Are you an ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph body type? To maximize your results, regardless of whether your goal is fat loss or muscle gain, it’s helpful to know your body type and adjust your approach according to your type. But a big question that almost no one has ever answered is, “Does your body type change over time?” If so, then what? Do you have to totally change your nutrition and training again? And if your body type doesn’t change, does this mean you are stuck being a fat endomorph for the rest of your life, doomed because of genetics? Read on to find out.

Somatotype is a 3-part, 7-point body type rating scale developed by a guy named Sheldon back around 1940 or so. Ectomorphs are the linear, bony, lean types, mesomorphs are the naturally muscular body types (yeah, the ones we hate!), and endormorphs are the ones with the round body shapes and the genetic tendency toward storing more body fat.

Generally, you have a combination body type, which is why you are scored with 3 numbers (Arnold Schwarzenneger in his bodybuilding prime: think pure mesomorph with the highest score of 7).

The question is, Does somatotype change? this is a very interesting question that has been asked and debated before both by the layperson (often bodybuilding and fitness enthusiasts) and by scientists.

Two of those scientists were JE Lindsay Carter, a physical education professor from San Diego State University and Barbara Heath, and Anthropologist from the University of Pennsylvania.

There was initially a lot of debate and antagonism provoked by the classic Sheldon system of classifying human body types (“somatotyping”), because initially, Sheldon was very rigid in his insistence that body types were permanent and did not change.

However, Heath and Carter proposed that it was plain to see that body types DID change due to normal growth, aging, physical training and dietary deprivation (they cited the Minnesota starvation study, where subjects started out looking somewhat mesomorphic and ended up looking like ectomorphs (like POW camp victims, literally).

Heath and Carter weren’t trying to dismiss somatotpying, they supported it and wanted to validate it.

However, they wanted to address the shortcomings of the somatotyping method and one of those was the fact that the Sheldon system didn’t accommodate for changes in physique as a result of training and nutrition.

In their voluminous 1990 textbook on the subject, Heath and Carter define somatotype as:

“A quantitative description of the present shape and composition of the human body. It is expressed in a 3 number rating, representing three components of physique: (1) endomorphy, (2) mesomorphy and (3) ectomorphy. The somatotype can be used to record changes in physique and to estimate gross biological differences and similarities among human beings. This method of somatotyping is sensitive to changes in physique over time and is used for rating both sexes at all ages.”

Look at a guy like John Bartlett for example, one of our inner circle contributing authors and an outstanding natural competitive bodybuilder. When you see him today and you ask what is his body type, you would say, “MESOMORPH all the way!”

That’s because today he is ripped and muscular

But if you look at his before picture and ask “what is this guy’s body type” you would say, “Endomorph” all the way or at least “endo-mesomorph” because he did have a solid and stocky build before, but also a high body fat percentage.

Well, which is it? Or did his body type change? Clearly, John gained a lot of muscle and lost a lot of fat and looks totally different today. So could we say his body type changed? If we go by current outward appearance, then yes, absolutely.

But does this mean his body type really changed or did he overcome an inherent endomorph body type to achieve where he is now?

Or, to play devil’s advocate here, was he always a mesomorph inherently and he just really let himself go for a while and he was just returning to his normal body type of mesomorph?

These are interesting questions. The Heath-Carter method simply includes body composition as part of the rating scale of a person’s body type and says that you can rate someone based on how they look now. That includes bone structure (which changes little or not at all after adulthood) AND body composition (which can change throughout life). So you could say John was an Endomorph and is now a Mesomorph. Predominantly Mesomorph is his present classification.

However, at the same time, we could say that a person DOES have an inherent body type or set point – a physique that they will gravitate towards in the absence of circumstances or concerted efforts to change it.

I addressed this issue of changing body types versus an inherent (or “permanent” body type) in Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle (BFFM). The way I explained it is that I said your true body type is what you will gravitate to naturally when you are not in a highly trained state. It’s your inherent tendency. In that respect, you could say somatotype does not change, while body composition does.

