You see, D had been going through our program for well over two months now and she was getting frustrated because everyone else was losing inches…
But… she hadn’t dropped a pants size yet…
I felt awful… this couldn’t be the case. She hadn’t missed any of the workouts and she her fitness level was definitely improving.
I just didn’t get it.
What was I missing?
Yet, a week later… I found out all I needed to know…
One of our trainers went with D out to the car to grab a check from her for the next months program… and what she saw was absolutely embarrassing… and D was horrified.
Many people go throughout life putting on a great “face” and seemingly making everything look like they are doing their best… but things just never seem to work out for them.
I pulled D into the office and asked her what else she was doing to sabotoge herself… were there any other possible things that were contributing to her failures.
I mean, finding a car FULL of fast food wrappers makes me think that there might be something else going on…
Do you ask yourself every night if you really gave everything your best? Could you have improved on something?
If you are familiar with the word “kaizen”… it means small, constant, improvements.
Concentrate on improving yourself each day and don’t sabotage yourself by doing things that you know… ultimately… will lead to your failure…
It’s okay to fail… BUT it’s not okay to fail when you know WHY you are failing…
Learn from your mistakes… that’s how life works. And trust me… everyone makes them.
The difference between the successful and the unsuccessful is how they process the knowledge that comes from their mistakes.
And I have a mistake that I have to admit…
I really didn’t expect the response that the Fat Loss Black Book would get… it’s been nothing short of amazing…
If you haven’t ordered… jump in now… I won’t let you down.
If you haven’t noticed, the #1 best selling diet and fitness ebook for the last 4 years is a book called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto. However, best selling doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best. Can you really fail with the Burn the Fat Program?
And not only that… why would I want to tell you how you can fail on it?
Well, let me start by saying this…
UPDATE: July 9th 2008 (Watch this… then read the rest)
Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is a pretty strong program. In fact, I’ve always said that it’s one that just happens to be a “must own”.
Tom Venuto has absolutely packed his program full of information. In fact, he over-delivers in this respect. Yet, how can that be a bad thing you may ask?
Simple, most people fall into a form of “analysis paralysis” when they are overloaded with information. You see, the Burn the Fat program itself is around 337 pages. Then, stack on the healthy load of bonuses that make the purchase really worth it and you have an absolute nightmare for a person that’s in perpetual information gathering mode.
The perpetual kiss of death for almost every single person that’s ever tried to lose weight and failed.
So what’s the answer…. should you invest in the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle Program?
Not only that, what happens when you do open it for the first time?
Simple, just remember that you only need 75% of the information in order to get moving. In fact, the great Lee Iacocca once said:
I have always found that if I move with seventy-five percent or more of the facts that I usually never regret it. It’s the guys who wait to have everything perfect that drive you crazy.
(By the way, this is definitely one of my favorite quotes)
Therefore, one could make the solid argument that having too much information could be just as harmful as having too little.
Also, the Law of Diminishing Returns states that it will take just as much time (or more) to find out and understand this remaining 25% as it did to figure out the first 75%. In fact, most of the time, the 25% isn’t even worth owning anyway.
Most of the time, it’s the “basics” that make all of the difference… it’s not the advanced stuff.
And that’s the real key. It’s not just about having a certain amount of knowledge (and Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle certainly has quite a bit).
No, the real secret lies in the “application of the knowledge: and this is the true secret to any successful endeavor. One could make the analogy that a college professor has a great deal of knowledge to teach, yet lacks the skills to “apply” this knowledge in the real world. Knowing what to do is one thing, actually doing it is another.
Of course, this is a pretty big stretch but you can see how it can relate to the Burn the Fat Program.
Ask yourself this question, are you looking for a quick fix… or are you looking for great information to get yourself kick started.
To sum it all up, the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle Program can fail if you try to absorb all of the information before taking any action. But how do you take action or gain applied knowledge?
By applying of course.
