New at Pinnacle Fitness: BMR Calculator and Online Calorie Intake Log

To prepare for bodybuilding competition, it is extremely important to be on a low calorie diet. I have tried every type of diet out there, and while different diets work better or worse depending on the individual, in order to lose fat you need to burn more calories than you eat; its that simple.. In the picture at the left I was able to achieve an extremely low bodyfat for competition simply by manipulating my calorie intake. Once all other parameters of your diet are optimized such as nutrient intake, protein, etc, it all comes down to calories whether you need to shed a few pounds for health and general fitness, prep for a bodybuilding, fitness, or figure competition, or any other reason you may have to lose weight.
Assuming that you already have a solid plan for your nutritional approach to weight loss in terms of what types of foods you will eat (i.e. the macronutrient ratio)and in terms of getting all vitamins and minerals needed, a very easy and quick way to ensure that your weight loss diet will bee effective is to log the the total amount of calories that you take in on a daily basis. I have added an online calorie log the that stores your daily calorie intake on our database and tracks them over time. This is free to all visitors of Pinnacle Fitness, all you need to do is register by entering a unique username and password and your daily calorie intake will be securely stored on our servers, accessible whenever you log in. Follow the link to the right in out "Helpful Tools" section or click on this link to begin tracking your daily calorie intake.
In order for your calorie intake to be meaningful, you must also have an estimate of your maintenance calorie intake, also called your basal metabolic rate. We have also included a BMR calculator to assist with your weight loss goals; simply click on the link under "Helpful Tools" at the right or click on this link to estimate your BMR. You will be asked a few questions which are automatically factored into a formula which will provide you with an estimate of your BMR. Use this number and compare it to your daily calorie intake log; if you are eating less than your estimated BMR than you are sure to lose weight. Although everybody has a unique BMR based on their activity level and genetics, our BMR calculator will provide you with a good starting point to start your weight loss program.

Weight Training Recommendations for Women

While intense weight training has a place in any fitness program for men or women, female physiology dictates that slight adjustments to training protocol be made. The most fundamental difference between women and men in terms of strength in the gym is that the guys tend to have greater low-rep strength, while women tend to have greater endurance. In more technical terms, the typical women will be able to get more repetitions during an exercise at a higher percentage of her one-rep-max.

For example, lets say a guy in the gym (we'll call him John) can bench press 300lbs for one rep, while his girlfriend, Jane, can bench press 100lbs for one rep. For John, 80% of his one-rep max is 240lb; most men will be able to do 6-8 reps at this weight before they reach muscular failure. Jane's 80% one-rep max set, however is 80 lbs; the typical women will be able to do in upwards of 15 reps at this weight. This is why women tend to respond to higher rep-ranges than men, and is also why for endurance-oriented exercise, pound for pound women can run circles around men (sorry guys).

There are no special requirements for women as far as specific weight training exercises go, although any weight training program should be designed to address any weak points, either physiologically or simply based on what needs to change in order to look like you want. A good rule of thumb for women with upper body exercises is to perform sets of 12 reps at the low end, and as much as 15-20 reps on the higher end. For lower body, with compound movements such as the leg press, squat, or lunge, most women respond nicely to reps in the 20-25 rep-range. There are exceptions which apply to both sexes of course; the quads tend to be more endurance-oriented, so they respond to higher reps. Rep ranges as high as 50 reps on compound movements such as the leg press are extremely productive (and challenging!) for both men and women. The hamstrings are a much more explosive muscle with more fast-twitch muscle fibers, so they are optimally trained in the 10-12 rep range for men, and the 12-15 rep range for women. For abdominal training, time-and time again I have seen with my personal training clients that men generally respond to lower rep ranges (under 20 reps- mostly because guys just can't do any more at a significant workload), while women respond well to reps in upwards of 25-40, even while using significant resistance. While there are differences between individuals and the muscle-groups within that individual, the above rules for rep-ranges are a good starting point. Pay close attention to what works well and what does not in your weight training program and make the necessary adjustments. It is very helpful for most people to hire a personal fitness trainer; this way you can avoid much of the initial trail-and-error involved with starting a weight training program so you can get much further in a shorter amount of time.

