Maca Root Blog

Back “in the day”, when I used to do coaching programs full time at my New Jersey Health Club, the first thing I would always ask my client 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 secrets I was about to reveal…

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

Partly laughing, but partly in real 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, or I have seriously scared the living you know what out of them, or they just think I’m a complete lunatic… (it depends on whether I was able to keep a totally 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 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, honey,” 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” just like 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.

This answer is 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 was 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!

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?

There are many ways. 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, refer to chapter 3 in my e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle at www.burnthefat.com

Instead of re-hashing it all, 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 (we do at our club)

Suggestion 2: Purchase an Accu-measure skinfold caliper. Do a google or yahoo search to find a reseller, or just visit www.accumeasurefitness.com.

The Accumeasure 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 it’s better than nothing. Besides, what’s most important is not the “accuracy” per se, but the reliablity 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.

Here’s the page where you can download a study about the accuracy of the Accu-Measure (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, December 1998):

http://www.accumeasurefitness.com/study.pdf

Suggestion 3: If you have a spouse, roomate, or friend who can measure your body fat, you can purchase a Slim Guide body fat caliper from Creative Health Products: www.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. 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. Bodybuilders and 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?”

One last thing - If you found this information useful, then you’ll want to know that I wrote an entire new e-book on body fat testing, called “How to Measure Your Body Fat In the Privacy Of Your Own Home.” Normally the retail price is $19.95, but I’m offering it for FREE at www.burnthefat.com with the purchase of my fat loss ebook, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. (Note: BFFM is a FAT LOSS program, not a WEIGHT LOSS program!)

About the Author
Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified strength coach, and author of the #1
e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.? Tom has written over 170 articles and been featured in
IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine, Exercise for Men and Men?s
Exercise. For info on Tom’s e-book, visit: www.burnthefat.com. For Tom?s free monthly e-zine, visit Fitness Renaissance: www.fitren.com

Do calories matter or do you simply need to eat certain foods and that will guarantee you?ll lose weight? Should you count calories or can you just count ?portions?? Is it necessary to keep a food diary? Is it unrealistic to count calories for the rest of your life or is that just part of the price you pay for a better body? You?re about to learn the answers to these questions and discover a simple secret for keeping track of your food intake without having to crunch numbers every day or become a fanatic about it.

In many popular diet books, ?Calories don?t count? is a frequently repeated theme. Other popular programs, such as Bill Phillip’s “Body For Life,” allude to the importance of energy intake versus energy output, but recommend that you count ?portions? rather than calories?

Phillips wrote,

“There aren’t many people who can keep track of their calorie intake for an extended period of time. As an alternative, I recommend counting ‘portions.’ A portion of food is roughly equal to the size of your clenched fist or the palm of your hand. Each portion of protein or carbohydrate typically contains between 100 and 150 calories. For example, one chicken breast is approximately one portion of protein, and one medium-sized baked potato is approximately one portion of carbohydrate.”

Phillips makes a good point that trying to count every single calorie - in the literal sense - can drive you crazy and is probably not realistic as a lifestyle for the long term.

It’s one thing to count portions instead of calories ? that is at least acknowledging the importance of portion control. However, it’s another altogether to deny that calories matter. Is it necessary to count every calorie to lose weight? No. But it IS necessary to eat fewer calories then you burn. Whether you count calories and eat less than you burn, or you don?t count calories and eat less than you burn, the end result is the same. Personally, I?d rather know exactly what I?m eating rather than take chances by guessing.

I believe that it’s very important to develop an understanding of and a respect for the law of calorie balance (and portion control). I also believe that it’s an important part of nutrition education to learn how many calories are in the foods you eat on a regular basis ? including (and perhaps, especially) how many calories are in the foods you eat when you dine at restaurants.

Yes, calories do count! Any diet program that tells you, “calories don’t count” or you can “eat all you want and still lose weight” is a diet you should avoid. The truth is, that line is a bunch of baloney designed to make a diet program sound easier to follow (anything that sounds like work ? such as counting calories or eating less - tends to scare away potential customers!)

The law of calorie balance is an unbreakable law of physics: Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain, lose or maintain your weight. Period.

To maintain your weight, you must consume the same number of calories you burn. To gain weight (muscle), you must consume more calories than you burn. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn.

If you eat more calories than your body can utilize, you’re going to gain fat, period. If you only count portions and haven’t the slightest clue how many calories you’re taking in, it’s a lot more likely that you’ll eat more than you realize. (Or you might take in fewer calories than you should and trigger the dreaded “starvation mode” which causes your metabolism to shut down).

