Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle has been around a long time, at least in Internet years. It was released in 2003 and was one of the first diet and nutrition e-books ever published. I bought this book back in 2005 and loved it because it is so incredibly comprehensive, no-nonsense, and easy to follow.
Today there are e-books all over the web, not to mention more supplements, weight loss programs, ab machines, workout videos and “magic” diet pills than you can keep track of. Even when your gut instincts tell you all these “fast and easy,” “just take a pill” weight loss claims are too good to be true, sometimes the advertisements press your emotional buttons so well that your curiosity gets the best of you.
But after getting burned enough times, you eventually smarten up. You swear off “quick fixes” and you finally figure out the long way (through your own experience), about what really works; a calorie deficit, proper nutrition, intelligent training, changing your lifestyle and replacing your old negative habits with positive new ones.
Through all the Internet diets that have come and gone in the last decade, this e-book is one that really has stood the test of time. BFFM has been an Internet best seller every year since 2003. Men and women of all ages in over 141 countries have lost anywhere from a few pounds to 253 pounds using Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. The program consistently gets positive reviews and has earned a reputation for being sensible, science-based, honest and effective.
Tom Venuto at 3.7% Body Fat
The author, Tom Venuto, received his degree in exercise science and has held certifications as a strength and conditioning specialist and personal trainer, but more importantly, Tom walks the talk. He is a natural-for-life bodybuilder, which means that he’s never taken steroids or other body-enhancing drugs. Venuto has competed in bodybuilding 28 times and has 6-pack abs you have to see to believe.
Although Tom admits that he was never obese, he says he always struggled with stomach fat and never saw his abs until he’d gone through many years of trial and error and a lot of hard work. Many people are encouraged when they hear that Tom is a lot like them and that he was not genetically predisposed to be lean. It gives them the hope that they can do it too.
Now that you know about the history and the author, here’s a quick overview of what you’ll find when you read the book.
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is published in Adobe PDF format so you can download the e-book. It’s on the long side at 300+ pages, so if you’re looking for a Cliff’s Notes type of read, this might not be the book you want. On the other hand, if you’re a detail person or if you want to know not just what to do, but also why you’re doing it, then Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle is exactly what you’re looking for.
For more than 20 years, the author has studied physique athletes (bodybuilders, female figure competitors and fitness models). That’s the whole premise of this book: If you want to get lean as quickly as possible, wouldn’t it make sense to find the leanest people in the world, find out how they did it and do what they do?
When you read more about this on the web page at www.BurnTheFat.com, the idea of a program based on bodybuilder and fitness model techniques makes perfect sense, although it does intimidate some people at first.
In the introduction of the book however, Venuto points out: “Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle was created BY a bodybuilder, but it’s not just FOR bodybuilders.” In fact, the book easily could have been titled, “What every man and woman can learn from bodybuilders about permanent fat loss.”
The nutrition techniques will work for anyone because they progress in stages from beginner to advanced. Unless you plan on competing in a fitness or bodybuilding competition, you’ll only need to use phase one, aka, the “baseline” diet.
If you want to get “ripped”, with the six pack abs look – you can use phase two and phase three of the program, where you will find the more advanced techniques that many people have used to prepare for their first bodybuilding or figure competitions.
The main focus of the e-book is nutrition, because nutrition is arguably the most important key to getting lean. You could have the best training program in the world, but if you eat more calories than you burn, you’ll gain fat regardless of your well-designed training plan.
In the chapters on nutrition, you’ll learn how to set up a meal plan you can enjoy by using Tom’s menu “template” system: You just choose the foods you like (pick from the recommended food lists), plug them into the meal plan template, and your menus virtually create themselves. Sample menus are also provided for ideas.
You also learn the truth about six pack abs: Body fat tissue lies on TOP of the abdominal muscles, so you’ll NEVER see your abs unless your body fat gets low enough. You can’t burn fat off your abs with abdominal exercises like crunches or sit ups. You must get the nutrition right to achieve very low body fat levels.
In Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, you learn everything you need to know about calories, protein, carbs and fat to get low levels of body fat. You’ll learn the facts about low carb and high protein diets. You’ll get the inside scoop on fat burning foods – including lists of what to eat and when to eat them.
You also learn how to set up a training program. These are the same workout routines used by top natural bodybuilding and fitness champions. However, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle nutrition works in combination with any training program (so you can use your own workout if you choose).
