Do You know what is fat smash diet ?
August 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Fat Smash Diet has come to sudden prominence because of the platform of VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club from which it got projected. This is a reality TV series based on an earlier British version. Eight overweight celebrities, split into two teams of four each, compete with each other as they try to lose weight. They are monitored and supervised by a team that includes a nutritionist, a psychologist, and a physical trainer. Dr. Smith was the nutritionist who put the competitors through his Fat Smash Diet.
Later Dr. Smith has published a book detailing the nutrition and fitness diet plan that he had used on the reality show. His diet plan has devised a weight loss plan based on scientific principles and is backed by research. This is an easy to follow diet plan; DR. Smith claims that his plan can be easily used by anybody, irrespective of whether the objective is to lose 10 lbs or 50.lbs.
Dr. Smith’s diet plan has four phases, each phase consists of 4 or 5 meals a day; the meals consist of raw, steamed, baked, or grilled food. In each phase a certain amount of exercises is a definite component.
Phase 1 of 9 days is to “detox” the mind and body, as Dr. Smith says. This phase consists of mostly vegetarian food with some egg and dairy products. 30 minutes of exercise for five days a week are necessary.
In phase 2 of 3 weeks duration more food options are allowed and cereals, lean meat and seafood is included in the diet. Exercise duration is increased to35 minutes per day for 5 days a week.
Phase 3 lasts for 4 weeks. More leniency in the food is given; Pasts, bread and desserts and a small scoop of ice cream or 2-3 cookies are allowed. Duration of exercises is increased to 40 minutes.
Phase 4 is a lifetime plan phase in which the dieter eats most foods and drinks he had previously enjoyed; even alcohol is permitted.
Dr. Smith’s plan gives long lists of foods you may enjoy while still being able to shed weight and it also gives a list of those you avoid.
DR. Smith’s fat Smash Diet gives much greater freedom to the dieter; he insists that his plan aims to change the dieter’s “relationship with food”.
To Know more about Detox diet click here :
Isabel’s Calorie FAQs
July 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Q. Is calorie a bad word?
A. No, it’s not bad—just misunderstood! Most people who use the word calorie simply don’t know what it means. Also, in my experience, most people to go pale at the mere mention of the word. Based on those facts alone, I would eliminate calorie from the English vocabulary if I could.
Q. Why is calorie such a misunderstood word?
A. The American public has been told, time and time again, that people who consume more calories than their bodies burn will gain weight. As I explain in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, this statement is only partially true. All calories are not created equal; calories consumed from healthy foods and unhealthy foods are quite different.
Q. What exactly is a calorie, then?
A. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), a calorie is “a unit equivalent to the large calorie expressing heat-producing or energy-producing value in food when oxidized in the body.” In plain English, a calorie is a unit of energy released from the food you eat to power the body.
Q. How are calories “burned”?
A. The body needs energy from food—calories—to perform many functions, the most obvious of which are physical activity and exercise. However, the body also requires energy to function at the most basic level: to breathe, digest food, and maintain organs and systems.
Q. How many calories should I eat each day?
A. The short answer is “enough.” The calories you consume must provide enough energy for your body to perform all necessary functions and activities—and bring about optimum health. The long answer is that the number of calories needed varies from person to person and depends on weight, foods consumed, sleep, stress and activity levels, age, and a long list of other factors that affect metabolism. In The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, I provide a calorie equation to help you estimate, according to these factors, how many calories you should consume to lose weight or maintain weight. It also includes charts to help you choose the right sources of those calories to support your efforts.
Q. Is it possible to eat too few calories?
A. Believe it or not, yes! The most serious problem with low-calorie diets is that although they may bring about weight loss, they also can cause serious health problems. One common side effect of low-calorie diets is muscle breakdown, which can occur when the body doesn’t consume enough calories from protein. Especially vulnerable is the heart, a muscular organ. If a person does not consume an adequate amount of calories each day, the heart muscle begins to break down, possibly leading to serious cardiac conditions (e.g., cardiac atrophy).
Q. What are the consequences of following low-calorie diets off and on over time?
A. Low-calorie diets typically do not supply enough energy to keep organs and systems healthy. In effect, they can lead to malnourishment. For clients who have repeatedly followed such diets, I recommend high-calorie meal plans that will provide their organs with adequate fuel to repair themselves and regain healthy function. Most of my clients are surprised, at first, to see how much food they can consume on a healthy weight-loss diet—not to mention the high level of health that they can achieve.
Q. Hey, wait—didn’t you say that you don’t like the word calorie? Then why does the Diet Solution Program suggest calculating calorie requirements?
