You Can Attract It

You Can Attract It

Steve G. Jones and Frank Mangano

Listen to my Interview with Steve G. Jones and Frank Mangano

You Can Attract It Interview

FitTalk featured two good friends of mine, Clinical Hypnotherapist Steve G. Jones and Leading Natural Health Advocate, Frank Mangano to talk about their new Law of Attraction book, You Can Attract It

During the course of the interview, Frank and Steve were very candid and there was so much we talked about in depth which couldn’t be covered in this article.  After reading the highlights of my interview with them, I highly recommend you listen to the podcast by clicking on the player above.

Steve and Frank teamed up to write what is becoming a best selling Law of Attraction book on Amazon.com called You Can Attract It.  There are many aspects to the Law of Attraction.  Mind and spirit are connected to the body and have a lot to do with your health.  When you look at what Steve, Frank and I do, we are all in the business of helping people improve their lives and well being, and, we are also Law of Attraction practitioners.  Once you come to understand how the Law of Attraction affects your life every day, you will understand how it will help improve your life and well being when you learn how to use it.

As an avid Law of Attraction student, I have read many books by some of the top Law of Attraction experts. Steve G. Jones and Frank Mangano have put a new twist on this topic with their book, You Can Attract It. Both share their own personal story of how the Law of Attraction changed their lives and Steve’s background as a hypnotherapist provides great ways towards getting in touch with your subconscious mind to attract what you want.

A healthy, physical body is also important when using the Law of Attraction as the mind is connected to the body. Frank’s background in Natural Health teaches you how your Health plays a big role in attracting what you want, and how you can attract optimal health.

The Law of Attraction is based on science. Steve and Frank go over the science as to how the Law of Attraction works.

If you are a Law of Attraction enthusiast or new to this topic, You Can Attract It is a must read.

The Law of Attraction and troubled times

I commented to Steve and Frank that the launch of their book is perfect timing being that we are coming towards the end of what has been a year of turmoil for so many people.  There are many people out there who may be experiencing stress, depression, anger, and uncertainty about their lives and about their future.  Most people don’t view these times as an opportunity to reinvent themselves.  It’s all about shifting your thoughts and your vibrational energy to attract what you want and that is what the Law of Attraction is all about.

People are wondering what the solution is to these troubled times.  According to Steve, the solution is doing the opposite of what the media says.  Look inside yourself and find that positive part of yourself and share that with the world and make that your reality and keep the faith. 

Frank stated that “it doesn’t have to be this way.  It is unfortunate that people have experienced turmoil in their lives whether it is financially, relationally or with health issues.”  Through the methods in their new book, You Can Attract It, people will learn what they can do to turn a negative situation into a positive.

Personal Stories
In Chapter One Steve and Frank share their personal stories. I really like how they open up and give the reader a glimpse into their life “before”. 

Steve’s Story
Steve was in a marriage that ended.  Saddened by the demise of his marriage, he decided to wipe the slate clean and traveled across the country from Florida to Los Angeles with only a few hundred dollars and an old van.  Steve rebuilt is life in Beverly Hills and opened what became a successful hypnotherapy practice that attracted a who’s who of some of Hollywood’s top celebrities as clients.  As Steve put it, he built the business, attracted the clients and his career took off.  Steve’s life changed from being down and out, having little or no money and driving across the country in an old van to becoming the hypnotherapist to the stars.  Steve attracted all of this.  He believed in it and he made it happen.

Frank’s Story
Frank had a lot of low paying, dead end jobs and dreaded working for others.  What lead Frank to where he is today and self-publishing his first book is through a situation with his mother who was diagnosed with high cholesterol.  Frank did extensive research and created a program for his mother to follow that would naturally lower her cholesterol and avoid her being on prescription medicine.  Frank was inspired by the success he had helping his mother that he decided that if he can help his mother, he can help many more, thus, self-publishing his first book.

In the meantime, Frank continued working his dead end jobs, but knew his dream was to do research and write about natural health.  The one thing that stood in Frank’s way of realizing his dream was that he was surrounded by negative people who didn’t believe in his goals.

Frank realized that these negative influences were getting in his way and made the choice to distance himself from these people.  Once he did that, things started happening for him.

**Frank’s biggest piece of advice is that you must rid yourself of any negativity in your life because it will stand in your way and hold you back. **

What is The Law of Attraction
Everything in this world is energy.  We are energy and everything around us is energy. The Law of Attraction is very much about energy and getting into the same vibrational frequency as the things you want.  To some, this may sound a bit new agey and out there, but understanding this is a big part of learning how to make the Law of Attraction work for you. 

I asked Frank to explain his definition of The Law of Attraction.  According to Frank, essentially, you attract what you think about most.  To make the Law of Attraction work more efficiently for you, you need to rid yourself of limiting and negative thoughts. 

You Can Attract It provides you with the process, or plan of action, to help you attract what you want in your life.  Frank briefly outlined the 6 step process he and Steve provide you with in their book, You Can Attract It.

Step 1 – Change the Negative into a Positive

Step 2 – Know What You Do Not Want

Step 3 – Know What it is You Do Want

Step 4 – Ask For What You Want

Step 5 – Allow What You Want Into Your Life

Step 6 – Receive It, Enjoy It, Be Thankful For It, Surround Yourself With It

Steve had a different explanation of what the Law of Attraction is.  We are energy and the Law of Attraction is all about the energy or vibration we put out.  The vibrations we put out over and over again become a pattern, reinforcing the vibrations you put out to the Universe which is really at the heart of the Law of Attraction.

