Wu Long Tea (oolong tea): Does it really help you lose weight?

June 13th, 2008 by Brian Dickey

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By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com

You’ve probably seen the advertisements:

“Drink wu long tea and lose a jeans size every 7 days!”…

“Burn 20 lbs of fat in 30 days with wu long tea!” …

Maybe you even watched Oprah a few years ago when Dr. Perricone said that switching your coffee for green tea would help you take off the pounds.

You may have also read or watched countless news stories which say how healthy it is to drink green tea.

The odds are good that if you’re interested in improving your health and losing fat, you probably either drink tea, take a green tea supplement or you’ve at least thought about it.

But what if I told you that most of the fat reducing claims for green tea were absolute, total BS, based on misinterpretation or deliberate misreporting of the research?

Unfortunately, it’s true. If you’ve bought green tea based on the claim that it causes large reductions in body fat, then you have been scammed.

Here are the facts:

Green tea DOES stimulate your metabolism.

However, the research is very unclear about what kind of impact this small, short term increase in metabolism will have on your bodyweight in the long term.

In the most often quoted study (Dulloo, 1999), A swiss research team found that 270 mg of green tea extract 3X a day increased metabolic rate by the equivalent of about 79 calories on average and increased the oxidation of fat as the fuel source.

If you do the math, it appears that 79 kcal a day would add up to an extra pound of fat lost every 44 days. Not much, but you’ll take it, right? Hypothetically, that would add up to an extra 8 pounds lost per year.

What advertisements quoting this study don’t tell you is that this and other similar studies did not even measure long term change in body fat percentage or bodyweight. They only measured a 24- hour increase in energy expenditure.

One study which is used as marketing ammunition to claim that wu long tea burns 2.5 times more fat than green tea was based only on a 120-minute increase in energy expenditure! (reminds me of that Mark Twain quote: “There are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics.”)

Numerous follow up studies have confirmed the short term increase in metabolism, but the studies are mixed on whether green tea improves weight reduction or maintenance in the long term.

The research IS compelling, but not conclusive.

As for ad claims that say you’ll lose a lot of weight just from drinking green tea… absolute BS! Hopefully the Federal Trade Commission will catch up with these scammers sooner rather than later, as the marketing messages on the Internet are getting louder and bolder every day.

As for health benefits - green tea is certainly a champ. It’s high in antioxidants and there are more than 2,000 research citations about potential health benefits of green tea (not to mention a 5,000 year history of use in China and the far east).

Even if you’re a skeptic, green tea is hard not to like and it’s hard to dispute that it’s a good idea to add green tea to your nutrition program as one part of a well-balanced fitness lifestyle.

But when it comes to claims for large and rapid losses in bodyweight and bodyfat, (especially the wu long tea ads that are currently all over the internet), buyer beware.

The science we do have says that the thermogenic effect of green tea - while very real - is also very small.

Train hard and expect success always,

Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

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By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com "Body wraps" have been around for ages in the weight loss and spa industry. Claims include loss of body weight, loss of body fat, and loss of inches. Infomercials for rubber “waist belts" are also back on TV and similar claims are made for these types of wraps as well. What few people realize is that there is a huge difference between losing fat and losing inches. When your body fat decreases, your circumference measurements will usually also decrease, but “fat” loss and “inch” loss are not one in the same. If you don’t know how to tell the difference, you could be falling for one of the oldest, most notorious fitness and weight loss scams in the book. The truth is, body wraps and waist belts do not shrink fat cells or burn body fat - no matter what type of wrap is used: bandages, plastic, foil, vinyl, or rubber and regardless of what you are wrapped in: herbs, minerals, enzymes, seaweed, clay, or mud - it doesn't matter. Fat can only be lost with a caloric deficit from a reduction in food intake, an increase in activity or ideally, a combination of both. Whenever you see fat loss claims for wraps or any other product which doesn't involve a caloric deficit created though nutrition or exercise, the “scam alarm” should go off in your head, and you should always stay away, no matter how compelling the sales pitch. Furthermore, the companies making fat loss claims would be in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) if they were investigated and caught because claims for body fat reduction from wraps cannot be supported with scientific evidence. The FTC as well as numerous state attorney general's offices have already taken action against body wrap companies in the

Abdominal Training Secrets - The Interview David Grisaffi’s BIG 5 For Abs And Core

Abdominal Training Secrets - The Interview David Grisaffi's BIG 5 For Abs And Core Click Here To Go To The Interview Prone Ball Roll Place your breast bone or sternum on the apex of the Swiss ball and wrap your arms around the ball. Slowly roll side to side, holding your end position. As you gain more strength and stability you will be able to roll farther out and hold the position longer. Supine Lateral Ball Roll This exercise improves many things in your body at one time. Lie on your back on a Swiss ball. Position your body so that your head is comfortably supported on the ball, as well as the area between your shoulder blades. Extend you hip upward until your knees , hips and shoulders are all in the same horizontal plane. Place your tongue on the roof of you mouth just behind your front teeth, a position that can be found by swallowing. Extend your arms outward and turn the hands so the palms are facing upwards. Place a dowel rod in your hands Begin to roll laterally. Throughout the exercise, hold the alignment of you body exactly as it was before moving, with the exception that you may move you feet in a small shuffle keep them in alignment with the body as you shift laterally. Go only to the point that you can hold the alignment for the count of "one thousand and One", then return to the opposite side, repeating the sequence. Swiss Ball Side Flexion The Side Sit requires simultaneous contraction of the internal and external Obliques, as well as the quadratus lumborum. This exercise is used to improve core strength and your back. Place a Swiss ball under your hip and anchor one or

10 Bonehead Workout Mistakes

The Top 10 Bonehead Workout Mistakes By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.burnthefat.com “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, they’re really just common sense and they all seem 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

