Fat Loss Lie

Fat Loss Lie #1: "You have to starve yourself to get a lean body"
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What if I told you that very low calorie diets will actually make you fatter in the long term, and that there's an almost embarrassingly simple way that you can eat more and still burn more fat? 
I know it sounds too good to be true, but you're about to see the science behind it, and I've got the real-world results to prove it, so read on.
To get rid of fat, the laws of energy balance and thermodynamics declare that you have to consume fewer calories than you burn. Sorry, theres no way around it. There's no such thing as "calories don't count." Run for cover the next time you hear that claim because it's absolutely false and any scientist will tell you that.
You must have a "calorie deficit" to burn fat off your body. However, the fatal flaw in most popular diet programs is that the calorie deficit is too aggressive or too extreme. 
Have you ever been told that to get a lean body you had to eat 1200 calories a day or 1000 calories a day or even less? Did you ever just get FED UP with no results and tell yourself, "That's it, I'm hardly going to eat ANYthing," because you were desperate to get the pounds off as fast as possible?
Yeah, sure, it works in the beginning, because there's a HUGE calorie deficit at first, but theres also a HUGE irony: 
When you cut your calories too far, eventually YOUR BODY ADAPTS. 
If you're a Star Trek fan, it's kind of like the BORG, where a phaser weapon works against the alien BORG creatures once, but then they adapt, and soon the same phaser blast no longer does anything.
Well, diets are kind of like that, aren't they? 
You "fire" a low calorie diet at your body and it zaps off some weight in the begining. But then your body figures out what's going on. Your body doesn't care that you want to look good in a swimsuit; your body thinks you're under attack! Your body thinks you're about to starve to death!
When you fire something extreme at your body (like hardly eating), your metabolic rate slows down in order to protect you.
This "defense mechanism" is often called, "the starvation response."
When you go into starvation mode, here are some of the consequences:
1. Your body releases fewer fat-releasing and fat-burning enzymes such as hormone sensitive lipase and lipoprotein lipase.
2. Your fat cells release less of the hormone leptin, which is the signal that tells your brain you are well fed and not starving (it's the "anti-starvation" hormone)
3. Fat burning hormones crash, including your levels of T3 (no, not the latest Arnold terminator movie, T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone, the important "metabolism-regulating hormone" that you've probably heard about before).
4. You lose muscle. Muscle is metabolically-active tissue, which means it takes a lot of energy just to keep it. When you're "starving," you're in an "energy crisis", so excess muscle is the LAST thing you need. Muscle becomes expendable, and your body cannibalizes your own lean tissue. 
5. Appetite hormones rage out of control. When you're starving, a part of your brain called the hypothalamus switches into high gear and flips the appetite switch, sometimes to the point where you become ravenous and cannot fight these physiological cravings with willpower.
Bottom line: It's hormonally, metabolically and physiologically impossible to achieve permanent fat loss by starving yourself. 
And that's the first BIG LIE: 
Any program that's extremely low in calories may work in the short term, but the "honeymoon" never lasts for long.
In the long run, very low calorie diets can actually make you fatter. Eventually, they lead to binge eating and weight re-gain and you end up with less muscle and a slower metabolism than when you started. 
The TRUTH is, you DON'T have to starve yourself to get a lean body. In fact, you can eat more and burn more fat. 
Here's how:
1. Avoid very low calorie diets. 
Before going on any diet, look at the recommended calories. You'll probably discover that in most cases, you are required to slash your calories to "starvation" levels (1200 or less for women, 1800 or less for men, and active people need even more. 
2. Make sure your calorie intake is customized. 
Depending on your activity level, age and gender, your calorie needs may be much higher or much lower than the average person. If a diet program recommends the same amount of calories for everyone, that should be a red flag to stay away. It could be perfect for someone else, but starvation level for you.
3. Decrease your calories just a little below maintenance.
Decrease your calories conservatively - only about 20% below your daily maintenance level. A mild calorie cut doesn't trigger the starvation response as much. 
For example: If you're female and you maintain your weight on 2150 calories per day,a 20% deficit is 1720 calories per day (correct). Conventional diets might have you slash to 1000 or 1200 calories per day or less without emphasis on exercise (incorrect)
4. Increase your calorie deficit more by increasing activity
If you only cut calories slightly below maintenance, then how do you reduce body fat without the process taking forever? Simple, you BURN more calories and increase your deficit by increasing your activity. (No brainer simple!) 
First, if you're not doing so already, you should aim for three days per week of strength training with weights.
Second, you should do at least three days per week of moderate to vigorous cardiovascular exercise. 
Third, if you wish to accelerate fat loss more, or if you need to break a progress plateau, you bump up your activity even further by adding additional cardio sessions or increasing the intensity or duration of your current workouts. 
It also helps to get more physical activity in general, and to participate in physical hobbies, sports or recreational activities that you enjoy. 
Bottom line: 
The first secret to permanent fat loss is to BURN THE FAT, don't STARVE THE FAT 
There are some exercise physiologists today, who call this concept "energy flux." That's a fancy way of saying, "Eat more, burn more," (instead of "eat less, exercise less"), and that's what the Burn The Fat philosophy is all about. 
If you'd like to learn more, visit the Burn The Fat home page:, and stay tuned for the next installment of BIG FAT LIES - there are 11 more great lessons on the way! 
Train hard and expect success, 



Fat Loss Lie #2: "You need supplements or fat burners to get lean"
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EPHEDRA AND EPHEDRINE - THERMOGENIC "FAT BURNERS"
The most popular of the "fat burner" supplements ever on the market were no doubt ephedra or ephedrine-based products, which hit the shelves in 1993. 
Ephedrine was immensely popular because there was actually some good scientific evidence showing that it had measurable fat burning effects.
You could also “feel” it… you got an “energy buzz.”
Ephedrine is a drug derived from a plant (a Chinese herb) called ephedra (also known as ma huang). It is similar in chemical structure to amphetamines and works as a "beta-adrenergic agonist" - which means, in plain English, that it's a thermogenic (metabolism- stimulating) agent that helps with the release of stored body fat.
So if it worked, why did it get banned by the FDA and taken off the market in April of 2004?
Well, there were clearly some political and financial agendas involved, But the reason given to the public was concern about adverse affects and safety.
To this day, the decision to remove ephedrine from the market is still controversial because the research was mixed on whether the risks were severe enough to warrant the ban.
PROBABLY SAFE WHEN TAKEN AS DIRECTED, BUT...
Although the FDA had 80 ephedrine related deaths and 1400 adverse effect complaints on file, including strokes, coronaries and seizures, the fact is, when compared to deaths caused by prescription drugs and other over the counter drugs like aspirin, ephedra actually appeared fairly safe when used as directed by healthy individuals and not abused.
However, one huge downside of ephedrine that was not often mentioned by the pro-ephedrine camp is that stimulant-based fat burners can be highly addictive. Addiction leads to improper use or abuse.
In the early and mid 1990's, I used ephedra products myself because they were legal, over the counter and at the time, they were not banned from the natural bodybuilding competitions I participated in.
Research be damned, I never believed that these pills helped me all that much with fat loss. 
But what I did notice was the "rocket-engine" stimulant boost - the buzz, The pounding heart rate, the increased physical energy, and the amplified mental focus and workout "intensity."
At the height of the craze, 12 to 17 million people were using ephedra and no doubt, many of them were hooked on what was essentially a mild form of legal speed. 
These products were being abused en masse as “pick me ups.” Students were popping these pills to stay awake and study all night. Partiers were doing the same. So were truck drivers. 