Steve’s analogy of the vibrations we put out are like waves or ripples; kind of like when you throw a pebble into a pond, you will see waves or ripples start to ripple out in a pond.  These ripples can be negative or positive thoughts.  The thing in the pond that resonates with those ripples will be attracted to it.

You can use this theory to your advantage and put out positive ripples attracting positive people, situations and creating a positive support group.

Abundance

Initially, when you say the word abundance to someone, they instantly think of financial wealth as abundance, however, abundance is much more than that.  In this chapter, Steve provides an abundance script.  This is where Steve’s background as a hypnotherapist adds a twist to The Law of Attraction that I have not seen in other books on this topic.

Hypnotherapy comes into play to overcome your stumbling blocks that prevent your from attracting the things your really want.  Many of us create walls that prevent us from going through them.  As Steve put it, hypnotherapy helps you drive a tank through those walls so that you can attract the things you want that will add abundance to your life.

Health
The human body truly is a temple and when mind, body and spirit are acting synergistically, you feel good and you are emitting positive emotions and vibrations to The Universe.  Good Health is vital when it comes to attracting the things you want.  When your health and fitness is not up to par, it affects you physically and emotionally and you are not in a positive vibration.  Going back towards changing your mindset from negative to positive, if you are always in a negative vibration, it does affect your health.

As a leading natural health advocate, Frank provides some very detailed information about health in this chapter.  During my interview about the Law of Attraction and Health, Frank talked about some of the recent scientific studies on brain imaging and they have discovered mirror neurons.  What this means is that humans mirror the behavior of the object or person they are observing.  This applies to the Law of Attraction.  If we hang around people who are active, healthy, like to exercise, that will have an affect on us.  Surrounding yourself with people who have healthy habits will rub off on you so to speak.

Steve provides a detailed “health script” to reprogram your mind for optimal health.  Many people want to improve their health, however, when it comes to taking the right action, they need to take that action and turn it into a healthy habit.  They will find that difficult to make excuses as to whey they didn’t eat as healthy and nutritiously as they should, or why they didn’t exercise, etc.  The mind and body need to be reminded of what to do and again, this is where Steve’s background as a hypnotherapist helps the reader.

**Frank emphasized that you need to take action.  This goes beyond just positive thinking**

Wealth

So now we’re going to get to the part that everyone is interested in when it comes to the Law of Attraction.  How do I attract the money or as Tom Cruise was yelling into the phone in Jerry Maguire….”Show me The Money”.  Wealth is a whole other mindset.  I also think that people may not realize the negative inner conversation they have with themselves when it comes to wealth.  For instance, when you’re on the highway and you see someone driving an expensive car or you pass a nice house and you think to yourself “Must be Nice” with a sarcastic undertone, which is an example of having a negative inner conversation with yourself about Wealth and Wealthy people. 

Steve spoke about Wealth and told me that the concept of wealth has become distasteful and to many it’s the haves and have not mindset.  This thought process stems from the connotation of limitations in the Universe.  People who focus on “lack of and not having” will always lack and not have.  Those who focus on opportunity will attract and create the people, places and events that will provide them with the opportunity to attract wealth.  Look for the possibilities and you will see that abundance around you.  The world is an abundant orchard and there are plenty of apples available for the picking.  If you don’t believe that, then you won’t see that you are standing in the middle of the apple orchard.

**Steve’s take away message – To achieve wealth you need to believe in yourself and will help you rise like a Phoenix out of the ashes.**

Frank added to that by saying “Limiting beliefs will be the obstacle that will hinder your efforts towards using the Law of Attraction to attract what you want, including wealth.  True wealth is about having it all.”

Relationships

Another topic I feel is important are the relationships you have with people and this is not just about romantic relationships.  It’s the friends you attract, the business associates you attract and yes, romantic relationships and relationships you have with loved ones

According to Frank, attracting relationships is not about attracting a specific person, but a type of person.  You need to know what it is in detail, what type of person you are looking to attract not only in your romantic /personal relationships, but in your business relationships as well.  If you focus on the type of person you want to attract in detail, then you will attract that relationship.

Steve stated that you need to have a clear vision of what you want.  When it comes to relationships, all too often we focus on what we don’t want or what we don’t like.  The Universe will think that’s what you do want and will keep delivering what you don’t want to you.

Your relationships are a litmus test of what you attract.  To improve on an existing relationship, focus of the positive aspects of it rather than the negative.

Success

I asked Frank and Steve what success means to them and how can someone use the Law of Attraction to attract more success in their lives.

For Frank, the meaning of true success means living an abundant life and it’s not only about the money, although it does play a role, but it’s only one piece of it.  Success to Frank does mean being financially independent, being physically and emotionally healthy, and having good relationships.  That’s the meaning of true success.

If someone is looking to attract true success into their life, they need to evaluate their life and write down exactly what area of their life they need to be more successful in and start working on that area of their life.  Focus your energy and attention of that, and take action to get to your goal.  Be specific with what you want to be successful with. Surround yourself people who have achieved the same goals you are looking to achieve.

For Steve, success means being able to help people at greater level.  In the beginning, Steve was only able to help a few people, but now the internet, TV, etc., he is able to help thousands of people with product promotions at a price people can afford.  Financial abundance is a by product of success.  The money is just a by product of being able to help people by providing a service to them. 

