There are not many “sure things” in life. Almost everyworthwhile endeavor comes with a certain degree of riskand no assurance of the outcome.In the case of chiseling your body into a lean machine, there’s always some trial, error andexperimentation necessary, especially because each person’sgenetics, body type and physiology are so unique.There can be great value in the trial and error process as a learning experience, but what if you could skip the unnecessary trial and error by placingyour bets on “sure things” instead of guessing or gambling?

dont gamble with your diet, bet on SURE THINGS

That would be great wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, in the healthand fitness field, there appear to be fewer “sure things” thananywhere else!

Fitness experts are known for having opinions and theoriesthat range from one extreme to another. Many competing fat lossprograms represent polar opposites: high carb vs low carb beingthe most common example.

Scientists often end their papers with, “more research isneeded” and they rarely stick their necks out and takea strong stand, unless the evidence is air-tight and rock-solid.

But amidst all the chaos, confusion and conflicting advice ofthe nutrition and fitness world, there are a small handful of”SURE THINGS” and you’re about to learn them all…

These are things that most of the researchers and most of thefitness and dietetic professionals agree on.

Of course, We will never get 100% consensus on the subjects of exercise ornutrition, because science is continuously unfolding and one decade’ssure thing” has been known to become the next decades “myth busted.” Should we close our minds and accept our current “sure things” as final, we may be closing our minds to future discoveries and potential for advancement.

Even if we get a nearly unanimous vote, there’s almost always a lone dissenter out there somewhere, and people sometimes believe weird things, even in the face of science. People also often believe in their dietary approachesNOT for scientific reasons, but for environmental, spiritualor humanitarian reasons.

Nevertheless, if we use science as our guide, then theweight of the current evidence is heavy enough that these are as close to SURE THINGS as we can get, and that you can’t go wrong by applying theseprinciples in your own fat loss program immediately…

SURE THING #1: FOCUS ON THE CALORIC DEFICIT

One thing that virtually the entire scientific community agreeson is that the law of energy balance is always with us. In orderto lose body fat, you must burn more calories than you consume.

This is known as having a “caloric deficit.”

Although there are a few people who still claim that “caloriesdon’t count,” I will be as bold as to say that those people aremistaken.

PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY: There is a huge difference between saying”you don’t have to count calories” and “calories don’t count.”

Some diet programs are “ad libitum” in nature. This means theydo not advise calorie counting; they simply tell you what to eatand what not to eat. You eat as you please, as long as you followthe food restrictions provided.

What they usually don’t tell you is that the eating restrictionsare the equivalent of having built-in automatic calorie control.These programs do not refute the law of energy balance, theyconfirm it.

When a diet program claims, “Eat as much as you want and stilllose weight”, you are hearing a Big Fat Lie. Incidentally, theFederal Trade Commission (FTC) says it is illegal to make thisclaim in advertisements and they can sue you if you do.

Many people still deny the law of calorie balance in the face ofscientific evidence.

For example, some of the old school low-carbers are notorious for disputing thecalorie balance equation, in favor of believing in some type of”metabolic advantage” that comes from low carbs. I.e., “eat Xgrams of carbs or less, and you can eat as much as you want.”

I assure you, if you have a caloric maintenance level of2000 calories a day and you eat 3000 calories a day of protein andfat (no carbs) you WILL gain fat!

Perhaps it will be harder to consume that many calories in theform of protein and fat as compared to sugar and protein andfat, but if you manage to pull off that gastronomic feat, you will gain weight nonetheless (and low carb writers might be surprised at howmuch food some people can shovel down their throats – even sans carbs!)

Fortunately, the low carb community today has some intelligent voicesspeaking out, saying that low carb does not mean “unlimitedcalories” and that low carb diets also require a caloric deficit;they may simply make it easier to achieve that deficit, automaticallywithout counting calories.

While I am very much in favor of doing things “by the numbers,” programs that tend to make you “automatically” eat less without counting caloriesare not a bad thing at all (the spontaneous reduction in caloric intake often occurs due to an appetite-suppressive effect of certain diets, and or due to the selection of low calorie-density foods which are highly satiating).

That said, no combination of foods, elimination of foods, orarrangement of macronutrients will totally override the law of caloriebalance. To lose fat, you have to eat less than you burn, period.

You have to be diligent about maintaining your deficit too, because:

(1) Energy balance is dynamic, and what is a deficit for you today, may not be a significant deficit six months from now, and

(2) If your maintenance calories are 2000, and your intake is1500 one day (a deficit) and 2500 the next (a surplus), you haveNOT achieved a caloric defict over the two day period – you are inenergy balance. Conveniently, most people seem to have some kindof selective “amnesia” and they only remember the days they werein a deficit! Consistency over time is the key!

The sooner you accept thatthe cornerstone of fat loss is a caloric deficit, the sooneryou’ll be able to think clearly about your nutritional choicesand the better you’ll be able to judge everything you everread, see and hear about nutrition, for the rest of your life.

By the way, did you know that there are two corollaries tothe law of calorie balance, which almost no one teaches?

In my Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program, I reveal theselittle-known calorie corollaries (chapter 6) and I teach theexact, scientific formulas for calculating your ideal calorieintake for burning the maximum amount of fat, without losingmuscle or slowing down your metabolism.

You can learn more by visiting:www.BurnTheFat.com

Sincerely,
Your friend and coach,

Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
www.BurnTheFat.comwww.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com

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