How An Entire Year Could Go By With No Fat Loss

QUESTION: Dear Tom: I’ve been going to the gym for the past year now, but I have only lost 2 pounds. I eat about 1800 calories a day and I do 3 cardio and 3 weight training sessions a week. I am 5 feet 5 inches and 128 lbs. I would like to be at 120 lbs. To lose 8 more lbs isn’t a lot to ask, but I’m really frustrated. I’ve been VERY persistent, and I rarely cheat except once each weekend, but at this rate, it will take me another 4 years for me to reach my goal! Please help! ANSWER: Don't worry, it won't take another 4 years! In fact, you can reach your target wt. within the next month if you start getting feedback, charting results and making some strategic changes to your program. First, it's important that you understand how a year could go by with almost no progress. Have you been doing the same nutrition, same calories, same cardio and same workout for the entire past year with no changes? If so, then you shouldn't be suprised if you've continued to get the SAME results (very little). If you do more of the same, you usually get more of the same. Caloric intake, for example is not something you calculate once and then never pay attention to again. Calories have to be calculated and customized for each individual in the beginning and then adjusted continuously in “real time” during the course of a fat loss program, based on actual results. Just because you start at 1800 doesn’t mean your caloric intake should stay there. Calories may need to be increased or decreased depending on whether your goals, your body weight and your activity levels change and based on your

Link Exchange

The concept is simple - review my blog and I’ll link to your review. The review must be at least 200 words long and you have to include a link to the blog home page and this post. You are free to link to any other posts as well. You are to be completely honest with the review - state what you like and don’t like about the site. It doesn’t matter what categories your blog covers and it doesn’t have to be in English. I will accept all reviews. Once the review is done, send me an email with the URL to your review. After a half dozen reviews or so, I’ll make a post with links to all the reviews. This is a great chance to get your site noticed and exchange links.

Fish Oil May Help You Burn Fat…

What the latest research says about omega-3 fatty acids and weight loss By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere for the last several years, you’ve probably heard about the health benefits of eating fatty fish or taking fish oil supplements. Well, it looks like you might be able to add fat loss alongside the other benefits like heart, blood (cholesterol/triglycerides), brain, skin and joint health (and the rest of the list, which is too long to print here). The biologically active ingredients that seem to make fatty fish so beneficial are are the long chain omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, EPA and DHA. At least a half a dozen human studies and more than two dozen animal studies have been completed in the last 10 years which suggest that these omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may help you lose more fat. However, the fat loss benefit is not as much as some people want you to believe… The results of two new studies on fish oil and fat loss were just released earlier this year. In one study published by the International Journal of Obesity, researchers from Reykjavik Iceland tested the effects of fish or fish oil consumption equivalent to 1.5 grams of combined EPA/DHA on body weight and body composition as part of a calorie restricted diet. (1) The subjects were 324 young overweight men and women who followed one of four experimental protocols for 8 weeks: (1) sunflower oil capsules (control) (2) lean fish (3) fatty fish (salmon) (4) fish oil capsules The researchers reported the following results: “In young, overweight men, the inclusion of either lean or fatty fish, or fish oil as part of a hypoenergetic diet resulted in 1 kilogram more weight loss after 4 weeks than a similar diet without seafood or supplement of marine origin. The addition of

The Best Selling E-Book In Internet History

Why Is Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle The Best Selling E-Book In Internet History, With Thousands Of Satisfied (And Now Fat-Free) Users In 133 Countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe? Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is the #1 best selling diet and fitness ebook in the history of the Internet. In fact, it's one of the best selling e-books on ANY subject in the history of the Internet -... And there's a reason why... It's because thousands of women and men of every age are burning off BODY FAT - not muscle or water weight - and they're doing it naturally, without supplements, pills or "magic potions," simply by using the proven, scientifically-accurate and common-sense advice found inside this amazing diet and fitness guidebook. Tom Venuto, a respected fat loss expert, natural bodybuilder, and personal trainer, has not just pumped out yet another "diet program" into an already over-saturated market. Tom's Burn the Fat can be more accurately described as a "Fat Loss Bible." It is quite simply one of the most complete, detailed, and precise guides to fat loss you will ever read. What makes it so much different than other weight loss publications on the market? Well first of all, it's not a "weight loss" program, it's a "fat" loss program. This may seem like semantics or wordplay at first, but once you've read just the first three chapters, there will be no doubt in your mind that pursuing "weight loss" is not only the wrong goal, it may be the reason that you've failed to reach and maintain your ideal body weight. Burn The Fat shows you exactly why it's fat you must lose, not "weight" (which includes muscle, water and other lean tissue) and then goes on to show you

Steady State Cardio 5 X More Effective Than HIIT????

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short, has been promoted as one of the most effective training methods ever to come down the pike, both for fat loss and for cardiovascular fitness. One of the most popular claims for HIIT is that it burns “9 times more fat” than conventional (steady state) cardio. This figure was extracted from a study performed by Angelo Tremblay at Laval University in 1994. But what if I told you that HIIT has never been proven to be 9 times more effective than regular cardio… What if I told you that the same study actually shows that HIIT is 5 times less effective than steady state cardio??? Read on and see the proof for yourself. “There are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics.” - Mark Twain In 1994, a study was published in the scientific journal Metabolism by Angelo Tremblay and his team from the Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory at Laval University in Quebec, Canada. Based on the results of this study, you hear personal trainers across the globe claiming that “HIIT burns 9 times more fat than steady state cardio.” This claim has often been interpreted by the not so scientifically literate public as meaning something like this: If you burned 3 pounds of fat in 15 weeks on steady state cardio, you would now burn 27 pounds of fat in 15 weeks (3 lbs X 9 times better = 27 lbs). Although it’s usually not stated as such, frankly, I think this is what some trainers want you to believe, because the programs that some trainers promote are based on convincing you of the vast superiority of HIIT and the “uselessness” of low intensity exercise. Indeed, higher intensity exercise is more effective and time efficient than lower intensity exercise. The question

