Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle---Highly Recommended

davidroth

I'm sure people have talked about this ebook here and there, I believe it's the most popular fitness ebook sold online. But I just bought this a few weeks ago and absolutely love it. Tom Venuto, the writer, takes a real sensible approach to training/nutrition and backs pretty much everything he says with studies. Also kind of nice is that he's not pushing any supplements, in fact he pretty much says that he doesn't use them himself.

Here are the basic high points of the book. But for me the big thing was the weekly body fat measurements and the importance of that.

---He's REALLY into setting goals and obviously pretty schooled in personal development, but not to the point of being real new age about it. Like other things, all his stances come from studies about how the human brain works. He's got some really good stuff on emotional eating and changing the way you look at food/nutrition.

---On the topic of goal setting, he is a firm believer in daily, weekly, monthly, 12 week, and annual goals. But the game-changer for me was the weekly goals. He recommends a weekly weigh-in with a body comp. test. Personally, I bought the Omron body fat tester, which isn't exact, but it's consistent. And it's been great to have the feedback and KNOW that the weight you're stripping off is body-fat.

---His meal plans are typical protein/carbs/fat that you'd see in most bodybuilder plans. He recommends starting with a 50% carb, 30% protein, and 20% fat diet and then, depending on results, using Carbs as the X-Factor. If you need to cut calories, you cut the carbs first.

--The really nice thing about his program is that it's not set in stone. A lot of the newer trainers online will say "Don't use protein supplements, eat real food!" or "Don't do cardio, it's a waste" or "Always lift heavy". His approach is more balanced. He says that if you start out with a beginners routine and each weigh-in, you lose 2 pounds of fat...then keep doing it. If you lose too much muscle, up the calories. If you don't lose anything, cut the calories (carbs) and increase cardio.

--He's pretty adamant about calorie counting, mostly because he thinks that anything else is guessing. Also about aiming for 1-2 pounds of fat loss per week...or up to 1% of your body weight.

--His recommendation is not for "free days", but instead he recommends a 90/10 compliance. So 10% of the time you can eat whatever, but make sure you still watch calories. For me, this is great. Because I love Chex Mix. And in the past, if I cheated and ate a bunch, I'd just say "Well, I'll start again next week". But now I just use those towards the 10%. The author says that the flaw with Cheat Days is people literally undo an entire week's calorie deficit in one day, when there's really no reason to go that crazy.

--He says that it's absolutely essential to weight train while you're in a calorie deficit because the loss of lean muscle is accelerated when your body is in a caloric deficit.

--Every fourth day, he recommends eating at your maintenance level for calories. Not a free day, but just eating more of what you're eating now. He says that there are numerous studies that show that certain hormones critical to fat loss stop firing when you're in a prolonged caloric deficit.

Anyways, check it out if you're looking for a really solid foundation. I personally loved it and I've seen really great results. (down 12 pounds in 2.5 weeks while maintaining lean muscle).

jclji4

Thanks for sharing.

hpsnickers1

He is one I read about.

Also www.bodyrecomposition.com (Lyle McDonald)

Also hussmanfitness.org: this site has some great info too.

traceyann1214

FABULOUS post. I have been looking around for a good book that will give this kind of information. I can't wait to read it!

RyonsLions2

Great information!! Thanks!!

jamievolner

Very informative thanks!

cacrat

That book is one of the go to's on how to shed fat and is maybe one of the best books written on the subject. Good find.

The same goes for Lyle McDonald.

aset132

I love Tom Venuto! I got his ebook a while ago and loved the common sense and attention to slow and healthy. I also bought his book " The Body Fat Solution" Not an ebook. excellent for beginners. Lays out the same principles but with less technical stuff. Helpful to the person who can be overwhelmed.

tjsocal

I'm sure people have talked about this ebook here and there, I believe it's the most popular fitness ebook sold online. But I just bought this a few weeks ago and absolutely love it. Tom Venuto, the writer, takes a real sensible approach to training/nutrition and backs pretty much everything he says with studies. Also kind of nice is that he's not pushing any supplements, in fact he pretty much says that he doesn't use them himself.

Here are the basic high points of the book. But for me the big thing was the weekly body fat measurements and the importance of that.

---He's REALLY into setting goals and obviously pretty schooled in personal development, but not to the point of being real new age about it. Like other things, all his stances come from studies about how the human brain works. He's got some really good stuff on emotional eating and changing the way you look at food/nutrition.

---On the topic of goal setting, he is a firm believer in daily, weekly, monthly, 12 week, and annual goals. But the game-changer for me was the weekly goals. He recommends a weekly weigh-in with a body comp. test. Personally, I bought the Omron body fat tester, which isn't exact, but it's consistent. And it's been great to have the feedback and KNOW that the weight you're stripping off is body-fat.

---His meal plans are typical protein/carbs/fat that you'd see in most bodybuilder plans. He recommends starting with a 50% carb, 30% protein, and 20% fat diet and then, depending on results, using Carbs as the X-Factor. If you need to cut calories, you cut the carbs first.

