"Ask the Fat Loss Guru" 12/10/2010
 Burn the Fat - Fat Loss mini course We are lucky to have a Q & A session with the 'Fat Loss Guru', Tom Venuto. Tom is a nutritional expert, trainer and more (see his bio below). He is answering some direct questions on this topic, "How Do Bodybuilders And Fitness Models Get So Lean?" Cheers, padre art +++++++++++++++ QUESTION: "Tom, on your website you wrote: 'Who better to model than bodybuilders and fitness competitors? No athletes in the world get as lean as quickly as bodybuilders and fitness competitors. The transformations they undergo in 12 weeks prior to competition would boggle your mind! Only ultra-endurance athletes come close in terms of low body fat levels, but endurance athletes like triathaletes and marathoners often get lean at the expense of chewing up much of their lean muscle." There seems to be a contradiction unless I'm missing something. Why do bodybuilders and fitness competitors have to go through a 12 week 'transformation' prior to every event instead of staying 'lean and mean' all the time? If they practice the secrets exposed in your book, shouldn't be staying in great shape all the time instead of having to work at losing fat prior to every competitive event?" ANSWER: Thanks for your question. There's a logical explanation for why bodybuilders and other physique athletes (fitness and figure competitors), don't remain completely ripped all year round, and it's the very reason they are able to get so ripped on the day of a contest . . . You can't hold a peak forever or it's not a "peak", right? What is the definition of a peak? It's a high point surrounded by two lower points isn't it? Therefore, any shape you can stay in all year round is NOT your "peak" condition. The intelligent approach to nutrition and training (which almost all bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors use), is to train and diet in a seasonal or cyclical fashion and build up to a peak, then ease off to a maintenance or growth phase. I am NOT talking about bulking up and getting fat and out of shape every year, then dieting it all off every year. What I'm talking about is going from good shape to great shape, then easing back off to good shape . . . but never getting "out of shape." Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Here's an example: I have no intentions whatsoever of walking around 365 days a year at 4% body fat like I appear in the photo on my website. Truth be told, that is day of contest condition. Off-season (when I'm not competing), my body fat is usually between 8 - 10%. Mind you, that's very lean and still single digit body fat. I don't stray too far from competition shape, but I don't maintain contest shape all the time. It takes me about 10-12 weeks or so to gradually drop from 9% to 3.5%-4.0% body fat to "peak" for competition with NO loss of lean body mass, using the same techniques I reveal in my e-book. It would be almost impossible to maintain 4% body fat, and even if I could, why would I want to? For the few weeks prior to competition I'm so depleted, ripped, and even "drawn" in the face, that complete strangers walk up and offer to feed me. Okay, so I'm just kidding about that, but let's just say being "being ripped to shreds" isn't a desirable condition to maintain because it takes such a monumental effort to stay there. It's probably not even healthy to try forcing yourself to hold extreme low body fat. Unless you're a natural "ectomorph" (skinny, fast metabolism body type), your body will fight you and you'll always be hungry. Not only that, anabolic hormones may drop and sometimes your immune system is affected as well (and I hate to say this, but sometimes - for some people - even the, uh . . . "reproductive functions" . . . decline a bit when you're that lean). Hey, I'm just being honest. It's just not "normal" to walk around all the time with literally NO subcutaneous body fat. Instead of attempting to hold the peak, I cycle back into a less demanding off-season program and avoid creeping beyond 9.9% body fat. Some years I've stayed leaner - like 6-7%, (which takes effort), especially when I knew I would be photographed, but I don't let my body fat go over 10%. That’s "the line" I draw - it's like a personal "rule" for me. This practice isn't just restricted to bodybuilders. Athletes in all sports use periodization to build themselves up to their best shape for competition. Is a pro football player in the same condition in March-April as he is in August-September? Probably not. Many show up fat and out of shape (relatively speaking) for training camp, others just need fine tuning, but none are in peak form . . . that's why they have training camp!!! There's another reason you wouldn't want to maintain a "ripped to shreds" physique all year round - you'd have to be dieting (calorie restricted) all the time. And this is one of the reasons that 95% of people can't lose weight and keep it off - they are CHRONIC dieters . . . always on some type of diet. Know anyone like that? You can't stay on restricted low calories indefinitely. Sooner or later your metabolism slows down and you plateau as your body adapts to the chronically lowered food intake and reduced body weight. But if you diet for fat loss and push incredibly hard for 3 months, then ease off for a while and eat a little more (healthy food, not "pigging out"), your metabolic rate is re-stimulated. In a few weeks or months, you can return to another fat loss phase and reach an even lower body fat level, until you finally reach the point