So how do you balance practicality and realistic expectations with a nutrition program that gets results? Here’s a solution that?s a happy medium between strict calorie counting and just guessing:

Create a menu using an EXCEL spreadsheet or your favorite nutrition software. Crunch all the numbers including calories, protein, carbs and fats. Once you have your daily menu, stick it on your refrigerator (and/or in your daily planner) and you now have an eating “goal” for the day, including a caloric target.

That is my definition of “counting calories” — creating a menu plan you can use as a daily guide, not necessarily writing down every morsel of food you eat for the rest of your life. If you?re really ambitious, keeping a nutrition journal for at least 4-12 weeks is a great idea and an incredible learning experience, but all you really need to get started is one good menu. If you get bored eating the same thing every day, you can create multiple menus, or just exchange foods using your one menu as a template.

Using this method, you really only have to count calories once when you create your menus. After you’ve got a knack for calories from this initial discipline of menu planning, then you can estimate portions in the future and get a pretty good (and educated) ballpark figure.

For more information on calories (including how calculate exactly how many you should eat based on your age, activity and personal goals, and for even more practical, proven fat loss techniques that strip off body fat fast, check out my ebook, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle at www.burnthefat.com

About the Author
Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified strength coach, and author of the #1 e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.? Tom has written over 170 articles and been featured in IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine, Exercise for Men and Men?s Exercise. For info on Tom’s e-book, visit: www.burnthefat.com. For Tom?s free monthly e-zine, visit Fitness Renaissance: www.fitren.com

Do calories matter or do you simply need to eat certain foods and that will guarantee you?ll lose weight? Should you count calories or can you just count ?portions?? Is it necessary to keep a food diary? Is it unrealistic to count calories for the rest of your life or is that just part of the price you pay for a better body? You?re about to learn the answers to these questions and discover a simple secret for keeping track of your food intake without having to crunch numbers every day or become a fanatic about it.

In many popular diet books, ?Calories don?t count? is a frequently repeated theme. Other popular programs, such as Bill Phillip’s “Body For Life,” allude to the importance of energy intake versus energy output, but recommend that you count ?portions? rather than calories?

Phillips wrote,

“There aren’t many people who can keep track of their calorie intake for an extended period of time. As an alternative, I recommend counting ‘portions.’ A portion of food is roughly equal to the size of your clenched fist or the palm of your hand. Each portion of protein or carbohydrate typically contains between 100 and 150 calories. For example, one chicken breast is approximately one portion of protein, and one medium-sized baked potato is approximately one portion of carbohydrate.”

Phillips makes a good point that trying to count every single calorie - in the literal sense - can drive you crazy and is probably not realistic as a lifestyle for the long term.

It’s one thing to count portions instead of calories ? that is at least acknowledging the importance of portion control. However, it’s another altogether to deny that calories matter. Is it necessary to count every calorie to lose weight? No. But it IS necessary to eat fewer calories then you burn. Whether you count calories and eat less than you burn, or you don?t count calories and eat less than you burn, the end result is the same. Personally, I?d rather know exactly what I?m eating rather than take chances by guessing.

I believe that it’s very important to develop an understanding of and a respect for the law of calorie balance (and portion control). I also believe that it’s an important part of nutrition education to learn how many calories are in the foods you eat on a regular basis ? including (and perhaps, especially) how many calories are in the foods you eat when you dine at restaurants.

Yes, calories do count! Any diet program that tells you, “calories don’t count” or you can “eat all you want and still lose weight” is a diet you should avoid. The truth is, that line is a bunch of baloney designed to make a diet program sound easier to follow (anything that sounds like work ? such as counting calories or eating less - tends to scare away potential customers!)

The law of calorie balance is an unbreakable law of physics: Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain, lose or maintain your weight. Period.

To maintain your weight, you must consume the same number of calories you burn. To gain weight (muscle), you must consume more calories than you burn. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn.

If you eat more calories than your body can utilize, you’re going to gain fat, period. If you only count portions and haven’t the slightest clue how many calories you’re taking in, it’s a lot more likely that you’ll eat more than you realize. (Or you might take in fewer calories than you should and trigger the dreaded “starvation mode” which causes your metabolism to shut down).

So how do you balance practicality and realistic expectations with a nutrition program that gets results? Here’s a solution that?s a happy medium between strict calorie counting and just guessing:

Create a menu using an EXCEL spreadsheet or your favorite nutrition software. Crunch all the numbers including calories, protein, carbs and fats. Once you have your daily menu, stick it on your refrigerator (and/or in your daily planner) and you now have an eating “goal” for the day, including a caloric target.