Now, let talk about what’s IN the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program. I mean, we’ve already determined that this is a resource that you have to own… but… let me let you know what you are going to get… just in case your still undecided
(However, if your ready to go, go to my official Burn The Fat Review/Bonus page and get more free stuff when you order the Burn The Fat program)
Chapter One: Goal Setting
Of course, this will probably be one of the sections that most people are going to skip. And, for good reason… most people want to get to the meat of the program. Guess what, miss this section and you lose… period.
Chapter Two: Why Conventional Diets Fail
Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is not a conventional “diet” program. In saying that, it’s important for you to understand exactly why you AREN’T doing some of the things that you are hearing about in other areas.
Chapter Three: Body Composition
Here’s the deal… if you are measuring your weight loss via a scale… you’re never gonna get an accurate idea of “what” you’re actually losing… water… fat… or MUSCLE
Learn how to measure yourself properly.
Chapter Four: Using Performance Feedback
Most people think that the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program is just going to give you an ABC type of a program. However, it goes much farther than that… learn how to figure out EXACTLY what is going to work FOR YOU. Not only that, but you can quickly learn how to figure out what isn’t working… which is just as important.
Chapter Five: Your Body Type
If you know what type of body you have, you can figure out what’s most likely going to work from you
Chapter Six: Calorie Balance and the Mechanics of Fat Loss
It’s not only about calories in versus calories out… unlike most people think. The Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program will help you understand this phenomenon.
Chapters Seven-Eleven: Learning About Macronutrients
Good fats/bad fats… Proteins… Carbohydrates… figure out exactly what is what and how much of each you need everyday. All of the misconceptions are laid to rest.
Chapter Twelve: A New Twist On The Low Carb Diet
Here is how bodybuilders strip fat off. These guys KNOW how to lose body fat for shows and competitions. So, if a bodybuilder can continually lose body fat WITHOUT FAIL… then I think it’s a great tactic for you to learn.
Chapter Thirteen: All About Water
This is probably another section of the Burn The Fat Program that people tend to skip… don’t.
Chapter Fourteen: The Actual Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle Eating Plan
The golden land is here. We now put everything together and start to kick everything into high gear. I would probably read this chapter FIRST to get a great feel of the other information you need. Once you get a great idea of this section… start putting it to use immediately.
Chapter Fifteen: Supplements
What the supplement companies don’t want you to know… period.
Chapter Sixteen: Cardio Secrets
Learn why all cardio doesn’t necessarily help you burn fat. I would probably read this section second as most people try to use cardiovascular exercise as their main mechanism for losing weight.
Chapter Seventeen: Weight Training For Fat Loss
I would read this section third… most people neglect their weight training and lose out on the positive benefits of weight training on the metabolism. If you have never heard of the “afterburn effect”, you’ll be exposed to it now.
I hope this gives you a better idea of what the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle Program is all about…
Again, this is a program that is a MUST OWN… that’s why I’ve created a huge bonus program for everyone that wants to buy the Burn The Fat Program…
Here’s a great article by Tom Venuto, of Burn The Fat fame on the power of visualization in your fat loss journey.
Now, if you’ve been reading this blog for ANY amount of time, you’d understand the respect that I have for this guy.
If you haven’t been reading, you’ll soon find out why when you’re done with the article.
Now, on with the show…
Understanding the mind’s role in motivation and behavior is one of the most critical elements in fitness success. If you struggle with changing habits and behaviors or if you can’t get motivated, then even the best training and nutrition program is not much help.
A fascinating fact about your subconscious mind is that it’s completely deductive in nature. In other words, it’s fully capable of working backwards from the end to the means. If you “program” only the desired outcome successfully into your “mental computer,” then your subconscious will take over and help you find the information and means and carry out the actions necessary to reach it.
(Oh, I forgot to mention that Tom has also had training in NLP as well, so he knows what he’s talking about here)
Many people are familiar with affirmations and goal-setting as ways to give instructions to your subconscious mind. But perhaps the “ultimate mental training” technique is visualization. In one respect, affirmation and visualization are the same, because when you speak or think an affirmation first, that triggers a mental image, being as the human brain “thinks” in pictures.
