There are many reasons people give for “why” their fat-burning

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

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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

Why are so many people overweight? It is not just for the obvious reason, which is eating without exercising. There are usually other reasons for weight problems. Here is a list of the most common. If any of them are your problem, there is hope. Treat the problem and your symptoms (weight problems) can be cured.

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.

By Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com

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

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. ”
~Author Unknown

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.

Most of us make New Year’s Resolutions that don’t even last the first week. There is so much pressure to start but there are so many distractions at this time of year.  It is a good idea to put off the start of your new regime until the end of the first week.

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.