Women's Fitness: Weight Training for Muscle Toning and Weight Loss

Check out the photo on the left of the lovely Sarah Scott, an up-and coming figure competitor. If you were wondering how she trains to get that tight and toned body of hers, I'll give you a hint, she trains with weights and some damn-heavy ones too! She obviously has not gotten too muscluar and has arguably the "perfect" body with nice tight and toned muscles that are neither too large to nor too ripped.
A common misconception in the fitness field is that women must avoid training with heavy weights in order to prevent gaining too much muscle. This is understandable, as you only have to look at what the larger, more muscular guys in the gym are doing to gain all that muscle; they train with heavy weights. The muscle magazines also feature women bodybuilders who look like they are in the process of getting their gender changed, with huge ripped muscle, low body fat and that not-so aesthetically pleasing square jaw-line. Hell, if I were a women who wanted begin weight training as part of a weight loss program, one look at the typical high level women bodybuilder might keep me from ever seeing the inside of the gym for anything but cardio. Then again, looking at picture above, who wouldn't want to look like that? While men generally want to become ripped and muscular, it is generally agreed that this is not all that desirable for a women. Women generally desire to “tone” their muscles without necessarily building muscle mass. Weight training with all but the lightest of weights is generally avoided, which is even recommended by many ill-informed personal fitness trainers.

The truth is that most all women simply do not have the hormones to build a large amount of muscle mass. Men are typically larger and more muscular because they have much higher testosterone levels then women. In fact, male bodybuilders take testosterone and other steroids to build more muscle mass. The male bodybuilders who are typically featured in the pages of most muscle magazines are on large amounts of steroids, growth hormone, and other anabolics. The same situation applies to womens bodybuilding; those ripped, muscular women bodybuilders would not be able to achieve their look without some "chemical help". With the excpetion of the one-and a million "freak of nature" women can't get that ripped and musclar naturally; steroids are needed. Steroid use by these women also causes that not-so attractive masculine-look that so many upper-level female bodybuilders have.
Muscle gains do not come easily; both guys and girls spend years weight training in the gym to reach their potential. In the absense of steroids, women (who are not using anabolics) respond differently to weight training than men- their muscles do not become larger by a significant amount, but become tighter and more toned.
You may look at Sarah Scott's picture above and wonder how the hell she was able to sculpt her body like that..... The truth is that she trains very hard with relatively heavy weights (for the appropriate rep-range)- her workouts are not all that dissimilar from what a male bodybuilder would do, but obviously the results are different. If you are a women and are beginning an exercise and diet program for weight loss and muscle-tone, you cannot afford not to do weight training workouts- only then will you be able to burn that last bit if stubborn body fat and sculpt the body you've always wanted.

Be sure to check out our article on weight training recommendations for women

Change the Key to Sucess in your Fitness Program

No matter how great a new weight training program is working to build muscle, as most of us painfully know first hand, progress eventually begins to slow down until we are just breaking even. Frustration then sets in; this wonderful weight training, diet, and exercise program that was so great before now seems to be completely worthless. Most of us would rationalize that we simply need to train harder and longer; possibly somewhere along the line we became lazy and just need to step it up. Weight training volume and intensity is then increased, and your weight training workouts which were once completed in a very efficient 45-60 minutes are now taking hours. We are further disappointed to realize that in spite of all this extra effort, we are getting weaker instead of stronger- actually going backwards!

This situation is all too familiar with those who frequent gyms and is the number one cause of people dropping out of their exercise programs for general weight loss and health or bodybuilding. Although persistence is a necessity, the number one factor which determines success or failure with your fitness goals is the ability to overcome adversity- simply trudging along doing the same thing over and over again in the gym will get you the same results as before....none. As I tell my personal training clients, "you can only bang your head into a brick wall so many times before you have to get smart and walk around it." Your weight training program is not working, so you must change things, even if this involves a more "lateral" move rather one that take you immediately forward. The path to success in fitness is never a linear one, and in order to reach our goals we must make the necessary adjustments with the longer term in mind. We have all experienced this situation and those of us still in the game have found a way to walk around the impassible "roadblocks" to reaching our ultimate fitness goals. While I will not go into the specifics of weight training program design here, it is very important to conceptually realize the most important variable that will ensure continual success in all your fitness or bodybuilding efforts: change.