You can use visualization to plant goals into your subconscious mind. You simply close your eyes, use your imagination and mentally create pictures and run movies of your desired results. If repeated consistently with emotion, mental images are accepted by your subconscious as commands and this helps with changing habits, behavior and performance.
Although there are some new and creative ways to use visualization, (which you are about to learn), this is not a new technique. Visualization has been used formally in the fields of sports psychology and personal development for decades and philosophers have discussed it for centuries:
“If you want to reach your goal, you must ’see the reaching’ in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.”
- Zig Ziglar
“The use of mental imagery is one of the strongest and most effective strategies for making something happen for you.”
- Dr. Wayne Dyer
“Perhaps the most effective method of bringing the subconscious into practical action is through the process of making mental pictures - using the imagination.”
- Claude Bristol
“There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep and hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking.”
- William James, 1842-1910, Psychologist and Author
Despite these glowing endorsements and a long track record, some people can’t get past feeling that this is just a “hokey” self-help technique. Rest assured, however, that visualization is an effective and time-tested method for increasing personal success that has been used by some of the highest achievers the world.
The Soviets started to popularize visualization in sports psychology back in the 1970’s, as detailed in Charles Garfield’s landmark book, “Peak Performance.” They dominated in many sports during that period, which validated visualization anecdotally.
In the last 10-15 years, there has been some groundbreaking new brain research which has validated visualization scientifically. Here’s something that was written recently by Dr. Richard Restak, a neuroscientist and author of 12 books about the human brain:
“The process of imagining yourself going through the motions of a complex musical or athletic performance activates brain areas that improve your performance. Brain scans have placed such intuitions on a firm neurological basis. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans reveal that the mental rehearsal of an action activates the prefontal areas of the brain responsible for the formulation of the appropriate motor programs. In practical terms, this means you can benefit from the use of mental imagery.”
So much for being a “cheesy” self-help technique.
Although visualization is widely used today, even people who are familiar with it often don’t realize its many applications. Arguably the most common use of visualization is by athletes, musicians and other performers as a form of “mental rehearsal.” Research shows that “practicing in your mind” is almost as effective as practicing physically, and that doing both is more effective than either one alone.
A common use of visualization in the fitness context is “goal visualization.” In your mind’s eye, you can see yourself having already achieved your physique goal or your ideal goal weight. You can also visualize a specific performance goal such as completing a difficult workout or a heavy lift like a squat or bench press.
One creative way you can use mental imagery is called “process visualization.”Once you’ve set your goals, it’s easy to come up with a list of the daily habits, behaviors and action steps necessary to reach your goal. So write down the action steps and visualize them - the entire process, not just the end result. See yourself food shopping and grabbing fruits, vegetables and lean proteins, ordering healthy foods from restaurant menus, saying no to sodas and drinking water instead, and going to the gym consistently and having killer workouts. Some people visualize their entire “perfect day” as they would want it to unfold. When you do this as vividly, emotionally and in as much detail as you can, you will be neurologically priming your brain to carry out those behaviors.
The least known of all mental imagery techniques is called “physiology visualization.”An example would be picturing the fat burning process in your body or seeing the muscle fibers growing larger and larger. Using this technique, could it be possible that you might be giving subconscious instructions to your body’s cells, organs and tissues?
Well, consider the work of Dr. Carl Simonton, a physician and cancer researcher who taught his patients (as one part of a comprehensive program), how to visualize powerful immune cells devouring the cancer cells. I’m not suggesting that you can cure cancer or materialize a lean and muscular body just by visualizing, (there’s a step in between thought and manifestation - it’s called action - a step that many self help ‘experts’ forget to mention). However, thoughts and mental images are the precursors to action and the fact that a mind-body connection definitely exists makes this an exciting prospect.
