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Module 2
The Basics of
Fat Loss…
Topic 1 - A Calorie is a Calorie… Or Is It?
Trick Question: How many calories do you burn trying to understand
what a calorie is?
A calorie is a unit of energy. More specifically, it is the amount of energy or heat
it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius (1.8
degrees Fahrenheit). It is most often used to access the energy content of food,
though it can measure other amounts of energy in chemistry.
Food calories are represented by a capital C and are 1000 times bigger than
one physicist’s calorie (spelled with a small c). On a nutrition label, it will appear
as “cals” or “Kcal.”
Nutritionists measure the energy content of food in calories with an apparatus
known as the calorimeter. It’s a device that measures the heat of chemical
reactions, physical changes, and heat capacity.
Basically, lab coats spend time blowing up your food in a metal container
mixed with water and powder. The higher the temperature of the water and
metal, the more energy (calories) is in the food.
This is as basic as it gets for an explanation, but the process isn’t that
complicated. You can even find easy instructions online for making your own
calorimeter.
All of this boiling of food provides us with how many calories are based in
grams of different macronutrients. When one pound of water is raised 4
degrees Fahrenheit, the amount of heat used in that chosen unit of heat is a
Calorie. How that energy burns in your body is the equivalent to this
experiment.
Thus, we derive the formula for how grams are burned in the body, based on
their macronutrient content.

1 gram of Carbohydrates: 4 Calories

1 gram of Protein: 4 Calories

1gram of Fat: 9 Calories

1 gram of Alcohol: 7 Calories
Using this formula, if all you have is the gram amount for your food items, you
can figure up the caloric amount on your own.
30 grams of peanut butter has:

16 grams of Fat

6 grams of Carbohydrates

8 grams of Protein
Using the figures we derive:

16 Grams of Fat = 16 x 9 = 144 calories from Fat

6 Grams of Carbohydrates = 6 x 4 = 24 calories from Carbohydrates

8 Grams of Protein = 8 x 4 = 32 calories from Protein
Add those totals together and you get 144 + 24 + 32 = 200 Calories for every
30 grams of peanut butter. 30 grams will roughly equal two tablespoons of
peanut butter.
What Your Body Does with Calories
Professor George Benedek burned a peanut. He stood in the front of a small
class of 50 students and held a peanut on a wire made from a paper clip with
pliers. He then positioned the peanut under a test tube which contained ten
grams of water.
Beneath the peanut was a large pan filled with water. To the side of the room, a
large fire extinguisher rested ready for use in case of a botched experiment.
Benedek proceeded to set the peanut on fire. Soon, drops of oil dripped from
the nut and into the pan of water.
The water in the test tube started to boil. When the peanut finally burned out,
there were only eight grams of water left.
When you eat a peanut your body does the same sort of thing. It converts the
energy stored in the food to energy in order to keep operating. Different
calories do different things; a calorie isn’t just a calorie.
Your body has certain processes and demands that require different supplies of
calories. It’s important that you keep this in mind, not only for fat loss, but life in
general. Look at food as a means to provide you with the function of life.
Sure, function and life can be tasty, but make sure it is smart energy.
Onwards to the next topic…
Topic 2 - How Caloric Burning Works…
Although I don’t teach or encourage calorie counting in this program, it is
essential that you do UNDERSTAND what it is all about.
There is nothing wrong if you do (and can) count your calories and eat
accordingly, it is just a strategy I have seen fail to many times than succeed.
Now, there are 5 categorized components that make up the calories you burn
on a daily basis. This is also called your metabolic rate.
1. Basal Energy Expenditure (BEE)
2. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
3. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
4. Non-Exercise Physical Activity (NEPA)
5. Thermic of Activity (TEA)
Basal Energy Expenditure (BEE) or Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Basal Energy Expenditure is also known as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). This is
the amount of energy (calories) you use while your body is at rest. This is also
known as bed rest calories.
This is the energy it takes for you to perform basic body functions like
breathing, blood flow, and repairing. In short, this is your basic functions of life.
For a coma patient, this energy rate accounts for almost 100% of their
expenditure. For a sedentary office worker who doesn’t exercise, this can
account as high as 75% of their energy expenditure.
For an avid exerciser, it could be as low as 40% of their daily total. This would
only be the case for an elite professional athlete who tops out at their days
caloric expenditure possibilities.
The amount of body weight you have is going to vary into this equation. Fat
and muscle mass will increase basal metabolic rate.
A pound of muscle burns roughly 6 calories at rest. When looking at your body
fat ratio, people often want to take into account total lean body mass. The
problem with that is lean body mass isn’t just muscle.
It is made up of water, organs, blood and more. Of that lean mass, determining
what amount of it is muscle is not a logical feat for the average person.
On top of that, RMR formulas take a basic amount of healthy muscle mass into
consideration. You can see how focusing on the calories your muscle burns is
hardly relevant.
While you may not get a large increase in burn from muscle, you do get an
increase of expenditure from the training it takes to get and keep that muscle.
With a day of strength training and a possible 20 pounds of extra muscle, you
could easily burn 300-400 calories a day over someone at rest with the same
weight.
A common question is ” How much does fat burn? ” Generally, we see
estimates close to 3 calories per pound at rest. It is safe to say muscle at rest
burns roughly 2x that of fat.
If you refer to the previous example of 20 pounds, if one was muscle and the
other was fat, it would be 120 calories versus 60 calories at rest. Nothing
dramatic, but again, look at the means it takes to get there. This is where you
see the detailed importance.
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
This is the amount of energy it takes to digest nutrients in our bodies. Each
macronutrient has a different TEF level. There will be slight variations
depending on your personal digestive system.