A. In the Diet Solution Program, calorie calculation is simply a means to an end. You use the ideal number of calories that results from the equation to determine the correct number of servings of each food type for each meal. That’s it—from that point on, you can forget about counting calories!
Q. If I don’t count calories, then how will I control my eating habits?
A. Use the Allowable Servings Guide in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living to plan meals. However, over time, you will learn how to meet your body’s nutritional needs without referring to the servings guide. Humans are born with the ability to “know” when the body has received enough nourishment and when it needs more. My professional experience indicates that, unfortunately, most yo-yo dieters and other people who have battled weight problems don’t know how to “listen” to the body’s cues in response to the foods and portions they consume. The good news is that this ability can be (re)learned.
Q. What do you mean by “listen” to my body?
A. The Diet Solution Program is a lifestyle shift that teaches you how to determine the best foods and portions for your metabolic type. Even after just days on the plan, you will learn to pay attention to how you feel after eating. For many people, this experience of “listening” to the body will be new. However, by letting your body be your guide, you will learn how to eat your way to optimum health.
Q. Can I really expect to maintain a healthy weight without counting calories or referring to servings guides or other charts?
A. Yes! It’s how I live my life now, and you, too, can learn to recognize when your body is adequately nourished. After many years of dieting, I reawakened my body’s innate ability to tell me when I’ve had enough food and when I need more by following the same plan I present in the Diet Solution Program. Every day is different; some days I require more food and others less, depending on my levels of exercise, stress, and even hormones. But I don’t need to count calories to know whether I’ve had enough; my body tells me, and I know how to listen. Whatever you do, don’t be lured into the trap of forever counting calories, because that approach is not sustainable—or healthy—in the long term.
Learn “The Top 5 Essential Truths You Must Know Before You Go on Any Diet Ever Again” from Isabel De Los Rios at www.thedietsolutionprogram.com. Isabel is a nutrition, exercise and lifestyle coach who has helped hundreds of people lose their unwanted weight and take complete control of their health. She is the author of The Diet Solution Program, a complete and comprehensive nutrition program that is helping people all over the world finally reach their ideal weight. For more information on The Diet Solution Program and how it can help to change your life, visit www.thedietsolutionprogram.com.
What The New “Low-Carb” Study REALLY Says
July 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com
A news media feeding frenzy erupted recently when a new diet study broke in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Almost all the reporters got it wrong, wrong WRONG! So did most of the gloating low carb forumites and bloggers. Come to think of it, almost everyone interpreted this study wrong. Some valuable insights came out of this study, but almost everyone missed them because they were too busy believing what the news said or defending their own cherished belief systems …
The new study, titled, “Weight Loss With a Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low-Fat Diet” was published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in issue 359, number 3.
I quickly read the full text of the research paper the day it was published. Then, I shook my head in dismay as I scanned the news headlines. I found it amusing that the media turned this into a three ring circus, putting a misleading “low carb versus high carb,” “Atkins vindicated” or “Diet wars” spin on the story. But that’s mainstream journalism for you, right? Gotta sell those papers!
Just look at some of these headlines:
“Study Tips Scales in Atkins Diets Favor: Low Carb Regimen Better Than Low Fat Diet For Weight And Cholesterol, Major Study Shows. “
“Low-Carb and Low-Fat Diets Face Off “ “The Never-Ending Diet Wars” “Low Carb Beats Low Fat in Diet Duel.” “Atkins Diet is Safe and Far More Effective Than a Low-Fat One, Study Says” “Unrestricted Low-Carb Diet Wins Hands Down” Some of these headlines are hilarious! I wonder if any of these reporters actually read the whole study. Geez. Is it too much trouble to read 13 pages before you write a story that will be read by millions of already confused people suffering the pain and frustration of obesity?
Here’s a quick look at the study design.
The low fat restricted calorie diet was based on American Heart Association guidelines. Calorie intake was set at 1500 for women, 1800 a day for men with 30% of calories from fat, and only 10% from saturated fat. Participants were instructed to eat low fat grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes and to limit their consumption of additional fats, sweets and high fat snacks.
The Mediterranean diet group was placed on a moderate fat, restricted calorie program rich in vegetables and low in red meat, with poultry and fish replacing beef and lamb. Energy intake was restricted to 1500 calories per day for women and 1800 calories per day for men with a goal of no more than 35% of calorie from fat. Added fat came mostly from nuts and olive oil.
The low carb diet was a non-restricted calorie plan aimed at providing 20 grams of carbs per day for the 2 month induction phase with a gradual increase to 120 grams per day to maintain the weight loss. Intakes of total calories, protein and fat were not limited. However, the participants were counseled to choose vegetarian sources of protein (more on that bizarre-twist shortly).
