-ass body off to Maui.

You just need the challenge … and the motivation, right?

Can you think of a better challenge? I certainly can’t.

Do … it … now.

Enter Tom’s contest and show everyone else what YOU are made of …

… perseverance, dedication and commitment …

… and go to freaking MAUI !!

And take me with you!! LOL !!!

Here’s where to get yourself set up:

==> Burn The Fat Summer Challenge

Now THAT’s the way to tackle the challenges that Summer presents:

HEAD ON !!

See you in Maui !

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day!
Girlwithnoname

ps. Have you seen Tom’s latest program yet? Groundbreaking and mind blowing (at least in my opinion) … probably worth a look. ‘Nuff said:

FIND OUT MORE HERE ==> The Holy Grail Body Transformation Program

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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?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

5623

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

4999

Hey everyone!!

Ever try to record a blog video when you have guests arriving at the same time? That was my challenge today!! It’s kinda funny, but I got ‘er done anyway!

So, how is your weekend going? Getting ready for the holidays? Trying your best to avoid the treats and goodies?? Well, here’s something that may interest you if you’re having a helluva time getting around that challenge!

As I was getting ready for a holiday party tonight, I got to thinking about the other ways I manage my consumption during the holidays so I don’t pack on the pounds with all the temptations floating around.

I got a great idea from Brad Pilon, the guy that developed the Eat Stop Eat system of intermittent fasting…

…and then combined that with some suggestions Tom Venuto, author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle gave us in his awesome interview a few posts ago.

Thanks to those guys, I’ve come up with some great sneaky strategies to keep your calorie consumption in check AND still be able to enjoy the decadence of the holidays.

mmmmmmm….. Yum Yum!!

Holiday goodies without the guilt or consequences? Yes, it CAN be done!

Simple, huh? It’s all about the math!!

If you want to save your waistline this holiday season, then check out Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat concepts for yourself. It goes a long way to getting through the tempting times!!

Eat Stop Eat

And here’s that interview I did with Tom Venuto a couple of weeks ago, just in case you missed it (and hey, it really is NOT to be missed):

Interview with Tom Venuto, Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

As always here’s today’s Workout Song of the Day.

You guys are smart, I know you can figure out the tie-in with this one. I mean, if you add up all your calories at the end of the day, did you stick to the plan or didn’t you?

Remember, its all about “Calories In vs. Calories Out“… so at the end of the day just… “Add It Up“… was it a good day or not?

And its a great song for weight training too. I think The Violent Femmes may have actually invented angst!! LOL.

Enjoy!

VIOLENT FEMMES – Add It Up

Don’t forget, if ya love it and want it, go get it! Click the buy button on the player widget and off ya go to Amazon, who will set you up fast!

That’s it for today. Enjoy ramping up for the holidays having all the fun, but without any of the guilt!

Have a fit, fun and fabulous day!
Girlwithnoname

3537

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

3149

Special Blog Post today!!!

I absolutely HAVE to share this with you guys RIGHT NOW before it’s too late!

Tom Venuto, author of one of my favourite fitness and nutrition books ever – Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle, is putting on a special Holiday Transformation Contest this year (his first one ever), and hundreds are lining up to join.

Quite frankly, if you’re concerned about getting through the holidays without self-sabotaging all your weight loss efforts this year you should join too.

I’m pretty excited about this particular contest because it’s DIFFERENT than all the others…

…this one runs THROUGH the holidays (aka: you get awesome motivation and support and tools to help you get through the holidays unscathed by all the treats and goodies tempting you and threatening to ruin all your hard work so far this year)…

AND (wait for it…)

…the winners are being sent on a 5 night all inclusive Caribbean Dream Vacation in Negril, Jamaica (ooooo, drat, I’m jealous).

And before you think “gee, so many contestants, I’ll never win” consider this:

There are SEVERAL CATEGORIES so you absolutely DO have a chance to win…

… and consider this too:

Whether or not you actually win a prize, you WILL be a “winner” regardless, because just getting through the holidays without completely sabotaging your weight loss and fitness goals and even getting FITTER and LEANER over the holidays while everyone else around you gets fatter and out of shape will BE REWARD ENOUGH!!

AM I RIGHT???

YES, I AM RIGHT.

Remember, if you join in with this contest you CAN come out on the other side of all the decadence of the holidays fitter and leaner, instead of fatter and frustrated.

And you might even be on your way to the Caribbean!!!

There are two ways to enter this contest!