In chapter 5 of BFFM, I said there were three additional ways to know your inherent body type beyond Sheldon’s scale, which takes into account changes in physique due to training and nutrition:

1. How you looked before you took up training (your “natural” body shape)
2. How you respond to training and nutrition (ease of muscle gain or fat loss)
3. How you respond to de-training (how well you retain lean mass and low body fat or how quickly you lose lean mass and gain fat on cessation of training)

If you wanted to make this even MORE complex, we could look at somatotyping by considering not just the outward bone structure and body composition of an individual, but also the metabolic (interior) characteristics.

My “Burn The Fat” system of body typing is like a combination of:

(1) Metabolic typing (internal metabolic characteristics like carb tolerance)
(2) Somatotyping (external body shape – linearity or roundness, fatness or leanness)
(3) Miscellaneous other genetic factors.

That would be a pretty good three-part body typing system that covers the concerns about changing body types, individual metabolic types (“carb intolerant types” or protein types, etc), and genetics (which is especially relevant since obesity genes have been identified fairly recently).

I hear criticisms of the somatotyping system all the time, where people say it is not useful. I disagree. Yes, it’s perhaps too crude of a system to base your entire training and nutrition plan upon, but I believe it’s very helpful as a general tool to “KNOW THYSELF”.

In other words, if you are inherently an endomorph and you KNOW IT, then you know darn well what happens when you don’t do any cardio. You know what happens when you cheat four or five times in a week. You know what happens when you slack off. You gravitate towards gaining fat, because that is your body type’s tendency! So you can adjust your training, nutrition and lifestyle accordingly.

If you are an ectomorph, then you know what happens when you skip meals… you don’t gain any muscle! You know what happens when you do too much cardio… you don’t gain any muscle, or you lose some!, etc. etc.

And if you’re a mesomorph…. did I mention…. we hate you!

If you’d like to learn more, chapter 5 in Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is about body typing. It’s full of some really valuable and motivating lessons about knowing yourself, your body and your genetics and understanding the importance of taking personal responsibility, regardless of your hereditary predispositions. If you already have the book, it’s worth re-reading periodically.

Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Founder & CEO of
Burn The Fat Inner Circle

P.S. Just kidding mesomorphs… we don’t really hate you, we just envy you!

About the Author:

This past January the guys at over at the Burn the Fat
websites completed their first ever body transformation
challenge contest.

But their contest was NOTHING like the biggest loser.

In fact, Josh Ketter, the overall men’s winner, and Ryan
Cochrane, one of the finalists, only lost a pound.

Now, you must be thinking, “what the heck kind of weird
body transformation contest were they running where the
winner and the finalists only drop a pound?

Well, it would seem weird if you thought that success
at body transformation meant dropping weight on the scale

But did you ever stop to think about the difference
between fat weight and muscle weight?

Think about it – if those contestants on the biggest
loser gain muscle – they get penalized, right?

Penalize someone for gaining muscle?

Shouldn’t contestants be REWARDED for gaining muscle
as well as burning fat?

That’s the problem with weight loss contests today and with
a lot of people in the industry in general – they are
obsessed with scale weight but they don’t pay any attention
to body composition (the fat-to-muscle ratio).

Of course, some of the contestants in that contest did drop
a lot of fat – 15, 20, even 25 lbs in only 50 days. But the
person who dropped the most pounds was NOT necessarily
voted as the winner.

That explains how the judging was done – some of the winners
were rewarded because they made tremendous improvements
in their body composition, even though their scale weight
didn’t change that much.

Josh lost 8 pounds of fat and gained 7 pounds of muscle
in just 50 days.  He only lost a pound on the scale because
the muscle weight replaced the fat weight.

Ryan Cochrane lost 8 pounds of fat while gaining 7.7 lbs
of muscle in 50 days. His weight hardly changed.

Sarah Kensington actually GAINED a pound, from 119 to 120
but her body fat decreased from 19% to a ripped 12.6%.
Thats a 7.9 pound GAIN in lean body mass and a 7 pound loss
of body fat – remarkable for a MAN, almost unheard of for
a woman!

