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  • A Fat Man's Diary
    • 08001 - The new start
    • 08002 - Calorie Count
    • 08003 - Adventures of a Rollerblader
    • 08004 - Tom Venuto - is he the real deal?
    • 08005 - First baby steps in a new diet system
    • 08006 - A new hope
    • 08007 - Weight is fluctuating
    • 08008 - I'm not so selfish
    • 08009 - Happy but disappointed
    • 08010 - Let's continue
    • 08011 - The Returning Theme - Abs
    • 08012 - Poverty And Obesity
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    • 09001 - Identifying Stroke Victims F.A.S.T
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    • 09003 - Store Naming Contest
    • 09004 - The excercise begins...
    • 09005 - The week of hell
    • 09006 - The Importance of Walking
    • 10001 - COOKIES - Funny
    • 10002 - Healing a bad bruise
  • Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle - Tom Venuto
    • 01 - Everything You Need To Know About Loose Skin And Weight Loss
    • 02 - The Truth About Counting Calories And Weight Loss
    • 03 - The Glycemix Index (GI) - Key To Fat Loss Or Just Another Diet Gimmick
    • 04 - Health And Fitness Is Not A 12-Week Program
    • 05 - Did You Inherit Fat Genes? The Truth About Biology And Body Fat
    • 06 - How To Lose 20 Pounds Really, Really Fast
    • 07 - Why You Should Say No To Quick Weight Loss
    • 08 - The Top 10 Bonehead Workout Mistakes
    • 09 - Banking Calories - Eat Less Now To Pig Out Later?
    • 10 - Building A Better Body One Brick At A Time
    • 11 - Nutrition Or Training - Which Is More Important?
    • 12 - What a Muscle-head Says About Organic Food
    • 13 - Increase Your Metabolism And Decrease Your Appetite With This Fat-Burning Food Group
    • 14 - Induction Destruction: The Perils Of Diving Into Strict Diets Headfirst
    • 15 - How To Repair A Damaged Metabolism
    • 16 - The Law Of Attraction And Weight Loss: Can You Think Yourself Thin?
    • 17 - How To Turn Super Sizing, Dietary Displacement and Portion Distortion To Your Advantage
    • 18 - Protein Supplements Vs. Protein Foods
    • 19 - Cortisol, Stress And Body Fat: Straight Answers To The Top 20 Questions About The Stress Hormone
    • 20 - Top 10 Travel Fitness Tips - Part 1
    • 21 - Top 10 Travel Fitness Tips - Part 2
    • 22 - Count Down To Fitness Success And Keep Your Motivation Drive Alive
    • 23 - Why Some People Quit And Some People NEVER Give Up
    • 24 - Body Wraps and Waist Wraps - The difference between losing fat and losing inches
    • 25 - Don't Catch These Two Diseases
    • 26 - The Low Body Fat Secret Of Bodybuilders and Fitness Models
    • 27 - Abdominal Training Secrets - The Interview
      • Abdominal Training Secrets - The Interview David Grisaffi's BIG 5 For Abs And Core
    • 28 - The Incredible Shrinking Fat Cell - What Happens To Fat Cells When They Are Burned?
    • 29 - Fish Oil May Help You Burn Fat But Not THAT Much Fat!
    • 30 - Foods That Burn Fat: The Top 10 lists
    • 31 - Why Some People Can Drink Alcohol Without Getting Fat
    • 32 - The New Visualization Breakthrough
    • 33 - 3500 Calories To Lose A Pound: Is This Formula All Wrong?
    • 34 - THE GREAT ABS MISTAKE: He Was Doing One Thousand Crunches And Sit Ups A Day... But Still NO Abs!!!
    • 35 - How Liquid Calories May Be Making You Fat... Even Your Favorite Protein Drinks!
    • 36 - Steady State Cardio 5 X More Effective Than HIIT????
    • 37 - 2 Cardio Mistakes You're Still Making
    • 38 - Wu Long Tea Weight Loss Scam
    • 39 - Fat Burners: The Unadulterated Truth
    • 40 - How I Got Ripped Abs For The Very First Time
    • 41 - What The New Low-Carb Study REALLY Says
    • 42 - Listen to Maintainers, Not to Losers
  • Turbulence Training For Fat Loss - Craig Ballantyne
    • 01 - Workouts for a Busy Gym
    • 02 - The Best Cardio Intervals for Fat Loss Part 1
    • 03 - The Best Cardio Intervals for Fat Loss Part 2
    • 04 - Top 5 Fat Loss Tips
    • 05 - The Latest Nutrition Info
    • 06 - The 6 Steps to Fat Loss Success for Beginners
    • 07 - How to Maximize Your Metabolism
    • 08 - Do You Hate Your Job?
    • 09 - 10-Minute Fat Loss Workouts
    • 10 - Cardio is NOT the Key to Fat Loss
    • 11 - Cardio Can Kill