That is my definition of “counting calories” — creating a menu plan you can use as a daily guide, not necessarily writing down every morsel of food you eat for the rest of your life. If you?re really ambitious, keeping a nutrition journal for at least 4-12 weeks is a great idea and an incredible learning experience, but all you really need to get started is one good menu. If you get bored eating the same thing every day, you can create multiple menus, or just exchange foods using your one menu as a template.

Using this method, you really only have to count calories once when you create your menus. After you’ve got a knack for calories from this initial discipline of menu planning, then you can estimate portions in the future and get a pretty good (and educated) ballpark figure.

For more information on calories (including how calculate exactly how many you should eat based on your age, activity and personal goals, and for even more practical, proven fat loss techniques that strip off body fat fast, check out my ebook, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle at www.burnthefat.com
Tom Venuto is a certified personal trainer, certified strength & conditioning specialist, natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle. You can get info on Tom’s e-book at: www.burnthefat.com. To get Tom’s free monthly e-zine, visit www.fitren.com

FAT LOSS SUCCESS

EVERYONE who wants to get leaner should read this article. Yes, I know it says “Fat loss for beginners,” but sometimes even veterans forget what they once knew or don’t practice what they do know. If you’re a beginner, this will be an introduction. If you’re experienced, let this be a reminder. 1. Just get started - take Decisive action!

There are so many opinions about how to lose body fat that many people end up completely confused and they don’t do ANYTHING! They’ve read about 27 ways to diet, 34 ways to do cardio, 101 ways to lift weights and 79 supplements to take. But they still don’t have a clue how to start.

You stuff your brain with so much information it feels like it’s going to explode, but then you never do anything about it. You’re like a deer stuck in headlights. Sound familiar?

I call this the “paralysis by analysis” syndrome.

The most important thing you can do is take action. Just begin the journey and figure it out as you go. Better still; get a coach or trainer right from the start.

Actually, losing fat is not that complicated. You don’t need a PhD in exercise physiology to figure out that any exercise is better than no exercise. You don’t have to be a genius in nutritional biochemistry to figure out that an apple is better than a Donut. Getting lean is simple: Exercise. Eat healthier foods. Eat smaller portions. Isn’t this stuff just common sense? Didn’t your mother tell you this?

So what’s stopping you? What makes you freeze up? If you’re like most people, FEAR is stopping you. You’re so afraid of doing something wrong, you choose to do nothing rather than make a mistake or “look foolish.”

What you must understand is that people who accomplish much and people who accomplish little BOTH have fears. The difference between the two is that the failure feels the fear and lets it immobilize them. The success feels the fear and does it anyway.

Begin the process. You can always fine-tune your program as you go. Naturally, it’s better to aim and then fire, but it’s better to fire and then adjust your aim later than not to fire at all. You can’t win a battle by hiding in the trenches.

2. If in doubt, walking is a great way to start a cardio program Ok, so you’ve decided to forge ahead in spite of your fear and start working out. Congratulations. Now what? How do you choose between Stairmaster, Tae Bo, Lifecycle, Yoga, Kickboxing, Elliptical machine, jogging, swimming, etc.?

Any exercise is better than no exercise so stop over-analyzing dammit! just pick something and start. Just do it!!!

If you can’t make up your mind, then here’s the simplest, easiest, most guaranteed way for any beginner to successfully start a fat loss program:

Walk!

Here’s why: It requires no equipment It requires no knowledge of exercise technique It can be done by almost everyone, regardless of experience It can be adjusted to any fitness level It can be done almost anywhere It’s safe

For all these reasons, walking is the perfect way to begin. However, the better your condition becomes, the more you’ll need to advance to higher levels of exercise intensity to reach higher levels of fitness.

I’m not saying you should abandon walking, but if you decide to keep walking, a casual stroll will no longer do. For an experienced exerciser, I would consider walking a method of locomotion more than a serious workout.

There’s a big difference between walking for health vs walking for fat loss. Even a 10 or 15-minute casual walk has health benefits. But if you want to turn walking into an effective, fat-melting workout, you’ll need to push yourself for 30 minutes or more several days per week. Walking briskly uphill (or on an inclined treadmill) is an excellent fat-burning workout for anyone.

3. Don’t get caught up in minutia - focus on fundamentals Read any book about success and it will tell you “pay attention to detail.” Sounds like good advice - unless you haven’t mastered the fundamentals yet. In that case, it’s the worst advice you could follow.

Every day people send me questions like these: “Should I use a fast acting protein powder like whey or would casein be better? What if I mix both and also add a little bit of Soy? If I use all of them, what ratio of the three would be ideal and when should I take them?”

