Part 2 - An Exclusive Interview With Fat Loss Expert Tom Venuto By Tom Nicoli

Skyrocket Your Fat Loss Success!

Tom Nicoli: You know, Tom, that leads me to mention something I learned about you, which was quite surprising at first, about how you do cover all aspects of yourself. What many people listening don’t know is that you’re not the typical fitness expert. What I mean by that is, like myself, you’re trained in neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and hyposis, the mind technique for change. So let me ask you, why did you go into the area of developing your mnd as well as being this expert in physical development?

Tom Venuto: Well, the mind is really the missing link for so many people who are trying to reach their fitness goals. If you know where you are now and you know where you want to go and you want to change, what’s missing are the resources and the tools you need to get to your destination. For example, if you want to travel and you know where you are and where you want to go, the car and the map and the itineary are the resources that you need. To get in shape, the first resource you need is information. You need nutrition and training information, or what Napoleon Hill called “specialized knowledge.”

What I’ve discovered is that some people will learn the nutrition and training information, and they’ll take that ball and run with it, and they will reach all their goals and be very successful. But I also see many people get the exact same information and resources as other people, and yet there’s still something missing. They’re blocked, and they can’t seem to reach their goals. They can’t apply the information or they apply it inconsistently, or they sabotage themselves in one form or another.

The diffreence between those two people is on a psychological level. You have to approach fitness and health and reaching your ideal weight on both the physical and on the mental planes. There could be a variety of things holding people back: negative programming being put in, old conditioning, limiting beliefs, secondary gain (which is some kind of strong reason to stay the same), poor self-image, lack of clarity in values and priorities. All these ting are mostly on a subconscious level.

Tom Nicoli: This is fantastic, because it all ties in. Everything you ust said ties in with the whole purpose of me creating SkyrocketPersonalSuccess.com, where people who are visiting this site and hearing these intervies, are seeing that we are offering all these areas of attention and information. Because, as you said, it’s almost as if people find just one thing to latch onto. That would pretty much be like having a steering wheel, but not having he accelerator, or having some form of transportation, but not all the components. That’s fantastic.

Now, I know you’ve been a bodybuilder for 20 years. Does your Burn The Fat syste lend itself only to someone who’s interested in bodybuilding and self-image? Or is it for anyone simply wanting to be healthier?

Tom Venuto: What I teach is for everyone, for health as well as for looks. I have heard some people say that they shied away from my material at first because they that I was a bodybuilder. They figured, “Oh, well, I’m not a bodybuilder, so it’s not for me.” Or they got intimidated whey they saw the word “bodybuilder,” because my book is subtitled “Fat burning secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models.” I thin it would probably be more accurate if I changed the subtitle to, “What every man and woman can learn from bodybuilders about permanent fat loss.”

What I did as I just found and modeled the most successful people. It was simply a matter of finding people who had achieved the right outcome and then copying what they did. I know from having been a bodybuilder for so many years that bodybuilders were the best people to model, because they don’t just focus on weight loss. Out of necessity, they must focus on keeping muscle while losing the fat, and that’s a very key distinction.

The conventional diets, which are what most people gravitate toward because that’s what’s most advertised in the mainstream media, are very much focused on scale weight and pounds. I’m sure you’ve seen the ads, “Lose 30 pounds in 30 days,” or “Lose 9 pounds every 11 days, or this one’s very common, especially with the low-carb diets – “Lose 8 to 15 pounds your first two weeks.” It sounds great, but you really can’t lose 8 to 15 pounds of body fat in two weeks. If they say the weights is fat, than these are bogus claims, ad I know the FTC will agree when they catch them. If you do lose that much weight, you mght lose a few pounds of fat, several pounds of muscle and a lot of water. Bt that’s entirely the wrong goal. So I think it’s important that you choose the right goal and the right role models. Bodybuilders have a system for losing fat and keeping muscle, that no mainstream diet program can touch with a ten-foot pole, and that’s what I teach to anybody and everybody.

It’s not even a diet program: it’s a lifestyle, really. It’s a way of eating and exercising that you stick with for the rest of your life, not for the next 30 days or the next 12 weeks. It’s incredibly effective, and it achieves the right outcome, keeping the muscle and losing the fat.

So these principles can be applied by anyone, and I don’t think anyone should be intimidated by the word “bodybuilding.” I mean, if you think about it, anybody who picks up even a 5 or 10 pound dumbell is bodybuilding. Lift weights, and you’re building your body.

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

Part 1 - An Exclusive Interview With Fat Loss Expert Tom Venuto By Tom Nicoli

Skyrocket Your Fat Loss Success!

Tom Nicoli: Hello, everyone. This is Tom Nicoli of TomNicoli.com and SkyrocketPersonalSuccess.com. The information have gathered, through the variety of experts in all areas of personal success is simply the best, and today is yet another example. We all know in order to achieve personal success, it takes more than effort and time. The journey to personal success requires physical fitness and health, and today that’s what we’ll be talking about.

My guest goday is Tom Venuto of burnthefat.com, one of the world’s leading experts on burning body fat. Tom is a natural bodybuilder, personal trainer, nutritiionist, best selling author, and success coach. I guarantee you that what Tom will tell you today is going to surprise you, because I know I was amazed when I first learned what he had to say.

Be sure to get ready to take notes, because what Tom will share is unique information you won’t hear from many experts in the weight loss and fitness industry. So first lwt me say, welcome, Tom, and thank you so much for taking this time and for sharing what I know is incredibly important for anyone listening who wants to skyrocket their own personal success.

Tom Venuto: Thanks for having me on the call, Tom.

Tom Nicoli: Now, Tom, the first thing I’d like to ask, before we begin, is to please share a bit of your background and what you do in the area of physical fitness and trainng.

Tom Venuto: Sure, be glad to. I’ve been involved in the health and fitness field my entire life. I started working out when I was 14, and I started training other people by the time I was 20. When I went to college, I earned a degree in Exercise Science. I then got certified by the top exercise organizations in the world, the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and then I immediately went to work as a personal trainer for various health clubs. Later I got involved more in the business aspect of health clubs – owning and managing them.

More recently, I’ve become an Internet pubisher, and that has allowed me to reach people all over the world through my websites, my newsletters, and my e-books. In 2003, I launched a web-based program called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle at burnthefat.com, which is the world’s most effective fat loss system. There are now Burn The Fat users in 125 countries, so the Internet has been an incredible tool for spreading the word. It has let me reach a much, much larger number of people than just working one-on-one in the health clubs.

Tom Nicoli: You just mentioned that not only have you become successful in the area of physical fitness but also as a business owner and in the Internet. Tell us how necessary or important do you feel that the physical fitness aspect has helped you in the other areas of becoming successful?

Tom Venuto: It’s vitally important. I don’t think you can say you’re completely successful unless you’re successful in all the areas of your life, including your health.

Success means different things to different people, but surely it means balance. If you’re financially successful but you don’t have your health, then I don’t think you’re really successful. Or if you have your health and you’re struggling to pay the bills and you don’t have good relationships, I don’t think you’re successful. When you have it all; when you’re physicall fit, and you have your health and you have energy, when you have financial success, relationship success, success in your spiritual life, than everything in your life just woks, better. It all comes together and falls into place.

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

"BIG FAT LIES" PART 12

Fat Loss Lie #12:

:: You Can Lose weight working out just "minutes" each day ::

2 MINUTE ABS

A FEW MINUTES IN THE MORNING!

THE ONE WORKOUT A WEEK FITNESS REVOLUTION!