that's your happy maintenance level for life - a level that is healthy and realistic - as well as visually appealing. That's how we physique athletes do it . . . Bodybuilders have discovered a methodology for losing fat that's so effective, it puts them in complete control of their body composition. They've mastered this area of their lives and will never have to worry about it again. If they ever "slip" and fall off the wagon like all humans do at times . . . no problem! They know how to get back into shape fast. Bodybuilders have the tools and knowledge to hold a low body fat all year round(such as 9% for men, or about 15% for women), and then at a whim, to reach a temporary "peak" of extremely low body fat for the purpose of competition. Maybe most important of all, they have the power and control to slowly ease back from peak shape into maintenance, and not balloon up and yo-yo like most conventional dieters. What if you had the power to stay lean all year round, and then get super lean when summer rolled around, or when you took your vacation to the Caribbean, or when your wedding date was coming up? Wouldn't you like to be in control of your body like that? Isn't that the same thing that bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors do, only on a more practical, real-world level? So even if you have no intention of ever being a bodybuilder, don't you agree that there's something of value everyone could learn from physique athletes? Don't model yourself after the huge crowd of "losers" who gobble diet pills, buy exercise gimmicks and suffer through starvation diets like automatons, only to gain back everything they lost! Instead, learn from the leanest athletes on Earth - natural bodybuilders and fitness competitors . . . These physique athletes get as ripped as they want to be, exactly when they want to, simply by manipulating their diets in a cyclical fashion between pre-contest "cutting" programs and off season "maintenance" or "muscle growth" programs. Even if you have no desire to ever compete, try this seasonal fat loss "peaking" approach yourself and you'll see that it can work as well for you as it does for elite bodybuilders. If you're interested in learning even more secrets of bodybuilders and fitness models, visit the Burn The Fat website: Train hard and expect success, Tom Venuto, Fat loss coach  Tom Venuto About the Author: Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting us:  The Burn the Fat Inner Circle opened in 2006, the World's Premier Fat Loss Membership Website . . . the perfect companion resource to Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is the #1 best selling diet and fitness ebook in the history of the Internet. In fact, it's one of the best selling e-books on ANY subject in the history of the Internet. Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle Inner Circle is a fat loss support community and much, much more. Over 16,000 members and growing. Add Comment  Fat Loss Workout Program For two days only, December 7 to December 9, Craig Ballantyne is offering a fat loss workout program special. Trim-up for the holiday season. The offer includes:
 Fat Loss Workouts Does Cold Weather Make You Store Body Fat? 12/05/2010
 Burn the Fat Is there a relationship between cold weather and body fat? Our guest blogger, best-selling author Tom Venuto, has some insights for us. Cheers, padre art +++++++++++++++++ By: Tom Venuto Do you get fatter in the cold weather? It’s a good question right now, considering that this year’s farmer’s almanac is predicting a frigid winter and true to the prediction, the Huffington Post just ran a story, “Cold Temperatures Greet The New Year.” It’s FREEZING here in New Jersey and it’s not like this is the Yukon territory. Some of my friends up in the great white yonder think that temps in the 20’s are balmy. Yeah right. With the wind chill, even my bones had goose bumps today. I can’t even fathom the sub zero stuff those guys live in. Adding insult, my friends in LA and South Florida have been more than happy to share their local January weather reports with me. 80 degrees and sunny. Thanks guys –you suck. Back to the question. I just got an email from a burn the fat reader who asked, “Tom, is there any evidence that during cold winter weather it gets harder to lose body fat? For me, it seems easier to drop fat during the hot weather.” Yes, there is. First there’s the psychological explanation: in warm climates, people are wearing less clothes and enjoying the outdoors and people want to look good when they’re exposing more flesh! In the cold, you’re covered up, so there’s less self-consciousness and no public accountability. Therefore, most people tend to stay on a diet more diligently and train harder when summer rolls around. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been studied at length by psychologists. Often more than just the “winter blues” but an actual type of depression, SAD occurs during the short days and long nights of winter and fall, when there’s less sunlight and colder temperatures. Symptoms include;