The study subjects were mostly male (86%), overweight (BMI 31) and middle age (mean age 52)
Here were the study results:
There were some health improvements in cholesterol, blood pressure and other parameters in the Mediterranean and low carb group that bested the high carb group. That was the focus of many articles and discussions that appeared on the net this week. However, I’d like to focus on the weight loss aspect as I’m not a medical doctor and fat loss is the primary subject matter of this website. All three groups lost weight. The low carb group lost 5.5 kilos, the Mediterranean group lost 4.6 kilos and the low fat group lost 3.3 kilograms…. IN TWO YEARS! Whoopee!
My conclusion would be that the results were similar and that none of the diets worked very well over the long term!
Amanda Gardner of the US News and World Report Health Day was one of the few reporters who got it right:
“Diet plans produce similar results: Study finds Mediterranean and low-carb diets work just as well as low fat ones.”
Tara Parker-Pope of the New York Times also came close with her headline:
“Long term diet study suggests success is hard to come by: In a tightly controlled experiment, obese people lost an average of just 6 to 10 pounds over two years.”
Even this headline wasn’t 100% accurate. The study was HARDLY tightly controlled. Tightly controlled means metabolic ward studies where the researchers actually count and control the calorie intake.
The problem is, you can’t lock people in a hospital or research center ward for two years. So in this study, they used a food frequency questionnaire. Sure, like we believe what people report about their eating habits at restaurants and at home behind closed doors! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
“No! I swear Dr. Schwarzfuchs! I swear I didn’t eat those donuts over the weekend! I stayed on my Mediterranean diet. Honest!”
One of the most firmly established facts in dietetics research is that almost everyone underreports their food intake BADLY, sometimes by as much as 50%. I’m not saying everyone “lies,” they just forget or don’t know. In fact, this underreporting of calorie intake is such a huge problem that it makes obesity research very difficult to do and conclusions difficult to draw from free-living studies. Another blunder in the news reports is that this study didn’t really follow Atkins diet parameters OR even the traditional low fat diet for that matter, so it’s not an “Atkin’s versus Ornish” showdown at all. If you actually take the time to read the full text of the research paper it doesn’t say ANYTHING like, “Atkins is the best after all.” That’s the spin that some of the news media cooked up (and what the Atkins foundation was hoping for). It says, “The diet was based on the Atkins diet.” However, the sentence right before that says, “The participants were counseled to choose vegetarian sources of fat and protein.” Vegetarian Atkins? The chart on page 236 says the low carb diet provided 40% of calories from carbs at 6, 12 and 24 months. If I’m reading that data properly, then the only low carb period was a brief induction phase in the very beginning. Does that sound like Atkins? 40% carb sounds more like the Zone diet or my own Burn The Fat program to me.
The Atkins Foundation, which partially supported this study, told reporters, “We feel vindicated.” HA! They should have paid the reporters and told the researchers they felt ripped off and they wanted a refund for misuse of their research grant!
After carefully reading the full text of this study, there are many interesting findings we could talk about, from the differences in results between men and women to the improvements in health markers. Here’s what the study really says that stood out to me. It’s what I would have talked about if the newspapers or TV stations had called me:
1. “Mediterranean and low carb diets may be effective alternatives to low-fat diets.”
I can agree completely with that statement. All three diets created a calorie deficit. All three groups lost weight. Low carb lost a little more, which is the usual finding because low carb diets often control appetite and calorie intake automatically (you eat less even if you don’t count calories). Also, if body composition is not indicated, there’s an initial water weight loss that makes low carb diets look more effective in the very early stages.
2. “Personal preferences and metabolic considerations might inform individualized tailoring of dietary interventions.”
Absolutely! Nutrition should be individualized based on goals, health status, body type, activity level and numerous other factors. Different people have different phenotypes. Some people are more predisposed to thrive on a low carb approach. Others feel like crap on low carbs and do better with more carbs or a middle of the road approach. Those who dogmatically follow and defend one type of diet or the other are only handcuffing themselves by limiting their options. Iris Shai, a researcher in the study said, “We can’t rely on one diet fits all.” Hmm, far cry from “Atkins wins hands down,” wouldn’t you say?
3. “The rate of adherence to a study diet was 95.4% at 1 year and 84.6% at 2 years.”
THIS was the part of most interest to me. When I read this, immediately I could have cared less about the silly low carb versus high carb wars that the news reporters were jumping on. I wanted to know WHY the subjects were able to stick with it so well. Of course, that’s boring stuff to journalists… adherence? What does that word mean anyway? Yawn - not interesting enough for prime time, I guess. But it was interesting to me, and I hope YOU pay attention to what I found. The authors of the study wrote:
“This trial suggests a model that might be applied more broadly in the workplace. Using the employer as a health coach could be an effective way to improve health. The model of group intervention with the use of dietary group sessions, spousal support, food labels, and monthly weighing in the workplace within the framework of a health promotion campaign might yield weight reduction and long term health benefits.”
