I don’t really get into reality shows. However my hairdresser is a reality show fan freak!

After her going on at me that I should watch the Biggest Loser because this season apparently rocked I figured I’d book it into my schedule.

Boy was I pissed when I saw the following…

I have a real issue with encouraging folk to focus on the scales.

I saw a guy who has obviously lost a substantial amount of weight, increased his fitness level through the roof – both of which are huge and admirable achievements – apparently he / they train several times per day – anyway he had put on a couple of kilos in the “weigh in”.  The poor guy was absolutely guttered!

This man who has been slugging his guts out for weeks looked like has was ready to break down and cry. Making some comment about “the scales never lie” (I’m gathering that’s a quote they use on the show?) and that he couldn’t understand after everything he had done how he had gained weight. The other contestants were just as gob-smacked expecting him to have lost a considerable amount due to his strict commitment to his training and eating plan.

I felt like reaching into the tv and giving him a hug and then telling him that relying on scales is a pile of B.S.!

Did anyone…

Take his measurements (with a tape measure) – seeing if his midsection / waist, his chest, thighs or upper arms had reduced? Did anyone do skin folds on him (measure his body fat percentage) to see if his body fat had reduced? Did they take into account his lean muscle he may have gained?

Nope! It was the scales and the overall percentage of body weight lost.

Look, I understand this show is about losing the most amount of weight, trying to inspire overweight folk to lose weight and of course it’s a competition and a reality show – but seeing these poor people shattered feeling like they’ve failed (despite their wonderful and enormous accomplishments) due to something the “scales” tell them… is appalling and disheartening.

When I was working as a personal fitness trainer I had so many clients come to me that were addicted to the scales. It was hard work trying to get them to realise that it’s not all about scales – far from it.

My advice, kick your scales to the curb.

Only use them only once in a while as a guide – eg… in calculations for lean body mass. There are so many more precise and effective ways to monitor your progress than just relying on your actual weight and the scales.

Focus on increasing your fitness, improving your health, increasing lean muscle and reducing body fat.

If you’re looking and feeling lean, fit, healthy, fitting into your goal clothes the way you want and kicking ass with your training…  then screw the scales!

The scales don’t make, justify or determine your results – you, your hard work and efforts do!

Happy Training!  And I’m going back to NOT watching reality shows.

Kind regards
Mandy Gibbons

PS. Feel free to have your say below… no doubt we’ll get some interesting feedback.

1) You must put yourself into the right mindset. Don’t think of your new efforts at weight loss as trying to do certain things every day. See your self living a new lifestyle, a new lifestyle that naturally includes behavior conducive to positive changes in your health and fitness levels. You transition into this new lifestyle by makng adjustments to your daily habits until these habits are in alignment with the goals you are aiming for.

2) Find an exercise partner. It can be a friend, a co-worker, or a family member. Why is this important? An exercise partner is a tremendous source of support. A partner is crucial on those days when you really don’t feel up to exercising. Unless you are sick, a good partner won’t let you slack and likewise your partner will need you to pull them up when they are not up for the workout. You being needed is an indirect but important type of support. With an exercise partner comes the element of accountability, which subconsciously reinforces your commitment to your quest.

3) Have a baby or get a puppy. These two strategies work in the same manner. I write about this one from first/second hand experience. My wife, Jeri-Jo, gave birth to our daughter, Darah, nine months ago. Today, she weighs less than she weighed before she got pregnant. What is the mechanism here? Jeri-Jo claims, “With Darah to care for, my mind is focused on her and her needs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at risk for malnutrition, but I don’t eat out of boredom any more simply because there is always something to do. The day flies by and I don’t have time to snack on foods that cause weight gain.”

The puppy weight loss strategy is very similar to the baby strategy. If you are not playing with it, training it, feeding it, walking it or cleaning up after it you are too tired to overeat. And, before you know it your new puppy is done napping and ready for more activities. Like caring for a baby, your puppy requires a lot of attention and mental energy. This prevents many people from unnecessary snacking that prevents weight loss.

4) If you are not ready for a baby or a puppy then take a up a new hobby. A new hobby will get you out of the house, stimulate your mind and prevent you from eating out of boredom. If your hobby is a fitness related activity, such as mountain biking or hiking, then you are really going to make some progress.

5) Drink more water. I know, you’ve heard this one before. But, can you truthfully say you are doing it? Not many people can. Ponder this. You consist of about 73% water. Your body gives off water all day and all night. You must continuously replenish your water levels in order for your body to function at its highest levels. Many fitness professionals talk about the metabolism slowing down as a result of too little food intake. However, just as important, yet rarely mentioned is water intake and its effect on metabolism. Not getting enough water can cause water retention and a slowing of the metabolism. Both of these can prevent weight loss and cause weight gain.

