Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle: Transform Your Body Forever Using the Secrets of the Leanest People in the World

Excellent reference book! I've been into fitness for over 35 years, and I still refer back to this book and find great new nuggets of information or things that hit differently depending on the goals in working on at the time. Very practical and it just plain works, if you follow it and do the work. No quick fixes or tricks, just straight up good advice.

If you are looking for a quick-fix, easy weight loss plan, this is not the book for you.Author Tom Venuto's, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle," (BFFM) is the book you should read when you decide that you are going to get serious about changing your body for the rest of the life. I would hesitate to call this a "diet" book, but rather a lifestyle book for eating and nutritional health.Venuto begins his book with a chapter on goal setting. He encourages his readers to spend time figuring out what they want to look like and why. The reason is that Venuto is a subscriber to Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) which among other things encourages the practitioner to think and act as if the intended goal is already achieved. A major criticism of this philosophy in the context of body recomposition is that this will somehow cause you to, "Think yourself thin." Venuto is very clear that sitting around thinking about how to improve body composition will do absolutely nothing, unless it is teamed up with good eating, plenty of water and exercise with cardio and weight training. Venuto advises the reader to create both short term and long term goals, and to make sure that they can be measured, that they have a deadline, and most importantly, that the reader knows why they want to achieve the goal.The next few chapters discuss the measurement aspects of body recomposition and why it is important to measure and track progress. Venuto states that this is the only empirical way to determine if the recomposition plan is working or not so that adjustments can be made to keep the reader moving towards his or her goals. Venuto also includes a chapter on body typing, which is interesting reading, but in truth, he appears to include the discussion for completeness and to show the reader how to personalize their meal and workout plans to fit their goals and their genetics. Venuto is very clear that he wants the reader to reach their genetic potential; be the best that they possibly can be.With goals and measurement out of the way, Venuto then focuses on the math of burning fat, how to eat, e.g. timing and meal size, calorie composition, (protein, carbohydrates and fat), drinking plenty of water and eating, "Clean," i.e. little to no processing. There is probably nothing in these chapters that the reader doesn't already know, but Venuto does a better than average job of explaining why this is important and still keeping the reader engaged.There is a chapter on how to create a meal plan which is followed by an entire chapter to debunking supplement myths.The tone of the book changes for the final section when Venuto begins talking about weight lifting and cardio training. Without a doubt, Tom Venuto is a body builder, and when he writes about lifting weights his writing seems a bit more passionate. In this section Venuto discusses the need for both cardio and weight training for any recomposition plan and even provides a workout plan that the reader can immediately begin to use. There is a lot of good information in these sections.What makes BFFM such a good book is that Venuto bases all of his fat loss and meal planning advice on actual science. In areas of the book where he tells you that what he is recommending is not supported by science, (it hasn't been studied, or the results are inconclusive), he is clear that the evidence is anecdotal. Venuto doesn't try to fool the reader into thinking that fat loss is easy or that the results will happen overnight. He points out that fitness and health is a lifetime pursuit and that it involves a lot of work and planning.Despite the volume of the guidance provided, there are some deficiencies.First, this book is written for the omnivore. Venuto briefly discusses the additional challenge the vegetarian or vegan reader will face in meal planning and recommends consulting a nutritionist for help. This is the same advice that Venuto gives to people who face food allergies or diet restrictions. This would not have been enough to deter me from purchasing the book, but the reader who has a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, or who has food allergies or diseases, e.g. diabetes, Celiac disease, etc., will have some additional research and effort in meal planning.Next, the weight training plan is solid and I've used it with good results. The issue is that while Venuto provides the plan, he commits what I consider to be a common mistake and doesn't help the reader figure out where to start. For example, if the plan calls for a bench press, there is no guidance provided to determine the starting weight and how much to increment up – especially for the novice. While frustrating, this is not unique to Venuto.Finally, the workout plan is certainly focused on the body builder, but if the reader’s goals are something other than body building, a separate book or a personal trainer will be needed. Again, this is not enough to deter me from purchasing the book but it is something to be aware of.In my opinion, this is the most straight forward book written on how to change your body. There is no quick fix promised or implied. There are no miracle supplements to purchase and take. It is clear, practical advice with the tools to help you reach your fitness goals.