When you look at their before and after pictures, you
can see that even though their weight changed by less
than a pound, they TOTALLY TRANSFORMED THEIR BODIES!

How?

They gained muscle and lost fat at the same time!

Maybe you’re thinking, “wait a minute, I thought it
was impossible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same
time? Don’t you need a calorie deficit to burn fat and
a calorie surplus to build muscle?”

Well, yes and no. Calories do matter, but according to
fat loss expert Tom Venuto, the guy who sponsored the
recent body composition fitness contest, it’s much
more complicated than that because of things like
within-day energy balance, hormonal fluctuations and
“energy partitioning.”

It was these unusual contest results that prompted Tom
to dig into the scientific research on concurrent muscle
gain and fat loss and create a new program that he calls:

“THE HOLY GRAIL BODY TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM:
How to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time”

This is not an easy goal to achieve – So I’m sorry, but
I have no miracle for you. If you’re looking for magic
bullets, go elsewhere. This is a serious and very
strategic program.

Concurrent muscle gain and fat loss is the
most difficult goal to achieve.

That’s why people call it the “holy grail”;
because it’s so elusive.

BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE: IT IS POSSIBLE.

I’m sure you’ve heard this subject debated ad nauseum
on discussion forums. Those debates probably left you
confused and not sure what to believe either.

This new ebook sets the record straight in
such a way that you could say it’s the LAST WORD on
gaining muscle and burning fat at the same time;
it’s impressively referenced with peer-reviewed
research and frankly, it just makes sense.

Tom Venuto’s previous best selling ebook, Burn the Fat,
Feed the Muscle (BFFM) has become known to many
as a “fat loss bible”

Click Here

But BFFM is designed specifically for fat loss.
what if you want to lose fat AND gain muscle?

That’s exactly why this new program was created.

It’s the first course of it’s kind that builds
on the techniques of BFFM and teaches a system
for gaining muscle and burning fat simultaneously,
and explains the process scientifically.

If you’re skeptical, I don’t blame you. Even I
was skeptical when I heard about it.

But when you see BOTH; real-world case studies AND
the scientific proof, it makes you want to stop
and take a look.

Right now the 1st edition of Tom’s new HOLY GRAIL body
transformation ebook is available for just the next
3 days in limited release.

It’s actually not even for sale separately yet.

What Tom decided to do was offer the holy grail
ebook as bonus with the purchase of his Burn The Fat,
Feed The Muscle ebook.

The Holy Grail ebook is available only for the
next 3 days at:

Click Here

(offer expires on Friday march 5th, 2010)

On March 6th, he’s going to take the holy grail
course off the market for a while, to correspond
with some of his new customers and collect feedback
and case studies to incorporate in the 2nd edition.

Then the grail ebook will be officially re-released
later this year at the regular retail price.

So, this is a great opportunity to pick up Tom’s
fat loss bible AND get the holy grail ebook for
fr-ree at the same time.

If you’d like to be in this first wave of people
to try this new combined muscle-building and fat
burning system, this is the ONLY way
to order at the moment:

Click Here

Purchase a copy of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
ebook, and the HOLY GRAIL body transformation ebook
comes along with BFFM for fr-ee.

PS. You may have already heard of Tom’s Burn the Fat, Feed the
Muscle book before, so if you already have it, the other way you
can get his new Holy Grail program is by joining the Burn the Fat
Inner Circle – all members there are also getting access to it
this week up until Friday the 5th. More info on Tom’s inner circle at:

Click Here For The Inner Circle

For the next couple of days you can get his new book free when you order “Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle”.

If you are into fat loss or muscle building, and you should be, don’t miss out on this incredible deal.

Click Here to see more.

Let’s face it…you no longer enjoy unlimited reserves of energy, which used to let you work long hours on limited sleep, with enough fuel to spare to go out and have fun! Even worse…you’re now at a higher risk for diabetes, arthritis, and heart problems. Things aren’t holding up quite as well as they used to, right?

Maybe your joints ache…your back hurts…or you find it harder to get out of bed in the morning…hey, let’s face it: getting older isn’t much fun.