Either join Tom’s Burn The Fat Inner Circle (wait a minute… did he steal that from me? LOL) and you will automatically be entered…

OR…

Purchase Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle (and you know it comes highly recommended by ME) and you will automatically be entered…

Pretty easy …

… and a helluva deal because investing in EITHER of these tools without the contest as a bonus is a smart investment in your health anyway…

(oh, and if you already own the book there IS a way for you to join the contest for FREE, so make sure you head over to the contest registration site to check that out … and good for you for being so smart and already owning this incredible health resource)

To enter now or check it out in more detail get your butt over to Tom’s Burn The Fat Holiday Transformation Challenge page RIGHT NOW.

But HURRY UP, because registration closes on Wednesday November 25, 2009. After that, the doors slam shut and Tom is not accepting any further entrants.

Burn The Fat Holiday Transformation Contest

That’s it for today!! Get over there and enter now, and we’ll see you on the other side of the holidays looking great and feeling fantastic!!!

Girlwithnoname
ps. don’t forget, the doors close this Wednesday so get in there now, before it’s too late!!

3102

Hey everyone!! Happy Hump Day (and no… sadly, its not what it sounds like! HAHAHAAAA!!!…all it really means to me is that today was the day to sweat it out over my weight stack…alas).

Hope you are all having a fabulous Wednesday. Mine’s been rocking so far!! Very excited about many fun things coming up! But I digress…

Yesterday I did an endurance run with hills (yes, on those hills I showed you in the last video “Walking Tour of my Cardio Path“), and man, I tell ya, that one staircase in the middle of my run never fails to beat the living daylights out of me.

Today I did Day 2 of my new weightlifting program. I love it. I’ve got Muscle Pump today and am feeling hopeful for a case of DOMS tomorrow!! haha!!

Check it out!

And for you guys that are seeing me via RSS I have to apologize profusely, but my song of the day widget does not seem to be translating into my RSS feed properly, so if you want to hear the song of the day today … or any day for the foreseeable future (cuz technically, things progress slowly in my world), please come over to my blog to see my very cool widget (I promise its cool, but you have to come over to see it! ha!)…and on that note, if anyone out there knows how to fix this, I’m all over getting a helping hand from you… please comment or email me at the address in my contact section [see tabs above] and we can connect on Skype or something… and THANKS in advance for THAT!!!)

But anyway, here’s today’s Workout Song of the Day!!

ANTI-FLAG – The Press Corpse (another angst filled song that is totally great for Weight Training)

Also, please don’t forget to sign up for my Inner Circle Newsletter… I found a great article yesterday that I’m not planning to put on the blog, its JUST for my Inner Circle Loyals, so if you wanna see it, ya gotta sign up!! Its coming out later this evening.

Finally, here is a ROCKING article I’ve been tweeting about all day today… its an absolute MUST READ for ANYONE interested in stepping up their game in regards to good nutrition or fat loss. SERIOUSLY!! Tom Venuto fills us in on The Top Ten Weight Loss Foods That Help You Get Six Pack Abs. You guys know how I feel about Tom Venuto. Besides being a God in the Fitness Industry, he’s one of the guys responsible for my own journey to ripped!! Give it a read. You will be glad you did. I am.

oh, and PS, if you want to get Tom’s book (which you guys know I LOOOVE), click here Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle, or click on the Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle book over on the sidebar.

Over ‘n out!! See you again very soon!!
xo to all!



]]> http://www.girlwithnoname.com/2009/06/hump-day-is-weights-day/feed/ 2 http://www.girlwithnoname.com/2009/05/tom-venuto-wisdom/ http://www.girlwithnoname.com/2009/05/tom-venuto-wisdom/#comments Sun, 10 May 2009 19:57:07 +0000 Girlwithnoname http://www.girlwithnoname.com/?p=825

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’m still doing my headless chicken routine, but managed to get some hillsprints in today and that got me thinking more about interval training and Tom Venuto and the awesome advice and principles he talks about in his book “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle”. Tom is one of those guys that believes in HARD WORK over starving yourself in order to lose fat.

I also share a recipe that I invented. When I first published this recipe on Twitter, I got a few incredulous responses asking if it actually tastes any good. Well, YES, it does and if you don’t believe me, ask one of my converts!! My friend over on www.thefightgeek.org didn’t believe me, tried it anyway and now eats it regularly! Its a super good, nutrient-rich combination for pre or post workout with lots of protein!!

And finally, are brown eggs more nutritious than white eggs?? I answer this question too!

Check it out!!

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