One little known strategy for boosting water intake is to drink 8 – 12 ounces as soon as you wake up. This helps wake up your metabolism. Another way to boost your water intake is to drink 10 – 12 ounces when you start to feel hungry. Instead of immediately reaching for food, drink the water and see if that calms your hunger until you are ready for your next meal.

Each one of these strategies can help you lose weight. But, by utilizing all of them, you are creating a formula for success. A formula that can be the foundation of your new lifestyle.

Copyright Joe E. Atlas, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Joey Atlas, MS – Exercise Physiology, is considered one of the top personal trainers in the US. Joey is also renowned for his Legs, Hip, Butt and Thighs Makeover DVD package which is currently rocking the internet with it’s amazing results.

There is an epidemic of “low carb stupidity” running rampant among millions of people throughout the world today – and fast food restaurants, food product manufacturers, supplement companies, and weight loss programs are capitalizing on it in a big way!

The low carb diet is not inherently “stupid,” however. It can be quite beneficial within certain parameters and under the right circumstances. The problem is that many practitioners are uninformed, misinformed, or simply lack the common sense and intuitive bodily wisdom to utilize the low carb approach intelligently.

Many low-carbers don’t even know why they are on a low carb diet, they’re just following the followers (Not intelligent!) Doing what everyone else is doing is always one of the surest, straightest routes to arrive at mediocrity! If you want to be a success, your chances are far greater if you look at what the masses are doing and do the exact opposite!

Fortunately, there is such a thing as “low carb intelligence.” Hopefully, by reading my brief rant, you will increase your carb IQ, and soon join the ranks of the extraordinarily fit, lean and healthy “carbo geniuses!”

Low carb stupidity #1

Selecting your beer or liquor carefully to make sure you have the brand with the fewest grams of carbs.

Low carb intelligence

Avoiding alcohol if you’re trying to lose body fat. Drinking only in moderation if you’re trying to maintain your weight and be healthy.

Low carb stupidity #2

Believing any of the following: Low carbs diets are the only way to lose fat, low carb diets are the best way to lose fat, no one should ever eat a high carb diet, high carbs always make you fat, starches and grains make everyone sick and unhealthy.

Low carb intelligence

Adjusting your approach according to your health status, your goals and your body type, not according to generalizations preached by dogmatic diet “gurus.”

Low carb stupidity #3

Going on the Atkins diet (or any other very low carb/ketogenic diet) with absolutely no idea why you’re doing it or how the diet works (going on it because “everybody” is doing it and because you see it advertised everywhere.)

Low carb intelligence

Studying the physiology and biochemistry of the low carb diet and completely understanding all the pros and cons. Then making an informed decision whether to restrict carbs based on your own personal goals, needs and heath status.

Low carb stupidity #4

Thinking that very low carb (ketogenic) dieting is a maintainable “lifestyle.”

Low carb intelligence

Understanding that reasonable (moderate) restriction of carbs can be a helpful short term strategy for fat loss, a good way to reach a peak, a legitimate method to control appetite, and an effective way for some people to control insulin. But also understanding that a balanced diet of natural foods is probably the most suitable of all the diets for health, lifelong maintenance and weight control.

Low carb stupidity #5

Believing calories don’t count if you just cut out your carbs (or not counting calories because it’s “too much work.”)

Low carb intelligence

Knowing that fat loss always did and always will boil down to calories in vs. calories out. Taking the time and effort to crunch your numbers (at least once), typing up your menu on a spreadsheet, keeping a diary, and/or using nutrition tracking software.

Low carb stupidity #6

Staying on a low carb diet that has stopped working (or never worked in the first place).

Low carb intelligence

Adjusting your diet according to your results; understanding that a common definition of insanity (and/or stupidity) is to continue to do the same things over and over again, while expecting a different result.

Low carb stupidity#7

Believing that you don’t need exercise because all you need to do is cut carbs.

Low carb intelligence

Knowing that dieting is the worst way to lose fat and that exercise is the best way to lose fat (Burn The Fat, don’t starve the fat).

Low carb stupidity #8

Using the argument; “There’s no such thing as an essential carbohydrate” as justification for low carb dieting.

Low carb intelligence

Realizing that textbook definitions of “essential” can be taken out of context to promote a fad diet and that just because there’s technically no “essential” carbohydrates (as there are essential amino acids and fatty acids) doesn’t mean carbohydrates aren’t “essential” in other respects.

Low carb stupidity #9

Using the argument, “You have to eat fat to lose fat” as justification for a high fat, low carb diet, without explaining it or putting it in context (exactly how much fat and what kind of fat?)

Low carb intelligence

Understanding the importance of essential and omega three fats (the good fats), but not taking any single nutritional principle to an extreme (such as, “If a little fat is good for you then a lot is even better.”)