Fat: 3-4% of 100 Calories Consumed

Simple Carbohydrates: 4-7% of 100 Calories Consumed

Alcohol: 15-20% of 100 Calories Consumed

Dietary Fibrous Vegetables: 15-20% of 100 Calories Consumed

Protein: 20-25% of 100 Calories Consumed
From this chart, you might say we should live off only meat, veg and liquor.
Well, I wouldn’t recommend guiding only by TEF for two main reasons.
The first being, TEF makes up an extremely small amount of your overall caloric
burn.
The second reason is our reactions to each macronutrient will be unique to the
individual.
For example, you may get a higher TEF from protein, but higher energy spurts
from simple carbohydrates.
The combinations of macronutrients will provide a different TEF than them in
individual consumption. Your energy intake choices will lead to a variety of
difference in your energy expenditure.
Be smart when making decisions about macro intake and try not to get caught
up in hitting the highest numbers possible. In the macronutrient section, I will
discuss more how macro combinations alter metabolic rate.
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogensis (NEAT)
For the purpose of being meticulous, I am separating the sections of NEAT and
NEPA.
NEAT is the movement driven mostly by subconscious behavior. In research,
we see the impact of people’s natural habits directly affected by nutritional
intake on a subconscious level.
NEAT and NEPA are separated because you can’t really alter a subconscious
behavior. You can alter habit and your continuous reactions to feeding can play
a huge role that later could influence subconscious behavior.
Aside from that, we understand NEAT for interest and research, but with little
ability you affect it.
Non-Exercise Physical Activity (NEPA)
NEPA represents low grade activity you do on a day-to-day basis. These are the
calories you burn when walking to the mailbox, washing the dishes, or getting
ready for the day.
This is the energy you expend when technically not trying to get exercise in a
formal manner.
This activity can heighten your caloric expenditure by a lot more than you
think. The average office worker burns roughly 70 calories per hour due to
NEPA activity.
The average waitress burns 120 calories an hour due to NEPA activity. That is
nearly double that of the average office worker.
In an 8 hour shift, the waitress would burn 960 calories while the office worker
would burn 560.
Low levels of NEPA in a day can make creating natural caloric deficits difficult
and lead to a lot of problems with extreme deficits, binging, and overtraining to
compensate for low daily caloric burn.
Low NEPA is a silent killer of fat loss for many and a driving force behind
today’s growing obesity epidemic.
Thermic Effect of Activity (TEA)
TEA is targeted or purposeful exercise. This expenditure category represents
aerobic or anaerobic specific training.
An individual may or may not have TEA output on a daily basis depending on
their training program and lifestyle habits.
While there isn’t a technical label of TEA is research literature, it is safe to
assume TEA factors are higher than 50-55% of MHR. This doesn’t exclude the
benefit of walking specifically for exercise or suggest that low grade
movements can’t count as exercise specific activity.
A Day of Burn
As you can see, when you combine all those things, you have a day’s burn.
There are other factors which increase or decrease your burn.
Some of those things I discuss later in the program, but from injury to the
menstrual cycle, it is endless.
The biggest take away is this – caloric burn is not static. It changes all the time.
Until the day you die, much like a snowflake, you will never burn the same
energy or need the same intake.
Topic 3 - Hormones: Dictators of Metabolism
Hormones play a major role in appetite, metabolism, body weight, and fat
distribution.
Metabolism dictates how fast the body burns energy or stores excess as fat, and
body fat distribution drives the risk profile for development of obesity-related
conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and even some
forms of arthritis.
Obese people have hormone levels that encourage the accumulation of body
fat. This has been suggested to be due to behaviors such as overeating and lack
of regular exercise, which over time derail proper regulation.
While thyroid hormones used to get most of the credit for the obesity
equation, recent research has revealed additional hormones that are more
commonly unbalanced in overweight and obese individuals. Key hormones
include leptin, insulin, ghrelin, adiponectin, growth hormone, cholecystokinin
(CCK), and sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.
