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Michael Collins

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Eugene Thong

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Christopher Warden

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10 Reasons You’re Still Fat, Even After Reading This Website!

(Part One of a Two-part series)  By Eugene Thong, CSCS

................................................................................

    

You know, MCNewsletters is nearing our first anniversary October 2007 (and we’ve got something special planned for all of our customers – to be announced soon!) and my, how we’ve grown. 

 

Our newsletter readership is bursting at the seams (there’s still room for everybody, though!  sign up here), we’ve been deluged with your questions, and all of our Black Book of Secrets purchasers have been giving us great feedback and high praise.  

 

So, with all these great resources at your fingertips, how come you’re still not at the body of your dreams?

 

Chances are, you’re making one (or more) of these deadly mistakes.  Hey, don’t worry, making mistakes doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or anything – it will, however, make your fat loss efforts an uphill struggle on roller skates! 

 

I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most common reasons Mike and I encounter that cause folks to fail on their fat loss programs, despite their best efforts.

 

(To minimize the harshness factor, we’ve decided to split this article up into two parts and run them separately.  Don’t say we don’t care about your feelings.)

 

1. Lack of Action

Sir Francis Bacon once wrote that knowledge is power, but he was wrong.  Putting knowledge and know-how into action is the real power.  It’s not enough to know that you’re supposed to eat every 2-3 hours or that each meal has to contain protein if you never take these actions, or take them inconsistently.  You must follow through on the advice in order for it to work.

 

A sad, but true statistic:  Of the millions of people who buy self improvement products (books, DVDs, etc.), most never open the cover of the book or break the plastic on the DVD.  In fact, 90% of the people who actually start reading the book don’t even get past Chapter 1.

 

You must follow through on your new found knowledge with action.  Even a terrible program, consistently executed, will get you better results than an ideal program poorly executed.

 

 

2. Making Substitutions

This one happens all the time.  A new client, horrified at our suggestion to eat more fat (and it is hard to overcome the media brainwashing and cultural hypnosis that surrounds us) will eschew our recommendation to eat full fat yogurt and buy a pint of 2% instead.  Or, instead of having a couple of eggs as breakfast, they’ll just add the eggs to their usual breakfast fare of a bagel with cream cheese.

 

And they wonder why they aren’t losing any body fat!

 

Look folks, if your name isn’t Todd English or Alton Brown, do yourselves a favor and follow our recommendations as exactly as possible.  Don’t make substitutions!

 

Think of your fat loss program as a recipe for your success. If you were to go about baking a cake, and you substituted a walnut for the egg, sandpaper for the flour, salt for the sugar, and modeling clay for the butter, do you think you would come out with fluffy deliciousness? 

 

Don’t go pretending you’re a master chef and that you’ll just substitute a little of this for a little of that and it’ll work just fine.  Most of the time, the substitutions you’ll try to make will be incorrect.

 

We don’t think we’re being too unreasonable by asking you to adhere to a few basic exercise and nutrition principles.   Review our beginner articles and commit the info in them to memory.  Stick to your guns, people!

 

3. Thinking That You Can Defy The Odds

We get emails all the time from people saying, “You guys seem to have the opinion that XYZ is bad, or that you should do this to lose fat, and my trainer says…. or Dr. So and So from Oxford says…”

 

We’re aware that other fat loss programs are out there, and some of them were developed by some impressive names, and we don’t dispute at all that their programs can work just as well as the methods we use. 

 

But the bottom line is this: We’ve provided you with the most efficient and effective ways we’ve found from our combined years of experience working with clients, day-in and day-out.  These methods work for everybody, because they’re based off of hard science and practical application (believe me, I’ve got reams and reams of studies in my files to back it up). 

 

So if you want to discuss the difference between a 40-30-30 macronutrient split or the value's of using so-called “slow-burning carbohydrates” to help burn fat, well, we’re all for friendly discussion.  But if you’re here to lose weight and get real results, save yourself the mental gymnastics and just follow the program.

 

Do you think that you’re that lucky person in a million who can eat starchy carbohydrates and lose body fat?  Or that your muscles and metabolism just “work different” than everybody else’s? Or that somehow, the sugar you ingest from your soft drink is somehow metabolized using a different metabolic pathway than every other human on this planet?

