This is a fat loss post by…Tom Venuto

At least 7 scientific studies have provided strong evidence that energy containing beverages (i.e., “liquid calories”) do not properly activate the satiety mechanisms in the body and brain and do not satisfy the appetite as well as food in solid form.

Epidemiological research also supports a positive association between calorie-containing beverage consumption and increased body weight or body mass index. New research now suggests that soda may not be the only culprit…

Researchers compared solid and beverage forms of foods composed primarily of carbohydrate, fat or protein in order to document the independent effect of food form in foods with different dominant macronutrient sources.

Based on previous research, some experts have recommended targeting specific beverages as being “worse” than others. High fructose corn syrup and soda has been singled out the most and you’ve probably seen that yourself in the news.

There’s no question that soda has been on top of the “hit list” for some time now, by virtue of the amounts and frequency of consumption alone.

However, this recent study says that from a pure energy balance perspective, we should be cautious about ALL liquid calories, not just soda and not just carbohydrates!

Fruit juice for example, appears to be an obvious improvement over soda, so many people have swapped out their soda for fruit juice. However, when fruit juice is compared to an equal amount of calories from whole fruit, the whole fruit satisfies appetite better (largely due to the bulk and fiber content), and so you tend to eat fewer calories for the day.

Men are especially guilty of this when they drink alcohol – Men tend to drink AND eat, while women tend to drink INSTEAD OF eating.

This new research found that with all three macronutrients – protein, carbs or fat – daily calorie intake was significantly greater when the beverage form was consumed as compared to the solid.

Yes, it’s true! Even protein drinks did not satisfy the appetite the way that protein foods did!

While you would think that protein drinks are purely a good thing, because protein foods have been proven to reduce appetite and increase satiety, if you turn a solid protein food into a protein drink, it loses it’s appetite suppressive properties in the same way that happens when you turn fruit into fruit juice.

Why do liquid calories fail to elicit the same response as whole foods? reasons include:

• high calorie density
• lower satiety value
• more calories ingested in short period of time
• lower demand for oral processing
• shorter gastrointestinal transit times
• energy in beverages has greater bioaccessibility and bioavailability
• mechanisms may include cognitive, orosensory, digestive, metabolic, endocrine and neural influences (human appetite is a complex thing!!!)
• last but not least, nowhere in our history have our ancestors had access to large amounts of liquid calories. Alcohol may have been around as far back as several thousand years BC, but even that is a blip on the evolutionary calendar of humanity.

As a result, our genetic code has never developed the physiological mechanisms to properly register the caloric content in liquids the way it does when you eat, chew and swallow whole foods.

Bottom line: This study suggests that we shouldn’t just target one type of liquid calories such as soda. If you’re trying to beat body fat, it’s wise to limit all types of liquid calories and eat whole foods as much as possible.

Start by ditching the soda. Then ditch the high calorie dessert coffees. Then cut back on the alcohol. From there, be cautious even about milk, juice and protein drinks.

Drink water or tea instead, or limited amounts of black coffee – without all the high calorie extras.

If you do consume any beverages that contain calories, such as protein shakes, be sure to account for those calories meticulously and be sure you don’t drink them in addition to your usual food intake, but in place of an equal amount of food calories.

Remember, those protein shakes you might be drinking are called “meal replacements” not “free calories!”

For many years I have suggested focusing primarily on whole foods rather than liquids, even protein shakes. Unlike so many other fat reduction programs, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle does not require any kind of liquid meal replacement or protein drinks and our company does not exist to sell supplements; we are here to educate you and millions of others about the realities of body fat loss.

We now have even more scientific data that confirms what Burn The Fat has been teaching all along.

I hope you found this helpful. You can learn more about “Burn The Fat” at www.BurnTheFat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Fat Loss Coach

This is a fat loss post by…Alwyn Cosgrove

How do we actually lose fat? What do we mean by fat “burning”?

Here’s a very simple, (dumbed down) explanation of what actually goes on to create a fat loss effect.

The key concept that trainers and physiologists have shoved down our throat for years is that it’s all about calories in vs calories out. This is true – for weight loss – but it’s not the whole truth for fat loss– there are a number of protective mechanisms that the body has in place, called rate limiting steps to prevent fat being lost.

On a very basic level – Fat “burning” is essentially a two step process.

The first step is mobilization. How do we get actually fat out of the fat cells so that we can subsequently use it as a fuel source?

Fat mobilization is governed essentially by levels of a hormone known as hormone sensitive lipase or HSL (you can forget the name as there wont’ be a test). It’s an oversimplification but basically the higher the HSL levels, the higher the fat mobilization.

How do we get higher HSL? Increase catecholamine levels (specifically adrenaline).

How do we do that? Exercise. Particularly high intensity exercise.