Because of their tendency for fall and winter weight gain, many people have suspected that cold temperatures influence weight gain on a metabolic level, not just eating more. Exposure to cold temperatures can cause a shivering thermogenesis, which means there’s an increase in metabolism to produce more heat (heat production = calories burned). However, if you just got the bright idea of turning off the heat in your house, or going for a swim in the cold surf every day to “burn more fat”, I wouldn’t recommend it. Deliberate exposure to the cold, either cold air or cold water doesn’t pan out into real world fat loss results, even though there are actually “fat loss gurus” who recommend it. Here’s why: If your body uses some energy for shivering or heat production, it can compensate later for that energy loss by increasing your appetite. Not only that, research at the hyperbaric environmental adaptation program at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland reported that, “The combination of exercise and cold exposure does NOT act to enhance metabolism of fats . . . Cold-induced vasoconstriction of peripheral adipose tissue may account, in part, for the decrease in lipid mobilization.” It’s just not practical to freeze your butt off in an attempt to speed up your metabolism a tiny little bit, so your fat loss scheme wouldn’t last long if you tried. A great example of how cold temperatures affect energy balance is in the case of swimming. For years, people thought swimming actually made you fat. There were all kinds of theories, like, “it makes you retain a layer of fat for insulation, like seals.” Actually, the most recent research shows that swimming is a perfectly good fat burning exercise, except for one thing: Swimming, especially in cold water, increases appetite dramatically. The seasons affect your activity levels too. Pedometer research published in the journal Medicine and Science and Sports And Exercise uncovered a huge difference in the number of steps taken between the summer and winter:
You have to keep up with your training and nutrition program in the winter, or else. (Need a program? Here’s the most popular and effective one available) Although studies have found that seasonal weight gain is usually very small, it’s the type of slow weight creep that goes unnoticed. Over a period of 10, 15 or 20 years, it’s enough to accumulate into becoming overweight or obese. Thus many men and women wake up one morning at age 40 or 45, look in the mirror and ask themselves, “How did I get so heavy?” Answer: just a pound or two a year, after each winter season, left unchecked. To stay lean all year round, you have to remain alert about increases in your appetite, body fat and decreases in your activity. This is a YEAR-ROUND LIFESTYLE! Stay active, stay diligent about nutrition, stay accountable, and if you start to experience weight gain, nip it in the bud - fast! Train hard and expect success, Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Founder & CEO of Burn The Fat Inner Circle  About the Author: Tom Venuto is the author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models, Fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) Bodybuilder and Freelance writer. Burn the Fat teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements, using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting here:  Burn the Fat Inner Circle is a support group for anyone that wants healthy weight loss. It's been proven that losing weight with any diet is more likely to succeed when the dieter has a support group of like minded individuals. With a membership 16,000 strong (and growing) the Inner Circle offers a group of helpful people either in the same place you are or successfully advancing in their weight loss program.  "FREE Fat Loss Course and Book!" 12/03/2010
 Wow! Fat Loss for Free! This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time. Fitness pro Jon Benson released a bombshell last week on the fat-burning world. He is giving away a book's worth of material in his FREE 7-Day Personal Fat Loss Certification Course. FREE . . . and get this: Anyone who completes the course gets his book "The Radical Fat loss Blueprint" FREE as well. So there's nothing to buy at all . . . in fact you get tons of FREE stuff AND you can even earn bucks in the program. It's just too cool for words. So go see it for yourself: Here is a short review: The Course is for anyone who wants to become their own "personal" fat loss expert. It is complete with a quiz each day and more material than most people sell in a book . . . and it's totally FREE. After the course, you get his "Radical Fat loss Blueprint" FREE too. This is all about how he and a group of "guinea pigs" experimented with natural techniques and got up to 21 lbs of unwanted body fat off in just 21 days. The average was 17.5, but some people got as much as 30 lbs off. All with little to no muscle lost. It then outlines the 'exact' workout and supplement "feeding" schedule Jon still uses to get into top shape in 21 days. This is down to the 'hour' . . . and it includes home workouts or gym workouts. Your fat loss choice. This is his gift to my readers, and I am thrilled to share it with you. Enjoy the course!  Fit Over 40 Fit Over 40 11/30/2010
 Fit Over 40 Here is a special Health and Fitness Bulletin for those willing to be fit over 40. Enjoy . . . ------------------------------------------------------ Special Bonus Report Available ------------------------------------------------------ A reminder -- "Slow Poisoning", the eye-opening report by health journalist John Erb, is now available in the "Fit Over 40" members area. Anyone who owns a copy of "Fit Over 40" now receives FIVE free bonus e-books/reports:
AND "The Slow Poisoning of Mankind" by John Erb. This is the incredible report that is literally given to The World Health Organization on the toxic effects of one of the most common food additives in America. If you own "Fit Over 40", just visit the homepage and login to the member's downloads. If you do not own "Fit Over 40", get it here! You can also pick up Frank Mangano's e-book, "The Silent Killer Exposed", for a limited time. ------------------------------------------------------ Poverty and Obesity: A New Study Finds a Remarkable Connection ------------------------------------------------------ While the rich and the affluent still face many of the problems that come with the "king's lifestyle", a new pattern is emerging in the United States and, predictions state, Europe. A new study shows that the trend of ill-health and obesity is shifting rapidly to the poor and less educated portions of the country. The reason this is important to us all, other than a concern for our nation's health as a whole, is the economic strain this will place on our already burdened health care system. By the year 2012, if this trend increases, the middle and upper classes will be looking at massive increases in taxes to fund proposed government plans to address the problem. This is a problem that flat-out does NOT need to exist. Everyone who can afford food at 'all' can easily eat healthy and exercise. Part of the confusion is due to the fact that the billion dollar fitness industry has created a myth . . . that expensive food supplements and organic foods are mandatory for good health. While I believe in both, neither are mandatory. It's the TYPE of food, and the COMBINATION of the foods that make all the difference . . . that, and moderate calories, exercise, and proper mental disposition. This is covered in detail in the best-selling e-book, "Fit Over 40", by Jon Benson and Tom Venuto, CSCS. Get it here! In regards to the study, Dr. Janet Collins of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had this to say . . . "Populations are no longer equal in terms of experiencing health problems. Low-income populations tend to experience all the health problems we worry about at greater rates." The five states with the highest obesity rates in the 2005 consensus:
These same five states have higher rates of poverty than the national norm. Meanwhile, the five states with the lowest obesity have less poverty;
Each of these states also have more college graduates and stronger education programs. Education in health and fitness does not need to be expensive, and it certainly does not take a rocket scientist to figure it out. However, many fitness professionals and nutrition 'gurus' lend that impression. If you visit a gym today, especially in a larger city, you'll see a myriad of devices that, frankly, would give you a better workout if you tried to pick them up and move them out to the garbage dump. It can be daunting and confusing for anyone! But, this doesn't have to be the case. In fact, as so many people report in "Fit Over 40", workouts can be done in your own home that will more than satisfy the needs of most people. The same goes for nutrition. While a few people require "high-tech", expensive foods (for medical reasons usually), the vast majority of us can easily get the job done at the local grocery store. The best way to inspire change is to create change in yourself. Start there, set the example, and the word will spread. Anyone can be fit and healthy, and they can do it at ANY age, and at ANY income level above absolute poverty. Cheers, padre art Training and Exercise Less, Not More! 11/28/2010
 Limit your training time and improve the results Training and Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. Cheers, padre art +++++++++++ If I had to pick out the number one reason most people fail to achieve good results in the gym, guess what it would be? Over-training. Exercising too much. Sounds counter-intuitive, but trust me: It's quite real. Folks write to me all the time and say . . . "Jon, I don't get it. I cannot lose body fat and I'm running six days a week for an hour and training in the gym five days a week for 45 minutes!" My answer back is usually: "You are training 4x more than me, and I'm a fitness pro!" Look, do you take 21 aspirin for a headache, thinking the more you take the faster your pain will go away? No? So why apply the same logic to fitness? Only a certain amount is required. Beyond that, you are spinning your wheels. When I wrote 7 Minute Muscle, I exposed all the lies about training too long and why this is not the best way to achieve the results you want. Check it out if you want the facts. One more thing: 75% of your progress will come in the kitchen, not in the gym or on the treadmill. As for me, I would much rather eat smart and train less than train all the time and be forced to eat 6-8 times a day just to recover from it all. That makes no sense to me at all. You? Find out more about the 7 Minute Muscle training program to fit your fitness into that busy schedule.  Most successful dieters have a solid support group The Skinny on Fats 11/26/2010
 Fitness author Jon Benson wants to share these insights on fats and their relation to body fat. Cheers, padre art +++++++++++++ Let's get this one out in the open:
We've been sold a bag of lies when it comes to fats. Fats are essential for your body's hormone production, skin health, absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and even burning body fat. Yep . . . you need fats to burn fat! Studies have been conducted to attempt to elevate cholesterol levels using high-fat diets. Most all of them have failed miserably -- in fact several "lowered" total cholesterol while raising the so-called "good" cholesterol (HDL). That being said, you don't need the following . . .