They impact appetite, body fat accumulation and composition, and even
metabolic rate. Excesses or deficits of hormones can lead to obesity and, in
turn, obesity can lead to changes in hormones, to create what can become a
vicious cycle. The body is always trying to maintain balance, so it tries to
compensate for imbalances caused by disruptions such as binging and crash
dieting, sometimes in ways that don’t work to your advantage in weight loss
and maintenance.
Fortunately, there is evidence that these changes can be reversed with some
effort: long-term behavior changes, such as healthy eating and regular exercise,
may retrain the body to shed excess body fat and keep it off.
The following are descriptions of these hormones and their key activities –
specifically, how they influence appetite, metabolism, and body weight and
composition, and how lifestyle may make a difference:
Ghrelin
Ghrelin is the body’s most potent innate appetite/hunger stimulant and an
important internal regulator of energy balance. It stimulates food intake and
leads to body weight and fat gain. When activated by a key enzyme, it links the
perception of consumed calories and the control of energy use and storage.
It is believed that substances that work against ghrelin may have therapeutic
potential in obesity. Regular consumption of legumes, also known as pulses,
has been shown to decrease ghrelin and otherwise balance the metabolic
profile.
Insulin
Insulin serves to enable sugar in the blood from eating to enter the cells and
provide energy for organ functions and day-to-day activities. When glucose
enters the cells, levels in the blood drop.
Too much food – meaning more than you burn in activity – or foods high in
simple sugars means too much glucose, which usually means storage in the
body as fat and stress on insulin function, risking resistance.
When the body is significantly overweight or even overfat (a high percentage of
body fat, even independent of weight), insulin function can be impaired, and
glucose levels no longer efficiently balanced, even while insulin levels increase
as a sort of overcompensatory reaction.
This can lead to further weight gain, as well as type 2 diabetes and the related
metabolic syndrome, a condition characterized by a cluster of very serious
cardiovascular-type diseases.
Insulin function or “sensitivity” is related to genetics, weight and weight loss,
physical exercise, and diet. A modern western-type diet high in fat, and
especially saturated and trans -fatty acids, as well as processed foods and
simple sugars, promotes excessive energy intake, imbalance between major
food components (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and insulin dysfunction or
“resistance”.
Studies have shown that less insulin is triggered and more energy is burned
when eating whole foods compared to when eating processed foods.
Additionally, the common lifestyle pattern of three large meals per day means
huge swings in glucose and therefore insulin to maintain normal blood sugar
levels. This encourages fat storage, as the body cannot burn the excess as fast
as it comes in under these conditions. It also taxes insulin function, risking the
decrease known as resistance – the first stage of type 2 diabetes and the
metabolic syndrome.
Consumption of smaller, more frequent well-balanced meals (i.e. six) spread
throughout the day to more frequent intervals represents a pattern that has
been shown to result in smaller glucose and insulin spikes, and improved
insulin function.
It allows the body to process the energy consumed at a less stressful pace,
limiting the amount stored as fat and decreasing the risk of insulin resistance.
Leptin
Leptin is produced by fat cells, and is hence known as “the fat hormone”. It is
one of the “satiety” hormones that reduce appetite by notifying the brain when
the stomach is full.
It also sparks the body’s metabolism, enabling efficient burning of fuel (food)
and controlling how the body accumulates body fat. Leptin levels tend be
higher in obese people than in people of normal weight, much like insulin.
This suggests that these individuals may be more resistant to the effect of leptin
in attaining or maintaining a normal weight. Low leptin levels, observed
following very low-calorie or “crash” diets, have been linked to increased
appetite and slowed metabolic rate – and thus have been suggested as an at
least partial explanation for the virtually unavoidable rebound weight gain
following these diets.
Consumption of soy isoflavones1 has been suggested to reduce leptin in a way
that triggers adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory hormone linked to improved
insulin function.