Being able to help as many people as possible.  It’s not about money, but it is a by product of having that ability.

Steve believed that he could be of service to a lot people and the he would be able to sustain himself from doing this.  Believing that you will be OK if you follow your heart and trust it, that is how you can use the Law of Attraction to create the life you want.

Lifestyle

Your lifestyle has a lot to do with what you attract and no one knows this better than Frank Mangano.  If you’re not eating healthy foods, not exercising and possibly smoking, what kind of signal are you putting out to attract back to you?  If you aren’t eating properly, you’re sending the signal that you don’t want a healthy body.  If you’re not exercising, you’re sending out the signal that you don’t care about your body.

If you’re looking to improve your overall health, clean up your lifestyle.  By cleaning up your lifestyle, you are clearing the negative signals and you will attract better health.  Your lifestyle habits are going to play a tremendous role in the Law of Attraction process.  Health has everything to do with the Law of Attraction.

Hypnosis
Hypnosis certainly does play a large role in getting the Law of Attraction to work for you.  Hypnosis talks to the subconscious mind.  It is the subconscious mind that creates all kinds of resistance, self sabotage and negative inner conversations that prevent you from attracting what you want.  Steve is certainly the master in the field of hypnotherapy and there is a chapter devoted to this. 

We can hypnotize ourselves all day, every day.   When we talk to ourselves in a certain way, we hypnotize our selves.  Affirmations are vital.  If you have people around you saying “you can do it”, that’s an affirmation.  If you tell yourself “you can do it”, that’s an affirmation and that’s hypnosis.

A lot of hypnosis that happens to us, whether you believe in it or not, happens from ourselves, and our good friends believing in us or doubting our possibilities.  We need to be very aware of what programs us, even though we’re wide awake.

According to Steve, being under our own control can be a lot worse than being under the control of a hypnotherapist’s control.  We have thoughts in our minds that tell us we can’t do this or we don’t deserve this.

Steve teaches you how to program yourself in the book.  Steve’s take away message is that you hypnotize yourself every day and you surround yourself with people every day that have an influence on you and you have an influence on yourself.

Hypnosis is a very easy state to achieve.  All you have to do is relax yourself.  Close your eyes and relax yourself and tell yourself positive affirmations.

Formal hypnotherapy can be more elaborate with induction, a deepening, a script – the affirmations/positive programming – however, with a hypnotherapy session, you’re dealing with the subconscious mind, and the affirmations take effect within a shorter period of time.  Then there is the “amnesia technique” which is designed for you to forget everything that’s in your mind.  The reason for the amnesia technique is that people will second guess themselves.  For example, their mind will tell them, “I know the hypnotherapist told me I’m great, but so and so said I wasn’t so I think the hypnotherapist may be wrong”.  The amnesia technique bypasses that critical factor that undoes everything.

The end of the hypnotherapy session is called Transtermination where the hypnotherapist brings you out of hypnosis.

Steve’s takeaway message ** We can hypnotize ourselves in our daily lives, so be sure to surround yourself with positive people, positive things, positive suggestions, so that we can have hypnosis work for us in a positive rather than negative way.**

There is so much more material in You Can Attract it which also goes into more detail than was covered in the interview.  

For more information about Steve G. Jones, you can visit his website : http://budurl.com/BetterLivingHypnosis

For more information about Frank Mangano, you can visit his website www.naturalhealthontheweb.com

Click here to order your copy of You Can Attract It. 

(note: the links posted on this page are sponsored links, however, I do stand by my recommendations.)

Is The Alpha Male Extinct?

Listen to my FitTalk Interview with Rick Collins - Is The Alpha Male Extinct?

Alpha Male Challenge
co-author Rick Collins

www.alphamalechallenge.com

Men, are you a true Alpha Male? Ladies, is your husband/boyfriend a true Alpha Male or, if you’re single, are you looking for an Alpha Male? Is the Alpha Male extinct?

What does this mean? In America today, men are fatter, sicker, more stressed, and less rested than ever before. Too many men have slipped from “alpha” to “beta,” and average testosterone levels are dropping at an alarming rate. In other words, American men are losing their masculinity.

Alpha Male Challenge is a revolutionary 10-week transformation program designed to not only rapidly build muscle and lose body fat, but to build a better man, inside and out. This is a straightforward instruction manual to build the kind of man these hard times demand: ruggedly powerful and supremely confident; traditionally manly but with modern enlightenment. Not just a guy whose muscles look heroic, but one who feels heroic.

I had the opportunity to talk with Rick Collins, co-author of The Alpha Male Challenge about what a True Alpha Male is and how you can BE a true Alpha Male.

Rick is a celebrated personality in the bodybuilding, fitness and nutritional supplements industry. He has degrees in psychology and law and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (National Strength and Conditioning Association).

He is monthly legal columnist for the internationally circulated Muscular Development magazine and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Muscle & Fitness magazine, is a principal in the New York law firm of Collins, McDonald & Gann, P.C, and legal advisor to the International Federation of Body Builders and the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

I enjoyed reading the Alpha Male Challenge, and, as a self-proclaimed Alpha Female and Fitness Professional, I know that this book is written by guys, for guys, but I’ve got to admit, I just couldn’t help taking the Alpha Male Challenge myself and I am enjoying the workouts and seeing great results. There is some great information in this book that I can certainly use with the male clients I work with. The workouts in this book are clearly designed with men in mind, and anyone, any age can do the challenge. The book is meant to inspire people, men In particular, to improve themselves.