 

Chances are, you’re not that one-in-a-million genetic freak who can defy the odds.

 

4. Exercising To Lose Weight

If you’re a frequent reader of this website, you’re probably sick of hearing me say this, but it bears repeating, since it’s probably one of the biggest fat loss myths out there:

 

You can’t outrun a crappy diet!

 

The biggest cliché at big, commercial gym chains is the member who runs on the treadmill, year after year, and doesn’t look any different, ever. 

 

If you don’t control caloric intake and create a favorable hormonal environment for fat loss to occur, it doesn’t matter how many miles you run or bike or swim – the fat simply isn’t going to come off. You have so much more control over your daily caloric balance through diet, it isn’t even funny.

 

Is exercise a vitally important facet of fat loss?

 

YES – major studies on obesity and fat loss all show that groups who exercise lose more weight and keep more weight off than groups who simply diet.  You facilitate fat loss by building muscle – metabolically active tissue that burns calories for you when you aren’t exercising. 

 

But is exercise alone going to cut it? 

 

NO – especially if all you’re doing is “cardio” (and if you are, you need to head over to our Foundations articles.  Right this very second).

 

 

5. Giving Yourself Too Many “Outs”

Mike and I have a litmus test that we use when conducting phone or in-person consultations with new customers.  Simply, if they mention, “Well, I’ll try to…”, then we give that customer “The Talk.”

 

“The Talk”, condensed version:

 

“Now, stop right there.  When you say, ‘I’ll try’, do you know what you’re really doing?  You’re giving yourself permission to fail.  Whether you know it or not, you’re sending a signal to your subconscious mind that not only do you expect to fail, but it’s okay to fail, because, ‘Hey, you tried.’ 

 

Look, we appreciate your enthusiasm, and we’re more than thrilled that you chose us to help you achieve that higher level of living – that you deserve! But we’ve got news for you – you will never succeed if you don’t execute on the things we tell you to. 

 

You have to DO them. 

 

No trying. 

 

Just do or do not (apologies to Yoda).”

 

What happens when you try to put out a kitchen fire? Easy – your house burns down.  Master Yoda said it best: “Do or do not.  There is no try.”

 

Still with us?  Remember, it’s just a little bit of “tough love”, since we want you to reach your fitness goals!  Stay tuned for Part 2 in next week’s newsletter!

 

 

P.S. If you haven't yet, sign up for our newsletter below... or read more about it here.

 

About the Author:

Eugene Thong, CSCS, was born a weak, skinny, bespectacled child. Now, thanks to a steady diet of martial arts, scientific inquiry, and heavy compound movements, he's no longer weak.  His scientific bent, Zen-like demeanor, and efficient but intense methods have made him one of New York's most sought-after personal trainers.  

 

When not helping clients cultivate their own inner 6-packs, Eugene can be found arm barring opponents at Renzo Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy or sailing through the air on his snowboard.  Read Eugene's semi-weekly musings on exercise, fitness, and fat loss at his blog

Eugene is Mike's co-author of The Black Book of Secrets.  You can purchase it by clicking here.

 

   

 

 

Diet Articles

Exercise Articles

Strategy/ Motivation Articles

Diet Q and A

Exercise Q and A

Strategy/ Motivation Q and A

How To Videos

Fat Loss Series

 

 

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Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Their Role in Weight Loss 

 

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7 Simple Guidelines for Living a Healthier Lifestyle

 

12 Completely Random Tips That Will Help You Shed The Pounds

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Is the "Calories Burned" Function on Cardio Machines Accurate?

 

How many hours at the gym is enough to lose weight?

 

Is cardio the best way to get toned? I'm a mom just starting to get back into working out after a long layoff off due to work and family commitments. I haven't been to the gym in a little over 2 years even though I kept the membership and I feel like I'm starting from scratch. I need to lose about 30 pounds and want to shape up as soon as possible.

 

Is it possible to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time?

 

I heard a good way to do abdominal exercises is on a Swiss Ball. Is it better than doing crunches with an ab roller or on the floor?

 

How Do I Know If I Am Exercising Too Much? Every Once In a While I'll Get Exercise "Bug" and Over- Do it and Injure Myself or Get Sick

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Eugene's Blog

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