“I want to do the ephedrine-caffeine stack and it says to take 20 mg of ephedrine with 200 milligrams of caffeine. The ephedrine comes in 25 milligram tablets, so should I chip a little bit off the tablet to get the right ratio?”

Do you see the problem here? These are legitimate questions, but they’re completely moot if you’re eating doughnuts and sitting on the couch all day long. Fix your diet and get your butt moving first, then worry about the little things.

Emerson said, “The height of the pinnacle is determined by the breadth of the base.” The heights you reach will depend entirely on how broad a foundation you build. Great coaches such as Vince Lombardi and John Wooden credited most of their success to drilling their players on fundamentals.

Forget about supplement dosages Here’s my advice to you: Forget about macronutrient cycling Forget about “supplement stacking” Forget about tempo manipulation Forget about glycemic indexes Forget about the latest Bulgarian or Russian periodization program Forget about ALL the minutia until you have the fundamentals down cold!

Master the fundamentals first! The fundamentals of fat loss include: (1) Do your cardio, (2) Lift weights, (3) Burn more calories than you consume (4) Eat small, frequent meals and never skip meals, (5) Keep your fat intake low, but include adequate amounts of essential fats, (6) Eat natural foods; avoid processed & refined foods, (7) eat more natural complex carbs, fruits & vegetables, (8) eat lean proteins with each meal, (9) Think positive: visualize yourself as you would like to be. If you’re not doing all these things, and you’re looking for the perfect supplement stack or the optimum periodization plan, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

I don’t want you to think that details don’t matter - they do. The “Law of Accumulation” states that every success is a matter of hundreds or even thousands of tiny efforts that often go unnoticed or unappreciated. Everything counts. Everything either helps or hurts. Nothing is neutral.

The problem is when you get bogged down in minutia before you’ve even learned the basics. Minor details produce minor results. Major fundamentals produce major results.

Don’t major in minor things. Lay your foundation first, then move on to the finer points. And remember, as Jim Rohn says, always be suspicious of someone who says they’ve found a “new fundamental.”

4. Know your calories The most important dietary factor in fat loss is not how many grams of carbohydrate, protein or fat you eat, the most important factor for fat loss is calories. Eat more than you burn each day and you will store fat. Eat less than you burn each day and you will lose fat. It’s just that simple.

Where the calories come from is important too, but unless you understand the calorie concept, nothing else matters.

I’m appalled at how many people claim to sincerely want to lose body fat who admit they haven’t a clue how many calories they eat.

Get serious! If you don’t have the faintest idea how much you’re eating, how can you expect to make any progress?

Did it ever occur to you that your ONLY problem might be overeating! Do you realize that too much of anything gets stored as fat?

That’s right - even if you’re eating nothing but “natural and healthy” foods, if you eat too many of them, you’re still going to get fat.

Portion control, my friend, portion control! On the other hand, if you’re under-eating you may be slowing down your metabolism. There’s a fine line.

To learn all the details about your daily calorie needs, fat loss fundamentals, fat burning cardio methods and all the motivational tools you need to help you get past paralysis by analysis and take decisive action, send your name and address to: naqsh244@ntlworld.com now.

If you want to learn even more of the most powerful beginner tips that are simple and easy to apply in your life, yet will put you on the road to a leaner, more muscular today. Then act now and mail your name and address to: naqsh244@ntlworld.com , and learn intermediate and advanced-level fat burning tricks and tactics.

About the author:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MAIL YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS TO NAQSH244@NTLWORLD.COM

FAT LOSS SUCCESS

EVERYONE who wants to get leaner should read this article. Yes, I know it says “Fat loss for beginners,” but sometimes even veterans forget what they once knew or don’t practice what they do know. If you’re a beginner, this will be an introduction. If you’re experienced, let this be a reminder.

1. Just get started - take Decisive action!

There are so many opinions about how to lose body fat that many people end up completely confused and they don’t do ANYTHING!

They’ve read about 27 ways to diet, 34 ways to do cardio, 101 ways to lift weights and 79 supplements to take. But they still don’t have a clue how to start.

You stuff your brain with so much information it feels like it’s going to explode, but then you never do anything about it. You’re like a deer stuck in headlights. Sound familiar?

I call this the “paralysis by analysis” syndrome. The most important thing you can do is take action. Just begin the journey and figure it out as you go. Better still; get a coach or trainer right from the start.

Actually, losing fat is not that complicated. You don’t need a PhD in exercise physiology to figure out that any exercise is better than no exercise. You don’t have to be a genius in nutritional biochemistry to figure out that an apple is better than a Donut.

Getting lean is simple: Exercise. Eat healthier foods. Eat smaller portions. Isn’t this stuff just common sense? Didn’t your mother tell you this?

