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.