The title of chapter 1 is called “The Decline and Fall of Manliness”. According the the authors, James Villepigue and Rick Collins, men have changed culturally over the years. Rick said on my show that guys are in a state of confusion as to masculine excellence is all about with the reign of the “metro-sexual”. The fundamental qualities of what make men “manly” were getting confused.

Not only are men losing their manliness sociologically, but physiologically as well. There was a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metaboliosm in January 2007 which provided evidence of a new physiological de-masculinization of the modern man. The study compared testosterone levels of three generations of men in the 80’s, 90’s and new decade and the news was quite troubling. Their study found that of the age-matched subjects, the men in the 80’s had higher average testosterone levels than the men of the 90’s, and the men of the new century have on average the LEAST testosterone of all. Simply put, testosterone levels are going down.

Testosterone is not just about your libido

Testosterone is a more than a hormone that makes men manly. Testosterone influences psychological factors such as mood, memory, libido, assertiveness and confidence. It also affects physiological factors such as cholesterol levels, blood sugar which means equates to body fat and obesity.

Sociologically, our male hero’s have evolved over the years. Back in the day, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum epitomized the true Alpha Male, The 80’s had Sylvester Stallone (Rambo) and Arnold Schwarzenegger as our action hero’s. Today, there really isn’t a truly “manly” American movie star and Johnny Depp certainly is not what I would call an Alpha Male.

According to Rick, there clearly is a cultural and physical downward spiral of manliness which inspired the writing of this book.

The authors developed a system for you to find out what your current Alpha Factor number is with the AlphaMale Scale™. At the end of the 10 weeks, you will revisit The AlphaMale Scale™ and discover that your Alpha number went up. You can quickly the express version of the AlphaMale Scale™ by visiting: http://alphamalechallenge.com/male_scale.php

The Alpha Male Challenge is not just a diet and exercise program, but a plan, a blueprint, that has a psychological aspect to it to “bring manly back”.

Alpha Attitude

One of the key aspects to the Alpha Male Challenge is “Alpha Attitude”. It’s what makes a guy a hero. What makes him his best. What makes him a leader. Alpha Attitude are inner innate qualities that can be developed. The book covers the “4 C’s” – Confidence, Courage, Commitment and Conscience.

Alpha Archicture

The book as 27 workouts that are all different and should not keep you in the gym longer than an hour. The workouts are fun and challenging and designed for different fitness levels. The exercise can be done at home or in the gym. Alpha Architecture is the part of the book that provides you with what I call a true “game plan”, so that when you walk into the gym, you know exactly what your goals are making your workouts more efficient. The workouts designed in “Alpha Waves”. A specific result will be achieved in each wave such as increasing endurance, lean muscle, increased strength and explosive power. In each wave you are building up for the next wave and continuing to improve on the benefits of the previous wave.

Work Heart, Play Heart

Another part of building your Alpha Architecture is a program the writers created called Work Heart, Play Heart. This is a cardiovascular system that does not require endless hours on a treadmill. Instead, you earn points making simple beneficial choices such as taking the stairs over the elevator or parking at the far end of the parking lot rather than finding the closest parking spot to the door.

Alpha Fuel

Alpha Fuel covers the nutrition portion of the book and I can tell you that the foods aren’t weird and that no, you won’t be on a diet of rabbit food, tofu and soy. You are eating NORMAL food, however, you will be more conscious of the foods you eating consuming QUALITY calories that are nutrient rich. You will be eating less processed foods, more sources of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. The book also has some great recipes that are quick and easy to make.


To help further simplify things, there is the “Handshake Diet” taking all the guess work out of portion control by measuring a portion with the size of your hand and supplementing your diet with a whey protein shake which is a quick, easy, convenient way of ensuring you’re getting your daily protein intake which is essential for building lean, healthy, fat burning, muscle.

The Alpha Male Challenge is a call to action for men. It is designed men to become healthier, fitter and just, better.

If you’re on Facebook, search Alpha Male Challenge and join their Fan Page www.facebook.com/pages/Alpha-Male-Challenge or visit the website www.alphamalechallenge.com

Order your copy of the book today

Tom Venuto Reveals the Big Fat Lies in Weight Loss and Fitness

Listen to my FitTalk Interview with Tom Venuto

Big Fat Lies in Weight Loss

Tom Venuto - Author Burn the Fat and

The Body Fat Solution

Part 1 of a 2 Part Blog

FitTalk had the opportunity to interview Tom Venuto about the Big Fat Lies in Weight Loss and Fitness. What do I mean by that? Time and time again you’ve tried the latest diet, or took a weight loss supplement that promised to give you the body of your dreams, bought the latest exercise gadget as seen on TV that promised to deliver 6 pack abs and got little or no results and you end up feeling frustrated and unmotivated.

Tom Venuto exposes the biggest scams, cover-ups, lies, myths and deceptions in the diet, supplement, fitness and weight loss industries known as the Big Fat Lies which is a free mini e-course he offers on his Burn the Fat site. It is these Big Fat Lies that have been sabotaging your weight loss goals.

Burn The Fat is a Fat Loss Program geared towards people with Weight Loss Goals. The program is designed to help overweight people clear the misconceptions regarding Weight Loss and teach then the best Weight Loss diet, exercise and mind techniques and help people lose weight while sparing muscle.

