Combat The Fat
Combat The Fat
Notice
The information presented is not intended for the treatment or prevention of
disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical
advice.
The contents of this publication are fully protected by international copyright law.
Any other posting or distribution without written consent from the author will be a
violation of copyright law and violators will be prosecuted.
Table of Contents
Section 1
• Getting the Most From This Manual 2
• Introduction 10
Section 2
• Factor 1 – Mission Planning 31
Let me guess…
Your first thought after reading the website for the Combat The Fat program was
to quickly flip to the EXACT page number listed for that one bullet comment that
you felt would be your “magical key” to burning off those stubborn layers of fat,
right?
The truth is, if you were paying attention to what the website was actually trying
to educate you on, no ONE FACTOR is going to make or break your success in
reaching your goal of ever seeing your abs again...or even your toes!
One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight is to narrow
down their focus to just one or two small factors (such as “eat less calories” or
“take up running/walking/etc.)
“Battles” take place in direct fighting between troops on the front lines. “Winning”
a battle means that you’ve defeated the enemy you were fighting and you’ve
taken over control of that objective.
But winning a ‘battle’ does NOT mean you’ve won the WAR!
Wars are won on a MUCH larger scale of operations that includes such military
tactics as cutting off enemy resupply and reinforcements...destroying the will of
the enemy to fight...winning the hearts and minds of the local population...and a
host of several other factors that make up a highly coordinated campaign with a
much larger goal.
Taking up jogging or cutting out sweets may have helped you win a “battle” or
two in the past and you may have seen a few pounds drop off.
But as you know, the “war” is a whole other story and all it takes is losing a few of
your other ‘battles” to gain back those pounds you fought so hard to lose before.
Combat The Fat is about winning the WAR...NOT just a few battles!
The key to burning off the fat once and for all lies in your systematic approach in
addressing each of what I call the “8 METABOLIC FACTORS” which I will detail
every element of in the pages to come.
If you decide to skip any ONE of these factors thinking you’ve “heard it all before”
or “know everything there is to know about (fill in the blank)”, then you’ll soon find
yourself as frustrated with your lack of fat loss as a one-legged man in a butt-
kicking contest.
Too many people have been brainwashed into thinking that all they have to do is
“reduce their calories” or “do cardio training” to burn fat. But as you’ll learn, while
both of these factors will burn fat, their effectiveness is limited without a few
crucial adjustments that will allow you to BURN MORE FAT while maintaining or
even BUILDING muscle in the process.
So before I launch into the step-by-step details for finally building the body of
your dreams, I’m giving you this DIRECT ORDER…
DIRECT ORDER # 1:
READ THIS MANUAL ALL THE WAY THROUGH
BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR TRAINING!
I know you’ll realize that this fat-burning manual was carefully designed with a
very “no nonsense” approach in order to avoid wasting any of your time with a
bunch of fancy scientific words.
And to help you along the way, I’ve added a few extra little “tools”...
So from time to time throughout this book, I’ll jump in just to add
my “two cents”.
We had a saying in the military (one of several you’ll find me drawing from
throughout this guide!)…K.I.S.S. or “Keep It Simple Stupid”.
If it’s not simple to understand and simple to follow, you’re destined to fail, and I’ll
be damned if YOU are going to fail while you’re a member of MY platoon!
So be sure to read over everything until you have a full understand before you
move on.
We’ll continued to build upon each of the principles until we reach the end
together.
Also, hopefully you have a copy of audio version of this program as well. If you
do, then I strongly recommend BOTH listening to those audios AND reading this
manual.
Together they offer additional insights that are guaranteed to make you even
MORE SUCCESSFUL!
Well, Now it’s time to strap on your combat boots and get ready
to fight because I’m loaded with weapons and ammunition and
FAT is the enemy!
If you’re an avid bodybuilder, you may know me as the “Muscle Nerd”, creator of
the best-selling “Optimum Anabolics” natural bodybuilding program.
Or you have seen any of my hundreds of articles, videos, and books floating
around the internet on how to build muscle and burn fat.
But what you may NOT know about me is that I spent 10 years serving my
country in the U.S. Army as a light-infantry soldier.
As a leader in several infantry units, I’ve trained soldiers all around the world…in
4 feet of snow; in drenched clothes in the freezing rain; under the searing heat of
the desert sun; slicing through vines and elephant grass in jungles; neck-deep in
swamps…you name it!
But during my years of service, besides actual combat training, I’ve also received
specialized military training as a Master Fitness Trainer and always took on the
additional role of “Weight Control Non-Commissioned Officer-In-Charge”.
Basically that’s “military speak” for saying that it was MY job to make sure that
our soldiers were ALWAYS “fit-to-fight”.
You see, the truth is that even members of the military stray off course from a fit
lifestyle every now and then. Too many cheeseburgers…too many
beers…injuries keep you from training…hey, things happen, right?
Well, MY mission was to whip these troops back into shape in the shortest time
possible so they could get back into the field and start shooting at things again.
I don’t care if your goal is to carve out a set of “6-pack” abs or if you need to lose
100 pounds of fat or more...I’m going to show you how to create the body you’ve
always longed for!
What you’re about to discover are some of the government’s top strategies for
keeping their soldiers “fit to fight” as I strip away the “Classified” stamp and share
with you my “Military Fat Loss Secrets”!
These are the same strategies and “combat” tactics I’ve employed to take men
and women of the U.S. military from “flabby” to “fit”…and now YOU can “steal”
these secrets like a Cold War spy and build your own “battle-ready body”.
So if you’re ready, it’s time to arm you with the most advanced weapons on the
face of the planet for defeating body fat once and for all!
Let’s begin!
Optimum Anabolics
If your goal is to BUILD MUSCLE...Optimum Anabolics has
proven to be the ULTIMATE MASS BUILDER on the planet
over and over again!
www.OptimumAnabolics.com
www.HomemadeSupplements.com
www.UndergroundChestTraining.com
Introduction
Ever see a fat soldier waddling across a combat zone with his belly hanging over
his belt and his butt crack taunting the enemy?
When you picture a member of the armed forces, do you envision a tall, proud,
lean “warrior”, a confident look in their eyes, arms crossed, wide stance and a
tight, lean physique that SCREAMS “warrior”?
Would you like to get an inside glimpse at the billion dollar research projects that
crafted the diet and exercise program that built these “battle ready bodies”…AND
learn how you can use these very same techniques in your own fat loss program
REGARDLESS of your AGE, SEX, CURRENT WEIGHT and FITNESS LEVEL to
finally ambush your ever-widening waistline once and for all?
You see, although I hate to put it to you so bluntly, the government knows that a
“fat” soldier is a “dead” soldier. Trying to haul your weapon, 20 pounds of
ammunition, communications equipment, night vision goggles, bulletproof “flack
vest”, AND an extra 20-25 lbs of body fat is a difficult thing to do while dodging
bullets.
And when a soldier is shot, that means that there’s one less man or woman
who’s able to cover the backs of the OTHER soldiers firing back at an advancing
army.
So over the past, oh....couple of centuries or so, the governments around the
world have spent billions upon billions of dollars researching the ultimate diet and
exercise strategies to maintain optimum fitness levels and body composition that
could accommodate an 18-year old, testosterone driven “Private” just off the bus
at boot camp as easily as it could the 47-year old female General nearing
retirement.
I mean let’s face it...when it comes to designing the ultimate fitness and weight
control program, you simply can’t compete with the government’s multi-billion
dollar research budget and a few hundred thousand willing Guinea pigs!
With such a huge population to “serve” with a fitness program, governments have
realized the vast differences in body types, metabolism, motivational
requirements, physical limitations in strength and movement...you name it.
In other words, any program put in place needed to apply to not only the general
military population, but also offer “specialized programs” for those soldiers who
were...uh, shall we say...“chubby”
What I’m about to share with you is a compilation of the very best tactics I’ve
personally been trained in as an elite instructor within the military in order to
quickly and efficiently lead men and women of ALL body types and ages into
changing their body composition to meet or exceed the military’s tough
standards.
“How can the U.S. military’s fitness program POSSIBLY work for ME?!”
I mean, after all...it’s not like you go off to work to jump out of planes and bust
down doors with your size 10 combat boot, right?
But in reality, you’d be surprised just how closely YOUR needs and challenges
are related to a SOLDIER’S.
Let me explain by sharing with you some examples of how the military’s fitness
program can be beneficial to the “Average Joe and Jane”...but is actually
DESIGNED to help you burn through body fat better than ANY other program
you’ve tried...
CTF Military Myth Buster #1: You have to be young, male, and in GREAT
SHAPE to begin a military style program.
For most men and women entering the military, they’ve never done a single
pushup outside of their high school gym class when Mrs. Brostmeyer, the
schools resident “dominatrix”, stood over them with her bridle whip and whistle
hell bent on whipping them into shape!
When most soldiers get to their first day of military training, they’re largely OUT of
shape, and, well...”large”.
The military EXPECTS them to show up unfit and has developed a way to take
their fresh recruits from flabby and weak...to lean, mean, and green!
I’ve created a way to use the principles I’m about to share with
you no matter WHAT your goal...or where you’re STARTING
from!
CTF Military Myth Buster #2: Soldiers eat gunpowder and gravel 3 times a
day, train all day to be able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, and sleep
with their rifle!
Busted: A soldier’s normal workday and lifestyle isn’t that far off from the typical
cubicle jockey’s workday and lifestyle!
While it’s true that when soldiers ARE training for combat, we’re doing crazy
things you’ve only seen in the movies, the reality is that a LOT of our workdays
are spent on much less exciting and strenuous activities.
Things like working on computers, cleaning and maintaining our field equipment
(vehicles, radios, weapons, etc.), and sitting on our camouflaged booties in
classes all day to maintain and expand on our job skills.
Sound familiar?
Yep...not that far off from the same types of things that YOU
may do in your own line of work!
And we’re only talking about the time that’s actually spent
WORKING.
Let’s take a look at what happens after the uniform comes off...
CTF Military Myth Buster #3: Soldiers spend all their free time arm wrestling,
brainstorming new obstacle courses and practicing hand-to-hand combat.
Busted: AFTER “work” and on the weekends, life is the exact same as what
yours may be...
...watching movies...
I’ve partied with some Aussie soldiers and these guys are
INSANE! ;-)
In fact, if you were to come visit the soldier barracks (sleeping quarters) on the
weekend, you’d swear you stepped into a Phi Lambda Lambda college frat party
ON STEROIDS!
Soldiers know how to TRAIN hard when they need to...and they know how to
PARTY hard when they want to.
Many drink too much...smoke too much...stay up too late...and yes...they even
stuff themselves with complete crap!
For example, did you know that every military “chow hall” offers
hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, chili dogs and other
fast-food items for order…along with a complete DESSERT
selection?
Not exactly what you would call “health food” to get “ripped and
shredded” on, eh?
So you see, members of the military live a life outside of work just as you do with
much the same activities and social lives as YOU...and they can just as easily
“un-do” all of the fitness training the government puts them through.
But if members of the military are faced with all the same challenges as YOU are,
what allows THEM to succeed in keeping their bodies healthy, strong, and lean
where perhaps YOU may have failed in the past?
You see, a soldier’s “new life” BEGINS with commitment...from the time we sign
our name on the dotted line of our enlistment papers and turn over our futures to
commanders who order us to go charge up a hill while dodging bullets all calling
our name.
Your commitment to the military is more than just your “word” that you’ll “listen to
your boss”...
...it’s a legal contract and SWORN OATH you take that you’ll do what you’re
told...no questions asked!
So soldiers don’t even have a CHOICE but to stay lean. If you don’t, then you
can actually be KICKED OUT of the military for failing to meet the standards set
for you.
“Bye bye...nice having you around...good luck with finding a job to support
yourself and your family, Ex-Sergeant Tubby!”
Now, obviously I can’t travel around to all of your houses and wake you up every
morning with a bugle call and then follow you around all day to make sure you’re
eating and exercising based according to the principles I’m about to share with
you, right?
So YOU need to be VERY clear about your own commitment to finally achieving
a healthier lifestyle and a body that will have everyone at your workplace
whispering behind your back about how incredible you look.
I don’t care how many times you’ve tried to lose weight in the
past...
I’ll provide you with all of the knowledge, tools, tips, and
shortcuts you need to win your war on body fat no matter
WHERE you’re starting from...but only YOU can put in the work
that will actually get you to the top of the hill.
Yes...COMMITTMENT is the one attribute I’m asking you to bring to this mission
you and I are about to embark on!
And when I’m talking about “commitment”, I’m talking about much more than
“giving the Combat The Fat program a “try”...
I’m talking about grabbing a shovel and digging in you foxhole to be ready to take
on your bathroom scale and finally show it who’s in control.
To better illustrate the level of dedication I’m asking of you, let me share with you
a personal story that I think you’ll find very motivating....
On the first day of the Army’s Basic Training, about 50 of us scared, snot-nosed,
newbies were transported by what can only be described as a “cattle car” to the
sadistic reception committee of Drill Sergeants, waiting for us to be unloaded so
they could begin their assignment of transforming losers such as ourselves into
“lean, mean fighting machines” worthy and capable of defending our country in
the harshest of environments.
As the rear doors of the transport trailer were opened up to let us “cattle” be
herded off, it was evident that life as we knew it had ceased to exist.
By the end of the day (a very LONG day of sweat, confusion, pushup after
pushup, and yep, you guessed it…yelling!) it was clear to all of us that the
“transformation” had begun and there was no turning back.
No more laid back workdays…no more snuggly warm beds…no more hitting the
“snooze” button on the alarm clock until noon…no more leisurely breakfasts
while watching cartoons…no more laid back workdays
But while our lives were now jam packed with challenges that would test the very
core of our being...there were also moments of INSPIRATION and SYMBOLS of
honor that helped us get through even the toughest times.
Sometimes it came in recognizing that I had just scored the highest testing
standard for a particular job skill when I could barely finish high school with a C
minus average.
But there was one special icon of inspiration that never failed to help me dig
down deeper into my personal commitment to excel...and I want to share it with
you now...
You see, our Drill Sergeants knew that there would be times when the evil enemy
known as “Self Doubt” would have us all questioning ourselves and our
commitment to reaching the end of our training a better and stronger person than
when we had arrived.
To provide us with guidance and inspiration, there was a poster placed on the
wall of our barracks that was meant to watch over us when they weren’t around
to stick a boot up our booty and tell us to quit our whining.
During my hardest times, when I didn’t know if my body or my will could take it
any more, I would walk up to this poster...read the words carefully...grit my teeth
and let the message churn in my stomach...clench my fists...and then do an
“about face” and walk away with the resolve and determination I needed to send
“Self Doubt” screaming back to momma!
And now I share this poster with you on the following page in hopes that you will
post it somewhere where you can see it plainly throughout the day...at your work
and at your home...and that it provides you with the same inspiration as it did for
me...
Dec, 23, 1944 – “Battle of the Bulge” – An entire U.S. armored division was retreating from the
Germans in the Ardennes forest when a sergeant in a tank destroyer spotted an American
digging a foxhole. The GI, PFC Martin, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, looked up and asked,
“Are you looking for a safe place?” “Yeah,” answered the tanker.
“Well, buddy,” he drawled, “just pull your vehicle behind me...
I hope you take these words to heart even if you can’t identify
with a soldier’s ‘life or death’ commitment. The truth is that you
and I ARE entering into our own battle as we wage war on the
fat that’s trying so hard to take over your body and for SOME of
you, depending upon how successful body fat has been, it may
very well BE a ‘life or death’ commitment you’re making.
You’ll try to do your first pull up or push up and you’ll suck at it...
You’ll see that box of cookies at the supermarket and you’ll hear
that little voice inside telling you, ‘go ahead...you’ve been
good...you’ll be able to stop at just 2 little cookies, right?’
You also probably failed at achieving the body you were shooting for, am I right?
Oh sure, in the beginning you may have lost a few inches from around your waist
and claimed short term “bragging rights” with your friends that you were able to
buy a pair of jeans a size or two smaller.
