 It’s no secret that losing weight, and more importantly, losing fat is tough business. There are many variables in play, and sometimes, it’s easy to get lost in all the confusion. Fortunately, the solutions usually aren’t that complicated, and oftentimes, it only takes one little tip for a light bulb to go off and get you back on track towards your goals.
So, just off the top of my head, here are 25 reasons why you might not be losing weight…
Keep in mind that although many of these may apply to you personally, there are probably a few that really undermine your progress more than the rest of them. So, while you’re reading through this list, make a mental note of the top two or three that are most likely to make a difference for you personally.
1) You eat too much. I’ll get this one out of the way in the beginning because it’s probably the most prevalent issue at hand. In a culture where practically any food you could ever want is available within minutes, it’s no surprise that we have an over-eating problem. The bottom line is that if you are eating more food (ie calories) than you’re burning on a daily and weekly basis, you will NOT lose weight. You must – and I repeat – you MUST have a calorie deficit to lose weight. So, if this could even possibly be an issue with you, then I’d start right here because nothing else will work until you achieve the calorie deficit – nothing. That’s right. And the rest of these tips are null and void if you don’t adhere to this one right here. Let that sink in for a minute.
2) You’re completely sedentary most or all of the time, and if you do exercise, it’s not hard enough or often enough. Pair up an over-abundance of food with historically unprecedented levels of inactivity and sedentary behavior, and you have a recipe for health disaster, and weight loss becomes exponentially more difficult. There is no direct (ie causal) link between exercise and fat loss that I’m aware of, but there are tons of indirect (ie correlative) reasons to prioritize physical activity if you want to lose not just weight, but fat – which leads me to my next point.
3) You focus too much on losing weight rather than losing fat. Outside of extreme ranges, total weight is not an indicator of health and fitness. Your body composition is a much better indicator, and too many people pursue weight loss rather than fat loss because they like the simplicity of using the scale to track progress. But the truth is that the best course of action is always to specifically target fat loss. It’s not just the most effective strategy; it’s also the healthiest one. And health is important for things like survival, quality of life, and longevity, just to name a few. But you probably don’t care about those things, right?
Continue reading 25 Reasons Why You’re STILL Not Losing Weight And What To Do About It
I’ve seen a recurring theme about exercise in some media outlets recently, both in mainstream and smaller sources. It’s the notion that exercise somehow makes you fatter, or similarly, that it won’t actually help you get thinner. If that wasn’t outrageous enough, I’ve even seen claims that exercise doesn’t improve fitness at all. Of course, it’s all complete nonsense, and in some cases, blatant lies. Humanity has known for a long, LONG time all about the various benefits of exercise. And if millennia of culture, tradition, and common sense isn’t convincing enough for you, then you can scour the research archives that have grown to a monstrous level over the past several decades. Of course, the overwhelming evidence is that exercise is extremely good for us, and for the most part, people have been doing it just fine all along.
 In fact, the many benefits of exercise are now extremely well-documented. It is an indisputable fact that exercise, or to be even more general – physical activity – is good for us and that it comes with a myriad of physical and mental benefits, among many other things. It is arguably the single best thing you could do to improve your health, fitness, body composition, and quality of life. Anyone who says otherwise, or even hints otherwise, should immediately be dismissed as someone who is misinformed, but more likely a complete quack who is not worth a moment of your attention. You see, it’s one thing to investigate an issue that may have some loopholes that we just haven’t figured out yet, and report on that. But it’s quite another to do that while also ignoring logic, reason, and the massive quantity of evidence in the research data that has already been compiled and verified in peer-reviewed journals. Yet, this seems to be happening more and more often, and not just from fringe groups either. Does TIME magazine ring a bell?
Continue reading A Direct Message To Those Who Proclaim That Exercise Makes You Fatter
Yes, you read that right. With only a single, four minute mini-workout, you will get a metabolic boost offering you several hours worth of fat burning. You’d have a hard time finding a higher return on any investment. I meant what I said though. You are going to have to give me 4 minutes of your time. Trust me, it will be worth it.
You see, today, you are going to learn something by doing it. This is going to be educational through personal experience. So, prepare yourself to get out of your chair and move around for a few minutes.
 You can do a lot of pushups in 4 minutes. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/reidgilman/ Instructions:
Step 1) Select one exercise from the list below, preferably one you’re familiar with and comfortable doing for several repetitions:
- bodyweight squat
- pushup
- spinal rock
- front or reverse lunge
- bird dog
- another comparable exercise of your choice
There, that was the easy part.
Step 2) Now, I also want you to get either a timer, or a clock/watch with a second hand and place it somewhere you can easily see it while practicing that exercise.
We’re going to do a mini-workout that lasts for only four minutes – just enough to get your heart rate going and break a sweat without utterly exhausting you.
Step 3) So, let’s say you picked the bodyweight squat exercise. Here is what I want you to do…
After a brief warmup, repeat the following 8 times in a row: 20 seconds of bodyweight squats, followed by 10 seconds of rest (then immediately into the next 20 second round of bodyweight squats). The total duration should equal four minutes.
Warning: do not attempt if you are injured, unfit, or otherwise wimpy. Only attempt with clearance from your doctor and if you want to enjoy exponential fat burning benefits from a ridiculously short time investment.
Performance tips:
-Use the first 3 rounds as gradually escalating warmup rounds. Focus on your technique and try to make each repetition perfect – even if you must go very slowly to dial in the correct movement pattern. For rounds 4-6, gradually start to build intensity, but maintain good technique as your highest priority. At this stage, the challenge should be moderate, but not extreme (rating of perceived exertion should be between 60-80% of your max). The last two rounds should be an all-out effort (80-100% of your max exertion), and you should be striving to maximize the amount of good repetitions you can score during those short, 20 second windows.
-This should not be four minutes of all-out effort. It’s not a 4 minute “set.” Instead, pace yourself and only push hard for the last 2 rounds. You don’t want to go over-kill in the beginning and burn out before the end. Think of the 8 successive rounds as a formula for peaking at the very end. Round 8 should be your highest scoring round.
Step 4) Go for it!
Step 5) Once you’re finished: catch your breath, drink some water, and shake it out.
Continue reading Give me 4 minutes and I’ll give you 4+ hours of Fat Burning
You wanna know how to to burn more calories? You sure? Because what I’m about to share with you isn’t gonna be easy.
After a few rounds of this, your legs will literally feel like they’re on fire, which is really quite ironic since they’ll be dripping with sweat. Your lungs will have you believe you’re a fire-breathing dragon and your heart will feel like it’s pumping battery acid. And if you’re a redhead like me, your entire cranium may morph into a fireball for a few minutes afterward. It’s ok, I’ve survived this many times myself – just don’t inhale too much smoke. Now, if that wasn’t enough already, the good news is that you’ll also be burning calories and burning fat like a pro. If that sounds like a fun time, then you and I share some of the same character flaws, and this will be right up your alley.
 You won't be smiling when you're done with this. Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lululemonathletica/ I know, I know. You’re probably looking for a top 10 list of suggestions for how to burn more calories – with neatly arranged bullet points and liberal use of the bold feature. But the truth is that burning calories isn’t exactly rocket-science, folks. Everything we do burns calories. Eating burns calories. Digestion burns calories. I know it’s hard to believe, but sleeping and even just thinking burn calories, too. So, if you’re looking for advice like “drink more caffeinated green tea and chew gum all day,” then look elsewhere sweetie-pie. This place is reserved for men and women of resolve. There are no wusses in this corner.
Continue reading How to Burn More Calories Than a Triathlete on Adrenaline
Note: this is a guest article by my friend and colleague, Tom Venuto.
“How can I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?” That’s right up there with “How do I get six pack abs” as one of the most frequently asked fitness questions of all time. The problem is, when you ask it, you get all kinds of conflicting answers – even from experts who are supposed to know these things. So what’s the deal? Is it really possible to lose fat and build muscle simultaneously?
Short answer: Yes, you can gain muscle and lose fat at the “same time.”
Long answer: It’s difficult and it’s complicated. Allow me to explain….
First we have the issue of whether you really lose fat and gain muscle at the “same time.”
Well, yes, if your definition of the “same time” is say, a month or 12 weeks. But in that case, you’re probably not gaining muscle at the “same time” literally speaking, as in, right now this very moment you are reading this, or 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for months in a row.
The best explanation for what’s really happening is that you alternate between periods of caloric surplus (anabolism) and caloric deficit (catabolism) and the net result is a gain in muscle and a loss in body fat.
You see, if you stay in a calorie surplus, it’s the body’s natural tendency for body fat and lean body mass to go up together. And if you stay in a calorie deficit, it’s your body’s natural tendency for body fat and lean body mass to go down together.
There may be exceptions, but the general rule is that it is very difficult to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time – the mechanisms are mostly antagonistic to one another. When it does happen, it’s almost always the result of “unusual conditions” – I call them X factors. Continue reading How To Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time
A good friend of mine, Tom Venuto, has offered to give away a free copy of his best-selling book The Body Fat Solution: Five Principles for Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscle, Ending Emotional Eating, and Maintaining Your Perfect Weight. This book swept Amazon.com’s best sellers list when it was released last year in hard [...]
 Running should be a joyful experience, not a boring or exhausting workout. Today, I went for the perfect run. Why was it perfect? Because I utterly enjoyed it, and I know that it was exactly what I needed today. That’s how training should be – our desires should line up exactly with our needs.
Not only was I eager to get outdoors and run, I wanted to do it right. I wanted to practice the perfect run and know that when I was finished I had done something right and good for me. Allow me to elaborate.
I ran Fall cross country, Winter Track, and Spring Track and Field in high school, and my events were the long distance events. I put a LOT of miles on my body in three years. So many miles, in fact, that I overtrained into injuries that ultimately led to almost three years in physical therapy, which was terminated early because I had maxed out the funds my health insurance was covering. I won’t bore you with the details.
It’s probably too obvious to say that I approach long distance running with caution these days. In fact, I remember saying that I would never run again. That’s what the doctors and specialists were telling me, and I eventually believed them for awhile. I’ve learned a lot about running since then, including many things that I would do differently if given the chance to return to the past.
Today, I definitely will not allow myself to stumble back into the running methods of my youth. I approach each run in a very different manner than I used to, and I want to share some tips about how to run better with you.
Continue reading How to Run Better for the Perfect Run: 5 Things That I Do Differently Now That I Know Better
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