Like any addictive habit, it's difficult to stop. When you first go cold turkey, you crash emotionally and physically and your workouts suffer as your crutch has been taken away. I suppose it's a lot like trying to kick the booze or cigarette habit. You go through withdrawal. 
WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN
Your body is too smart for short term quick fixes to ever work because your body will always fight back to maintain a natural balance or “homeostasis.” 
For every artificial peak or high you create, there will be an equal or greater valley or low point. 
If you over-stimulate, your body can respond by slowing down your natural metabolic rate to compensate. As a result, when you stop using the stimulant, your metabolism is slower than ever and you gain back any weight you lost and more. 
This often prompts you to go back on the stimulants and the vicious cycle of stimulant addiction continues. Some experts say that long term use can even lead to adrenal burnout.
So even if there aren’t any serious coronary or health risks from proper use, there is the risk of irresponsible use and the risk of addiction and dependency on "fake energy." just remember, what goes up, must come down. If you borrow energy you will eventually have to pay it back.
EPHEDRA FREE FAT BURNERS
When the FDA finally pulled the plug on ephedra, supplement companies scrambled like crazed maniacs to come out with "ephedra-free" formulas for their "fat burners" as they anticipated the imminent doom of their multi-million dollar cash cows.
The ads proclaimed, 
"More powerful than ephedrine-based fat burners!"
"The next generation of thermogenic technology!"
The great irony is that most of the fat burners currently on the Market today are completely worthless. At best they provide a watered down, unproven substitute for ephedrine and a slight buzz (most are loaded with caffeine).
Or, they may provide some mild appetite suppression. But NONE of these so called “next generation fat burners" are the “miracles” that the advertisements say they are.
Bodybuilding industry columnist Will Brink put it this way,
"The explosion of ephedrine-free weight loss products was more a function of market pressure vs being based on any science. Claims by some companies that their new ephedrine-free "fat burners" were equivalent to or even superior to EC based products was wishful thinking and marketing-driven BS."
But it didn’t matter. Consumers had been hoodwinked with the classic bait and switch. The ephedrine was gone from the formulas, but the brand names remained the same.
STAGGERING FORTUNES IN FAT BURNERS AND DIET PILLS
In the last year before ephedra was banned, sales had skyrocketed to $1.25 BILLION DOLLARS, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
The money still continues to pour in at a staggering rate today. To say that money is the main motivation behind the push for diet pills and a fat burners would be the understatement of the century.
Most people who aggressively recommend "fat burning" pills of any kind are profiting from their sale and it's hard to get unbiased information when so much money is at stake.
THE TRUTH: A LEAN BODY DOES NOT COME IN A PILL
It's a common misconception that you can't reach your fat loss goals unless you take some kind of "fat burner" supplement. 
It's also a common misconception that you can pop a pill and get dramatic results like you see on TV and in the magazine ads.
The results you see in the ads for fat burners are persuasive, but before and after testimonials are NOT proof that diet pills were responsible for those results.
Not all before and afters are bogus, of course. But many of the legitimate photos are "not typical" and represent the best possible case scenarios, after extremely intense training and strict nutritional regimens.
As for many “miraculous transformations,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) And state attorney general’s offices have been exposing them for what they really are… set-ups and outright fakes! 
In January of 2007, four diet pill companies you have definitely heard of were sued by the FTC and ordered to pay $25 million in fines.
The reasons: False advertising and no evidence to back up their claims.
San Diego Attorney Todd Macaluso took sworn depositions from several Diet pill before and after models. According to a story in the San Diego Tribune by Penni Crabtree, Los Angeles bodybuilder Mike Piacentino Swore under oath that he was paid to stop working out and to eat ice cream and donuts to fatten him up three weeks in advance of his “before” photo shoot. Then he used his bodybuilding expertise to get back in his usual top shape.
According to an ABC 20/20 expose’, fitness model Marla Duncan said In advertisements that she lost 35 lbs with the help of a popular fat burner pill. However, Jay Nixon, the Missouri Attorney General, found out that Duncan had recently been pregnant and given birth. The “before” photo was taken shortly afterwards. The fat burner pill company settled the case out of court for $100,000 while denying any wrongdoing.
Will you ever look at before and after photos the same again? Do you really want to keep forking over your money to these companies?
AN INTERESTING END TO THE FAT BURNER SAGA…
Diet pills and fat burners are nothing but quick fixes. Every one of them. 
Even if they help in the short term, they don’t help in the long term because you are only treating symptoms. Body fat is a symptom of a complex problem with multiple causes including unhealthy lifestyle, poor nutrition, lack of activity and even mental factors like subconscious self-sabotage. 
The true solution to any problem, including body fat, is to find the causes and treat them. 
After using them for a few years in the 1990's, and after a lot of research, self-experimentation and personal reflection, I made the decision to dump "fat burning" and "pre workout stimulant" pills down the toilet forever. I then decided that I would no longer recommend these products to my readers and clients. 
Since then, I've continued my training with no fat burners whatsoever. There has been NO difference in my results and I’ve gone on to win numerous bodybuilding titles.
As a natural bodybuilder today, I routinely reach 4% body fat for competitions and maintain my body fat at around 9% all year, using my own system of natural nutrition and training - NO DRUGS, NO PILLS and NO FAT BURNERS! 
I find the obsession so many people have with taking a pill to lose weight both perplexing and troubling at the same time, especially when you consider that fat loss can be achieved naturally, so simply and predictably with nutrition and exercise methods such as what I teach in my Burn The Fat Program
Spending big money, sometimes $40 to $50 a bottle or even more on pills is even more baffling to me when you consider that even if you get some small fat burning effect from the supplements, it's nothing you couldn’t get from another week or two of dieting and exercising! 
Think about it. 
I recommend you take a pass on "fat burner" pills and supplements and learn how to burn fat the way mother nature intended – through proper nutrition, by building more muscle, and by increasing your activity level to burn more calories. 
If you're not satisfied with your results, trust me, it's NOT because you have a "diet pill deficiency."
In the next lesson, we uncover the dirty little secret of the fitness and bodybuilding publishing industry...

Fat Loss Lie #3: "You can believe everything you read in the magazines"
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In general, you tend to trust what you see printed in the magazines, just as you tend to trust the information you hear on the evening news and read in the daily newspapers.
Why? Because the news media and most magazines have mega-credibility. Most people automatically assume - consciously and unconsciously - that if it's in print or on the news, then it must be true.
However, the fitness and bodybuilding publishing industry have some dirty little secrets...
Just as much of the news we hear is "planted," much of the fitness and nutrition information we read in our favorite magazines is also planted and heavily biased. 
Publishers realize that the vast majority of readers will believe almost anything if it's printed in a nationally-circulated magazine. As a result they created...
"The magazine / supplement company business model."
Today, most fitness magazine publishers not only depend on supplement company advertising revenue to stay in business, they actually OWN the supplement companies and use their magazines as the primary channel for promoting their products. 
It didn't take long before the entire bodybuilding and fitness magazine industry realized that more money could be made selling supplements than selling advertising or subscriptions.
Here's another dirty little secret they don't want you to know about:
Most people cannot sort out where the editorial ends and the advertising begins.... and that is by design.
Editorials are more believable than advertising (that's why they try to make supplement ads look so much like articles these days).
Did you ever notice how many magazine articles are about the latest, greatest "breakthroughs" in supplements? These "articles" aren't really articles at all; they're nothing more than advertisements in disguise... with an 800 number for easy ordering at the end... (how convenient.)