But in the end, most likely the weight loss came to a crashing halt and, in the
worst case, you may have actually GAINED weight, scratching your head in
confusion and frustration over trying to figure out what it REALLY takes to get
lean.
Consequently, the average “dieter” gives up after just weeks or perhaps months
of hard work with nothing but limited success only to jump right back into these
very same methods again and again when the motivation gets high and another
“expert” throws a different “secret” at you.
And here’s the frustrating part that taunts you like a carrot dangling on the end of
a stick…
That “next” weight loss program WILL work…but just long enough to give you
hope that you’ve finally found the solution…and then dash your dreams against
the rocks as you soon see the weight creep back up on the scale.
Sound familiar?
It’s the same story that’s been told to me countless times by my clients who have
tried time and time again to finally blast off those love handles, build a set of “6-
pack” abs, or simply fit back into their “skinny jeans”.
My answer…NOTHING!
You’re doing EXACTLY what the book you bought, the article you read, the friend
you listened to, Dr. Phil, your family physician, or the misinformed stairstepper-
psycho down at your local gym told you to do.
The problem that I see most of the time ISN’T in your lack of dedication…it’s in
the INFORMATION you’re basing your hard work upon!
And here’s where I tick off the fat loss “guru’s” out there as I reveal the sad truth
behind their “get rich quick”…uh…I mean “burn fat fast” programs…
But the reality is that most people trying to lose weight are either just beginning,
have taken time off from another program either out of frustration or lack of
interest, or they’ve been following a completely LAME program that hasn’t done
diddly for challenging their body to burn off unwanted inches to begin with.
And the sad fact is that for any of these people, practically ANY diet or exercise
regimen will bring “fast results” and start dropping the numbers on the
scale…and “info-mercial guru’s” know this.
They understand that when you start a new fat loss program or diet, your
motivation will be high and the “change” that you put your body through will
quickly shed a few pounds…but the effects will ONLY last for a short time.
Why?
Because your body was genetically designed with a whole series of “biological
barriers” with the mission to do one thing…literally STOP you from dropping
weight too quickly!
program, monthly meal shipments, or other series of back-end products (no pun
intended…though it’s a good one!).
We have the “3 Hour Diet”...the “2 Hour Diet”...the “Cave Man Diet”...the “Spartan
Diet”...the “Martian Diet”...
...We have “8 Minute Abs”... “7 Minute Abs”... “6 Minute Abs...and I’m sure
eventually the “30 Second Abs”.
Each month there’s a new and improved “Ab Gadget” marketed on television
where you can see hot half-naked fitness models on the beach demonstrating
how easy and fun it is to get a washboard midsection by simply spending 10
minutes on a device that looks more like something you’d see in a science fiction
movie than use for burning fat.
...just “push button abs” that are yours for the taking (and 4 monthly payments of
just $19.95).
But listen very carefully because I’m about to reveal the most important discovery
you’ll EVER make about losing body fat...and losing it for GOOD!
Well, it’s not...and I’m going to show you how to do it in a way that will make it a
relatively thoughtless process that you can follow with ease and not only see
FAST results...but LONG TERM SUCCESS!
But you MUST first understand that burning fat is about much more than just
telling you to “reduce your calories” and “do cardio” as most “fat loss” programs
will reduce it to.
In fact, I’m going to blow the doors off of some of the myths and knucklehead
advice you’ve been force-fed by misinformed “experts” and “fat burning
magicians” and back it up with scientific proof in a format that’s easy for you to
understand.
You see, unlike soldiers who are expected to just “follow orders” without
necessarily understanding the “big picture” of the mission, I know that if you
understand WHY and HOW your body burns fat as fuel, you’ll be better prepared
to commit to a plan that allows you to finally conquer your “enemy” fat stores and
reveal the “lean, mean, fighting machine” that lies within you.
That means you’ll lose more weight...enjoy the program more...and establish a
healthier lifestyle that will help you live life to the fullest.
And in this case, I’ve separated my entire fat loss program down into what I call
the “8 Combat The Fat Factors” that absolutely MUST be addressed if you’re
ever going to maximize your ability to burn off the body fat.
By addressing each of
these 8 Factors, you’ll be
able to create the perfect
metabolic environment in “Mission
you body that will Planning”
skyrocket your body’s Killer Stop
NATURAL fat melting Instinct Dieting!
abilities!
• How much weight can you realistically expect to lose...and how fast?
Lose too much too fast and you're setting yourself up for a bit
disappointment... too little and you'll lose interest! I'll tell you exactly how
much fat you should be looking at losing to get you off to a right start!
• The real "truth" about weight loss...and why most "experts" and "fat
loss guru's" think you're too stupid to understand (or even care) about
whether you're staying "healthy" during your fat loss program.
MISSION: It's time to reveal your body's "dirty little secret" that is the REAL
reason it's so tough to burn off stubborn, disgusting body fat...and how you can
FINALLY ignite a 24/7 firestorm of fat burning that will do all the work for you!
• Why all the "Simon Says" fat loss gurus are DEAD WRONG about how to
"feed" the body to burn through fat! STOP listening to the diet dunces and
know that this one single principle I'm going to reveal is the ONLY way
you're ever going to fit into your "skinny jeans"!
MISSION: Grant you access to a Top Secret briefing on the "secret war" that's
being fought in your body even as you read these words...and why winning it is
the ONLY way you will be able to stay lean and healthy for life...a LONG life!
• Your body is SCREAMING for "back up" in a silent "war" 99% of people
don't even know about! I'll uncover the TRUTH and show you the path to a
longer, healthier, leaner life!
• How to get up to 200% more nutrients from your food and gain the energy
of a TEENAGER once again! "Experts" don't like to talk about this
topic...but it's time someone did! And that someone is ME!
MISSION: To convince you that food is NOT your enemy...no matter what mis-
informed "experts" may tell you!
Food is actually your powerful ALLY in the war against the evil blubber that's
taken your body hostage...IF you know these healthy guidelines that are simple,
easy-to-follow...and DELICIOUS!
• STOP counting calories! I'll show you an simpler, more effective method
that will make your nutrition program easy-to-follow, healthier, and literally
FORCE your body to burn more fat!
• "Take in less calories than you burn off and you'll lose weight", right?
WRONG! I'll set the record straight on this outdated fat loss concept...and
how to eat more to burn more!
• Why your sex drive and your ability to burn fat go hand-in-hand...and how
to increase both NATURALLY for a double-barrell shotgun blast of crazy
sex hormones AND fat-melting juices!
• Men...can SEX make you FATTER? YES...but not if you know this one
simple "precaution" you absolutely MUST take!
(No, it's not a condom and it's not a complicated "sex trick"! It's easy and
requires no "effort" at all...but will make a HUGE difference in your ability
to burn fat AND increase your sexual libido!)
to release that lean sexy figure that will make you smile in the mirror...and
guys smile as you walk by!
MISSION: Reveal the #1 way to literally FORCE your body to feed off of its fat
stores day and night...while sending your ENERGY skyrocketing through the
roof!
• How to burn over 300% more body fat...without ANY additional effort! It's
true! This is THE #1 secret for burning fat fast and your ticket to effortless
weight loss!
MISSION: Hand you over the U.S. Government's top exercise strategies
designed to build lean muscle while burning through body fat at breakneck
speed!
• Quick! This "crash course" in how to tap into the military's most
challenging, effective, AND exciting exercise strategies may alone be
worth the price of this program! And best of all...you don't even need to
leave your home if you wish!
• Your body’s invisible "force field" that shuts down your ability to burn fat
during exercise...and how to penetrate it like a Starship Enterprise photon
torpedo to FORCE your body to melt away fat without a fight!
• Weight training? Cardio Training? Which burns fat the fastest? The
answers will SHOCK YOU!
MISSION: Issue you your "war face"...and show you how to use it to intimidate
the snot out of fear and self-doubt until it's crying like a baby at your feet!
• How to unleash your hidden "warrior spirit" deep within you...and make it
your secret weapon for defeating self doubt and negativity in their tracks!
...the ‘8 CTF Factors’ that will end up being you personal weapons in
your mission to create the body of your dreams!
So if you’re ready, I say we dig into our first CTF Factor now
and get this battle started!
OPORDERS are
extraordinarily detailed plans
of how to achieve an
objective from start to finish. Military 8 CTF “Chemical
“PT” Factors Warfare”
EVERY SINGLE CRUCIAL
QUESTION is addressed to
make sure that absolutely
NOTHING is left out in how to
Maximum Nutritional
“defeat the enemy. Metabolism Fire Power
And trust me, that just a SMALL sampling of what’s covered in these gruelingly
detailed sessions that can go on for HOURS until every single Commander and
unit leader fully understands their role in the upcoming mission.
The military understands that without a DETAILED PLAN to take you every step
of the way to winning each battle…you’re doomed to FAILURE!
You WILL run out of ammunition because you underestimated the number of
enemy you would meet…
And you WILL lose more soldiers in the battle due to your lack of effective
planning!
You don’t know where they are, how to get there, or what you’re
up against. At the risk of insubordination, that’s pretty useless,
right?
So consider CTF Factor 1 your “Fat Burning Operations Order” as we set out to
craft your own PERSONAL mission plan for FINALLY defeating disgusting belly
fat once and for all!
To accomplish this, I’m NOT going to make you sit through the same level of
anal-retentive details I had to in the military.
In fact, I’m going to break it down into one easy-to-follow worksheet that will help
you DEFINE YOUR OBJECTIVE…and ACCOMPLISH YOUR MISSION!
But the mission we’ll be planning together won’t be effective if it’s not focused on
goals that are S.M.A.R.T.
Well, SMART is an acronym I use to help you make sure that your fat loss goal
meets certain criteria so that you’re set up for success from Day 1.
Let me explain what SMART means and then we can start applying it to your
own personal goals, ok?
S – Specific
This is a “moving target” that doesn’t give you a definitive objective to aim for.
If you don’t have an EXACT goal in mind, how will you know when you’ve
reached it…or if you’re way off base and need to adjust your fat loss program?
Instead, start out with something like “I want to lose 15 pounds” or “I want to go
down 3 pant sizes.”
M = Measurable
If you can’t MEASURE your progress toward your goals, then you can’t
MANAGE your way to success.
You have to identify a way, based upon your own SPECIFIC target that will let
you see if you’re doing things right…or if you need to adjust.
Or it may be how well you’re fitting into that old pair of jeans you grew out of if
your goal was to go down 3 pant sizes.
A = Attainable
Setting goals that are too far out of reach leads to disappointment, frustration,
and, ultimately…FAILURE!
Unfortunately, it’s become all too easy for the average person to set themselves
up for failure.
Everyday we’re barraged with outlandish claims about miracle diet pills, or by
what we see on unreality “reality” shows, where the contestants who see such
incredible body transformations are supported by personal trainers and
professional chefs.
This is SO important!
R = Realistic
If you’re goal is too difficult, you set the stage for failure. If it’s too easy, you’re
sending yourself the message that you’re not CAPABLE of great achievements.
But you ARE capable of great transformations in your weight and your health.
I just believe in setting the bar high enough to take pride in those
accomplishments you’re about to achieve.
T = Timely
You need to have a specific start date and time-specific benchmarks along the
way.
Too many people procrastinate on their fat loss mission to the point where they
never even get started.
If you’re not willing to start RIGHT NOW…then chances are you’re not serious
enough to grit your teeth and work hard when things get tough.
It’s so easy to say, ‘I’ll start my diet after the holidays.’…but eventually that
becomes, ‘I’ll wait until work settles down’ or ‘I’ll wait until I have more time to join
a gym.’
The surest way to NEVER reaching your goals…is to never START them!
This isn’t one of those times you told yourself, “I can’t wait to get
started on this…maybe next month when I have more time.”
Just fill in the following chart according to the instructions that follow it and we’ll
test your mission planning abilities…
The important thing about weighing yourself is consistency because our weight fluctuates
throughout the day.
I recommend that you weigh yourself first thing in the morning – before you have a
stomach full of breakfast and preferably after you use the bathroom.
The more consistent you are with weighing yourself, the more accurate your
measurements will be.
Write down what you truly, deep in your heart, wish you weighed.
For example, if you currently weigh 200 pounds and you want to weigh 175, then your
answer for Section C would be “25”.
Grab a calendar (go ahead…I’ll wait right here) and choose a date you want to reach that
goal that you set in Section B.
Ok…go ahead and count the number of WEEKS between NOW and that date and enter it above.
So if it turned out that I wanted to lose 25 pounds and my target date is 3 months away (or
12 weeks), then, doing the math, my goal is to lose about 2 pounds a week.
Combat The Fat Factor 1
But even the greatest military commanders wouldn’t stack a 6-man squad up
against a 1,000 man battalion and expect them to win. That would be
UNREALISTIC, right?
Well, what I tell my clients is that your “weight loss goal” should be to lose 1 or 2
pounds of fat per week…OR about 1% of your total body weight.
Well, basically, the 1-2 lbs figure works if you’re at about 200 lbs
or less.
But the heavier you are and the more fat you have on your
body, the MORE you can realistically lose…so in comes the 1%
option.
So if you weigh 300 lbs, you could realistically and safely lose
about 3 lbs per week.
Losing 1-2 lbs per week may not seem like much to you based upon all the glitzy
marketing ads you may have seen.
But as you’ll learn in the upcoming chapters, trying to lose too much weight too
quickly will only lead to problems, both in your level of motivation…AND your
HEALTH.
So now I ask you to look back at your “Mission Planning” form and see what
number YOU entered in Section F.
But if it’s HIGHER than 1%, then you need to go back to your form and do a little
adjusting.
You WILL get there…but you’ll just need to extend the DATE
you arrive.
Ok, so now we’ve hit all of the letters of SMART except for discussing how to
MEASURE your progress.
And I’m going to keep this simple because there are basically three
measurement “tools” I like to incorporate in my program to keep me motivated
and tell me whether I’m on track with my training.
1. The Scale
Let me briefly explain how to use each of these the RIGHT WAY to really analyze
your progress.
Weighing yourself on the scale is the most obvious option most people use for
their measurement of success.
Anyone who’s ever been on a diet is accustomed to the daily scale ritual…and
now science has some findings to back the reasons WHY…
One long term study looked at the progress of 1,800 adults actively dieting.
Over a two year period, they found that the people who weighed themselves
DAILY lost TWICE as much weight as those that didn’t.
Not a bad return on your investment for 5 seconds of your time every morning,
eh?
The study demonstrated what I was talking about during the section on
S.M.A.R.T goals…
When the number on the scale goes down, you get a mini-burst of motivation
because you get instant feedback that what you’re doing is WORKING.
Well, it COULD be an indicator that you’ve slipped some and that’s your
opportunity to be a bit more mindful that day of how you eat or maybe decide to
schedule an extra training session if you have the time.
But there ARE some pitfalls to consider when using the scale as a measurement
tool.
You see, the scale has a way of LYING to you on what is REALLY happening in
your body because it doesn’t tell you WHAT weight you’ve lost.
So how can you tell where YOUR losses (or even GAINS) are coming from?
By calculating your body’s exact breakdown of LEAN MASS versus BODY FAT,
you really can get a great inside look at the changes that take place in your body
as you progress through the Combat The Fat program.
Let me show you why calculating your body fat percentage is so important…
Say I currently weigh 200 pounds and I have a calculated body fat percentage of
20%.
That means that 20% of my body weight (or 40 pounds) is all fat.
Subtract that, and I’m left with 160 pounds of LEAN MASS.
...but ALSO includes your hair, skin, bones, organs and OTHER body mass
exclusive of fat.
So your FIRST reading will really only give you a good INITIAL reading of the
ratio of lean mass to body fat.
But it’s your NEXT readings that will REALLY give you some great feedback.
For example, let’s say I take another reading of my weight and my body fat
percentage a week later and I STILL weigh 200 lbs.
Well, let’s look closer by taking my BODY FAT percentage and I see a change
from 20% down to 19%.