Low carb stupidity #10

Saying, “All carbs are bad” or “All carbs are fattening.”

Low carb intelligence

Avoiding generalizations, and instead, having multiple distinctions about carbohydrates (and other foods) so you can make better choices. For example:

Low GI vs. high GI carbs
Simple vs. complex carbs
Starchy vs. fibrous carbs
Natural vs. refined carbs
High calorie density vs. low calorie density carbs

Low carb stupidity #11

Not clarifying your definition of low carbs.

Low carb intelligence

Realizing that there are “very low” carb diets, “low” carb diets, and “moderate” carb diets and that you cant lump them all together. (Some people consider The Zone Diet, at 40% of calories from carbs, a low carb diet, others consider 40% carbs quite high).

Low carb stupidity #12

Believing that carrots are fattening because they’re high on the glycemic index and because a popular fad diet book says so.

Low carb intelligence

Have we lost all vestiges of common sense? With an average carrot clocking in at 31 calories and 7.3 grams of carbs, do you really think that this orange-colored, nutrient-dense, low-calorie, all-natural, straight-out-of-the-ground root vegetable is going to make you fat? (if so, you are in “carbohydrate kindergarten.”)

Low carb stupidity. Lucky #13

Eating lots of processed and packaged low carb foods (including those protein “candy bars”). and thinking you’re “being good” and “following your diet.”

Low carb intelligence

Realizing that natural, unrefined foods are one of the keys to lifelong weight control and that anything man made and refined is NOT an ideal “diet” food – including the highly processed low carb foods that are all the rage this year. (Doesn’t this bandwagon reek of the late 80′s and early 90′s “no fat” craze, when all those “fat free” foods were being passed off as healthy diet food, but were really highly processed and full of pure sugar?)

–End of Stupidities–

Forgive me for the obvious dashes of sarcasm, but sometimes I just can’t help myself and I end up going into “rant mode”. I think the last time this happened was in my newsletter almost a year ago. that was the issue where I wrote about the ad for the candy bar that increases your bench press by 50 pounds? Yeah… I heard those bars are especially effective when you combine them with low carb potato chips (weren’t those low fat potato chips a few years ago??? Oh nevermind… it’s all soooo confusing!)

Copyright: Tom Venuto
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.

Michael Thurmond’s 6 Week Body Makeover is an interesting blueprinting system in which you answer a series of specific questions then are “assigned” a Body Type (A, B, C, etc) based upon your answers. Your eating plan is completely customized based on your body type. You customize a binder with specific information for your body type.

You will be provided with a very specific eating plan to follow balancing proteins, carbohydrates, vegetables, and fruits, again based upon your body type. Foods are grouped accordingly (A, B, C). The “best” foods are your “A” foods. They are the leanest proteins and healthiest veggies and fruits and carbs. Your Food Plan is specific and strict. There are certain foods you have to eat at certain times – breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner, evening snack is optional.

A wonderful resource are the forums on the 6 Week Body Makeover website. I think it’s crucial to your success to check out the recipes on the forums. You’ll find that there are numerous meal ideas within the confines of the food choices in your food selections.

You then continue customizing your binder by blueprinting your body and customizing body-sculpting exercises that target the specific areas of need. Aerobic exercise is crucial to the success of your Body Makeover. The body-sculpting exercises are done with exercise bands, the toning exercises in the binder as well as a video that demonstrates how the sculpting exercises are done.

The balance of the right foods, exercise and lots of water (at least 100 ounces a day) is a guarantee for success. The forums on the 6 Week Body Makeover website offer support for: “newbies”, success stories, motivation, problems and challenges, food and eating, travel and eating out, body sculpting, recipe exchange, and the specific body types.

The communities that form on the forums are a wonderful network of people who are going through the same trials and tribulations as you. The recipe exchange is quite possibly the key to keeping you POP (Perfect On Plan). Too often people fall off track because they find the foods boring and restrictive. If they are willing to make that 100 percent commitment then they will see success.

The biggest downfall is that the 6 Week Body Makeover is really a total lifestyle change. There is no turning back to the “old ways” of eating or you are asking for failure and weight gain. One more important fact about Michael Thurmond’s 6 Week Body Makeover eating plan – No Sugars, No Fats, No Caffeine, and No Dairy products.

I’m not sure if the 6 Week Body Makeover is realistic because of how restrictive the plan is for people. Though it’s worth a short since there are thousands of people who have been successful on Michael Thurmond’s 6 Week Body Makever!

Renee B
http://www.associatedcontent.com

It is absolutely imperative that during the course of a lifetime not only for your weight loss goals but also for general health and well being that you must use these valuable tool.