Adiponectin
Adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory hormone secreted by fat cells that helps
regulate energy balance and the metabolism of sugars and fats, as well as
increase insulin sensitivity. Overweight people often have less circulating
adiponectin than those of normal weight, and what triggers its release from fat
cells is still unclear.
Dietary management has been considered an alternative means of modulating
adiponectin levels. A very thorough review of scientific studies through the year
2010 revealed that consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, or soy
isoflavones, as well as reduction of energy intake combined with exercise,
significantly increased adiponectin levels.
Sex Hormones
Estrogens in women and androgens such as testosterone in men – also
known as “sex hormones” – play a role in body fat distribution. Levels gradually
decrease with age, a change associated with body fat increases and notable
changes in body fat distribution.
Abdominal fat is a higher risk factor for disease than fat stored on the bottom,
hips, and thighs; while women of childbearing age tend to store fat in the lower
body (‘pear-shaped’), older men and postmenopausal women tend to increase
storage of fat around the abdomen (‘apple-shaped’), which is a riskier location
metabolically.
Sex hormones have been suggested to affect leptin levels, a link found to
influence chronic disease risk, particularly cancer.
Excess estrogen in the body has been linked to unhealthy weight gain, and
obesity to excess estrogen; both have been linked to processed/refined foods.
These foods by definition often contain very little fiber, which is necessary to
eliminate excess estrogen and control weight.
They also tend to be high in fat and sugar and low in vital nutrients that help
the liver to process estrogen. Processed/refined foods also contain food
additives that can increase estrogen levels.
Research has suggested that foods that contain natural estrogen or
phytoestrogens, as well as low-fat and high-fiber diets, may help to reduce this
excess estrogen levels in the body. Weight loss has been shown to significantly
lower excess blood levels of both estrogens and testosterone, in a manner that
appears to lower risk for chronic diseases.
Extra-virgin olive oil and soy isoflavones have been observed to protect against
the risks linked to estrogen imbalances.
I generally recommend Soy be consumed only in its fermented or sprouted
form, from organic and unprocessed sources.
Growth Hormone
Growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland in the brain. It influences
an individual’s height and contributes to bone and muscle building, which in
turn affects the metabolic rate.
Research has shown that low levels are associated with a slow metabolism, and
that levels in obese people are lower than those in people of normal weight.
Secretion declines rapidly after sugar ingestion, and its rebound has been
observed to be dependent upon levels of adiponectin and physical activity.
Cortisol
Cortisol production due to stress and/or anxiety has garnered attention for its
role in weight gain – particularly abdominal – related to hormonal imbalance.
Other than the fact that sustained high cortisol levels can lead to intense
cravings and binge eating, high cortisol production can cause imbalance
among other hormones in the body, setting off a chain reaction that has been
shown to impede weight loss efforts.
We will be looking at this specific hormone in more detail later.
Cholecystokinin (CCK)
CCK is released in response to high-protein and especially high-fat meals, and
signals fullness or satiety in the brain. Resistance to CCK has been observed in
obesity, much like insulin and leptin, leading to an impaired satiety response,
triggering a cycle of overeating.
A high-protein diet has been suggested to trigger a bypass of CCK resistance,
and has been linked to resetting of the key eating-satiety feedback mechanism.
GLP-1
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone that signals when food enters
the stomach, to create the sensation of “fullness.” It is also involved blood sugar
balance and insulin function, and so is a key factor in diabetes control.
Of note, these key functions of GLP-1 have been observed to be suppressed
upon consumption of artificial non-caloric sweeteners such as aspartame and
saccharin, impairing the brain’s ability to regulate food consumption, and
resulting in weight gain and high blood sugar levels.
Taken together, numerous studies have shown that other than weight loss
itself, the following lifestyle components are key to normalizing obesity-driving
hormonal disruptions:

A combination of protein and fats at every meal

Low (BAD) fats and "fast burning" carbs (white bread, sugar)

High omega-3 fatty acids

High olive oil

Low simple sugars

High dietary fiber (which keeps you full longer)

High legumes (featuring a combination of fiber and protein)

Low processed foods (or really NO processed foods!)

No artificial sweeteners

No packaged juices and drinks

Moderate to heavy physical activity

Adequate stress management

Lastly, ample sleep. Sleep IS the best thing you can do for your body!
As you will see in coming chapters, these
principles are at the core of the Fit Finally
program.
Topic 4 - How The Body Uses Food…
Now, you might wonder what this kind of topic is doing in a program like this.
Well let me tell you, when it comes to dieting, a basic knowledge of what food
does and how the body uses it will come in extremely handy.
The main focus of this program is about the right foods and how to eat them,
but it can be quite helpful to have a basic knowledge of what happens "behind
the scenes".
As you read on, you’ll discover plenty of information about the most useful
nutrition strategies, which will enable you to:

Understand what the right foods can do for you and your body. You will
also want to understand what the wrong foods can do, and that can
really help to give a true appreciation for why you need to be eliminating
them.

Get rid of your fat without decreasing your muscle mass, so you can
maintain your lean and healthy body when you get it.

Understand the importance of integrating an active lifestyle with healthy
nutrition so you can hang onto your new slim figure once you’ve
achieved it.
While the main focus of this program is most certainly not on exercise, it
is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. You want to focus first and
foremost on nutrition and then be sure that you are staying active behind
the scenes.
So What’s Your Body Made Of Anyway?
Okay, here are the basics. Your body is basically made up of several tissues, and
each one has its own function.
With that in mind, you’ve got:

Muscle Tissue
Did you know you have two types of muscles? The first type is voluntary and
the second one is involuntary, but they both provide the same function, and
that’s movement. They let us reach for objects and they help digest food and
keep blood circulating.

Fat tissues
These tissues store the energy that we need to keep going. They perform other
functions as well, which we’ll find out about a bit later on.