Our bodies are not static; we are constantly making billions or biochemical adjustments over the course of a day just to keep us alive. Because of our inherent ability to adapt to anything, a weight loss or muscle building program must be dynamic. Maybe your goals are for weight loss and you are doing a certain type of cardio for fat loss or you are a bodybuilder and have not changed your weight training program in years. In either case, the body has adapted to the exercise; fat loss and muscle gains have become slower over time eventually coming to a complete halt. While the technical nuts and bolts of designing a weight training program or weight loss program can be complicated- the conceptual aspect to their successful design is quite simple; change what you are doing.

If you have been using the treadmill as cardio for weight loss and fat-burning, switch to the elliptical trainer. If you have been doing longer duration cardio switch to high intensity cardio such as interval training. The same goes for weight training; if your bench press has stalled switch to dumbbell bench pressing-or cut out the bench press all together- do parallel dips and incline dumbbell presses for chest training. The same goes for how you have been executing these exercises; if you have been training with a higher volume of weight for your weight training program switch to a higher intensity training protocol (and vice-versa). The key is to change- keep your weight training program or weight loss program dynamic to experience continuous progress and avoiding training plateaus. The way in which you manipulate your exercise program over time should not be arbitrary however, check out our weight training program design article for a more detailed approach to keeping things productive with your weight training program.

The Truth about HGH: (human growth hormone):

With all of the (mostly worthless) nutritional supplements out there touted to help with weight loss, burn body fat, and build muscle, hgh may be the only one that has the potential to measure up to its claims. Despite what you may hear in the media though, hgh is not the "fountain of youth" nor is it a miracle solution for weight loss or muscle building. Hgh is known to plummet after the age of 25 and by the time we are 40 levels are relatively low. Hgh works best for people over the age of 30 and does have some pretty significant effects, but it is not the "magic potion" many may think. Countless clinical trials have shown that independent of diet, sedentary people have gained muscle and lost fat from hgh therapy. The key feature of these studies is that most subjects were in relatively poor condition, and by no means were they "in-shape" at the end of the study. For example, if somebody is able to decrease their body composition by 10% and remain close to the same bodyweight, they have essentially shifted what was once fat mass into muscle mass. This is great by any standard, however if the subjects started at 35% bodyfat, they were still at 25% when they finished they are hardly in shape! (note these values are for men- 25% is not quite as bad for women although still not great.) Diet and exercise is still needed to "get in shape"- weight loss and increases in muscle mass will not continue indefinitely with hgh therapy.

What hgh can do (in those old enough to benefit) is to cause an increase in energy and stamina- hgh users report that they "feel 10 years younger" and generally sleep much better at night. Hgh actually acts directly at the fat-cell to encourage lipolysis (i.e. fat burning), while at the same time increasing muscle mass via an increase in IGF-1 production. Hgh can subtly speed up recovery time after a workout and discourages muscle loss caused by intense exercise and dieting- in this way hgh shifts the balance from burning muscle to building muscle (we are constantly tearing down and rebuilding muscle protein-anything that can shift the balance toward building muscle will have a great effect). With all of these almost magic properties it is no wonder why hgh is promoted as the magic pill that it is.

Hgh does have some wonderful properties, but it only complements an otherwise perfect diet and exercise program. Stated differently, HGH DOES NOT REPLACE DIET AND EXERCISE (I know, sucks, doesn't it?). Forget the studies with sedentary people having miraculous weight loss and muscle gain with hgh- these people couldn't be in any worse shape to start with, so their changes are drastic. As most of you have experienced, it is very easy to double your strength, lose lots of fat, and build muscle when you first started weight training- progress is never linear though; after 10 years of weight training we are lucky to get a fraction of the muscle gains we got an in equal time span as a beginner-with or without hgh.