For years we have been told to diet the excess fat from our bodies and throw in some fast walking to hasten the process. The trouble with this is that the low calorie restricted diet would throw the body into starvation mode with the body holding onto the fat and using precious lean muscle tissue for energy.

This would “Lower Your Metabolism” causing greater muscle loss and once the diet was broken the original fat would return and you would have greater chance of gaining even more fat creating a

“A Vicious Cycle”

Eventually, your body would become used to the diet and then you will reach a point where nothing was happening. So what do you do now?

Try weight loss supplements, creams, massage, toning tables, and drugs. You should know by now that these dont work. There is a better way and it is

“Strength Training”

Many studies are showing that Strength Training is a far superior method for weight loss. (Ladies, you wont bulk up by using weights, you dont have the testosterone to get big and muscular, so dont worry).

If you are not incorporating strength training into your weight loss program then you can look forward to disappointing results.

The days of strength training three to five days a week in the gym, an hour at a time are long gone. That just doesnt work as a plateau is reached after three to four weeks and nothing you do will get you off it.

All that is required is one short strength-training workout a week done at home or in the gym and this will melt away more fat than you would have thought possible.

Fats, Figures and Cardio Work

Weve already found out that by increasing the functional muscle on your body, you increase your resting metabolic rate. Due to this higher metabolic rate you can now eat more calories, which means that you wont need to starve anymore to lose weight.

In a sense, fewer calories have to be cut back from our daily intake of food and successful dieting (provided that you eat the right foods) will become more likely.

As far as Fats are concerned, theyre burned from the body when cells oxidize to release energy in the form of exercise. When exercise is done slowly to moderately for 20 to 30 minutes, then the majority of energy is taken from the fat stores.

Its important to understand that the loss of fat comes from fat cells all over the body, not just from one or more specific areas. Therefore, fat reduction of a certain area is not generally possible.

The best exercise for the purpose of fat loss is fast walking either indoors on the treadmill or outdoors. Walk until you are mildly puffing and hold that rate for the allotted time.

Remember your original goal to find a healthy way to lose weight. If your cardio activities leave you panting or breathless you are going too hard. Your energy will be then coming from your carbohydrate reserves and not from your fat stores.

Nutrition For Weight Loss

By decreasing the amount of calories you eat per day to the weight loss amount, you should start losing weight. Dont go any lower and check the mirror regularly to judge your progress.

If you dont have an accurate idea of how many calories you are consuming a day, how will you know whether youre overeating or not?

So go ahead and try to eat small frequent meals during the day each containing a little protein to maintain muscle and energy levels. Also try to consume foods with vital vitamin and mineral compositions on a daily basis.

By Gary Matthews

Before I talk about energy, the first thing you must understand is that losing weight and losing fat is not the same thing. Just because you lose weight, does not mean you lose fat, and just because you lose fat, does not mean you lose weight. When people talk about losing weight, what the really want to do is lose the excess fat on their body and obtain an attractive figure.

When you eat, the body uses most of the calories for energy. If you eat more calories than the body uses, it will get stored as fat. If you do not consume enough calories per day you will lose weight, but you will also lose energy. When you do not consume enough energy (calories) for your body, it will start using up your energy stores to make up for the energy deficiency.

Unfortunately, the energy stores used is not your stored fat, but instead its protein and carbohydrates (carbs) that will supply most of the energy (stored fat makes up a very small percentage). Your body will take the protein and carbohydrates from your muscle cells; causing your muscle mass to reduce (say good by to that toned attractive look) which forces your metabolism to decrease (a low metabolism = slow or no fat burning).

When this happens your body requires less energy to maintain its new lower body weight (remember the body weight is lower because you loss muscle), which is why your body conserves energy by slowing down the metabolism. In other words, the body has adapted to the new lower energy (calorie) intake which means that you will no longer continue to lose weight. Keep in mind that the weight you had lost in the first place was mostly water weight and you will eventually gain it back in the form of fat, not muscle (in order to get your muscle mass back to the way it was before, you have to work on rebuilding it).

When carbohydrates and protein that are already in your body are used as the energy source, your body will lose water weight because both carbohydrates and protein hold water in the cells. In essence, you are dehydrating yourself to lose weight. So yes the scale will go down, but approximately 75% (if not more) of it is water instead of fat. And just so you know, exercising while consuming a small calorie intake just makes the situation worse.

This is because when you exercise, you start burning off more energy and the more you workout, the more energy your body needs. I already told you above where the energy comes from, and if you do not give your body the energy it needs, it will just feed on your muscles even quicker now that you are exercising. So eat more food!

In addition to this, when you cut down too much on your calorie intake, your body will start storing calories because it doesnt know when you will eat again. The calories that are stored will be stored as fat. So in other words, when your body is storing energy, its basically storing more fat. To summarize my point: Not eating enough calories results in muscle loss, dehydration, slower fat burning, and your body will always adapt to a lower calorie intake.