Even if a magazine doesn't have a vested interest in a supplement line, you still can't count on them to reveal the whole truth to you. A full page ad in a high circulation national fitness magazine can cost tens of thousands of dollars, so the publishers don't want to write editorials that will upset, offend or contradict the advertisers.
This is the reason you often get better advice from the smaller, lesser-known newsletters than you do from the major magazines and newspapers.
It's clearly in the magazine's best interest to promote supplements like crazy, and stay in bed with the supplement companies, regardless of whether the products work or not, because the more supplements that are sold, the more the supplement companies will advertise. The more they advertise, the more the supplements sell, and on and on the cycle goes.
It may seem blatantly obvious to you that magazines are "pushing" supplements, or you may have simply suspected it. 
However, you would be stunned at how many people - especially beginners - believe every word they read in the "muscle mags" and buy hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of useless "muscle-building" or "fat burning" pills, powders and drinks as a result.
Many people ask me why I became an online publisher rather than starting my own printed magazine. By publishing websites, newsletters and e-books online, I am not handcuffed by the censorship and agendas of the fitness magazine industry.
I do not sell supplements and I have never accepted money to endorse them. I'm not at the mercy of the "magazine / supplement company" business model so I can call it like I see it and just report the scientific facts. In the upcoming lessons, that's exactly what I'll do.
In the next installment of BIG FAT LIES you'll learn more about this subject when I reveal the truth about meal relacement supplements, protein shakes, diet drinks, and liquid diets. Do they really help you burn fat and keep it off? Watch for part 4 to find out! 


Fat Loss Lie #4: "Liquid diets, protein drinks or meal replacement 
shakes help you burn fat and keep weight off"
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Liquid diets go back as far as 1930, when Dr. Stoll's "Diet Aid" was hawked in beauty parlors. In the late 1970's, liquid protein diets such as "The Last Chance Diet" became all the rage, much like low carb diets became popular in the 1990's. According to the FDA, in 1977, 58 deaths were reported by adults following these strict liquid protein diets, which lacked essential nutrients and solid food.
When news of the deaths made the headlines, liquid protein diets fell out of favor. However, they returned just as quickly in different incarnations. One of them was the doctor-supervised liquid protein diet, which provided an extremely low calorie diet (as low as 800 calories per day), primarily aimed at the seriously obese.
Proponents of these "second-generation" liquid diets, which still exist today, say they are safe and nutritionally complete because they are medically supervised and patients are given vitamin and mineral supplements. 
The liquid diets became immensely popular again in the late 1980's. According to a New York Times story, when Oprah Winfrey announced the name of the liquid diet program she was using, that company recieved one million phone calls in a single day. By 1988, diet clinics expanded beyond the medical setting and had become a $10 billion dollar industry. 
The third generation of liquid diets came in the form of powders or cans of diet drinks, which you could pick up at the local grocery store. Generally, you were advised to eat a shake for "breakfast," a shake for "lunch" then eat a "sensible" dinner consisting of whole foods. Sometimes snacks were allowed in between.
All these liquid diet programs claimed you would lose weight on them. That much is true. But many claimed that you would lose more weight using their products than you would with real, whole food, and that their products would help you keep the weight off. That part is NOT true.
Very low calorie diets (VLCD's) that that emphasize liquid nutrition and de-emphasize whole food, can be unhealthy, nutritionally inadequate and even dangerous, and are one of the worst things you could ever do to your body and your metabolism in the long term. Here's why:
First, these programs are usually 800 to 1000 calories per day or less, which will virtually always trigger your body's starvation response. According to Eleanor Whitney and Sharon Rolfes in the textbook, "Understanding Nutrition, "Very low calorie diet formulas are designed to be nutritionally adequate, but the body responds to this severe energy restriction as if the person were starving - conserving energy and preparing to regain weight at the first opportunity."
Second, the weight comes back. No doubt, the weight losses from liquid diets can be dramatic - but not nearly as dramatic as the weight regain afterward - along with the physical and pychological damage that comes with it. According to Dr. Phillip Sinaikin, an addiction recovery specialist and author of "After The Fast," "A drug addict stands a better chance of recovery than a [liquid] dieter."
The fact is, liquid formula diets do not teach you how to eat in order to stay slim.
In a New York Times survey of 31 men and women who had lost up to 194 lbs on liquid diets, 23 said they began to develop a strong fear of food, yet they experienced uncontrollable cravings and urges at the same time. One respondent said that after a binge that started with 7,000 calories in one day, he had regained 21 lbs in 15 days. 
Third: Many of these liquid diet products are poorly formulated and loaded with junk such as pure sugar or corn syrup! YES - CORN SYRUP - That nasty refined sugar that nutritionists are blaming much of obesity and childhood obesity on during the last decade. 
You would be shocked - even disgusted - if you looked at the "ingredients list" of some of these drinks and shakes that are actually being passed off as fat loss or health food.
Fourth, even if you know how to select a quality meal replacement product, these products do NOT contain any fat-burning or muscle-building properties that you can't obtain from regular food. 
Today, nutritional supplements have come a long way and we now have "fourth generation" products including protein powders and meal replacements that contain protein and carbs. The better products are more adequate in calories than the previous generation of diet drinks and they are usually well fortified with vitamins and minerals and use high quality proteins such as whey and casein. Some even have added fiber. 
High quality, modern meal replacement products can play a small role in your nutrition program. But even the very best products will never be superior to real whole foods. Human beings cannot improve on mother nature. Whole food contains naturally-occuring vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, and bioactive compounds. They provide bulk and satisfaction and they improve your metabolic functioning.
The truth is that meal replacements are nothing more than "powdered food" (or "liquid food"). They're useful for convenience when you're in a hurry and you don't have time to prepare and eat whole food... but they're not better than food (with a possible exception being post workout drinks, which can also be helpful).
The process of digesting solid whole food every three hours actually stimulates your metabolic rate due to the "thermic effect of food." According to exercise physiologist Victor Katch, the thermic effect of food can be responsible for as much as 10% of your total daily energy expenditure. 
Although scientists are still examining the metabolic difference between calories obtained from liquids and calories contained from whole foods, many champion bodybuilders and fitness models have discovered that eating 5 or 6 smaller meals, mostly from whole food, will maintain an optimal metabolic rate, a lot like stoking a furnace with efficiently- burning fuel.
The fat burning solution is to eat real, whole food as much as possible, to eat small frequent meals throughout the day, and avoid very low calorie "liquid diet" products unless your doctor is having you use them for a specific reason. Use the modern, nutritionally-complete meal replacements and protein powders only for convenience purposes, NOT for weight reduction.
Stay tuned for part 5, where you will discover the diet industry's "hidden agenda" behind one of the biggest nutrition and fat loss lies of all... "calories don't count."



Fat Loss Lie #5: "Calories Don't Count"
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In many popular diet books, especially low carb programs, “Calories don’t count” is a frequently repeated theme and "you can eat as much as you like" is an often repeated promise. Other programs stress the importance of energy in versus energy out, but recommend that you count “portions” rather than calories. Still others say that you must keep a strict accounting of everything you eat. Who is right?
Well, trying to count every single calorie - in the literal sense - is probably not realistic or necessary as a lifestyle for the long term (all the number crunching can drive you crazy, for one thing!) 
However, that doesn't mean that calories don't count. Any diet program that says you can "eat all you want and still lose weight" is one you should avoid because that is one of the biggest lies in the business. 
The truth is, that line is a bunch of baloney designed to make a diet sound easier to follow. Anything that sounds like work – such as counting calories, eating less or exercising, tends to scare away potential customers. (Which is why "no calorie counting necessary," "eat all you like" and "no exercise necessary" are ubiquitous and notorious diet industry claims) 
The law of calorie balance is an unbreakable law of physics: Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain, lose or maintain your weight. Period.