CHANGE YOUR BODY IN 30 MINUTES A WEEK

I'd like to caution you about the mindset of trying to get more results in less time. But let me clarify:

You should always, (of course), look for ways get the most benefit from every minute you spend in the gym.

That's called "time efficiency," and that is a good thing.

What I'm referring to when I speak of the "more for less" mindset is the error of looking for better results in the form of a "secret" training program, short cut, miracle pill, or easy, "overnight" cure without putting in the necessary time and effort.

There's a fine line between training enough to stimulate growth and overtraining. We are warned continually not to overtrain or we'll hold back our strength and muscle gains. We are also cautioned not to do too much aerobics or we'll lose the muscle we already have.

It's true that many people are overtraining - maybe even most people. But just as there's fine a line between optimal training and overtraining, there's also a fine line between optimal training and undertraining.

The minimalist "less is more" approach is highly appealing because it represents the ultimate "lazy man (or woman's)" approach. (And it SELLS!)

The promoters are basically saying, "Hey, you're spending too much time in the gym and it's holding back your gains. Buy my secret miracle training program from Bulgaria, and you only have to train once or twice a week for a few minutes and you'll double your results."

Briefer and less frequent workouts are only good to the extent to which they prevent you from overtraining and they optimize hormonal response to training. Minimalism as a marketing appeal is a completely different story. Make sure you recognize the difference between the two.

I thought the "just minutes in the morning" idea was ridiculous (but brilliant from a marketing perspective), now someone just wrote a book called 2-minute abs. What's next? 30-second abs? Massive muscles in five minutes? The one rep muscle revolution?

Your body is begging for exercise - it's an amazing machine that was designed to be used often and vigorously. In fact, your body is the only machine that wears out faster when you don't use it!

Training for basic health benefits and training for maximum fat loss and muscle growth may not be the same thing. To get maximum changes in body composition, you need a much higher frequency, duration and intensity.

You can get health benefits from very small amounts of exercise. Even walking to work or class, or raking the leaves in your yard can have health benefits. But you get even greater health benefits from larger amounts of exercise.

You can get a training effect (muscle growth and strength increase) in as few as two or three thirty-minute workouts per week, especially if you use highly time efficient trainingmethods such as high intensity interval training for cardioand supersets, circuits and short rest intervals for strengthtraining.

However, you cannot expect to become super lean and highlymuscular without putting in the time and effort.

Here's what it all boils down to: You reap what you sow...The rewards you take out will always come in direct proportion to the work you put in. The best bodies are built with high levelsof physical activity. There's simply no quick fix.

That's it for the BIG FAT LIES mini course.

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

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BURN THE FAT READER MAIL & FEEDBACK...
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"Tom, I purchased the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle ebook a few months ago. Having been an avid Body for Lifer for several years with much success, I wanted to take things a step further and I heard that Burn The Fatwas a good "next step."

After a recent muscle building phase that lasted most of a winter, It was somewhat difficult reducing the slight bodyfat that I gained during the building up phase

The 20 minutes of HIIT cardio recommended in BFL just wasn't working. I'm 47 years old and I guess my metabolism just isn't what it used to be, even with the extra muscleI've developed

Your advice and in depth explanation of how to break througha plateau and reach the next level has helped me to shed those last few fat percentage points to get my body fat down to the low teens where I want to stay.

By the way, I love your weekly newsletters and anxiously await them every week.

I would advise anyone who is serious about losing the fat and keeping the muscle to read your Burn The Fat book, even if they already have Body For Life.

Thank you for a job well done.

- Stasia Bachrach

Learn How Carol Lost 26 lbs Since She Started Using Burn The Fat

Dear Tom,

I’m going to keep this as brief as possible because I know you’re a busy man and get tons of these – so here goes...

In a nutshell, your Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book has changed my life!!!! I’m 39 years old, have been fat all my life and have done all the wrong things and a constant has been starvation to the point of passing out. I wouldn’t even lick a postage stamp because I was obsessed, desperate, and crazy, and didn’t want to add to my calorie count.

My “wake-up” call for me was when this past February 2006, I was banging into doorways – misjudging the width of the doorway thinking I could get through but found myself hitting the edges. At first I didn’t think much of it but it kept happening so I bought a scale. I weighed 276 lbs. (I’m 5’7” btw) This was the biggest I have ever been and my heart just sank.

I prayed about this and asked the Lord to lead me in a direction that would help me get this weight off. I was so distraught over this and I didn’t know what to do so I asked for His help. Immediately afterwards I did a search for weight loss online and read some of the returns, then I saw the BFFM link. It was the first link I clicked on and I read it. I knew that this is what I needed.

I felt excitement and hope. I thought that maybe I was going to get an education on how to do this the right way and perhaps finally break that cycle. I bought it in March and read it (reread certain sections before starting) and I officially started in May.

Your book has taught me so much, it’s unbelievable!!!! Your book exposed my faulty thinking and corrected my misconceptions of which there were many. You have given me invaluable knowledge that I will carry with me for the rest of my life!

There is something else I noticed after being on the program for almost 5 months and I hope I can explain this well without minimizing the value of what you taught me. There is valuable information which you gave in your book – these are things that can be learned. Basically anyone can learn this if they buy the book (or any book for that matter).

But what I noticed is that my thinking has actually changed – it’s like I’ve been rewired or something. If and when I fall off the wagon, I get right back on. I no longer get discouraged and throw in the towel as I’ve done every single time I cheated before. Also, I WANT to exercise! I want to work hard and sweat. I never wanted to do that before.

How you think or what you believe can not be taught like a regular academic lesson. It is not something you learn but something you realize, which changes your actions and lifestyle which in turn makes it very powerful! I’m not exactly sure what has happened to me but my perspective has been changed and I KNOW I will succeed this time.

Back to the exercise briefly. I said I WANTED to exercise…well this is what I did after buying your book….

I created a series of floor exercises focusing on my abdominals.

I started walking but I wanted to burn more calories so...

I bought an elliptical machine. (which I use every other day increasing my mileage)

I bought Billy Blank’s Boot Camp Elite.

I got a cook book and weighted bands which I use when not on elliptical

I joined a forum for fat chicks which gives support, inspiration, and information.

So far I have lost 26 lbs. and shrunk two sizes and I’m on my way to being a healthy chicky. :)

This email is as brief as I know how to be and yet there’s so much more to say. Your book has changed my life. I know that sounds like a cliché but it is absolutely true! I will be forever thankful and grateful to you!

Many thanks and blessings,

Carol DeAngerlino

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

"BIG FAT LIES" PART 11

Fat Loss Lie #11:

:: Steroids, growth hormone, weight loss drugs or surgery will help me lose this stubborn fat for good and regain my health and youthful appearance ::

For many people who are frustrated with little or no results, despite their best intentions, physique-enhancing drugs or hormones appear to be a panacea or "miracle cure."

Steroids have been around for a long time. So have obesity drugs. Lately, there's been a push for the use of Human Growth Hormone or Testosterone under the harmless sounding labels of "anti-aging medicine" and "Hormone replacement therapy."

Of course, these are sometimes needed for clinicalreasons, but the sales pitch I'm referring to isbeing made mostly to perfectly healthy baby boomers, who desperately want to regain their youthful looks and vitality.

Dramatic short-term results in body composition can be achieved from using all kinds of weight loss drugs, steroids, thermogenics, thyroid drugs, growth hormone and other chemicals.

However, appearances can be deceiving. The road of drug use for cosmetic enhancement can be a wild ride in the beginning, but in the long run, it's a dead end street.