Bottom Line:

If you cant maintain that lower calorie intake for the rest of your life, you will gain your weight back when you get tired of starving yourself!

To lose weight properly (burning fat) you must increase your metabolism (weight training) and your need for oxygen (aerobics) while eating enough calories each day (nutritious diet) to give you energy and maintain the protein in your muscles because protein helps build muscles, which indirectly burns fat.

This brings up another good point: When you build muscle your weight will increase because your muscles are made up of mostly water, but your body fat percentage will decrease because building muscles increase your metabolism (in other words, muscles way more than fat, but take up less space than fat). So keep in mind that losing body fat cant be measured by a scale; use a measuring tape and also look at yourself in the mirror, and then you will see the true results. One of the best ways to know if you are losing more body fat than water is by using a body fat analyzer.

Make sure that you focus on fat loss not weight loss. Your goal should be to lose weight by burning fat, not losing water from your muscles. Remember these tips on weight loss when you choose your fat loss program.

By Vernita Sherman

Losing 10 kilograms in 28 days seems excessive, especially since most experts suggest losing only 0.5 to 1kg per week. But before you dismiss this concept as another fad diet or torturous workout program, please hear me out.

Advanced fast weight loss tips – read this Special Report below

These are the strategies used by bodybuilders and fitness competitors during their competition preparation, especially when they need to lose the last few stubborn kilos of hard-to-shift body fat. These strategies help bodybuilders reduce their body fat percentage into the low single digits; just imagine what they could do for you if you have more than a few kilos to lose!

These strategies aren’t difficult either but they do require discipline and a commitment of time and effort. If you’re willing to commit to these principles for 28 days you will be rewarded with a dramatic loss of weight. After the 28 days is over you can still maintain the weight you lose without having to maintain the principles exactly. However, you can’t expect to go back to your previous lifestyle habits and not expect the weight to pile back on. In order to maintain the weight loss, or better yet, continue it, you must maintain similar habits that helped you achieve the results in the first place. You don’t need to be as strict as you were during the 28-day period but maintaining the habits is essential in achieving permanent results.

If you seriously want to lose 10 kilograms in 28 days then you must perform all of the fast weight loss tips principles exactly as recommended. Unlike the recommendations in my book, ‘Look good, feel great!’, where you can pick the principles you want to use and ignore the rest and where you can even modify the principles to suit your lifestyle, these principles must be followed exactly as they are outlined. If you want extraordinary results, then you must be willing to put in an extraordinary effort!

I realise that some people may be thinking, ‘But it is impossible to lose 10 kilograms of fat in a month!’ I agree- it is! However, the truth is, it is impossible to only lose fat on any type of weight-loss program. You will always lose a combination of fat, water, stored carbohydrate and some muscle.

Furthermore, most people who want to lose 10 kilograms in the first place are generally retaining excess fluid anyway, so a system that helps get rid of the excess fluid is certainly going to accelerate their results.

Anyway, let’s move on to the strategies. Remember, it is absolutely essential that you perform every one exactly as is outlined. It is only for 28 days so give it everything you’ve got!

More cool fast weight loss tips…

Perform 30-60 minutes of aerobic exercise morning and night.

Yes, you read that correctly, morning and night- 2 sessions a day. every day! No excuses. We’re all busy, we all feel tired some mornings, but if you’re serious about getting amazing results, then you must be willing to do everything necessary.

When we talk about aerobic exercise, we’re talking about exercise! Not walking around the shops, doing the gardening or doing housework. It must be exercise, which means your breathing rate increases, your face goes red, you sweat, you get tired- simple!

Some examples of aerobic exercise include: walking (pounding the pavement at a brisk pace- not dawdling), cycling (stationary bike is ideal), swimming, rowing, stepper, cross-trainer, aerobic classes, boxing, etc.

Note from Mandy: I personally don’t use thermogenics.  I also don’t use supplements that contain artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame.

Use ‘thermogenics’.

There are several very effective thermogenic supplements on the market that can accelerate your progress towards your goal. Those containing caffeine, green tea extracts and an extract from a plant called coleus forskohlii are the most effective. They will boost your metabolism and promote the release of fat from the fat stores.

Unfortunately though, thermogenics are not ‘magic pills’. You can’t expect to take a couple of thermogenic capsules and then go home and eat pizza and drink alcohol and expect to get results. Thermogenics only work when their use is combined with a good nutrition and exercise program.

Take 1-2 capsules twice a day; once prior to your morning exercise session and once with your lunch. Don’t take them later than 4:00pm in the afternoon because they may keep you awake at night.