I believe that it's very important to develop a respect for portion control and the law of calorie balance. 
I also believe it's an important part of nutrition education to learn how many calories are in the foods you eat on a regular basis – including (and perhaps, especially) how many calories are in the foods you eat when you dine at restaurants. 
The law of calorie balance says:
To maintain your weight, you must consume the same number of calories you burn. To gain weight, you must consume more calories than you burn. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn.
If you only count portions or if you haven't the slightest idea how many calories you're eating, it's a lot more likely that you'll eat more than you realize. 
So how do you balance practicality and realistic expectations with a nutrition program that gets results? Here's a solution that’s a happy medium between strict calorie counting and just guessing: 
Create a menu using an EXCEL spreadsheet or your favorite nutrition software. Crunch all the numbers including calories, protein, carbs and fats. Once you have your daily menu, print it, stick it on your refrigerator (and/or in your daily planner) and you now have an eating "goal" for the day, including a caloric target.
Rather than writing down every calorie one by one from every morsel of food you eat for the rest of your life, your menu plan serves as a daily goal and guideline. 
If you’re really ambitious, keeping a nutrition journal at least one time in your life for at least 4-12 weeks is a great idea and an incredible learning experience, but all you really need to get started on the road to a better body is one good menu on paper. 
If you get bored eating the same thing every day, you can create multiple menus, or just exchange foods using your primary menu as a template.
Using this meal planning method, you really only need to “count calories” ONCE when you create your menus, not every day. 
After you've got a knack for calories from this initial discipline of menu planning, then you can estimate portions in the future and get a pretty good (and more educated) ballpark figure.
So what’s the bottom line? Is it really necessary to count every calorie to lose weight? 
No, it's not. 
But it IS necessary to eat fewer calories then you burn. Whether you count calories and eat less than you burn, or you don’t count calories (guess) and eat less than you burn, the end result is the same – you lose weight. 
But which would you rather do: Take a wild guess, cross your fingers and hope for the best, or increase your chance for success with some simple menu planning? I think the right choice is obvious.
In the next installment, you'll learn about two diseases that you might be affected with and not even know it... they are deadly to your fat loss progress and you've probably never even heard of them before!
Train hard and expect success, 

Fat Loss Lie #6: "There's a quick and easy way to burn fat
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One of my favorite motivational speakers is Brian Tracy, who is one of the world's top experts on success psychology and personal achievement. 
I recently attended a seminar Brian held here in New York City. One part of his talk really grabbed my attention, and I'd like to share it with you because it could profoundly affect whether you succeed or fail in your body transformation goals...
Brian said that there are two diseases running rampant across America and much of the industrialized world today. If you had to guess, which two do you think they are? Cancer? Diabetes? Heart Disease? Osteoporosis? Obesity? 
Nope. None of the above. In fact, they're not even physical diseases - they are mental diseases.
The first mental disease, according to Tracy, is called something-for-nothing disease. 
Something for nothing disease is contracted by people who believe they can take more out than what they put in. These are the people who want all the rewards without paying full price, or as Brian put it, "They want to go through the revolving door of life on someone else's push."
Quick fix disease is the second of the mental diseases. According to Brian, this disease is contracted by people who always want a quick way to reach their goals. 
They search for instant cures to solve problems that may have taken months or even years to develop. They seek short cuts to acquire key skills that actually take many months and years of hard work to master.
These diseases are not to be confused with the desire to constantly get better and search for more efficient ways to reach your goals (which is a positive trait). The "diseased" people are those trying to reach their goals faster than nature intended or without any effort (which is a negative trait). 
Brian's New York City seminar was mostly filled with businesspeople and sales professionals, so he gave financial examples, such as: wanting to work fewer hours while earning moremoney, investing in get-rich-quick schemes, or buying lottery tickets.
However, I believe that quick fix and something for nothing disease are more rampant and insidious among people with fitness goals than any other group.
Health and fitness seekers with something for nothing disease think they can get twice the results in half the time. They want weight loss without dieting, fitness without exercise, and perfect health while eating, drinking and smoking whatever they want.
Those with quick fix disease want to take a pill, go to sleep, and wake up skinny. They are forever on a quest to bypass hard work and find short cuts to fitness goals that that normally take months or years to attain.
People afflicted by quick fix disease are suckers for the latest "exercise in a bottle," "fat burning cream," "diet pill," or "steroid replacement" scams. They impulsively buy miracle solutions on a whim, which they haven't researched and know nothing about. 
Saddest of all, they often waste YEARS of their lives on a misguided quest for the holy grail of fitness, when they could have reached their goals with a better work ethic and a little bit of persistence.
People with these diseases are violating the most basic laws of the universe: Cause and effect, sowing and reaping, action and reaction. This is just as ridiculous as attempting to violate the law of gravity. Jump off a cliff, and you're going to plummet to the Earth below - 100% of the time.
Not only will you fail and hit bottom if you catch one or both of these diseases - the very act of seeking a quick fix or wanting something for nothing makes you a weaker person.
On the other hand, the act of setting a worthy goal for something you want and reaching it through determination, discipline and hard work changes the very fiber of your being and you become a stronger person, not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally.
It's been said you don't get what you want in life, you get what you deserve. If you want success and achievement... If you want to lose weight, improve your health and transform your body, then set the goals and go for it!
But whatever you do, don't catch these two diseases. Avoid the quick fixes, work hard at it, and deserve it. You can have, do or be anything you want... you can have the body you want! Just pay the price and it's yours!
Burning fat and transforming your body is simple, but it's not easy. You gotta work at it. But if you're willing to put the work in, you will take out the rewards! 
Stay on the lookout for the next lesson because it's a good one! It exposes the truth about heredity and obesity. Are your genetics making it almost impossible to get lean? You'll learn the suprising scientific facts in part 7 of Big Fat Lies... 
Train hard and expect success, 


Fat Loss Lie #7: "Your genetics are keeping you fat"
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How The News Media Distorts, Exagerrates And Lies To You 
A recent New York Times story headline said, "Genes Take Charge, And Diets Fall By The Wayside." A similar headline in the New York Post said, "Battle Your Biology? Fat Chance!" 
These and other articles like them claim that more and more evidence is proving that if you're overweight, "it's not your fault" and that genes - more than environment and behavior - explain obesity. 
I say, "complete, unadulterated GARBAGE!" 
Media stories like these often take legitimate statistics about genetic obesity completely out of context and blow them out of proportion to make for sensational news. They also make the common and devastating mistake of encouraging people to cast blame for their health anywhere but on themselves. Many of these types of stories are also based on ulterior motives.
Even worse, believing that "It's not your fault" is one of the biggest lies told in the weight loss industry and one of the most damaging beliefs you could ever have. In fact, the ONLY way you can ever become successful at achieving and maintaining your ideal weight is by accepting responsibility.
What The Research Really Says About Obesity And Your Genes 
Make no mistake, there IS a genetic component to obesity. According to the latest research from the Human Genomics Project, you may inherit body fat tendencies just as you inherited your height, eye color or hair color. The tendency may range from slight predisposition to full blown genetic obesity.
In the 1990's, obesity researchers identified the OB (obesity) gene and mapped it to chromosome #7. Studies following a large number of twins and families have also helped to establish a link between obesity and heredity.
However, scientists say that severe mutations in the obesity gene are rare in humans (so mouse studies are largely irrelevant) and doubt has been raised concerning high genetic probability for obesity. ("Full blown" genetic obesity affects only about 5% of obese individuals!)
