Phase-out Fat

Introduction
Fat loss is one the most talked about topics of our time. Since more than one third of the world population is overweight and obese (in 2002, 63% of the US population were either overweight or obese) this is not just an issue for individuals but also a great concern for the medical field and government.

In North America obesity carries not only just a social stigma, but also negative economic consequences; billions of dollars are being wasted in absenteeism, chronic absence from work caused by obesity. Let me share with you few facts about obesity.

Overweight and obesity
Overweight is defined as a body weight in excess of standard weight based on height and frame size. Obesity, on the other hand, refers to an excess amount of body fat:

• Women: >35% of body fat, and
• Men: >25%

Causes of obesity:

• Hormonal imbalance
• Genetics and body type
• Lifestyle:
• • sedentary lifestyle
  • diet and nutrition
  • TV (couch potatoes)
  • emotional trauma
  • eating habits, consuming foods rich in fat and high amounts of carbohydrates (carbs not used during your daily activities are converted into fat and deposited in the body, especially around the waist for men and waist and legs for women)

The bad news:

• Obesity is the main contributor to the #1 cause of death: heart disease
• 1/8^th out of every death is caused by illness directly related to being overweight and obese
• Obesity increases the number of people suffering from diabetes
• Blood pressure is common among obese people
• Higher risk of cancer (colon, gall bladder, prostate and breast cancer)
• For every 2 lbs gained in body weight, the incident of acquiring arthritis increases by over 10%
• Psychological disorders, such as depression and low self-esteem  

The good news:

• A healthy lifestyle helps prevent obesity and incidents of disease resulting from obesity
• By losing 10% of your body weight you can improve your health
• Weight loss training programs can help you lose 5-10% of fat per week
• Research shows that exercise and a healthy diet decreases body fat substantially
• For every lbs gained in fat-free muscles (or lean muscle mass) you burn 35 calories per day and as a result, decrease your body weight. Conversely, for every Lbs of fat you burn only 2 calories per day
• Lose weight and get back your social respect and self-esteem

Knowing these major health problems of our society, many individuals/companies are attempting to bank on it, taking advantage of the large sums of money being spent to control/reduce obesity. Everyone wants your money! Just turn on your TV and you’ll see advertisements about miraculous weight loss pills and nutrition plans that will help you lose weight without exercising! Just buy their products and you’ll become slim overnight! Wow! But how many of these ads are telling you the truth? Did you know that some of these companies have been already penalized for false advertisement? The company that produces Corti-slim has been fined $25 million in the U.S.! A similar consequence occurred to the company advertising the abd-belt.

If all these weight loss gimmicks worked, how do you explain that instead of decreasing the number of overweight and obese people in the world, it is actually increasing every single year?

In the spring of 2007 has been released the result of a University of California (10,000 subjects) comparative study of all the diets available on the market. The results have confirmed the above statement: all diets have a major problem: as soon as you are off the diet not only that the subjects have replaced the previous weigh they have, but more importantly, they have gain more Lbs than ever!

Certainly, something is very wrong!  A sedentary lifestyle, poor eating habits, etc., all contribute to this health epidemic. The more junk food you eat, the more sugar you deposit in your body, and the more you increase your percentage of body fat.

Certainly, one of the main culprits in our society is our mentality. Believing that you can lose weight without exercising is futile unless you have the mental power and the discipline to reduce the calories you consume daily. But, in my humble opinion, the best method is simply a healthy lifestyle and exercise.  If healthy nutrition assists you in your strategy of controlling weight-gain, exercise will do much more; it will also improve your health.

How do you spell happiness: H-E-A-L-T-H!
Do you want to be happy? Change your lifestyle, nutrition and be physically active 20-30 minutes or more per day, 2-4(5) times a week. Remember that your health status increases proportionately with the number of fitness sessions you have per week!

1. Phase-based training made simple
Whether you are a businessperson, office worker, teacher, or in any kind of job, you try to be as organized as possible since the better you plan, the more efficient your work is. In the case of fitness training, good organization means good planning. This is why the scope of this website is to provide you with a high quality, well planned and scientifically proven fat loss training program.

In my quest to find the best program for you, I’ll use the most effective structure of training called phase-based, meaning periods of time where you have a specific type of training and well-defined goals to achieve.

Phase-based training for fat loss

The suggested training program presented in this website is based on scientific training methods and planning principles. It is organized in such a way that you’ll achieve maximum fitness benefits during, and especially towards the end of the program. The main gains from my program come not only from a single training phase, but rather from the specific and unique sequencing of the training phases as a progression, ultimately achieving your goal of trimming your body, looking better, and improving your self-esteem. How good do you feel when you are nicely and neatly dressed? Imagine how much better you will feel when you trim your body, eliminate extra inches from certain parts of your body, look physically better, become healthier and have a compact and aesthetically-developed body.  However, you have to remember that changing the shape of your body is your own doing, your own success. This will be your greatest reward for following this program! You’ll be proud you did it!