Regardless of whether we're talking about illegal steroids and performance enhancers, prescription obesity drugs, or even over the counter "fat burning" drugs like ephedrine, these are all really one in the same:

(1) multi million dollar moneymakers, and
(2) Short-term attempts at treating effects, not causes.

Lets take obesity drugs, for example:

What would happen if the pharmaceutical companies finally came out with a "safe and effective" obesity drug and brought it to the marketplace on a massive scale?

Here's exactly what would happen:

THE OBESITY PROBLEM WOULD CONTINUE, AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES WOULD GET RICHER!

Think about it: Did Xenical cure obesity? How about Phentermine? Meridia? Adipex? Bontril? Didrex? Tenuate?
What about Ephedrine? Did that solve the obesity problem?

How about gastric bypasses? 100,000 were performed last year. Did that solve the obesity problem?

In a few cases where someone's health is at stake, and when time is of the essence, the benefits of these approachesmay outweigh and justify the risks.

However, even in these cases, you have to concede that these are last-resort treatments - not first lines of defense -and absolutely not a substitute for proper nutrition and exercise. Here's the flaw with thinking that any drugs will be a long-term solution:

We live in an orderly universe where everything happens for a reason (by "law"). For every effect, there is a cause. There are no accidents.

A lean body never happens by accident.
An overweight body never happens by accident.

A lean body and an overweight body are effects. Both of these effects have causes. If you're overweight, you can create lasting changes 100% of the time if you uncover the cause of the overweight condition and remove it.

The cause of body fat in nearly all cases is inactivity, poor nutrition and often negative self-image issues. Drugs and surgery can only treat an effect (the fat). Even if the fat (the effect) is temporarily removed, it will come back if the cause is still there.

You can't expect pills, drugs or surgical procedures that only treat symptoms (effects) to create permanent changes.

Depending on your genetics, you may never look like a bodybuilder or fitness cover model, but you always have the power to improve your body and your health far above and beyond where you are today.

You can always improve, no matter where you arenow and no matter what your genetic disposition.

How? By accepting responsibility for your situation and then taking positive action every day for the rest of your life to improve it. You simply have to change your lifestyle!

Try to fight "the law" or avoid hard work by looking for short cuts if you want, but in the end, you'll always lose.

Try to ignore "the law" if you want, but ignorance of the law does not excuse you from its operation.

Lifelong health, fitness and a perfect body weight do not come out of a bottle or needle and never will - no matter what new concoction they cook up in the lab.

Those who think otherwise may gain temporary relief from health woes or enjoy some short-term benefits, but unless they alter their lifestyles, they'll have hard lessons to learn in the long run.

I envision a day when both the medical and fitness communities will join together to help stop this error in thinking, and begin to teach people how to improve their lifestyles and alter their mental attitudes instead of writing prescriptions and selling "magic" pills.

Dr. Joseph Mercola said it well:

"It is my vision to transform the existing medical paradigm from one addicted to pharmaceuticals, surgeries and other methods that only conceal or remove specific symptoms - with morbid results to our health and economy -- to one focused on treating and preventing the underlying causes."

To permanently become lean, you must identify the causes of excess fat, which can include poor nutrition, inactivity, unhealthy lifestyle, and psychological factors, then treat those. Only when the source of your problem is removed, will the unwanted effects disappear for good.

I do not endorse or support any kind of pill, drug or surgical procedure for losing fat except a last resort, after risks and benefits have been carefully analyzed. They are simply not necessary when your nutrition and training are done correctly.

Even then they cannot help you in the long run without achange to your lifestyle, which includes how you move, howyou eat and how you think.

If you'd like to learn more about the all-natural, no-drugs approach to fat loss and lifestyle change, then please visit my website at:

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

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BURN THE FAT READER MAIL & FEEDBACK...
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"Hi Tom,

As a well educated consumer, I admit, much like I'm sure many people out there, I was HIGHLY skeptical of your program.

"Too good to be true, most likely is" kept ringing through my mind every time I went back and considered buying your e-book.

Even a close friend of mine advised me not to buy into your book. He said the web-site sounded like "hype condemning hype" and that I could probably find the information I was looking for, for fr ee online, if I looked hard enough.

So I started looking online, for the information that your web page promised would be in the book.

I'll tell you what I found.

I found lots of web pages that offered fr ee advice, I found lots of personal web pages or message boards that not only offered false information, in some cases offered advise that was either counterproductive to burning fat and building muscle, but in some cases was FLAT OUT misinformation that was actually DANGEROUS if you followed it!

Then there were the "f r e e information" websites that linked you to a "Diet Program" website that charged you insane fees to be part of the same message board system that included the false information that I have already mentioned above!

That's not even including the "miracle fat loss" web pages filled with ads for this fat burner or that one.

Again and again, I came back to your website, considering.
I had read your reports, and was impressed. You really did seem to be offering what I was spending hours looking for:

Real information.

I was looking for a real plan to set up healthy eating habits, the "how's," "why's" and "what about's" of a plan to eat real food, for a better life.

Your book delivers. The "Menu Template" on page 237 is worth the $39.00 I paid for the book! It makes it so simple that it was amazing to me that I didn't think of it myself!

What your book has helped me understand, and put into practice, is that much like the performance of a car on Regular fuel vs. Premium fuel, what I eat has a HUGE effect on my mood, energy level, and overall well being.

Using the tips and information in your book has helped me greatly. I can work out longer because I have the right fuel. And I am already seeing better results because I have a clear goal in mind and am putting the information in your book to use.

I want to thank you for writing this book. I have even encouraged my "Doubting Thomas" friend to order it and read it too. To have so much real information in one tight package is an unbelievable value.

I would encourage anyone to take advantage of this great tool to transforming themselves into the fat burning machine we all were meant to be!

Kaellie Cunningham
Novato, CA

PS Tom, feel free to share this, I want everyone to know what a great value you are offering!"

Here's The Untold Truth About Really Fast Weight Loss!

Back “in the day” when I was a full time personal trainer and I met with weight loss clients in person at my New Jersey Health Club, the first thing I would always ask during the initial consultation was:

"Tell me what you want... and I'll show you how to get it."

Typical reply from client:

"I want to lose 20 pounds fast."

My reply:

"Are you SURE that's what you want? ...If I can show you how to lose 20 pounds REALLY fast, will that make you happy?"

They nodded their head affirmatively as their eyes lit up in anticipation of the rapid weight loss secrets I was about to reveal...

Their face went white when - with a totally straight face – I pulled out a hacksaw and started walking towards them.... menacingly.

Not sure whether to laugh or run in sheer terror, they said,

"What the heck are you doing?"

"You said you wanted to lose 20 pounds fast. This is the easiest, surest, most effective way I know to take 20 pounds off you FAST! In fact, I figure that right leg of yours might even weigh 25 pounds!"

I kept walking closer and started to get into sawing position, wielding my fast, effective and guaranteed weight loss tool...

"Bear with me because this IS quick, but sometimes it takes a few minutes for me to cut through the bone."

By this time, my client (and I) are either completely cracking up, I have seriously scared the living you know what out of them, or they just think I'm a complete lunatic... (depends on whether I was able to keep a straight face or not)

Finally, the light bulb goes on, and my client would see where I was going with this:

"Okay, smart alec," I get it... I don't want to lose WEIGHT, I want to lose FAT."

Sometimes I would be having so much fun, I would just keep on playin'...

"But why not? This is easy, fast and guaranteed - just what everyone wants these days... it's even better than taking a pill! Come on... let me hack it off! You'll be my next testimonial: 'I lost 20 pounds in 5 minutes!' Imagine what that will do for my business!"