Therefore, claiming that genetics are more important than behavior and lifestyle is completely false. 
Other Genetic Influences... Your Body Type And Metabolic Type 
Other theories of genetic individuality discuss inherited body types, metabolic rate and body chemistry . In the 1930's, Harvard psychologist Dr. William H. Sheldon developed a classification system for different body types called "somatotyping": 
Ectomorphs are the lean, lanky types. They are usually very thin and bony, with fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat. An ectomorph can seemingly eat like a horse without gaining an ounce. 
Mesomorphs are the "genetically gifted." They are lean, muscular and naturally athletic. Mesomorphs lose fat and gain muscle with ease.
Endomorphs are the "fat retainers." Characterized by round features, excess body fat and large joints ("big bones"), endomorphs usually have difficulty in losing body fat and they tend to gain fat quickly if they eat poorly or don't exercise.
In addition to inherited body type ("somatotype"), individuals may also inherit certain metabolic types. Some people metabolize carbohydrates inefficiently and do not regulate blood sugar efficiently. They tend to produce too much insulin when they eat concentrated or fast-absorbing carbs, and or to be insulin resistant. This makes it more difficult to release stored body fat and puts them at risk for a variety of health problems. This condition is known as "Syndrome X" or "metabolic syndrome."
The $26 Billion Conspiracy Behind The Lies 
Some doctors and researchers, such as those quoted in the newspaper stories, consider these obesity-stimulating conditions to be genetically transmitted "diseases" that require medical treatment. In a few isolated cases, obesity clearly is a genetic disorder. However, these cases are rare, so this idea of obesity as a "disease" should be viewed with a great deal of caution and suspicion, because weight loss is potentially the biggest market in the world for drug sales. 
According to Justin Gillis, a staff writer for the Washington Post, more than 45 companies worldwide are trying to develop new obesity drugs, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Gillis writes, "In world where a blockbuster drug is worth $1 billion a year in sales, analysts give $5 billion as the low estimate for sales of an important obesity drug. If a company developed a truly safe, effective weight loss drug, and sold it for $3 a day to one quarter of the 100+ million American adults estimated to be overweight, sales would exceed $26 billion a year in this country alone." 
If obesity is classified as a (genetically inherited) "disease", that means more prescriptions will be written
Listen, if anyone ever tells you that "It's not your fault... you were born fat, so don't feel guilty... and don't worry, we have a drug that can help," be cautious and question whose interests are being served; yours or the pharmaceutical giants. 
The Truth About Heredity And Body Fat 
Losing weight does seem easier for some people than for others. In fact, researchers say that there is a segment of the population that appears to be "genetically resistant to obesity." That doesn't seem fair, but that's the way life is. Let's be honest; not everyone has the genetics to become a top-ranking pro bodybuilder or to become an Olympic Gold medallist. 
But you are NOT doomed to live a life of fatness if you don't have "athletic genes." Everyone can improve their body shape and fitness level beyond where it is today.
Body fat is the result of many influences. Genetics is only one of them and as little as 25% the causes are genetic/biological in nature. According To Dr. Claude Bouchard of the Human genomics Laboratory in Baton Rouge, LA, there are several certainties about the TRUE causes of obesity. He suggests the following contributing factors:
(1) physical environment
(2) social environment
(3) behavior
(4) biology
This means that 75% of your results are dictated by lifestyle and behavior factors and only 25% by biology. Accodring to Dr. Bouchard, "The obesity epidemic that we are facing today has developed only over the past 50 years and cannot be explained by changes in our genome." 
And The Truth About Personal Responsibility That Will Set You FREE! 
Like it or not, the condition of your body today is primarily a result of your own lifestyle, behavior and mindset (psychology). But that's great news, because it means most of the factors that affect your body fat levels are entirely under your control. These factors include how much you eat, what you eat, when you eat, who you eat with, how many sedentary activities you engage in, what type of exercise you do, how frequently you exercise, how long you exercise and how hard you exercise
Your first step if you want to achieve and maintain your perfect weight, is to accept 100% responsibility for your weight and your health. When the going gets tough, it’s easy to blame and make excuses. But blaming genetics is a convenient excuse for not taking continuous action. It's also giving away your power and conceding that you a victim rather than a creator of your life.
If you're a frustrated "endomorph" or if you feel like dieting is an uphill battle against your genes, PLEASE do NOT chalk it up to "bad genetics," and do NOT blame your weight on your chromosomes! YOU are responsible and YOU are in control! Dr. Thomas Wadden, a psychologist from Syracuse University, says, "There IS a genetic component to your weight, but NO ONE is destined to be obese."
Above all else, do NOT quit! The universe always bows to persistence. The empowering approach is to see your physical challenges as assets, because overcoming obstacles forces you to develop discipline, determination and character. These traits will carry over to other areas of your life and make you a stronger person. 
As Arnold Schwarzennegger once said, "Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you overcome hardships, that is strength." 
In the next lesson you will learn the lies and the truth behind the whole low carb diet phenomenon. 



Fat Loss Lie #8: "Zero carb or very low carb diets are best for permanent fat loss"
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The Low Carb Diet Truth 
No diet issue has ever created more confusion and controversy than the low carb vs. high carb debate. You are about to finally hear the low carb truth... simplified... But then, you will also hear about a few surprising "twists" to the low carb story! 
Contrary to what certain "gurus" tell you, carbohydrates are NOT fattening. As you learned in part 5, what's fattening is eating more calories than your body can use at one time. If you eat too much of anything, it will get stored as fat. Period. That is the pure essence and scientific truth about fat loss: 
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE CARBS!!!
IT'S ABOUT THE CALORIES!
But don't throw out your low carb diet just yet! 
Reduced carb dieting does seem to have some beneficial effects on weight loss and fat loss, but it may not be for the reasons that most people think! In fact, it may not have anything to do with carbs at all ... it may be about protein and appetite regulation!
Low carbers usually don’t want to admit this - they usually want to insist on “metabolic advantage” - but the fact is, one of the biggest reasons that low carb diets can help improve fat loss is because it's very difficult to overeat when you restrict an entire group of energy dense foods like carbohydrates. 
And there we have the truth again - if you eat less because of a low carb diet, you lose weight because you ate less, not because you ate less carbs. Got it? Less carbs = less calories!
Test it for yourself:
See how easy it is to overeat if you are told "eat as much of anything as you want." Then see how hard it is to eat a surplus of calories if you’re told, "eat as much as you want - but only lean protein, salad veggies and green veggies with a little bit of essential fat." You will lose fat like crazy on a diet like that, but it's not necessarily because carbs are low, it’s primarily because the CALORIES are low! 
The problem is, most people cannot stay on a diet so restricted in choices. That's why over the long term, low carb diets aren't really much more effective than any other diet.
Appetite control - a legit benefit of low carb diets? 
Very low carb diets often tell you not to count calories and they say you can eat as much as you like if you just stick to protein and fat. However, they're making a huge assumption that by restricting carbs and allowing fat intake, your appetite will regulate itself and you will eat less as a result.
That's often exactly what happens with low carb, high fat diets - you tend to eat less automatically - so appetite control appears to be a legitimate benefit of low carb diets. However, there is nothing special about "low carb diets" that allows you to eat unlimited calories. If you eat in a caloric surplus, you are going to gain weight, no matter what the macronutrient composition of the diet.
High thermic effect: A second weight loss advantage of a low carb (higher protein) diet?