Hmmmmm, lets see: * Dietician coaching
* Group meetings
* Motivational phone calls
* Spousal support
* Workplace monitoring (corporate health program)
* Food labels - calorie monitoring
* Weigh-ins (required and monitored)
Wow, everything helpful to long term fat loss that sticks. Can you say, ACCOUNTABILITY? These factors help explain the better adherence.
By the way, the adherence rate for the low carb group was the lowest.
90.4% in low fat group
85.3% in the Mediterranean group
78% in the low carb group
Here’s the bottom line, the way I see it:
First, please, please, please learn how to find and read primary research and take the news media stories with a grain of salt. If you want to know who died, what burned down or what hurricane is coming, tune in to the news – they do a GREAT job at that. If you want to know how to lose weight or improve your health, look up the original research papers instead of taking second hand information at face value.
Second, those who prefer a low carb approach; more power to them. Most studies, this one included, show at the very least that low carb is an option and it’s not necessarily an unhealthy one if done intelligently. I also have no qualms with someone claiming that low carb diets are slightly more effective for weight loss, especially in the short term, free living situations. Is low carb superior for fat loss in the long haul? That’s STILL highly debatable. It’s probably superior for some people, but not for others.
Third, low carb people, listen up! Even if low carb is superior, that doesn’t mean calories don’t count. Deny this at your own peril. In fact, this study shows the reverse. The low carb group was in a larger negative energy balance than the high carb and Mediterranean group (according to the data published in this paper), which easily explains the greater weight loss. Posting the calories contained in foods in the cafeteria may have improved the results and helped with compliance in all groups.
When energy intake is matched calorie for calorie, the advantage of a low carb diet shrinks or disappears. For most people, low carb is a hunger management or calorie control weight loss advantage, not metabolic magic (sorry, no magic folks!)
Fourth, choose the nutrition program that’s most appropriate for your personal preferences, your current health condition, your genetics (or phenotype) and most important of all… the one you can stick with. Then tend your own garden instead of wasting time criticizing how the other guy is eating. Your results will speak for themselves in the end. Take your shirt off and show us.
If I were forced to choose only one approach (and thank god I’m not), I would recommend avoiding the extremes of very low carb or very low fat or very high fat or very high carbs. Balance makes the most sense to me, and the research suggests that this helps produce the highest compliance rate. That’s not rocket science either, it’s common sense. If you have a serious fat loss goal, as when I compete in bodybuilding, then a further reduction in carbs and increase in protein makes perfect sense to me as a peaking diet. If an extremely low or extremely high carb diet worked for you, great. But generalizing your experience to the entire rest of the world makes no sense. Arguing from extremes is the weakest form of argument. The reason I have THREE nutrition plans (three phases) in my own fat loss program is because programs with flexibility and room for individualization beat the others hands down in the long term. In fact, I wrote an entire chapter in my e-book about unique body types, how to determine yours and how to individualize your nutrition – it’s THAT important. If you have more choices, you have more power. The people who are shackled by dogma and narrow thinking are stuck. They also risk missing what’s really important. Things like: Personalization
Adherence
Long-term Maintenance
Accountability
Social Support
and…
CALORIES!
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com
PS. If you want to learn more about a balanced, flexible and proven approach, which teaches nutritional individuality and which can produce similar weight loss in one month, month after month, that the subjects of this study produced in TWO YEARS, (if you ADHERE to it!), then visit my fat loss website.
How I Got “Ripped” Abs For The Very First Time
July 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
www.BurnTheFat.com
I’ll never forget the very first time I got ripped, how I did it and how it felt. I’ve never told this entire story before or widely published my early photos either. Winning first place and seeing my abs the first time was sweet redemption. But before that, it was a story of desperation…
I started lifting weights for bodybuilding when I was 14 years old, but I never had ripped abs until I was 20. I endured six years of frustration and embarrassment. Being a teenager is hard enough, but imagine how I felt being a self-proclaimed bodybuilder, with no abs or muscle definition to show for it. Imagine what it was like in swimming class or when we played basketball in gym class and I prayed to be called out for “shirts” and not ‘”skins” because I didn’t want any one seeing my “man-boobs” and ab flab jiggling all over the court.
Oh, I had muscle. I started gaining muscle from the moment I picked up a barbell. I got strong too. I was benching 315 at age 18. But even after four years of successful strength training, I still hadn’t figured out this getting ripped thing. Muscle isn’t very attractive if it’s covered up with a layer of fat. That’s where the phrase “bulky” really comes from – fat on top of muscle. It can look worse than just fat.