"Very funny. I told you, I get it! I want to lose FAT, not muscles and bones. I need my leg!”

Naturally, of course, I don't always have to pull out my trusty blade. Every once in a while... about as often as a total solar eclipse... a client answers my question like this:

"What do I want? Tom, I want to lose 20 pounds of body fat in the next 12 weeks. I want to do it slowly, safely and healthfully and then keep it off permanently. I want all the fat around my hips and thighs completely gone and I want a firm flat stomach. I want muscle all over my body while still looking feminine. I'd like to see myself at about 16% body fat and maintain all my muscle or gain a few pounds of lean mass if I can, especially in my arms. This is important to me because I want to set a good example for my kids, I want to be healthy and live to at least 90 and I want my husband to look at me and say, "I love your body," and I want to be able to *honestly* say back to him, "me too!"

It is on these rare occasions that I know there is still intelligent life on this planet.

If you could answer the question, "What do you want" with the lucidity, clarity and specificity that this woman did, I don't think you would ever have any difficulty reaching your health and fitness goals... or any other goal in your life, for that matter.

Her answer was what you call a very "well-formed" goal, backed up with lots of emotional motivation-inducing "reasons why."

"I want to lose weight" is a poorly-formed goal.

"Weight" is not the same as "fat." Weight includes muscle, bone, internal organs as well as lots and lots of water.

If you only learn ONE thing from all my newsletters, articles and books, PLEASE learn this:

WHAT YOU REALLY WANT IS TO BURN THE FAT, WHILE KEEPING THE MUSCLE!!!!

FAT LOSS is what you want, not weight loss.

If your body were 100% rock-solid muscle, with absolutely nothing that jiggled (unless it was supposed to), would you care how much you weighed?

I bet you wouldn't! And if that’s true, then…

STOP WORSHIPPING THE SCALE AND START MEASURING YOUR BODY COMPOSITION!

By measuring your body fat, you take the guesswork out of your health and fitness plan and you get an accurate picture of what's really happening in your body as a result of your diet and exercise program.

Instead of worrying about whether you are losing muscle, or wondering if you are losing fat, you can measure it and KNOW for sure. (I always get a good chuckle when someone tells me they're worried about losing muscle when they don't even measure how much muscle they have!)

Instead of being confused by all the "opinions" from weight loss and exercise "experts" who are all telling you something different, you can MEASURE your body composition and based on the results, you can KNOW for sure whether your program is working.

A very wise man once said,

"A single measurement is worth a thousand opinions."

So, how do you measure body fat?

Thanks to technology, there are some methods today that are so accurate, they can tell you whether your left pinky has more fat than your right pinky! Unfortunately, many of them are either too expensive or they are inaccessible, being found only in hospitals or research facilities.

If you want to learn a LOT about various body fat testing methods, chapter 3 of my e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle goes into great detail about the pros and cons of all the various fat testing methods. Instead of re-hashing it all here, let me give you three quick and easy, practical suggestions:

Suggestion 1: Have a trainer or fitness professional measure you if this service is available at your local health club. Sometimes, there's a charge - usually $15 - $25, although some clubs offer the service for free to all their members.

Suggestion 2: Purchase an Accu-measure skinfold caliper. Do a google or yahoo search to find a reseller.

The Accu-measure was designed to allow you to measure your own body fat in the privacy of your own home (you don't need someone else to measure you)

Some people wonder if this is really accurate. Truth is, it's not quite as accurate as a multi site skinfold test from an experienced tester, but what's most important is not the "accuracy" per se, but the reliability and consistency of your measurements so you can track your progress. Skinfold calipers in general are not accurate or inaccurate, it's the person doing the test that is accurate or inaccurate.

Suggestion 3: If you have a spouse, roommate, or friend who can measure your body fat, you can purchase a Slim Guide body fat caliper (or just about any brand of caliper) from Creative Health Products: chponline.com

The Slimguide is the best inexpensive caliper available (about $20), but it wasn't designed for you to measure your own body fat like the Accu Measure. You'll need someone to measure you with this caliper. Other models of body fat calipers (if you want to splurge), range from $150 to $450. (At our health clubs, I use the electronic "SKYNDEX" caliper with the 4-site "Durnin formula.")

The calipers come with instructions, or you can use these formulas, which I have used and found to be very accurate:

4 Site formula for men (abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, tricep)

% fat = .29288(sum of 4 skinfolds) - 0.0005(sum of four skinfolds squared) + 0.15845(age) - 5.76377

4-Site Formula for women (abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, tricep)

% Fat = (.29669)(sum of 4 skinfolds) - (.00043)(Sum of four skinfolds squared) + .02963(age) + 1.4072

[Source: Jackson A S, Pollock, M (1985) Practical assessment of body composition. Physician Sport Med. 13: 76-90.]

Body fat percentages vary based on age and gender, but 20-25% body fat is average for women (15-19% is ideal), while 15-20% is average for men (10-14% is ideal). I have detailed charts for body fat charts in my e-book if you're interested.

Once you know your body fat percentage, then weigh yourself and record your weight and body fat on a progress chart such as the one found in my Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Program (a fat loss program, not a weight loss program). This chart is how you will track your progress and "keep score."

You can calculate your lean body mass (muscle and other fat free tissue) very easily just by crunching some numbers:

For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and you have 10% body fat then you have 20 pounds of fat (10% of 200 = 20). That means you have a lean body mass (LBM) of 180 pounds.

Now we're talking! With this data, you can get a really clear picture of how your exercise and nutrition program are affecting your physique.

Losing weight is very easy. Losing fat - and keeping it off without losing muscle - is a much bigger challenge. If you simply wanted to lose weight, we could just chop off your leg.

Or, (slightly less painful), I could show you how to drop 10 - 15 pounds over the weekend just by dehydrating yourself and using natural herbal diuretics. Wrestlers do it all the time to make a weight class. But what good would that do if it’s almost all water and you’re just going to gain it all back within days?

You don't have to "throw away your scale" like many "experts" tell you to. By all means, keep using the scale, the tape measure and even photographs and the mirror - the more feedback the better - but body fat is where it's at.

By the way, I recently bought a chain saw and a shiny new axe from Home Depot, and I've been practicing my "American Psycho" and Jack Nicholson, "The Shining" impersonations... so if you want to come to my office any time soon for personal consultation, you'd better have the right answer to my question, "What do you want?"

For more information about a nutrition and training program that focuses exclusively on FAT LOSS, not WEIGHT LOSS, visit the home page at:

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

"BIG FAT LIES" PART 10

Fat Loss Lie #10

:: You can drop 30 pounds of fat in 30 days ::

You see ads like these all the time, and they sure are enticing, aren't they? They play on our emotionsand our desires for instant gratification.

But is it really possible? Can you really dropPounds that quickly?

The answer is YES. It's quite possible to lose 30 pounds in 30 days or 10 pounds over the weekend. But that's the wrong question; the question YOU should ask is,

"How can I burn 30 pounds of FAT healthfully and keep it off permanently?"

Don't confuse WEIGHT loss with FAT loss!

Your body is 70% water, so it's easy to drop pounds quickly. Any diet that dehydrates you will register quick, dramatic loss on the scale.

Want to cut 10 pounds over the weekend? That's easy; Just stop drinking water. Of course that would be pretty dumb and pretty dangerous too, but that's what you're doing when you lose too fast (you're simply dehydrating yourself - or worse - you're losing lean body mass too!)

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), one of the largest and most respected health, medical and exercise organizations in the world, has set guidelines for healthy rates of weight loss.