Here's another potential advantage: Low carb diets tends to be higher in protein. Since protein has a much higher thermic effect, it can lead to slightly greater fat loss than a diet of the same calorie amount that is high in fat and carbs. 
In a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2005 (93(2): 281-289), researchers followed a group of 113 overweight subjects after 4 weeks of a very low calorie diet, through a 6 month period of weight maintenance. The subjects were divided into a control group and a protein group that was given an extra 30 grams of protein in place of an equal amount of carbs. 
The researchers found that the group with the higher protein intake was less likely to regain the lost weight, and any weight gain in the protein group was lean tissue and not fat. The results were attributed to higher thermic effect and a decrease in appetite. 
A third advantage to low carbs?
Another potental benefit of carb restriction is better glycemic (blood sugar) control. This may provide some body composition and health advantages for individuals who are carb intolerant or who suffer from "metabolic syndrome" (where the body doesn't process sugar very well and tends to overproduce insulin). 
Of course, as with nearly everything in life, there are two sides to every coin...
Disadvantages of low carb diets 
1) For most people, strict low carb diets are difficult to stick to. 
If you remove most of your carbohydrates from your diet for a long period of time, you're setting yourself up for a relapse. You tend to crave what you cannot have, both physiologically and psychologically. The more you cut the carbs, the easier it is to rebound will be when you put carbs back in. 
2) Very low carb diets are often unbalanced and missing many nutrients. 
It's still up for debate whether low carb programs like the Atkins diet are unhealthy, but removal of entire good groups such as fruits and 100% whole natural grains is definitely not nutritionally balanced for fiber, phytochemical and micronutrient intake. 
3) Very low carb diets may cause low energy levels. 
Most people will feel physically tired and mentally irritable without carbs, so their training will usually suffer: Low carbs = low energy. Low energy = poor workouts. Poor workouts = poor results. This makes low carb diets a poor choice for highly active people. The reason I don't recommend "very low" carb diets to my clients is because I am a strong advocate of weight training and cardio training as part of a fitness lifestyle. When you are training hard, you must "feed the machine" and eat to support your activity.
4) The intial rapid weight loss on a very low carb diet can be deceiving. 
Much of the initial weight loss on low carbs is water and even lean tissue. If you drop 5-7 lbs in your first week on a low carb diet it sounds impressive, but if one pound is fat, 2-3 pounds are water and 2-3 pounds are muscle, what did you accomplish? Your goal should be fat loss, not "weight" loss. 
Taking a lesson from the leanest athletes on Earth 
On an interesting side note, I've made an 18-year long study of how the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models get so incredibly lean. One thing I noticed was that almost every bodybuilder or fitness competitor uses some variation of the low carb diet to prepare for competitions. Why? because although there are disadvantages, they want those low carb advantages, even if it's a difficult diet to follow.
Most bodybuilders however, use an interesting variation on the traditional low carb diet. It's called "carb cycling," where you increase carbs at regular intervals rather than staying on low carbs all of the time. Carb cycling makes low carb diets safer, more effective and easier to follow.
The bottom line? 
Yes, there is something to the low carb diet that helps accelerate fat loss. But in the end, it all comes back to calories and to whether or not you can stick with your program. Ability to comply with a program may be the biggest factor of all in long term success, not the level of carb intake. Low carb diets work primarily because they make you eat less. Eat too much and you gain weight, regardless of whether it's protein, carbs or fat. 
My advice is not to jump into a low carb diet without reason, but to assess whether you are a good candidate for this type of approach. Then, if you decide to try the low carb approach, it's best used temporarily to break a plateau or reach a peak and it appears that a small reduction in carbs with a slight increase in protein is enough to get most of the benefits of low carb diets. 
Cutting out carbs completely (or even dropping all the way to 20-30 grams a day as some programs advise in the beginning), is not necessary, it's hard to stick to and is probably not healthy in the long term. It's usually not wise to go to extremes in anything and that's as true for nutrition as anything else in life: moderation is the key..
In the next lesson, we will put an end to another long-standing fat loss debate: Cutting calories (diet) versus burning calories (exercise). 
Train hard and expect success, 



Fat Loss Lie #9: "Exercise is not necessary... all you need is a diet"
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The Truth About The Diet Versus Exercise Debate 
Yes, you CAN lose weight by cutting calories. But as you learned in the first part of this course ("the starvation diet lie"), there is danger in using very low calorie diets; you almost always re-gain weight that's lost with highly restrictive diets.
Some people use calorie restriction out of necessity. For example, I know some wheelchair-bound individuals who lost weight with calorie restriction alone. I also know some people who were very obese and had orthopedic problems (making exercise difficult at first), who chose to get started only with dietary restriction, then they added the exercise later. They also lost weight. 
However, for able-bodied people, dieting is the absolute WORST way to lose weight. 
Two Ways To Create A Calorie Deficit And Lose The Fat 
As you learned in part 5 on calories, to lose fat, you need a calorie deficit. However, there's more than one way to create a calorie deficit. One is to decrease the amount of calories you consume (eat less). The other is to increase the amount of calories you burn (exercise more). 
Of the two ways, burning the calories with increased activity is the superior method. Or, you can also combine the two - eat a little less, and exercise more. 
Paradoxical as it seems, the most effective approach of all is to eat more and exercise a LOT more (as long as you still keep your calorie deficit). Nutritionist and exercise physiologist Dr. John Berardi calls this a "HIGH ENGERY FLUX," which simply means, higher energy input, higher energy output. The result is a high level of nutrition and a turbo-charged metabolism. 
Top 10 reasons why exercising ("burn"), not dieting ("starve"), is the superior method of losing body fat:
The most effective fat-burning programs in the world always contain two types of exercise - weight training and cardiovascular training. The reasons to include both could go on for pages, but here are the top 10:
1. Exercise increases your metabolism.
2. Exercise creates a caloric deficit without triggering starvation mode. 
3. Exercise helps you sleep better and manage stress better.
4. Exercise (strength training) tells your body to keep the muscle. Dieting causes muscle loss. 
5. Exercise increases bone density.
6. Exercise helps prevent diabetes, control blood sugar, and improve insulin sensitivity.
7. Exercise improves cardiovascular health.
8. Exercise improves mood, helps relieve depression and increases self esteem
9. Exercise increasese mobility and quality of life as you get older
10. Exercise helps you keep the weight off long term.
The Science Behind Burning More, Not Eating Less 
The role of energy expenditure in weight loss (diet vs exercise) is still the subject of controversy. For years I've been a strong advocate of weight training and cardiovascular training to "burn the fat" instead of just cutting calories (and being a "couch potato"). Take a look at some of the research-proven benefits of the "burn more" approach and see for yourself:
“Strength training may have greater implications than initially proposed for decreasing body fat and sustaining fat free mass. Research suggests that adding exercise programs to dietary restriction can promote more favourable changes in body composition than diet or physical activity on its own.” 
-Stiegler, Sports Medicine, 2006
“Treatments relying only on energy restriction commonly cause substantial loss of lean tissue…” - Walberg, Sports Med, 1989: 
“Increasing daily activity and regular exercise plays an important role in weight maintenance due to an impact on daily energy expenditure and a direct enhancement of insulin sensitivity.”
- Astrup, Int J Vitam Nutr res, 76:4, 2006”
“Physical activity is a critical factor for successful body weight regulation. Physical activity facilitates weight maintenance through direct energy expenditure and improved physical fitness.”
- Saris, Int J Obes relat Metab Disord, 1998:
“Reduced energy expenditure appears to facilitate weight gain in individuals susceptible to obesity."