I read every book. I read every magazine. I tried every exercise. I took every supplement in vogue back in the 80’s (remember bee pollen, octacosanol, lipotropics and dessicated liver?) I tried not eating for entire days at a time. I went on a rope skipping kick. I did hundreds of crunches and ab exercises. I rode the Lifecycle. I wore rubber waist belts.
The results were mediocre at best. When I made progress, I couldn’t maintain it. One step forward, one step back. Even when I got a little leaner, it wasn’t all the way. Still no ripped abs. When I played football and they beat the crap out of us at training camp, I lost weight, but STILL didn’t get all the way down to those elusive six pack abs. In fact, it was almost like I got “skinny fat.” My arms and legs lost some muscle but the small roll of ab fat was still there.
Why was it so hard? What was I doing wrong? It was driving me crazy!
My condition got worse in college because I mixed with a party crowd. With boozing came eating, and the “bulk” accumulated even more. At that point, the partying and social life were more important to me than my body. I was still lifting weights, but wasn’t living a fitness lifestyle.
Mid way through college I changed my major from business management to exercise science, having made up my mind to pursue a career in fitness. That’s when I started to feel something wasn’t right. The best word for it is “incongruence.” That’s when what you say you want to be and what you really are don’t match. Being a fitness professional means you have to walk the talk and be a role model to others. Anything else is hypocrisy. I knew I had to shape up or forget fitness as a career.
But after four years, I STILL didn’t know how to get ripped! Nothing I learned in exercise physiology class helped. All the theory was interesting, but when theory hit the real world, things didn’t always work out like they did on paper. My professors didn’t know either. Heck, most of them weren’t even in shape! Two of them were overweight, including my nutrition professor.
However, out of my college experience did come the seeds of the solution and my first breakthrough.
In one of my physical education classes, we were required to do some running and we were instructed to keep track of our performance and resting heart rates. Somehow, even though I was a strength athlete, I got hooked on running. After the initial discomfort of hauling around a not so cardio-fit 205 pound body, I started to get a lot of satisfaction out of watching my resting heart rate drop from the 70’s into the 50’s and seeing my running times get better and better. And then it happened: I started getting leaner than I ever had before.
The results motivated me to no end, and I kept after it even more. My runs would be 5 or 6 days a week and I’d go for between 30 minutes to an hour. Sometimes I had a circular route of about 6 miles and I would run it for time, almost always pushing for a personal record. When I finished, I was spent, drenched in sweat and sometimes just crashing when I got home. And I kept getting even leaner.
That’s when I started to figure it out. If you’re expecting me to say that running is the secret, no, that’s NOT it per se. I was thinking bigger picture. In fact, I noticed that my legs had lost some muscle size, so I knew that over-doing the runs would be counter productive, ultimately, and I don’t run that much anymore these days. But that’s how I did it the first time and I had never experienced fat loss like that before. The fat was falling off and I had barely changed my diet.
My “aha moment” was when I realized the pivotal piece in the puzzle was calories. It wasn’t the type of exercise, it wasn’t the specific foods and it wasn’t supplements. Today I realize that it’s the calorie deficit that matters the most, not whether you eat less or burn more per se, but in my case creating a large deficit by burning the calories was the absolute key for me.
These runs were burning an enormous number of calories. Everything I had done before wasn’t burning enough to make a noticeable difference in a short period of time. 10-15 minutes of rope skipping wasn’t enough. 45 minutes of slow-go bike riding wasn’t burning enough. Hundreds of crunches weren’t enough. I put 1+1+1 together and realized it was intensity X duration X frequency = highest the total calorie burn for the week. How much simpler could it be? It wasn’t magic. It was MATH!
It was consistency too. This was the first time in SIX YEARS I stuck with it. Body fat comes off by the grams every day – literally. Kilos and pounds of body weight may come off quickly, but they come back just as fast. Body fat comes off slowly and if you have no patience or you jump to one program to the next without following through with the one you started, you’re doomed. In six years, I had “tried everything”… except consistency and patience.
Then the stakes went up. I had finally gotten lean, but there was another level beyond lean… RIPPED! My buddies at the gym noticed me getting leaner and then they popped the question: Why don’t you compete? My training partner Steve had already competed 3 years earlier and won the Teenage Mr. America competition. Since then, I had been all talk and no walk. “Yeah, I’m going to compete one of these days too… I’m going to be the next Mr. America.” Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. The only title I had won was “Mr. Procastinator.” Then finally, Steve and my other friends challenged me almost in an ultimatum type of way. Well, the truth is, I set myself up for it with my big mouth and they called me out, so I would have been the laughing stock of our gym if I didn’t follow through.