So what’s stopping you? What makes you freeze up? If you’re like most people, FEAR is stopping you. You’re so afraid of doing something wrong, you choose to do nothing rather than make a mistake or “look foolish.”

What you must understand is that people who accomplish much and people who accomplish little BOTH have fears. The difference between the two is that the failure feels the fear and lets it immobilize them. The success feels the fear and does it anyway.

Begin the process. You can always fine-tune your program as you go. Naturally, it’s better to aim and then fire, but it’s better to fire and then adjust your aim later than not to fire at all. You can’t win a battle by hiding in the trenches.

2. If in doubt, walking is a great way to start a cardio program Ok, so you’ve decided to forge ahead in spite of your fear and start working out. Congratulations. Now what? How do you choose between Stairmaster, Tae Bo, Lifecycle, Yoga, Kickboxing, Elliptical machine, jogging, swimming, etc.?

Any exercise is better than no exercise so stop over-analyzing dammit! just pick something and start. Just do it!!!

If you can’t make up your mind, then here’s the simplest, easiest, most guaranteed way for any beginner to successfully start a fat loss program:

Walk!

Here’s why: It requires no equipment It requires no knowledge of exercise technique It can be done by almost everyone, regardless of experience It can be adjusted to any fitness level It can be done almost anywhere It’s safe

For all these reasons, walking is the perfect way to begin. However, the better your condition becomes, the more you’ll need to advance to higher levels of exercise intensity to reach higher levels of fitness.

I’m not saying you should abandon walking, but if you decide to keep walking, a casual stroll will no longer do. For an experienced exerciser, I would consider walking a method of locomotion more than a serious workout.

There’s a big difference between walking for health vs walking for fat loss. Even a 10 or 15-minute casual walk has health benefits. But if you want to turn walking into an effective, fat-melting workout, you’ll need to push yourself for 30 minutes or more several days per week. Walking briskly uphill (or on an inclined treadmill) is an excellent fat-burning workout for anyone.

3. Don’t get caught up in minutia - focus on fundamentals

Read any book about success and it will tell you “pay attention to detail.” Sounds like good advice - unless you haven’t mastered the fundamentals yet. In that case, it’s the worst advice you could follow.

Every day people send me questions like these: “Should I use a fast acting protein powder like whey or would casein be better? What if I mix both and also add a little bit of Soy? If I use all of them, what ratio of the three would be ideal and when should I take them?”

“I want to do the ephedrine-caffeine stack and it says to take 20 mg of ephedrine with 200 milligrams of caffeine. The ephedrine comes in 25 milligram tablets, so should I chip a little bit off the tablet to get the right ratio?”

Do you see the problem here? These are legitimate questions, but they’re completely moot if you’re eating doughnuts and sitting on the couch all day long. Fix your diet and get your butt moving first, then worry about the little things.

Emerson said, “The height of the pinnacle is determined by the breadth of the base.” The heights you reach will depend entirely on how broad a foundation you build. Great coaches such as Vince Lombardi and John Wooden credited most of their success to drilling their players on fundamentals.

Forget about supplement dosages Here’s my advice to you: Forget about macronutrient cycling Forget about “supplement stacking” Forget about tempo manipulation Forget about glycemic indexes Forget about the latest Bulgarian or Russian periodization program Forget about ALL the minutia until you have the fundamentals down cold!

Master the fundamentals first! The fundamentals of fat loss include: (1) Do your cardio, (2) Lift weights, (3) Burn more calories than you consume (4) Eat small, frequent meals and never skip meals, (5) Keep your fat intake low, but include adequate amounts of essential fats, (6) Eat natural foods; avoid processed & refined foods, (7) eat more natural complex carbs, fruits & vegetables, (8) eat lean proteins with each meal, (9) Think positive: visualize yourself as you would like to be. If you’re not doing all these things, and you’re looking for the perfect supplement stack or the optimum periodization plan, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

I don’t want you to think that details don’t matter - they do. The “Law of Accumulation” states that every success is a matter of hundreds or even thousands of tiny efforts that often go unnoticed or unappreciated. Everything counts. Everything either helps or hurts. Nothing is neutral.

The problem is when you get bogged down in minutia before you’ve even learned the basics. Minor details produce minor results. Major fundamentals produce major results.

Don’t major in minor things. Lay your foundation first, then move on to the finer points. And remember, as Jim Rohn says, always be suspicious of someone who says they’ve found a “new fundamental.”