- Saltzman, Nutr rev, 1995:
The Lies And Deceptions That Fuel The $50 Billion Weight Loss Machine 
With this kind of proof, why is there any debate at all? Well, the biggest reason is because the weight loss industry thrives on novelty. Without “what’s new,” there's no story. People want to hear about some cutting edge new revolutionary pill or unique new diet breakthrough. 
The industry also bets on laziness. Exercise is a hard sell because it's perceived as hard work. Advertisers know there's a lazy side hard wired into human nature, so they do everything they can to make their weight loss solutions look quick, easy and painless.
I believe the fact that we need to exercise - for health, quality of life AND for improved body composition - is such a common sense and intuitive conclusion that I find it almost comedic that there's any debate about it at all. 
Think about it: What will your body shape look like by dieting without doing any training??? Diet without exercise tends to create a “skinny fat person” - someone with a low body weight but little if any muscle, and the last 10-15 lbs of stubborn fat is left defiantly clinging to your hips, butt, thighs, abs or "love handles!" 
Here's what else I believe about exercise vs dieting:
• I believe that the human body is the only machine on the face of the earth that wears out and breaks down from not using it enough 
• I believe that much obesity and disease are a direct result of inactivity 
• I believe that much of the deterioration that happens as you age is a direct result of a sedentary lifestyle and a loss of muscle 
• I believe that cardiovascular exercise + weight training + a small calorie reduction is vastly superior for fat loss purposes than a calorie reduction alone, both in the short and long term 
• I believe that calorie restriction alone is a short-sighted and incomplete approach to a complex problem, and it requires a complete change in lifestyle habits to achieve better health, better body composition and results that last 
• I believe that everyone who is able-bodied should get some type of physical activity almost every single day 
• I believe that anyone who is healthy and physically able should get involved in weight training 3 days per week (up to 4 - 5 times per week for athletes and bodybuilders) 
• I believe that anyone healthy and physically able should do at least 3 days per week of vigorous cardiovascular exercise (jogging, brisk walking, treadmills, stairclimbers, ellipticals, aerobics classes, etc), and they may increase their exercise frequency, intensity and or duration if necessary, to accelerate fat loss 
• I believe that more people should stop taking their bodies for granted and start appreciating that those wheelchair-bound individuals I mentioned earlier would give anything to be able to run or ride a bike 
It's tempting to keep looking for some kind of "no-sweat" secret, whether in the form of a special diet technique, a magic fat burning pill or whatever, but in the end, it always, comes back to this: You need a calorie deficit to lose weight... and it's better to burn more calories than to cut more calories.
Exercise - including weight training and cardio training - should be a part of every weight management program and a part of your lifestyle. This is one of the ultimate secrets to fat loss and long term weight control:
Remember, don't starve the fat, "BURN THE FAT."
In the next lesson, you'll discover the dark side of rapid weight loss and hear the truth about how quickly you can safely take off the pounds - for good - without risking a rebound. Until then... 


Fat Loss Lie #10: "Fat loss can be quick and permanent"
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The "Quick Fat Loss" Lie Exposed 
"Lose 30 pounds In 30 Days!"
"Lose 9 Pounds Every 11 Days!" 
Lose 10 Pounds This Weekend!
You see ad claims like these all the time, and they sure are enticing, aren't they? They play on our emotions and our desires for instant gratification. 
Patience is the one thing you never seem to have when you’ve got a body fat problem. You want the fat gone and you want it gone now! And why not? It seems so do-able. Everywhere you look, you hear promises of quick weight loss and you even see people losing weight quickly. 
We have reality TV shows that actually encourage people to attempt “extreme” body makeovers or see who can lose weight the fastest, and the winners (or shall we say, the "losers", as if that's a flattering title to earn), are rewarded generously with fortune, fame and congratulations. 
Let’s face it. Everyone wants to get the fat off as quickly as possible - and having that desire is not wrong – it’s simply human nature. However...
Serious Problems Can Occur If You Try To 
Force It And Lose Weight Too Quickly 
The faster you lose weight, the more muscle you will lose right along with the fat, and that can really mess up your metabolism.
An even bigger problem with fast weight loss is that it just won’t last. The faster you lose, the more likely you are to gain it back. It's the the "yo-yo diet effect" - weight does down, but always comes back up. Think about it: We don’t have a weight loss problem today, we have a “keeping weight off” problem
Weight loss will be the healthiest, safest and most likely to be permanent if you set your goal for about two pounds per week (and even if you lose only a single pound each week, that is healthy progress). This is the recommendation of almost every legitimate and respected dietician, nutritionist, exercise physiologist and personal trainer on the planet, as well as exercise organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Dietetic Association. 
Are there any exceptions? Yes. It may be ok to lose more than two pounds per week if you have a lot of weight to lose, because the rate of weight loss tends to be relative to your total starting body weight. Generally the rule is that it’s safe to lose up to 1% of your total body weight per week, so if you weigh 300 lbs to start, then 3 lbs a week is a reasonable goal.
But there IS a catch.
What Really Matters Is Not How Much WEIGHT 
You Lose, But How Much FAT You Lose 
Where did your weight loss come from? Did you lose body fat or lean body mass? "Weight" is not the same as "fat." Weight includes muscle, bone, internal organs as well as lots and lots of water. 
Let’s look at an example with some numbers so you can really grasp this concept of weight versus fat and then you can see, illustrated with specific examples, what will happen when you lose weight too quickly.
As an example, let’s take a 260 pound man who has a lot of body fat to lose - let’s call it 32%. With 32% fat, a 260 pounder has 83.2 pounds of body fat and 176.8 pounds of lean mass. Using this example, let’s look at a few possible scenarios with losses ranging from two to four pounds per week.
Weight Loss Scenario 1:
Suppose our 260 pound subject loses four full pounds instead of the recommended two pounds per week. Is this bad? Well, let’s see:
If he loses a half a percent of body fat, here are his body composition results:
256 lbs
31.5% body fat
80.6 lbs fat
175.4 lbs lean body mass
Out of the four pounds lost, 2.8 pounds were fat and 1.2 were lean mass. Not a disaster, but not good either. Thirty percent of the weight lost was lean tissue.
Weight Loss Scenario 2:
If he loses a half a percent of body fat and only three pounds, here are his results:
257 lbs
31.5% body fat
80.9 lbs fat
176.1 lbs lean body mass
These results are better. Although he lost less body weight than scenario one, in this instance, 2.3 pounds of fat and only 0.7 lbs of lean mass were lost.
Weight Loss Scenario 3:
What if he only lost two pounds? Here are the results:
258 lbs
31.5% body fat
81.2 lbs fat
176.8 lbs lean body mass
These results are perfect. Even though our subject has only lost two pounds, which seems slow, 100% of the two pound weight loss came from fat and he kept ALL the muscle!
Weight Loss Scenario 4:
Now let’s suppose he loses three pounds but he loses more body fat: .8% 
257 lbs
31.2% body fat
80.2 lbs fat
176.8 lbs lean body mass
These are the best results of all. When the weekly fat loss is .8% (better than average), 100% of the three pounds lost is fat. So as you can see, yes, it’s safe to lose more than two pounds per week… but only if the weight is fat. If you lose three or four pounds per week, and you know it’s all fat, not lean tissue, then more power to you! If you lose four pounds and two of those pounds are muscle, you just shot yourself in the foot!
If as little as 20%-30% of your weight loss comes from muscle, when compounded over a few months, you’re talking about a massive muscle tissue loss which can dramatically slow down your metabolism, weaken you and turn you into nothing more than a “skinny fat person” (that's a person with low body weight because they lost so much muscle, but still holding stubborn fat because they shut down their metabolism).