Here's my simple dietary fats solution:
Just do me a favor: If you are on the "Fats make you gain body fat and have heart attacks" bandwagon, jump off. We have consumed fat for countless thousands of years. Just consume it the way we always HAVE (naturally, not stuffed with hormones and cooked up in a lab) and you'll be fine. If you want a diet-solution that actually uses dietary fats to help you take off the body fat, then use this one: It's a real-world plan that allows you to eat your favorite foods and still shed the body weight you want. And yes -- that includes fats. Here is an in-depth look at the subject of fats.   Here is part 2 of the healthy holiday eating tips from author and fat loss coach, Tom Venuto. Cheers, padre art ++++++++++++++++++ By Tom Venuto CSCS, NSCA-CPT Fat Loss Coach It's lunchtime, and you're trying to decide what to make today. Normally, you would have your regular chicken salad with mixed nuts, but today is different. You're going to a party in the evening, and even though you're not quite sure what to expect, you know there will be a ton of food in an atmosphere of very little restraint. You decide that it's probably best to eat a lighter lunch than usual, to prepare for the evening calorie-surge. This is commonly known as “banking calories” which is analogous to saving calories like money because you’re going to consume more later. I usually do not recommend this. Here’s why: If you skip meals earlier in the day to “prepare” (bank calories) for a big feast at night, you are thinking only in terms of calories, but skipping meals is also depriving yourself of protein (amino acids), carbohydrates, essential fats, vitamins, minerals and other valuable nutrients that come from healthy food, as well as the small frequent meals which help control your appetite, stabilize your blood sugar and provide a steady flow of amino acids to your muscles. Skipping breakfast is especially detrimental. Not only that, but eating less early in the day in anticipation of overeating later in the day is much more likely to increase your appetite, causing you to binge or eat even MORE than you thought you would at night when the big meal does arrive. In fact, eating healthy, high fiber and lean protein food, as usual, earlier in the day is likely to make you LESS hungry for the holiday party meal and you’ll be more likely to eat only a harmlessly small amount of “party” foods. I don't like the concept of “banking calories” if it means skipping meals or if it’s used as justification for binge eating. Even if it worked the way you wanted it to, the starving and binge eating pattern may cause more damage than an occasional oversize meal, even if only on a psychological level. Some dietitians might even argue that this kind of behavior borders on disordered eating. A better approach is to stay on your regular menu of healthy foods and small meals through the entire day - business as usual - and then go ahead and enjoy yourself at your party by treating yourself to a SMALL amount of “BAD” food. This is supported by the 2nd Corollary of the law of calorie balance: “Small amounts of ANYTHING - even junk food- will probably not be stored as fat as long as you are in a calorie deficit where you are eating fewer calories than you burn.” It should be a big relief for you to know that when you’re at a party, a banquet, dining out or eating at a relative’s house for a special occasion, you can eat whatever you want with little or no ill effect on body composition, as long as you respect the law of calorie balance ans as long as it is done infrequently. However, you CANNOT starve and binge and expect not to reap negative consequences. If you sincerely want to burn fat and be healthy, then you have to have the discipline to stick with your nutrition plan consistently, control your portion sizes and enjoy healthy holiday eating. Train hard and expect success, Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT Fat Loss Coach To learn more about burning fat naturally in a healthy, sensible way, then be sure to take a look at Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle About the Author: Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models Which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism:   Today we start a two part series on healthy holiday eating by Tom Venuto. Tom is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models" Happy Holidays, padre +++++++++++++++++++ We've all been at the holiday get-togethers, and have quickly devoured something devilishly delicious with little thought. Some feel little shame for eating a cake or drinking half the bowl of punch, but others find themselves feeling guilty after-wards and can't help but think, "oops, I shouldn't have eaten that." I have to admit I do get a little chuckle out of the “accidental” part! Do you ever really “accidentally” eat anything? I think we are all responsible for everything we eat and how much we eat and until you consciously realize and accept this, and take the time to do some proactive meal planning, you will probably continue to have lots of “overeating accidents!” After you overindulge, I definitely do NOT recommend skipping your next meal or skipping meals the next day to make up for it. I usually don’t even recommend cutting back either, although there may be exceptions where you could manipulate your meal size or macro-nutrient composition. I generally recommend returning immediately to your “regularly scheduled meal programming,” because this continues to encourage the maintenance of positive habits such as eating 