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Why Some People Can Drink Alcohol Without Getting Fat

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com Alcohol has been implicated as a factor that may hurt your efforts to lose body fat. Whether alcohol is "fattening" has been a very controversial subject because technically speaking, alcohol is NOT stored as fat; it is oxidized ahead of other fuels. Whether moderate drinking is healthy has also been a subject of controversy. Many studies show that cardiovascular health benefits are associated with moderate beer or wine drinking (which has been of particular interest lately with reservatrol in the news so much), while other studies show improved insulin sensitivity. Some experts however, say that alcohol has no place in a fitness lifestyle. A recent study published in the journal Obesity adds new findings to our knowledge about alcohol, insulin resistance and abdominal obesity. Analysis of the results as compared to other studies also gives us some insights into why some people seem to drink and get fat while others seem to drink and get thin! The truth about the beer belly phenomenon This new study, by Ulf Riserus and Erik Inglesson, was based on the Swedish Uppsala Longitudinal cohort. The researchers found that alcohol intake in older men did not improve insulin sensitivity, which contradicted their own hypothesis and numerous previous studies. They also said there was a very "robust" association between alcohol intake, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio. They pointed out that a high alcohol intake, especially hard liquor, was closely associated with abdominal body fat, not just overall body mass. Abdominal fat accumulation is not just a cosmetic problem, it can be a serious health risk. Abdominal fat, also known as "android" or "central" obesity, increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, glucose intolerance and elevated insulin levels. Many other studies have also found a link between alcohol intake and abdominal fat, but

Cortisol, Stress And Body Fat

Cortisol, Stress And Body Fat: Straight Answers To The Top 20 Questions About The Stress Hormone By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.burnthefat.com It seems that every time science uncovers some type of association between body fat and anything, opportunistic entrepreneurs are waiting in the shadows to create a product and a marketing campaign around it. They ride the wave into the multi millions, until the buzz dies down or until the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sues and slaps a padlock on their warehouse doors. Then, it’s on to the “next big thing in weight loss,” because they know there will always be a gullible crowd eagerly waiting for the next quick fix. The most recent example is when researchers discovered a correlation between cortisol and abdominal body fat. Cortisol was then blamed as the latest culprit in the obesity problem, and cortisol-suppressing pills were touted as the “miracle solution.” Big Claims, Little Proof After a web search on the subject of cortisol, here are some of the claims you may find: Stress makes you fat Cortisol is what makes you fat Cortisol reducing supplements control stress Cortisol reducing supplements reduce belly fat Cortisol reducing supplements get rid of “stress fat” Cortisol reducing supplements balance hormone levels that cause stress Cortisol reducing supplements increase muscle growth Cortisol supplements suppress appetite Cortisol supplements speed up metabolism The advertising claims include just enough scientific fact to make even the savviest consumers say, “That makes sense, I think I’ll try that.” They also hit home emotionally by focusing on common hot buttons such as stress (who isn’t at least a little stressed in this day and age?) Brilliant marketing. Convincing. Unfortunately, most of the claims being made are completely false, with only a tiny thread of truth woven in. Cortisol is a very important hormone that you must understand if you want to get maximum results from

2 Cardio Mistakes You’re Still Making

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com The controversies over cardio for fat loss are endless: steady state versus intervals, fed versus fasted, long and easy versus short and intense, and so on. Obviously there is a lot of interest in cardio training and how to do it right. Sadly, most people are still doing 2 things terribly wrong and it’s killing their results…… As best as I can figure, there are two major reasons why people are still mucking up their cardio programs for fat loss. REASON #1: NOT ENOUGH FOCUS ON TOTAL CALORIES BURNED Most people aren’t burning enough darn calories. Why? Well, I guess they are too busy worrying about the “proper” type of exercise (which machine or activity), the mode (steady state or intervals), the “optimal” ratio of intervals, or the “best” duration. Some people coast along on the treadmill at 2.3 miles per hour or some similar sloth-like pace and they think that just by hitting a TIME goal, such as 45 or 60 minutes, that with “X” duration completed, they are assured to get the results they want. On the other extreme, we have folks who have found or created some mega-intense, super-duper short training protocol like the “4-minute wonder workout from Japan.” Just because the workout is high in intensity and it is performed in intervals, they too think they are assured to get the results they want. What’s missing in both cases is the realization that total fat loss over time is a function of total calories burned over time (assuming you don’t blow your diet, of course). AND… Total calories burned is a product of INTENSITY times DURATION, not intensity OR duration. Too much focus on one variable at the exclusion of the other can lead to a less than optimal total calorie burn and disappointing results.