Connective tissue
Your body virtually hangs together with this. We’re talking about bone,
cartilage, and ligaments, which provide a basic framework. The one thing you
should remember about all of these tissues is that they can’t change.
Muscle can’t transform into fat and vice versa. So here is one of the biggest
myths about dieting being exploded before your very eyes:
This is why you’ll always get the best from a diet by exercising as well. If you’re
not active, then you could lose up to one pound of muscle per week.
That might look great when you step on the scales, but it’s not the solution for
a long-term weight loss.
But don’t worry – we’re going to discover a lot more about how to make sure
this doesn’t happen. You’re exactly in the right place to start making positive
changes to your life, starting right now.
The food that you eat will not only help you to be healthy, but it will also keep
you strong. The right food works as fuel for your workouts and your life.
What’s In a Muscle?
Two things – protein and water.
In order to keep your muscles working efficiently, not only do you have to
exercise them, but you have to also feed them the right things to keep them
going.
Muscles are actually quite unique in the body, because they are the only type of
tissue in the body that can contract.
This unique ability means they need plenty of energy, which (surprise, surprise)
comes from food. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a muscle that contracts of its
own accord, or whether we do it when we need to, they both need energy to
work.
What About Fat?
Have you heard about the fact that everyone is predisposed to having a certain
amount of fat cells in their body?
Everyone has billions of fat cells in their body, but your
family genetics can have a big effect on how many you have,
personally.
Whenever you eat a certain amount of food, your body uses what it needs. Any
extra is transformed into fatty acids and stored as fat in fat cells that are located
throughout the body.
What you may not realize is that you have control over the fat that accumulates
in your body. Eating the wrong foods can practically ensure that you end up
with belly fat or fat accumulated elsewhere.
Eating the right foods can help you to burn excess fat off the body and make it
a thing of the past.
This little fact might amaze you – one single fat cell has the potential to
DOUBLE its volume in order to store more fat. So even people who are
genetically predisposed to be slim can put on weight if they eat too much food.
How Does Fat Differ from Muscles?
The big difference (the one we are interested in) is this: unlike muscle tissue, fat
doesn’t contract. Because of this, energy consumption by fatty acids is tiny.
Here’s how it works:
Your muscles need energy to keep going, and the more muscle tissue you
have, the more energy they will need to perform well.
Fat cells, on the other hand, require hardly any energy at all to stay just as they
are.
So if you are on a diet and you are also working hard to build up your muscle,
not only will your muscles consume fat during exercise, you will carry on
burning more energy even when you are watching television with your feet up.
Is Fat All Bad?
No it’s not, in fact fat is absolutely vital for your survival.
What can be bad is the amount/type of fat which we have in the body, and
where the bulk of it sits.
Let’s get back to the basics here.
Fat is extremely vital, you need fat to keep your body healthy and functioning.
BUT… too much of it is unhealthy, and so is too little. You need to give your
body just the right amount to stay at optimum health. If you give your body too
much fat, it will start to store it and you will put on weight.
In order to lose weight, you will need to cut down on the amount of food you
give your body until it has used up much of the reserves you already have.
Good fats are those foods that contain omega-3 or omega-9 fatty acids such as
olive oil, salmon, and avocado.
Bad fats are the ones that will immediately result in you accumulating fat on
the body, such as those in regular margarine and marbled beef. Knowing what
foods to eat and which to avoid can make a huge difference in how your body
absorbs it.
This just goes to show that every bite that you take really matters. If you don’t
eat the right foods and instead regularly eat outside of the planned menu and
good food ideas, then this can ultimately lead to weight gain and fat
accumulation. If you can focus in on the right foods that give you a good value
for what you eat, then you’re in great shape.
That’s basically how most proper diets work.
The Role of Fat Cells
Every fat cell is like a little store of energy. It’s a reserve you can call on when
you need it. If you don’t eat for a while (which might happen due to several
different reasons), your body will call on some of those reserves to get the
nutrients it needs to make you well again.
This storage mechanism was very useful thousands of years ago, when humans
had to go out hunting and foraging for food.
The human body adapted to the environment in which a good meal was a very
rare event. These cells enabled the body to hang onto what it needed until the
next available meal.
However, today the most “hunting” you probably do is rummaging through the
supermarket shelves to find your favorite dinner, and if you don’t choose
carefully or read labels, you can end up with foods that are bad for your
waistline and for your health.
Hot Spots for Storing Excess Fat
Most people are more than familiar with these, because they only need to look
in the mirror to see them.
I’m guessing you’re not a string bean, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this
program, and so you will probably be more than familiar with this scenario. The
foods that we eat can have a great impact on body make-up.
Though some of this is inborn, we can change it a bit based on eating the right
and wrong foods. If you choose the wrong foods, you can actually be adding
fat to your waistline – and that’s why this type of education is so important.
Many people tend to have quite slim arms and legs, and then have a bigger
tummy.
While this tends to be associated more with men, women can suffer from it as
well – you’ve probably heard of women being either an apple or a pear shape.
By now you are probably aware of the various health risks that are associated
with being overweight and carrying too much fat – especially in the tummy –
but there are other problems associated with it as well. You’ve probably
experienced some of these yourself – such as a loss of confidence, not being
able to do all the things you’d like to, and perhaps even being held back at
work due to low self-esteem. It can really affect many areas of your life.
Your Secret Weapon
It’s clear that you need a weapon to help you in your fight to lose weight.
And that weapon is muscle tissue.
When you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense.
We know now that muscle tissue is extremely active, and it burns a lot of
energy even when you aren’t actually doing anything. When you start
exercising, you’ll burn even more.
This is great news if you are going to start eating as per this program's
principles. It’s also important to understand why the right foods can help you to
burn fat and the wrong ones can actually stick to your waistline like glue.
You already know that muscles burn four times as many calories as fat cells do.
When you start exercising, it gets even better – you’ll burn up to TEN times
more. Again, we are not focused on calorie-counting, but you do need to be
mindful of what is happening in your body with every food that you eat.
So make a pact with yourself.
Give up some of those luxuries such as the car and the bus and start walking
more.
Get out and about with the dog.
Use the stairs rather than taking the elevator or escalator.
The more activity you can bring into your everyday routine, the easier these
activities will become, and the better results you will attain in your diet – and
the easier you will find it to keep the weight off once you reach your ideal
weight target.
You can probably think of lots of ways you can do this, so start thinking about
how you can change your life – you’ll never look back once you take those first
few steps.
The Relationship between Food, Fat, and Muscles
So now that you have a bit of background on the anatomy of it all, it’s time to
get down to business.
Would you believe that there are certain foods that can actually help you to
burn fat?
Would you believe that focusing on certain foods in conjunction with proper
exercise can really help to build muscle mass and influence how it functions?
This is precisely what I want you to focus on, because the right foods such as
lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables can really give you the boost you need
to burn fat intensely and effectively.
The wrong foods such as white bread, white table sugar and hydrogenated
margarine can not only compromise your health, but they can actually add fat
to your physique.
The problem is that there are too many weight loss rituals and trends out there
that focus only on cutting calories or cutting out certain foods.
If you eat the right foods in the appropriate manner you can virtually melt fat
off the body. Not only that, but if you bulk up on a few chosen foods, you can
also help to contribute to the muscle mass you are trying to build up at the
gym.
Just some foods that can help you to build muscle mass include:

Flax seed and flax seed oil

Almonds, Peanuts and other 'high protein' nuts

Quinoa

Salmon and other low fat fish

Eggs (especially omega-3 fortified eggs)

Grass-fed lean beef

Low-fat yogurt

Chicken, red meat (non fried, grilled = best)

Cottage Cheese

Peanut Butter

Yoghurt

Whey Protein
Of course, these are just examples, there are many more foods we will see
soon…
The key to success in many of these foods is the fact that they contain omega3 fatty acids and/or high-quality protein. This means that they offer a good type
of fat and building blocks your body needs to build muscle. They can also help
to lower blood cholesterol levels in the process.
Used in conjunction with proper exercise and other appropriate foods, they can
contribute to building more muscle mass and changing body composition for
the better, for better health.
While you are building muscle mass, you also need to be focused on getting rid
of fat.
The muscle won’t just develop out of fat. We’ve shown you that in order to lose
weight you need to focus on the two components in conjunction.
So what types of foods can we look to in order to burn fat away?
Is that even possible – can you really turn to certain foods to melt fat off the
body?
If you perform proper exercise and eat the right way through smaller meals
more frequently, these foods can really support your efforts. Well, we will have
a look at these foods in the “eat to lose” module.
Anyway, as you can now see, there is a very distinct relationship between food
and fat, and between food and muscle. Eating the right foods will not only help
you to build muscle mass, but will even help you to melt the fat off the body.
This should always be done as part of a healthy lifestyle and in conjunction with
proper diet and exercise. We are here to help you, and this program is all about
results.
I will continue to show you elements in the plan where others don’t spend
time, and we encourage you to eat – in most cases more often, for healthy and
effective weight loss – instead of the starvation and deprivation methods that
never work long-term.
If you want results, then you need to change your focus and know that it’s all
about a simultaneous relationship of getting rid of fat off the body and building
muscle mass gradually and safely.
That is the only way to healthy weight loss and to end up with the body that
you are working so hard for.
This program will show you how to make it happen this time.
Now continue to the next module…