So, what are some of the Big Fat Lies? Well, the media certainly has no shortage of them. An article published in Time Magazine which caused a lot of controversy in the health and fitness industry, is a great example of Tom's Big Fat Lie #3 - “The Magazine Lie”.

"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. 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".- Tom Venuto

This article also ties in to Fat Loss Lie #9 – “Exercise is not necessary – all you need is a diet”. AKA the ‘ol Diet vs. Exercise debate. The article in question is called "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin." People who read this will think that the information in this article is true and accurate because it is in TIME magazine. As Tom explained it, "the issue here is what's more important, diet or exercise? To answer that, you need to create a caloric. You can create a caloric deficit with just diet alone or through exercise, expending more calories than you consume."

Dieting alone is 50% of the equation. Yes, you can lose weight with just dieting. Tom provided a great explanation of the The Diet vs. Exercise debate. "If person "a" burned 1,000 calories with a combination of weight training and cardio, and person "b" didn't do any training and just cut calories, are the results going to be the same? Will persons "a" and "b" health be the same? Will their body compositions be the same? No. The training group will always come out better all the time. 


No amount of dieting can ever make you stronger, only training can do that. No amount of dieting will ever make you more physically conditioned or build lean muscle. Only training can do that. Yes, you can lose weight with just dieting, but if you are able bodied, dieting alone is the worst way to lose weight."

Tom and I also talked about the pros and cons of the popular TV show, The Biggest Loser. While it does have several positive aspects, it does have some negative aspects giving people an unrealistic view of how much weight someone can lose in a week. Tom suggests you draw your inspiration from it, not your education.

Another one of the Big Fat Lies we discussed is Fat Loss Lie #12 - "It takes just minutes a day". What we mean by that is when you see or hear the ads for

"2 MINUTE ABS" - "A FEW MINUTES IN THE MORNING!" -

"THE ONE WORKOUT A WEEK FITNESS REVOLUTION!"

"CHANGE YOUR BODY IN 30 MINUTES A WEEK"

"It used to be the big corporations touting ads and infomercials promising you weight loss miracles in just minutes a day. There now seems to be an increase of Fitness Professionals looking for sales making these types of claims. What they're doing is making these ultra condensed workouts saying they're superior to conventional workouts. Some may have crossed the line with integrity by selling quick fixes." According to Tom, it's all about finding the right balance between intensity and duration. For example, if you are in the gym for an hour and not really working out intensely, you're not going to achieve the same results as someone who may be doing an intense 30 minute workout.

“Big Fat Lie #1 – The Starvation Diet” is something I think most of us are victims of. I know I was once upon a time ago. I know I have clients that are victims of this lie – and it’s not just the women who are guilty of this. Men are equally victims of this lie just as much as women are. We were all taught to believe that if you want to lose weight, simply keep your mouth shut. The truth is that most of us aren’t consuming enough calories and the calories we are consuming aren’t the right calories.

There is that fine line between an optimal "caloric deficit" and simply going overboard and not consume enough enough calories, which is "starvation" which can cause confusion. Starvation diets are done for instant gratification to lose weight faster. Most people fail on starvation diets and according to Tom, "they will make you fatter in the long run. It is difficult to stay on these diets. Hunger/food is the most primal drive and your body will start to crave what it doesn't have, causing you to binge, rebound and give up."

"A diet is as good as your ability to stay on it and as effective as your ability to keep the fat off afterwards." - Tom Venuto

The Burn the Fat program is based on burn more, eat more. You have a caloric deficit, but what if you stay active doing two types of training - weight lifting and cardio - with high level of calorie burn - let's you take in more fuel and still have a caloric deficit at a higher level energy expenditure.

Another one of the 12 Big Fat Lies we talked about is Fat Loss Lie #10 – “Fat loss can be Quick and permanent” which is a lie you see advertised almost daily.

"Lose 30 pounds In 30 Days!"

"Lose 9 Pounds Every 11 Days!"

Lose 10 Pounds This Weekend!

We have become a society that has become accustomed to instant gratification and think that the same concept applies to the human body. Everyone wants a quick, easy fix and if there was a quick, easy fix, someone would be a multi millionaire and weight loss would no longer be an issue. But that’s not the case.

Here's how Tom explains it. "When it comes to weight loss, it is critical that you understand body composition which is the difference between body weight and body fat. You body weight isn't the whole picture. There is a difference between losing water weight, muscle tissue and body fat. You want to distinguish what the weight loss consists of.

You can take a body fat test with a body fat caliper or a body fat scale you can use at home, a DEXA scan, or hydrostatic test. Check your weight and body fat once a week and write it down on a progress chart and don't obsess over the short term fluctuations, but more on the long term results.

You also need to set realistic goals. Double digit numbers that you see on TV are unrealistic. It is more realistic and to lose 1-2 pounds per week keeping a caloric deficit.

Tom’s Burn the Fat is a really great program and I learned a lot from it when I went through my initial body transformation. If you want to see all 12 Big Fat Lies in his free mini e-course, or get more information about Burn The Fat, all you need to do is Click Here!

Tom and I continued our conversation about his newest book, The Body Fat Solution which you can read about in Part 2 of this blog: Tom Venuto and the Body Fat Solution.