Don't Be Fooled By Water Weight Losses
One thing you should also know is that it’s very common to lose 3 - 5 pounds in the first week on nearly any diet and exercise program and often even more on low carb diets. Just remember, its NOT all fat - WATER LOSS IS NOT FAT LOSS!
The only way to know if you've actually lost FAT is with body composition testing. For home body fat self-testing, I recommend the Accu-Measure skinfold caliper as first choice. Even better, get a multi site skinfold caliper test from an experienced tester at a health club, or even an underwater (hydrostatic) or air (bod pod) displacement test.
From literally hundreds of client case studies, I can confirm that it’s rare to lose more than 1.5 - 2.0 lbs of weight per week without losing some muscle along with it. If you exceed 2.0 to 3.0 pounds per week, the probability of losing muscle is extremely high. If you lose muscle, you are damaging your metabolism and this will lead to a plateau and ultimately to relapse.
The Biggest Weight Loss Mistake That Is 
FATAL To Your Long Term Success
Lack of patience is one of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to losing body fat. If you want to lose FAT, not muscle, and if you want to keep the fat off for good, then you have to take off the pounds slowly. (of course, if you want to crash diet the weight off fast, lose muscle with the fat and gain all the fat back later, be my guest)
This is one of the toughest lessons that overweight men and women have to learn - and they can be very hard learners. They fight kicking and screaming, insisting that they CAN and they MUST lose it faster.
Then you have these TV shows that encourage the masses that rapid, crash weight loss is okay. To the producers of these shows, I say SHAME ON YOU! To the personal trainers, registered dieticians and medical doctors who are associated with these programs, I say DOUBLE SHAME ON YOU, because you of all people should know better. These shows are not "motivating" or "inspiring" - they are DAMAGING! They are a DISGRACE! 
The rapid weight loss being promoted by the media for the sake of ratings and by the weight loss companies for the sake of profits makes it even harder for legitimate fitness and nutrition professionals because our clients say, “But look at so and so on TV - he lost 26 pounds in a week!”
Sure, but 26 pounds of WHAT - and do you have any idea what the long term consequences are? 
Short term thinking… foolish.
Do it the right way. The healthy way. Take off pounds slowly, steadily and sensibly with an intelligent nutrition and exercise program like Burn The Fat, measure your body fat, not just your body weight, and make this a new lifestyle, not a race, and you will never have to take the pounds off again, because they will be gone forever the first time.
We're getting close to the end of this series and next time, in part 11 of 12, you'll find out about the scandal that is taking place in the medical and pharmaceutical industries ("The big pharma lie")... Plus, you'll also learn the truth about steroids and other performance-enhancing and fat-burning drugs. Until then... 

Fat Loss Lie #11: "Drugs or surgery will take the fat off and keep it off"
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Drugs. Magic Bullet Or Lethal Mistake?
For many people who are frustrated with little or no results, despite their best intentions, physique-enhancing drugs or hormones appear to be the only legitmate "miracle cure." After all, supplements are iffy, but drugs are, well, drugs!
Steroids have been around for a long time. So have obesity drugs. Lately, there's been a push for the use of Human Growth Hormone or Testosterone under the harmless sounding labels of "anti-aging medicine" and "Hormone replacement therapy." 
Of course, these are sometimes needed for clinical purposes, but the sales pitch I'm referring to is being made to perfectly healthy baby boomers, who desperately want to regain their youthful looks and vitality or to young people who want a "short cut."
Dramatic short-term results in body composition can be achieved from using all kinds of weight loss drugs, steroids, thermogenics, thyroid drugs, growth hormone and other chemicals. No doubt about that. One look around my own sport of bodybuilding is proof of that. 
However, appearances can be deceiving. The road of drug use for cosmetic enhancement can be a wild ride in the beginning, but in the long run, it's a dead end street.
What The Pharmaceutical Companies
Don't Want You To Know About 
Regardless of whether we're talking about illegal steroids and performance enhancers, prescription obesity drugs, or even over the counter "fat burning" drugs like ephedrine, these are all really one in the same:
(1) multi million dollar moneymakers, and
(2) Short-term attempts at treating effects, not causes.
Lets take weight loss drugs, for example:
What would happen if the pharmaceutical companies finally came out with a "safe and effective" obesity drug and brought it to the marketplace on a massive scale?
Here's exactly what would happen:
THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES WOULD GET RICHER
AND THE OBESITY PROBLEM WOULD CONTINUE!
Think about it: Did Xenical cure obesity? How about Phentermine? Meridia? Adipex? Bontril? Didrex? Tenuate? 
What about Ephedrine? Tens of millions of people were taking it. Did that solve the obesity problem? 
How about surgery? Gastric bypasses? 100,000 were performed last year. Did that solve the obesity problem?
In a few cases where someone's health is at stake, and when time is of the essence, the benefits of drugs may outweigh and justify the risks. 
However, most people are not facing life-threatening obesity, and even in these rare cases, you have to concede that drugs or surgeries are last-resort treatments - not first lines of defense. They are absolutely not a substitute for proper nutrition, exercise and lifestyle change. 
Here's the fatal flaw with thinking that any drugs will be a long-term solution:
We live in an orderly universe where everything happens for a reason (by "law"). For every effect, there is a cause. There are no accidents.
A lean body never happens by accident.
An overweight body never happens by accident.
A lean body and an overweight body are effects. Both of these effects have causes. If you're overweight, you can create lasting changes 100% of the time if you uncover the cause of the overweight condition and remove it. 
The cause of body fat in nearly all cases is inactivity, poor nutrition and often negative self-image issues. Drugs and surgery can only treat an effect (the fat). Even if the fat (the effect) is temporarily removed, it will come back if the cause is still there. 
You can't expect pills, drugs or surgical procedures that only treat symptoms/effects to create permanent changes.
Depending on your genetics, you may never look like a bodybuilder or fitness cover model, but you always have the power to improve your body and your health above and beyond where you are today. 
You can always improve, no matter where you are now and no matter what your genetic disposition.
How? By accepting responsibility for your situation and then taking positive action every day for the rest of your life to improve it. You simply have to change your lifestyle!
Try to fight "the law" or shirk hard work by looking for short cuts if you want, but in the end, you'll always lose. 
Try to ignore "the law" if you want, but ignorance of the law does not excuse you from its operation.
Lifelong health, fitness and a perfect body weight do not come out of a bottle or needle and never will - no matter what new concoction they cook up in the lab. 
Those who think otherwise may gain temporary relief from health woes or enjoy some short-term benefits, but unless they alter their lifestyles, they'll have hard lessons to learn in the long run. 
I envision a day when both the medical and fitness communities will join together to help stop this error in thinking, and begin to teach people how to improve their lifestyles with a natural approach and alter their mental attitudes instead of writing prescriptions and selling "magic" pills. 
To permanently become lean, you must identify the causes of excess fat,. These can include:
• Excessive caloric intake
• Poor nutrition choices
• Inactivity 
• Unhealthy lifestyle habits
• Psychological and emotional factors
Then, you must treat THESE CAUSES. Only when the source ("the cause") of your problem is removed, will the unwanted effects disappear for good. Until then, anything else will only be a quick fix, band-aid, temporary solution
We're getting close to the end of this series and next time, in part 11 of 12, you'll finally get some definitive answers about how much time you need to commit to your exercise programs. You'll get the scoop about claims like "7 minutes in the morning," "6 second abs," and the "1 workout a week muscle revolution." Could there really be a way to train less and get more results? Find out in the 12th and final part. Until then... 
Train hard and expect success,