The first time you do a real cut - all the way down to contest-ready - is the hardest. Not as much physically as psychologically, simply because you’ve never done it before. Doing something you’ve done before is no big deal. Doing something you’ve never done before causes uncertainty and fear, sometimes even terror! I was plagued with self-doubt the entire time, never sure if I was ever going to get there. It seemed like it was taking forever. But failure was not an option. Not only did I have an entire gym full of friends rooting me on, I had great training partner who was natural Mr. Teenage America! The pressure was on. I had to do it. There was no way out. No excuses.
Some other day, I’ll tell you all the details of the emotional roller coaster ride that was my first contest diet, but let it suffice to say, at that point, I still didn’t know what I was doing. It was only later that I went into “human guinea pig” mode with nutritional experiments and finally pinned down the eating side of the equation to a science (and gained 20 lbs of stage-weight muscle as a result).
In the late 1980’s, the standard bodybuilding diet was high carb, low fat. For that first competition, I was on 60% carbs – including pancakes, boxed cereal, whole grain bread, and pasta - so I guess you can toss out the idea that it’s impossible to get ripped on high carbs – although high carb is NOT the contest diet I use today. But it didn’t matter, because I had already learned the critical piece in the fat loss puzzle – the calorie balance equation. Understanding that one aspect of physiology was enough to get me ripped. It only got better later.
In the end, I took 2nd place at my very first competition, the Natural Lehigh Valley, and one month later, I won first place at the Natural New Jersey. Seven months later, the overall Natural Pennsylvania.
Looking back, was all the effort worth it? Well, my good friend Adam Waters, who is an accountability coach, teaches his students about using “redemption” as a motivator. Remember the Charles Atlas ad where the skinny kid got sand kicked in his face and then came back big and buffed and beat up the bully? That’s redemption. Or the dateless high school nerd who comes back to the 10 year class reunion driving a Mercedes with the prom queen on his arm? That’s redemption.
After all the doubt, heartache and frustration I went through for six years, I not only had my trophies, my abs were on the front page of the sports section in our small Pennsylvania town newspaper. The following year, I was on the poster for a bodybuilding competition… as the previous year’s champion. THAT’S REDEMPTION. You tell me if it was worth it.
There are 7 lessons from my story that I want to share with you because even if you have a different personal history than I do, these 7 lessons are the keys to achieving any previously elusive fitness goal for the first time and I think they apply to everyone.
1. Set the big goal and go for it. If your goal doesn’t excite you and scare you at the same time, your goal is too small. If you don’t feel fear or uncertainty, you’re inside your comfort zone. Puny goals aren’t motivating. Sometimes it takes a competition or a big challenge of some kind to get your blood boiling.
2. Align your values with your goals. I understood my values and made a decision to be congruent with who I really was and who I wanted to be. When you know your values, get your priorities straight and align your goals with your values, then doing what it takes is easy.
3. Do the math. Stop looking for magic. A lean body does not come from any particular type of exercise or foods per se, it’s the calories burned vs calories consumed that determines fat loss or fat gain. You might do better by decreasing the calories consumed, whereas I depended more on increasing the calories burned, but either way, it’s still a math equation. Deny it at your own risk.
4. Get social support. Support and encouragement from your friends can help get you through anything. Real time accountability to a training partner or trainer can make all the difference.
5. Be consistent. Nothing will ever work if you don’t work at it every day. Sporadic efforts don’t just produce sporadic results, sometimes they produce zero results.
6. Persist through difficulty and self doubt. If you think it’s going to be smooth sailing all the way with no ups and downs, you’re fooling yourself.. For every sunny day, there’s going to be a storm. If you can’t weather the storms, you’ll never reach new shores.
7. Redeem yourself. Non-achievers sit on the couch and wallow in past failures. Winners use past failures as motivational rocket fuel. It always feels good to achieve a goal, but nothing feels as good as achieving a goal with redemption.
Postscript: My journey continued. Since that initial first place trophy, I have competed as a natural for life bodybuilder 26 more times, including 7 first place awards and 7 runner up awards. And yes, I finally nailed down the nutrition side of things too. You can read more about that and the fat loss program that developed as a result at www.burnthefat.com
Train hard and expect success always,
Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com
About the Author:
Tips on How to Find Good Weight Loss Program
May 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Did you know that there isn’t a 100 percent guaranteed weight loss program available and there may never be; many good methods do exist but it will depend on the user as to how effective any of these will ultimately be. There is more harm caused to an overweight person than just pride as many serious medical conditions are as a result of obesity.