Tom Venuto and the Body Fat Solution

Listen to my FitTalk interview with Tom Venuto

Tom Venuto

The Body Fat Solution

Attitudes, Beliefs and Emotional Eating

Part 2 of the Big Fat Lies interview

This blog is a continuation from the Big Fat Lies, Burn The Fat interview. Tom and I spoke for nearly two hours. The second part of our conversation was about his new book,The Body Fat Solution. This is without a doubt, the most comprehensive weight loss book I have ever read.


The Body Fat Solutions is not a diet. In this book, Tom talk about Attitudes, Beliefs, and Emotional Eating. The mind has a lot to do with weight loss success and I have touched on this topic on my show. Let’s talk about your book and how the role our attitudes, beliefs and emotional eating play on our weight.

You need tools to stick with your plan and that's what makes The Body Fat Solution different. A lot of what is in this book is how you stick with your program and that's where people get stuck - the mental side of it.

One of the things that holds people back are “excuses”. In the book, Tom provides some great examples of common excuses and solutions. He calls this “Reframing to Eliminate Excuses and Resolve Inner Conflict.” People are always making excuses as to why they can't work out or stick to their diet. Making excuses can become habitual. Tom says, "you need to become aware. Pay attention to what you're thinking and be aware of the excuses you make. It's a negative mindset. When you catch yourself, talk back to it and reframe it with a positive mindset. You will look at challenges with a different perspective - a solution mentality. This is what's called reframing."

Here's a classic example of an excuse: I don't have time to workout. Here is how Tom reframes this classic excuse - "you have all the time in the world. You have the same time everyone else has. Twenty four hours in a day. The same amount of time as Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and The President." What you haven't done is taken the time to sit down and prioritize your life - put health as a high priority.

One topic Tom talks about in his new book is "Limiting Beliefs". I loved the way he covered “Limiting Beliefs” in his book. Tom presented it in a way that’s different from what I’ve seen in the past and really like how he talked about it. I asked Tom to explain what Limiting Beliefs are and how they can sabotage your weight loss efforts. "Some beliefs you know are not true, and they hold you back. A belief is like a placebo effect and it's involved in the mind-body connection. A belief is an unconscious program that controls your behavior. You may have beliefs on the unconscious level that hold you back. It helps if you analyze your beliefs with a pen and paper to try to draw them out. You can't change a problem if you don't know you have one."

Tom gave some great tips on questions you can ask yourself to discover your limiting beliefs and move past them. You can hear him on the podcast posted at the top of this page.

Another topic in his book we talked about is Emotional Eating. Emotional Eating is one of the biggest sabotages of weight loss. Emotional eating does not require psychotherapy. Emotional eating is done unconsciously to fill a void, to alleviate boredom, stress, depression, etc. Tom maps out a plan on this topic with

the A.W.A.R.E. Formula. I know so many people who struggle with Emotional Eating and could really benefit from this information in the book.

When it comes to Emotional Eating, food is used as a coping mechanism. There are several "triggers" which lead to emotional eating. They are patterns that can be broken via awareness.

A.W.A.R.E formula is a 5 step formula

Awareness - The first step is to raise awareness. Doing something as simple as keeping a food journal is an awareness exercise.

Slow down when you eat. Eat exclusively meaning don't pair eating with other activities such as sitting in front of the TV.

Watch for all your triggers - people, places, events can trigger eating. Make a list of your triggers. Prepare for your triggers so you can handle them. Some common triggers are stress, loneliness, sadness, boredom, TV, etc.

Arrest the behavior before it happens. If you feel the urge, stop it in the act. The word arrest implies that you have been poli

cing yourself, your thoughts, etc. like staking out the scene of a crime. You can "arrest" it before it happens.

Replace the old emotional eating behavior with more constructive alternatives. If you're using food to cope with feelings, you have to find a replacement for the old behavior. Some alternatives are exercise, taking a long walk, meditating, etc.

Establish new reasons for eating. What does food mean to you? Is food fuel? Do you think of food as nutrients? What are your beliefs about food? It's not that some people have superhuman willpower to say no to every temptation. When a behavior violates your strongest beliefs, there is no temptation.

As we were nearing the end of the interview, I asked Tom if there was any one point he wanted people to walk away with. He paused for a moment, thought and this is what he said - "A lot of the biggest lies and myths in the industry are based on refusing to accept or not understand the fundamental cause of obesity and that is a caloric surplus.

That is the simple truth. A lot of people believe it has to be something else. Obesity and body fat can be very complicated but when you trace it all the way back to the point of causation, it's the caloric surplus.

The confusing factors is how much you really eat and how many calories you burn. There's so much that affects that caloric equation and it's not just exercise physiology and not just nutrition. It's your attitudes, thoughts and emotions and how you respond to your feelings. It's also social. The people you hang out with affects how much you eat and exercise.

You need to accept calories in vs. calories out. You need to dig deep and understand why your caloric equation is out of whack. If you don't accept that 1 piece, you're going to keep falling for more myths and lies, but if you get that one point, your caloric balance equation, you're going to continue to be a victim of the Big Fat Lies.

To learn more about Tom's Burn the Fat program and the Big Fat Lies,Click Here! If you're serious about losing weight correctly without all the hype, I highly recommend Tom's Burn The Fat Program.