In their position statement on "Proper and improper weight loss programs," the ACSM recommends losing at a rate of no more than two pounds per week.

This two pounds per week guideline has become recognized as the standard rate for safe weight (fat) loss.

Time after time I see people get impatient and they attempt to violate this rule, only to chew up muscle, slow their metabolisms and eventually gain all the fat back...and then some!

You can take off 30 pounds of weight in 30 days, but you'll NEVER take off 30 pounds of fat in 30 days;nature just didn't intend it to be that way.

There are virtually no limits to what you can achieve in the long run. However, you must be patient; there are definite limits to how quickly you can safely achieve fat loss.

When you get yourself on a good, solid, no-gimmick program like Burn The fat, you will absolutely astonish yourself at how much you can achieve in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months.

Yes, it takes time.

But if you don't start now, then when? Look at it this way, ifyou think it's going to take too long to do it the safehealthy, natural way, then just remember... the time isgoing to pass anyway. When 3, 6, 12 months rolls aroundwhere will you be?

And if you lose it too fast and end up gaining it all backin 6-12 months time, then where did that really get you?

I cannot and will not promise you miracles, but Ican promise you that 8-12 weeks from now, you can seemajor progress and 6 -12 months from now, you couldlook and feel like an entirely different human being...never to go back to your old self.

If you're not on the Burn The Fat program yet, then I invite you to join the thousands of men and women in over 135 countries and come on board with me today by visiting:

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

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BURN THE FAT READER MAIL & FEEDBACK...
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"Dear Tom: Let me just add my testimonial to your method along with the thousands of satisfied clients on your program. If followed with diligence there is NO WAY it won't work.

Also, now that I was monitoring my food intake for the right balance, I realised that the expensive supplementation I was doing was unnecessary. I now only take them when my work day is so hectic that I do not have the time for cooking "regular" food.

Your e-book is the-natural-way, and that's what appealed to me. Also, the principle of hard work, coupled with PATIENCE, is what pays off - and you do not make empty promises of overnight success.

I am hooked on weight training for life, though I still wouldn't call myself a "bodybuilder" - I admit, there's that stigma, and I'm a woman.

Finally, there is one very important aspect in which your book stands out amongst those I've read. You do NOT use a general one-size-fits-all approach, taking into account that no two bodies respond the same way - your definition and advice on different body types provide me with invaluable insight."

-Colleen Van Rooyen

"BIG FAT LIES" PART 9

Fat Loss Lie #9

:: You can lose fat permanently without exercise ::

Trying to lose fat without exercise is like trying to sit on a chair without four legs. If one leg is missing, your chair is going to fall over.

An effective fat burning program must have four crucial components, which I like to call "THE BIG FOUR:"

1. A nutrient dense diet of natural foods with a conservative calorie deficit
2. Weight training
3. Aerobic training
4. Mental training: Goal setting, motivation and a positive self image

Except for those genetically gifted, fast-metabolism types (that we all hate), it's extremely difficult for most people to lose fat permanently without exercise("burning" fat).

To lose fat, there must be a calorie deficit. However, there's more than one way to create a calorie deficit.

One way is to decrease your calorie intake (eat less). The other is to increase the amount of calories you burn though exercise.

Of the two ways to create a calorie deficit, burning the calories is superior.

Consider two people: Person A, using exercise, generatesa total daily energy expenditure of 3600 calories. He thenconsumes about 2900 calories per day and loses fat asa result.

Person B (with the same body weight), by not exercising,only generates a total daily energy expenditure of 2500calories a day and consumes about 1800 calories per dayto lose weight.

The calorie deficit is the same in both cases - 700 caloriesbelow maintenance level. However, person A is far more likelyto be successful with long term fat loss because he isburning the fat with exercise while person B is starvingthe fat with diet and not exercising.

LISTEN: This is a huge and important revelation!

Paradoxical as it seems, the most effective approach to fat loss is to eat more and exercise more. Some exercisephysiologists today are calling this a "high energy flux,"which simply means high energy input, high energy output.

The result is a turbo-charged metabolism, while avoidingthe starvation mode that comes from low caloric intake.

Most people are starving themselves to death!!! They slash their calories too much and exercise too little or not at all.

You don't have to starve yourself - you just have to choose the right foods, and exercise MUST be a part of your lifestyle.

Why would you resort to starvation when you couldeat more and burn more fat, more efficiently through exercise?

Maybe you've believed that eating more food and working out at the same time will "cancel each other out. Maybe you've shied away from the hard work involved in exercise.

There's also a trend these days towards avoiding too much cardiovascular exercise because of the notion that it will make you lose muscle.

Quite to the contrary, cardio training -combined with weight training - is the only method of fat loss that allows you to eat more, create a calorie deficit and burn fat at the same time without slowing down yourmetabolism.

Look at the benefit and decide for yourself:

1. Exercise - aerobic and weight training - raises your metabolic rate. Dieting decreases your metabolic rate.

2. Exercise creates a caloric deficit without triggering the starvation response. Dieting puts you in "starvation mode."

3. Exercise is good for your health. Dieting is harmful to your health.

4. Exercise, especially weight training, signals your body to keep your muscle and not burn it for energy. Dieting without exercise can result in up to 50% of the wt. loss to come from lean body mass.

5. Exercise increases fat-burning enzymes and hormones. Dieting decreases fat burning hormones and increases fat storing hormones.

6. Exercise increases your cell's sensitivity to insulin so that carbohydrates are burned for energy and stored as glycogen rather then being stored as fat.

If anyone ever tries to sell you a fat loss programand it doesn't include exercise (it's just a "diet"), hold on to your wallet and run for cover.

Even if you could get lean without exercise, you should be working out for your health anyway, not just for cosmetic reasons.

If you only remember one thing from this entiremini series, and you remember this, you will beset for a healthy life of leanness:

"Don't Starve The Fat, BURN THE FAT"

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

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BURN THE FAT READER MAIL & FEEDBACK...
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" Your Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book is fantastic. I finally have a long-term plan that doesn't involve smoke and mirrors. Your factual, direct, and logical advice is on target for every body type and experience - it stands out from the overload of misinformation previously available.

A non-bodybuilder cannot extract this kind of customization from the muscle magazines, either. You make it accessible for anyone. Absolutely amazing - and it works! I've recommended your book to so many yo-yo dieters! I will never be one of them again.

Thank you for your sage advice - much appreciated, Tom."

-Mary Anne Neubert

"A year ago I weighed 350 pounds. My blood presure was 260/180. my resting heart rate was 120. I also have diabetes. I was a stroke waiting to happen.

I have to admit, my doctor put me on meridia, an appetite supressant. That started me but it didn't keep it going. After two months I hit a plateau. Then I found your book, and my results increased exponentially.

I have followed your plan and have lost over 100 lbs!

I need to loose about 30 more lbs, but with your plan I am totaly stoked because I know I will achieve my ultimate goals.

I owe most of my success to you and your book. My doctor suggested gastric bypass surgery, but I had a cousin that died from it and decided to never go that route.

I was a size 52 in Jeans, but i am at 36 now. I was at 3X in shirts but went to Large, then back up to XL, because of muscle growth. I truly love it. Thank you so much!

- Charles Archer

"BIG FAT LIES" PART 8

Fat Loss Lie #8:

:: Zero carbohydrate or very low carbohydrate diets are the best way to burn off body fat permanently::

No diet issue has created more confusion and controversy than the low carbohydrate vs. high carbohydrate debate.

Contrary to what certain "gurus" tell you, carbohydrates are not fattening.