Since your organs, skin, bones and other “lean” body components don’t really
change in size, it’s fair to say that any INCREASES you see in your lean mass
pretty much equates to extra muscle you’ve built.
So basically, without measuring my body fat percentage and ONLY looking at the
scale, it would look like all of my hard work was for NOTHING because my
weight didn’t change at all.
But NOW, since I took our body fat readings, I REALLY have something to
celebrate because in reality I LOST 2 lbs of body fat…and GAINED 2 pounds of
MUSCLE!
Now you can see why I’ve included both a complete manual on
“How To Measure Your Body Fat” as a bonus with the Combat
The Fat program as well as a software package that will not
only do all of the calculations for you…but TRACK your
progress as well.
My strong recommendation is that you take your body fat measurements every
single week, which is the best time frame for an accurate indication of your
progress.
And the FINAL measurement tool that I find effective is based more on your own
PERSONAL weight loss goal.
For example, if you’re looking to fit back into your “skinny jeans”, you may want
to keep them handy and try them on each week to see just how much easier it is
to pull them on.
And let’s not forget the popular quest for “6-PACK ABS”!
Having a washboard midsection is the “Holy Grail” for most men and let’s face
it…what woman ISN’T seeking a flat, toned stomach?
If that’s your goal, one way to measure your progress is by simply looking in the
mirror.
Are you starting to see those little “bumps” in your midsection that signals
something may be starting to come through?
But for ME, it WORKS because just realizing that I’m pinching
less and less fat each day is enough to keep me motivated to
continue making the right choices and ultimately reach my goal.
So think about your OWN personal “success indicator” to accompany the more
“scientific” tools I’ve provided you.
In fact, consider this one of your little “homework assignments” before we move
into the next CTF Factor.
Make it a point (if you haven’t done so already) to take TOMORROW MORNING
to record your first SCALE reading and your BODY FAT PERCENTAGE reading
and record them in the AGT 5000 software that came as a bonus with this
program.
If you’re using the manual I provided you for your body fat percentage reading,
that may mean that you have to go out and get a simple cloth tape measure you
can use to take your measurements.
Maybe you don’t even own a bathroom scale? Time to get one!
Did you download and install the AGT 5000 software onto your computer? If not,
DO IT NOW!
Whatever you need to do to prepare for your measurements, let’s get it done.
Homework Assignment #2
Break out your camera because it’s time to take a picture of yourself!
And you know what I’m talking about here so strip on down and slap on your
bathing suit so you can REALLY see your body’s “starting point”.
I also want you to grab a newspaper (no, not to HIDE behind!) so you know the
exact date you started tracking your program.
I realize that taking that picture might not be a whole lot of fun.
Most of us hate getting our picture taken, and that’s when we’re FULLY
CLOTHED.
There will come a time VERY SOON when you will look at that picture and you
won’t recognize the person you see.
So take that picture and post it somewhere you will see it each day.
Print out the “Combat The Fat Goal Tracker” form you see on the next page.
It should look familiar because it’s pretty much the same thing that people use for
fundraisers – you know, the bursting thermometers that show how much money
they’ve raised.
When you look at the form, you’ll see two different thermometers.
As you progress through the program, you’re going to color them in using two
different colors – one for burning fat and one for gaining muscle.
Again…post this form where you’ll be able to see it EVERY DAY and be
reminded of your progress to stay motivated.
I know that most of you will be tempted to just keep reading and
skip over these few little suggestions.
20 lbs
30 %
15 lbs
25 %
10 lbs
20 %
5 lbs
15 %
10 %
www.CombatTheFat.com
www.MuscleNerdFitness.com
Combat The Fat Factor 1
Now, one last thing before we move on because I have my own “HIDDEN
AGENDA” for MY goals for you as you progress through my program.
You see, for ME, the mission I’m about to take you on has a much DEEPER
meaning because while you’re losing body fat, you ALSO effortlessly be
establishing HEALTHY HABITS at the same time!.
I’ve gotta tell you…most people are COMPLETELY missing the boat on the true
value of their fitness program.
I mean it’s GREAT to have a trim, toned body and it’s a big EGO BOOST to see
that you’re turning some heads on the beach.
Ultimately, though, when you have a significant amount of weight to lose, it’s
about much MORE than just “looking good”.
Being overweight takes YEARS off of your life and takes a huge toll on you both
PHYSICALLY and EMOTIONALLY.
You might even find it affecting your social life, love life, and your own
PERSONAL relationship with YOURSELF due to a lack of self-confidence.
So my goal with the Combat The Fat not just to change your BODY…my goal is
to let CTF change your LIFE!
The more fat you burn, the more you’ll be able to DO because you’ll have more
ENERGY and MOBILITY.
You’ll be able to participate in sports and other physical activities you weren’t
capable of handling in the past.
You’ll release “feel good endorphins” that will course through your veins and
make you feel so HAPPY, your friends and co-workers will constantly be
wondering what secret you’re keeping that’s responsible for that smile you wear
on your face all day long.
Yes, if you follow my step-by-step program as I’ve laid it out, you will LOOK
GREAT…FEEL GREAT…have MORE ENERGY…BETTER SEX…AND LIVE A
LONGER, MORE PRODUCTIVE LIFE!
MY goal for you is to live life to the fullest…and THAT’S the REAL reason why I
created the Combat the Fat program!
And now, over the course of the remaining chapters, I’ll show
you EXACTLY how to reach your objective with the most
advanced fat burning strategies known to man!
Ready to continue?
Their diets were high in complex carbohydrates from fresh fruits, vegetables, and
roots, to some extent higher in protein whenever they could make a kill, higher in
healthy fats from nuts and seeds, and they “exercised” all day long as they
hunted and foraged for food…which could become VERY scarce at times.
To make sure that our bodies were able to maintain enough energy to travel long
distances as well as provide powerful strength for defending against lions, tigers,
and bears (oh my!), a series of energy producing systems were put into place,
each with its own purpose, advantages, and disadvantages.
This can get very detailed and confusing but to simplify things, they look
something like this…
ATP is your body’s most readily available fuel source stored directly in the
muscle cells. It’s capable of generating a LOT of power, but the main effects
only last for about 5-10 seconds.
This is the main energy source you use for the first few seconds of any “power”
movements such as when you lift a barbell or perform a pushup.
The good thing is that ATP is also very quickly re-supplied in the muscle cells.
This is why you’re able to get the barbell back off the rack to knock out some
more reps even though a minute earlier it was about to come crashing down on
your throat as you reached muscular exhaustion.
Glycogen
Glycogen is a form of sugar stored within your muscles and picks up the slack
when your ATP “jumpstart” has exhausted itself. Again, like ATP, it’s VERY
easily used by the body but actually lasts much longer at generating energy.
Muscle glycogen is your main EXTENDED fuel source for periods of HIGHER
INTENSITY activity such as weight training, competitive sports, or even high-
intensity cardio training.
Glycogen has the ability to generate LOTS of power and for much longer than
ATP, but it has its limits as well. While your body can store as much as 2-3
hours of glycogen in your muscles, it takes longer to be re-supplied and can
actually lead to a loss of valuable muscle mass if not replenished quickly and
correctly.
Blood Glucose
This simple form of sugar floats freely in your bloodstream to be burned quite
quickly and be used for replenishing muscle glycogen as well as burned directly
for fuel.
While practically any food can be broken down into blood sugar, large amounts
of glucose are generated by ingesting food that is either highly refined
(processed) or high in simple sugar content as it is easily absorbed through the
stomach wall and transferred directly into the bloodstream for use.
A Word From Your “Fat Burning Commander”...
Too much sugar in your bloodstream is a bad thing and it’s the job or your
pancreas to monitor and control blood sugar levels by secreting a hormone
called “insulin”.
Think of insulin as your transporter hormone responsible for shuttling excess
blood sugar to wherever it can to quickly get rid of it. As insulin is secreted, it
sends extra glucose to any location it can stick it, focusing mainly on storing it in
your muscles (in the form of glycogen) or turning it into fat deposits.
The more sugar dumped into your blood, the greater the insulin “spike” is created
and the more fat you’re liable to store away.
A Word From Your “Fat Burning Commander”...
You may have felt this insulin spike after you’ve eaten a candy
bar or drank a sugary soft drink.
Body Fat
Ok, you already know what it looks like and where it’s located on your body,
right?
But in fact, there are different TYPES of fat socked away throughout your fleshy
real estate and it actually plays an EXTREMELY important role in providing you
with energy and in fact…ensuring your very SURVIVAL!
You see, although fat takes MUCH longer to break down into a readily available
fuel source for your body, it packs a LOT of energy (more than TWICE as much
potential energy as ATP and glucose/glycogen!) and because it’s slowly
dissolved, can provide a steady stream of low level energy for a very long period
of time.
Each day was spent foraging for food, hunting and migrating the
plains in search of better living conditions.
By slowly dissolving body fat, your body was able to avoid the breakdown of
valuable muscle for energy, saving it for when you may need super-caveman
strength while wrestling a fellow tribesman for mating rights with the tribal hottie!
You see, it may surprise you to realize that your body fat was actually
DESIGNED to be your PRIMARY source of fuel for ALL of your LOW INTENSITY
activities!
In fact, your BODY FAT is capable of providing as much as 80% of your energy
needs!
In other words, your genetic makeup is geared toward BURNING FAT while you
sit at your desk, watch television, sleep, and even for performing biological
functions such as breathing, digesting your food, and building and maintaining
muscle tissue!
This is GREAT NEWS for those people looking to lose weight because armed
with this knowledge and the fat loss strategies I’m about to reveal to you, you can
literally BURN FAT ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT!
But first, here’s a quick bird’s eye view of your body’s energy production system
to keep in mind as we further discuss how to manipulate these systems to force
your body to increase its dependence upon fat for fuel while avoiding the
breakdown of muscle tissue for fuel.
As I stated earlier, during any LOW INTENSITY activity during the day, about
80% of the energy used comes from the breakdown of body fat for fuel (actually
called “lyposis”).
The remaining 20% of your energy is supplied by a combination of your other fuel
sources, mostly simple free-floating blood glucose and, to a much lesser degree,
muscle glycogen.
But don’t forget…this rule was engineered at the dawn of early civilization and
based upon the foods that were readily available at the time and different activity
levels.
So skip ahead a few million years and with “civilized progress” came harvested
grains, Twinkies, pizza, candy bars and processed foods such as white breads,
crackers, instant mashed potatoes…and the list goes on.
And now, instead of passing the day hunting and foraging for food, we’ve taken
desk jobs and rely on the convenience of drive thru meals and handy
supermarkets for a ready supply of sustenance.
In contrast to the natural foods our bodies are designed to process such as fruits,
vegetables, nuts and whole grains, the processed foods that are now so readily
available break down VERY quickly in the stomach and the resulting sugar is
absorbed directly into the bloodstream.
Since your body has to do SOMETHING with this flood of sugar, it chooses to
use it as THE primary source of immediate energy (INSTEAD of body fat!)
But this also sends a distress signal to your pancreas to pump out insulin at
breakneck speed in order to bring the excess sugar levels down fast.
And as we now know, the excess sugar that your body didn’t burn off in time gets
shuttled to your muscles in the form of glycogen.
BUT…if the “no vacancy” sign is up and you already have ample glycogen
storage, the easiest thing to do with the extra glucose is to turn it into fat…and
there is ALWAYS enough storage space for more fat on your body...as long as
you can keep buying bigger pants.
So in essence, the result is a virtual flip-flop of the “80-20” rule where we’ve now
attempted to force our bodies to submit to a scenario where it uses only about
20% of our energy from body fat and 80% from the non-stop glucose stampede
we generate from the “modern” diets we’ve grown accustomed to.
So here’s the bottom line when it comes to fat loss…
You will NEVER lose that unwanted body fat until you can ALLOW your body to
live off of its own fat stores for fuel…as it was DESIGNED to do in the first place!
A Word From Your “Fat Burning Commander”...
So all of those programs that offer you the “eat what you want
just take in less calories” or “swallow this pill and carbs and fat
won’t end up around your waist” solution aren’t doing a damn
thing for you but reinforcing the misguided notion that you can
somehow change your biological structure that has taken
MILLIONS of years to develop.
To quote an old margarine commercial…”It’s not nice to fool
with Mother Nature!”
So now that you understand that the key to fast, permanent fat loss is to switch
your body’s “fuel source” options, you’ll probably want to know HOW to do that,
am I right?
Well, ask a million fat loss guru’s and you’ll get a million answers.
The majority of publications that have fueled a multi-billion dollar industry attempt
to introduce a “miracle diet” that will hit the New York Times Best Seller List at
breakneck speed, secure a guest spot on Oprah, and become the next
“Hollywood” trend responsible for transforming some starlet from flabby to “hot”
just in time for her role as the sexy co-star in some spy movie.
Many “experts” and doctors, knowing that a majority of the population don’t want
to do any more work than they have to, will simply reduce fat loss down to
“reducing calories” and then package it up with a catchy name for instant
superstardom.
But there are several reasons why I’m not a big fan of “dieting” through calorie
restriction in order to burn off unwanted fat.
To start, one of the most common reasons people give up on a fat loss program
that incorporates “dieting” is the vast amount of “work” that goes into counting
calories, measuring out food, and having to add up every gram of protein,
carbohydrates, and fat that goes into your body.
I’m not saying that there isn’t value in it or that you shouldn’t do it…just that it
becomes so overwhelming to most people that they begin to associate weight
loss with the “pain” and monotony of being anal-retentive with their diet program.
As far as I’m concerned, if you’re not the “Type-A” personality that just loves to
go psycho with weighing out all of your food and eating with a calculator in your
hand, you’re better off not even trying to count calories. You’ll most likely end up
quitting and gaining back any weight you’ve lost.
Besides, there is research that supports it may not be as necessary as you were
once told anyway!
Let me explain…
Remember when I told you that there are actually a few different TYPES of fat in
your body? Well, here they are…
1. Visceral Fat is the fat that’s stored inside your belly behind the abdominal
wall. It’s the kind of fat that compiles the hard “pot belly” that heavy beer-
drinkers are known for and is a large factor in heart disease.
2. Intramuscular Fat is actually stored within your muscles and provides the
first source of “fat fuel” your muscles call upon when sustained energy is
needed. You see this same kind of fat when you examine the fat
“marbling” in the steak you purchase at your supermarket.
3. And finally, Subcutaneous Fat is what you know as the ugly glop that lies
in between your muscles and skin, concealing those washboard abs
you’re on a quest to reveal. THIS is the fat we’re all trying to target to look
great!
Well, as it turns out, not every type of fat in your body is targeted the same way
in order to see a reduction. While it was always thought that “dieting” via calorie
restriction was important to see a loss of subcutaneous fat, there’s more to the
story than was originally thought.
Note that the total calorie deficit for Group 1 and Group 2 were the same, the
only difference being that Group 1 accomplished this mainly through dieting and
exercise and Group 2 achieved a deficit through exercise alone.
And at the end of the 3 month study, here is where each group ended up…
But when it comes to getting rid of the layers of fat hiding your abs and caked on
your thighs, EXERCISE is what is truly needed to see a noticeable drop in
SUBCUTANEOUS FAT…NOT dietary calorie reduction.
And researchers also noted that the MORE frequent the exercise, the more
subcutaneous fat was burned off, slaying the notion that a quick walk around the
block is all you need to start melting fat off your body.
So now hopefully you can see that if you’ve tried simply “dieting” in the past by
reducing calories, you initially saw a reduction in your waistline and in the
numbers on the scale, but once you had made a dent in your VISCERAL FAT
stores, your actual waist-weight didn’t budge very much.
But it can get even worse for those of you who took things to even more
DRASTIC measures and cut your calories to a minimum…
And since muscle requires more energy for the body to maintain than fat, it will
instead break down muscle cells at a faster rate in order to supply the energy you
need throughout the day.
In short, dieters often LOSE muscle mass and mistake this as “weight loss”.