--The really nice thing about his program is that it's not set in stone. A lot of the newer trainers online will say "Don't use protein supplements, eat real food!" or "Don't do cardio, it's a waste" or "Always lift heavy". His approach is more balanced. He says that if you start out with a beginners routine and each weigh-in, you lose 2 pounds of fat...then keep doing it. If you lose too much muscle, up the calories. If you don't lose anything, cut the calories (carbs) and increase cardio.

--He's pretty adamant about calorie counting, mostly because he thinks that anything else is guessing. Also about aiming for 1-2 pounds of fat loss per week...or up to 1% of your body weight.

--His recommendation is not for "free days", but instead he recommends a 90/10 compliance. So 10% of the time you can eat whatever, but make sure you still watch calories. For me, this is great. Because I love Chex Mix. And in the past, if I cheated and ate a bunch, I'd just say "Well, I'll start again next week". But now I just use those towards the 10%. The author says that the flaw with Cheat Days is people literally undo an entire week's calorie deficit in one day, when there's really no reason to go that crazy.

--He says that it's absolutely essential to weight train while you're in a calorie deficit because the loss of lean muscle is accelerated when your body is in a caloric deficit.

--Every fourth day, he recommends eating at your maintenance level for calories. Not a free day, but just eating more of what you're eating now. He says that there are numerous studies that show that certain hormones critical to fat loss stop firing when you're in a prolonged caloric deficit.

Anyways, check it out if you're looking for a really solid foundation. I personally loved it and I've seen really great results. (down 12 pounds in 2.5 weeks while maintaining lean muscle).

shimmergal

thanks for sharing :-) you have some really neat tips here (Carbs as X Factor, weekly goals, 90/10 rule, maint cals on 4th day)

aprylkemper

I LOVE Tom Venuto! I am subscribed to his newsletter as well. He has another book that you can get from the library or on amazon called 'The Body Fat Solution'. I checked that out from the library and really enjoyed it.
If you like Tom's advice, check out Leigh Peele too, they have similar styles and have actually worked together but she has a great podcast that's free on iTunes called "Ask Leigh" and is also on another podcast called 'The Fitcast' with some other really good people like Tom.

Link to Leigh's website
www.leighpeele.com

Link to Amazon for Tom's other book
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Fat-Solution-Principles-Maintaining/dp/1583333290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303414782&sr=8-1

Keep us up-to-date on your results - I love when people get results using logical time-tested methods like his

davidroth

Yeah, I have heard an interview that Leigh Peele did with Tom. I joined Tom's "Inner Circle" cause he provides a lot of tools, interviews, free stuff in there...as well as the forum so I've been listening to those a lot. It's not necessary, but I like to listen to the stuff everyday as a little motivator.

I was actually a little relieved when I finally found this book because I've been looking for an approach that makes sense to me. There is a new crop of trainers online that make very definitve statements about a whole range of things from weight training, to cardio, food, calorie counting, etc. And I think that leads to a lot of confusion about the best way to approach something. But Tom's approach makes sense. You get a basic plan, if you're hitting your goals, then you keep things the same. If not, he gives you the place to make the adjustments.

Love it...the guy is a real motivator.

sandram82

bump

beckym71

Tom Venuto!
Thanks for taking the time to type out such an excellent summary :flowerforyou:

I agree The Body Fat Solution is good for starting out and BFFM takes it to the next level! :bigsmile:

ch0c0lati3r

I'm interested to learn more about the 90/10 rule. Can someone elaborate? Thanks much!

cacrat

Physiologically our body hates us. At least when we diet. Once you start dieting, multiple hormones start trying to fight back against your diet. But it doesn't take long for your body to bounce back. So the 90/10 theory is that 90% of the time you follow the diet, and 10% you can eat, relatively, free. This cheat day(s) "tricks" your body into thinking you're fed and boosts those hormones back into a normal state, thus allowing for more weight loss.

sweebum

Love me some Tom

Bump for everyone else

mmellor

Thanks for sharing! Very interesting and sounds like a very sensible approach to the daily game of weight loss!!

rachmaree

I have been thinking about buying the e-book... thanks for the summary. Think I will buy it!

monylove311

bumpity bump!

soccermum75

Thank you. Will check out the book:)

davidroth

Just as an update to this, I've been following Tom's program for about 5 weeks and have lost 20 pounds so far. I actually wasn't measuring body fat for the first 2 weeks, but have been doing it for the last few. In that time, I've lost 3% body fat with a slight increase in lean body weight.

Can't say enough about the program. The thing I like about his approach is that he does not deal in absolutes or dogma. I used to think that I needed to do HIIT in order to lose bodyfat, but according to Tom, HIIT isn't even necessarily unless you want to mix things up OR you need extremely time efficient workouts. Also his thoughts on cheat meals and carb cycling have helped manage times when I feel like eating a little more.

I still have about 25 more pounds to go, but I feel like I've established some great habits so far and my diet is now not even something that seems all that tough.

patssarah

Bump

boobear00

Thanks for the info. Gives me so reading and research to do. Looks like some book buying is in my future!

raksha

bump.

christylynn622

awesome post!