How difficult or easy your weight loss program is will depend on how much you apply yourself to shedding those extra pounds. Before you decide on how you intend to lose weight you need to decide if it is for your benefit; i.e. to remain healthy, or is it because someone else wants you to lose weight.
There are a number of things to consider which will help make your weight loss program easier including; the time of day you eat, how often, what you in fact eat and of course what physical activity you carry out. Some people are of the opinion that losing weight quickly is the best way but this often causes other medical problems like heartburn or even anemia and creates unrealistic targets.
To lose a realistic pound in weight each and every week all you need to do is reduce your food intake or exercise enough to loose 500 calories each day. The best diets are where you do not give up foods you enjoy, just cut back on the amount because as soon as you stop eating those foods, the likelihood of the diet continuing is reduced.
Emotions have a great deal to do with weight gain as many people (more likely women but not exclusively) eat more when they feel depressed, unwanted or unloved. Bad eating habits are a real issue that can cause diabetes, cancer, various heart problems and high blood pressure. Part of the reason for weight gain is psychological and therefore this must be addressed along with any easy weight loss diet that is being used.
One aspect that also needs to be included is how the person pursues the subject of their weight loss program as those who take a more relaxed approach are usually more successful. Being positive is one of the most important aspects in life as it can help us achieve things we did not believe possible. Losing weight is known to provide us with more energy and allows us to carry out tasks that those extra pounds do not permit, which can all lead to improved self confidence.
Easy weight loss programs are all about a person’s ability to adapt to some demanding living conditions and once you embark upon it, it usually gets easier and easier.
How To Lose 20 Pounds Really, Really Fast
February 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.burnthefat.com
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 (www.burnthefat.com) 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: www.burnthefat.com
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written hundreds of articles and been featured in IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on dozens of websites worldwide. For information on Tom’s Fat Loss program, visit: www.burnthefat.com
Important Information About Calorie Shifting
February 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
There are a few calorie shifting diets and eating programs being advocated today, including fatloss4idiots, the upday downday diet, and QOD, just to name a few. These diets promise that you can lose over a pound a day and that you can keep the weight off if you simply follow this eating plan.
All of these eating plans work on the scientific principles that our metabolism slows down when we eat the same thing day in and day out. The body holds on to body fat stubbornly. Calorie shifting involves eating different amounts of calories every day or a set amount for several days in a row followed by a few days of overeating. You adjust your calories between low and high every day or for a series of days. By keeping your body constantly surprised, calorie shifting will spur your body to start burning fat when you cut your calories on those days.
Usually these eating plans will give you a calorie range in which to stay for a set number of days; for example, you might eat 1,000 calories per day for four days and then eat 2,500 calories on the fifth day, and then go back to 1,000. Or, a more popular way of calorie shifting is to adjust the actual range of calories every single day. One day you’ll eat 1,000 calories, the next day you’ll eat 1,500 calories, the next day 1,200, and so on.
By keeping your body always guessing you never allow your metabolism to become complacent and to adjust. This way you begin to burn up your fat stores on those low calorie days. This is basically the essence of all calorie shifting diets.
Britney Smith has successfully lose weight using calorie shifting , learn how to lose weight using calorie shifting?
Visit her website at - http://www.squidoo.com/calorie-shifting-fatloss4idiots
Do you belive it ?Doctors want to kill this woman
February 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The woman doctor, whose name is Dr Suzanne Gudakunst, has really upset the major food & drug industries, as well as weight loss manufactured food companies.
In the past 6 years she has worked largely in secret developing what may be the “cure” for obesity — and testing this first on herself, and then on a select group of volunteer patients who anxiously awaited salvation from the harmful effects of suffering ‘the battle of bulge.”
So valuable her SHOCKING findings and PROVEN results are, that she’s now just released her simple and easy-to-do system under the aptly titled: “Top Secret Fat Loss Secret!”
And her timing couldn’t be better! …
- Since recent studies reveal obesity has now reached epidemic
proportions, her secret may well prove a major life-saver to the
now more than 40% of Americans alone who are labeled
“obese!”
- Children are now considered “fatter than ever” by most experts,
and Dr Suzanne’s remedy may prove a preventative in the fight
against later-in-life developed diabetes when these same
children grow into adults!
And what may be the BIGGEST “Shock” of all is this horrifying fact:
=> Dr Suzanne has received death threats for simply making
her secret fat loss solution available to the general public -
and from what law enforcement investigators believe may
be insiders in the weight-loss/diet food manufacturing and
weight-loss drug treatment industries!
One federal law enforcement official (who insists on remaining nameless) said in confidence:
“It’s no shock to us at the [agency name withheld for security
purposes] that this lady doc has received so many threats on
her life as food and drug companies stand to lose potentially
billions of dollars by the release of her new breakthrough
secret for losing weight.”