It's a flat out LIE to say, "carbohydrates are fattening." What's fattening is eating more calories than your body can use at one time.

However, it's true that some people lose weight more quickly on a low carbohydrate diet (that's not the same thing as saying "carbohydrates are fattening.")

It's also true that almost every bodybuilder or fitness competitor uses some variation of the low carb diet to prepare for competitions.

Despite these facts, very low carb diets are not the ultimate answer to permanent weight loss.

At worst they are unhealthy. At best they're a temporary tool that should be used only for short periods to achieve specific fat loss goals (preparing for bodybuilding competition or a photo shoot, for example).

Even for carb-sensitive, insulin-resistant, hypoglycemic people who respond well to less carbs and more protein/fat, there are still many drawbacks:

1) Very low carb diets are difficult to stick to.

If you remove most of your carbohydrates from your diet for a long period of time, you're setting yourself up for a relapse. The more you cut back the carbs, the bigger the rebound will be when you put carbs back in. That's why 95% of people gain back all the weight they lose on a very low carb diet.

2) Very low carb diets are often unbalanced and missing many nutrients.

It's still up for debate whether low carb programs like the Atkins diet are unhealthy, but few people would debate the fact that the optimal diet for long term maintenance is one that has balance between protein, carbs and fats and includes a wide variety of foods, including lots of fruitsand vegetables, not removal of an entire food group oroveremphasis on one food or food group.

3) Very low carb diets may be unhealthy.

Many low carb diets allow large amounts of saturated and processed fats. (No toast or pancakes are allowed, but bacon, sausage, and lots of butter for breakfast are just fine).

In the absence of carbohydrates, you can eat fat with protein and you'll still lose weight (fat doesn't necessarily make you fat). But it's probably not wise to eat large amounts of saturated fat and it's never wise to eat processed fats or trans fats.

Although the effects of low carb, high fat/protein diets on various health markers is still up for debate, most people would be best to opt for a diet that is low in fat (below 30% of total calories) and moderate in carbs and protein.

4) Very low carb diets may cause your energy levels to plummet.

Not only will you feel tired and irritable without carbs, but your training will probably suffer: Low carbs = low energy. Low energy = poor workouts. Poor workouts = poor results.

5) The weight loss on a very low carb diet can be deceiving.

You will definitely lose weight if you don't eat carbs, but much of the initial weight loss will be muscle and water. Suppose you drop 5-7 lbs in your first week on a low carb diet: sounds impressive, but if one pound is fat, 2-3 pounds are water and 2-3 pounds are muscle, what did you accomplish? Your goal should never be weight loss. Your goal should be fat loss.

Most people will lose fat simply by adding a regular exercise routine to their schedule and by "cleaning up" their diets. By "cleaning up" your diet, I mean that you've mastered all the nutritional basics like eating small frequent meals, controlling portion sizes, cutting down on unhealthy fats, avoiding sugar and refined foods, etc.

Low carb diets can accelerate fat loss. But if you choose the low carb approach to dieting, the best method for most people is to decrease your carbohydrates moderately and "cycle" yourcarb intake with low and high days.

My preferred method which I use in the Burn The Fat program is 3 days on reduced carbs with 1 higher carb "re-feed" day.

Cutting out carbs completely is not necessary, it's probably not healthy, it's hard to stick to, and it's no fun! It's usually not wise to go to extremes in anything and that's as true for nutrition as anything else in life: moderation is the key.

Many people ask me, "Tom, is your Burn The Fat program low carb, high carb, somewhere in the middle... what kind of program is it?

If anything, Burn The Fat is in the middle - and couldbest be described as "Balanced Nutrition", not an extremelyhigh carb or extremely low carb program.

The truth is, there is no single program that worksbest for everyone. You have to learn to adjust your intakecarbs, calories and other nutrients in order to individualize your program based on goals, activity and your level of "carb tolerance."

The Burn The Fat program reveals how to determine your level of carb tolerance as well and explains the most effectiveway to set up a carb cycling diet, which is the best way to do a low carb diet without the low carb side effects.

You can find out more at:

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

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BURN THE FAT READER MAIL & FEEDBACK...
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Hi, Tom, I just wanted to applaud you on an excellent book.

I'm a registered dietitian, exercise physiologist and professor at a college in NY. I've read and edited numerous nutrition books and they always presented the same boring information that is useless for someone trying to transform their body composition.

A student gave me your book, it sat on my desk for months, I had NO interest in reading it. I finally picked it up one day and did not put it down.

You present the most extensive, accurate and beneficial info on nutrition. I don't know what your credentials are, but every RD and physiologist should be reading your book, because the junk they are educating their clients with is worthless.

I think your book should be part of every college nutrition class. Thank you and keep up the great work.

Dr. Lana Zigler, PhD.

Stop Doing Cardio!!!

Yup... That's what "they're" telling us now - on national TV no less. Who would have ever thought the day would come when exercise "professionals" would tell us to stop exercising? First was the down sizing of exercise... 8 minutes in the a.m., the 4 minute circuit, 30 second abs, 6 SECOND abs... heck, what else was left? STOP EXERCISING! But of course...

Yes, I know, I know... cardio is not necessary to lose weight, all you need is a calorie deficit and you can get that calorie deficit from food reduction and if you add in weight training, you go a long way towards keeping the lean tissue and stimulating metabolism.

Well DUH about the weight training - we bodybuilders have known that for years. And we've already beat the exercise vs food restriction debate to death numerous times RIGHT HERE in this newsletter and have made our case for the superiority of a calorie deficit and the resulting fat loss created by higher activity levels.

Ah, but the diet industry marketing machine rolls on like a Sherman tank...

And where does that leave me and other people who are trying our best to dispense the harsh fitness truth (while living it at the same time?) It leaves us with in-boxes clogged with emails that say, "Hey Tom, what do you think about this new diet that says cardio is a complete waste of time and might even be BAD for you???

Sorry, but I shall not dignify those emails with a personal reply anymore. It's not worth the trouble when a simple examination of ones results - an introspective study of past experience and the laws of cause and effect - will give anyone the answers they are looking for.

However, I will give one answer here today - one swath of wisdom that will help anyone tune down a low signal to noise ratio amidst the diet marketing cacophany and tune in to the the message that matters.

But before I do, I hope you have all read my interview with Dr. John Berardi about "G-Flux" which discussed this very topic: Why higher activity levels - and a higher intake of nutritous food along with it (eat more, burn more) - is the OPTIMAL approach.

Can you lose weight with low activity or with no cardio? Of course you can. Just slash your calories to the point where you have a severe enough deficit. (ummmm, that's called starvation, by the way). Is this the optimal approach for an able-bodied person? a resounding NO!

With more and more fad diet books coming out, hoping to capitalize on your confusion and uncertainty, or hoping to CREATE uncertainty in you by "debunking" things that should be just plain common sense, this information is moreimportant than ever.

I said I would give ONE last sweeping, definitive answer here, and I will do so below with a quote from Dr. John Berardi. John wrote something in a recent article that brilliantly highlighted a simple, common-sense point, whichI have been speaking about for years:

MODEL SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE!

If you are getting confused with conflicting messages from so-called "experts" and even from the scientific community, then STOP for a moment and forget the latest study, forget the latest diet book, turn off theTV, and look at what the successful people are doing. Study them. Model THEM. Mentor with THEM if you can.

If there are differences among those successful people, then look for the commonalities and model that.

IGNORE the fad diets, and the new-fangled contrarian theories, which deep in your own gut, you know are too good to be true. IGNORE the attempted "debunking" of things you already know, which only causes you to doubt your own personal experience.