Scientists have established the mind-body link in many contexts, and not just by the existence of a placebo effect. There’s also direct evidence as in the way emotional stress can contribute to physical disease. The mind does influence the body! The mere fact that a branch of science has been devoted to this area is proof that it deserves critical investigation and is not just the domain of infomercial self help gurus. The science is called psychoneuroimmunology.
Using “physiology visualization,” you could, even in the middle of a workout, imagine the fat burning process taking place, and visualize fat being released from adipose tissue storage in your abdominal region or elsewhere. You could see the free fatty acids entering your bloodstream, being carried to the working muscles and being burned for energy in the muscle cells. You could also visualize the physiology of muscle growth.
To make your imagery as accurate and detailed as possible, my best suggestion is to refer to an anatomy & physiology textbook that shows pictures of fat cells, blood vessels, myofibrils, motor units, sarcomeres, and cell organelles like the mitochondria, so you know what the structures look like. You could also get more details about the processes by looking up lipolysis, hypertrophy or beta oxidation.
Even if you had no idea what the internal structure and workings of the body were like, you could still use this method. Your body responds to mental imagery even if it isn’t anatomically correct. We know from the field of hypnosis that the subconscious mind responds well to metaphor – maybe even better than literal suggestions. Facts and logic are the domain of the conscious mind, while emotion and metaphor can slip right past the conscious and into the subconscious. Dr. Simonton often wrote about his young patients who created (metaphorical) mental images of immune system cells as “knights in shining armor”, slaying “the dragon” of cancer cells.
One of your greatest mental powers is imagination. You can visualize anything you want and you can embellish and exaggerate your imagery as much as you want. For example, you could imagine the free fatty acids being burned for energy in the “cellular powerhouse” - the mitochondria - and you could imagine the mitochondrion as a fiery furnace… “incinerating” the fat! I think it’s a pretty cool idea to “see” your fat cells shrinking and visualize your body as a “fat burning furnace.”
Should you not believe that there’s anything to the physiology visualization technique, that’s ok, because we know that the subconscious is deductive. Just give it a goal, tell it what you want and it will get you there automatically by altering your attention and behavior. Therefore, we can be confident that physiology visualization will be effective even if only as a subconscious directive about your desired goal. If science someday provides us with conclusive evidence that visualization actually does cause cellular - physiological changes in the body, well, that’s just all the better.
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), certified master practitioner of NLP and author of the best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. Tom teaches you how to lose fat without drugs or supplements using the little-known secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and turbo-charge your metabolism by visiting http://www.BurnTheFat.com , home of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle and http://www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.Com , the Internet’s premier members-only fat loss support community.
So there you have it, Tom Venuto drops another nugget for your dome… literally. Put your visualization to the test for a few weeks and see what happens to your life.
But, although it’s not really my place to step on toes, I’ve got a really interesting study that will really get you thinking.
Now, before I get started… please understand that even though this may seem a little harsh, I feel like everyone should know about it for their own well being.
Okay, enough of the disclaimer…
The other day, I was noticing all of the commercials on TV that had to do with beauty products, hair care, and other “head” stuff. Now, this wasn’t just the women’s stuff either — there were plenty of men’s products as well.
All of these commercials for elaborate hairstyles and “new age” skin cleaners really got me thinking…
I’ve always thought it weird that the same people that can’t afford a $50/mo health club membership were the same people that were spending $200+/mo on so called “self improvement” products.
So I decided to do a little “mini” study.
I asked 50 men from all walks of life this question:
“What do you find more attractive, a woman with a beautiful face but an okay body, or a woman with an awesome body and an okay looking face?”
I was surprised by the answers I received.
Would you believe that over 80% of the men said that they found the women with the okay face and rocking body far more attractive than the beautiful face and the okay body?
Would you also believe that the more successful the men… the more prominent the distinction?
I was floored.
Not only that, but the men that were in shape responded in much the same way as the more successful men.
In fact, only the men that were out of shape and relatively unsuccessful in life preferred the pretty face and okay body.