But now with the release of this breakthrough weight and fat loss revelation, people who previously struggled so very hard with little or any success in the fight against the “extra pounds” now have a VAST & POWERFUL WEAPON on their side for a well-deserved change!
When asked if she feared retaliation from pharmaceutical and weight-loss food manufacturers, she said almost too hopefully?
“I wish they would do so especially in public because to get
fired upon for this would demonstrate more than ever that I
must have done something very, very right ? [a]s anyone
with common sense would see that the only reason they are
in business in the first place is because being overweight as
a population only serves to make them even richer ? [a]nd
what I’ve done is going to free masses of people from being
slaves to them for good! - even many millions.”
So despite the continued threats, Dr Suzanne is more on the ball and out to ruffle as many feathers as she can with her New “TOP SECRET Fat Loss Secret!”
To be sure the good gal-doctor isn’t going this alone! Nope. She’s got some very BIG heavy-hitters on her side!
Joined in unison by some of the biggest names in modern medicine from the likes of Johns Hopkins, Harvard Medical, and a good number of the other leading world-recognized hospitals and higher-learning institutions, Dr Suzanne moves rapidly forward in her personal “war” on ugly, unwanted fat and for the pursuit of better and eventually optimal health for all!
Additionally, you should know that nothing about her secret fat loss cure is difficult or hard to do.
What you may even find strangely surprising about her secret is the fact that it can by done by anyone effortlessly! (You’ll have to see it for yourself to understand how this is actually possible!)
So if you are someone who has been losing the fight against ugly fat and unwanted extra inches (that eventually without a doubt will shorten your life and lower the quality of it), then this is exactly what the good lady-doctor ordered!
Just grab the good doctor’s secret for yourself at:
But I feel it only fair to warn you that “the rush” is so vehemently on, that if you hesitate you may find that tomorrow when you get there (the link just above) the credit card-taking process might be so overburdened that you can’t order at all … (So it might be a good idea that you hurry on over there NOW rather than risk waiting till later and losing out for good!)
Plus, it’s my understanding that she knocks off nearly HALF the price just for people getting over there within 24-48 hours!
So if I were you I’d not take any chances because although credit card processing may still be working by the time you get there, the price may nearly DOUBLE just 2 days from now (and then you’ll kick yourself saying “Dad-gummit! I knew I should have grabbed that when I had the chance!” … so don’t let this happen to you - grab it NOW!)
How to get rid of belly fats ?
February 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Do you ever how to get rid of belly fat ? they may be exercising and doing crunches and sit-ups until they’re blue in the face, but still are not seeing those tight, firm abs that they’re longing for. What’s the secret to that washboard stomach, or at the very least, to having a flat stomach that doesn’t make you look like you’re smuggling watermelons? In truth, there are some simple things you can do when learning how to get rid of belly fat, and they’re really not big or major changes.
The first thing you can do is increase your water intake. Water helps to flush away fat and toxins in your system, and will help you lose weight overall. When considering how to lose belly fat, it’s surprising how many people ignore their need for adequate hydration overall. They may think about their food or the number of crunches they do all day, but ignore their water, and this is dangerous and unhealthy. Water replaces everything that you lose when you sweat during exercise, and keeps your muscles and joints lubricated as well. Don’t even think about how to lose belly fat if you can’t increase your water, and if you’re someone who hates water, don’t hesitate to add some flavor to it. Try sports drinks or mixes like Crystal Light. Caffeinated beverages actually cause you to lose hydration, so avoid coffee and tea, and especially sugary colas.
Minding your food is another important step in learning how to lose belly fat. Many people think they’re following a good diet, but when you start to really keep track of what’s going into their mouths, you see a lot of fast foods, junk foods, and sugary foods. All of these only contribute to your body’s excessive weight overall, and there are no amount of crunches you can do to correct this.
Good aerobic activity overall is also important. Many people think that the most important step in learning how to lose belly fat is to do sit-ups and crunches, but these just tighten muscles on your stomach; you won’t even be able to see this difference if those muscles are covered in fat! You need to increase your calorie expenditure in order to lose the fat. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything strenuous; even walking a few times per week after dinner or using a treadmill can help out tremendously. Take up a sport that gets you moving; even something as leisurely as golf is better than sitting on the couch! Try basketball, baseball, or even bowling.
There is no one perfect solution when wondering how to lose belly fat. You need to keep yourself healthy overall, and try these different solutions all mixed up together. This is the only way to lose fat on all parts of your body, and to really keep it off as well.
Learn more how to get rid of belly fats with Dr Suzanne Gundakust . She is one of the expert on Health and weight loss expertise.
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