You can order Tom's newest book: The Body Fat Solution

To read Part 1 of this blog, Click here: http://sharifitness.blogspot.com/2009/10/tom-venuto-reveals-big-fat-lies-in.html

Simple Weight Loss Tips

Listen to my FitTalk Interview with Jen Hendershott
Weight Loss Made Simple

Simple Weight Loss Tips

with Jen Hendershott
http://budurl.com/jenhnutrition




I had the opportunity to trade weight loss tips with two time Ms. Olympia and Ms. Fitness International, Jen Hendershott on my FitTalk show.


It’s certainly no secret that as a country, we are very unfit and very unhealthy. Not a week goes by that we don’t hear about the growing obesity rate in this country. Most people say they are unhappy with their weight and wan to lose weight and make the mistake of looking for a quick easy fix which in most cases don’t work. Jen and I agree that people tend to make weight loss more complicated than it really is, don’t get the results they want and give up.


We’re overworked, underpaid, and very stressed and we’re always looking for the quickest, easiest, solution to everything. When it comes to weight loss, the cold hard truth is that there really isn’t a quick fix. If there was, someone would be a multi-millionaire for inventing it and obesity wouldn’t be an issue.


In addition, the obesity rate among children is rising. Children are watching and observing what you do. They learn from you and develop lifestyle habits from the adults in their lives. Not only do you need to start developing better habits for yourself, but also for our children.


When it comes to weight loss, knowledge is power. We’re simply uneducated about nutrition and it really isn’t taught in the schools. One of the easiest things you can do to start making changes is to start a food journal and track everything you eat and drink for 5 days. At the end of the 5 days, look at your journal and see how many sodas you drank. You’ll also see how many meals you ate came from a restaurant or drive through. Ask yourself of all the choices on the menu, did you make the best choice? By looking at this snap shot of your habits, you can get a clear picture of what you chose to eat or drink, identify what choices you made were unhealthy, and give some thought about better choices you can make.


If you and your children are drinking too much soda and want to cut back on it and have your children drink more water, you can add Crystal Light or Sugar Free Kool Aid to your water.


It’s a matter of making small steps towards better habits. Jen came up with a simple suggestion that you can do to develop better eating habits and turn it into a lifestyle instead of a temporary fix. Jen suggested making 8 major changes in 8 weeks. Every week, pick a new good habit to replace a bad one.


For example, Week 1 you won’t skip breakfast and get into a habit of having breakfast every day. It can be something as easy as a protein shake with a piece of fruit.
Week 2: Prepare a healthy lunch the day before so you don’t have to eat fast food. At the end of the 8 weeks, you’ll have 8 new habits that will stick for life.


Another simple thing you can do is be pro-active about your diet. Jen’s motto is “Your cooler is your purse”. If you fill a small cooler with healthy snacks such as apples, low fat yogurt, cottage cheese, almonds, etc. you will always have something nutritious to snack on throughout the day.

My simple suggestion is to pre-cook all your meals once a week. I do this every Sunday and it takes me about 90 minutes. When I come home and I’m tired or in a hurry, I can heat up one of these meals very quickly.


Of course, there are times when you have to get something “to go”. Rather than hit a drive through, I will go into a local supermarket and pick up a rotisserie chicken and salad in a bag. I’m literally in and out of the store in the same amount of time it would take for me to place my order at the drive through. This is a low cost, healthy meal that can also quickly feed a family.


Another habit you can develop is regular exercise. Set aside at least 30 minutes a few days a week to exercise and give it a chance and realize how good you feel. Exercise helps you feel strong and empowered. When you feel empowered, you do things which make you feel successful, happy and creates self confidence.


I had created a Vision Board of my role models and images that represented a healthy, fit, body along with pictures of treadmills, dumbbells, spin bikes, healthy foods, etc. I would look at these images every day and was inspired and motivated by them. When I went to the gym, these images would be in my head which helped fuel my workouts.


If you are looking to learn everything over a weekend, Jen has created a program that she has been touring the country with over the past few years called PHAT Camp. PHAT camp is a camp designed for women who want to learn about being the best they can be. It’s not just for fitness competitors. People of all ages, shapes and sizes attend the weekend long camp. Jen has had participants as young as 13 and as old as 70 attend camp. Jen teaches you creative ways to make cardio more fun, you will learn exciting new exercises, and so many great ways to eat and cook healthy. Learn things you didn't know and get your questions answered. This is something I highly recommend that will get you motivated and on the right path. To learn more about Jen’s PHAT Camp, visit her website: http://budurl.com/jenhnutrition You will also find exercise DVD’s and other products that can help you reach your goal.


You really don’t need to get hung up on counting calories. Focus on eating foods that are what I call quality calories. Foods that are rich in nutrients and are as natural as possible. Avoid foods that are loaded with ingredients you can’t pronounce. Be aware of the sugar content in the foods you eat. Read the nutrition labels. If you do these simple things, the weight will start to come off and you will start to feel better.

Incorporate strength training and cardio along with improving your nutrition and you’ve got the basic, simple formula for weight loss.

EFT and Weight Loss Interview with Brad Yates

Listen to the interview I did with Brad Yates to learn about EFT and weight loss and hear the weight loss EFT Session he did with me. Click on the BlogTalk Radio button above. You will be redirected to my Blog Talk Radio Page.

EFT and Weight Loss With Brad Yates

I had the opportunity to talk to one of the most renown and highly respected EFT practitioners, Brad Yates about EFT and Weight Loss. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique.

How I came learn about Brad and EFT, is through my friend, Bob Doyle, who is one of the teachers in the movie, “The Secret” which is about the Law of Attraction. Bob is an advocate of EFT and highly recommends it as an effective tool to help make the Law of Attraction work for you.

