Let’s begin by considering what has been the weight control mantra for decades: EAT LESS….EXERCISE MORE.
It’s clean, compact, easy to say, easy to remember, and easy to commit to first thing every morning. As long as you remain in bed, everything is fine. As soon as your feet hit the floor, and your day begins for real, the struggle begins.
You find yourself already behind schedule; or you’re just too lazy to prepare a proper breakfast, even though you KNOW it is the most important meal of the day. Good thing there are a few pastries in the cupboard, huh?
You delude yourself into thinking that since the pastry was rather small, you’ve just had a “light” breakfast. (So far you are “EATING LESS”; and you promise yourself that you’ll get to the gym later in the day and really “EXERCISE MORE”.
The caffeine and sugar combine to give you a sufficient “buzz” to get you started…either off to work, or as far as finding the remote and settling down on the couch with only minutes to spare. (Before Jeopardy comes on)
You’re not crazy about your job, and today is more stressful that usual; or, JEOPARDY turns out to be one that you’ve already seen seven times. By now, your “pseudo-breakfast buzz” is wearing off, and now you are really, really hungry; but it’s still an hour and a half till lunch. So maybe just a “light snack” to carry you through.
Four or five hundred empty calories later, you’re feeling a bit better; and yes, you are still “EATING LESS”. And you promise to “EXERCISE MORE” by expanding this afternoon’s workout to include an extra fifteen minutes on the treadmill.
Can you see where this is going?
Although it may remain true, on the surface, that you are “eating less”, the reality is that you are actually eating more, lots more…empty calories from nutritionaly empty semi-food junk.
Couple this with the reality of most non-exercise days. How many times out of 10 does something come up which prevents you from getting anywhere close to the exercise you promised upon awakening?
Before you know it, it’s bedtime; and since your evening meal probably consisted of some totally unsatisfying, pre-packaged nightmare, you are starving for the traditional bed-time snack. (But just a “little” one. RIGHT!?)
End Result: If you’re not obese…you are probably still in your teens.
You may fool yourself into thinking that you are “Eating Less” when you are actually consuming MORE. Way more calories than your non-exercised body can possibly burn. And we all know where that leads. At least I do.
To lose weight effectively, you need a mentor, a system, a program. Tom Venuto’s program BURN THE FAT…FEED THE MUSCLE is one of the more popular and successful fat loss systems. Sensible eating, five times a day; coupled with an understanding of the mental processes involved in weight control and management. The results, notwithstanding a total breakdown during the holidays (some habits need more work), have been outstanding. We are physically and mentally in the best shape that we have been in for years; and instead of becoming more difficult (or even worse…painfully boring), the process continues making more sense with each passing pound.
We can’t recommend this one highly enough. See for yourself at: BURN THE FAT…FEED THE MUSCLE. We’ve also followed some of Tom’s additional recommendations and are now following an exercise routine that provides a total body workout while requiring only minutes a day.