    • 12 - Rating the Energy Drinks
    • 13 - Ab Workouts Slow Fat Loss
    • 14 - The Top 5 Fat Loss Myths
    • 15 - Turbulence Training Fat Loss Interview
    • 16 - Fat Loss Secrets of Fitness Models
    • 17 - How Bad is Your Nutrition?
    • 18 - Safe Weight Loss
    • 19 - Fat Loss Power of Food
    • 20 - What's Wrong With Your Fat Loss Workout
    • 21 - Top 7 Weight Loss Mistakes
    • 22 - How to Cut Your Workout Time & Lose More Fat
    • 23 - Why Calories Don't Matter
    • 24 - 6 Ways to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain
    • 25 - How Often Should I Workout?
    • 26 - Fat Loss Q & A
    • 27 - Toning, Light Weights, & High Reps
    • 28 - How an Overweight Man Changed His Life with the Turbulence Training Fat Loss Workouts
    • 29 - How a Cardio Fanatic Finally Got Her 6-Pack Abs
    • 30 - Fat Loss Q and A
    • 31 - 7 Weight Loss Tips
    • 32 - Weight Loss Workout for Busy People
    • 33 - 8 Metabolism Boosters for Weight Loss
    • 34 - Positive Fat Loss
    • 35 - Heart Rate Means Nothing for Fat Loss
    • 36 - How Fat Loss Lies Stop Your Success
    • 37 - Cardio Weight Loss Mythbuster
    • 38 - Best Cardio Machines for Weight Loss
    • 39 - 7-Minute Weight Loss Circuit
    • 40 - Think Yourself Thin
    • 41 - Your 3 Fat Loss Mistakes
    • 42 - Short Workouts, Big Fat Loss
    • 43 - Bodybuilding Hormone Secrets
    • 44 - The Evolution of Cardio
    • 45 - 7-Day Motivational Weight Loss Guide
    • 46 - 5 Common Ab Myths
    • 47 - 3 Tips for More Energy
    • 48 - Politically Incorrect Fat Loss Works
    • 49 -300 Movie Fat Loss Workout For Men and Women
    • 50 - Uh-oh, Five Fat Loss Mistakes
    • 51 - The 7-Day Weight Loss Detox
    • 52 - Weight Loss for Women At Home
    • 53 - 20-Minute Fat Loss Workout Ideas
    • 54 - 5 Ways to Cut Your Workout Time
    • 55 - 80-20 Fat Loss Rule
    • 56 - The Top 5 Fat Burners
    • 57 - Yes, You CAN Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time
    • 58 - 3 Best Bodyweight Exercises
    • 59 - How to Break Bad Habits
    • 60 - My Diet Secret
    • 61 - Dirty Trick Beats Fat Loss Plateau
    • 62 - Best Foods for Fat Burning
    • 63 - Fat Burning Exercise Tips for Busy Parents and Professionals
    • 64 - The Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat
    • 65 - Cardio Is A Waste of Time for Fat Loss
    • 66 - Fat Burning Bodyweight Circuit Exercises
    • 67 - How to Gain Muscle and Lose Fat
    • 68 - Which Turbulence Training Workout Should I Use?
    • 69 - How to Lose Manboobs
    • 70 - A Letter from Your Belly Fat
    • 71 - The Cardio Machine that Sucks
    • 72 - Why Bodybuilders Hate Turbulence Training
    • 73 - Turbulence Training vs. Body for Life
    • 74 - 5 More Fat Burning Tips For You
    • 75 - Politically Incorrect Holiday Fat Loss Tips
    • 76 - Why Cardio Doesn't Work for Fat Loss
  • Firm and Flatten Your Abs
    • 01 - The Exercise Enhancement Principle
    • 02 - Pooch Belly Syndrome Why Your Belly Bulges And What To Do About It
      • Special Exercises For The Core And The "Inner Unit"
    • 03 - Is This Madonna's New Secret Fitness Weapon?
    • 04 - The Reason Your Abdominal Workouts Stop Working...
    • 05 - Movement Sufficiency NOT Calorie Deficiency
    • 06 - Multi Dimensional Ab Training
      • The Big Five ! Swiss Ball Exercises for a Better Look!
    • 07 - How To Lose Weight With Walking
    • 08 - Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you? Part One
    • 09 - Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you? Part Two
    • 10 - Stubboorn Fat: Does it affect you? Part Three
    • 11 - Losing Fat over 40
    • 12 - The Transverse Abdominis: A Drastically Different Muscle
  • Fit Yummy Mummy Workout
    • 01 - 7 Fat Loss Strategies For Busy Moms
    • 02 - The Magic Potion For Fat Loss
    • 03 - Beat Fat With Breakfast
    • 04 - Three Easy Ways To Lose Weight!
    • 05 - Fat Loss, One A Day At A Time
    • 06 - Two Flat Stomach Secrets For Women
    • 07 - 7 Surefire Strategies to Avoid the Dreaded Holiday Bulge
    • 08 - The Truth about How to Burn Holiday Fat
    • 09 - Busy Moms Burn More Fat with Breakfast!
    • 10 - Top 3 Reasons WHY More Moms are NOT “into” Resistance Training
    • 11 - The Perfect Time to Begin your Fat Loss Program