Another little known fact is that hgh is not actually that great of an anabolic (muscle-builder). Hgh definitely supports muscle growth, but is exponentially more potent as an anabolic in the presence of testosterone. (testosterone decreases along with hgh as we age). Many progressive-minded physicians with a decent background in endocrinology are readily prescribing testosterone along with hgh as a "hormone replacement therapy" for men. The combination of hgh with low-dose testosterone in a middle-aged to older male (in the presence of a good diet and exercise program of course) can do almost magical things.

Although many sites on the internet have created a "black market" for hgh and testosterone, hgh is available in the US by prescription-only and testosterone is even more highly regulated, being scheduled along with all of the other steroids by the DEA. Because of this, the supplement industry has cashed in by selling products which are either supposed to contain or stimulate the release of hgh. To put it lightly, all hgh supplements are shit! Even though the companies are citing legitimate hgh studies, these studies use INJECTABLE hgh, not the junk that the supplement company is trying to sell you. (although some supplements with certain amino acids will cause a transient rise in hgh- their value is only for very specific circumstances) The same goes for testosterone- although the supplement tribulus terrestris does cause subtle increases in testosterone, the amount is so little that it does not cause any change in muscle mass or body fat. The pro-hormones worked with some people, but most have been banned, now classified as steroids. (Thanks again to the government for the wonderful "protection" of us from ourselves. As a side note, most of the guys who voted on these laws have never seen the inside of a gym and couldn't tell you a damn-thing about how and why steroids (and hgh) are bad- just that they are.) So hgh works but hgh + testosterone might be the best possible way to keep gaining muscle and losing fat into old age- just find a Dr. who will diagnose you with a deficiency so it will be covered by your insurance. Real hgh and testosterone by prescription is not cheap! Just don't waste your money on anything but the real thing if you are going to try hgh and/or testosterone therapy; the supplement versions really just provide you with overpriced urine*!

*as stated above, some hgh-releasing supplements may have limited potential; consult your personal fitness trainer or physician for recommendations*

Weight Loss: Use a Higher Fat Intake To Loose Weight and Build Muscle

In part one of this article we discussed the problem which many dieters encounter in their efforts to loose fat; despite a low calorie, low fat diet the fat just does not seem to come off and weight loss after time grinds to a screeching halt. Obviously, calories need to be reduced in order to loose weight, but we need to be picky about where these calories come from in order to build muscle and loose fat. We want our weight loss diet to cause a nice, steady and slow release of insulin so that the muscle mass preferentially takes up the glucose compared to body fat. We will accomplish this in two ways:

1. Eat a lower carb-diet with less total carbohydrate and choose carbs from low glycemic index sources
2. Eat fat!

Choosing low glycemic index carbs (and lesser amounts of carbs in general) is a no-brainer if you've read the first part of this article even if it is not completely clear why- low (or lower) carb diets work. The "eat fat" recommendation may shock a few people though; we want to loose fat so you are telling me to eat more of it???? The answer, you might have guessed, is yes, we do need to eat more fat to loose fat. Before we go on, a very important point must be stressed- if you want to loose weight you need to eat a lower calorie diet! If this condition is not satisfied a higher fat intake will actually cause an increase in body fat, rather than a loss in body fat. (Damn! And I thought this was the magic solution to loosing weight while eating whatever the hell you wanted...). We also need to be careful about what types of fats we add to the diet- we want the fat that we consume to help our weight loss efforts rather than hinder them. Stay away from saturated fat; this tends to decrease insulin sensitivity even while on a low calorie diet. As a side note, there are many "diet gurus" out there who would argue that the fat source does not matter- I do not totally agree with this statement, and your cardiologist would tend to agree with me as well.

With saturated fats out of the picture we are left with the unsaturated fats and mono-unsaturated fats, some of which actually NEED to be in the diet, called Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's). Without getting too much into the biochemistry of all these fats, EFA's are unsaturated in nature and actually act to increase insulin sensitivity. Simply replacing a proportion of carbs in your diet with EFA's will cause fat loss at the same calorie level! An excellent source of EFA's are walnuts and flax seed oil' fish oil also tends to have benefits above and beyond that of some of the other EFA's. Fatty fish such as Salmon additionally provides an excellent source of EFA's. Olive oil is the most common example of a 'monounsaturated fat', although it is not essential. It is a good idea to include some monounsaturated fats in the diet, however, because the monounsaturated fats in olive oil tend to promote a healthy heart and blood vessels.