When it comes to burning body fat fast, drastically reducing your calories is NOT
the answer!
If you want to burn away subcutaneous fat while preserving or even BUILDING
muscle, you’re going to need to COMBINE a diet and exercise program that
makes you SWEAT...and backs it up with sensible dieting solutions that are easy
to follow and don’t leave you eating tree bark and carrots 6 times a day!
Unfortunately, most fat loss programs stop right there by giving you ONLY a
“diet” program or at best, a diet and EXERCISE program.
As you’ve heard me say countless times now, there are FAR MORE factors at
play here than just how many calories you take in and how hard you train in the
gym.
In order for you to see the kind of results I’m promising, you have to look at other
areas and functions of the body and reassess how you support those areas so
they can do their job and HELP you accomplish your weight loss goal.
But unfortunately, not ALL of your body is structured to help you…and in some
cases, you have “evil forces” at work AGAINST you.
So grab your weapon because I’m taking you behind enemy lines to a “SILENT
BATTLE” that is being waged RIGHT NOW in your body…
And more importantly for you, ALL of these new cells are being built with
“materials” that you’ve supplied with the FOODS you eat, the LIQUIDS you drink,
and are affected by the ENVIRONMENT you live in.
With that in mind, if you were to take a 6 month snapshot of the quality of building
materials you’ve supplied to build the body you now have, how would it look?
Are YOUR cells built from quality nutrients and working like a finely tuned
engine?
Or are they comprised of pizza, Big Macs, potato chips, and soft drinks?
Do you smoke? Drink too much alcohol? Is your idea of exercise, doing “finger
presses” on your TV’s remote control?
You see, poorly BUILT cells lead to poorly FUNCTIONING cells and if your cells
aren’t working at optimum levels, then they tend to get sluggish, slow down the
fat burning process, and even go so far as to STORE MORE FAT!
In other words, if we don’t get your cells working at their peak levels, we’re going
to have a VERY hard time stripping that fat off your body.
Unfortunately, how well your cells are optimized for burning fat and carrying out
all of your other bodily functions relies on more than just how many Twinkies
you’ve had in the past six months.
Everyone knows that we humans have not been so kind to Mother Earth over the
past few hundred years…and in the process, not so good to OURSELVES either.
Every year, BILLIONS of pounds of chemicals are released into the air, soil, and
surface waters.
In fact, I almost didn’t even WRITE this chapter for the CTF
program because I felt it would simply label me as some
crackpot hippie and you wouldn’t take it very seriously anyway.
But if you’ll hear me out and make it to the end of this chapter, I
PROMISE you this section really DOES play an important role
in your ability to BURN FAT and I’ll do my best to avoid turning
it into a Greenpeace recruitment ad. Deal?
These pollutants impair our ability to grow food and ultimately wind up on our
dinner tables and in the water we drink.
Pesticides meant to allow us to grow MORE food, are sneaking into our cells to
poison us as we munch away unaware.
Yes, a “silent war” using toxic weapons is happening right under our noses and in
our bodies because it’s largely been kept SECRET from us.
WRONG!
The choices you make about the food you consume are entirely
up to you and I believe everyone has to make that choice for
themselves.
You may not SEE the effects of these toxins on your body because they may act
slowly and subtly (which is why I call it a “silent war”)…but they’re there and a
very REAL threat we’ll have to deal with more and more in the future.
But I didn’t write this book to prophesize the end of world (honest!)…and I guess
it’s time to bring this back to what it all has to do with YOU and your quest to strip
off the body fat, right?
Ok, remember those 30-50 trillion cells you have buzzing around in your body?
Well as your body is constantly shedding and rebuilding NEW cells at a rate of
300 billion a day, the toxins present in our food, water, and environment are
creating SUB-STANDARD CELLS that aren’t structured to work as well as they
could.
And since FAT BURNING happens at a CELLULAR level, if you’re working with
“slacker” cells, then it’s going to be MUCH harder to get them to maximize their
natural fat-burning abilities!
I promised you SOLUTIONS and there IS a lot you can do and if you’ll give a few
of these a try, I guarantee you’ll FEEL like a new person…because you will BE a
new person…LITERALLY!
As you regenerate those 300 billion new cells each day, you’ll
be trading in the old ‘slackers’ for younger, healthier ‘studs’ until
you have a completely new Army of 30-50 trillion little ‘fat-
burning’ warriors working their little butts off at working you big
butt off.
So let’s get to work on your “new body” by looking at some areas where small
changes can lead to BIG payoffs…
No, I’m not saying it should be squirming on your plate...I mean does it contain
the vital “life force” it’s meant to have and contain its full nutrient-packed
potential?
You don’t need to have psychic powers or connect with the universe to
understand what I mean here.
Just think of the difference between a fresh green bean picked from a garden
versus the green pile of gloppy beans you pour out of a can off the store shelves.
Even if you don’t have the ability to run this “test” on your table, imagine it in your
MIND.
I’ll bet that you can intuitively see the difference between the two versions of the
same vegetable, can’t you?
As a basic rule, the more PROCESSED and REFINED a food is from its initial
source, the more “life” is taken out of it and the less NATURAL nutrients it
contains.
It wasn’t until the late 1940’s that North American farming began using toxic
chemicals to get rid of pests and weeds to yield more crops...and it WORKED!
While farmers in 1926 could produce 26 bushels of corn from an acre of land, in
1996, it had gone up to 127 BUSHELS...but not without a price.
Insects and weeds began to become resistant to the chemicals and even MORE
POWERFUL toxins were needed to keep up the pace.
In the end, we’ve sacrificed QUALITY for QUANTITY and the foods that now
make it to our markets are less nutritional and tainted with residual chemicals
that would scare the hell out of you if knew what it was.
Are you ready to stick your head in the sand and look the other
way yet?
You may see this as “scare tactics” and it may even downright
piss you off that I’m standing on my soap box preaching away
about such a liberal topic as food quality.
When you think about a wild-caught salmon, fresh out of the Pacific waters
versus a salmon that was hatched and then jam-packed into cement ponds
barely able to move among the thousands of other salmon all searching the
scummy waters for their daily feed of fish pellets, which would YOU think would
be better for your body?
Or how about the free-range cow grazing on real grass and natural feed
compared with the one stuffed into a small cage intentionally restricted and fed
grains meant to get it as fat as possible to yield as much as 30% more meat?
Now, I don’t bring this up to turn you into a vegetarian (though if you walked
through any of these meat plants, I’m sure you’d be inches away from growing
your hair long and joining campaigns to save the whales)...but rather to illustrate
just how we’ve become used to accepting mass-produced foods as a “normal
diet”...and how we’re all paying the price in our waistlines AND our medical bills!
Yes, this is about MORE than the “ethical treatment of animals and celery”...
The more “life force” we take out of our food, the less life we OURSELVES
actually have...both in QUALITY and LONGEVITY.
One way you can fight back for the sake of your body is to opt for ORGANIC
products whenever possible and wherever available.
While it’s still being argued whether organically grown foods contain more
NUTRITION, I think it’s more important to realize that through the use of natural
farming methods, you end up consuming FAR LESS toxic chemicals and support
healthy, natural cellular function.
Also, talk with your grocer about adding more choices to their
list of foods since they may mistakenly feel that no one is
interested in them unless someone speaks up.
And finally, check and see if there are any local “food co-ops”
where you can buy bulk organics and other natural foods while
saving by ordering as part of the larger co-op group.
Can’t find one? Organize one! It’s not that difficult to do and
you can find several online that will help you become “point
person” for your own grassroots organic movement!
Fat intake has received a pretty bad rap over the years but the fact is that “FAT”
makes up the actual STRUCTURE of your brains, eyes, adrenal glands, and the
membranes that protect every single cell in your body.
They’re like your inner “knights in shining armor” protecting your cells and if you
have poor quality fat intake, you have poor armor plating around your cells.
By consuming what I call “FUNCTIONAL FATS” (like Omega 3’s and 6’s and
monounsaturated sources), the cells you regenerate are built STRONGER and
better support ALL of your cellular functions...including jacking up your FAT
BURNING efforts!
In fact, it may surprise you to know that since your body has a USE for certain
fats in rebuilding and repairing your cells (which is why I call them “functional”),
it’s actually much more difficult for you to “get fat” from eating these types of fats
and can actually help STIMULATE the use of body fat for fuel!
We’ll discuss these “functional” cellular construction workers a bit more in the
Combat The Fat Nutrition Plan...but just know for now that when it comes to
cellular health, consuming the right KINDS of fats is extremely important.
Right this minute there are potentially several POUNDS of rotting, decaying
sludge just sitting around in your body, silently leaking toxic waste into areas you
would least expect.
Well, I’m about to show you the quickest, easiest way to drop 5
– 10 pounds in the next week, live longer, have more energy
and do it all while scratching your head wondering what the hell
has been going on inside your body all these years?
While a conversation about your colon and digestive system isn’t as “sexy” as
talking about doing 1,000 crunches for 6-pack abs, I can assure you that it is
VERY relevant to burning fat and let me just chime in for all you young guys out
there who feel this may be a section only for Grandma and Grandpa...
...if you follow this principle it will even help you BUILD MORE MUSCLE and
BURN FAT FASTER!
Ok, then let’s get back in our time machines and travel back about 6 million years
ago or so when our bodies were evolving.
Because our hunting skills weren’t quite up to the level of justifying circulation of
Field & Stream magazine back in our caveman days, our bodies developed a
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM that was based upon our primary diet of vegetables, fruits,
seeds, and nuts.
Fiber is the part of plants that doesn’t dissolve or digest away and gives “bulk” to
the digested matter so your intestines can move your meals from one end of your
body out the other end.
In very basic terms, without fiber, your intestines don’t have anything to “push”
against and it has a hard time moving it through you body as it’s being broken
down and digested.
While fruits and vegetables contain a LOT of fiber, meat generally contains no
fiber at all.
Even WITH meat consumption, including fiber in a meal will help mix in with the
meat and give your digestive tract something to grab onto and push along quite
quickly.
Now back in our caveman days, our diet consisted of a daily intake of about 100
GRAMS of fiber every single day!
Now, instead of hunting for the occasional game we could roast over the fire, we
only have to hunt for the best VALUE of ground beef at the local grocery to
spread over our nachos!
I even know people who are so reliant on meat as their main food source that
they turn their faces quickly away from even the SIGHT of vegetables as if they
were Dracula facing a necklace of garlic!
And since meat doesn’t contain the valuable fiber your body needs to move it
quickly through all 25 feet of your intestines and colon, it just kind of mopes along
slowly as it rots away in the hot, moist environment of your digestive tract.
Can you imagine opening up that bag and seeing and smelling
the putrid remains?
As the food in your digestive system sits there and rots away, it releases even
MORE toxins into your body.
And your body MUST find a way to deal with these foreign invaders so it
basically has developed a way to ENCAPSILATE these toxins in a small sac that
it tries to absorb into the intestinal wall, essentially sealing them away so they
can’t do any harm.
Unfortunately, these small sacs can only do so much and since the toxins inside
continue to fester, these little bubbles of waste continue to leak into your body
and bloodstream and can develop into intestinal polyps and cancers.
If you doubt that what I’m telling you is true, let me share this
simple comparison with you...
While our BODIES are generally the same SIZE as a lion’s, it’s
obvious that our DIETS are drastically DIFFERENT since lions
only eat MEAT.
That should give you a clear indication that our bodies are not
MEANT to live on a mostly MEAT diet and MUST have fiber to
keep us healthy!
Ok, I know that some of you are probably dismissing all of this as nothing but
uneducated “scare tactics”, right?
If you have ONE bowel movement a day, it’s estimated that you have about 1.5
pounds of fecal matter in your intestines and colon.
Not too bad...but there are MANY people who DON’T “go number 2” every day!
So it’s estimated that if you have a bowel movement EVERY 2 DAYS...then you
have about 9 POUNDS of fecal matter sitting inside of you.
If you’re one of those people who only have a bowel movement once every 5
DAYS (yes, they’re out there!)...you could have up to 14.5 POUNDS of rotting
matter in your system!
So how can you get rid of all this dangerous material in your intestines?
The answer is as simple as adding more FIBER to your diet to help push your
food through at a normal pace and not let it sit around causing you problems
such as diarrhea, constipation, colitis, irritable bowel, or a host of other digestive
problems.
Fortunately for you, the CTF Diet that I’ll be going over in the next section is
already designed to help you in this task WITHOUT you even having to think
about it.
Convenient, eh?
But if you’re looking for an ADVANCED way to clean out the old pipes, then I
have another suggestion for you...
PSYLLIUM (in the form of husks, powder or seeds) is an inexpensive plant fiber
supplement you can buy at any health food store, online, or even at a lot of local
groceries (I recommend buying it in its raw form, preferably as powder or husks).
You see, once consumed, the psyllium absorbs liquid and GREATLY increases
in size.
Since this fiber DOESN’T digest, it marches right through your intestines like a
blue-collar clean-up crew, clearing out all that rotting waste while absorbing
harmful toxins.
Remember those small pockets of festering waste material that were absorbed
into your intestinal wall as a defense mechanism to isolate harmful toxins?
Well, as the psyllium pushes its way through your intestines, it slightly
STRETCHES them, opening up those small cavities of rotted waste and sucks
away the buildup like a Hoover vacuum!
Unless you like the feeling of a massive boulder making it’s way
through your narrow intestinal tract, DON’T take too much
psyllium at one time and make sure to EASE your way into
usage if you’ve never used it before.
To use psyllium correctly, start with 1 – 2 teaspoons a day (once in the morning
and once in the afternoon) added to some water, juice, or your protein shake.
Drink it QUICKLY because it will begin to bulk up not long after it hits liquid.
If you don’t drink enough water, the psyllium can cause cramps,
bloating, and constipation as it absorbs water from your body.
Once you’ve seen that your body can take up to 2 teaspoons a day, you can test
going up to 1 Tablespoon twice a day to see if this brings you better regularity
with your bowel movements.
And for those of you who think you’re “too young” for psyllium and this method is
JUST for crotchety old grannies to go with their prune juice, I have some news
you can use...
By cleaning out your intestines, you will ALSO absorb more of the NUTRIENTS
from your food...have MORE ENERGY...LOWER BLOOD SUGAR which results
in less fat storage...and you’ll even BOOST the power of your other
SUPPLEMENTS through increased absorption and usage!
I’m going to talk to you about something that even most fitness and health
experts don’t know about...but it’s probably one of the most important things you
can do to live a LONGER, HEALTHIER life...AND burn more body fat.
I’ll try to break this down with as little scientific mumbo-jumbo as possible...
Your body is made up of about 70% water that it uses for all kinds of biological
processes that are essential for survival.
That water inside you can either be ACIDIC or ALKALINE based upon its
scientific rating on the “pH” SCALE (pH stands for “Potential Hydrogen”, but no
need to memorize it...there won’t be a test.)
The LOWER the pH number on the scale, the more ACIDIC something is....the
HIGHER the rating, the more ALKALINE.
Because your body is mostly water, your personal PH level has an IMMENSE
effect on your total body chemistry, health, and even your ability to burn fat.
Acid rain happens when pollutants are released into the air and
become part of the atmosphere and that moisture is then
transformed from being a NEUTRAL pH to being ACIDIC.
When the resulting acid rain falls on forests, it seeps into the
ground and the trees soak up the water through their roots.
Well, when your body is in an extended acidic state, it triggers the production of
INSULIN which, as you now know, transforms calories into BODY FAT as a
defense mechanism.
The longer and more acidic you are...the more insulin is released...and the more
FAT that will get slapped on your hips, butt, thighs, and abs.
This is often one of the main reasons why people find it so hard to push past
weight loss plateaus and scratch their heads wondering what they’re doing
wrong.
You can do all you can with your training and your diet, but balancing out your pH
levels is a critical factor in permanent weight loss.
Most of the foods we’re eating (like pasta, meat, coffee, and rice) are very, very
acidic foods, so you can see once again that the diet we’ve become accustomed
to actually works AGAINST our efforts to lose weight and stay healthy.
