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