But HSL is also limited by insulin. High insulin levels = low HSL levels = low fat mobilization.

So a great strategy for part one is low insulin levels (from diet and training), plus high catecholamines (through intense training).

Part two of the process is transport and oxidation.

If HSL levels are high – fat cells break down into free fatty acids (FFA) which circulate in the blood and eventually end up in a muscle (which needs energy) where they can be burned off in the mitochondria (this is the ‘powerhouse’ of the cell that your high school biology teacher kept going on about).

But there’s another rate limiting step here. Transporting the FFA into the mitochondria where it can be burned off. That transport is controlled by carnitine levels.

If carnitine levels are high – fat transport is high.

Think of carnitine like passport control officials.

If you get off a plane with 500 other passengers and there is one official at passport control – it’ll take a long time to get through. If there are 500 officials – then you go through quickly and can leave the airport. (Leaving the airport is the equivalent of fat being burned off). The more officials (carnitine) the easier the process.

So how do we ramp up carnitine levels? Well – again we have a rate limiting step. If muscle glycogen is high then carnitine levels are low.

So if we reduce muscle glycogen through metabolic work — we have the optimal fat oxidation state. Therefore high intensity glycogen depleting exercise is a the tool of choice here.

High levels of fat mobilization + High levels of fat oxidation = Accelerated fat loss.

So if you figure out how to integrate all those steps, and circumvent each rate limiting step – you’ll find that fat loss is simple …..

About the Author/More Info:

Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete 28 day diet and training system crafted to help you lose 10,15, or 20lbs of body fat in just 28 day. To start losing weight fast visit. Alwyn Cosgrove, M.S., C.S.C.S. is a nationally renown fat loss expert whose work has appeared in magazines such as Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Men’s Journal, Self, Oxygen, and Muscle & Fitness HERS. His Warp Speed Fat Loss system is a complete Done-for-You A-Z Fat Loss Blueprint that gives you exactly everything you need to eat and exactly what to do for exercise to lose weight in record time.

This is a fat loss post by…Craig Ballantyne

I was just reviewing a big file of all the new exercise, diet, and research proven fat burning tips I wrote down for 2009, and I

wanted to share 5 BIGGIES that can help your clients get more results AND make your awesome workers even better.

So here we go:

#5 – Recent research shows shuttle-running is tougher than running intervals in a straight line…

…so if you want to burn fat faster than ever, make sure you incorporate old-school shuttle runs (i.e. classic suicide type drills) into your fat burning interval programs.

You’ll find these new shuttle runs in the latest TT programs, including the new TT Bootcamps 2.0 System.

#4 – Use a food log.

“According to Men’s Health (Feb 2009, p 38), keeping a food log helped subjects lose 3.5 more pounds than subjects that didn’t keep the log.”

#3 – Hit a personal best in each workout.

This is an oldie, but a goodie. There are a few reasons you need to do this:

a) First of all, everyone loves progress, and if you can achieve a personal record in each workout (i.e. could be # of pushups, plank time, etc.), then you will feel a HUGE sense of accomplishment.

b) More personal bests = more results. Plain and simple.

c) You will get addicted to the workouts, and always want to come back for more attempts at breaking records.

#2 – Get a trainer or join a bootcamp.

“According to Men’s Health magazine, (Dec, 2009), beginners who work with trainers get more results than beginners who workout by themselves”. Guaranteed.

#1 – Read a motivational quote every morning.

I promise you that it will elevate your motivation and inspire you to reach your fat loss goals.

Here’s the first motivational quote you can read tomorrow morning:

“Be loud and proud of the healthy changes you are making in your life. There are many more folks secretly wishing someone will take charge and be a healthy role model for them. It might not happen overnight, but if you continue to lead by healthy example – without preaching or being  condescending – you can build an entourage that will help you reach the next level.” – Craig Ballantyne

Those are 5 unique tips to help you lose fat.

TT Bootcamps is on sale right now for $20 off until Thursday. Get it now – TT Bootcamps 2.0

This is a fat loss workouts post…author Mike Geary

Warning: this style of workout is WAY different than anything you’ve ever tried before and may result in a dramatically leaner, stronger body so that your friends no longer recognize you in a matter of weeks!

Alright, I exaggerated about your friends recognizing you, but this workout is still great for busy people that always use the excuse that they don’t have time to go to the gym, or even for the normal gym rat to try out for a few weeks to break out of a plateau.

Please keep an open-mind and don’t worry so much about what other people think, because this is quite different and you may get some funny looks, but you’ll get the last laugh with your new rock hard body! To be honest, most people are too self conscious to try something like this. If that’s the case for you, then that’s your loss.

Here’s how it works (these workouts can be done at home or even in your office):

Instead of doing your traditional workouts of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing your normal weight training and cardio routines for 45 miutes to an hour at a shot… with this program, you will be working out for just a couple minutes at a time, several times throughout each day, 5 days/week.