The easiest way is to buy a “pH Test Strip Kit just like
the ones you used back in high school chemistry
class.
The kit will come with a little color scale and you then
compare the color of the test strip with the colors on
the scale to find out your body’s pH level.
How can you bring back some BALANCE to your body’s pH levels?
Fortunately, there are a number of simple things you can do to change it.
Because the CTF Nutritional Plan is already geared more toward ALKALINE
qualities (which is the “arch nemesis” of ACID), you won’t have to think much
about how to adjust your diet.
Just follow the guidelines and this will help bring your body back to a more
NEUTRAL state.
However, to better illustrate just how much your diet influences pH, I’ve also
included a little cheat sheet with a list of pH balancing food choices.
You’ll see that the foods range from high, medium, and low levels of ACIDITY as
well as the same for ALKALINE properties.
Your goal is to aim for a diet that’s 75% alkaline and 25% acidic.
The more acidic your system CURRENTLY is...the more ALKALINE you want to
make your diet until you can bring yourself back to normal levels.
Oranges, Lemons,
Blueberries, Dates, Figs,
Bananas, Watermelon,
Cranberries, Sour Cherries, Plums, Melons, Grapes,
Cherries, Limes,
Fruits Prunes, Rhubarb, Processed Fruit Papaya, Kiwi,
Pineapple, Grapefruit,
Sweetened Canned Fruit Juices Berries, Apples,
Peaches, Mangoes,
Fruit Juice Pears, Raisins
Avocados Papayas
Carrots,
Tomatoes, Fresh Okra, Squash, Asparagus,
Potatoes
Cooked Corn, Green Beans, Onions,
(without skins),
Vegetables Spinach, Kidney Mushrooms, Beets, Celery, Vegetable
Pinto Beans,
Beans/Legumes Beans, String Cabbage, Peas, Lettuce, Juices, Parsley,
Navy Beans,
Beans Potato Skins, Zucchini, Sweet Raw Spinach,
Lima Beans
Olives, Potato, Carob Broccoli, Garlic
Soybeans, Tofu
NutraSweet,
Maple Syrup,
Equal, White Sugar, Processed Raw Honey, Raw
Sweeteners Rice Syrup, Stevia
Aspartame, Brown Sugar Honey Sugar (Sucanut),
Molasses
Sweet 'N Low
Pumpkin Seeds,
Pecans,
Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds,
Nuts/Seeds Cashews, Almonds
Walnuts Sesame Seeds,
Pistachios,
Chestnuts
Jam, Ketchup,
Mayonnaise,
Misc. Chocolate Margarine, Lard Baking Soda
Mustard, and
Vinegar
There’s actually a powerful supplement you probably already have sitting in your
refrigerator that you didn’t even know was there...and it literally costs only
PENNIES!
The fancy name for the white powder that keeps your butter from tasting like your
onions is SODIUM BICARBONATE and it’s an EXTREMELY alkaline solution.
When it’s in your body, it neutralizes the acidic environment and quickly brings it
back to a balanced level.
If you find that your body is just under a pH reading of 6.0, then I recommend you
take one gram (about ¼ teaspoon) of baking soda per day
If you’re REALLY acidic (like a reading of 5.5 or less), you can take up to four
grams of baking soda each day (or 1 teaspoon) but just make sure you spread it
out over the course of the day.
If you’re concerned about high blood pressure or have other health concerns
related to sodium intake, then another alternative is to use POTASSIUM
BICARBONATE.
Potassium bicarbonate is used in the making of wine and is available from any
local or online “home wine-making” store.
Dosage is the same for potassium bicarbonate if you opt for this instead of
sodium bicarbonate.
Killer Stop
This is how MOST people who are Instinct Dieting!
trying to lose weight think of it.
But make no mistake...WHAT and HOW you eat really IS 80% of the battle when
it comes to burning off body fat.
While EXERCISE is a CRUCIAL component of the weight loss equation, the fact
is you can train like a Navy SEAL for an hour every day...
...but if you spend the remaining 23 hours UNDOING what you've done in the
gym, your physical efforts will be POINTLESS.
On the other hand, even if you SKIP the gym and don't perform ANY exercise,
you COULD still slim down to the point you’d look like a Yogi sitting on a
mountain top.
You’d most likely lose a TON of MUSCLE along the way and you certainly
wouldn’t look your “best”...but it’s possible to accomplish.
The fact is that our food decisions have largely been based on flawed
recommendations by government agencies such as the USDA which, since the
early 1990’s, has been promoting diets LOW in FAT and HIGH in STARCHES in
the commonly recognized “Food Pyramid” that you see below:
Put on a pedestal as the “ideal healthy diet”, the Food Pyramid was taught in
schools, snatched up by every available magazine, ad agency, and doctor’s
office, and magically showed up on cereal boxes and food labels.
I mean, since our ancestors DIDN’T have access to grains in our diets, why
would we now be recommended to eat 6-11 SERVINGS every single day?
These recommendations didn't come from sound science, but instead were
largely based upon back room lobbying by the food industry – the farmers, dairy
conglomerates, cattle and poultry traders, and other industry groups with a
vested financial interest – who helped convince the government of a nutritional
plan for citizens that magically coincided with using THEIR products as the
foundation of their diet.
And now that we’ve had enough time to gather some hard evidence on the
“healthy diet” we’ve all been following, the numbers are finally in...
In the last 40 years, carbohydrate intake in the United States has increased by
about 33% annually, and it SKYROCKETED in the early 1990s when the federal
government came out with the food pyramid.
And guess what...since that time, the OBESITY RATE HAS DOUBLED!
Instead, we have to worry about having access to TOO MUCH of the WRONG
KINDS of food!
Make no mistake...it’s a WAR out there and you’re battling against the late night
food commercials, grocery store marketing tricks, and the daily onslaught of
“opportunities” to eat guided by smells of cinnamon buns floating through the air.
And I realize that it’s VERY confusing to try and sift through the HUNDREDS of
FAD DIETS that are out there, calling your name from the shelves of the book
store to the late night info-mercials.
So let me help you cut through all the clutter, by mapping out my SIMPLE yet
POWERFUL set of strategies!
It’s all covered in your companion guide you received with this program, the
Combat The Fat Nutrition Program!
When you’re ready, that manual will provide you with all you need to know about
how to become MASTER of your daily eating plan in a way that will make
LOSING weight as EASY as it was to GAIN it!
Ok, this is the right time to pull out the special Guide that came
with this program called the Combat The Fat Nutrition Program.
It CANNOT be left
out...PERIOD!
Maximum Nutritional
Yet so many “experts” don’t Metabolism Fire Power
even COVER the importance
your body’s chemical makeup Fat Blasting
Hormones
has on HOW it produces fat,
WHY it produces fat, and how
it influences HOW MUCH fat
you have...and these “experts”
are doing you a disservice.
So my goal is to keep this section as simple as possible while providing you with
some powerful tips that are based upon sound research.
Hormone balances play a very big role in our ability to stay lean
and healthy.
On a very basic level, the main contributors to hormone functioning (aside from
medical disorders that affect the endocrine system or major changes such as
pregnancy) are DIET, LEVEL OF ACTIVITY, STRESS, and AGE.
And unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do about the last one.
But the good news is that by addressing the OTHER three factors, you can look
and feel a whole lot younger than your actual age AND use your hormones to
your advantage in blasting away the body fat!
And THAT’S what I want to tackle right now by taking you through my simple 3
STEP PROCESS that will package everything up quite nicely without you having
to apply for med school...
You actually have a number of little “hormone factories” located all around your
body and they all work together in a finely coordinated effort to keep you
functioning at peak levels.
When humming along, all of these chemicals function to make sure that your
WEIGHT is in check, you FEEL “alive” and “alert”, you have a great SEX DRIVE,
and you just generally have a “HAPPY” feeling.
Bottom line...all the diet programs and exercise in the world won’t do you a damn
bit of good if you don’t balance out your hormones...period!
Now in the military, you always have commanders and then you have the non-
commissioned officers.
The commanders (like Lieutenants, Captains, and Generals) are the “college
boys” who make the overall decisions and don’t get their hands too dirty.
The “non-coms” are the Sergeants who make sure the mission plans get
accomplished. (In other words, we’re the ones with our boots on the ground and
our fingers on the trigger.)
Well, think of the Pineal Gland as the “General” of your body’s endocrine system.
Melatonin is the MASTER HORMONE that regulates your natural release of ALL
other hormones and everything from your SLEEP CYCLES, MENSTRUAL
CYCLES, SEXUAL INTEREST, and the production of ESTROGEN and
TESTOSTERONE.
TWO ways...
First...making sure you get a good night’s sleep is CRUCIAL to helping you
maintain naturally balanced levels of melatonin.
Since melatonin is ACTIVATED by the retina’s perception of light and your body
bases its secretion level largely upon the time of day, then you want to try to
sleep at NIGHT.
If you DO work late night hours, be sure to keep the room you
sleep in VERY DARK so no sunlight can enter your bedroom to
signal your brain that it should be AWAKE.
With proper hormone regulation, both MEN and WOMEN will see a resulting
natural balance of both estrogen and testosterone and healthy thyroid function.
This is a MUST for anyone over the age of 30 and I use a chart provided to me
by my friend Dr. Michael Colgan of The Colgan Institute for the proper dosage:
Simply take the recommended dosage about 30 minutes BEFORE going to sleep
or as directed on the bottle’s instructions.
Your adrenal glands sit right above your kidneys and are one of your “hormone
factories” that produce ADRENALINE, DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE
(DHEA), and CORTISOL and are also key in the production of TESTOSTERONE
and ESTROGEN.
CORTISOL is your body’s “stress hormone” and is your natural response to the
“fight or flight” syndrome.
Chronic stress and high insulin levels INCREASE cortisol levels which
DECREASES DHEA and sends a signal to fat cells to store MORE fat.
They BIND to fat cell receptors to break down fat for fuel AND they ALSO work to
PREVENT fat cell formation.
Basically then, they act as the doormen who decide who COMES and who
GOES PAST the “velvet rope”.
Unfortunately, the more fat you HAVE on your body, the less fat is allowed to
LEAVE, so the more weight you have, the harder it will be INITIALLY to lose it.
High levels of stress, lack of sleep, and age all affect adrenal function and can
lead to OVER-PRODUCTION of the stress hormone CORTISOL and UNDER-
PRODUCTION of your “VITALITY” hormones such as DHEA, TESTOSTERONE,
and ESTROGEN.
This is why so many men and women see a reduction in sex drive when they are
under stress like from a job, money worries, marital problems, etc.
Testosterone and Estrogen production will follow with the healthy function of your
adrenal glands as they’re created in the testes and the ovaries.
Just reducing the amount of stress in your life can have a HUGE effect on your
ability to stay FIT, stay LEAN, stay HAPPY, and have MORE and BETTER SEX.
Identify the major STRESSORS in your life and write them down vertically on a
sheet of paper.
Then I want you to brainstorm for EACH stressor listed just ONE THING, that IF
you did it on an IMMEDIATE and CONSISTENT basis, it would have the most
DRAMATIC impact on erasing that stress from your life.
Have a job or boss that you HATE?! Perhaps it’s time to get out from under the
horrible impact it has on your life and clean up your resume to begin searching
for something that will make you happier!
Like your job but feeling “OVERWORKED”? When was the last time you took a
REAL vacation...one that didn’t mean getting to other chores around the house or
simply staying at home to watch re-runs on TV?
Maybe it’s time to see a travel agent and find a nice getaway where you can
escape for a while and recover your hormonal health!
Even if these aren’t options for you, sometimes reducing your stress is as easy
as simply committing to some “alone time” to read a book on the weekends or
taking up a class you’ve always been interested in like cooking, yoga, or bull-
riding.
Whatever you identify on the list, set your priority...and TAKE ACTION!
After a high sugar or a large meal when you have more sugar in your blood,
Insulin stimulates the cells to take in more glucose and use it to produce energy
INSTEAD of being stored as fat.
The larger the meal, or the more processed foods you consume, the more you
tax the insulin system.
From a “fat loss” perspective, without controlling your insulin levels, your body
will simply use the ongoing flood of sugar as fuel and never have a REASON to
ever tap into your fat storage as it was designed to do.
So YOUR goal is to keep insulin levels STEADY and not SPIKE them by eating a
lot of processed, high-glycemic foods.
Again, fortunately, the factors already built into CTF Daily Diet
Guide will take care of this problem since eating six smaller
meals a day and maintaining a low-glycemic diet will stabilize
your insulin levels automatically.
Well these are the hormones that everyone is most familiar with and really trying
to elevate like Growth Hormone, Testosterone, and Estrogen.
It’s also one of the MAIN hormones that helps us feel “youthful” and its
production is DRASTICALLY reduced as we get older.
It’s made in the TESTES in men and also produced in the OVARIES in women.
As for ESTROGEN, the most active form in women, 17 beta estradiol, actually
INCREASES the breakdown of fat stores to be used for fuel, increases your
METABOLISM, helps you feel “HAPPY”, and increases your SEX DRIVE.
But again, like the other hormones, estrogen begins to DECLINE in women as
they near menopause and while some women turn to Hormone Replacement
Therapy (HRT), this can be VERY disrupting to the body.
Oh, and guys... the same advice goes for US when it comes to
ESTROGEN as it did with testosterone for women...
Fortunately there ARE more “NATURAL” ways to balance out these hormones
and that’s what we’re going to learn to do right now...
And fortunately (once again), ALL of the hormones we’ve just talked about are
NATURALLY addressed simply by following the Combat The Fat program so you
don’t have to “think” too much about how you balance these out!
Just follow along step-by-step and the 8 CTF Factors will take care of naturally
increasing your GROWTH HORMONE, TESTOSTERONE, and ESTROGEN
levels...in both men AND women!
For example...
During EXERCISE, especially the type of exercise I’ll be taking you through in
the CTF Training Program, your pituitary gland responds with a BURST of
GROWTH HORMONE to help your body get ready for recovery and growth
mode.
Growth hormone is HIGHEST during exercise when your blood sugar is LOW
and amino acids are HIGH and it’s at its LOWEST when blood sugar is HIGH.
So this all points back to the need to train on an “empty stomach” by exercising
about 2-3 HOURS after your last meal and avoiding HIGH GLYCEMIC foods
prior to training.
One other factor you should be aware of is that your LARGEST burst of GH
occurs about 30-60 minutes AFTER you fall asleep so you want to make sure
you DO get enough sleep and you’re sleeping in an environment that allows you
to sleep deeply.
These increases are also naturally elevated as you CONTINUE staying true to
your ongoing exercise program as your body senses the “need” for continued
heightened levels.
There are a lot more factors involved but just suffice it to say
that following both the NUTRITIONAL and EXERCISE
guidelines in the CTF PROGRAM will work for you without you
even having to “think” about it.
And hopefully you can now see yet one more reason why
following a diet WITHOUT an exercise component is also a
sure-fire way to fail!
There’s one other hormone I want to touch on because so many of the people I
talk to and the clients I’ve worked with comment on how hard a time they have
with FOOD CRAVINGS.
One of the reasons for this could be blamed on a hormone called LEPTIN.
Leptin is a hormone produced BY our fat cells and one of its roles is to actually
REGULATE bodyweight by sending a message to the brain that you’re feeling
“FULL”.
Well unfortunately, the LESS body fat you have, the less LEPTIN you produce
which is why so many people feel much HUNGRIER as they begin to lose
weight.
It really sucks that the leaner you get, the harder it can become!
Now there are TWO WAYS you can help defeat this imbalance...
First, you’ll want to make sure that you’re following Rule #6 in the CTF Daily Diet
Guide by consuming six smaller meals throughout the day.
Remember, I DON’T want you to feel hungry during the CTF program and if
you’re following that guideline, you won’t need to worry about gnawing cravings
because you’ll be feeding your body throughout the day...only you’ll be doing it
with HEALTHY food rather than binge foods.