But, this doesn’t have to happen to you!

Weightlifting Over Fifty is a completely unique, easy to follow guide that not only shows you the benefits of weight training after 50, but also necessary precautions to take that are unique to your age group.

In addition, you’ll learn how proper diet and key supplementation can help supercharge the results you’re after in a weight training routine.

Look, life after 50 should be the best years of your life…and now you’re about to discover how to keep your strength, youthful energy, and overall health up to levels you never thought possible.

Get The Guide Here!

“How Much Is Looking Younger And Feeling Like A Million Bucks Worth To You?”

Well you have a choice. You can pay a personal trainer for hours of training at $50-$100 an hour to learn what I show you in Weightlifting Over Fifty or you can get my guidebook plus the Fast Action Gifts (worth over $50 themselves) for just $17.00   Click Here For Your Guide

This works for more than just weight control.

OK, so it’s February and if you’re like most people, guess
what has happened to your well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions?

They’ve disappeared into the dark valley of
 shame, regret,
and discouragement.

Hey, I’m not any pinnacle of virtue either, that’s for sure.

But I really do not like feeling like yet another statistic
when it comes to making lasting and positive changes in life.

That’s why when I previewed this, I immediately wanted
to tell you all about it too, because this IS the answer!

[Forget resolutions and do THIS instead!]

Click Here To See Natalie’s Video

The reality is, my colleague Natalie Ledwell has hit 
the
nail on the head with this video.

Nat has worked closely with people who were involved
with 
The Secret. In fact, she has used the law of attraction
to reach 
a number of really phenomenal achievements in life.

But she quickly realized that something extremely 
important
was missing from the message of the Secret.

And it was causing a LOT of disappointment among those
of us who want with all our hearts to attract our deepest
desires into our lives–but can’t seem to get there from here.

The difference between Natalie and “the rest of us” is that
she set out on a mission to figure this out. And she did!

Simply 
by putting her philosophy to work and PROVING
it to herself first.

And when she saw how incredibly reliably this works, she
knew what she had to do:

Make it available to anyone who wanted to fully access
the incredible power of the law of attraction…so you can
actually get RESULTS by implementing a few
very 
easy-to-understand concepts.

It all starts with four steps you can take right now to 
get
started.

And you know what? It makes so much sense, it is so
easy 
to do, and it WORKS!

You’ll see when you do it–things just seem to start falling
into place to deliver your goals to you. But they key is
actually DOING this…

[Natalie shows you the way right here]
Click Here To See Natalie’s Video

She clearly explains the four steps, and it’s super 
easy
to begin.

Actually, I’m still shocked that she’s giving this away, but
she is.

I watched this video twice, just to make sure I could jot
down some notes on the steps–and I have to tell you, I
was so excited to get started with it, I began immediately.

I’m already seeing and feeling the difference this
makes. Once you do this, anything is possible for you
if 
you just follow these four easy steps!

[Follow These 4 Easy Steps]
Click Here To See Natalie’s Video

I’m totally stoked about this, and I think you will be
too. Because once you see how effective this is for ANY
goal you want to achieve, I believe you’ll be applying
this simple but powerful formula to accomplish ANYTHING.

So watch the video–and don’t forget to leave your email 
to
get 3 other awesome gifts Natalie has for you. No 
funny
business or small print–she just wants to get this 
into the
hands of as many people as possible so you can 
realize your dreams too.

Oh and by the way, this takes all the struggle out of trying
to keep your New Year’s resolutions. It’s a whole different
way of going after what you want with one big difference…

It WORKS!

Talk to you again soon,

Wendy

P.S. Natalie explains this totally awesome concept
about 
creating your new life story. At first I wasn’t sure
if it 
would make a difference or not, but I can already tell
you that it definitely DOES. Get started right here…

[What's Your New Life Story?]
Click Here To See Natalie’s Video

There’s NO money involved either–it’s a just a tremendous
gift from Natalie to you.

program “didn’t work”.

*  “The diet was too hard.”

*  “I couldn’t get to the gym enough.”