There are three basic phases of the strength program for fat loss:

• Phase 1: Basic strength training program for fat loss (figure 1.1) is for entry level fitness fans, for those individuals who have just decided to embark on an organized fitness program. The first part of the program is intended to progressively adjust your body to an active mode, to change your lifestyle from a sedentary to a physically active one.
• Phase 2: Increase strength, percentage of lean muscle mass (LMM) and lose weight (figure 1.2). The second phase in my strategy to lose fat has the clear goal of increasing the proportion between your lean muscle mass (LMM), and fat tissue stored in most parts of your body.  The higher proportion of LMM, the more calories you will burn day and night. In fact you should know that for every lb of LMM you gain, you’ll burn 15 times more calories than for one lb of fat. Therefore, the higher amount of lean muscle mass, the more fat you’ll lose from all parts of your body.
• Phase 3: Optimize fat loss, an advanced phase (figures 1.3) suggested for those who are determined to continue their fitness success story, to follow-up more challenging programs, for superior fitness benefits, and as a result, to eliminate more fat stores from your body. To accomplish your fitness goals during this phase, I follow the same scientific weight loss principles but for longer durations, more demanding, and therefore, with far superior health and fitness benefits.

The basic strategy of the weight loss structure has been scientifically tested on a group of 18 fitness participants who volunteered to follow the program and at the end of it, to evaluate whether the model produced the fitness outcomes theorized. For the 14 individuals who completed (9 women and 5 men) the program detected the following fitness benefits: a decrease in body weight, firming of their muscles, visibly decreasing the size of their waist, and in the case of most of the women, after the completion of the program they reduced dress sizes substantially. The information from this experiment has resulted in the detailed program proposed in the specific training programs. 

Week #	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Type of training	Adaptation						Improve strength

Figure 1.1 Basic strength training program for fat loss

Figure 1.1 illustrates the two types of training planned for phase 1; the basic strength training program for fat loss. At the top of chart 1.1, listed are the 12 weeks of training, or the actual duration of the basic program. The next row shows the progression of training, briefly described below:

1. Adaptation, or the phase where the scope of the program is to progressively adapt and adjust your body from a non-active lifestyle to one of an organized and active routine. The progression of this phase is very carefully implemented so that the physical discomfort is minimal, eliminating at the same time the probability of experiencing injuries. If you follow the suggested program, changes in your body will be visible by the end of phase 1 and especially, during phase 2 and 3.
2. Improve Strength. Throughout this phase, the load, or the resistance of the exercises you perform, is higher and the end result will be a visible increase in your initial highest level of strength. At the completion of this phase you will notice that your weight will progressively decrease and the fat tissue will be slowly but surely replaced by an increased percentage of lean muscle mass (LMM). As you gain more LMM, you’ll burn more calories utilizing more energy to sustain the normal functions of your body and vital organs, such as the heart, lungs, muscles, and as a result, decrease your body weight. The higher your percentage of LMM, the more energy you’ll spend and the more calories you’ll use. When the caloric expenditure is higher than the calories you take in you’ll start losing weight.

Figure 1.2 illustrates a similar type of phase-based training model suggested for individuals with a better background in fitness training, or for those who have previously completed the program suggested by figure 1.1. The actual difference between the two models is not just the method and training load, but also the duration of the main training phases, since working for a longer duration will improve your fitness and health benefits.

How should you use this second, more challenging, training program? After you complete the program suggested by figure 1.1, give yourself one week of respite, where the only activity I suggest is a twice a week, 20-30 minutes of light cardio training. In this way you’ll be able to relax, recover and replenish the energy stores for the next program to come. After this week of relaxed training, you can start again with the new, 12 week training program organized in two parts:

Read on --->

Select week: --Choose-- Introduction Phase 1: Basic strength training week 1 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 2 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 3 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 4 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 5 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 6 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 7 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 8 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 9 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 10 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 11 Phase 1: Basic strength training week 12 Phase 2: Increase strength week 1 Phase 2: Increase strength week 2 Phase 2: Increase strength week 3 Phase 2: Increase strength week 4 Phase 2: Increase strength week 5 Phase 2: Increase strength week 6 Phase 2: Increase strength week 7 Phase 2: Increase strength week 8 Phase 2: Increase strength week 9 Phase 2: Increase strength week 10 Phase 2: Increase strength week 11 Phase 2: Increase strength week 12 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 1 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 2 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 3 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 4 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 5 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 6 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 7 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 8 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 9 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 10 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 11 Phase 3: Optimize fat loss week 12