Second, another main reason why leptin can become a problem is due to a
rampant ZINC DEFICIENCY in our population.
And the SPEED at which your body burns fat while resting is commonly referred
to as your RESTING METABOLISM.
Now your PERSONAL metabolism is based largely upon your GENETICS and
your AGE.
There’s not much you can do about these two factors obviously.
But fortunately, there ARE other factors that determine how efficiently you burn
fat while outside the gym and THAT’S where you’re REALLY going to see some
serious results because this will literally crank up your body’s ability to burn
MASSIVE amounts of fat 24 HOURS A DAY!
Your metabolism is like your car’s idle speed when you’re just
sitting there parked (most cars have a gauge that tells you the
idle speed or “RPM’s”).
If you were to ADJUST your car’s idle speed so the RPM’s were
higher, you would burn through fuel at a FASTER rate.
You see, your body’s MUSCLE is like your “fat burning engine” because MUCLE
requires more “effort” from your body to build and maintain and that “effort”
equates to burned calories.
So put simply...the more MUSCLE you have on your body, the more FAT you’re
going to burn in order to maintain that muscle.
Now I know this flies in the face of some of the more TRADITIONAL thinking out
there.
It’s long been thought that if you want to BUILD MUSCLE...you “lift weights” - and
if you want to BURN FAT...you do “aerobics”.
And there’s some TRUTH to that when it comes to the actual TIME in the gym
because as you now know, LOW-INTENSITY training (like jogging in the “fat-
burning zone”) DOES use primarily BODY FAT for fuel and WEIGHT TRAINING
DOES use mostly muscle GLYCOGEN for fuel to tap into the power you need to
lift the weights.
But to take advantage of an “ALL DAY FAT BURN”, the key is to increase the
amount of LEAN MUSCLE MASS you have on your body so you can REALLY
rev up your engine and incinerate some flab!
And let me just let all you women out there know right now...
“How MUCH fat can you burn off by focusing on increasing lean muscle mass?”
Well, there are different opinions on just how many calories you’ll burn as a result
of adding more muscle.
I’ve seen everything up to 60 calories per day for each pound of muscle, but
most of the research I’ve seen has a relatively conservative estimate of about 14
calories per day for EVERY pound of muscle you have on your body.
Now compare that with just 4 calories per day burned by your body fat and you
can see that for every pound of muscle you build, you have over 300% MORE
FAT-BURNING POTENTIAL...without even lifting a finger!
As you already know, eating smaller meals 6 times a day not only keeps your
blood sugar levels stabilized and keeps your insulin levels low, but just
DIGESTING your food requires energy so MORE MEALS equals an even
HIGHER metabolism.
The TYPE of food you eat is also a major factor in how well your metabolism
burns fat.
Remember the ‘thermic” effect of food from your CTF Nutrition Plan?
As a refresher, this refers to the amount of energy your body uses to chew,
swallow, digest, and transport your food through your body.
Processing protein requires about 30 percent of the calories you burn so if you
consume 100 calories, you’ll spend about 30 of those calories in the entire
digestion process.
Carbs are next but are largely dependent upon their fiber content and their
glycemic index levels. Averages have them at about 7-15% calorie burn.
And finally, dietary fat accounts for only about 2 or 3 % of a calorie burn.
Now you see ANOTHER reason why PROTEIN is so important to the CTF
Nutrition Plan.
When you exercise, especially the way I’m going to show you, you INCREASE
the “thermic effect” of your meals even FURTHER because your muscles are
HUNGRY!
And since they’re in “building mode”, the entire metabolic process it takes to
BUILD and MAINTAIN that NEW muscle burns even MORE calories!
Oh, and remember from the CTF Daily Diet Plan that you’ll be taking in eight 16-
oz glasses of water a day, right?
Well drinking water does more than just quench your thirst and help defend
against hunger...it ALSO speeds up your METABOLISM!
One third of that metabolic boost came from the effort needed to
warm the water...and the other two thirds was due to the body’s
work to ABSORB it and this process uses primarily BODY FAT
as fuel.
There’s an old U.S. Army commercial that stated “We do more before 6 am than
most people do all day!”
First “formation” in the morning was typically anywhere from 5am to 6am when
we were expected to be all suited up for our daily physical exercise program.
One of the reasons for this was to make sure that we actually DID exercise that
day BEFORE we became too busy to fit it in.
But one of the OTHER reasons is that it was a way to KICKSTART our
metabolism first thing in the morning so we could get all those fat-burning
hormones coursing through our veins and rev up our metabolic engine to burn off
body fat the remainder of the day.
It’s one of the most powerful ways to increase you body’s metabolism both IN
and OUTSIDE the gym!
Hopefully now you can now see how just a few small changes
made to the other 23 hours you spend outside of your actual
physical training program can play a HUGE factor in how MUCH
weight you can lose and how FAST!
It’s time you discover just how EASY it really can be to stay
healthy, lean, and fit!
But I’m sure you’ve been impatiently waiting to get a peek at EXACTLY how
you’ll be training in the gym, right?
Well, let’s not wait any longer because I have some VERY big surprises for you!
In fact, not only am I going to beat back some of the more recent myths that have
been brainwashing the public about how to REALLY blast away the blubber
through exercise...
...but I’m going to introduce you to a totally NEW way of training that I KNOW
you’re going to find EXCITING...AND EFFECTIVE!
Killer Stop
Some “experts” say “weight Instinct Dieting!
training” works best…others
say “walking” or “jogging”…still
others claim that “high-
intensity interval training” is the
optimum solution for burning Military 8 CTF “Chemical
fat all day. “PT” Factors Warfare”
Let’s take a look at each type of training, what it is, and its “pro’s” and “con’s”…
Remember the “car anology”. When parked with the engine on,
your car idles at like 1,000 rpm’s. This is similar to your body’s
“resting metabolism”.
If a car’s RPM’s are set too low, your car will hiccup and sputter
because your engine isn’t idling high enough. With your body, if
your metabolism isn’t in high gear, likewise, it’s easier to gain fat
and harder to lose it.
The MORE muscle you have on your body, the higher your
“engine’s idle speed” or in our case, the higher your “resting
metabolism” is, and when your body evaluates that you “need” that
muscle (or more) due to your use of RESISTANCE TRAINING, it
will burn fat (as we’ve learned) in order to fuel your efforts to build
and/or maintain that muscle.
Fat Burning By inserting short periods of higher intensity cardio you work your
Theory: muscles more and can take advantage of your body’s “afterburn”
ability to burn calories long after your actual exercise session as
your body recovers from the “harder” training.
Does It Work? Not really! (Oh boy…here come the death threats!)
* “VO2 Max” is defined as the greatest amount of oxygen you can take in, transport, and
use for energy at the cellular level
Fat Burning Since your body burns fat as a primary fuel source at low intensity
Theory: levels (60-65% VO2 Max*), extended cardio training in this “fat
burning zone” burns more fat calories during training than higher
intensity cardio activities.
Does It Work? Yes…but it’s no longer as “sexy” as it once was since the
emergence of HIIT and other high intensity cardio activities such as
“cardio kick boxing” and other “boot camp cardio” type training.
Although it may seem “old school”, low intensity cardio STILL burns
fat as effectively as it did when Olivia Newton John was singing
“Let’s Get Physical” in her headband and leg warmers!
But in just a little bit, I’m not only going to prove to you (with
scientific research) that low intensity training still rules, but I’ll also
show you how the military has taken this powerful fat-burning
approach...and found a way to compound its fat-burning power
exponentially!
Ok, you’ve now seen the most popular “fat burning” exercise options and the
initial verdicts on their effectiveness.
But I know most of you who have tried training for fat loss in the past are
probably very confused by all of the “expert” information that’s been thrown at
you.
The latest “discovery” of using shorter more intense cardio sessions (HIIT) have
gained in popularity as an effective waist-reducer...”muscleheads” hate cardio as
a rule and stick to the old school notion that if you keep building the muscle,
you’ll keep burning the fat...and the “walkers” fall back on the article they read in
their generic health magazine or their doctor’s advice for his “generally out of
shape” clients.
Let’s take a look at a very important study that took all of the claims of these 3
training approaches and put them to the test...
The main focus behind choosing an exercise regimen that will target fat with a
laser-like accuracy always revolves around 2 primary factors: time and intensity
level.
“Time” is an obvious factor in that most people realize that the longer you
exercise, the more calories you’ll burn and the more fat you’re likely to lose,
right?
But it’s the argument over INTESITY LEVELS that gets the “experts” all riled up.
“Intensity” is typically measured by “percentage of VO2 max” which is a fancy
way of describing the amount of oxygen your body is consuming for energy use.
The higher the intensity of your exercise, the more you’re huffing and puffing,
sucking in oxygen so your cells don’t give out on you.
To give you some perspective, a light jog or brisk walk may be measured at “25%
of VO2 max”....a casual run would equal about “65% of VO2 max”...while a short
sprint or faster-paced run would be around “85% VO2 max”.
These three intensity levels are often referred to when it comes to training
methods as well.
65% VO2 Max is considered “Low Intensity” exercise (again, often referred to as
the “fat burning zone”); and
85% VO2 Max is what is targeted for training programs such as “High-Intensity
Interval Training”.
Now we’ve already established that your body is designed to use FAT as your
primary fuel source for LOW INTENSITY activity (as much as 80% throughout
the day).
But we’ve ALSO established that there are in fact different TYPES of fat that your
body draws from for fuel.
The two types of fat that are primarily used for energy are VISCERAL FAT (that
which is within the muscle) and SUBCATANEOUS FAT (the goop on your waist,
hips, thighs, and butt).
Besides fat, you’ve also learned that your body draws from “sugars” stored in
your bloodstream (glucose) and your muscles (glycogen) which take over for
higher intensity levels.
Basically, as the intensity of your exercise session INCREASES, the LESS fat is
burned as “fuel” during your training.
Fat Use For Fuel
Exercise Intensity
This understanding has never really been disputed by fitness experts.
This debate has gone on for several years with proponents of HIIT claiming that
the higher the intensity level, the higher the number of calories burned and
although less of those overall calories are coming straight from body fat, your
body’s resting metabolic rate will increase and end up creating a powerful
“afterburn” effect which will continue to burn fat long after your exercise session.
I have to admit that I too was one of the biggest supporters of this type of training
(and still am under the right circumstances). But recent studies have been
conducted to put these theories to the test and finally end the debate about which
type of training works best for burning off body fat.
Let me share the SHOCKING RESULTS from a study conducted at the peak of
the HIIT popularity....
Exercise was performed at 25%, 65%, and 85% of VO2 max and measurements
were taken of the body’s use of either whole body carbohydrates (blood glucose
& muscle glycogen) or the use of either visceral or subcutaneous fat for energy.
Results from the controlled study found that at VERY LOW INTENSITY exercise
levels (25% of VO2 max), 85% of the fuel used by the body came from
SUBCUTANEOUS FAT, 7.5% from visceral fat, and the other 7.5% coming
almost entirely from blood sugar.
Glucose
Visceral Fat (7.5%)
(7.5%)
Subcutaneous Fat
(85%)
At LOW INTENSITY levels (65% of VO2 max), the body starts to draw more
upon GLYCOGEN stores due to the increased muscular demands.
In effect, while total fat consumption still remains high at 50% of fuel use (split
evenly between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat), muscle glycogen has
increased dramatically to 40% of fuel use with blood glucose now making up the
other 10%.
Subcutaneous
Muscle Fat
Glycogen (25%)
(40%)
Visceral Fat
(25%)
Glucose
(10%)
But let’s see what happens when we up the intensity to HIIT levels of 85% VO2
max...
What researchers found was that with the high level of muscle use needed to
power the body through the increased physical demands of high-intensity
training, the body’s use of muscle glycogen DRAMATICALLY increases.
Subcutaneous Fat
(12.5%)
Visceral Fat
Muscle (12.5%)
Glycogen Glucose
(67.5%) (7.5%)
So what does this all mean? Which method of training will allow you to burn
MORE FAT in LESS TIME?
Well, to simplify what this means to your overall fat-burning mission, let’s lay a
30-minute training session at each intensity level side-by-side to see which one
works best for your goals...
For the purposes of comparing fat versus carbohydrate use for fuel, we’ll
combine visceral and subcutaneous as “calories burned from fat” as well as join
glycogen and glucose as “calories burned from sugar”.
Now it’s time to run each 30-minute exercise session through the math of what
we now know about how the body uses both fat and sugar as fuel...
So now, as you can plainly see, exercising at a LOW INTENSITY LEVEL burns
MORE total body fat calories than any other method of exercise during your
training.
Supporters of HIIT training point out that while more fat may be burned at a lower
intensity level during exercise, the body’s adaptive process AFTER training
allows the body to burn more fat throughout the day due to the replenishment of
glycogen and increase in the body’s resting metabolism because you’ve worked
the muscles harder.
This argument was also put to the test during these research studies, and was in
fact the second goal of the study...to see just how many more calories were
burned AFTER exercise to determine if HIIT training did in fact offer an
“afterburn” benefit that would catapult it past lower intensity exercise.
Unfortunately, the measured caloric output resulting from exercise during the 4
hours after training at 85% VO2 max was just 75 TOTAL CALORIES...the
equivalent of just 1/3 cup of orange juice...and drops off considerably from there!
However, as you can see, HIIT training is NOT the “fat burning inferno” it’s been
marketed as, eh?
And what about the use of HIIT on increasing overall resting metabolism by
increasing muscle volume?
Well, I hate to say it, but while you ARE using your muscles to a higher degree
during HIIT, it’s not enough to really target muscle growth to the level that it will
drastically increase your body’s resting metabolism.
However, HIIT kind of hovers in the middle of not quite being optimized for
EITHER fat burning OR muscle growth to be able to capitalize on the benefits
each offers.
But what if I told you that the military has developed a fat-burning battle plan that
works BETTER than any of these methods alone?
You see, INDIVIDUALLY, each exercise strategy has its own strengths and
limitations.
Well, it all starts with an exercise foundation that’s built on REAL results and
scientific research about what we know of our body’s response to various forms
of exercise.
Let’ me give you a “Top Secret” peek into the military’s “battle-tested” physical
training (“PT”) strategies...
Research has shown that the higher the intensity level of your training, the less time your
body can withstand the “punishment”.
Train much longer than this and you can actually start to see DECREASES in muscle-
building, fat-burning hormones!
If you did, you’d notice that they were running at a steady pace and SINGING “cadence”
along with the PT instructor.
This is where the PT leader shouts out a short verse and the rest of the soldiers shout
back the same verse immediately after him.
The PURPOSE of “singing cadence” is more than just a cool way to see how many
sexual references you can fit into 45 minutes of running with a bunch of guys...
...it ALSO serves to keep all of the soldiers IN STEP with each other and monitor the
INTENSITY level of the exercise!
You see, at a LOW INTENSITY, most of the soldiers should be able to sing cadence
without huffing and puffing.
If the PT Instructor notices that most of the soldiers aren’t able to keep up with the
singing, that’s the sign to slow down the run some to maintain optimal intensity...and
maximize fat burning for the troops!
You see, since you’ve fasted overnight, your body has less stored up BLOOD
SUGAR and less MUSCLE GLYCOGEN so when you start to exercise, you don’t
have as much of these fuel sources and can tap into your BODY FAT for fuel a
bit quicker.
The one drawback to this method was that while it works GREAT for LOW-
INTENSITY training when you already have body fat in your crosshairs...
It DOESN’T work very well for when you perform HIGH-INTENSITY training like
extended periods of STRENGTH TRAINING.
During strength training, your body will be desperately trying to search for muscle
glycogen for its primary fuel source.
If it’s not there, it could lead to overburdened muscle tissue that’s forced to
sacrifice amino acids as a fuel source instead...amino acids that you REALLY
need for the recovery and growth of your worked muscles!
For this reason, if you DO have the ability to take advantage of working out first
thing in the morning, ONLY do it on an empty stomach if you’re training with the
LOW-INTENSITY strategy I’ll share with you later.