*  “My family and friends don’t support me.”

*  The list goes on!

But the truth is that “most” fitness programs WILL work if you

“work them”, right?

So if you want MY opinion…

The #1 reason most people fail in reaching their goals is because

they make it “ok” to let themselves down!

Think about it…

If you’re the only one who’s “watching” to see how well you stick

to your program, so what if you fall off the wagon and sneak a

few extra cookies or skip a few days (weeks?) at the gym?

Who cares?

Sure, YOU should care.  But if you fail, you fail and if you’re

the only one who knows about your goal, then there’s no

embarrassment in not making it this time.

Maybe “next time”, right?

Sound familiar?  I’m sure it does to some of you.

Well, yesterday a friend of mine, Jeff Anderson, was telling me

about this company that built a website that allows you to

literally BET that you’ll lose the weight!

What they’ve done is structured a bank draft off of your account

that contributes an amount of money you decide on to a cause that

you HATE!

A friend or family member keeps you honest with weekly weigh-ins

and if you don’t make your goal, then * ZAP *, $20 goes to the

George W. Bush Presidential Library (if you’re a lefty

Democrat)…

…or * WHOOSH *, the Clinton Library sends you a big old “thank

you” for your contribution (if you’re a conservative Republican)!

Pretty funny, eh?

There are several different arrangements to set up, but the

bottom line is this…

…to succeed in your weight loss program, you must make yourself

accountable to someone OTHER than yourself!

Make your goal PUBLIC by telling your friends, family,

co-workers, dog, cat, goldfish…EVERYONE…how many pounds

you’re trying to stip off. (Be specific!)

Sure, it takes GUTS to put yourself out there like that, but you

have to ask yourself…

…are you really SERIOUS about losing the weight this time?

========================================

But here’s ANOTHER incentive for

reaching your fitness goals in 2010…

========================================

That friend I told you about? Jeff Anderson?

Well, he’s also the creator of a best-selling fat-loss program

called “Combat The Fat”.

Each year he holds a special “Average Joe & Jane 12-Week

Transformation Contest” to PERSONALLY coach you to your best body

EVER!

This year he’s even DOUBLED the amount of prize money he’s giving

away.

And here’s the cool part…

…HE isn’t the one doing the judging…YOU ARE!

Because at the end of 12 weeks, he’s going to post ALL of the

“before & after” pictures up on the web and the WORLD is going to

vote for who THEY felt had the best “body transformation”.

It doesn’t matter if you have 10 lbs to lose or 100

lbs…EVERYONE has the same exact chance of winning because it’s

NOT about “washboard abs”…it’s about changing your body…and

changing your LIFE.

So what do the winners get?

1st Place Transformation Winner gets up to $1,000

2nd Place Transformation Winner gets up to $500

3rd Place Transformation Winner gets up to $250

Plus…there are separate categories for men and women so you

have an even better chance of getting picked!

Wait, it get’s even better…

Jeff is even personally COACHING all of the contestants for the

12 weeks of the contest so you get someone to walk you every step

of the way to your dream body!

Here’s a link to where you can find all of the details on what

you need to do to join:

========================================

Click Here For Full Entry Details

========================================

Look…even if you DON’T care about winning the money, just

setting this kind of a GOAL for yourself is INCREDIBLY

MOTIVATING!

It gives you something to really shoot for and hold yourself

accountable to.

This ALONE is worth getting involved in the contest!

And I’ve seen Jeff hold this type of contest before and he really

MEANS it when he says it’s for the “Average Joe & Jane”!

The contestants are NOT “fitness models” and many are largely

overweight.

It doesn’t matter…it’s all about REAL PEOPLE making REAL

CHANGES!

So again, go on over and join the program so you can enter the

contest, ok?