It doesn't matter if "the new breakthrough" gets featured on national television... that means nothing... the wheels of the diet book publishing PR machine will keep turning and you can count on new diet fads to keep coming and coming and coming.

RESULTS are what count and results come from the fundamentals.

Fundamentals never change, and hard work on the fundamentals will give you 80% of your results.

Pay attention to results, and model what works, by people who have been there, done that...

THAT is how you cut through the noise, clutter, confusion and continuous media barrage of "The next big thing" - model the success of others.

Here's what Dr Berardi had to say:

"I never cease to be amazed by the typical response of the average forum reader or seminar attendee when people who've gotten real results come around. There's either a dead silence or a profound antagonism. This always makes me laugh. Seminar attendees will hang on every word of some "expert" they believe strongly in. Yet when someone who's actually gotten it done themselves comes around, they're skeptical.

Weird.

Does anyone know why this is the case? Either way, I recently grilled an audience recently for doing this. A female physique competitor gave a great talk about how she got into shape for competitions. And at the end of her talk there wasn't a single question. NOT ONE.

Yet, the questions directed at the other presenters - some personal trainers, some nutrition educators, etc were abundant. And the funny thing is that in most cases, the presenters HAD NEVER ACHIEVED the level of leanness or muscularity of the female physique competitor. And most of the attendees were all interested in getting leaner and/or more muscular.

Weird.

The simplest (and sometimes fastest) way to cut through the confusion is to "mentor", "apprentice", whatever you want to call it, with someone who's gotten it done - who's gotten the results you're looking to accomplish."

Weird indeed.

People won't pay attention to what the leanest men and women on earth have to say about how they actually stripped their bodies of fat, but they will perk right up and throw away everything they've ever learned when a single report appears on the news wires about how to "LoseAll the weightYou want and get ripped abs with just 12.7 minutes of exercise per week."

... Or when a new diet book comes out and says that if you stop exercising that's the secret to fitness.

Yeah... really weird.

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

Body Fat Loss, Body Type And Genetics

Did You Inherit Fat Genes? The Truth About Biology And Body Fat

"Battle Your Biology? Fat Chance," proclaimed a headline recently in the health section of the New York Post newspaper. Quoting new research and citing psychologists, dietitians and physicians, the article says that more and more evidence proves that your weight is genetically determined, and if you're fat, "it's not your fault." "We've known for a while that genes - more than environment and behavior - explain obesity" argues Dr. James Rosen, an eating disorder specialist and professor at the University of Vermont.

While genetics are definitely a factor, believing you are destined to be overweight for life because you've inherited "fat genes" is the most disempowering and self-defeating attitude you could ever adopt. The only way you’ll lose weight permanently is to accept total responsibility for yourself and acknowledge the fact that you have the power to change, regardless what mother nature has given you to work with.

There's no denying that heredity plays a major role in how difficult it will be for you to lose fat. You inherited a body type, a predetermined number of fat cells, a metabolic rate and body chemistry just as you inherited your eye color and hair color. In the 1930's, Harvard psychologist Dr. William H. Sheldon developed a classification system for these different body types called "somatotyping." While there are no absolutes, Sheldon identified three basic somatotypes: ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs.

Ectomorphs are the lean, lanky types. They are usually very thin and bony, with fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat. An ectomorph can eat like a horse without gaining an ounce.

Mesomorphs are the "genetically gifted." They are lean, muscular and naturally athletic. Mesomorphs lose fat and gain muscle with ease.

Endomorphs are the "fat retainers." Characterized by round features, excess body fat and large joints ("big bones"), endomorphs usually have great difficulty in losing body fat. They have slow metabolisms, they are often carbohydrate intolerant, they gain fat quickly if they eat poorly or don't exercise, and they lose fat slowly - even on a healthy diet.

The tendency of endomorphs to store fat easily can be partly attributed to metabolic problems. For example, endomorphs often metabolize carbohydrates inefficiently. Normal people can eat lots of carbohydrates - up to 60% of their total calories - and they still stay lean. Endomorphs produce too much insulin when they eat carbohydrates and this leads to increased fat storage and difficulty in losing existing fat. This condition is known as "insulin resistance" or "Syndrome X."

Scientists claim that the tendency to gain weight easily may also be due to chemical imbalances in the brain that cause people to overeat. Researchers at Johns Hopkins recently announced the discovery a compound called C75 that blocks an appetite-regulating hormone in the hypothalamus. In mice injected with the substance, 30 percent more weight was lost because the drug caused the mice to eat less. More research is planned to develop a similar appetite-suppressing drug for humans. Unlike Xenical, which blocks fat absorption in the intestine, this new drug would affect the brain's chemistry so that people feel full sooner.

Many physicians and health professionals consider these metabolic disorders and chemical imbalances as genetically transmitted "diseases" that require medical treatment. "Obesity is a disease and should be treated like one" says Jackie Newgent, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association . This idea should be viewed with a great deal of suspicion however, because weight loss is potentially the biggest market in the world for drug sales.

According to Justin Gillis, a staff writer for the Washington Post, more than 45 companies worldwide are trying to develop new obesity drugs, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Gillis writes, "In world where a blockbuster drug is worth $1 billion a year in sales, analysts give $5 billion as the low estimate for sales of an important obesity drug. If a company developed a truly safe, effective weight loss drug, and sold it for $3 a day to one quarter of the 97 million American adults estimated to be overweight, sales would exceed $26 billion a year in this country alone."

Basically, what the medical community is trying to tell you is that if you are overweight, it's not your fault; you were born fat, so don't feel guilty - and don't worry, we have a drug that can "cure" you. Sounds like there's an ulterior motive at work here, wouldn't you agree? Before you run to get a prescription for the next "miracle" drug, you'd better wonder whose interests are being served; yours or the pharmaceutical giants.

Besides, drugs can never be the solution if they treat the symptoms and not the cause. Drugs should be considered a last resort for the morbidly obese who have already tried everything else without success and who will face serious health consequences if they don't lose weight. The editors of obesity.com said it best: "Weight loss drugs do not take the place of diet, exercise, patience, and perseverance."

"Dieting can be an uphill battle against your genes." says Post writer Joyce Cohen. Unfortunately, if you're an endomorph, Cohen is right. Losing weight is definitely easier for some people than for others and that doesn't seem fair. But that's the way life is. Life isn't fair. Let's be honest; not everyone is going to become an Olympic Gold medallist, a Mr. America or a fitness model. But don't despair - you are not doomed to live a life of fatness if you don't have "athletic genes."

Obesity is the result of many influences. Genetics is only one of them. Like it or not, the primary cause of obesity is your own behavior. Most of the factors that affect body composition are entirely under your control. These factors include how much you eat, what you eat, when you eat, what type of exercise you do, how frequently you exercise, how long you exercise and how hard you exercise.

If you have the genetic predisposition towards obesity, you can lose fat like everyone else, you're just going to have to work harder and longer at it than other people. "There is a genetic component to weight," Says Dr. Thomas Wadden, a psychologist from Syracuse University, "but no one is destined to be obese. If weight has been a major problem in your family, you may not be able to become as thin as you'd like, but you can lose weight."

If you find losing weight to be a slow and difficult process, the empowering thing to do is to look at it as asset, because overcoming this obstacle will force you to develop discipline, determination and persistence. These traits will carry over to other areas of your life and make you a stronger person all around. Arnold Schwarzennegger said, "Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you overcome hardships, that is strength."