I can go on and on about the benefits of EFA's, but the take-home message is that you need them for a number of health-reasons and an increased EFA intake at the expense of carbohydrate on a low(er) calorie diet will promote fat loss and build muscle making you leaner and more muscular. Additionally, the presence of fat in the stomach slows gastric emptying (i.e. how rapidly food passed from the stomach during digestion). The presence of fat in the stomach actually reduces how rapidly carbohydrates are digested, essentially making the carbs we have eaten "lower-glycemic". A lower glycemic carb raises blood glucose much more slowly, reduces insulin secretion, and (as described in part 1 of this article) reduces the likelihood that calories will be stored as body fat.

Now that we know roughly what to eat, how do we put it all together? Knowledge is worthless if it can't be applied- check out part three of this article series explaining how to put it all together.

Dieting for Weight Loss by the Numbers: Build Muscle and Loose fat

Now for the nuts and bolts of tweaking your weight loss diet to loose more fat and to maintain muscle mass or even build muscle while at the same time loosing weight.

First you need a good estimate of your maintenance calorie intake (the amount of calories that your body requires in order to maintain your current bodyweight. There are a number of ways to estimate this-follow this link to ESTIMATE YOUR BMR. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, however, that your maintenance calorie level is 2750 calories. For weight loss, we are going to reduce your daily calorie requirement by 250 calories to 2500. Generally, if you have been following a typical low-fat diet you are most likely eating 50-60% carbohydrates with variable levels of protein and a low percentage of fat. We are going to reduce this number, while increasing fat intake and keeping protein intake an ideal level.

Protein

The typical dieter, if they follow USDA guidelines, does not get enough protein while most “muscle-heads” such as weightlifters or bodybuilders tend to eat way more than they need. (Too much protein just gets converted to fat- there are much more fun ways out there to gain body fat than overeating on protein!). We will use protein intake as the starting point to determine how many calories you need from fat and carbs. Once the protein requirement as a percent of calories is established, we will then move on to fat and carbs. My recommendation is to get 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean mass- lets assume you weigh 200lb with a lean mass of 160 lb- this would mean your protein requirement is 160-240g of protein. We will assume you are doing lots of cardio and intense weight training as part of your exercise program so we will go with 1.5g/lb of lean mass, or 240 g protein. Doing the math, 1 g of protein is approximately 4 kcal (I have referred to kcal-which is actually 1000 calories, simply as "calories" up to this point- for simplicity I will continue to use the term "calorie").

240g x 4kcal/g = 960 calories.

(960 calories of protein/ 2500 total calories) x 100 ~ 38% calories from protein.

Carbohydrates

With 26% protein in our diet program we now need to determine how much many carbs to eat. The important thing here is that we have an overall reduction in the % of calories form carbohydrate sources. A range of anywhere from 15-40% carbohydrate could be ideal- this is largely an individual matter. Some people do not need to decrease carbs quite as low while others will only do well on a lower carbohydrate diet. A good approach is to start on the lower end to jumpstart your diet into action and then to slowly increase carbohydrate as you become more insulin sensitive. (Consult a good personal trainer who is also an expert in nutrition a custom=designed approach). Again, as an example, we will assume that we want to eat 30% of our calories from carbs. If you have been following the typical low-fat diet this will be a significant reduction. Like protein, carbohydrates have 4 kcal/gram so we do a similar calculation:

30% calories from carbs = (0.30 x 2500)= 750 calories.

(750 calories)/ (4 kcal/gram) = ~ 188 g of carbs.

According to our calculations above, we need 188 g of (low glycemic) carbohydrates to satisfy our 30% carbohydrate requirement.

Fat:

Last but not least, we need to calculate how much dietary fat to eat. So far we have 38% of our calories coming from protein while 30% are from low glycemic carbohydrate sources. This leaves us with 32% of our calories coming from fat. Unlike proteins and carbs, fats have 9 kcal/gram:

(0.32 x 2500 calories) = 800 calories from fat.

