Dear Tom,

Kerry Ann

Burn The Fat and Body For Life are similar because both programs are inspired from bodybuilding methods. What Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle does differently is to address the 2 major drawbacks of BFL, which are the same problems of many other mainstream diet programs including 40-30-30 diets, Very low carb or Ketogenic Diets, the High carb Diet and many others. These drawbacks are: (1) lack of individualization, and (2) too much push for supplements and other products that are completely unnecessary.

BFL and many other diets have their positive points and BFL has more positive points than most, in my opinion. The problem is; none of them are 100% applicable to all people all the time. Genetics and metabolic individuality explain why some people thrive on high carbs, while others get fat on high carbs. It explains why some people do extremely well on Low carb diets, while others only lose muscle and feel lousy on these programs.

To be truly effective, a program cannot be "one size fits all", it needs to have a personalization factor built into it. Burn the Fat is the first program to take the best qualities of all the programs, compile that information into one exhaustively detailed resource, and throw away the junk and the hype - leaving a solid backbone of universal principles which apply to everyone. Then, instead of prescribing one cookie cutter program for everyone, this "baseline" program has room to be personalized.

Any program that prescribes the exact same diet and exercise routine for everyone means that it may be highly effective for some but highly ineffective for others. There are 6.2 billion people on our planet today and no two bodies and metabolisms are exactly the same. For example, you may know someone who seems to eat anything they want, yet they have six pack abs and never gain an ounce of fat. You may also know someone who is the opposite - If they eat one cheat meal, it goes straight to their waistline or thighs. It's true! The need for customization is undeniable.

That's why Burn the Fat is incredibly flexible and has a built in customization factor. Once you have your fundamentals mastered, the question remains; do you know how to "tweak" and fine tune your diet and training to fit your body type? If not, you could be like the fly trying to get outside by flying straight through a glass windowpane. It's going to die trying right there on the windowsill. With equal or even less effort, the fly could simply change direction and zoom right outside through the open door ten feet away. That's exactly what happens if you're eating wrong for your body type and then you switch to the right way for you.

You won't find one nutrition program in Burn the Fat - you will find THREE different nutrition programs, starting with the basic fundamentals (which you have to master first). Then you simply adjust this "baseline nutrition" based on the information you'll learn in chapter 5 on body types and nutritional individuality (there's a whole chapter on this subject where you can learn the real reason why some people can eat whatever they want and stay skinny).

The same is true with weight training. Would you give the same weight training program to a competitive bodybuilder that you would to a complete novice? It's silly to even consider. Burn the fat has not one, but FOUR training programs. And within each of these four training programs are TWO schedules, one more conservative for time-scrunched people, and one more aggressive for people who really want to go for it (that's eight routines all together).

The same goes for cadiovascular training. I teach you exactly how to systematically manipulate cardio frequency, duration, intensity, timing and type to accommodate your goals and get the results you want. One cardio workout just won't for everyone. Even if you use a scientifically proven technique like high intensity interval training, how long do you think you could do this before your body adapts to it? The need for variation and individualization is completely obvious.

Here's the second drawback... Although BFL has a lot of excellent information, most people can recognize that it was an advertisement for a supplement company. The author of BFL, while he has now sold the company, was the founder and CEO of EAS supplement company and publisher of Muscle Media 2000 Magazine (which was also a promotional tool for nutritional supplements, as are almost all bodybuilding and fitness magazines).

This is the case with the vast majority of diet books and programs these days: You buy the book/program and then you're told that you have to buy all this other stuff to make the program work; pills, bars, powders, drinks, etc, etc. The truth is, none of this stuff is necessary. You can reach all your goals by learning how to choose the right whole foods.

I don't say this because I am "anti-supplement." It's more correct to say that I am "pro-whole foods." I believe in certain supplements for "insurance" purposes, such as a daily multi vitamin and essential fatty acids, (2) for convenience purposes (meal replacements and protein powder), and (3) on rare occasion, a legitimate natural product emerges which really does enhance performance (such as creatine). I've used these products myself and recommend them to my clients on occasion.

However, supplements are not required to lose fat - they're not even a major factor! A great body does not come in a pill!

What's unique about Burn The Fat is that it's NOT a promotional vehicle for product sales. It's an information resource and a complete fat loss program that really is for life - not for just 12 weeks. I know people who have spent $3000 to $5000 per year on supplements - and that's not an exaggeration! Think about that for a minute! What's really ironic is that many of these people - even after spending all that money, haven't gotten the results they wanted.

Bottom line: I think BFL is a very solid program. It's got nutrition, weight training, cardio and motivational aspects all rolled into one, which is a winning combination. I also think that BFL has done a commendable thing by getting weight training and bodybuilding style nutrition out to the general public. If I didn't have my own Program, BFL is one of the programs I would recommend (with the previous advice about supplements and personalization).

Many people have said that Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle was like "the next step" beyond programs like BFL, because of the fact that Burn The Fat is so much more detailed and because it teaches you how to individualize nutrition and training to your personal needs. So, even if you're done BFL before, you will find that not only is it customizable and inexpensive (as no supplements are required), you will also see that it is very compatible and actually builds on the basics you may have already learned from programs like BFL to help take you to the next level.