Here’s the link again…

========================================

Click Here For Full Entry Details

1. Boredom is a big problem, especially for homemakers and the unemployed. Often eating is a diversion from a boring routine.
2. If you feel unappreciated or unrewarded, you could be using eating as a means of rewarding yourself.
3. If you feel unloved, you may treat yourself to the comfort of indulging in your favourite foods.
4. If you have trouble coping with unpleasant feelings like anxiety, anger, or sadness, you may try to bury them under piles of food.
5. We often associate food with comfort so if we are feeling lost or alone we could be reaching out for comfort foods. Nothing says home like home cooking.
6. Many social situations require the sharing of food. Meet friends at a restaurant or cafe, go out for drinks and nibbles or just ‘do lunch’. It is easy to fill uncomfortable silence with food.
7. If you experienced real or perceived deprivation as a child, you may be afraid of missing your next meal.
8. You are planning a diet and you are afraid of missing out. You feel compelled to compensate.
9. The food tastes good and it makes you feel good.
10. Overeating can be a way of making yourself unattractive to the opposite sex. You are trying to hide from feelings of fear by taking yourself out of the running.

When you pause and reflect on the past decade as you look ahead to a new one, it makes you appreciate how short life is, how valuable time is and how quickly the time can pass you by – with nothing to show for it, if you don’t plan otherwise.

That’s why the passing of another decade can feel like a wakeup call as much as a fresh start: Looking at the technological wonders that surround us in 2010, I can’t help thinking it feels like science fiction.

In fact, modern technology is one of the reasons why some people have succeeded at body transformation while others have failed.

I’m still in awe of the web. The satellite navigation system in my car amazes me every time I drive. I can store a library of books in a device that fits in my pocket. It blows my mind that we can speak to each other face to face through the internet live on video. That’s straight from Star Trek! And those are just the everyday little things.

The cover story of the January 2010 National Geographic magazine is titled, “Merging Man and Machine” – it’s about bionic limbs. Richard Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic just unveiled spaceship two and is preparing to launch civilians into sub orbital space flights.

It’s the greatest time to be alive in all of human history! Unfortunately, today’s modern conveniences have brought a dark side upon us.

Rising obesity has paralleled the march of technology. The chair-bound, desk-job, computer, car, elevator, television based society of today is helping to make millions of people fat and lazy.

Our current way of life is less than a century old, yet our biology hasn’t changed in tens of thousands of years. Our bodies were designed to move and work, not sit and click.

We’ve become spoiled. Complacent. Dependent. And we are paying a price for it. We are fatter than ever before in all of human history. More than two thirds of Americans are now overweight. One third are obese.

People are dying because they‘re too fat.

Ironically, none of our new technology can solve our body fat problems.  There’s no easy way. No pill. No machine. No drug. More knowledge isn’t going to help. We already have most of the answers. We know more about the human body than ever before. But it’s all academic.

The problem lies in the doing. You have to do the work – in the gym and in the kitchen. Hard work.

We are a quick fix society. It’s partly human nature, but technology is making us more impatient. We can have products delivered to us with one click and even do it from our cell phones. We have instant downloads, movies on demand, and drive through coffee shops. We get  our food made and delivered in just minutes while we are sitting in our cars, and it’s still not quick enough. The internet is blazingly fast, but most people will abandon a web page in seconds if it hasn’t loaded. It’s no different with fat loss. We want six pack abs yesterday.

Simultaneously fighting the pull of human nature and the convenience of new technology is no easy task. But there is a solution: Future Orientation.

The most successful people in the world today are those who have a long term perspective. They plan 5-10 years in advance and beyond. They know how to enjoy and live in the present moment, but they take action and make decisions based on their future vision.

The passing of another decade makes you take stock of yourself and your achievements, or lack thereof. “What did I accomplish in the last 10 years? Am I a better person today than I was in 2000?”

If you don’t like the answers, then it’s time to finally get serious about your future because the next 10 years are going to fly by even faster than the last 10 as the pace of life and society gets even faster.

To succeed in the new decade, think beyond new year’s resolutions. Think beyond the 12 week fitness goal. As you write your goals this year, don’t stop with 3 month or even 1 year goals.

Project yourself into the future: 3, 5 and 10 years from now. For each point, dream, fantasize, visualize: if your body, your health your physical performance were perfect in every way, what would that look like? Describe it in vivid detail.