Summary: Best fat loss book on the market. It will teach you what you need to know in a no BS way, and with no powders, drops, or other things to buy. Tom Venuto is the real deal. Long story short, if you want to save a bunch of money, get results, cut the crap, and read this book. Best gift you can give yourself.Here is my story:In early 2009 I was 5'-8 tall, 246 pounds working a desk job. I was a single, 29 year old male, no kids. I was a subscriber to things like Men's Health, I tried to eat good and do some workouts when I could.Unexpectedly, like many at that time I found myself unemployed due “The Great Recession". Suddenly finding lots of free time I decided to FINALLY take care of my body. I started by getting a medical check to be sure I was safe. My cardiologist was stunned to learn I gained 100 pounds since high school only 11 years prior. I had sleep apnea and needed a machine. I had high blood pressure: so high I almost went on meds. I found out I was OK to start working out, but I heard something that really put some additional motivation behind me. Something I did not expect: If I did not change paths, I would become a Type 2 Diabetic.With that little kick in the back side, I decided to spend my free time studying fitness and fat loss along with applying for jobs in my construction/engineering field. Muscle and Fitness, Reps, Websites, books, magazines, whatever I could get my hands on I read. If I did not understand, I read again.Somewhere along the line I came across the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle Program (BFFM). I signed up for author Tom Venuto's news letter and received his 12 Big Fat Lies articles. What a wake up call!! I was eating near starvation levels of 700-1,200 calories a day, spending money on fat burners, etc with no results.What Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle teaches are the things you must know for proper nutrition and fat loss. He does by telling you what to do, why to do it, and why you should not do as you were told by late night infomercials,and fad diets. More than half of the stuff you see on TV, or in magazines is crap. Crap designed to keep you fat, and take your money, for the rest of your life.With what I had learned in Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle, I had built my own eating and workout plans. By December 19th of 2009 I had dropped a total of 70 pounds of fat. Took me 10 months but I was a lean and mean 176 pounds!! Toms book was the start, than as he says experimentation, trial, error, document results. “Train hard and expect results.”Blood pressure: Normal. Sleep Apnea: Gone. Blood/sugar: Normal. Best of all, I had avoided Type 2 diabetes.Here is where I failed Tom and BFFM: I was burning fat at such a high level without doing anything that I learned I could eat junk food, miss my workouts and still stay trim. I got cocky, ate garbage, and got lazy.Well here we are in 2014. Married to a wonderful lady, and I now have family. It took a long time for my bad ways to catch up to me, but as I type I am sitting at 212 pounds. My wheels were spinning, I forgot how I got fit the first time. I tried and failed a few times the last few years to get back into the swing of things. I entered transformation contests only to quit 1 week in.I had lost my copy of the BFFM e-book and decided to purchase the hard cover as a Christmas gift to myself. It has been the key I have been missing. Since I got the book I have been looking at foods, workouts, and crunching the number for calories, macronuturents, and the fun stuff I need to do.My wife is expecting a baby in February/March, and I have a surgery coming up in the next month. But I will be starting the BFFM transformation challenge tomorrow 1-5-14. The “perfect time” to start will never happen. Birthdays, holiday, ect, will always be there. Get over it, pick a day and start.My first time, I had skipped on the mental training part of the book. I was skeptical of it even though it said to not skip it. This time I am going to do as the book says and see what happens.I am hoping in 90 days to come back to this review and let you know how it went. Hoping to be under 200 ponds. My goal is to get back to 175 pound by my birthday in November. A roughly 40 pound fat loss in 45 weeks. Fat loss, not weight loss: BIG DIFFERENCE!!I wish I could post before and after pictures from my first go around. If anybody has any questions post them and I will see if I can help.AdamBBuffalo, MN