4. Know your calories

The most important dietary factor in fat loss is not how many grams of carbohydrate, protein or fat you eat, the most important factor for fat loss is calories. Eat more than you burn each day and you will store fat. Eat less than you burn each day and you will lose fat. It’s just that simple.

Where the calories come from is important too, but unless you understand the calorie concept, nothing else matters.

I’m appalled at how many people claim to sincerely want to lose body fat who admit they haven’t a clue how many calories they eat. Get serious! If you don’t have the faintest idea how much you’re eating, how can you expect to make any progress?

Did it ever occur to you that your ONLY problem might be overeating! Do you realize that too much of anything gets stored as fat? That’s right - even if you’re eating nothing but “natural and healthy” foods, if you eat too many of them, you’re still going to get fat.

Portion control, my friend, portion control! On the other hand, if you’re under-eating you may be slowing down your metabolism. There’s a fine line.

To learn all the details about your daily calorie needs, fat loss fundamentals, fat burning cardio methods and all the motivational tools you need to help you get past paralysis by analysis and take decisive action, send your name and address to: naqsh244@ntlworld.com now

If you want to learn even more of the most powerful beginner tips that are simple and easy to apply in your life, yet will put you on the road to a leaner, more muscular today. Then act now and mail your name and address to: naqsh244@ntlworld.com , and learn intermediate and advanced-level fat burning tricks and tactics.

About the author:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MAIL YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS TO NAQSH244@NTLWORLD.COM

Copyright 2005 Tom Venuto

?Common workout mistakes? has always been a very popular topic in fitness publications. But no matter how many times this subject is re-hashed, you almost always hear about the same half a dozen or so mistakes, including poor form, overtraining, going too heavy, not stretching, not warming up, yadda, yadda yadda. Ironically, you seldom hear about the biggest mistakes of all. I call these humongous bloopers ?bonehead mistakes? because once you start to analyze and think about them, it’s really just common sense and it all seems so obvious? except of course to the person doing it? who is often quite oblivious until someone else points it out to them… then the light goes on and it’s like… “Doh!”

Before I begin the countdown, (in no particular order), there?s one more gripe I have about the treatment this subject has been given in the past: Most of the attention has been put on the mistakes, but very little on the solutions. It?s all too easy to point fingers and say, ?Don?t do that? and ?Shame on you, dummy? but only 1% of your time should be spent on problems. 99% should be spent on solutions. So in that spirit, after I bring each mistake to your attention, I?ll give you a solution-oriented training tip to help you avoid boneheadedness and join the elite group who ?kick butt? in the gym at every workout?

Bonehead workout mistake #1: “Winging it”

?Winging it? means having no written goals or plans, no training journal and no way of ?keeping score.? It?s when you just show up at the gym day after day and do whatever strikes your fancy, whatever machine happens to be available, or whatever you?ve become habitually accustomed to doing. Winging it is when you don?t know where you are, where you?re going or how you?re going to get there - but you start your journey anyway ? no compass, no roadmap. It?s been said that ?Action without planning is the biggest cause of failure,? and I believe that statement is 100% accurate.

Kick butt workout tip #1: Develop a strategic plan

Successful people never ?wing it,? they always have a plan. Strategic planning is a never ending process and includes: Assessment (where am I now?), goal setting (where do I want to go?), creating a plan or strategy (How will I get where I want to go?), executing the plan (what action steps must I take daily to reach my goal?), and measuring results (how will I know if I?m moving towards my goal and how will I know when I?ve reached it?). Boneheads ?wing it.? Butt?kickers have a master plan and goals for every workout.

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Bonehead workout mistake #2: Repeating the same workouts? without progressive overload

In one respect, repeating the same workouts is important ? it?s called ?continuity.? Continuity means that to experience an adaptive response (more muscle, more strength, less fat and all that other good stuff), you must repeat a certain modality or exercise consistently over a long enough period of time to allow the adaptive response to occur and to reap the full benefits (rather than changing exercises at every workout). That type of repetition is good. The bonehead mistake is when you do the same exercises, same reps, same weight, same everything, week after week, without ever challenging yourself to do more than you?ve done before. If your muscles could talk they would say, ?Yawn?. Did that, done that, been there? we?re just going to stay exactly the way we are? no need to get bigger or stronger today.?

Kick butt workout tip #2: Strive to beat your previous workouts

Muscle growth and strength increases occur when you place demands on your body above and beyond what it has experienced in the past. Your body responds to this progressive overload by getting stronger in order to handle this type of demand in the future. Your objective at almost every workout is to set goals to beat what you did during the previous one. If you can?t add more weight, it could be as simple as one more rep with the same weight or the same sets/reps/weight in less time. It could also mean one more minute of cardio, one level higher on a stairclimber, or half a percent steeper incline on the treadmill. Continuous and never-ending improvement is the name of the game.