The first thing you must do if you want to lose weight or succeed in any area of your life, is to accept complete responsibility for your situation. In a short but powerful little book called "As Man Thinketh," the author James Allen wrote, "circumstances do not make a man, they reveal him." What he meant was that we are not products of our environment or our heredity (our "circumstances"), instead, we products of our own thinking and belief systems.

We create our own circumstances through positive thinking and positive action and we create negative circumstances through negative thinking and lack of action or wrong actions. In other words, we are responsible for where we are, what we have and how our bodies look.

Some people get very angry with me when I tell them this: They say, "Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that when bad things happen to me, it’s my own fault? That I brought unemployment, financial hardships, failed relationships, weight gain or even health problems onto myself? Because if that's what you're saying, that's totally unfair!"

Well, my friend, with very few exceptions, (some things really are out of your control) that is exactly what I am saying.

If you refuse to accept the fact that you are 100% responsible for your weight, you will never be successful. When people find themselves in undesirable situations or they aren't getting the results they want, it’s all too easy to make excuses: It's my genetics, I have big bones, I have a slow metabolism, I don't have enough time to exercise, etc. etc., etc. Making excuses is relinquishing control. It is conceding that you a victim of circumstances instead of the creator of your circumstances. Stop blaming and start taking responsibility for your life. Take action! Start working out. Eat better. Do something - do anything - but don't just sit there on the couch and curse your chromosomes.

So, are you a frustrated "endomorph?" Do you feel like dieting is an uphill battle against your genes? If your answer is "yes," please don’t just quit and chalk in up to "bad genetics," and don't believe that drugs are the answer either - they're not. Your genetics will largely dictate your athletic ability and how easily you will lose weight. That doesn't mean you can't get lean; it only means that you're going to have to adjust your diet and training to fit your body type and you may have to work harder and be more persistent than the "genetically lucky" ones.

Maybe obesity really should be classified as a genetically inherited "disease." But frankly, if you have a "disease" that forces you to learn more about exercise and nutrition, to eat nutritious foods, to adopt a healthier lifestyle, to develop a strong work ethic and to become a more persistent person, that sounds like a blessing in disguise to me.

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

"BIG FAT LIES" PART 7

Fat Loss Lie #7:

::Some people will never be able to lose weight and they should just give up and accept their genetics for what they are::

It's true that your heredity will, to a certain degree, dictate your athletic ability and the ease and speed with which you can lose fat. However, it's a lie to say that some people can't lose weight because they've inherited a "slow metabolism."

Let's be honest; not everyone is going to become an Olympic Gold medallist, a Mr. Universe or a Miss Fitness America. But that doesn't mean you should just "accept your genetics" and give up.

Everybody can lose fat. It just takes a little longer and a little more effort for some than for others.

Some people have inherited a metabolism and body type that tends to favor fat storage. This body type is called an "endomorph."

Endomorphs may have a slower metabolism, they're often carbohydrate intolerant, they gain fat quickly when they eat poorly, they gain fat quickly if they don't exercise, and they may hold onto stored fat, even on a clean diet.

Burning the fat is easier for some than for others and that doesn't seem fair. But that's the way life is. This simply means you're going to have to adjust your diet and training to fit your body type and metabolism.

You may have to work harder than other people.

You may have to be more persistent than other people.

You might need a stricter diet than other people.

You might need to train more intensely than other people.

You might have less margin for error (fewer cheat days).

The question is: Are you willing to do what it takes for you?

I write and speak about the role of genetics in fitness a lot and the reason is because I'm truly dismayed when I keephearing people using their "bad genetics" and "slow metabolisms" as excuses for why they can't get in shape.

The real irony is that some people come to me for advicebut at the same time, they have their excuse preparedin advance as to why they think they won't succeed.

It's amazing what a human being can achieve when they have a crystal clear goal and they're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.

Need proof?

Marla Runyan is a world champion middle distance runner. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Runyan was eighth crossing the finish line in 4:08.30.

Is this disappointing? Not when you consider that Runyan has been legally blind since her 9th birthday.

Marla suffers from a genetically inherited disease of the retina, called Stargardt's. Her vision is limited to the peripheral - she can only see shapes in front of her, and can't even make out the face of her coach ten feet away. Despite this so-called handicap, Marla Runyan is the eighth best runner in the world in the 1500 meters.

The first U.S. paralympian to reach the Olympics, Runyan says she doesn't even look at her lack of sight as an obstacle;

"I don't look at my vision as a barrier. I never said I want to be the first legally blind runner to make the Olympics. I just wanted to be an Olympian."

"I have been legally blind for 20 years. I am very used to my eyes and how the world appears to me. In fact, I am so used to it that I often forget I see things differently from everyone else.

The track looks the same to me as it did 15 years ago. Therefore, I do not consider my vision impairment a "handicap" when it comes to running. It is not a factor or an excuse for a bad race."

And then there's Carl Joseph. Carl Joseph was captain of his football team. He could dunk a basketball. He high jumped 5 feet 10 inches. He threw shot and discus.

He was also born with only one leg.

Like Runyan, the difference between Carl and others with genetically inherited disabilities is nothing more than his attitude. Carl Joseph didn't make excuses:

When I first wrote about these two athletes as examples of what genetically disadvantaged people can achieve, I received an e-mail from an angry reader (who was very overweight and convinced that his genetics were to blame and there was nothing he could do about it).

He wrote; "Tom, those are terrible examples. - Will a positive attitude restore Marla's sight? Will positive thinking re-grow Carl's leg?"

I felt sorry for this fellow because he entirely missedthe point of my analagy, and because of his own "vision problem" he has limited his own development.

The difference between people like Marla and Carl and the man who wrote to me is that Marla and Carl didn't use their genetic disabilities as justification for their own failure and mediocrity or as an excuse for not even trying.

Marla and Carl did the best they could with what they had. It was much harder for them; and even with all the effort, they still couldn't reach the level of those without such disabilities.

But being better than others was not the goal.What they did was to get out there and play the gameand beecome the best they could be.

One of the first things I teach all my coaching clientsright from the start, is that they must claim responsiblityfor their results; positive results and negative results.

When you can say, "I am responsible for whatever results I have gotten and I will get in the future," you immediatelyput an end to excuses and you put yourself in a position to begin creating great changes in your life.

burnthefat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto

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Burn The Fat Reader Mail & Feedback...
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Hi Tom,

I'm 37 years old , I have been paralysed from the neck down for more than 11 years.

Due to my level of inactivity , and my total lack of understanding of physiology and nutrition my weight and eating habits have fluctuated significantly, and been a significant source of frustration.

A sequence of events resulted in me looking to the Internet for information/education. It did not take me long before I came across your Burn The Fat web site.

I read a transcript of an interview you gave, and immediately downloaded your book. At this stage I had extremely high expectations. I read the book, and my expectations were exceeded.

I have been following your programme for some time (not too much focus on the exercise front-as you could imagine ), and yesterday evening my doctor came to dinner, and his immediateresponse was to comment on how well I was looking.

I feel I can honestly say that my health has never been better, this includes prior to my being paralysed!!

I have slimmed down significantly not sure by how much as I am unable to be weighed, but I have ordered the body fatcalipers you recommended.

I came across a quote in a movie I saw a few years ago and I think that it is relevant in all of life, and certainly in relation to your Burn The Fat book:

"People think that doing the right thing is very difficult. The reality is that knowing what the right thing is extremely difficult. Once you know what the right thing is, it is extremely difficult not to do it!"

As a result of your book, I finally know what the right thing is. Many thanks Tom, much appreciated.

If you are ever in South Africa, I would love to shareone of my "burn the fat" meals with you.

Joel Miller