5-6 small meals every day. I do suppose whether you cut back could depend on whether you’ve been on low calories a long time, how lean you were already, and on whether you were in a caloric deficit already. If you were in a calorie deficit for the day, then the extra calories might only bring you up to maintenance, not “over” your daily limit, which might not be as damaging as if you were in a calorie surplus. If you were already very lean or had been dieting strictly for a long time (as in a bodybuilder coming off a competition), a large meal or entire high calorie day might not have any negative effect either. Your metabolism has a way of slowing down if you keep your calories too low 100% of the time. With occasional (planned) higher calorie days, you’d be using the BURN THE FAT “zig-zag” or “cycling” principle, so eating more in this context can be a positive thing. (Note: You can learn more about this technique in the BURN THE FAT program). However, there’s a big difference between a planned “cheat meal” or a planned high carb, clean food “re-feed” day and a binge on junk food. Regardless of total 24 hour calorie intake for the day, you could still store body fat after heavy eating if it’s done at certain times and in a certain metabolic state. Although I do prescribe calorie levels based on daily (24 hr) needs, I believe you should also pay attention to 3 hour “windows” when you’re thinking about adjusting your caloric intake. Calories and macro-nutrients (protein/aminos, carbs/sugar and fat) are partitioned into glycogen, muscle or fat tissue or burned immediately depending very much on present moment energy and recovery needs and on what’s going to happen over the next 3 hours or so as the food enters your system. So, if you’re going to be plopping down on the couch to watch football games for the rest of the day and night after that big holiday meal, beware - you might just want to cut back on that next meal a little, especially starches and sugars. Bottom line: It’s okay to eat small amounts of your favorite junk foods once in a while as planned “free meals,” and it’s a good idea to eat more in general from time to time to keep your metabolism humming along. However, your best bet if you’re really serious about fat loss is to avoid huge meals and avoid binge eating in the first place. ALWAYS practice portion control - even when holiday eating. If you ever do slip, don’t beat yourself up, just get right back on the wagon with your next meal and remember, the past is behind you and today is a new day. Your friend and coach, Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT P.S. If you’re interested in burning fat naturally in a healthy, sensible way, then be sure to take a look at Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle - it’s the best place to start your journey: About the Author: Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting here!    Today we are starting a short series of blogs on how to stay fit during the holiday season. This post and the next two are from Tom Venuto. He is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Cheers, padre ++++++++++++++++++++ How to Stay on Your Diet and Stay in Shape Over the Holidays Without Turning into a Miserable Scrooge! A Holiday Survival Guide By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS My mom makes the most amazing Christmas cake in the world; it’s been a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember. First, she mixes up a light, fluffy, vanilla cake mix, pours it into the pans and then pops it in the oven. After it’s been baked, she stacks the cake in two layers with whipped cream spread generously between each layer. She then pours on red and green Jell-O, which gets soaked up inside the cake. Next, whipped cream is smothered all the way around for frosting. And finally, she garnishes it with red and green sprinkles. A few red and green-striped candy canes are stuck in the top as the finishing touch, and off it goes to the refrigerator so it can be served chilled later. Now let me tell you, as a bodybuilder, I have a lot of discipline. But when that moist, delicious, red and green, Jell-O-filled, whipped-cream covered cake is sitting on the table in front of me on December 25th, it takes every ounce of my willpower to keep from calling it a “VERY high carb day” and devouring numerous very large slices. Despite the temptation, I don’t “pig out” nor do I deprive myself. Instead, I’m content with eating my single piece, savoring every mouthwatering bite, all the while repeating my mantra, “Nothing tastes as good as being lean feels.” The next day, on December 26th, I’m on the bike or Stairmaster at the crack of dawn, followed by six perfect meals of lean protein and complex carbohydrate - just like every other day of the year. A week later, on December 31st, I usually go out for a nice dinner (very naughty food, I must admit), and then we toast champagne to the New Year at midnight. I’m in bed at a reasonable hour shortly thereafter. Unless it’s a scheduled day of rest on New Years day, I’m not groggy and hung over like many of my friends are. I’m in the gym squatting, bench pressing, curling, or “stairmastering” just like I usually am. And here’s the point: You can and should enjoy the holidays. You can enjoy being with family and going out with friends. You can go to holiday parties and have fun. You can enjoy a few “naughty” meals. You can have a piece of cake and a glass or two of champagne. There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy yourself AND stay healthy, lean and fit through