2 secrets to effortless fat loss

Brought to you by Tom Venuto

1. MAKE TRAINING FUN

At the age of 42, my friend John Bartlett transformed himself from what he described as a “240 pound physical mess” with 41% body fat, into a 175 pound bodybuilder with mounds of muscle and six pack abs.

The most surprising part is, he never did “cardio” in a gym. John lives in the red, rocky hills of Arizona. In addition to his weight lifting, John mountain biked, sometimes for an hour or two a day. Was he burning a lot of calories? You bet. Was he “working hard?” I suppose that depends on your definition of “work.”

Sometimes recreation and “fun hobbies” can become your biggest calorie burners. If you believe fat loss can only occur by doing a certain mode or type of exercise, such as cardio machines in a gym, (even if you hate it), then you haven’t grasped the importance of the energy balance equation yet and you’e limiting your choices, which can easily lead to boredom and dropout. Your body doesn’t care HOW you burn the calories, you just have to burn them.

A program can be highly effective and efficient, but if it doesn’t suit your disposition or if it’s too extreme (or boring) to adopt as part of your lifestyle, then it will fail you in the end. Hard work is always necessary for success, but for some people, the line between work and play has been blurred because they enjoy their training so much. In some cases, the enjoyment even turns into passion.

Here’s a good question: What could you do to burn a lot of calories and have fun in the process? Your choices are virtually unlimited. martial arts, ballroom dancing, team sports, hiking, beach volleyball? There is no magic fat burning workout, so stop looking for “the one.” If it burns a lot of calories, it will help you get leaner. Start thinking out of the box.



2. MAKE LOW CALORIE, HEALTHY FOOD TASTE GOOD

If you think that fat loss requires a diet consisting of bland rabbit food that tastes like sawdust, you couldn’t be more mistaken. Fat burning food can taste absolutely delicious! I should know better than anyone because for years, not only did I believe you had to eat 100% “clean” to get lean, I also believed that you had to eat plain, bland food to the point of self-sacrifice and self-punishment. (I was wrong.)

Truth be told, I do actually prefer a fairly plain and very simple meal plan, at least compared to most people’s standards. As a bodybuilder, it’s just the way I’ve gotten accustomed to eating. But contrary to rumors which say I’m some kind of cyborg and not a regular dude from jersey, (I’m a regular dude, I swear!), I do like tasty food and I enjoy a good meal as much as anyone.

What’s more, I recognize that most people demand tasty food and nutritional variety more than I do and that any diet that requires foods tasting like dirt is not going to last...

If you choose a diet that offers no variety or forces you to eat food that tastes like sawdust, it doesn’t matter how effective that diet is for burning fat in the short term, it won’t be very conducive for helping you to stick with your program over the long haul.

Make your training fun and make your food taste good - you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes!