Q&A About Whey Protein

Show Me the Whey

Dear eDiets
I want to lose body fat and gain muscle. I've researched whey protein and found a lot of pros about it, but will it benefit me?
-- Name Withheld

Yes, it will benefit you, but the whey protein should be primarily in the form of a whey isolate. If whey is primarily from a concentrate, it's not as efficient in quality and purity.

We live in a culture that thinks more is better. In reality, strategic application of a supplement is actually better. The best times to take a whey protein powder is before a workout, after a workout and 20 minutes prior to bed. These are the times when your body best utilizes the nutrients.

If you're consistent with your weight training, cardio, nutrition and strategic supplementation, your muscles will have more nitrogen retention and the whey protein will help with this process. Nitrogen retention is when all the nutrients you consume help fill the muscle so it looks hard and tight. It's not just what you consume that's important but also when you consume it that counts.

Looking that extra little push to motivate you to be serious about losing weight? We're behind you every step of the way. Start today and you can lose 10 lbs. in five weeks. Visit eDiets to get a FREE diet profile.

A drug-free competitive bodybuilder and 2005 winner of the prestigious WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation) Pro Card, Raphael Calzadilla is a veteran of the health-and-fitness industry. He specializes in a holistic approach to body transformation, nutrition programs and personal training. He earned his B.A. in communications from Southern Connecticut State University and is certified as a personal trainer with ACE and APEX. In addition, he successfully completed the RTS1 program based on biomechanics

100% Whey Gold Standard Protein • 24 g of pure, unadulterated whey protein per serving • More Whey Protein Isolates (WPI) – the purest source of whey protein available • Over 4 g of glutamine precursors and more than 5 g of BCAAs • Includes Hydrowhey™, lactase, and Aminogen® • Instantized to mix easily and completely Also available in a Natural version also - no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners.

April 06, 2007 Reviewer: Kevin in District of Columbia

I'm going to make an educated guess and say that this protein is probably one of the most popular whey proteins being sold today - and with good reason. It's a simple formula of concentrate/isolate protein. It tastes good. It mixes easily (trust me, others don't). It's reasonably priced. I've seen everyone from bodybuilders to boxers supplementing with this brand. The truth is that pure whey is relatively easy to cull from milk, and it is relatively easy to maintain good quality, so the production costs are not very high. By its very nature it is not an incredibly difficult or technical process. This makes you wonder why a thousand other brands are marketing their whey as "pharmaceutical grade" and charging twice as much. 100% NATURAL Whey Protein is a good value.

This review is specific to 100% NATURAL Whey Protein, Chocolate

March 25, 2007 Reviewer: James in Maryland

This is great. I would recommend the chocolate the most. I mix one scoop with about 8 ounces of milk and I drink it every night after I workout. It tastes great. However, make sure you stir it up very well. If you don't, it is like drinking chocolate milk with bits of rubber in it. But it tastes great if you stir it up well.

This review is specific to 100% NATURAL Whey Protein, Chocolate

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful.

January 12, 2007 Reviewer: Craig in Tennessee

I like the double rich chocolate and chocolate mint. The vanilla is pretty good too. I mix 3 scoops of each with 1 pint of water. The cookies and cream is very bad-tasting. I can't describe the taste, but I sure wouldn't describe it in confectionary terms. I bought the 5lb tub, but threw the whole thing out after 2 sips it was so bad. I like the others quite well though.

November 14, 2006 Reviewer: kevin in New York

This is a good tasting protein. I have had the chocolate, chocolate mint, strawberry and cookies and cream. I would say the chocolate mint is my personal favorite, and the cookies and cream is my least favorite, it's kind of repulsive actually. The cookies and cream has a real strong chemical smell/taste. This is also a very economical product.

October 17, 2006 Reviewer: Daniel in Kansas

This stuff is great (i have double rich chocolate). But if you mix it in water it tastes like crap. I put it in hot chocolate made of milk. I do 1/3 milk 1/3 protein powder 1/3 chocolate milk powder and it tastes good. Drink plenty of water throughout the day or u'll get a kidney stone.

This review is specific to 100% NATURAL Whey Protein, Chocolate

October 12, 2006 Reviewer: Adam in Wisconsin

This is the best Whey I have tried, but go for the Chocolate. The Vanilla tastes terrible. I mix mine with dextrose for a great tasting post workout shake.

This review is specific to 100% NATURAL Whey Protein, Chocolate

August 14, 2006 Reviewer: talat in Turkey

If you want all natural this is your whey. I tried chocolate and vanilla flavors. Chocolate flavor is very good in taste and mixability but vanilla flavor sucks in taste. Don't buy vanilla unless you want something different!!! For overall, this product tastes good when mixed with milk. Chocolate flavor is strongly recomended. Best on the market in natural wheys.

January 23, 2007 Reviewer: Aaron in Georgia

I don't do chocolate anything and vanilla is too bland. I love the strawberry blended with water and a banana or apple slices. It will also mix well in a shaker without the fruit. (With all this protein, you'll need to increase your fiber intake) I use six servings daily with a low carb diet and I've reduced my % body fat while maintaining/building muscle mass. The strawberry is also good with orange juice if you don't mind all the extra sugar and carbs. 100% NATURAL Whey Protein, Strawberry 5.11 lb - Highly recommended.

This review is specific to 100% NATURAL Whey Protein, Strawberry

November 06, 2006 Reviewer: A customer in Texas

Good value for the money. I had the vanilla, one of my friends had chocolate. Chocolate tasted pretty good, but I only had it two or three times. The vanilla isn't as bad as most people say it is. With just milk it's OK at best, with milk and other stuff it's great. I was mixing it with just water to take to the gym, and the first day I wanted to throw up it was so bad. But I got used to it soon enough, and then it was alright. My taste buds just considered it like water, but sweeter.

This review is specific to 100% NATURAL Whey Protein, Vanilla

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful.

October 13, 2006 Reviewer: Erik in California

Overall this is a good product. I first tried Rocky Road - tastes more like cherry than anything. Can't wait to try the chocolate. Good product overall, with good results.

Q&A with Dr. Mohr of Meal plans 101

We all know training is a big part of getting into shape and gaining better health, but even more important is nutrition. This is usually the missing link that keeps individuals from reaching their goal. It takes both training and nutrition to effectively reach your goals, but by fine tuning your nutrition program, you will reach your goals more quickly.

Dr. Chris Mohr of Meal plans 101 explains just how easy it is to reach your nutritional goals.

He and Jayson Hunter, RD, CSCS have designed a piece of nutritional software along with that makes it absolutely simple to create simple, yet effective meal plans.

Question 1:

How important is having a meal plan to follow in regards to nutrition compliance?

It’s just as important as having driving directions if you don’t know where you’re going. Having a nutrition plan is the map to get you where you want to go. Or, for the more technologically sounds folks, the meal plan is the GPS system for improving compliance. I don’t know how to get to Fargo North Dakota—but if I had to drive there, I would pull out a map and write my directions. The same is true for nutrition—most folks know what they need to do to lose fat or gain muscle, but they don’t have the specific directions to get there.

Question 2:

What do you think are the biggest barriers to following a good nutrition program?

First is not planning. Like I described above, you need to plan the best way to reach your destination—in this case, the destination may be fat loss or gaining lean body mass. Meal Plans 101 does the planning for you. If you fail to plan, plan to fail. Why struggle any longer; use the properly designed tools to help you reach your goals.

Second, is watching your portions. Oatmeal is fantastic for you, but sitting down every day to 2-3 cups of oatmeal per meal might be a bit much. Wouldn’t it be nice, though, to know just how much a portion size should actually be? We did that research for you, and it’s all in the software.

Question 3:

Do you have to be a nutrition expert to know how to eat healthy? How hard is it to create an effective meal plan that will allow someone to lose fat or gain muscle?

Nutrition experts are of course beneficial—I’d be knocking myself and Jayson down if I didn’t think they were. But we can’t be there with every single person who wants a simple meal plan put together for them and, quite frankly, it isn’t cheap to work with us individually. This software isn’t meant to replace the advice of a qualified nutrition professional, what it’s meant to do is provide you with science based tools, such as specific formulas (they are behind the scenes, so you don’t have to get involved with them) to tell you how many calories to eat for your goals, along with providing you the ability to choose your food preferences, so you don’t have a cookie cutter program, but instead a unique, proprietary meal plan that fits YOU!

Question 4:

You have mentioned your software. What is it exactly and how can it make the lives of my readers easier?

Simply put—it allows folks to plug in specific values they get from clients or from themselves and it will spit out your specific nutritional needs to achieve those goals. It will then give you the breakdown of just how much of each food group you should be eating, but you are able to customize it to your food choices!! It’s takes just a few minutes to get the grasp of this and then it’s just another tool to help you reach your health and physical goals,

Question 5:

One last question. How important is it to adjust your carbohydrates when it comes to weight loss?

This is the million dollar question. Some research supports a modified carbohydrate diet for successful weight loss, while others suggest a lower fat nutrition plan. The key is nutrient quality and the answer is probably somewhere in the middle. The right types of carbohydrates are excellent. Similarly, healthy fats are crucial, so drastically restricting one or another is not the best way to go about it, in my opinion. And that’s why you have the ability to choose both in the food options under each category.

Chris, thank you for your time today--if you feel your nutrition is the missing link, then check out Meal plans 101 to find out just how easy it is to get your nutrition on track. Don’t leave your nutrition to chance or else you may very well be wasting all that hard work you put in at the gym.

Read more at Meal plans 101

BURN THE FAT Q&A

With Tom Venuto

QUESTION:

Dear Tom: I've been enjoying your fat burning tips newslettersand am
fascinated by the whole fat burning process, but would actually like to know the
science of it all. Would you please try to explain in laymen's terms exactly how
fat cells work andwhat happens when you start to burn body fat. I heard a
statemen tthat the fat cell has to get moved into the muscle cell for it to be
released or burned. Thought you could explain a little better.

Sincerely,

Kevin

ANSWER:
Earlier this week someone in our discussion forum wrote, "I haven't 'LOST' any fat... I know EXACTLY where it went! I got a chuckle outof that because I "got" the joke, but truth is, most people really don't know how fat cells work, how the fat burning process takes place, or where the fat goes when it's burned, so this is a really good question.

When you "lose" bod yfat, the fat cell (also called an adipocyte)does not go anywhere or "move into the muscle cell to be burned",as it was suggested to you (although that's not too far off).
The fat cell itself, (unfortunately) stays right where it was -under the skin in your thighs, stomach, hips, arms, etc., and ontop of the muscles - which is why you can't see muscle "definition"when your body fat is high.

Fat is stored inside the fat cell in the form of triaglycerol. The fatis not burned right there in the fat cell, it must be liberated fromthe fat cell through somewhat complex hormonal/biochemical pathways.

When stimulated to do so, the fat cell simply releases its contents(triaglycerol) into the bloodstream as free fatty acids (FFA's), andthey are transported through the blood to the tissues where the energyis needed.

A typical young male stores about 60,000 to 100,000 calories ofenergy in body fat cells. What triggers the release of all these storedfatty acids from the fat cell? Ahhh, that's what we all want to know, right?

Well, it's simple: When your body needs energy because you're consumingfewer calories than you are burning (an energy deficit), then your bodyreleases hormones and enzymes that signal your fat cells to release yourfat reserves instead of keeping them in storage.

For stored fat to be liberated from the fat cell, hydrolysis (lipolysis or fat breakdown), splits the molecule of triaglycerol into glycerol andthree fatty acids. An important enzyme called hormone sensitive lipase(HSL) is the catalyst for this reaction.

The stored fat (energy) gets released into the bloodstream as FFA's andthey are shuttled off to the muscles where the energy is needed. As bloodflow increases to the active muscles, more FFA's are delivered to themuscles that need them.

An important enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL), then helps theFFA's get inside the mitochondria of the muscle cell, where the FFA'scan be burned for energy. If you've ever taken a biology class, thenyou've probably heard of the mitochondria. This is the "cellularpowerhouse" where energy production takes place and this is where theFFA's go to be burned for energy.
When the FFA's are released from the fat cell, the fat cell shrinksand that's why you look leaner - because the fat cell is now smaller.A small or "empty" fat cell is what you're after if you want thelean, defined look.

It was once believed that the number of fat cells could not increaseafter maturity, only the size of the fat cells could increase (ordecrease). We now know that fat cells can indeed increase both in size(hypertrophy) and in number (hyperplasia) and that they are more likelyto increase in number at certain times and under certain circumstances,such as 1) during late childhood and early puberty, 2) During pregnancy,and 3) During adulthood when extreme amounts of weight are gained.

Some people are genetically predisposed to have more fat cells thanothers and women have more fat cells than men. An infant usually hasabout 5 - 6 billion fat cells. This number increases during earlychildhood and puberty, and a healthy adult with normal body compositionhas about 25 to 30 billion fat cells. A typical overweight adult hasaround 75 billion fat cells. But in the case of severe obesity, this number can be as high as 250 to 300 billion!

The average size (weight) of an adult fat cell is about 0.6 micrograms,but they can vary in size from 0.2 micograms to 0.9 micrograms. Anoverweight person's fat cells can be up to three times larger than aperson with ideal body composition.

Remember, body fat is basically just a reserve source of energy andfat cells are the like the storage tanks. Unlike a gas tank in yourcar which is fixed in size, however, fat cells can expand or shrinkin size depending on how "filled" they are.

Picture a balloon that is not inflated: It's tiny when not filledwith air - maybe the size of your thumb. When you blow it up withair, it can expand 10 or 12 times it's normal size, because itsimply fills up.

That's what happens to fat cells: They start as nearly empty fatstorage "tanks" (when you are lean), and when energy intake exceedsyour needs, your fat cells "fill up" and "stretch out" like balloonsfilled with jelly (not a pretty picture, is it?)

So when you get leaner, you don't actually "lose" fat cells, you"shrink" or "empty out" fat cells.

Take-home lessons:

1. Calories count!The signal that triggers your body to releaseadipose from fat cells is an energy deficit... you have to burn morethan you eat.

2. Cut calories conservatively. Starving yourself may cause quickweightloss at first, but never works long term because it actuallydecreases the activity of fat burning enzymes that release fat fromthe cells. to avoid this "starvation mode" use exercise to BURNTHE FAT, not very low calorie crash diets.

3. Get control of your weight now. If you are gaining weight, andespecially if your weight is climbing upwards out of control, makea decision to STOP RIGHT NOW. Your fat cells might be multiplying,making it more difficult to burn fat in the future. NOW is the time!

4. If you've already lost weight, you must be forever diligent.Your fat cells are not gone, they have merely "shrunk" or"emptied out." Fitness is not a 12 week program, its a lifestyle.To stay lean you have to eat clean and stay active.

5. Genetics are only a minor factor. You may not have control overhow many fat cells you were born with, but you do control the majorfactors that determine how much fat you store: lifestyle, exercise,nutrition, mental attitude.

Genetics are not an excuse. The past is not an excuse. Your presentcondition is not an excuse. You can either make excuses or get results,but you can't do both.

So keep educating yourself about the science, read these newsletters,take action every day and go out there and make it happen!

If you need more help, Burn The Fat is the eating plan that turned itall around for thousands of others... why not you? visit: ====> BURN THE FAT

Train hard, and expect success,
Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
BURN THE FAT

Top 10 Exercise FAQ

Top 10 Exercise Answers

By Michael Stefano
eDiets Contributor


1. How can I lose weight?
At a recent medical conference, a prominent physician coined the expression "Foot and Fork Disease” to describe the modern day epidemic of adult and childhood obesity. Too much food, combined with physical inactivity, has resulted in many overweight and unhealthy Americans.

Just telling someone that’s overweight to exercise more and eat right might be an over simplification of the process, but one that needs to be shouted from the rooftops of every big city and small town across this country. However, what people need to learn is that small adjustments can result in big changes.

2. How can I reduce my gut (or butt, or thighs)?
Spot training, or exercising to trim a specific area of your body, is an obsolete concept. Fat is the gas tank of the human body, and it is miraculously stored from head to toe -- with the heaviest concentration of fat in the abdominal and hip area. We don’t get to choose where the fat will be released first. Thankfully, belly fat is usually the first to go.

3. What’s more important, diet or exercise?
It’s a 50/50 proposition, with these two facets of fitness synergistically supporting one another. Without the right amount of fuel and nutrients, an exercise program will produce no results. Too much fuel will clog up the system and obliterate any fitness gains.

Look your best by getting in shape. eDiets has 24 different programs that can help. Pick one that best suits your preferences and needs by visiting eDiets .

You must eat sensibly without starving yourself. You must also combine this with three or four systematic, well-thought-out, 20- or 30-minute workouts, repeated over a period of a few short months. This the only approach that will really work.

4. Do I have to work out every day?
No. Overdoing it is a common beginner’s mistake. I rarely recommend anyone train more than five days per week, and I personally train only three. The rest and recuperation phase of any program is just as important as the active phase. When getting started on a new program, spread out your enthusiasm to avoid burn out.

5. If I workout and get in shape, then stop, will my muscle turn to fat?
No. Muscles contract and generate movement. Fat acts as the muscle’s fuel, supporting the process. One never becomes the other. Because fat is consumed by muscle, it’s logical to assume that having more muscle results in an overall reduction in stored body fat.

6. What’s the best time of day to exercise?
Whenever you can. There are pros and cons for every time of day, but your body will actually adapt to a schedule and be slightly stronger at your usual workout time -- whenever that happens to be. For athletes, or those seeking to push the performance envelope, this might have a slight impact. However, for the rest of us, just exercise whenever it’s most convenient.

7. Is walking as good as jogging?
Walking, jogging, swimming, cycling or any other form of aerobic exercise serves one main purpose, to elevate heart and breathing rate. The mode of exercise is secondary to its effect on heart and breathing rate.

Intensity is measured by the heart rate achieved during the session, coupled with the duration of the workout. For some individuals, it may be necessary to break into a slow jog to achieve aerobic levels, while others find brisk walking does the trick.

8. Am I too old, or am I too young, to exercise?
No. While intense weight lifting or running might not be for everyone, most people will benefit from some form of physical activity. As a society, we’ve become less and less active. To overcome this lack of activity, the American Counsel on Exercise recommends exercise for senior citizens as well as children. They have even organized Operation Fit Kids as a way to help overcome the trend towards childhood obesity in the United States.

9. If I lift weights, will I get too bulky?
Stay away from the steroids, and you’ll have nothing to worry about. Most women and men won’t put on more than a few pounds of muscle without taking extreme measures. Most likely you’ll just tone up and reshape your body without the characteristic bulk of a power lifter or body builder.

Depending upon many factors (many inherited from your ancestors), advances in tone, body fat levels, strength and endurance will come without a tremendous increase in size. Regardless, you’re in control of the overall effect of any weight-lifting regimen. By manipulating sets, repetitions and rest, you can easily regulate results.

10. What’s the deal with sets and reps?
A set is a series of repetitions. A repetition (rep) is performing a movement from beginning to end, through a full range of motions -- to some level of muscle fatigue. Most people do too many sets and poor quality reps. If you’re training properly, a typical workout should be no more than 10 to 15 total sets of 10 to 20 repetitions, utilizing perfect form. If training at higher intensity levels, even fewer sets can be just as effective.

Milk: half gallon a day OK?

Q: My friend drinks a half gallon a day, is that healthy?
A: I don't think milk can harm a person unless he or she is lactose-intolerant. On the other hand, any food can bring in too many calories. The half gallon a day your friend consumes can be the only daily food or can add to overeating.

Nonfat or low-fat dairy lowered the risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, enhanced weight loss, lowered blood pressure and the risk of insulin-resistance syndrome. USDA recommends three servings daily for a 2,000 calorie diet.

Source: Nutrition Trends: Milk and other dairy products increased by 30 percent...

Tanya Zilberter, PhD

Are fruits OK on a diet?

Q: On a diet, is it bad to eat too much fruits?
A: It depends on what else you eat on daily basis. If you watch fats, fruits are probably completely OK. If you are trying to cut down on carbohydrate, the fruit carbs will definitely add to your daily quota. However, even on a low carb moderate diet such as the Zone Diet, fruits are allowed and on South Beach diet, they are encouraged.

On the Banta Diet that is very low in carbs, allowed are : blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and in later phases, any fruit. Fruit fasting days are suggested.

Read about:

Plums
Peaches
Zone recipes (scroll down for the berry smoothie recipe)


Tanya Zilberter, PhD

Calories in dietary fibers?

Q: Do friendly bacteria in the intestines digest dietary fibers adding to my daily calorie intake?

A: Depending on fiber type, it can be true or not. For example, 1 cup of ground Psyllium husks (96.5g fiber) has 67 Calories. Soluble fibers can be fermented easier than insoluble, finely ground can be expected to yield more calories than not ground, cooked (like in bran muffins) are easier fermented as well.

Also, to successfully ferment a food, one has to have healthy and active friendly bacteria in the intestines and avoid combining fiber-containing food with foods that interfere with the fermentation process, e.g., strong tea, acid foods, or alcohol.

There's a theory claiming that digestive systems of every species, including human beings, are designed with certain foods in mind. As long as we stick with these foods, our enzymes extract maximal amount of calories out of them. The problem is, scientists cant decide what those foods are for us humans.

For one thing, a very successful diet by Russian MD Galina Shatalova consists of vegetarian foods and in a due time results in very low calorie consumption that nevertheless cover very physically demanding life style prescribed by Dr. Shatalova. If interested, take a look here: Very Low Calorie Diet

Tanya Zilberter, PhD

How to work most sinful favorite foods into your diet

Q: What is better: one "cheat" day per week or a couple of "cheat" meals during the week?

A: It's not productive in the long term to totally deprive yourself of foods you enjoy. What you have to do is find a sensible way to work even your most "sinful" favorite foods into your diet, but do it in an amount and frequency that doesn't set you back or sabotage your progress. This can be done by allowing yourself some "cheat meals" (some people call them "free meals" or "reward meals.")

One really good way to look at the "cheat meals" concept is in terms of "compliance," which means, what percentage of your meals are following the guidelines of the program and what percentage are off the program.

Too many meals or days off the program and your results are compromised. Too many days in a row eating nothing but "rabbit food" and you go crazy with cravings, right?

How much you need to comply (stick with) your program varies from person to person. It depends a lot on how ambitious your goals are and on how responsive your body is to nutrition and exercise.

When making your decision, keep in mind we all have different genetics and body types, which is something I discuss in great detail in chapter 5 of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle (www.burnthefat.com).

Are you a carb-tolerant mesomorph who gains muscle easily and loses fat easily or are you a carb-sensitive endomorph who gains fat easily? Depending on the answer, your diet program may need to be more or less strict than others.

Don't compare yourself to others - you have to get to know your own body type. Some people can "Get away with" more cheat meals and still make progress (Yeah, I hate them too!)

Unless you're a competitor in physique sports like bodybuilding, fitness or figure, or you're getting ready for some type of transformation challenge or photo shoot, I suggest at least 90% compliance.

Whether you adjust your level of compliance above 90% (get more "strict") or below 90% (get more lenient), depends how far away or close you are from achieving your goals, and most importantly, on what kind of results you're getting each week.

If you're complying 90% of the time, and you are getting awesome results, you don't have to change a thing, and you may be able to loosen up your diet a little. I know some people who are definitely only "on the program" 80% or 85% of the time and they look great.

90% compliance means you are following healthy nutritious, fat burning eating guidelines 9 meals out of 10. If you're eating small frequent meals like the burn the fat program suggests, that's 5 small meals a day X 7 days a week = 35 meals. 90% compliance means about 31-32 of those meals are spot-on! The other 3 or 4 are for you to enjoy special occasions, reward yourself, and live a little.

If you're like most people, and you simply want to drop a few pounds, trim a few inches off your waistline and look better in shorts or in a swimsuit for summer, then 100% compliance is unrealistic AND unnecessary. 90% compliance is more realistic as a lifesytle, while being strict enough for most people to get results.

On the other hand, if you had a very ambitious goal like preparing for a figure or fitness competition and you thought you had to reach at least 12 or 13% body fat (which is very low for women), and you knew you would be onstage with judges looking at every inch of your body in a teeny bikini (paying very close attention to whether anything on your butt and thighs was "jiggling"), then you would want to be as strict as possible during the pre contest diet period (100% compliance or very close to it).

Keep in mind also, that this is a competitive situation and every time you "cheat" and your competitors don't cheat, you decrease your probability of placing high in the contests.

Unless you have a competitive physique goal like this, however, then total deprivation of pleasure foods or cheat meals (100% compliance), is not necessary because you always tend to crave what you cannot have. That's a binge waiting to happen.

I prefer this 90 or 95% compliance approach over the "entire day of cheating" approach, because I have seen people use the term "cheat day" pretty darn loosely (basically making it the equivalent of BINGE DAY), and they do a lot of damage in terms of setting their progress back.

They end up frantically playing "catch up" for the better half of the following week with punishing extra exercise and dietary deprivation. Slow and steady is better than binge and punish don't you agree?

Allow yourself some leeway. Enjoy food. Enjoy life. Have your pizza, or chocoloate or your hash browns or whatever makes your stomach happy. It will help, not hurt in the long run. Just be sure to be mindful of your calorie limits, and when you say you are going to comply 90% of the time, then keep your promise to yourself and comply!

For more information about dieting for fat loss, visit: Burn The Fat

About the Author:


Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle."

Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print
magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding,
Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as
on hundreds of websites worldwide. For information on Tom's Fat Loss
program, visit: Burn The Fat

Does Food Fat Go Directly to the Body's Fat?

Q: Can the body add an ingested fat molecule directly to your body's fat, so that eating fat makes you fatter? Or, does the body have to break down a fat molecule first and that then, if there is an excess of calories in the system, the body creates fat from the excess calories?

A: That's right that "the body has to break down a fat molecule first" but this is true for any fuel the body uses, carbohydrates including.

Carbohydrate is the source of energy the body prefers, this is why we are so addicted to sweet taste. However, when there's little or no carbohydrates, the body eventually switch to running on by-products of fat metabolism, ketone bodies. Once the state of ketosis is established, one good thing happens: the body starts considering its own fat as legitimate fuel and doesn't get into the hungry mode for as long as there's enough fat to metabolize and use for energy, from food or from body's fat depots.

To achieve and maintain the state of ketosis, one has to consume roughly two times more fat than carbs and protein combined.

Another interesting thing about low carb, high fat diets is, as a clinical research showed, that people on these diets can eat up to 300 Calories a day more than their fellows on low fat high carb diet and still lose more weight.

Read more:

The Body's Fuel
Calorie Intake On Atkins and Low Carb Diets (3 studies)
Fat burning Rate Increases With the Increase of the Anti-insulin Index


Tanya Zilberter, PhD

Upper Body Exercise for a Marathon Runner

Q: I am a college student training for the next Boston Marathon as a beginner; have gained muscle almost completely in the thigh and buttock area. Can you suggest anything that might help nutritionally while trimming me up a little bit? Do you think that some alternate exercise is the best way to go?

A: You might want to figure out what's going on with your body composition -- click here

As to exercise, I cant even start imagining what could be possible a good additional exercise to a marathon runner. Maybe upper body weight training? Take a look at our virtual gym's exercise demos:

Triceps
Biceps
Military Press
Pull Up
Dumbbell Behind

= Tanya Zilberter, PhD

Calorie deficit to lose 10 lb.?

Q: How many calories should I take in a day to lose 10 lb.? I weigh 146 lbs and am 5'8 and 46 years old. I do cardio 4-5 x a week and some light weights each of those days as well.

A: Let's do a daily calorie count to lose 1 pounds a week

To calculate your daily calorie needs, take your weight in pounds and multiply by:

• physically active male - by 15
• physically active female - by 12
• physically inactive male - by 13
• physically inactive female - by 10

The result is the amount of Calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. To lose 1 pound of body fat, you need to create a negative calorie balance of 3,500 Cal. a week or 500 Cal. a day. How should you do this?

You can eat 500 Cal. less or exercise 500 Cal. more or split it 250/250 Cal.

To spend 500 Cal. by exercising, you need one of these one hour workouts:

Rowing
Running 11.5 minute mile
Kickboxing
Cross country skiing
Swimming laps freestyle
Bicycling (vigorous effort)
Walking up stairs

If you limit your daily calorie intake by 250 Cal., you can do one of the above exercises for 30 minutes a day.

HOWEVER, there's a totally different approach and not only I personally believe in it, but I monitored the progress of nearly 1,500 dieters on the program I developed. This plan worked for 92 percent of them without counting calories and the champion lost 1 pounds in one week!

One good thing about it is that it's free. Take a look: click here

12 things about loose skin after weight losses

Loose Skin And Weight Loss
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS

I receive a lot of e-mail from people with loose skin or from overweight people who are concerned about having loose skin after they lose the weight. Just recently, I received this email from a reader of my syndicated "Ask Tom" fat loss column:

“Tom, I began a fat loss program using your Burn The Fat program and it worked so well I got down to 15 1/2 stones (from 19). However, this has caused me a problem: Excess abdominal skin. I didn't crash lose this weight, it came off at the rate of about 2 lbs. per week just like you recommended. Now I'm unsure of whether to carry on, as my abdomen has quite a lot of excess skin - I feel like I've turned into a bloody Shar-Pei!

Does everyone go through this? Will the skin tighten up? I was overweight for more than 12 years. Am I going to end up needing surgical skin removal? Can you offer me any advice? I'm a medical student in the UK and my colleagues seem determined to proffer surgery as the only option."

My answer included 12 things you should know about loose skin after very large weight losses:

1. Skin is incredibly elastic. Just look at what women go through during pregnancy. Skin has the ability to expand and contract to a remarkable degree.

2. Elasticity of skin tends to decrease with age.How much your skin will return to its former tautness depends partly on age. The older you get, the more an extremely large weight loss can leave loose skin that will not return to normal.

3. Wrinkling and loss of elasticity is partly the consequence of genetic factors and aging, but also a result of environmental factors such as oxidative stress, excessive sun exposure, nutritional deficiency and rapid weight loss. The environmental parts you can fix, the genetics and age part, you cannot. Advice: Get moving and change the things you have control over... Be realistic and don't worry about those things you don't have control over.

4. How long you carry extra weight has a lot to do with how much the skin will become taut after the weight loss: For example, compare a 9 month pregnancy with 9 years carrying 100 excess pounds.

5. How much weight was carried has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so much and be expected to "snap back" one hundred percent.

6. How fast the weight was gained also has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so quickly and be expected to "snap back."

7. How fast weight is lost also has a lot to do with how much the skin will tighten up. Rapid weight loss doesn't allow the skin time to slowly resume to normal. (yet another reason to lose fat slowly; 1-2 pounds per week, 3 pounds at the most if you have a lot of weight to lose, and even then, only if you are measuring body fat and you’re certain it's fat you’re losing, not lean tissue).

8. There are exceptions to all of the above; i.e, people who gained and then lost incredible amounts of weight quickly at age 50 or 60, and their skin returned 100% to normal.

9. There are many creams advertised as having the ability to restore the tightness of your skin. It's possible that some topical treatments or creams might temporarily improve the appearance of the skin, but none are likely to work permanently for the long term – and especially if you have a lot of loose skin. Don't waste your money.

10. If you’re considering surgical skin removal, consult a physician for advice because this is not a minor operation, but keep in mind that your plastic surgeon may be making his BMW payments with your abdominoplasty money. (Surgery may be recommended in situations where it's not 100% necessary). Surgery should be left as the ABSOLUTE FINAL option in extreme cases.

11. Give your skin time. Your skin will get tighter as your body fat gets lower. I've seen and heard of many cases where the skin gradually tightened up, at least partially, after a one or two year period where the weight loss was maintained and exercise continued (including weight training exercise to increase lean body mass)

12. Know your body fat percentage before even THINKING about surgery. Loose skin is one thing, but still having body fat is another. Be honest with yourself and do that by taking your body fat measurement. This can be done with skinfold calipers or a variety of other devices (calipers might not be the best method if you have large folds of loose skin. Look into impedance analysis, underwater weighing, DEXA or Bod Pod).

Suppose for example, a man drops from 35% body fat all the way down to 20%. He should be congratulated, but I would tell him, "Don't complian about loose skin, your body fat is still high. Press onward and keep getting leaner.”

Average body fat for men is in the mid teens (16% or so) Good body fat for men is 10-12%, and single digits is extremely lean (men shouldn’t expect to look “ripped” with 100% tight skin on the abs unless they have single digit body fat, and women low teens).

Except in extreme cases, you are unlikely to see someone with loose skin who has very low body fat. It's quite remarkable how much your skin can tighten up and literally start to “cling” to your abdominal muscles once your body fat goes from “average” to "excellent." Someone with legitimate single digit body fat and a ton of loose skin is a rare sight.

So... the key to getting tighter skin is to lose more body fat, (and build more muscle), up to the point where your body composition rating is BETTER than average (in the “good” to “great” category, not just "okay"). Only AFTER you reach your long term body fat percentage goal should you give thought to "excess skin removal." At that point, admittedly, there are bound to be a few isolated cases where surgery is necessary if you can’t live with the amount of loose skin remaining.

However, unless you are really, really lean, it's difficult to get a clear picture of what is loose skin, what is just remaining body fat and how much further the skin will tighten up when the rest of the fat is lost.

If you need help getting rid of that last little bit of body fat, then visit the home page to get information on How to start the Burn The Fat program:

CLICK HERE TO ORDER NOW

Why am I not losing weight?

Dr Zilberter Answers Your Questions

(Originally answered on AllExperts)

Question: Why am I not losing weight? The reason can be metabolic resistance.

A little background....

I am a 37 year old 5 foot tall female--I weigh 122 lb. and have 36% body fat (as measured by Bod Pod). My oldest child is 3 1/2 years old. Prior to becoming pregnant, I weighed about 100-105, exercised regularly and was typically under 20% body fat. After having my first child (and having gestational diabetes and gaining 60 pounds), I found it very difficult to take weight off... in fact, I was on the South Beach Diet for 7 months, nursed the baby and walked 3 miles a day, 5 days a week and lost a TOTAL of 7 pounds. Since my second child, I am finding I am having the same problem. I recently had a full metabolic check using a VO2 and found that my daily intake to lose weight should be somewhere between 1100-1410 per day. Additionally, my target heart rate should be about 150 BPM max.

My metabolic rate measured at 13% above average. For the last 3 weeks, I have followed a lower fat, lower, but healthy carb diet at around 1200 cals/day -- eating protein paired with carb every three hours, no refined sugar or white flour, lean proteins like fish, tofu and chicken. I drink about 64-96 ounces of water a day .I do 40-60 minutes of cardio in my target zone 6 days per week and weight train 3 days a week. I have started taking green tea extract and CLA to help boost my metabolism as I was not seeing the scale move. Since starting, I have gained 2.5 pounds.

My clothing does not fit any differently. Frankly, I would rather stop working out and killing myself diet wise if I can just eat whatever I want and weigh 2 pounds more. I have had my thyroid checked in the past but with no problems (my mother has hypothyroidism). Any other suggestions on what might be going on? Blood work you can suggest for my doc? It just doesn't seem reasonable to me that I would not be losing weight on this very healthy and sensible diet/exercise plan (or the plan I was on in the past). Maybe I should continue cutting calories back?

Thanks

Jodi

Answer: Dear Jodi,

I think your problem can be your metabolic resistance. For this condition, as recent research showed, you might want a different eating and exercising approach. For one thing, the South Beach diet is too low in fat to shift your metabolic mode from running on carbohydrates to running on fat (utilizing ketone bodies instead of glucose) and your exercise plan can be missing the high intensity component.

I suggest that you learn about these things and when you have further questions (you'll definitely will) contact me again.

Here's the reading:

About Metabolic Syndrome

Weight Loss With Metabolic Resistance

The Anti-insulin to Pro-insulin Nutrient Ratio in Foods

Best Exercise Type

Interval Training Efficient for Metabolic Syndrome

If I eat what the DietWatch guidelines say, I'd be consuming at least 300-400 more calories a day

Eat Enough to Lose Weight
by Jennifer May, M.S., R.D., M.S.
From DietWatch

Q: There is much information on eating too much and cutting back on food, but what if you don't eat enough to start with? I eat roughly 900-1000 calories a day, and run 5-6 times a week, plus lift weights 3 times a week. Yet I never seem to drop weight. If I cut back on food, I have no idea what to drop -- my protein shake, my plain vegetables, boiled chicken? If I eat what the DietWatch guidelines say, I'd be consuming at least 300-400 more calories a day than I presently eat. Wouldn't I then gain weight?

A: You will not lose weight if you don't eat enough, especially since you exercise so often. Your body uses, and needs, energy (calories) to function properly. If you are not providing enough energy for those needs, your metabolism will slow down, and 900-1000 calories per day are simply not enough. I recommend increasing your intake and seeing what happens. I also recommend that you focus on obtaining your nutrients through whole foods versus shakes or supplements. Lean meats, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, nuts, seeds, beans - these are all excellent sources of protein. Your exercise routine sounds great - your body just needs more energy for its daily functions.

---

Jennifer May, M.S., R.D., M.S. is the Manager of Nutrition Services for DietWatch. Jennifer has provided nutrition and fitness counseling in a variety of settings, including medical facilities, assisted living communities, health and wellness organizations, and educational institutions. She has also produced articles, newsletters, and other educational materials and has appeared on radio and television. Jennifer holds two master's degrees from Indiana University, one in nutrition science and one in exercise physiology.

Dr. Agatston's Q&A: I've decided to start The South Beach Diet...

Advice for New Dieters?

Q: For my New Year's resolution, I've decided to start The South Beach Diet. What advice can you give me before I dive in?-- Kate

The Doctor-Designed South Beach Diet

Members get exclusive access to Dr. Agatston's full Q&A archive, live chats, and up-to-the-minute advice. Join Today >

A: Congratulations on making the decision to change your life! You've picked a good time of year to start a diet -- the holidays are behind you and the spirit of healthy living is in the air. Here are a few things to know before you begin:

• You will have more energy and be in a better mood. When you cut out sugar and high-glycemic carbohydrates from your diet, you'll probably find that you have more energy throughout the day. Add exercise to the mix and you'll be unstoppable.
• Say goodbye to your favorite foods for a short time -- they'll be back later. No food is entirely off-limits on The South Beach Diet. I've made recommendations for what to eat and what to avoid, but ultimately it's up to you to control your own diet. In other words, it's OK to splurge from time to time as long as you're prepared for the consequences.
• Find a diet buddy — having the support of a friend or loved one is the key to success. It's hard to achieve greatness on your own. You can find a buddy on The South Beach Diet Online or enlist a friend or a family member. This person should offer encouragement and be there for you when challenges arise.
• You can lose weight on The South Beach Diet without vigorous exercise -- but exercise will help. A mere 20 minutes of walking each day will speed up weight loss, improve mood, and help you sleep better.
• Make sure you're ready for the commitment. The South Beach Diet is not a quick fix. It's a long-term lifestyle change meant to alter the way you think about food. If you can see yourself following these recommendations a year from now, then you're ready for success.

Arthur Agatston, M.D.

Facts about water and weight loss

Just how much water do you really need?

From Christian Finn's Facts About Fitness

You've heard it a thousand times: To stay healthy, drink plenty of water.

Because your body consists mostly of water (50-70% of body weight), fitness magazines, newspapers and diet gurus all recommend we drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses (roughly 1.9 liters) of water a day.

According to conventional wisdom, your performance in the gym suffers if you don't drink enough water. But up until the late 1960s, athletes were advised not to drink during exercise. Experts at the time believed that it made athletic performance worse rather than better [4].

"Whatever the water is, tap or bottled, we need to drink more water," says Dr. Barbara Levine, director of the human nutrition program at the Rockefeller University in New York City. "People are drinking far too much alcohol and caffeinated beverages, which are dehydrating," she says.

Such advice is considered common knowledge, and many articles in the medical and popular press make similar recommendations.

According to a report published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, to be well hydrated, the average sedentary adult man "must consume at least 2,900 milliliters (12 cups) fluid per day, and the average sedentary adult woman at least 2,200 milliliters (9 cups) fluid per day, in the form of noncaffeinated, nonalcoholic beverages, soups, and foods" [9].

Other experts disagree, recommending that one should only consume water "when thirsty."

Why all the conflicting and confusing information? Is it true that water can help you lose weight? Can it, as some claim, reduce your risk for heart disease?

Just how much water do you really need?

The rest of this report is available in the Members-Only Area. Subscribe to the Members-Only Area and you'll enjoy immediate access to a "secret vault" of expert knowledge and university-tested tips and tricks you can use to shed stubborn fat once and for all... get bigger biceps, broader shoulders, a bigger bench press... or strip away the fat from your belly to reveal a flat and attractive stomach. Click here now to join.

How Many Calories Do I Need?

Ask the Dietitian: How Many Calories Do You Need?
by Jennifer May, M.S., R.D., M.S.
For DietWatch

Q: How many calories should I eat? I have been trying to stay at or under 1200 -- that includes pizza and a malted milk this week. Does it matter how I eat my foods? Should grains be with a fruit, etc.?

A: The number of calories you need in order to lose weight will depend on your current weight, age, height and build, and activity level. When you enrolled in DietWatch, you should have completed a brief assessment that gave you a calorie goal based on this information. Use DietWatch's Daily Calorie Balance as a guide. If you are consuming fewer calories than you are burning off (through daily activity, formal exercise, and regular metabolic functions), then you will lose weight. Please bear in mind that your daily calorie balance is only an estimate; however, the more consistent and accurate you are about logging your food intake and your exercise, the more useful your daily calorie balance will be.

Remember that the quality of the foods you eat is just as important as the quantity. Planning a calorie budget is very similar to planning out your financial budget. When dollars are limited, you must pay for the essential items before you are able to purchase any "extras." Similarly, when you are limiting your calories, you must plan to get all your nutrients into your calorie allotment before "budgeting" for empty-calorie treats. Just as you wouldn't buy an expensive stereo and leave your mortgage unpaid, it's unwise to "spend" your calories on junk food and not get the vitamins and minerals your body needs. You also need to balance your meals with complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, whole grains), protein, and healthy fats. This will help keep you from becoming hungry too soon, and it is better for balancing blood sugars to help prevent sudden drops and fatigue. Fortunately, DietWatch makes planning your calorie budget a snap!

You may have noticed that we don't offer any meal plans below 1200 calories; indeed, if you go below 1200, you will get an automatic "poor" score for your calorie consumption for that day. This is because cutting your calories too low poses several health risks. The lower you slash your calorie intake, the harder it is to get those nutrients. Also, you could slow down your metabolism and end up putting your body into "starvation mode" -- meaning that instead of burning fat rapidly, your body struggles to hang onto every calorie. We strongly discourage you from cutting calories below 1200 without a physician's approval and supervision.

---

Jennifer May, M.S., R.D., M.S. is the Manager of Nutrition Services for DietWatch. Jennifer has provided nutrition and fitness counseling in a variety of settings, including medical facilities, assisted living communities, health and wellness organizations, and educational institutions. She has also produced articles, newsletters, and other educational materials and has appeared on radio and television. Jennifer holds two master's degrees from Indiana University, one in nutrition science and one in exercise physiology.

What can I do about my loose, sagging skin?

Everything You Need To Know About Loose Skin And Weight Loss

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Burn the Fat

If you're extremely overweight or if you've been extremely overweight in the past, then you know that getting rid of excess weight is only one of the challenges you face. Once the fat is gone, you are often confronted with an equally frustrating cosmetic problem; Loose skin.

I receive a lot of e-mail from people with loose skin or from overweight people who are concerned about having loose skin after they lose the weight. Just recently, I received this email from a reader of my syndicated "Ask Tom" fat loss column:

"Tom, I began a fat loss program using your Burn the Fat program and it worked so well I got down to 15 1/2 stones (from 19). However, this has caused me a problem: Excess abdominal skin. I didn't crash lose this weight, it came off at the rate of about 2 lbs. per week just like you recommended. Now I'm unsure of whether to carry on, as my abdomen has quite a lot of excess skin - I feel like I've turned into a bloody Shar-Pei! (You know, as in the dog!)

Does everyone go through this? Will the skin tighten up? I was overweight for more than 12 years. Am I going to end up needing surgical skin removal? Can you offer me any advice? I'm a medical student in the UK and my colleagues seem determined to proffer surgery as the only option."

My answer included 12 things you should know about loose skin after very large weight losses:

1. Skin is incredibly elastic. Just look at what women go through during pregnancy. Skin has the ability to expand and contract to a remarkable degree.

2. Elasticity of skin tends to decrease with age. Wrinkling and loss of elasticity is partly the consequence of aging (genetic factors) and also a result of environmental factors such as oxidative stress, excessive sun exposure, and nutritional deficiency. The environmental parts you can fix, the genetics and age part, you cannot. Advice: Get moving and change the things you have control over... Be realistic and don't worry about those things you don't have control over.

3. How much your skin will return to its former tautness depends partly on age. The older you get, the more an extremely large weight loss can leave loose skin that will not return to normal.

4. How long you carry extra weight has a lot to do with how much the skin will become taut after the weight loss: For example, compare a 9 month pregnancy with 9 years carrying 100 excess pounds.

5. How much weight was carried has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so much and be expected to "snap back" one hundred percent.

6. How fast the weight was gained also has a lot to do with how much the skin will resume a tight appearance. Your skin can only be stretched so quickly and be expected to "snap back."

7. How fast weight is lost also has a lot to do with how much the skin will tighten up. Rapid weight loss doesn't allow the skin time to slowly resume to normal. (yet another reason to lose fat slowly; 1-2 pounds per week, 3 pounds at the most if you have a lot of weight to lose, and even then, only if you are measuring body fat and you’re certain it's fat you’re losing, not lean tissue).

8. There are exceptions to all of the above; i.e, people who gained and then lost incredible amounts of weight quickly at age 50 or 60, and their skin returned 100% to normal.

9. There are many creams advertised as having the ability to restore the tightness of your skin. None are likely to work – at least not permanently and measurably – and especially if you have a lot of loose skin. Don't waste your money.

10. If you’re considering surgical skin removal, consult a physician for advice because this is not a minor operation, but keep in mind that your plastic surgeon may be making his BMW payments with your abdominoplasty money. (Surgery may be recommended in situations where it's not 100% necessary). Surgery should be left as the ABSOLUTE FINAL option in extreme cases.

11. Give your skin time. Your skin will get tighter as your body fat gets lower. I've seen and heard of many cases where the skin gradually tightened up, at least partially, after a one or two year period where the weight loss was maintained and exercise continued.

12. Know your body fat percentage before even THINKING about surgery. Loose skin is one thing, but still having body fat is another. Be honest with yourself and do that by taking your body fat measurement. This can be done with skinfold calipers or a variety of other devices (calipers might not be the best method if you have large folds of loose skin. Look into impedance analysis, underwater weighing, DEXA or Bod Pod).

Suppose for example, a man drops from 35% body fat all the way down to 20%. He should be congratulated, but I would tell him, "Don't complian about loose skin, your body fat is still high. Press onward and keep getting leaner."

Average body fat for men is in the mid teens (16% or so) Good body fat for men is 10-12%, and single digits is extremely lean (men shouldn’t expect to look "ripped" with 100% tight skin on the abs unless they have single digit body fat, and women low teens).

Except in extreme cases, you are unlikely to see someone with loose skin who has very low body fat. It's quite remarkable how much your skin can tighten up and literally start to "cling" to your abdominal muscles once your body fat goes from "average" to "excellent." Someone with legitimate single digit body fat and a ton of loose skin is a rare sight.

So... the key to getting tighter skin is to lose more body fat, (and build more muscle), up to the point where your body composition rating is BETTER than average (in the "good" to "great" category, not just "okay"). Only AFTER you reach your long term body fat percentage goal should you give thought to "excess skin removal." At that point, admittedly, there are bound to be a few isolated cases where surgery is necessary if you can’t live with the amount of loose skin remaining.

However, unless you are really, really lean, it's difficult to get a clear picture of what is loose skin, what is just remaining body fat and how much further the skin will tighten up when the rest of the fat is lost.

Need help getting rid of that last bit of body body fat? Click here to find out how to do it the natural way

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle." Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. For information on Tom's Fat Loss program, visit Burn the Fat

What happens if you wait more than three hours before you eat?

Who's right about meal frequency and weight loss?

By Christian Finn, founder and owner of The Facts About Fitness

For years, we've been told that eating little and often—grazing rather than gorging—helps you lose weight, control your hunger and stay healthier.

"Countless numbers of research studies have confirmed the power of eating every three hours," writes Jorge Cruise, author of the 3-Hour Diet.

What happens if you wait more than three hours before you eat?

According to Cruise, your body "passes a tipping point and signals your body to launch its natural 'starvation protection mechanism' or your SPM. When your SPM is switched on, your body preserves the most calorie-rich tissue in the body to ensure your survival. That tissue is body fat."

"Anytime you allow more than three hours to pass without eating," Cruise adds, "your body not only preserves body fat, but worst of all it begins to cannibalize precious fat-burning muscle. Yes, by waiting more than three hours to eat you lose muscle tissue."

As you might have guessed, not everyone agrees that eating little and often is the best way to eat if you want to lose fat. Some argue that stop-start eating, as they claim our hunter-gatherer ancestors did, is actually a better option.

Eating six or seven meals makes you "more resistant to the action of insulin," says Evolutionary Fitness guru Art De Vany. "Hence, your body must make more of it. As your insulin drifts upward and you become resistant, you're on your way to the Metabolic Syndrome X: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, and a pre-diabetic state. No wonder a number of bodybuilders develop diabetes."

In The Warrior Diet , Ori Hofmekler rejects the "six mini-meals" a day approach and claims you can attain excellent health by following a daily feeding cycle of "undereating" during the day and "overeating" at night.

According to Hofmekler, eating one meal a day at night "puts the body in a most beneficial biological cycle in which it...

The rest of this report is available in the Members-Only Area.

Subscribe to the Members-Only Area and you'll enjoy immediate access to a "secret vault" of expert knowledge and university-tested tips and tricks you can use to shed stubborn fat once and for all... get bigger biceps, broader shoulders, a bigger bench press... or strip away the fat from your belly to reveal a flat and attractive stomach.
Click here now to join.

What's an Efficient Workout?

"Dear Raphael: What do you consider efficient weight training?" --Anonymous

You have to consider your specific goal, but three to four days per week at an hour or less for each session of weight training with a focus on compound movements, excellent form and strategic overload would be considered efficient.

All areas should be worked, starting with the large-muscle groups and working down to the smaller ones. For symmetry and balanced strength, work quadriceps, hamstrings, back, chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, calves, butt and abdominals. Squats, leg press, walking lunge and leg extensions are great for the quadriceps.

Do seated or lying leg curls for the hamstrings. Dumbbell row, seated row, chin ups, lat pull downs and back extensions are good for your back muscles. The incline press, bench press and dumbbell press work your chest muscles. Do dumbbell overhead presses, lateral raises and rear raises for the shoulders.

Lying curl bar or dumbbell extensions and cable push downs are great for the triceps. Perform dumbbell curls and barbell curls for your biceps. You can do seated and standing toe raises for the calves, squats for the butt and double crunches and hip lifts for your abs.

Rest and recuperation is also important and any muscle group should never be worked on two consecutive days.

A drug-free competitive bodybuilder and 2005 winner of the prestigious WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation) Pro Card, Raphael Calzadilla is a veteran of the health-and-fitness industry. He specializes in a holistic approach to body transformation, nutrition programs and personal training. He earned his B.A. in communications from Southern Connecticut State University and is certified as a personal trainer with ACE and APEX. In addition, he successfully completed the RTS1 program based on biomechanics.

Looking for more information?Visit eDiets and Raphael’s support group (Fitness For You) for interactive support! We all know fitness is a vital part of living a healthy lifestyle -- let Raphael and eDiets help you on your way!

Do you have a fitness question? E-mail Fitness@eDiets.com.