At first glance, this product manual's title (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) was a bit distracting. While the 300+ page manual does a good job of explaining how increased muscle strength helps lose body fat and why its more important to lose body fat versus lose weight; I wasn't sure about the content of the product manual until I read it in its entirety. The overall premise is to burn the body fat with exercise and feed the muscle with good nutrition plans. The author, Tom Venuto, is a body builder and that helps explain some of the direction of the manual.

On the plus side, Tom's instructional product manual has a tremendous amount of information including goal setting, discussions on meal frequency and exercise plans, just to name a few. On the negative side (depending on your perspective), it contains a few references about the basics of weight loss (or body fat loss) such as drinking plenty of water and burn more calories than you consume. Basics are covered in 2 of the 17 chapters, so it didn't waste too much of the reader's time.

Overall, I would rate this instructional manual, (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) an 8.5 out of 10. If you have the ability to motivate yourself and take action by reading a manual, then the price for this product of $39 is a great value. However, if reading an instructional manual isn't enough to motivate you to take action to lose body fat, then you may benefit from a more multimedia rich program such as Denise Austin's Fit Forever , Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo, or Winsor Pilates . These other programs include CDs, videos and/or charts. However, if you do consider these other programs, they may cost a bit more.

What I liked

1. 1. Tom's full chapter on setting 'compelling' goals helps the reader understand the importance of defining a compelling reason for unstoppable motivation to succeed. In my opinion, a true compassionate reason is key to success in any area - without it, you're setting yourself up for mediocre results He uses excellent quotes from Denis Waitley & others to drive his point home.

2. His discussions on how to lose body fat versus losing weight is covered well in his product manual and he discusses various methods to test body fat including the inexpensive use of calipers for skin fold testing. I personally use the $20 Accu-measure calipers and they work very well.

3. He mentions that dieting isn't as important as good meal planning and increasing muscle strength to help lose body fat. The combination of these two strategies are key to your long-term success. For more details about Tom's manual, (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle), check out his site which as additional details, plus any special offers that might be available.

4. His discussion on the 'adaption syndrome' is valuable and an important lesson in getting to the next level of success in your goal to lose body fat. You can also adapt this lesson to help you succeed in many other areas of your life.

What I didn't like

1. Tom provides tons of valuable information on the subject of weight loss or how to lose body fat, but in the beginning of the product manual, it lacks a detailed plan to help the reader start a program quickly. Given today's fast paced world, a quick start guide would have been useful.

2. For novice readers, the sections on drinking plenty of water and calorie balance are extremely important, but for readers with this basic knowledge on how to lose body fat, these sections are a bit too elementary.

3. In this product manual, Tom discusses the benefit of timing meals. While this might improve your personal situation, I personally believe the extra effort dedicated to timing is not worth the time & effort put into the timing process. (Or maybe I'm just a bit lazy to go through that much detail to lose the last percentage of body fat.)

Overall

For beginners, this manual (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle), provides 300+ pages of details that are extensive, easy-to-read and easy-to-implement. If you have some basic knowledge of weight loss or losing body fat, you can still benefit from about 90% of this product manual. There are a great few sections that I've never seen before and are very interesting perspectives on how to lose body fat.

If you have the discipline (& can get motivated to take action), then the small price you'll pay ($39) is worth it. If however, you can't get motivated to take action by reading an instructional book, then you should consider other multimedia products such as Denise Austin's Fit Forever , Billy Blanks Tae-Bo, or Winsor Pilates . As mentioned before, be prepared to pay a bit more for these other programs. I've followed many of the steps outlined in his instructional product manual and have been pleased with the results. For $39, and with a 3-month money back guarantee - it's worth the price. Similar to other lengthy instructional manuals, plan to read in small periods of time and keep your pen out to take good notes. Last time I was on his site, he was giving some free bonuses away also, you'll want to check out his site today before you consider purchasing. End of Product Review.

Mike Miyaki

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