Now, before everyone goes completely ape cacca on me - let’s see what that really means.
1. It levels the playing field for those that don’t have the “natural gifts”of facial beauty. (this is great news)
2. It means that many people (both men and women) may be focusing on the wrong things when they are trying to “look better” for the opposite sex. (maybe not so great news)
These limited results make sense when you look at it. People that are in shape generally exude a higher level of self confidence - to the point that I actually read an article one day saying that depending on the job, one particular ad agency said that they would rather hire an out of shape person rather than an in shape person because the out of shape person “falls in line” better.
In other words, they tend to have less of a backbone and just do what they’re told.
Seriously, could I come close to making this up?
Not likely.
Also, self confidence is the one common thread that I noticed. The men perceived (big “underline” here) the in shape woman as having much more self confidence and that was attractive to them.
A few others stated that it was attractive to be around a woman that was interested in keeping herself healthy.
Now, this is by far from an accurate study so don’t necessarily take this as the gospel. But, it is what it is.
Next, I think I’ll ask a bunch of women the same question and see what the response is. I imagine it’ll go something like this:
“Well… how much money do they have?”
I’m kidding.
I really think it will turn out the same - but, I’ve been wrong before.
What do you think?
And, like I’ve always said, I don’t write this stuff to make anyone mad. I feel like it’s my duty to point out things that will make you think… those things that will allow you to better your life.
On to another topic…
I’ve gotten quite a few emails about the “velocity of calories” phenomenon I go over in the Fat Loss Black Book. Mainly, a few people wanted a little better explanation.
Here goes:
Think of your body as a cross-section of a water hose. The whole idea with “velocity of calories” or “energy flux” is to run as many calories through your body as you can… in as little time as possible.
So, it would be akin to turning the faucet on full blast.
If you are going to burn 200 calories. Burning it in 5 minutes is going to have a much, much, larger influence on your metabolism than burning the same amount of calories in 40 minutes.
I’m hoping that this is making sense.
Have you ever heard of Occam’s Razor?
Basically, it says that the simplest explanation is most often the correct one. All of the great formulas of the modern world are simple, elegant creatures.
Doesn’t it make more sense to say that you’ll get in better shape by busting your hump rather than “cruising” through your workouts?
It’s a well known fact that stress can be the number one obstacle when it comes to people losing body fat. Not only does your body tend to hold on to more fat in these situations… but the emotional eating and “comfort” food addictions start to creep back into people’s lives.
Remember, everything about fat loss revolves around what you are doing right now… and how you’re keeping yourself “inline” on a daily basis.
If you’ve read The Secret To Fat Loss or it’s more advanced version, the Fat Loss Black Book, you’ll recall that I like to treat a fat loss program as a cure to a lifestyle addiction.
Many may disagree, some won’t… but before you pass judgment, you might want to give it a shot.
But I digress.
Back on the stress and emotional eating kick.
Tom Venuto, of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle fame, has an interesting post that revolves around coping mechanisms and the studies that show the difference between “maintainers” and “relapsers”…
In the article, we find that:
Relapsers reported using food to make themselves feel better when they were upset. They also attributed weight gain to unexpected or unpredictable stressful life events.
Maintainers, by contrast, confronted their problems directly and looked for alternative ways to cope with them (other than eating)
These included relaxation techniques, meditation, exercise, focusing on productive work, seeking social support, getting professional help, or talking out their feelings with other people they trusted.
This by the way, confirms previous research in the area of addiction recovery which found that a person who has made a successful behavior change will return to a previous negative pattern if a stressful situation occurs and no coping skills have been developed to deal with it.
So, we find another reference to the addiction and recovery method when it comes to fat loss… coincidence… maybe.
But then again, maybe you thought I was making this stuff up…
Again, I don’t think this is a bad way to look at things as you don’t sugar coat anything in this manner… and I think you’ll take it a little more serious.
Anyway, make sure to check out Tom’s post for more info… it’s a great read.
