The Body Fat Solution

This book is particularly interesting because the author, Tom Venuto, is a natural bodybuilder who’s also penned features for IRON MAN. It’s filled with solid information for anyone interested in getting lean, but be forewarned: There are no gimmicks, like zero carbs or eating asparagus at every meal.

Venuto’s number-one principle is calorie deficit—if you burn more calories each day than you take in, you lose ugly fat. It’s not as easy as it sounds, though, primarily because of lapses in mind-set and motivation.

That’s why the author spends considerable time analyzing and organizing ways to stick with the plan. He devotes three chapters to the mental aspects of achieving your weight-loss goals: “Attitudes and Beliefs That Set the Stage for Success,” “Freedom From Emotional Eating,” and “Mental Training Solution: Setting Goals and Reprogramming Your Mind for Automatic Success.” You’ll recognize many mind-morphing, attitude-altering principles from The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and Maxwell Matz’s Psycho-Cybernetics.

Most of the book, however, is practical applications of proper eating and exercise so you can shed fat and build muscle: “When you diet, you may lose weight, but if you add aerobic exercise, you get better results than with diet alone. If you combine the diet and aerobics with strength training, again your results will multiply. When you add mental, emotional and social support strategies to your diet and exercise program, results multiply exponentially.”

That sums up the book nicely, but undersand that Venuto is all about reality and your specific needs: “The best program in the truest sense is not the most effective program, but rather an effective program you can actually stick with long term…. It’s important to allow yourself enough lenience so you don’t feel deprived, but demand enough compliance so you get the results you want.”

While the book is geared toward the average Joe looking to drop fat and get in shape, bodybuilders will learn a lot too. As I said, Venuto is a bodybuilder, so you won’t be disappointed—and you’ll learn a thing or two or three. For example, “while alcohol is being metabolized, fat oxidation is almost completely halted.” Good to know, and something I’ve experienced. He also goes into detail about why having muscle burns more calories and how working out correctly can traumatize muscle tissue and speed up your metabolism—a true fat-to-muscle effect.

About the only thing I was slightly disappointed in was the weight-training program, although as I said, most readers will be new to weights. Nevertheless, I guarantee that the book will open your eyes to how to get leaner faster and more healthfully in the process. I highly recommend it, whether you’ve got 100 pounds to lose or that last little bit of bodyfat to get your abs etched like granite. IM