Try to eat some PROTEIN and a little bit of LOW GLYCEMIC carbs as soon as
you get up to provide your muscles with some much-needed GLYCOGEN for the
upcoming assault.
This will make sure that your glycogen stores are topped off
from your day’s meals, but your stomach will be EMPTY enough
to make sure that you’re not simply using a lot of blood sugar
from your last meal as fuel for your workout.
That means you can quickly get at that body fat and start
melting it away during your workout!
Government research has shown that employing these types of exercises that
use the weight of your own BODY for resistance can DRAMATICALLY increase
strength AND get you leaner faster!
On the bench press, your body is kept stable by lying on your back on top of a
bench and your body “senses” that stability which allows it to focus more on
pushing the WEIGHT into the air.
But with a PUSHUP, your only body contact is with your HANDS and your TOES
and your BODY is moving through the air.
The body senses this motion as a “DANGER” since it has to draw upon more
input from ALL of your senses to keep your body BALANCED as it moves
through space.
This calls upon additional “STABILIZER” MUSCLES to help keep you balanced
and in control and ALSO fires up MORE muscle fibers while increasing
stimulation of your CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.
And when it comes to getting more bang for your buck, how much you’re able to
stimulate your CNS will determine how much of a workout you REALLY gave
your body.
And you can’t function if you’re not strong, lean AND healthy.
By switching up our training, it not only kept our workouts EXCITING and
CHALLENGING...
...it kept our bodies from ADAPTING to the training strategies and intensity levels
which could slow down progress.
If you keep throwing the same training at your body day after day, it eventually
gets USED to the training and will seek to become very EFFICIENT at
performing that type of exercise.
And when it comes to FAT BURNING, you DON’T want your body to ADAPT!
Adaptation leads to fat loss PLATEAUS where your body doesn’t feel it has to
work as hard to accomplish the same old “workout mission”.
Ok, so now that you now WHY we train the way we do in the military, let me
share with you how YOU will train based upon these principles!
In fact, in the Combat The Fat Program, I’ve found a way to combine the very
BEST military exercise strategies to create the most COMPREHENSIVE, FUN,
and EFFECTIVE fat-blasting exercise regimen on the face of the planet!
Yes, even MORE effective than the military’s methods IF the goal were MAINLY
focused on FAT LOSS!
How do I know?
Because I’ve tested the methods I’m going to share with you on
HUNDREDS of soldiers over the years and in particular, those
who were “issued” to me to get back in shape after they had
packed on too many pounds of flab.
At the CORE of the Combat The Fat Exercise Program, I’ve incorporated 3
different ADVANCED military PT strategies.
Now that doesn’t mean YOU have to be advanced...just that these PROGRAMS
are advanced at burning fat, building muscle, and developing a strong core for
optimum body function.
ANYONE can use these exercise strategies REGARDLESS of your AGE, SEX,
STRENGTH, or CURRENT WEIGHT because I’ve designed training programs
for ALL LEVELS in the CTF Workout Guide.
Notice that Days 1, 3, and 5 are the only REQUIRED days on this training
program.
My research has found that most people have the ability to train at LEAST 3
times a week for about 45 minutes so I’ve used that as my BASE from which to
build this exercise program.
But I STILL recommend taking at least ONE DAY OFF during the week to give
your body and mind a break and avoid OVERTRAINING.
QUICKLY while increasing total muscle fiber stimulation and central nervous
system activation!
Let me FIRST show you how a TRADITIONAL military pyramid works and then
I’ll show you how I’ve TURBO-CHARGED this method to be even MORE
effective...
6
Traditional
5 5 Military Pyramids
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
In a TRADITIONAL PYRAMID, as illustrated above, a soldier uses just ONE
EXERCISE (we’ll use the PUSHUP as an example) to first perform ONE
REPETITION.
He or she then RESTS for one second and then performs TWO REPETITIONS
(the next level up the pyramid) before resting two seconds after the last rep.
If you don’t quite understand the concept yet, you can look at
more SAMPLE WORKOUTS in the CTF Workout Guide that
came with this program.
But here’s how I took this training strategy and turned it into an INCREDIBLE full
body fat blaster I call the “CTF PYRAMIDS”...
The basic structure is the same except that I’ve incorporated either THREE
(shown) or FOUR bodyweight exercises to be used at the same time per training
session, depending upon your SPECIFIC level as you begin using the CTF
Workout Guide.
For this example, I’m using THREE total exercises so please follow along with
the diagram at the top of this page.
What’s different about this format is that while the FIRST EXERCISE increases
at a count of ONE (meaning 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), the SECOND EXERCISE increases
at a factor of TWO (meaning 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.)
(Note: In Levels where FOUR exercises are used, the third one ALSO uses a
factor of two...but it’s all explained in the CTF Workout Guide)
And finally, the LAST EXERCISE in this example uses a factor of THREE
(meaning 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.)
Now all exercises are chosen from specific TABLES I’ll give you in the CTF
Workout Guide and they are performed back-to-back as you make your way up
the CTF Pyramid.
Each Level in the CTF Workout Guide ALSO dictates REST TIMES and
REPETITION COUNTS to accommodate BEGINNER levels all the way through
ADVANCED.
On the next page, I’ve given you a FULL BREAK DOWN of a SAMPLE CTF
Pyramid workout to make things a bit clearer...
Here are some KEY POINTS to consider when performing the CTF Pyramids...
I know some of you won’t be able to perform ONE pullup, let alone SIX...and
that’s OK!
There ARE variations on these exercises that you can use and you’ll find
yourself QUICKLY gaining in strength using these training strategies and
you’ll make fast progress.
Start with one of the BEGINNER LEVELS in the CTF Workout Guide and
increase to the next level as you see progress.
You already know that I’m a BIG fan of bodyweight exercises, and you know
why.
But they’re not the ONLY types of exercises I use and I know that some of
you will want to add more variety in the types of training you do and
equipment you use.
In the CTF Workout Guide, I offer you specific EXERCISE TABLES from
which you’ll choose your exercises and there ARE some great alternatives in
there.
3. If you have time, end each training day with 15 MINUTES of LOW
INTENSITY CARDIO INTERVAL TRAINING.
Since you’re already 30-40 minutes into your strength training workout and
have used up a good amount of muscle glycogen while stimulating the
transfer of fat for fuel, it’s an opportune time to kick in some SERIOUS
training that’s focused SOLELY on burning off some extra calories that will
nearly ALL come from your body fat stores.
You do this by ending your session with THREE 5-minute sessions of LOW
INTENSITY cardio performed back-to-back before you end with a cool down
and stretching period.
You see, while strength training DOESN’T work the best at burning fat while
you’re training, it DOES shine when it comes to INITIATING the breakdown of
fats!
What happens is that as you burn up muscle glycogen, your body starts
sensing a “need” to PREPARE an alternative fuel source for what it perceives
COULD be a longer workout.
Because body fat takes some time to mobilize, your body sends it a signal to
“get ready” by breaking down for possible use as a PRIMARY fuel source.
But here’s where a LOT of people (ESPECIALLY us “muscle heads”!) get it all
wrong...
Getting all “PUMPED UP” from a strength training session FEELS great,
right?
Well, basically that “pumped” feeling is just your muscles filling up with blood,
water, and lactic acid from your training.
With your muscles in a “CONTRACTED” state and your blood rushing from
the HIGH INTENSITY sets of strength training you’re doing, those fluids “dam
up” and have limited flow.
Unfortunately, that means that the BODY FAT that you’ve mobilized can’t
reach its destination to be burned off or excreted either so it gets
REASSIMILATED back into the body!
In the Army, we would have different “stations” set up around the military base
about a kilometer or so apart, with a leader at each station.
Soldiers would team up with 1-4 others and would begin running from the start
point to the first station on the route, each team beginning about one minute
behind the group in front of them so no one passed anyone.
When your team got to a station, you were given a bodyweight exercise to
perform until you reached MUSCULAR FAILURE where you couldn’t do another
repetition.
Once all of your team members were done with the exercise, you all began
jogging to the NEXT station on the route where you were given your NEXT
exercise.
Now the KEY to making this work was in using TWO important factors...
ONE...when you are jogging, it’s BEST to use LOW INTENSITY because you
want to SAVE your body’s MUSCLE GLYCOGEN for the next station’s exercise.
TWO...jogging at this slow of a pace, allowed you to more effectively burn off
body fat both DIRECTLY and by getting rid of the MOBILIZED FAT from your
station training.
Now let me show you how I’VE taken this SAME STRATEGY and adapted it to
the Combat The Fat Program...
On “Day 3” of your workout program, after a short warm up, you’ll conduct ONE
5-MINUTE SESSION of LOW INTENSITY CARDIO at 65% of your VO2 Max.
You can perform this cardio however you like such as a light jog on a treadmill,
around a track or on a street, by jumping rope, on a stationary or regular bike,
etc.
HOW you perform the cardio is up to you but you MUST make sure that you’re at
the optimal 65% of your VO2 Max!
We’ve talked about WHAT “VO2 Max” is at the beginning of this chapter, but now
let’s figure out how to determine when YOU are using each level of your
PERSONAL VO2 Max zone...
Basically there are TWO WAYS you can determine what VO2 Max you’re at
while you’re training.
First you would determine your personal RESTING HEART RATE by taking your
pulse FIRST THING in the morning as soon as you wake up.
Just take your pulse for exactly 10 seconds and multiply it by 6 to get your resting
heart rate (beats per minute).
Now I’m NOT going to confuse you with the BRANIAC formula for determining
your personal VO2 Max...it will make your head spin and just frustrate you.
So I’ve created a spreadsheet you can use where all you need to do is enter a
few numbers and POOF...you’ll know EXACTLY at what heart rate you need to
be at for ANY percentage of VO2 Max.
http://www.combatthefat.com/pdf/CTFVO2Calculator.xls
Note: If you get a request for a password to open the file, just ignore it and
choose “Cancel” on the password popup. The program will still open up on your
computer to allow you to use the form, just not allow you to change the actual
formulas.
Once you’ve determined what your HEART RATE should be for each level of
VO2 Max (such as 65% for this training session), you would then use a HEART
RATE MONITOR you can pick up at any sporting goods store to use as a guide
WHILE you train to make sure you’re at your 65% VO2 target.
HIGHLY recommended!
Method #2 for determining the level of VO2 Max you’re training at is a bit LESS
scientific, but STILL a good gauge.
This basically amounts to how you generally FEEL at different heart rate levels,
both in your BREATHING and ability to TALK.
Let me give you a GENERAL GUIDE that will help you better understand...
25% Your breathing will be slightly more labored but you would
still be able to carry on a complete conversation with
someone without any much effort.
This VO2 level is what you would expect from a brisk walk
or a very light jog.
65% This is what I term “Low Intensity Exercise” for the purposes
of the CTF Program and characterized by more of a
“moderate paced” jog or exertion.
85% This is where you’re really huffing and puffing to get enough
air to maintain this HIGH INTENSITY level.
Now that we have you in the right INTENSITY ZONE for your cardio for your CTF
Circuits, here’s how your workout will go...
After your 5 MINUTES of LOW INTENSITY CARDIO, you’re going to stop and
perform ONE BODYWEIGHT EXERCISE from the specified Exercise Table
located in your CTF Workout Guide.
You’ll perform this exercise as rapidly as possible with CORRECT FORM until
you can no longer do any more repetitions (“muscular failure”).
At the end of THIS 5 minute cardio block, you’ll then stop AGAIN to perform the
NEXT exercise from the NEXT designated Exercise Table in your Workout Guide
until you’ve reached muscular failure and can’t do any more reps.
While you may think the CTF CIRCUIT sounds a bit like the
popular HIIT training...it’s not.
Together, they work to INCREASE the efficiency of your body’s “fat burning
engine” (ie. your muscle) while using cardio the RIGHT way to literally MELT
AWAY the pounds.
But if you’re REALLY motivated to burn off every ounce of fat you possibly can,
then I suggest adding in anywhere from ONE to THREE DAYS of what I call
“LOW INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING”.
The structure is similar to that of HIIT, except that since you’ve ALREADY taken
care of targeting your muscle in your other workout sessions, THIS attack plan is
designed ONLY to function as a DIRECT FAT MELTDOWN.
In the CTF Workout Guide, you’ll find two sets of Exercise Tables (Tables 9 & 10)
from which you’ll choose your exercises.
One of these tables uses cardio training focused primarily on UPPER body and
the other primarily on LOWER body.
Essentially you’ll be alternating back and forth between UPPER and LOWER
body cardio sessions for either FIVE or TEN minute sessions back-to-back.
By ALTERNATING the area of your body you’re targeting with your cardio, you
keep your body from ADAPTING to your training session and FORCE it to tap
into MORE body fat for fuel!
You’ll literally leave your workout LEANER than when you started!
Start with 5 MINUTE blocks of training, conducted one after the other, and work
your way up until you can perform 10 MINUTE sessions for each exercise.
Once you get inside of the Combat The Fat Workout Guide,
you’ll see that I break down EVERY SINGLE WORKOUT DAY
into an easy-to-follow training log complete with SAMPLE
WORKOUTS!
And when I asked what they saw as the MAIN REASON they were unsuccessful,
nearly 70% admitted that it was difficult for them to simply STICK WITH THE
PROGRAM they were on.
Well, in this section my goal is to completely REMOVE ANY DOUBT in your mind
that THIS is the time that you’re going to finally achieve the level of HEALTH that
you want...the level of ENERGY you want...and that you’re FINALLY going to
have the BODY you want!
A life where YOU are in full control over what you accomplish
and, specifically for the purposes of our training, full control over
how you LOOK and FEEL!
I’ve walked many paths in my life and I can tell you in no uncertain terms that at
the times when I’ve been the MOST SUCCESSFUL, in ANY goal, it was because
I took ACTION!
I can ALSO see that many of my FAILURES were due to my procrastination and
LACK of action. Your ability to take action will determine your success with the
Combat The Fat program and finally melting away the pounds.
It doesn’t matter if you’re 200 lbs overweight or you’re at just 10% body fat and
trying to get shredded to 4-6% body fat to see your abs...the key for BOTH of
these people is your ability to DO something about what you’ve learned from this
training.
Let me make this a little clearer by sharing with you one of my favorite quotes
from motivational speaker Anthony Robbins who said...
“It’s not the CONDITIONS of your life that determines your destiny...
...it’s your DECISIONS!”
Now, you can apply statement to your PAST as well as your FUTURE.
Sure it’s EASY to blame your GENETICS, your FRIENDS, the ineffective DIETS
you may have tried in the past.
It’s easy to say “My family doesn’t support me”...”they eat junk food right in front
of me”!
Or...“My friends just roll their eyes every time I tell them I’m on a diet and I
KNOW they don’t believe I can do it, so I stop believing in myself.”
But it’s funny how when you do reach an accomplishment like “Employee Of The
Month” or you graduate with Honors from school or become “Salesperson Of The
Year”, you want to be able take CREDIT for the hard work you put into it.
If you’re going to EVER achieve ANY of your goals, you MUST take FULL
RESPONSIBILITY!
NO EXCEPTIONS!
You have to be able to look in the mirror and say, “I’m overweight because of the
way I EAT and the way I LIVE MY LIFE”.
“I’m overweight because of the way I EAT and the way I LIVE MY LIFE!”
I’ve asked you to make some SERIOUS changes along the way.
Changes in the way you EAT, SLEEP, DRINK, EXERCISE, even the way you
LOOK at FOOD, your BODY, and your LIFE!
And I’ll be honest...staying with ANY fat loss or bodybuilding program can be one
of the TOUGHEST, most CHALLENGING roads you can follow when it comes to
your health, outside of dealing with things like disease.
I’ve watched my soldiers struggle with coming off of an injury where they put on a
LOT of weight and then try to lose it...
I’ve run beside them as they desperately GASPED for air just to be able to run at
a pace slightly faster than a brisk walk for other soldiers...