Building A Better Body

Building A Better Body One Brick At A Time By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.burnthefat.com The quest to develop a stunningly fit, lean and attractive body is a long, slow journey. It's not something you achieve overnight by popping a few pills or strapping an electric gizmo to your belly. Which reminds me, did you know that by the time the FTC finally blew the whistle on the electronic ab belt scam, the makers of those "ab zappers" had swindled over $100 million dollars from unsuspecting consumers? Fortunately, some of those companies had to pay it back, and then some! The FTC charged three companies - Fast Abs, Ab Tronic and Ab Energizer - with false advertising and deceptive warranty practices for these "ABSurd" products. But I digress… back to what I was saying about the journey to a better body... Last week I looked out my window, and where there was once nothing but a dirt-filled empty lot, there stood a sprawling six story brick condo complex. If someone looked at this massive completed structure for the first time, they might not be impressed. However, since I observed the entire construction process unfold from my living room window, I was impressed - amazed even - at what goes into erecting this kind of structure. I remember watching the crew humming around diligently every day like busy bees, laying one brick after another. From one day to the next, it didn't seem like much changed. But slowly, over a period of a year and a half, I watched the building gradually morph into the finished product. When you look at someone with an incredible body as a finished product, you often tend to dismiss the long, arduous journey and hard work it took to build that body. Unless you were side by side with that person in the

Banking Calories

Banking Calories - Eat Less Now To Pig Out Later? By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.burnthefat.com Suppose you’re on a diet and you have a banquet or a holiday party coming up. You’re expecting a big meal to be served for dinner, and there will be open bar with lots and lots of “party snacks.” You’re not sure if there will be any healthy food there, but you are sure that you’re going to be in a festive, partying mood! What should you do? Should you cut back on your food earlier in the day to make room for the big feast? What I’ve just described is commonly known as "banking calories," which is analogous to saving calories like money because you're going to consume more later, and it’s a very common practice among dieters. If you’re really serious about your diet and fitness goals however, then the answer is no, you should NOT “bank calories! Here's why and here's what you should do instead: First of all, if you're being really honest with yourself, you have to agree that there's almost always something healthy to eat at any gathering. You know those tables you see at holiday parties that are covered with yards of chips, dips, pretzels, cookies, salami, candies, cheese, punch, liquor, and a seemingly endless assortment of other goodies? Well, did you also notice that there's usually a tray full of carrot sticks, cauliflower, celery, fruit, turkey breast and other healthy snacks too? No matter where you are, you always have options, so make the best choice you can based on whatever your options are. If nothing else, you can choose to eat a small portion of "party foods" rather than a huge portion, thereby obeying the law of calorie balance. If you skip meals or eat less earlier in the day to bank

How To Repair A Damaged Metabolism

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.burnthefat.com If you've caused metabolic damage as a result of following starvation diets or losing weight too rapidly in the past, it can be extremely difficult to achieve any further fat loss at all. The good news is, metabolic damage can be repaired. All it takes is the right combination of metabolism stimulating exercise and metabolism stimulating nutrition (NOT just a diet), all done consistently over time. The big irony is that most of the diet programs that claim to help you get rid of excess weight, only end up making it harder for you in the long run because they use harsh metabolism-decreasing diets and not enough exercise (almost never any weight training). It may take a little longer if you have really messed things up with severe starvation dieting in the past, especially if you've lost a lot of lean body mass, but it is never hopeless. Anyone can increase their metabolism. Most people get an almost immediate boost in metabolic rate when they start the Burn The Fat program. However, the results are not going to be "overnight." Give it a little time... Within 3 weeks your metabolism will already be more efficient. Within 6-8 weeks, it's burning hot. Give me 12 weeks of consistent diligent effort, sticking with all the metabolism boosting strategies I teach, and your metabolism really will become like a turbo charged engine, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that. What’s most important for upping your metabolism is CONSISTENCY in applying the Burn The Fat nutrition and training principles every single day. That includes: Meal frequency: eat 5-6 small meals per day Meal timing: eat approximately every 3 hours, with a substantial breakfast and a substantial post workout meal. Sufficient Caloric Intake: maintain a small calorie deficit and avoid starvation-level diets (suggested safe levels for fat

Muscle Building Mania All About Supplements

You ordered your super duper muscle-building machine weeks ago. You have used it faithfully every day. So why don’t you see any improvement when you look in the mirror? Nothing! Nada! Zilch! The story is the same whether you bought fitness equipment or joined a gym. Some people metabolize differently and begin to see results almost immediately. Others of us (usually the majority) don’t see any measurable difference for longer periods of time. If you are new to muscle building you need to understand that it took many years for you to reach the condition you are in when you start your muscle-building program. Don’t expect results overnight. In fact, long-term results are far more favorable, and healthier, than a quick fix. What most successful body builders realize is the importance of change from the cellular level outward. Yep, here come those ugly words diet and nutrition. But, there’s another aspect that is equally as important. What is it? Supplements. All to often newcomers to muscle building think that adding a multi-vitamin is all they need in addition to a healthy diet and nutritional plan. That is a huge mistake! Ask around and you’ll find that every serious body builder will tell you that half the battle is not just what you eat but what you use to supplement your diet. It is virtually impossible to get all the vitamins and minerals in the food we eat nowadays. There is no multi-vitamin known to modern science that contains everything you need to supplement your diet. If you are a body builder the additional nutritional strains demand more nourishment. What Supplements Do I Need? That depends on who you are and what you have decided on for your long-range goals. For example, did

1,000 Sit Ups And Crunches A Day And Still No Abs

QUESTION: Dear Tom: I have been working out for around a year now and I cannot get my lower abs into any type of shape. Despite doing 900 various crunches, ab roller, and 100 sit-ups four days a week, along with running and my regular workout on the weights, I still have a tire around my waist. What else can I do? ANSWER: "What should I do to get abs?" is still one of the most frequently asked questions I receive out of the 7,000+ emails that come into my office every week. Although the question is often phrased differently, my answer is always the same: Seeing your abs, or any other muscle group, for that matter - is almost entirely the result of having low body fat levels. You get low body fat from proper diet (as well as cardio and strength training), not from doing hundreds of ab exercises every day. You didn't mention whether you knew your body fat level or not. My guess is that it may seem like your lower ab muscles are "hard to develop," but it's not really an issue of "muscle development" at all, you simply have too much body fat and are storing it in your lower abdominal region more readily than other parts of your body and you can't see the muscles through the fat. Most people don't have their fat distributed evenly throughout their bodies. Each of us inherits a genetically determined and hormonally-influenced pattern of fat storage just as we inherit our eye or hair color. In other words, the fat seems to "stick" to certain areas more than others. Men often tend to store fat more readily in the lower abdominal region (the "pot belly", "spare tire", "beer

Alcohol And Body Fat

QUESTION: Tom, what about alcohol? How does that fit into your burning fat program? I am not talking binge drinking, just one or two a day. John ANSWER: Hi John. A couple drinks on the weekend and or on special ocassions probably won't have any major impact on your fat loss results (although I would encourage you to consider the mindset that EVERYTHING you do either helps or hurts). A drink or two on ocassion is a part of enjoying life for many people, and it's important to find lifestyle balance for the sake of your long term happiness and success. However, I do not recommend drinking every day. "A couple every day" adds a LOT of extra calories to your daily diet. If you're talking about two 150-calorie beers, thats 300 calories extra a day or 2100 extra calories a week. Multiply that out for a year and you have 109,200 extra calories! WOW! That's potentially 31.2 pounds of fat in a year. If you DO account for the calories in those drinks, then you have another conundrum - the alcohol calories displace good valuable food calories... Drinking gives you empty alcohol calories with virtually no nutritional value (and some negative value in more way than one), while pushing out important vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, fiber and other good stuff. Alcohol also inhibits fat burning. While your liver is busy metabolizing alcohol, it puts your fat metabolism on hold. That's why I do NOT recommend any drinking when you are on a fat loss program (at least if you are serious about it). When you are on a regular, year-round lifestyle/maintenance program I recommend that if you drink, you do so in moderation, keep it to special occasions or weekends and remember to factor in those calories

How Do Bodybuilders And Fitness Models Get So Lean?

QUESTION: "Tom, on your www.burnthefat.com website, you wrote: 'Who better to model than bodybuilders and fitness competitors? No athletes in the world get as lean as quickly as bodybuilders and fitness competitors. The transformations they undergo in 12 weeks prior to competition would boggle your mind! Only ultra-endurance athletes come close in terms of low body fat levels, but endurance athletes like triathaletes and marathoners often get lean at the expense of chewing up all their muscle. Some of them are nothing but skin and bone.’" "There seems to be a contradiction unless I'm missing something. Why do bodybuilders and fitness competitors have to go through a 12 week 'transformation' prior to every event instead of staying 'lean and mean' all the time? If they practice the secrets exposed in your book, they should be staying in shape all the time instead of having to work at losing fat prior to every competitive event, correct?" ANSWER: There's a logical explanation for why bodybuilders and other physique athletes (fitness and figure competitors), don’t remain completely ripped all year round, and it’s the very reason they are able to get so ripped on the day of a contest… You can’t hold a peak forever or it’s not a "peak", right? What is the definition of a peak? It’s a high point surrounded by two lower points isn’t it? Therefore, any shape you can stay in all year round is NOT your “peak” condition. The intelligent approach to nutrition and training (which almost all bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors use), is to train and diet in a seasonal or cyclical fashion and build up to a peak, then ease off to a maintenance or growth phase. I am NOT talking about bulking up and getting fat and out of shape every year, then dieting it all off every year. What

7 Super Supplements

7 Super Supplements a Free Pdf Click Here its free. This Special Report is 31 pages long and contains only direct links to the supplements I recommend. For example, I love Shawn Phillip's Full Strength® and a supplement called Tributsol. Both are recommended in my Top 7 List. And, both have direct links to the two product sites. I sell NONE of these supplements personally. You will also find this Special Report is thoroughly researched with studies cited. About The Author AS A COACH AND FITNESS PROFESSIONAL, JON BENSON’S unique skill set has been called “the ultimate blend of Anthony Robbins and Bill Phillips.” He is living proof of his methods, as a mere eight years ago he was clinically obese and near death. Jon is now an internationally recognized sports nutritionist and transformation life-coach, specializing in mental strategies for the excellence lifestyle, fat-burning nutrition and superior physical fitness. He is the creator and co-author of Fit Over 40 (one of the most popular fitness e-books in history) and two new bestsellers: The Every Other Day Diet and 7 Minute Muscle. He is also the creator of M-Power Fitness, which combines life-coaching skills with the best in total body transformation strategies. Jon is a graduate from MIT in Los Angeles, California and Abilene Christian University, degreed in Human Communications and Philosophical Studies along with an extensive nutrition background. He is currently completing his Certified Sports Nutritionist certification through the prestigious ISSN. Books and Programs By Jon Benson 7 Minute Muscle by Jon Benson The fastest muscle-building and fat-burning workout ever! http://www.7minutemuscle.com <-- Click Here The Every Other Day Diet by Jon Benson with Holly Rigsby A diet anyone can stick to while enjoying the foods you love! http://www.EveryOtherDayDiet.com <-- Click Here Fit Over 40 by Jon Benson and Tom Venuto, CSCS 52 role models age 40-80 prove you can be fit and healthy at