The program will consist of only bodyweight exercises done for about 2-3 minutes, 6-8 times per day, throughout each day. Now obviously if you work a normal office job, you are going to have to not be shy about doing a few exercises in your office and having your cube-mates watch you. Actually, I’ve found that some people that have tried this have actually gotten their co-workers to join them!

If you have a private office, then you don’t have to worry about anybody watching you. If you work from home, or are a stay at home mom, there’s no reason you can’t fit these in throughout the day while at home. If you end up having a busy day with meetings and so forth, and can only fit a couple of these 2-minute workouts in, then so be it, but try to get as many done each day as you can.

If you’re on a normal 9-5 office schedule, I recommend doing your 2-minute workouts every hour, on the hour, with the exception of lunch. For example, you could try 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm.

Some of the bodyweight exercises that are the best to focus on are:

• bodyweight squats (and variations)
• pushups (and variations)
• forward, reverse, or walking lunges
• up & down a staircase if one is available
• floor planks (holding the plank position from forearms and feet)
• floor abs exercises such as lying leg thrusts, ab bicycles, etc.
• one-legged bodyweight Romanian deadlifts

This list is not fully comprehensive, but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. If you know other good bodyweight exercises, you can add those to your routine also. If you want to keep it real simple and don’t want to get down on the floor for anything, you can stick to squats, lunges, and pushups and still get great results.

The good thing about these workouts is that you do enough in 2-3 minutes to get your blood pumping, heart rate up a bit, a large portion of your body’s muscles worked, and body temperature raised. However, it’s usually not enough to break a sweat in only 2 or 3 minutes, so you don’t have to worry about sweating in the office or where ever you may be. At most, you might just get a little moist on the skin.

Here’s an example workout routine at home or the office (adjust the reps up or down based on your capabilities):

Mon/Wed/Fri
9 am – 10 pushups/15 bodyweight squats, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am – plank holds (hold the planks as long as you can taking short rest breaks for a total of 3 minutes)
11 am – 5 pushups/10 bodyweight squats, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm – plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
2 pm – 8 pushups/12 bodyweight squats, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm – plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
4 pm – max pushups/max bodyweight squats in one set (no repeat)

Tues/Thurs
9 am – 6 fwd lunges each leg/6 rev lunges, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am – one legged bw Romanian deadlifts (RDL) 6 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat 1X for 2 sets
11 am – 3 fwd lunges each leg/3 rev lunges, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm – one legged bw RDL 3 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat for 4 sets
2 pm – 5 fwd lunges each leg/5 rev lunges, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm – one legged bw RDL 10 each leg/floor abs for 30 sec (no repeat)
4 pm – max fwd lunges each leg/max rev lunges in one set (no repeat)

In order to progress on these workouts, you could either add 1 or 2 reps to each set per week, or you could progress to more difficult versions of each exercise each week (for example, close grip pushups, one leg raised pushups, squats with arms raised straight over head, etc.).

The above routines are just a couple examples of how you can use this very unique style of training. Use your creativity and come up with your own. Think about what you’ve accomplished with these “mini” workouts completed throughout each day… You’ve increased your heart rate and pumped up your muscles 6-8 different times throughout each day, burning a lot of extra calories and stimulating your metabolism.

Even though each “mini” workout was a very short duration, you’ve accumulated lots of repetitions for almost every muscle throughout your entire body, and you didn’t even have to break a sweat during any of the “mini” workouts. And there’s hardly any excuse for not being able to take a 2-minute break once per hour and do a couple of exercises.

Another benefit of this style of training is that now you don’t have to devote any time before or after work to going to the gym because you already got your workouts little by little throughout the day. You’ve now got some extra free time on your hands!

Try this type of time-efficient workout routine out for 3-4 weeks and then go back to your normal gym routines. I think you’ll find that it was a great way to break out of a plateau and stimulate new results in your body. You can try mixing in a cycle of these “mini” workouts every couple of months to keep things fresh.

Keep in mind that this is only one method of training and doesn’t mean that you should only stick to this method for eternity. You will hit a plateau on any given training method, so I’d recommend just rotating it into your arsenal of various training methods. And by all means, don’t worry so much about what other people think…have the courage to try something a little different. In the end, you’ll be the one laughing back at all of the “blubber-bellies” at your office that are giving you funny looks while they eat their donuts!

This is a fat loss informational post…author Craig Ballantyne

Recently I was down in sunny Mesa, Arizona at a seminar that featured both Sir Richard Branson and Bill Phillips, the author of the most popular fat loss book ever, “Body for Life” (BFL).

It looked as though Bill hadn’t aged a day since his book came out about 10 years ago, so he’s doing something right.

Now I get questions all the time asking what’s better, “Turbulence Training or Body for Life”?