So what could POSSIBLY be the difference between THEM and YOU in their
ability to succeed in taking off the weight?
If a soldier doesn’t make progress with dropping off the pounds once they’ve
been identified as being overweight, they can literally be KICKED OUT of the
service!
No whining...no excuses...and you won’t even get a tissue to dry your tears as
you pack your bags.
But in the “CIVILIAN” world, WE don’t have those same consequences do we?
It’s become “ACCEPTABLE” to buy the next pants size UP from where we are (I
mean after all, a size 38 is still CLOSE to a 36, right?)
But you MUST get this through your brain...the past does NOT equal the future!
I don’t care HOW MANY times you’ve tried to lose weight in the past, the fact is
that the laws of the biological universe do NOT cease to exist in YOUR body so
that means that you ARE capable of taking over control.
BUT...if you continue doing the SAME things you’ve BEEN doing, you’ll
CONTINUE to get the SAME results.
So if your analysis of your past efforts isn’t in line with the principles we’ve been
discussing, then it’s time to start making different DECISIONS.
For some, this program will sit collecting virtual dust in their
computer as they vow to “SOMEDAY” open it up and begin to
train with these principles.
Others would have simply printed out the CTF Workout Guide
and headed off to the gym to train, completely IGNORING the 7
other CTF Factors which YOU now know as being CRITICAL.
The only thing holding you back now is your DECISION to take ACTION and
stick with it.
What ONE THING motivated you to “enlist” in the Combat The Fat program?
No...I’m NOT looking for an answer like, “My doctor told me I need to lose
weight” or “My spouse won’t stop nagging me to drop some pounds”.
You could have ignored your doctor and you KNOW you could have ignored your
spouse. (If you ask THEM, they’d probably say you do most of the time anyway!)
In fact I’ll get even more specific with you...it must either be PLEASURABLE...or
PAINFUL!
And let me share with you an unfortunate secret that will make a world of
difference for you...
You may THINK you’re trying to lose weight for your HEALTH, and that may be
TRUE...
But it may be CLOSER to the truth that you feel your wife doesn’t find you
attractive...or you don’t like the way people look at you in public...or that you’ve
been dismissed by so many women you’ve wanted to date that you think it would
help to have a set of WASHBOARD ABS and BIG BICEPS.
Whatever the REAL reason is that YOU chose to take on this program, I’m here
to tell you that it’s OK!
So many people will tell you that you need to think positive in order to achieve
your goals.
Think of all the wonderful things you’re going to have when you lose weight,
better health, better sex, turn heads at the beach, attract a romantic partner.
But unfortunately, thinking POSITIVELY about what you could have most often
results in your goals getting lumped into the “some day” file.
We have a way of putting off “pleasurable” things in our life because there’s
always room for pleasure in the FUTURE.
So many people end up taking the attitude of, “Yeah, I want to look better and
SOME DAY I’ll lose the weight.”
Or, “I really should quit smoking because I know it’s bad for my health...and I’ll do
it some day.”
Or even when you KNOW what’s best for you, but feel that you can procrastinate
on it like, “I know being overweight isn’t healthy for me and SOME DAY I’m going
to go on a diet.”
But I guaran-damn-tee you that when a doctor comes to you and says, “If you
don’t lose weight, I’m afraid you’ll be dead in a year.”, well...”SOME DAY” just
came calling!
When you finally get the nerve up to ask out that cute girl at work and you realize
her standards don’t include “chubby” guys...”Some Day” just came calling!
When you start losing your sexual abilities in bed because your hormones are
taking a nosedive from imbalances caused by being overweight...
NOT tomorrow!
TODAY!
Earlier I related a story about how, when I entered Basic Training in the Army,
the radical shift in “lifestyle” left all of us seriously asking ourselves, “What the
HELL am I doing here? This is CRAZY!”
I mean, I went from a nice cushy life of partying with my friends to having people
yelling and screaming at me all the time...arms that felt like they were going to fall
off my body from all of the pushups I was forced into...4am wake up calls from a
trash can being thrown down the row of bunks...and a Drill Sergeant who
seemed Hell-bent on seeing if he could make me cry!
When things got tough and I didn’t know if I was going to make it, I didn’t realize
it at the time, but my “MOTIVATIONAL WHY” had already been supporting me
the whole way without me even knowing it.
Because whenever I even felt a TWINGE of the “just quit” feeling making its way
through my mind, I began thinking of the REAL result of giving in...
I thought of what it would be like to get off the plane back home and see my
parents and friends waiting to pick me up and the utter HUMILIATION I was
going to feel.
The thought of crawling back to face my friends and have to explain why I
couldn’t make it...why I had FAILED...was something I’d rather DIE than have
happen to mel
Let me tell you...compared with the SHAME and REGRET I’d have to live with
after THAT, basic training was like a TEA PARTY!
And because I DID, I went on to experience such honors as having been chosen
SOLDIER OF THE YEAR...graduated with HONORS from all of my military
training...set the Army RECORD for “kills” at Desert Warfare Training
Center...and numerous OTHER achievements that would NEVER have
happened had I given up.
I want you to think about the BAD things that are going to happen if you DON’T
achieve your weight loss goal.
Really dig DEEP and think about the most HORRIBLE thing you’ll have to face if
you don’t drop off the body fat.
I’ll tell you what...let me share with you what MY “motivational why” turned out to
be...
I have a young son (he’s just 6 years old at the time of this writing) who is the
absolute light of my life...my pride and joy...and his smile lights up my day like a
ray of sunshine.
Well, I guess I’d always taken my health for granted, but then at my last routine
physical check up with my doctor, he told me that I had HIGH BLOOD
PRESSURE from the STRESS I was undergoing at my job in addition to the
weight I had started to put on.
Suddenly I was slapped in the face with the very REAL possibility that if I didn’t
make some changes, I wasn’t going to be able to coach my son’s basketball
team...watch him graduate school...start a career...get married...have kids...etc.
That was just too much to bear and I’m not ashamed to tell you that I cried at that
devastating thought.
But just to make sure I don’t slide back...I keep my son’s picture right there on my
desk so that when I don’t feel like working out, I can just look over and see the
reason WHY I truly DO want to workout!
But I realize that with so much information I’ve shared with you throughout this
program, this may seem like an OVERWHELMING amount of changes to make
in your life.
So let’s talk about HOW you’re going to accomplish all of this without stripping
you of your own identity, shall we?
Exchanging Habits
Remember what MY goal was for developing the CTF program...
Yes...it’s kind of cool to have a set of 6-pack abs...but MY goal was to create a
program that would allow you to develop HEALTHY HABITS while stripping off
body fat.
And if these are BAD habits, then that would explain why your health may be the
way it is now or why your waistband is so large.
So when I say develop “HEALTHY HABITS”, know that I’m LITERALLY talking
about establishing ROUTINE ACTION that will make you healthier, happier, AND
leaner!
And going even further, I’m talking about REPLACING your bad habits with
POWERFULLY healthy ones!
Knowing what you now know, what would you say is your MOST unhealthy
“habit” that if you were to completely REMOVE IT, would have the most
DRAMATIC IMPACT on your fat loss goal?
Perhaps it’s “fast food”...your penchant for buttered popcorn at a weekly movie...
smoking...late night snacking on chips while watching TV...to much alcohol...
whatever.
Now I want you to think of just ONE “REPLACEMENT” HABIT that’s HEALTHY
and can take its place.
Studies have shown that when people try to quit a bad habit entirely, it can create
a mental “void” that feels like there’s something “missing” in the person’s life.
But if you can EXCHANGE a BAD habit with a GOOD HEALTHY one, then not
ONLY have you “dodged the bullet” on a potential health concern...but you’ve
essentially MAGNIFIED the benefits of the HEALTHY habit by 100%!
So let’s say your “bad habit” is late night snacking on poor food
choices while watching TV...
If you were to just STOP eating late at night, you’d not only feel
the PHYSICAL void and become hungry...but you’d probably
have an EMOTIONAL void as well, especially with all the late
night food commercials on TV.
My research has shown that it takes about 40 days to establish a routine action
as a “HABIT” that will work for you on “autopilot”, so begin with just your ONE top
priority “bad habit” and brainstorm it’s perfect HEALTHY EXCHANGE to begin
right away.
Once that one is taken care of...move on to the NEXT top priority BAD HABIT
and prepare for your assault!
...but MOST of the time it’s due to lack of MOTIVATION on your part.
Did you post my Goal Tracker somewhere where you could SEE IT and monitor
your progress visually?
Did you complete the “Mission Planning” form to map out your objective?
You MUST make your goals VISUAL for them to be your strong ALLIES and help
push you to your objective.
Here’s ANOTHER option for you that I find works VERY WELL
since it ties into the “PAIN” motivator we talked about earlier...
You wanted to punch him in the face, but instead you laughed
along with everyone else.
Now let me share with you THE most powerful motivator I know of that will
practically GUARANTEE your weight loss success this time...
You see, going into combat ALONE to battle the enemy only works for Sylvester
Stallone.
If you’re trying to conduct a “secret war” on your waistline then there’s no one to
fail but YOURSELF and that makes things “safe” for you, doesn’t it?
Well, I realize that this next move is going to take my size 11 combat boot and
kick you FAR out of your comfort zone...but I have a feeling that you have the
“intestinal fortitude” to take the risk.
You see, I want you to go PUBLIC with your weight loss goal!
I want you to tell your FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS, and FAMILY EXACTLY what
your goal is!
Tell them the number of POUNDS (or KG for those of you overseas ;-) you have
to lose to get to your goal.
Be SPECIFIC!
Well for one...while it’s EASY to let YOURSELF down should you stray off track,
it’s MUCH harder to lose face in front of those who are expecting to see your
results.
And by being SPECIFIC in how many pounds you have to lose, people can ask
SPECIFIC questions as you make progress.
Next I want you to recruit the help of a friend...any friend will do...but it must NOT
be an immediate family member!
Family members can still be “acceptable” people to let down when things get
rough, so for THIS one, try to choose a friend or co-worker...someone you can
TRUST and whom you can talk with DAILY!
Then, break down your Combat The Fat Battle Plan into a set of measurable
daily tasks that you need to do.
These mini-objectives will become “interrogation questions” that your new ally will
ask you to make you ACCOUNTABLE to actually DOING the work it takes to
reach your goal!
“How many days did you achieve the correct number of DRY CARB meals?”
“Exactly how many pounds of FAT have you lost since your last reading?”
“Exactly how many pounds of MUSCLE have you gained since your last
reading?”
These should do it, but feel free to add your own questions based upon your own
personal program.
For example, you may want to add something like, “Did you eat
any hot fudge sundaes this week?” if this is one of the “bad
habits” you’re trying to change out.
Have your friend ask you about each of your “accountability questions”...and
ANSWER HONESTLY!
Your friend should understand that you’re asking them to do this for SUPPORT
so they should ask the questions without any criticism or judgement...only
encouragement and understanding.
You don’t need a Drill Sergeant...you need a FRIEND to help you achieve a very
PERSONAL and IMPORTANT goal.
You don’t need them to offer advice or “diet tips”...you just need them to LISTEN
supportively.
YOU will know whether or not you’re on track and you’ll know WHERE you
screwed up (if you did) and how to correct it.
So as you leave the meeting, this is your opportunity to assess where you can
make improvements or set yourself back on track if you’ve gone astray.
“Plateaus” are not uncommon as your body ADAPTS to your training and diet so
a few targeted shifts in your program are usually enough to jumpstart your
progress again.
But the only REAL way to know if you’re body is plateauing, is to base it on what
EXACTLY is happening inside your body and the only way to do that, in my
opinion, is to make sure that you’re taking your WEIGHT and BODY FAT
measurements each week and entering them into the companion AGT 5000
software to see how many pounds of FAT you’ve burned off.
Remember, you’re looking for about 1% of your TOTAL BODY WEIGHT in fat
loss each week as a guide.
If you didn’t get that, then it’s time to begin doing some analysis...
If you identify some areas where you could have done BETTER, then FIX THEM
for the upcoming week and get back on track.
But if in your NEXT set of measurements, you STILL don’t see any progress,
then it’s time to change things up a bit to get you body back into “BURN MODE”.
There are a few ways you can do this, and the choice is YOURS based upon
your own personalized program...
If you’ve only been focusing on the core 3-DAY CTF WORKOUT, see if you can
add at least ONE day of the optional LOW-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING to
your week.
But if you’re already maxed out on your availability to train, then you’ll need to
take a look at your nutrition plan and make a few changes for a short period in
order to get your metabolism “guessing” again.
So on WORKOUT DAYS, you would transition to just TWO DRY CARB MEALS
and on NON-WORKOUT DAYS, you would only consume ONE DRY CARB
MEAL.
Everything else will stay the same except for these DRY CARB changes.
Continue with this for ONE WEEK and see what changes take place in your next
set of measurements.
If you DO see acceptable progress again in your next weigh-in, then feel free to
re-introduce those dry carbs again in your meal plans as that one week of
reduced intake may have been enough to increase your metabolism again.
But if you STILL don’t see any progress, we need to get a little more DRAMATIC
in our changes...but I think you’re going to like this one...
If the reduction in DRY CARBS didn’t do the trick, it most likely means that your
body has gone into something of a “CALORIE CRISIS” mode.
The best way I’ve found to pummel your metabolism back into submission is to
actually INCREASE calories for a short duration.
Instead of one cheat MEAL per week...you’re going to insert one cheat DAY to
your week!
This is a day that you can eat ANYTHING you want with no limits!
You see, the reason your body has stopped losing is probably because it senses
you are “starving”, and as you’ve learned, your body is programmed to “survive”
by slowing down your metabolism AND fat loss.
By adding in these additional calories ONE DAY PER WEEK, you temporarily
convince it that you’re NOT starving and “trick” it into opening up the flood gates
once again on dropping the fat.
I thought so!
For the REST of your weekly meals, CONTINUE with the same reduced DRY
CARB intake (2/day on workout days and 1/day on non-workout days).
Follow this pattern for no more than 3 WEEKS or until you start seeing progress
again in your fat loss efforts and then transition back to your STANDARD CTF
Daily Diet Guide, including your REGULAR dry carb allotment of 3/day on
workout days and 2/day on non-workout days.
Continue taking your measurements and each time you reach a NO PROGRESS
week, begin at the FIRST level of analysis again and make the appropriate
adjustments in the same manner.
Reduce Workout Day If not including LIIT Stick with the same
Dry Carbs To 2/Day cardio day(s), add 1 or program without
And NON-Workout Day more to burn more change.
Dry Carbs To 1/Day calories.
Still No Progress
Making Changes...
Changes made to your CTF program
are made in the form of your
WORKOUTS and/or NUTRITION.
Insert 1 FULL CHEAT
DAY per week but If you’ve not seen progress for 2
keep dry carb portions
consecutive weeks, you have the option
at 2 on workout days/1
on non-workout days. to first try adding 1 or more days of LIIT
cardio to your training week and
maintaining the same diet plan.
Remember...in combat terms, Combat The Fat is about winning the WAR!
Each day is its own “battle” to stay on top of all the principles you’ve just
discovered. But you’re well armed with knowledge now and you’ll soon discover
that just your new-found understanding of how your body works will help you
GREATLY in how you look at “eating” and “exercising” that will stay with you the
rest of your life.
...you can no longer stick your head in the sand and pretend to be ignorant as to
how the image in the mirror got to the state its in.
You can no longer chalk it up to “age”, “slow metabolism”, “stress”, or any other
host of excuses outside of true medical conditions.
You MUST take responsibility for your body and the understanding, again, that...
“I’m overweight because of the way I EAT and the way I live my LIFE!”
I’ve seen the most amazing success stories from people who thought they would
NEVER drop the pounds...yet they DID!
All it took was a strong will...commitment to dig that fox hole...and stare into the
eyes of “Self Doubt” and kick its ass!
Now I highly recommend that you read this program yet one more time all the
way through to make sure you’ve absorbed all of the information that’s most
important.