(800 calories)/(9 kcal/gram) = ~ 89g of fat.

Most people who are used to eating the lowest amount of fat possible in their diet are shocked at this recommendation- no worries, your calories are controlled so you won't get fat-you will loose fat and build muscle. As far as fat sources, there are many choices but I personally like to use walnuts, salmon, flax seed oil, olive oil, and fish oil for fat sources while keeping the saturated fat from animal protein as low as possible.

As an example' 1/4 cup of walnuts has 20 g of fat. Most oils have roughly 14g/tablespoon. Many of my clients like to eat salads with fat free Italian dressing (get the stuff that also has low carbs). Add this with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and flax seed oil to your salad giving and additional 28 g of fat (use more/less oil depending on your individual requirements- I tend to use 2 tbs of olive oil to 1 tbs flax oil). A 7-ounce serving of broiled or baked salmon has around 6-9 g of fat. Fish oil tabs generally have around 1g of fat /tab ( I take 10-12 every night before bed). Don't forget to factor in the trace fats you are getting from certain carbohydrate sources and from animal proteins.

Weight Loss: Eat MORE fat to Melt off the Bodyfat???

Eat Fat to Melt off the Fat?
There is no question about it; low fat diets work, but are not without problems. While dietary fat intake does have a more direct pathway for storage (.i.e. body fat), all that really matters at the end of the day is how many total calories we have eaten. Fat loss is actually a very simple equation: (energy intake) - (energy expenditure) = (weight loss or gain). While there are many other factors, at the end of the day this is all that matters. Our body fat stores are analogous to a bank account- we are constantly making deposits and withdrawals on a continual basis- deposit more than we withdraw and we gain fat, withdraw more than we deposit and we loose fat. Of course, if it were actually this simple I'm sure a couple of questions come to mind:
1. If all that matters for weight loss from a diet is calorie intake, than why do most diets fail?
2. Where the hell does dietary fat intake come in?

Most weight loss diets fail not because of a lack of adherence to the weight loss diet but from the nature of the diet itself. We have been brain-washed by the "low fat" craze in the media to eat a low fat diet to burn off the extra body fat. This type of weight loss diet is not suited for all people. Many people who have problems losing weight on a weight loss diet fail to do so not because of calorie intake according to the equation above, but from storing those calories in the wrong place (i.e. bodyfat). So we are really dealing with a calorie storage problem, rather than a calorie intake problem. Low fat diets tend to consist of higher proportions of carbohydrates, many of which are typically high glycemic index (GI for short). These high GI carbohydrates tend digest more quickly, raising blood sugar more rapidly and to higher overall levels. This is where insulin comes in.
Insulin's job is as a storage hormone; it is released by the pancreas in response to an increase in blood sugar and acts by transporting the sugar, in the form of glucose, into muscle cells to be stored as glycogen (good!) or fat cells to be converted to triglyceride and stored as body fat (bad!). Under ideal circumstances, the muscle cells will preferentially take up glucose compared to body fat. With a high-carbohydrate diet however, blood sugar tends to rise quickly followed by a massive increase in insulin. Insulin basically desensitizes the muscle cells to the action of insulin; when muscle insulin sensitivity decreases, more and more of that blood glucose gets shuttled into the body fat stores. When people start on a weight loss diet they are typically out of shape and carrying a higher level of body fat; under these conditions muscle-cell insulin sensitivity is down, hence the “storage problem”. Even at a reduced calorie level more energy is being diverted into body fat relative to muscle tissue- the body is basically feeding the body fat and starving the muscles! A high-carbohydrate diet, for this reason, can actually encourage muscle loss in those who choose to follow this type of low fat/high carb diet. These people may even be able to sustain a decent amount of weight loss at first, but the weight loss is not ideal; body fat either increases or stays the same at the expense of hard-earned muscle tissue.
There is a simple solution to this problem- read on to find out how to finally lose the fat and build muscle!

Muscle Building, weight loss, diet: What is really holding you back from your fitness goals?