The 2 components are weight training and cardiovascular training. You’ll need access to basic equipment at home like dumbbells and barbells or you can train in a gym. One caveat: This e-book doesn’t give you photos or detailed instructions on how to perform each exercise. There’s more attention given to nutrition than training in this e-book, and if you use the training programs, it assumes you know how to perform basic weight training exercises.
Customizing your program is a major theme in chapter 5, which explains metabolic individuality and how to figure out your unique body type. The major lesson is: There’s no one-size-fits-all nutrition program. If you have special needs, for example, if you’re lactose intolerant, allergic to gluten or if you’re just a picky eater, you can easily modify the menus to work for you.
In addition to the nutrition and training plan, chapter one contains what is probably the best explanation of goal setting, mental training and the psychology of motivation that you will ever read in any book. If you know what to do but you have a hard time doing it (ie, if old bad habits keep haunting you or if you’re inconsistent with your diet or nutrition), you’ll find the solution in the mental training, not the physical training.
But the real question is, does the program actually work?
The claim made by Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is that bodybuilders and fitness models are the leanest athletes in the world. As mentioned before, Venuto himself was 3.7% body fat at one point (note: on the day of a contest). Therefore, says Venuto, if you find out how bodybuilding, fitness and figure competitors get so lean and you do the same thing, you will get the same results. It makes sense. However, there’s no magic solution here.
From reading the book, you learn that you won’t get 6-pack abs or a body like a fitness model by training a few minutes a day and eating junk. You learn that to get lean you have to change your lifestyle and adopt new habits to replace the old ones that made you fat. You learn that to get “ripped” it takes an even more regimented nutrition program.
When looking at the Burn The Fat website, you’ll see a home page plastered with testimonials from people of all ages. Since it’s impossible to be sure these testimonials/people are real, a little outside research is in order. What you’ll find on a web search is a free discussion forum called the Burn The Fat Facebook group, which has several thousand members who support each other to implement the program. You’ll also find several Burn The Fat Yahoo groups. There is also a paid online support community (sponsored by Venuto), called the Burn The Fat Inner Circle, with thousands of members using the Burn The Fat system. Membership to this site is optional and doesn’t come with the e-book.
With a little more online research, it’s easy to find positive reviews and before and after photos of people who have successful used Burn The Fat to lose weight. You’ll also find some YouTube videos and blogs devoted to chronicling the training journals and nutrition programs of fat burners.
It’s hard to dispute that Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is one of the most established fat loss programs online. Not only is third party proof all over the Internet, this program has been around since 2003. A program just can’t survive that long on the web if there isn’t good word of mouth. And of course, we know this method has worked for bodybuilders for decades.
The final question then becomes, will it work for YOU?
Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is a best seller and there’s proof that it works. But it will probably appeal the most to a certain kind of person. It takes effort and a significant time investment. It trades focus, dedication and hard work to get significant, permanent and natural fat loss (as opposed to some rapid fat loss programs where you’re required to take drugs or supplements and where the weight is a lot more likely to come back).
Again, the main focus of the e-book is on nutrition, and it requires counting calories and crunching numbers to create menu plans. There’s a lot of value in that kind of precision, but this approach may not be for everyone. Some people prefer to just estimate portion sizes. Burn The Fat is probably ideal for people who need structure, enjoy planning and are detail-oriented. If you like to know WHY you’re doing something instead of just being told WHAT to do, you’ll appreciate the detail in the 300+ pages. It’s definitely thorough.
Here’s the bottom line:
If you want a quick fix weight loss solution, if you’re looking for what pill to take or if you’re not willing to exercise, then Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is probably not for you.
On the other hand, if you’ve tried all the diet trends and fads, if you really want to know the truth about fat loss, and if you have the discipline to make lifestyle changes, then you’ll find Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle to be an excellent investment that delivers what it promises – you burn off the fat, you keep your muscle and you don’t have to starve yourself to do it.
In summary, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is no quick fix. You don’t get six pack abs or a body like a fitness model by training a few minutes a day and eating haphazardly or cheating frequently. This program calls for structure and requires effort. In fact, many Burn The Fat customers have said that the main reason they bought the program was because it openly admits that fat loss is hard work. However, it’s worth it because if you follow the program, there’s no question that you will get very, very lean.
After all these years, Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is a classic in the diet and nutrition e-book genre. There are many imitators and copycats, but if you want the original, this is it. Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is literally the “bible of fat loss.”
Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is legitimate and effective. You can learn more at the official website at http://www.BurnTheFat.com.