Organic Food

What A "Muscle Head" Says About Organic Food By Tom Venuto, Natural Bodybuilder www.burnthefat.com Last week I was talking about nutrition with one of my workout buddies and when I mentioned grass fed beef and "organic food” he asked, "Do you mean like what you get at Whole Foods Market?" I said, "Yes, exactly... that's a natural food and organic supermarket." He said, "Yeah well, that place costs so much, I call it Whole Paycheck!" I was rolling on the floor laughing, but the truth is, organic food really is expensive and so is grass fed beef and free range chicken, so it's a valid question to ask, “Is it worth it?” After researching the subject and doing some personal experiments with my own diet, let me offer you my take on it from a bodybuilder’s viewpoint. This is a perspective on organics you may not have heard before. First, look at it this way - if you put the cheapest fuel in your luxury car, how well is it going to run and how many miles are you going to get out of it? While I'm on car analogies, health and fitness author and educator Paul Chek once wrote about how ridiculous it is to watch how many $75,000 + cars pull up to the Mcdonald's or Burger King drive through window to buy $1.99 hamburgers. I would say that's a serious case of screwed up priorities, wouldn't you? The driver has no problem shelling out the $1,100 monthly car payment, but it's too much to ask him to put premium fuel into his own "bodily vehicle." How can you put ANY price tag on your body and your health? You can buy another car, but you've only got one body. Now, as for the grass fed beef and organic foods question…. For best results in body composition improvement, which I

The Low Body Fat Secret Of Bodybuilders And Fitness Models

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com The secret to getting super lean – I’m talking about being RIPPED, not just “average body fat” – is all about mastering the art of "peaking." Most people do not have a clue about what it takes to reach the type of low body fat levels that reveal ripped six-pack abs, muscle striations, vascularity and extreme muscular definition, so they go about it completely the wrong way. Here’s a case in point: One of my newsletter subscribers recently sent me this question: Tom, on your www.burnthefat.com website, you wrote: ‘Who better to model than bodybuilders and fitness competitors? No athletes in the world get as lean as quickly as bodybuilders and fitness competitors. The transformations they undergo in 12 weeks prior to competition would boggle your mind! Only ultra-endurance athletes come close in terms of low body fat levels, but endurance athletes like triathaletes and marathoners often get lean at the expense of chewing up all their muscle. Some of them are nothing but skin and bone.’ "There seems to be a contradiction unless I'm missing something. Why do bodybuilders and fitness competitors have to go through a 12 week 'transformation' prior to every event instead of staying 'lean and mean' all the time? If they practice the secrets exposed in your book, they should be staying in shape all the time instead of having to work at losing fat prior to every competitive event, correct?" There is a logical explanation for why bodybuilders and other physique athletes (fitness and figure competitors), don’t remain completely ripped all year round, and it’s the very reason they are able to get so ripped on the day of a contest… You can’t hold a peak forever or it’s not a "peak", right? What is the definition of a peak? It’s

Can You Think Yourself Thin?

The Law Of Attraction And Weight Loss: Can You Think Yourself Thin? By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.burnthefat.com -------------------------------------------------- Metaphysics & Brain science merge and prove that positive thinking and goal setting literally create your body and your entire life experience --------------------------------------------------- On recently broadcast special edition of CNN's Larry King Live, Mr. King interviewed a panel of "mind experts" about how the thoughts you think literally turn into the events you experience, the material things you possess... AND even the health of your body. For years, "positive thinking" and goal-setting were often criticized as "pollyanna" and "the law of attraction" was relegated into the category of "new age" fluff. On the recent Larry King show, panel experts Bob Proctor, John Assaraf and others who were featured in the movie 'The Secret' explained that recent breakthroughs in neuroscience along with understanding mental laws, reveal why goal setting, the "law of attraction" and "positive thinking" all work, regardless of whether you look at them from a metaphysical or a scientific perspective. Scientists have even identified specific parts of the brain, such as the reticular activating system (RAS), which works with the visual parts of our brain to call our conscious attention to things that are important to reaching our goals and to filter out those things that are unimportant. The RAS is activated by "programming" goals into our sub-conscious minds. Our sub concscious mind is the "power center" and THIS is the mechanism that explains why goal setting and positive thinking are now being accepted as scientific methods for change. We are discovering that our brain is cybernetic in nature, which means that it is literally like a computer, waiting for a program to be installed. Here's the kicker - the subconcsious is completely neutral and impartial

Lowering Your Cholestrol

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION WHAT IS CHOLESTROL, LDL & HDL? DIAGNOSING CHOLESTEROL CAUSES CHOLESTEROL MEDICATIONS NATURAL TREATMENTS HERBAL REMEDIES LIVING HEALTHY INTRODUCTION Cholesterol has been around for thousands of years. It’s a natural function of the human body. The modern story of cholesterol and how it affects us today, actually began during a government study in 1951. The Pentagon sent pathologists to Korea to examine the bodies of servicemen who lost their lives during the war. Autopsies were conducted on 2,000 soldiers. The results were astounding to the medical community of that time. Normally, no one under 35 dies of coronary heart disease. Remember, this was 1951! More than 75 percent of the soldier had yellow deposits of atherosclerotic plaque on their artery walls. The average age of these soldiers was 21 contradicting the assumption that such artery clogging deposits were only prevalent in older men. The results of the Army pathologists rocked the medical community. Prior to these autopsies, doctors had no idea how early the process of heart disease began. Not long after this discovery, a name was given to the major contributor to the buildup of plaque and to heart disease risk – cholesterol. More recent studies have shown that for every 1 percent drop in cholesterol levels, there is a 2 percent decrease in the risk of a heart attack. Since those original studies, the risk of heart disease stemming from cholesterol has exploded. In 2002 it was estimated that 107 million American adults now have a blood cholesterol level high enough to require medical advice. Unfortunately, the numbers keep rising. Despite this epidemic problem, there is good news. You can do something about the problem and that’s what this guide is all about. In plain English, we will take a laymen’s look at cholesterol, the causes, effects

Your Home Fitness Program!