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10 - Building A Better Body One Brick At A Time

Submitted by thefatman on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 16:26


By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS

www.burnthefat.com

The quest to develop a stunningly fit, lean and attractive body is a long, slow journey. It's not something you achieve overnight by popping a few pills or strapping an electric gizmo to your belly.

Which reminds me, did you know that by the time the FTC finally blew the whistle on the electronic ab belt scam, the makers of those "ab zappers" had swindled over $100 million dollars from unsuspecting consumers? Fortunately, some of those companies had to pay it back, and then some! The FTC charged three companies - Fast Abs, Ab Tronic and Ab Energizer - with false advertising and deceptive warranty practices for these "ABSurd" products.

But I digress… back to what I was saying about the journey to a better body...

Last week I looked out my window, and where there was once nothing but a dirt-filled empty lot, there stood a sprawling six story brick condo complex. If someone looked at this massive completed structure for the first time, they might not be impressed. However, since I observed the entire construction process unfold from my living room window, I was impressed - amazed even - at what goes into erecting this kind of structure.

I remember watching the crew humming around diligently every day like busy bees, laying one brick after another. From one day to the next, it didn't seem like much changed. But slowly, over a period of a year and a half, I watched the building gradually morph into the finished product.

When you look at someone with an incredible body as a finished product, you often tend to dismiss the long, arduous journey and hard work it took to build that body. Unless you were side by side with that person in the gym (and in the kitchen), observing the work involved, it's easy to attribute such a chiseled physique to genetics or give credit to a supplement (they just took product XYZ and voila - overnight abs). What you don't see or appreciate are all the months and years of sweat and hard work.

Getting in shape is a lot like a construction project. First, there must be a picture in the mind. Then the vision goes onto paper as a blueprint. It takes months just to lay the foundation. More months of work will follow. On a daily basis, it doesn't seem like much is happening. You look in the mirror and appear, for the most part, the same as you did yesterday. But sure enough, the small improvements are slowly accumulating like compounding interest in the bank. One day, you look in the mirror and "suddenly," your blueprint has become reality.

The body of a fitness pro or bodybuilding champion is no more likely to be built overnight than a high rise is to be built overnight. It's not physically possible. Accepting the idea that any type of pill, powder, drug, supplement or machine of any kind will make it happen sooner is pure folly. You can't force it.

Growth and development of any kind always requires a gestation period. For a baby, it's nine months. For corn, I believe it's about three months. If you were an expectant mother, would you want to hurry the process? Could any new development in nutrition or medical science speed up this wonderful miracle even one iota? If you were a farmer, would you try to harvest your crop before it was ripe? Would you dig up your seeds to see if anything was growing down there?

The answers are obvious. If only we would adopt the same patient, nurturing "mother's" or "farmer's mindset" towards getting in shape, then no one would waste their money on "fast abs" or "exercise in a bottle" or any such silliness ever again. We would understand that one must sow first, then reap the harvest, but that you can't sow and reap in the same season.

If you ever get frustrated with your rate of progress (and who doesn't), just remember; success is always guaranteed to the persistent. Nothing in the world can stop someone who knows what they want and is willing to continue paying the price until they get it. It just takes time.

Become the architect and builder of your own dream body. You WILL build the body you want eventually if you're patient enough and you refuse to quit. And set your goals HIGH! Create a fantastic blueprint. Michelangelo said, “The greatest danger is not that we set our goals too high and miss them, the greatest danger is that we set our goals too low and we reach them.”

Envision a castle - a veritable Taj Mahal of a body! There's nothing wrong with building castles in the sky, as long as you patiently work at putting the foundations underneath them. There are very few unrealistic goals; only goals with unrealistic deadlines. So keep laying those "bricks" - every day - one at a time - and sure enough, eventually, you'll build yourself a palace.

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. For information on Tom's Fat Loss program, visit: www.burnthefat.com

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