the holidays. All it takes is some planning, some goal-setting and little dose of old-fashioned discipline. I’d like to share with you 10 ways that you can follow your diet and stay in great shape over the holidays without turning into a “miserable Scrooge.” If you follow this advice, then you’ll be one of the proud few with a New Year’s resolution to be the best you’ve ever been in the new year to come - instead of one of the guilt-ridden many who must resolve to reclaim what they lost over the year that’s just passed them by. 1. Expect to stay on your program over the holidays “Fail to plan and you plan to fail” is a time worn and cliché statement, but it’s still some of the best success advice you will ever hear. Not only do most people fail to plan, they consciously plan to fail over the holidays. Most people expect to “blow” their diet and skip workouts over the holidays. They expect to eat more, to exercise less and to gain weight. As a result, they don’t even make the effort. Instead of taking control, they resign themselves to maintenance at best, or back-sliding at worst. This negative expectancy leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. By the first week of January, they’re in the worst shape they’ve been in for a year and they frantically make New Year’s resolutions to shed the excess fat they’ve gained. You can avoid this trap by planning to succeed during the holidays. Set up a positive expectation. Resolve now that you will not tolerate slipping backwards. Keep your standards up and don’t settle! Not only can you plan to “stay in shape” over the holidays, you can plan to improve! All you have to do is make the decision and expect success. 2. Plan all your workouts in advance You know your schedule is going to get hectic over the holidays. You’ll be cooking, shopping, wrapping gifts, sending cards, going to parties, traveling, visiting family, and so on. To stay on your training and nutrition regimen is definitely going to take some sound time management skills. Plan your schedule in advance. Anticipate what’s coming up. Write it down. Put it on your calendar. By doing so, you won’t be caught unprepared. Use a schedule book or monthly calendar and “make appointments” for ALL your workouts for the entire holiday season. Then, post a copy where you will be forced to look at it every day. This is a powerful exercise that will keep you focused and force you to think about and prepare for each upcoming workout. If you try to “wing it” and squeeze in your workouts and meals whenever you have time left over, you’ll find that there never is any time left over! Somehow your daily activities always seem to “expand” to fill the hours in every day. So schedule your workouts and meal times in your calendar just like you would any other appointment or event. Once you’ve done that, stick to your schedule religiously. 3. Set some compelling training and fitness goals over the holiday period Don’t wait until January 1st to set your goals just because you think it will be harder to achieve them over the holidays. On the contrary, studies on personal achievement have shown that you’ll usually reach 80% of the goals you put onto paper. The problem is that few people set any goals at all, and fewer still set them during the holidays. Why wait? Why not do it now? Set some big goals that you can start working on during the holidays: Set a goal to lose the 25 lbs you’ve always wanted to lose NOW Set the goal to gain 10 lbs of solid muscle NOW Been contemplating a competition in bodybuilding, fitness or the new ladies figure division? Pick an early spring show and GO FOR IT - START TRAINING NOW! Goal setting should not be a once a year affair, it should be a continuous process. You should always have your goals in writing and your list should be regularly updated and rewritten. If you only set goals once a year, you’re not going to accomplish much in your life. 4. Give yourself permission to have “free meals” - and schedule them in A planned “free meal” or “re-feeding day” helps you to stay on your program better in the long run. If you’re too strict all the time, you’re setting yourself up for cravings and binge eating. A few free meals per week will have very little effect on your physique. Also, if you’ve been on a strict, low carb and/or low calorie regimen for a long time, a full day of maintenance level calories might actually be good for you! It will boost your metabolic rate and give your body the signal that you’re not starving and that it’s ok to keep burning a lot of calories. Over the holidays, schedule your dinners and parties so they become your “free meals.” Then, for the rest of your meals, be steadfast! Just the fact that you know you have free meals coming up will relieve the pressure of staying on a strict diet for a long time. Also, when you do have your free meal – ENJOY IT! If you’re going to eat it and feel guilty, then don’t have it at all. If you’ve stayed with the program all week long, then when your free meal rolls around, you deserve it! 5. If you fall off the wagon, get right back on it So you had about a dozen too many of those Christmas cookies did you? Don’t worry; because you have free meals built into your plan, you shouldn’t let guilt immobilize you. Even if you fall completely off the wagon, don’t beat yourself up. All you have to do is get right back on your program without missing another beat. Too many people mess up once and then think their entire diet is ruined. They feel as if everything they’ve done prior to that day was wasted and there’s no sense going on. Or even worse, they rationalize to themselves, “Well, I already cheated, so it doesn’t matter now, I might as well keep pigging out.” That’s nonsense. If you threw in the towel every time you didn’t score 100% on your diet, most people would never get through more than a few days on any structured program. Just because you slip up once doesn’t mean you should quit! You’re only human. Don’t let one small slip keep you derailed. Firmly plant your wheels back on the tracks and start rolling again. 