Table of Contents First Things First How Much Exercise Do You Need? Basics of Fitness Resistance Training How to Combat Fatigue Walking Costs Nothing Beginner Fitness Program Intermediate Fitness Program Advanced Fitness Program Workout Gear Exercise Guide Fitness and Nutrition Exercise and Your Health Sport Training Inexpensive Equipment First Things First First things first: Motivation for a home fitness program The modern lifestyle each person has to contend with has resulted in quite a number of problems affecting both mental and physical health. People live their lives with only one goal in mind and that is to produce more, earn more and consume more. This has resulted in serious problems with the way people live their lives including the way they choose the food that they eat as well as their daily physical activities. People are so busy that they find it more practical to eat frozen food or fast food instead of cooking sumptuous and healthy meals. People are so caught up with their jobs that they no longer have much time for walking or for simple physical activities like a game of tennis or riding a bike. A person who has weight problems should consider incorporating his physical activities with his work or schedule. It is not easy to maintain a good fitness program but he has to prioritize first things first. And talking about first things first means knowing his priorities in life and what he has to do to address and achieve those priorities. Once the priorities have been listed or known then it would be easy to look for time to do those things despite a hectic schedule. A person can start a feasible home fitness program if he has the proper motivation for doing so. Knowing the target and how important the target is makes a good start for any person. A person should consider the negative and positive consequences

SECRETS TO LOOKING AND FEELING YOUNGER

INTRODUCTION The truth is we begin the aging process just as soon as we pop out of the womb. Every day of our lives our bodies slough off and regenerate new cells. The speed at which that process takes place when we are children is vastly different as we get older. For years explorers searched for the illusive “fountain of youth.” Unfortunately, it does not exist or you wouldn’t be reading this. Every day you are bombarded daily with commercial messages that attempt to lure you into believing that the most recent miracle drug is just what you need to fight off the ravages of Mother Nature. At times it seems as though there are more miracle methods than ever being flashed in front of your eyes each day. . .and there are. Ask any advertising executive and they will admit that there are more advertisements than ever touting everything designed to cash in on a huge market. What is that market? It’s the aging Baby Boomers. We are living longer as a whole. Singularly, that can be a curse or a blessing depending on your perspective. In this book we will explore low and no cost methods you can use to help in the anti-aging process. Some of our material may be new and some serve as reminders of things we may have forgotten. We may not have had much say in how we arrived on this earth, but we can certainly determine how and when we will depart. Just remember, YOU are in control. LIFESTYLE We have to discuss it. You’ve heard it before but it must be repeated. You ARE what you eat. There are over 13.5 million Americans alive today who have a history of heart

Why And How Detoxification Helps For Overall Health

By Sandra Kim Leong Toxin levels are increasing at alarming rates day-to-day. Just consider the rising number of health issues (such as, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, headaches, fatigue, persistent coughs, constipation, allergies, etc.) in today’s world. Toxins exist both externally (outside our body) and internally (inside our body). Through food, toxins exist when there are chemicals, pesticides, food addictives or drugs. Through the environment, air and water pollution are the chief areas of toxins. We get these external toxins when we eat, breathe or touch. Internally, our bodies produce toxins as a normal everyday function. For instance, perspiring and clearing our bowels are important eliminative functions. A body breaks down when it cannot handle the normal eliminative processes well due to an overload of toxins. This is also when the body also becomes susceptible to bacteria, yeasts and parasites entering it. The result is infections and diseases and the inability of the body to cope. To help achieve better health, it is important therefore to detoxify and cleanse. How much you wish to detoxify is really dependent on yourself and how “cleanse” you want your body to be. In fact, any simple changes to your diet that prevent and clear your toxin built-up is helpful. For instance, drinking eight glasses of filtered water is something easy that you can do on a daily basis. Other changes to your diet like eating more green leafy vegetables and high fibre foods can also be made. A more drastic measure of cleansing your body is to do complete fasting. Complete fasting helps to give your body organs a much needed rest. In fact, Hippocrates (the “Father of Modern Medicine”) believed that the body needs not only physical rest but chemical rest. Chemical rest refers to withholding food, thus giving the organs of the body

Protein Supplements Vs. Protein Foods?

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.burnthefat.com Are protein supplements really better than protein foods? Before attempting to answer this question, I should first preface it by mentioning that I do not sell supplements, nor am I associated with any supplement company, so you’re getting an honest and unbiased opinion. Don't get me wrong; I am not anti-supplement by any means. It would simply be more accurate to say that I am "pro-food." There are a lot of good supplements on the market, and I've used many of them, including a multi vitamin, creatine and essential fatty acid (EFA) supplements such as Flaxseed oil. Protein powders and meal replacements can also be indispensable if you don't have time to eat every three hours. However, protein supplements are not the master key to your success, real food is! Did you ever notice how articles about protein in certain bodybuilding magazines are seldom objective? Instead, they all seem to be slanted towards hyping some "revolutionary" new product. Did you ever wonder why? In my opinion, most articles on protein supplements are nothing more than thinly disguised advertisements (some very thinly). Sometimes they give you a very persuasive-sounding argument, replete with dozens of references from scientific studies (mostly done on rodents, of course). They even give you an 800 number at the end of the article to order. (How convenient!) When protein manufacturers throw around fancy words like cross flow microfiltration, oligopeptides, ion-exchange, protein efficiency ratio, biological value, nitrogen retention and glycomacropeptides, it sure sounds convincing, especially when scores of scientific references are cited. But don't forget that the supplement industry is big business and most magazines are the supplement industry. Lyle McDonald, author of "The Ketogenic Diet," hit the nail on the head when he wrote "Unfortunately, the obsession that bodybuilders have with protein has