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Bonehead workout mistake #3: Starving yourself

A calorie deficit is the only way to lose body fat. However, the caloric deficit must be kept small. When calories are cut too much, or held too low for too long, your body thinks you are starving and sets into motion a series of metabolic and hormonal events, which ultimately result in muscle loss, slow metabolism and plateaus. Your body is like a power plant or furnace and when you don?t feed the fire, your metabolic flame dwindles to a flicker, producing less heat and less energy. That?s why not eating enough is one of the biggest mistakes of all. As Charlie Remington likes to say, ?Food is not your problem, food is your solution?

Kick butt workout tip #3: Eat more, burn more

Did it ever occur to you that if you exercise more you can eat more? And that this is a more effective fat loss strategy than eating less and exercising less? To lose body fat, you must create a calorie deficit. A deficit can be created by exercising more, eating less, or ideally, with a combination of both. The best combination of all is a small decrease in calories accompanied by a large increase in activity. Think about it: Decreasing calories slows your metabolism. Increasing calories increases your metabolism. Exercise increases your metabolism. Therefore, eat more, exercise more = double increase in metabolism. Eat less, don?t exercise = double decrease in metabolism. Yes, starving is for boneheads.

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Bonehead workout mistake #4: Skipping scheduled workouts

A great body doesn?t happen overnight. Successful body transformation is the cumulative result of dozens or even hundreds of successful workouts. Each workout brings you one small step closer to your goal. Each workout missed takes you one small step backwards. Most people underestimate the cumulative effect of each small step. They figure that ?It just doesn?t matter? it?s only one workout.? If you don?t think that one little workout matters, then think about the humble termite; they?re such itty bitty little creatures and they take such itty bitty little bites, yet when enough little bites are taken, an entire building can come crumbling down.

Kick butt workout tip #4: Be disciplined and consistent

Not only do you slip backwards physically when you skip even one scheduled workout, perhaps more devastating is the effect on your mind and character. Every time you successfully complete a scheduled workout, you build your discipline and self esteem. When your self esteem increases, it makes you feel good and that stimulates a positive self-reinforcing cycle of even more discipline, confidence and action. Everything you do helps or hurts. Every workout counts. Treat your word as law. When you say you?re going to work out… WORK OUT!

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Bonehead workout mistake #5: Focusing on strengths, favorite exercises and favorite body parts, neglecting weaknesses

Most people have a favorite body part or exercise. But playing favorites in your training can lead to big problems. An unbalanced, asymmetrical physique is one of them, but having a great upper body with toothpick legs is the least of your worries. Strengthening and stretching some muscle groups but not others is a great way to cause poor posture, muscular imbalance, dysfunction, strains, pulls, tears or ruptures.

Kick butt workout tip #5: Train for functional balance and aesthetic balance

Non-boneheads train every muscle group for symmetrical, visually pleasing development. However, ?balance? is more than cosmetic. Everyone ? athletes, bodybuilders, and recreational exercisers ? must also train for functional balance to prevent injury and maintain optimal function and range of movement in every joint and muscle group. Every plane of movement and angle of movement must be trained. Flexors must be balanced with extensors. Front to back movements must be balanced with rotational and side to side movements. Prime movers, antagonists and stabilizers must all be strengthened. Always stretch, strengthen and build to the point of total body balance.

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Bonehead workout mistake #6: Using mostly machines and single joint/isolation exercises

So you joined the gym and you hit ?the circuit?? you know, that section in the gym with all those fancy, chrome-plated, ?technologically advanced? weight stack-pulley, hydraulic or computerized machines all lined up in neat rows? far, far away from the barbells and squat racks (which you never touch), and which is designed to give you an ?easy, safe, injury-free, effective full-body workout.? The machines may be easy, but most machines aren?t as safe or effective as they?re cracked up to be.

Kick butt workout tip #6: Use mostly free weights and compound, multi joint exercises

For lower body, squat and lunge variations are tops. For upper body, barbell and dumbbell presses, chin ups and rows are king. These and similar ?BIG? exercises stimulate more muscle fiber, stir up more fat burning and muscle building hormones, and have more carry-over to real world and sporting activities than machines. Although weight stack machines are safe with respect to the fact that you cant drop a barbell on your head, they?re ultimately NOT as safe as free weights because they don?t develop the stabilizing muscles and functional strength that protect you from injury. A few machines and isolation exercises mixed in your program is fine, but
focusing on compound and free weight exercises gives you far more bang for your buck than any machine ever created.