Brad has been a presenter at a number of events, including several International Energy Psychology Conferences and the Walk On Water (WOW) Fest in Los Angeles.

He has done teleseminars with “The Secret” stars Bob Doyle (who has been a guest on my FitTalk show), and Dr. Joe Vitale and is also the co-author of the best-selling book, Freedom at Your Fingertips: Get Rapid Physical and Emotional Relief with the Breakthrough System of Tapping as well as a featured expert in the film “Try It On Everything” along with Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Dr. Norman Shealy and Dr. Bruce Lipton.

In addition, Brad has teamed up with another guest on my show, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Steve G. Jones, M.Ed. to create a program called Confidence Beyond Belief which combines the power of EFT and Hypnosis.

What is EFT and how does it heal people?

I asked Brad this question and he explained that EFT is an incredible healing modality which is based on the same principles as the age old techniques found in acupuncture only without the use of needles. It basically works by changing the body’s energy system. It is very effective in helping people overcome pain, fear, emotional trauma, chronic physical pain and addictions which are driven by our emotions. EFT is the quickest, easiest form of stress relief and clears out negative feelings like fear, anxiety, cravings, etc.

EFT has been around since the 1980’s and was discovered by a psychologist, Dr. Roger Callahan while working with a patient with a life long fear of water. Dr. Callahan had been studying different modalities, one of them being acupuncture. By chance, he tried tapping on one of the meridians of his patient and her fear of water was gone.

With acupuncture, there are meridians or pathways of energy that run through our bodies and when these energies are out of balance, we experience illness, and when these meridians are brought back into balance, we experience wellness.

Dr. Callahan started teaching this “tapping” technique and one of his first students was Gary Craig. Instead of tapping on one point, Gary decided to tap on all points with his patients and was getting great results. Gary called this technique “Emotional Freedom Technique,” AKA EFT.

Stress, Negative Emotions and Emotional Eating

I brought up the subject of Stress and Negative Emotions with Brad with my viewpoint about it. One issue we hear about constantly is the Obesity Rate which is alarming. One area most people struggle with and are unhappy about is their weight. Weight loss is equally mental as it is physical and lot of our behavior is driven by our emotions. For instance, stress and negative emotions tend to make some people use food as comfort or a security blanket, a distraction from boredom, or a way to cope with stress. Once you get used to using food to feel better, it’s hard to break your routine.

We all know that most of the foods consumed “socially” are mostly unhealthy snacks and/or meals. When it comes to social gatherings, food tends to be at the center of it and most people feel that if they aren’t participating on eating, that they’re not being social. In addition, via advertising, food subconsciously becomes associated with having a good time, particularly the unhealthy snacks and/or meals, making them addicting. A lot of people have a hard time resisting these types of foods, yet consciously know that they are bad for them and will hold them back in their goal to achieve weight loss.

According to Brad, our actions are a result of our thoughts and feelings and there are many people who are trying to change their actions without changing their thoughts and feelings. Letting go of your judgment of yourself regardless of your current physical weight or health, allows you to cleanse yourself of your negative self-judgment. You need to change your belief system in order to change your behavior. Brad made the analogy of trying to make an accounting software program do word processing. It can’t change because of how it was programmed. You need a different program in order to make it work.

Brad talked about how food can become an unhealthy addiction. In the moment, your subconscious mind will tell you the Pop-Tart, cookie, French fries, ______ (fill in the blank), is going to fulfill a need right then and there and that it will make you feel good NOW. Worry about how you feel later.

EFT is a great way to clear negative beliefs

I told Brad that while listening to one of his seminars, something he said really resonated with me. What Brad said, and I quote, “weight loss is thought of as getting away from something, but it’s more about working towards a goal. People are already in a negative mindset. My body is terrible, there must be something wrong with me. You can’t create a healthy body with hateful motivation”.

Brad responded by saying our thoughts are the building blocks of our reality. Basic LOA. We’re building our future, our next few minutes, our next hour, our next day, etc. With the thoughts and feelings you have, what kind of future are you building if the thoughts you have are, “oh, I’m such a pig, I’m a lazy slug”. You simply can’t attract good things with that kind of thought process. We are programmed to expect the worst.

EFT is a great way of clearing negative beliefs and judgments of ourselves. When it comes to weight loss, some people are of the belief that they need to feel pain to motivate themselves. With EFT, before you feel better, there is the chance that some uncomfortable emotion will come up.

At that point Brad took me through a basic EFT session and then a more advanced one. Although I don’t have self esteem issues with my body and I enjoy eating healthy and working out, I can honestly say that after the session Brad did with me, I felt really good. All this can be heard on my show with Brad. (simply click on the BlogTalk Radio Logo at the top of this page to hear it)

If you’re struggling with weight loss, particularly with getting your self motivated to workout or with making better food choices, than I recommend you look into EFT and giving it a try.

I have listed links to information about Brad, EFT and the book he co-authored.

To hear the interview I did with Brad and the EFT session we did, click on the Blog Talk Radio logo at the top of this page or go to www.blogtalkradio.com/sharifitness

To learn more about Brad Yates, -------->> Click Here!

The trailer for the EFT Documentary that Brad was a part of,

--------->> Click Here

Freedom at Your Fingertips, the Best Selling EFT Book written by the top EFT Practitioners. Click on the book to find out more about it.