6. Maintain your consistent eating schedule If there’s one thing that all people who successfully get lean and stay lean have in common, it’s consistency. Without it, you never get any momentum going. It’s like taking two steps forward, only to take three steps back. Many people allow the busy holidays to throw them off their regular eating schedule. They completely veer off their usual meal frequency, or they start eating foods they would normally never eat (because “it’s there”). Once you have a habit or pattern going, it’s fairly easy to keep it going. But once you lose momentum, it’s very difficult to get it going again because you must overcome inertia all over again. (An object at rest tends to stay at rest!) On the major holidays, when there’s a big dinner scheduled, many people think that skipping their morning and afternoon meals to “save room” for the big one later is a good idea. It’s not. This is actually a good way to invite a binge that could set your back for days. Don’t lose your consistency or your momentum. Continue with your pattern of eating small, frequent meals all year round. All you have to do is count your holiday dinners as one of your regular meals and keep them small. 7. Control your portion sizes You can have your cake and eat it too – you just can’t eat the whole thing! One of the most important rules to remember this holiday season is the law of energy balance, which states: To lose body fat, you must consume fewer calories than you burn up each day. There are two corollaries to the law of energy balance:
8. Don’t buy into the low standards and expectations of others Keep your standards high, but don’t expect other people’s standards to be as high as yours. Remember that most people have already planned in advance to fail at fitness over the holidays. You’ve decided to stay strong (haven’t you?) Don’t let their negative influence drag you down. When you’ve reached your pre-ordained drink limit, say “When” and switch to water or a non alcoholic, non caloric beverage. When they offer you seconds on dessert, politely say, “No thank you, it was absolutely delicious, but I’m full, I can’t eat another bite.” And when the wee hours of the morning start to roll around, and your friends are egging you on to keep partying, politely tell them you need your sleep. Tomorrow is a work out day. If they’re really your friends, they’ll understand. 9. Make the best choices possible in every situation You know those tables you see at holiday parties that are covered with yards of chips, dips, pretzels, cookies, salami, candies, punch, liquor, and a seemingly endless assortment of other goodies? Well, did you also notice that there is usually a tray full of carrot sticks, cauliflower, celery and other healthy snacks too? No matter where you are, you always have choices. Sometimes you have to choose between bad and worse. Other times you can choose between good and better. But always make the best choice possible based on whatever your options are. If nothing else, you can choose to eat a small portion of something “bad” rather than a huge portion, thereby obeying the law of calorie balance. Chances are good that there’s probably something healthy on the menu at every holiday gathering. As you know, lean proteins and fibrous carbs are a great for getting lean, so fill up on the turkey breast, try to get a vegetable in there, and go easy on the desserts. 10. If you drink, enjoy alcohol in moderation If you enjoy having a few drinks on special occasions, then go ahead and have a drink or two. But if you’re serious about your fitness goals, then drink infrequently and in moderation. Alcohol puts fat oxidation on hold while providing a large amount of calories. When there’s alcohol in your bloodstream, you’re not in fat burning mode. I’ve never met anyone who was truly serious about fat loss or bodybuilding who was a heavy drinker. Alcohol and muscles just don’t mix. The impact goes beyond added body fat; your energy levels and workouts can be affected for days after a night of heavy drinking. A glass of wine may have health benefits, but there’s never any reason or excuse for binge drinking or getting drunk. So go ahead and toast to the New Year, but know when to say when. In conclusion, there’s no reason to let your exercise and nutrition program spoil your holidays, but there’s also no reason to let your holidays spoil your exercise and nutrition program! Put these 10 holiday tips into practice and you can start losing fat today, not next year. Train hard and expect success, Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS Fat Loss Coach ++++++++++++++ About the Author: Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism!  |   Enhance the effectiveness of your diet with a Fat Loss Support Community over 16,000 member strong.
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 Holiday Recipes Collection
Authorpadre art is author, fitness enthusiast and lives the Mediterranean lifestyle (diet).  ArchivesMarch 2011  CategoriesAll   Get Off the Couch with Joan
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