With our ingrained penchant for quick fixes, we often overestimate what we can achieve in the short term and set unrealistic deadlines on our short term goals. But the flipside is that we often underestimate what we can achieve in the long term, so we set our long term goals too low.  Do you realize that people have gone from broke to billionaire in 10 years? In this internet age, some have done it even faster.

My challenge for you this year is to start thinking about your body and your life with the same type of creativity that has led to our greatest technological advances:

Not the same thoughts as yesterday. Not just positive thoughts. just bigger thoughts. NEW THOUGHTS! Creative thoughts! Inventive thoughts! From new thoughts will spring new goals, new actions and new achievements.

Fitness goals should not take over your life, they should enhance every other part of it. So take this opportunity to achieve balance by setting long term goals for every area of your life – health, fitness, finances, career, relationships, experiences, travel, possessions and spiritual growth.

Most people didn’t set any goals 10 years ago. They’re among the masses who are in the same place today as they were a decade ago.

Some people only set short term goals, so they accomplished a few little things, but then stopped, as if a goal were a final destination rather than a stepping stone along a path. Other people set goals but didn’t follow through on them. They forgot that goal setting and goal achieving are two different things.

Don’t fall into these traps.

If you need coaching in the goal setting process – from the daily and weekly baby steps to the long term goals and dreams that span a decade – read chapter one of Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle.  If you already have it. Now is the time to revisit it.

If you don’t own a copy yet, you can get the program at:

Click Here Please

Most people make resolutions. Some people set well-formed goals. But long term goals are the goals that almost everyone forgets to set.

If you didn’t do this exercise 10 years ago, do it now. If you do, I guarantee that in 2013, 2015, 2020, you’ll not only find yourself living at a whole new level, you’ll find yourself living in another world – one of your own creation.

Happy New Year!

Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle
Click Here Please

Founder & CEO of
Burn The Fat Inner Circle
Click Here

PS. Remember, goal setting is just the start. Goal ACHIEVING requires a nutrition and training plan.  Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is the most comprehensive fat loss program of its kind because it teaches you every element necessary to succeed: nutrition, cardio training, weight training and “mental training” (goal setting and mindset).

Learn more about the Burn The Fat program at:
Click Here

Learn more about our Burn The Fat Inner Circle community at:

Click Here

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

Everywhere you go there is the temptation of yummy holiday food, the guilt of wanting it and the expectation of eating too much.

You can get over the holidays without major guilt problems if you allow yourself to taste everything, but not to over eat. You get the best of both worlds when you allow yourself a little leniency.

Once the holiday period is over, you can work a little harder to get over the last of the guilt and you will be off to a better start for the new year.

A little bit of cheating has a lot of benefits. You don’t miss out on all the good stuff. The guilt you feel makes you work harder. Your body will forgive you. It reminds you that you are not perfect. It gives you a thrill of guilty pleasure.

Enjoy the holidays but don’t lose sight of the big picture.

Have you considered changing your eating forever? Is this too scary for you?

It is not as hard as you might think. You have to change your mindset from one of deprivation to one of looking forward to feeling great, while enjoying the best Mother Nature has to offer.

Any eating plan that includes lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, with some meat and fish, is a good plan. You want to have your food as natural as possible. Meat should be cooked with a minimum of fat, grilled is best. Fish should be lightly steamed. Try to eat fuit and vegetables raw or lightly steamed. The less cooking, the healthier the food.

Don’t be fanatical about your new eating plan but if you can stick to it for a couple of weeks it will clear out your body and you will begin to crave healthy foods over junk. When you feel you must break out and eat something full of fat, salt or sugar, just have a small portion. It is alright to ‘cheat’ sometimes.

Once you stick to the plan for a month or so, you will begin to think of greasy, fast food as quite disgusting. You will find you prefer the taste of healthy food. In six months you will not be abe to imagine any other type of eating. You will have the healthy eating habit and all the health benefits that go hand in hand with a healthy lifestyle.

The best thing is that you will not have to diet ever again because one of the benefits of healthy eating is natural weight loss.