Well, I’m going to be frank with you, and tell you that Turbulence Training is better, hands down.

Remember, BFL was written about 10 years ago. And a lot has changed since then. Granted, BFL had interval training in it, but it didn’t use bodyweight circuits (like you’ll find in your bonus workout, the TT DB-BW Fusion program).

These small changes and improvements we’ve learned in the last few years are enough to make the TT workouts shorter and better. So if you are stuck for time, you have no choice but to go with the program that is constantly being updated with the latest proven workout methods – and that’s the Turbulence Training program.

If you have an old copy of BFL lying around, then that might help you for now. But if you want to beat a fat loss plateau, then you’ll need all the help you can get, and that includes getting the latest fat loss info found in Turbulence Training.

(Plus, with Turbulence Training you get a lot more bonuses, and a lot less supplement advertising!)

Click here to get Turbulence Training
==> Turbulence Training

This is a fat loss diet post…author Brad Pilon

If you and I went to the local magazine stand and scanned the covers of the fitness magazines we would find dozens of ‘weight loss’ rules.

In fact we could spend the rest of the week reading magazines about the latest greatest weight loss tricks many of which may actually work for someone. But realistically there’s just no way you could actually follow ALL of them. So how do you know which ones are right for you?

The easy answer is you have to decide which rules fit best for YOUR life and then try to stick to just one or two that will make the most sense for you and have the most benefit.

This may be the first time in your life you become a scientist, and your experiment is you. Here’s what you do…

Browse any of the popular magazines, blogs, websites or anywhere you like to get fitness information. Read up on the diet and weight loss tips and tricks, these could be simple changes like not drinking calories, or a bigger philosophy like limiting the amount of carbs that you eat.

Make a top 10 list of diet strategies you’d like to try, and that sound doable to you. At this point add one new diet strategy to your life for two weeks. Record your bodyweight at the beginning of the two weeks and again at the end. If you haven’t lost any weight this strategy doesn’t work (for you). Discard it and move on to the next one.

This is the simplest way to tell if something will work for YOU. If the strategy you picked sounds like a good idea but seems too difficult for you to manage then it’s simply not a good fit for you in this stage of your life. If it worked for your friend but not for you that’s ok, there will be one that works just for you, this is why you make a top 10 list and try each of them, one at a time.

Let’s suppose you find one that works over a two week period and you don’t want to stop. That’s fine, just add the next one in the list, if you can handle more than one strategy at once more power to you and you’ll probably lose fat even faster. My guess is that sticking to more than one or two rules will be almost impossible, so it will be pretty easy to tell which strategy is really working.

For me the simpler the diet is the better, (which is the main premise behind Eat Stop Eat).

Even when you are following the Eat Stop Eat lifestyle you can still use the top 10-diet rule as a way to guide how you eat on your ‘eat days’.

The top 10 diet rule experiment is the fastest way to find dietary habits that work for you – after all you’ll never know until you try.

Post from Craig Ballantyne, CSCS

Just over a year ago I was in Tampa, Florida, at another fitness seminar.

Between sessions, a physician from Georgia stopped me in the hall

and said, “Hey Craig, you were right about those crosstrainer

machines. I’ve had your program for a few months now and I’m getting

better results with metabolic resistance training.”

It’s always great to meet clients, and I was curious to find out

how he heard of me. Turns out, he found me through Google, landing

on an article I wrote about “how elliptical machines

(crosstrainers) suck for fat loss”.

That’s right, I think those crosstrainer-elliptical machine doohickeys

are almost a complete waste of time.

“I was using one of those machines for a long time and wondering why

I wasn’t getting any results,” the physician continued, “I’m so glad

I found your program”, he added.

I told him how I wasn’t surprised.

In fact, I’ve never known anyone to get great results with one of

those crosstrainer machines. Nope, it’s diet and metabolic

resistance training that really gets people results.

Now I know some people will be angry with what I have to say because

they like exercising on the crosstrainer, but the truth is that

they just don’t work as well as metabolic resistance training.

To me, the crosstrainer is just the easy way out.

You’ll get dozens of metabolic resistance training supersets – using

my unique non-competing turbulence method – when you grab your copy

of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss program.

And you can get Turbulence Training for Fat Loss for less than the

cost of a one month gym membership. That also beats shelling out

$1000 or more for a crappy crosstrainer for your home gym.

Click here to get started with Turbulence Training for less than 5 bucks:

=> Get Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Thousands of people are losing weight thanks to Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training program.  In the video below you will see results from his transformation contests that he holds regularly.

Not only do people lose weight, but they also get some great cash prizes.  $2000 for first place to be exact.

So if you want real results in a shorter amount of time, get Craig’s Turbulence Training System today.

P.S. Jillian Michaels also recommends Turbulence Training.