Before using thermogenics, see your doctor first and obtain their approval.

Do not eat anything for 30 minutes after the completion of any exercise.

As a result of using the thermogenics combined with the exercise, your metabolism will remain elevated for some time after the exercise session is finished. This means your body will burn fuel at a faster rate than normal.

Any exercise causes the body to use carbohydrate (muscle glycogen and blood glucose) as a fuel source. This means that after the exercise is completed the carbohydrate stores in the body are low and the body will be forced to use fat as its fuel.

If a meal is eaten immediately after the completion of the exercise session, the blood glucose level will rise, inducing the secretion of insulin from the pancreas. One of the effects of insulin is to stop fat burning in the body. Therefore, wait 30 minutes (but no longer because cortisol will rise) before having your next meal.

Perform a weight training workout 2-4 times a week.

Lifting weights is the most under-estimated way to lose fat fast! Now, before you start saying, ‘But I don’t want to get big muscles!’ or ‘I don’t want to look like a man!’, consider the following fast weight loss tips.

The main purpose of lifting weights when your primary goal is to lose body fat is to preserve the muscle mass you already have. You see, muscle is the ‘engine’ within which the fat, or ‘fuel’ is burnt and maintaining or even increasing your muscle mass slightly will help ensure your body fat is burnt off efficiently.

If you don’t lift weights, your body will quite happily lose both fat and muscle as you drop the kilos. Lifting weights forces your body to maintain your muscle mass, therefore keeping your metabolism elevated and turning your body into 24-hour-a-day fat-burning machine!

Incidentally, it only takes two 30 minute sessions a week to obtain the muscle preserving benefits of lifting weights.

Have 5-6 small meals a day.

One of the most common strategies people use to lose weight is to skip meals. Whilst reducing food intake is certainly an effective way to lose weight, having fewer meals is not the way to go. Many overweight people say, ‘I don’t know why I’m overweight, I only eat once or twice a day!’ Unfortunately, this is exactly why they are overweight.

Having a mild calorie restriction is effective because if you consume less calories than you burn each day you will lose weight- simple! However, skipping meals forces the body to invoke its ‘Starvation Mechanism’ because it thinks it is entering a famine. As a result, the body slows the metabolism to preserve energy. It also increases cortisol output and cortisol is the most powerful catabolic hormone in the body, which means it goes around the body breaking down lean tissue, particularly muscle. A loss of muscle slows the metabolism even further. Skipping meals also results in an increase in appetite, which forces you to eat larger amounts of food when you do eat. In addition to all these factors, the body also increases the activity of fat-storing enzymes, lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and fatty acid synthase (FAS), so when you do eat the food gets stored as fat. All of this results from simply skipping meals!

By having a small meal every 2-3 hours throughout the day, your metabolism stays elevated and your body will happily burn fat all day long. Unfortunately though, most people are conditioned to having large meals and they automatically assume they will put on weight if they have 5 or 6 meals a day. The fact is, the ideal portion sizes for most people are actually quite small and in order to lose weight fast it is essential that you never feel full from a meal but you do feel satisfied.

Also, most people find it difficult to have a meal every 2-3 hours throughout the day because they are so busy with work and/ or family commitments. Here are some suggestions to ensure you get your 5 or 6 meals a day.

•  Plan and prepare your meals the night before

•  Use meal replacements (protein shakes or bars)

•  Select foods that are quick and easy to prepare and consume

Ensure each meal contains protein… another one of Steve’s important fast weight loss tips

Protein is a component of all cells and makes up over half the dry weight of the human body. Furthermore, the human body is a dynamic structure, which means it is constantly building up and breaking down tissue. Just imagine a bath full of water. At one end of the bath the plug is pulled out and at the other end the tap is turned on full. The water level in the bath doesn’t change but there are ‘new’ water molecules entering the bath and ‘old’ water molecules leaving the bath all the time. The human body is exactly the same. If the body breaks down more tissue than it builds up, then it is said to be in a catabolic state. This results in the metabolism slowing down due to the loss of muscle tissue.

Having a portion of high-quality protein every few hours throughout the day provides the body with a constant supply of amino acids- the building blocks of the body. This prevents the catabolic state, promotes an anabolic state (tissue building) and therefore keeps the metabolism ‘fired-up’.

If only carbohydrate or fat is consumed for a meal, for example a piece of fruit (carbohydrate) for the mid-morning meal, then the body will still enter a catabolic state because it doesn’t have the building blocks (amino acids) to re-build body tissues. Protein, as its name suggests, is of primary importance.

Reduce your intake of high-density carbohydrates.