Doesn't it seem like there are those select few people who just seem to have their sh*t together when it comes to fitness while the rest of us seem to be spinning our wheels? Genetic ability aside, some people just seem to have it while some do not. While our unique genetic ability does ultimately determine our ability to build muscle and lose fat, everybody is capable of achieving a theoretical peak level of fitness (muscle mass, bodyfat percentage, etc) and nobody even comes close. The human body is not static; we are either gaining muscle or losing muscle, burning fat or storing fat. It may sound pessimistic to say that we will never reach this potential, but the flip-side of the coin says that we have the potential to constantly get better. No matter if you are completely new to fitness, with modest goals of muscle building and fat loss, or are a seasoned gym-veteran, we can all use a "tweak" in mindset, because our thought process ultimately determines whether we will achieve our fitness goals or simply waste a hell of a lot of time not achieving them.
Taking a closer look at the mentality that prevents reaching our goals of muscle building or fat loss, there really is a common thread- the following "fitness underachiever" is a perfect example. In fact, there is a little bit of this guy in all of us.
Follow the link below to learn the true "secret" to muscle building, fat loss, and just getting in shape in general.....
(to maintain anonymity, we'll just call him fat f--k. Click on the chubby fellow below to read on......)

Muscle Building, weight loss, diet: What is really holding you back from your fitness goals? (part 2)

Meet fat f_ _ k. He's the guy who has a box of Krispy Kremes on his desk at all times and needs a very large chair because his ass has its own zip-code. He gets charged for two seats on an airplane. Working out to him is being forced to park further away from the grocery store, which is not much of a workout, but no worries, he drinks diet coke and eats low fat foods (cookies, ice cream, cake, but what the hell, its low fat right?) The poor guy even blows hundreds of dollars a month on the latest fat-blocking, bodyfat shedding supplements- but none of them have worked-he's sure he'll find the right one any time. He even went so far as to purchase one of those spring-loaded ab machines that was guaranteed to to "build sculpted abs or your money back" .....didn't do a damn-thing (but what the hell for 12 easy payments of $19.95?) Fat F__k generally has good intentions to lose fat and has maybe even considered the benefits of a muscle-building program, but has found more reasons not to do these things in the form of excuses.: He is overweight because he has an office job (and because those dam-pills are just not working) and has triceps that flap in the wind because because his "rowflexmaster 2000" (which he hangs clothes on) just didn't produce the expected results. Fat f--k has tried everything short of putting in the work at the gym and following a sensible diet (the obvious solution to build muscle and loose fat). So what is our large friend to do if he wants his muscle-building and weight loss efforts to pay off? Two things: 1) exercise and diet - but this is secondary to the mindset that prevents him from actually doing this- which brings us to 2) a little muscle-building and weight loss therapy.....
What our swollen friend needs to do is find a comfortable place with a mirror, gaze into it and repeat the following:

"I, fat f--k am overweight because my diet sucks. I am fat because I am a lazy bastard. I am not 370 because of water retention, nor are my two chins the unfortunate result of a genetic defect.I do not need a pallet of bananas to avoid the cramping sensation I get from lack of blood flow in my legs. I am fat because I consider Krispy Kremes a meal. My "rowflexmaster2000" is not to blame for my complete lack of any discernible muscle tone- even if it did do a damn-thing I use it to hang clothes on... in a word I am a sloppy fat ass because I choose to be"

Of course this may seem harsh, but the painful slap of reality is exactly what our gluttonous friend needed- his problem, in a nutshell, is that for every perceptible shortcoming , he cannot lose fat because of......(any outside factor other than himself). In fact, we all have a little bit of this problem; how many times have you failed to achieve your goals to build muscle, lose fat, or get in shape??? You got far but just couldn't get there because.......
You don't need to be 200 lbs overweight to take heed from poor fat f--k's plight- all of us (including this author) need to be reminded every now and then of the one key to success in muscle building, weight loss/diet, fitness, athletics, etc (and anything in worth achieving in this life in general)...ACCOUNTABILITY. Take control of your muscle building or fat loss program by taking responsibility for your success, or more importantly, lack thereof. Only then can we break past that invisible barrier to success.