Muscle Building Supplements

Table of Contents Why Use Body Building Supplements Body Building and Ephedra Using Nitric Oxide for Body Building All About Creatine Body Building Energy Drinks Protein Supplements Meal Replacement Supplements Maltodextrin Supplement to Degrade Enzymatic Process Glutamine Vanadyl for Nitrogen Retention Leucine to Promote Anticatabolic Metabolism Essential Fatty Acids Glucosamine Special Supplements for Women The Dangers of Steroids Why Use Body Building Supplements Why Use Bodybuilding Supplements? Bodybuilding supplements have risen in prominence in the past few decades. They offer the advantages of both convenience and affordability. Since bodybuilders need to get more nutrition than the average individual, it will be much easier for them to achieve their goals through supplements. Keep in mind that these are not magic bullets that you can take and expect to become big overnight. Everything needs to be included in a sound and systematic strategy. A Brief Description of Bodybuilding Supplements Bodybuilding supplements are used by many gym enthusiasts with the hope of gaining more lean muscle while losing extra fat. At present, there are so many choices to choose from compared to many years ago. During the 1970s, protein supplements were the only staple that helped bodybuilders reach their target protein intake per day without having to devour huge amounts of food. 20 years later, manufacturers and laboratories started creating more products that promise to create anabolic responses to boost the body’s recovery for tissue repair as well as improve metabolism to keep unwanted fat off. Now, there are protein supplements of different kinds like creatine, branch chain amino acids, nitric oxide, fat burners and energy enhancers which will support the aspiring bodybuilder in a variety of ways. Sometimes two or more of these products can be taken for better results since some products are known to compliment the effects of others. People however, should know that bodybuilding supplements only comprise a small portion of the entire picture. People think that the products have

What Color Is Your Diet

QUESTION: Dear Tom: I’ve seen quite a few diet books lately that are based on the color of the foods you eat, including the rainbow diet, the color diet and the “color code” (sounds like the Da Vinci code, LOL!) Anyway, I’ve been reading your newsletters for a long time and I know how you feel about diet pills, books and gimmicks and I was wondering what you thought about these programs. Is it just another gimmick? ANSWER: Based on the clever titles, it might be tempting to dismiss these programs as gimmicks, and in fact when your weekly menus are literally “color coded,” it might seem that the diet book authors are just scrambling for a new hook or premise on which to base an entire eating program. I have not read any of those books you mentioned yet, so I can’t comment on any of them specifically. However, as “gimmicky” as eating from every color in the rainbow may sound at first, there is some very legitimate and scientific evidence that this is a great idea. We are often given the advice to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables (which have a variety of different colors). Good advice of course; even common sense would tell us that. However, “eat a lot of fruits and vegetables”is vague advice because it could mean eating only apples and broccoli (red and green), and nothing else, but eating “a lot” of them. To take that advice to the next level, a better recommendation would be to eat a WIDE VARIETY of fruits and vegetables (not just “a lot”). Even “wide variety” is not really defined. What is a wide variety? Did you know that

Don’t Catch These Two Diseases

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com One of my favorite motivational speakers is a guy by the name of Brian Tracy, who is one of the world’s top experts on success psychology and personal achievement. In case you haven’t heard of Brian, he is sort of like a calmer, more “laid back” version of infomercial guru, Tony Robbins. Not long ago, I had the chance to attend a seminar Brian held at the Jacob Javitz center here in New York City. One part of his talk really grabbed my attention, and I’d like to share it with you... Brian said that that there are two diseases running rampant across America and much of the industrialized world today. If you had to hazard a guess, which two do you think they are? Cancer? Diabetes? Heart Disease? Osteoporosis? Obesity? Guess what? They’re NONE of the above. In fact, they’re not even physical diseases – they are mental diseases. The first mental disease, according to Tracy, is called something-for nothing disease. Something for nothing disease is contracted by people who believe they can take more out than what they put in. These are the people who want all the rewards without paying full price, or as Brian put it, “They want to go through the revolving door of life on someone else’s push.” Quick fix disease is the second of the mental diseases. According to Brian, this disease is contracted by people who always want a quick way to reach their goals. They search for instant cures to solve problems that may have taken months or even years to develop. They seek short cuts to acquire key skills that actually take many months and years of hard work to master. These diseases are not to be confused with the desire to constantly get better and search for more efficient ways

The Worlds Healthiest Foods

Table of Contents Vegetables Grains Beans and Legumes Fruits Nuts, Seeds and Nut Butters Soy Foods Dairy Meat, Poultry and Eggs Fish and Seafood Herbs, Spices and Other Condiments Oils and Fats Beverages Chocolate Sweeteners Water Vegetables Many take vegetables for granted without really taking into consideration what good it can do to our body. Aside from the fact that some of them look and taste unusual, we practically ignore most of them on sight. In truth, many health experts believe that vegetables are a great day-to-day added sustenance to the human body. Different kinds of vegetables offer their own blend of nutrients that can provide us the energy we need for our daily routine, keep our body in top shape and a higher resistance from diseases as it boosts our immune system. Health Benefits The human body requires a balance of nutrients to keep it going at a normal pace – and vegetables can do just that. Here are some of the vegetables you can practically see around the common market and what it can do for you. 1. Cauliflower. This tasty vegetable is quite common in most Chinese cuisines, and is served because of its high nutritional value not to mention the added flavor it gives to the recipe. For starters, cauliflower contains minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, calcium and sodium; as well as vitamins A, C and B6. It is known to fight cancer and regulate the hormones to a normal level and a health food for those who suffer from high sugar content or diabetes. 2. Squash. Whether the winter or summer variety, the squash is well known around the world for being rich in Vitamin A; which is very good for your eyesight – though the summer variety contains more of it than its winter counterpart. Turning this into a soup would be quite delectable. 3. Carrots. The carrot is well known for containing Beta

Mental Training Tactics For Health And Fitness Success

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com 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. You don't need to know how to reach a goal at the time you set the goal. 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. 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. For example, in your mind's eye, you can see the "body of your dreams". 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

Nutrition, Health and Diet.