Most high-density carbohydrates like bread, pasta, rice and cereals cause a rapid rise in blood glucose. This invokes the release of insulin from the pancreas, which in turn stores the glucose. The body stores glucose in the muscles and liver as glycogen and once these sites are full, the remaining glucose gets stored as body fat. Not only this, but insulin also stops the body from mobilising and utilising fat for fuel (burning fat).

So if you want to maximise fat loss, you need to keep insulin to a minimum and the best way to do this is by reducing your intake of starchy carbohydrates without cutting them out altogether. Cutting them out totally is a philosophy of many low-carb diets on the market. However, these are very hard to sustain long-term and may lead to nutrient deficiencies.

Each day, have a small amount (1-2 serves) of high density carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice, cereals); a moderate amount (2-3 serves) of medium density carbohydrates (starchy vegetables and fruits); and a large amount (5-6 serves) of low density carbohydrates (fibrous vegetables). [For a complete list of carbohydrates, see pages 136-138 of the book, ' Look good, feel great! ]

Do not have a Treat Day.

Since you are expecting an extraordinary result, it is essential that you put in an extraordinary effort. Accordingly, for the next 28 days you must follow the plan exactly as it is outlined without deviating. This means you can’t allow yourself to indulge in any ‘forbidden foods’. This also means avoiding alcohol for the entire 28-day period. I know this may be hard for some people but let’s face it, it is only for 28 days!

In ‘Look good, feel great!’ we do allow a ‘Treat Day’ once a week, where you can have any food at all for one or two meals but that principle is useful for long-term maintenance. Since we want to achieve maximum results in minimum time, you will need to be as strict as possible and therefore avoid ‘any forbidden foods’ for the entire period.

By committing to the plan and disciplining yourself to see it through, you are ensuring that the results will follow. Plus, the disciplines you create to help you achieve your physical goal will have a ‘carry-over benefit’ to other areas of your life as well.

I wish you the greatest success in achieving outstanding results!

Go for it!

* Before using any nutritional supplement, speak with your health care professional.

By Stephen Smith BSc
Steve is the Author of “Look Good Feel Great” at Quick Weight Loss Principles and part owner of BodyConcepts in Western Australia.

You’re about to learn the answers to these questions and discover a simple solution for keeping track of your food intake without having to crunch numbers every day or become a fanatic about your food.

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.

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 sound easier to follow. Anything that sounds like work – such as counting calories, eating less or exercising, tends to scare away potential customers! But 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.

I believe that it’s very important to develop an understanding of and a respect for portion control and the law of calorie balance I also believe 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.

The law of calorie balance says:

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

If you only count portions or if you haven’t the slightest clue how many calories you’re eating, it’s a lot more likely that you’ll eat more than you realize. (Or you might take in fewer calories than you should, which triggers your body’s “starvation mode” and 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, print it, 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 on the road to a better body is one good menu on paper. 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 need 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 more educated) ballpark figure.

So what’s the bottom line? Is it really 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 – you lose weight. Which would you rather do: Take a wild guess, or increase your chance for success with some simple menu planning? I think the right choice is obvious.

Copyright: Tom Venuto

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.

Let’s face it. Everyone wants to get the fat off as quickly as possible – and having that desire is not wrong – it’s simply human nature. However, you must become aware of some serious problems that can occur if you try to force it and lose weight too quickly. The faster you lose weight, the more muscle you will lose with the fat, and that can really mess up your metabolism. An even bigger problem with fast weight loss is that the loss just won’t last. The faster you lose, the more likely you are to gain it back. Think about it: We don’t have a weight loss problem today, we have a “keeping the weight off” problem.

Weight loss will be the healthiest, safest and most likely to be permanent if you set your goal for about two pounds per week (and even if you lose only a single pound each week, that is healthy progress). This is the recommendation of almost every legitimate and respected dietician, nutritionist, exercise physiologist and personal trainer, as well as exercise organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Dietetic Association.

Are there any exceptions to this rule? Is it ever okay to lose more than two pounds per week? The answer is yes. It may be ok to lose slightly more than two pounds per week if you have a lot of weight to lose because the rate of weight loss tends to be relative to your total starting body weight. Generally the rule is that it’s safe to lose up to 1% of your total body weight per week, so if you weigh 300 lbs to start, then 3 lbs a week is a reasonable goal.

But there IS a catch.

What really matters is not how much weight you lose, but how much FAT you lose. Where did your weight loss come from? Did you lose body fat or lean body mass?

“Weight” is not the same as “fat.” Weight includes muscle, bone, internal organs as well as lots and lots of water. What you really want is fat loss, not weight loss. If you only wanted weight loss, I could show you an easy way to lose 20 or 25 pounds in about 5 minutes. Just come over to my house. I have a really sharp hacksaw in my garage, and we’ll just slice off one of your legs, after all it’s just extra “weight” right?