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Bonehead workout mistake #7: No mental preparation

This mistake goes hand in hand with mistake number one (winging it). You see, preparation is more than setting goals, writing out plans, and scheduling workouts. Preparation is also mental, yet most people haven?t the slightest idea just how powerful the mind is or how to harness its power.

Psychologists and ?brain scientists? have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between an experience that is real and one that is imagined. Failure to take advantage of this discovery is a mistake of enormous magnitude.

Kick butt workout tip #7: Use visualization and mental rehearsal daily

Arnold Schwarzenneger, Jack Nicklaus, Andre Agassi and countless other sports legends have written and spoken extensively about their regular use of mental imagery. Those who succeeded, but claimed not to use such techniques as ?visualization? were surely using it unconsciously or in a non-formalized manner. I would suggest you consciously and deliberately use this technique in the following manner: Twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, get relaxed, close your eyes and form mental images of yourself having the body you?ve always wanted, completing perfect workouts with motivation and enthusiasm and reaching all your goals. These images will penetrate your subconscious mind and literally program your brain to activate your body for total success.

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Bonehead workout mistake #8: Not eating immediately after training

Not eating anything after your workout (or waiting 2-3 hours to eat), because (a) you don?t feel like eating, (b) you don?t have anything to eat with you, (c) you heard that you get leaner if you don?t eat after your workout? is one of the most boneheaded things you can ever do!

Kick butt workout tip #8: Eat protein AND carbs (not just carbs) immediately after your workout

Much research has been done on the topic of post workout nutrition in recent years and the scientific literature is almost unanimous in its findings: At one time carbohydrates were emphasized after a workout. Other people insisted that protein is more important. The truth is, the optimal post workout meal includes quickly digesting protein and carbohydrates and is consumed immediately after training during the period known as the ?post-workout window of opportunity.? Although the ideal amount and type of protein and carbs is still debated, the studies have shown that proper post workout nutrition increases protein synthesis, suppresses cortisol, replenishes glycogen, and enhances recovery.

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Bonehead workout mistake #9: Comparing yourself to others

Always trying to one-up the next guy is bonehead behavior. Comparing yourself to others is a great way to lower your self esteem and stay perpetually frustrated, unhappy and dissatisfied!

Kick butt workout tip #9: Compare yourself to nobody but yourself

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden always advised his players, ?Never try to be better than someone else; but never cease trying to be the best you can be. That is under your control. The other isn?t.? So why not focus on competing with yourself? Compare yourself to yourself.

Improve yourself. Work on progress and forward movement. Become better than you used to be. Ultimately, competitive sports are most valuable to the degree you use them to better yourself, not to beat others.

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Bonehead workout mistake #10: Making excuses

Many people, when they don?t get the result they want, or when things don?t go the way they expect, insist it?s not their fault. When they don?t lose any body fat, it?s their genetics or “The diet just doesn?t work!? When they fall off the wagon, it?s their friends and family?s fault ? ?They just don?t support me? they even tempt me with junk food and eat in front of me.? When they miss workouts, it?s their boss?s fault ? ?I just don?t have time with so much work being piled on me at the office.? No matter what the situation, the boneheads never even consider that the problem is staring right back at them in the mirror ? someone or something outside of them is always responsible.

Kick butt workout tip #10: Accept total, 100% responsibility for all your results ? good or bad

When you win, you don?t attribute it to luck or give someone else the credit for it. You proudly say, ?I created it? I did it? that was me!? However, if you want to take the credit for your wins, you must also take credit for your losses and say, ?Yep, I created it? I did it? that was me!? Boneheads want to take credit for their successes but not accept responsibility for their failures. Ultimately, that turns them into nothing but big losers. Winners and successful people became successful because they learned three magic words: I AM RESPONSIBLE. Once you claim responsibility for every result in your life ? the good and the bad - the feeling of empowerment and liberation that comes over you is beyond description. For the first time in your life, you realize that YOU are in control. From that moment on ? and not a second sooner ? you become the creator of circumstance rather than a victim of it.

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Well, that?s all ten of em’. Let me wrap up with what is perhaps the biggest mistake of all, and that is: Not learning from your mistakes. Mistakes are okay. The only people who don?t make any are the timid, wimpy people who don?t even attempt anything. If you realize you?ve been making a lot of these mistakes, don?t beat yourself up. As long as you learn from them and stop making them, you?re off the hook! But if you keep repeating these mistakes over and over again, then it?s official: You?re a bonehead!
Tom Venuto is a certified personal trainer, natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle. You can get info on Tom’s e-book at: http://www.burnthefat.com. To get Tom’s free monthly e-zine, visit http://www.fitren.com.