Let’s look at an example with some numbers so you can really grasp this concept of weight versus fat and then you can see, clearly illustrated, what will happen when you lose weight too quickly (because I know you probably don’t believe me and you STILL want to lose weight as fast as possible… read on and it will all become clear to you).

As an example, let’s take a 260 pound man who has a lot of body fat to lose – let’s call it 32%. With 32% fat, a 260 pounder has 83.2 pounds of body fat and 176.8 pounds of lean mass. Using this example, let’s look at a few possible scenarios with losses ranging from two to four pounds per week.

Weight Loss Scenario 1:

Suppose our 260 pound subject loses four full pounds instead of the recommended two pounds per week. Is this bad? Well, let’s see:

If he loses a half a percent of body fat, here are his body composition results:

256 lbs 31.5% body fat 80.6 lbs fat 175.4 lbs lean body mass

Out of the four pounds lost, 2.8 pounds were fat and 1.2 were lean mass. Not a disaster, but not good either. Thirty percent of the weight lost was lean tissue.

Weight Loss Scenario 2:

If he loses a half a percent of body fat and only three pounds, here are his results:

257 lbs 31.5% body fat 80.9 lbs fat 176.1 lbs lean body mass

These results are better. Although he lost less body weight than scenario one, in this instance, 2.3 pounds of fat and only 0.7 lbs of lean mass were lost.

Weight Loss Scenario 3:

What if he only lost two pounds? Here are the results:

258 lbs 31.5% body fat 81.2 lbs fat 176.8 lbs lean body mass

These results are perfect. Even though our subject has only lost two pounds, which seems slow, 100% of the two pound weight loss came from fat.

Weight Loss Scenario 4:

Now let’s suppose he loses three pounds but he loses more body fat: .8%

257 lbs 31.2% body fat 80.2 lbs fat 176.8 lbs lean body mass

These are the best results of all. When the weekly fat loss is .8%, 100% of the three pounds lost is fat.

So the answer to the question is yes – it’s safe to lose more than two pounds per week… but only if the weight is all fat or at least mostly fat with minimal lean mass losses.

If you take example one – with thirty percent lean tissue loss and compound that over a few months, you’re talking about a massive muscle tissue loss which can dramatically slow down your metabolism and turn you into nothing more than a “skinny fat person” (a person with low body weight because they lost all their muscle, but still holding stubborn body fat because they slowed down their metabolism).

One thing you should know is that water weight losses sometimes distort the numbers, especially when you first begin a new nutrition and training program. It’s very common to lose 4 – 5 pounds in the first week on nearly any diet and exercise program and sometimes even more on low carb diets. Just remember, its NOT all fat – It’s water!

The best advice you will EVER get is to focus on losing fat, not losing weight. If you lose three to five pounds per week, and you know it’s all fat, and not lean tissue, then more power to you!

Of course the only way to know this is with body composition testing. For home self-testing, I recommend the Accu measure as first choice. I suggest using the bio-electric impedance analysis body fat scale only as second choice behind calipers for home self testing because this device gives some funky readings sometimes.

Even better, get a professional caliper test from an experienced tester at a health club, or even a water (hydrostatic) or air (bod pod) displacement test.

From literally hundreds of client case studies, I can confirm that it’s rare to lose more than 1.5 – 2.0 lbs of weight per week without losing some muscle along with it. If you exceed 2.0 to 3.0 pound per week, the probability of losing muscle is extremely high. If you lose muscle, you are damaging your metabolism and this will lead to a plateau and ultimately to relapse.

Lack of patience is one of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to losing weight. If you want your weight loss to be PERMANENT, you have to take off the pounds slowly.

This is one of the toughest lessons that overweight men and women have to learn – and they can be very hard learners. They fight kicking and screaming, insisting that they CAN and they MUST lose it faster.

Then you have these TV shows that encourage the masses that rapid, crash weight loss is okay. I say to the producers of these shows SHAME ON YOU! To the personal trainers, registered dieticians and medical doctors who are associated with these programs, I say DOUBLE SHAME ON YOU, because you should know better.

The rapid weight loss being promoted by the media for the sake of ratings and by the weight loss companies for the sake of profits today makes it even harder for those of us who are legitimate fitness and nutrition professionals because our clients say, “But look at so and so on TV – he lost 26 pounds in a week!”

Sure, but 26 pounds of WHAT – and do you have any idea what the long term consequences are?

Short term thinking, folks… foolish. There are hundreds of ways to lose weight quickly, but only one way to lose fat and keep it off in the long term.

Do it the right way – the healthy and sensible way. Take off the pounds slowly with an intelligent nutrition and exercise program – make this a new lifestyle, not a race, and you will never have to take the pounds off again because they will be gone forever the first time. No more yo-yoing.

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 Burn the Fat!