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Learn How To Cook For Better Success With Weight Loss

March 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Kimberley is an awesome cook. Here she has prepared a special yet simple low calorie meal that was absolutely delicious.

Kimberley is an awesome cook. Here she has prepared a special yet simple low calorie meal that was absolutely delicious.

I’ve been preparing my own food since high school

This is Roberta up first and I’m writing this with Kimberley; I’ve been preparing my own food since high school.  It’s just what I do.  I packed my food during my long career at Hewlett Packard, while working a stressful job, driving long commutes, finishing school, continuing to workout, and raising kids.

One thing I did not have a clue about was calories which is why I gained weight slowly over the years.  I know I’m aging myself here but they did not have awesome calorie counting tools back in that day, let alone computers and the internet.

When you learn to prepare your own food you learn what spices you like and what combinations of foods you like.  You learn that with the same basic staples you can create something simple every day and keep things interesting with spices.

I like to fill up with low calorie high volume foods like vegetables and fruits

People ask me why I eat so many vegetables, doesn’t it bother my stomach?

Or, if calories are all that matter why do I eat so healthy?

I like to fill up with low calorie high volume fruits and vegetables because it makes me feel good.  I pick vegetables that don’t bother my stomach.  Sometimes I just want to feel full.  High volume low calorie is the only way I can do it and stay within budget.

With such a small calorie budget I have to make the calories count. In order to feel good and perform well I need nutrient rich foods.

Learning to listen to your body is key on this journey.  Home prepared foods made with simple ingredients make me feel better.  One ingredient foods like fruits, vegetables, meat, chicken, or fish in various combinations along with different spices are best for me.

I eat a big salad nearly every day, and usually a fruit salad if my calorie budget allows it.

I didn’t eat fruit so much in my weight loss phase when I lost 60 pounds. This was because I am small and it was harder to fit it into my small calorie budget.  Like everyone else there is always a tradeoff on ingredients;  Do I have a higher calorie protein OR avocado, or a lower calorie protein AND the avocado?

I still have to consider the tradeoff while maintaining but I had to give up more when I had a lot of fat to lose.  In the weight loss phase if I planned well I might have been able to fit one serving of fruit or one serving of grain each day, sometimes both.

Spice it up

I never buy salad dressing and have found it’s super easy to make my own low calorie versions without all the strange ingredients.  I just look at the bottle and see what real ingredients are used and make my own version, usually without the oil.  I’ve experimented with spices and various ingredients and on occasion it might not turn out so well but that is how I learned.

Sometimes just fresh squeezed lemon or vinegar, water, and some spices are all that’s needed.  Sometimes water, a splash of tomato soup, and some horseradish hits the spot for a dressing, especially if seafood is on the menu.

Spice rubs for meat and vegetables are also a low calorie way of adding a lot of flavor.  You can get pre-made mixes from the supermarket and feel like you are eating in a different country every day.

The key is finding a variety of things you like so you can change it up when you get bored.

When you prepare your own food you have better control of your calories

The biggest benefit in preparing your own food when trying to lose weight is better control of what you eat.

Another benefit is making sure your less calories really count so they fuel your body both resting and working hard.

A friend recently told me about someone they knew who could prepare his own food for a fitness contest, a sort of boring contest diet of something like plain chicken and broccoli, but didn’t know how to eat when “off season” so sort of floundered with staying at a good maintenance weight.

First of all I refuse to eat a boring diet.  Spice and fun food combinations are what make my diet fun.  By cooking for myself all these years I have found what I like.

When it comes to my diet, for either maintaining or weight loss, I don’t really plan much except to purchase a variety of lower calorie foods, good protein sources, and only a small amount calorie dense foods (just enough to add richness and satisfaction). Then I eat whatever I feel like for the day, keeping in mind what I had during the last meal regarding carbohydrates or protein.

I eat just enough carbohydrates and protein to give me enough energy, and the fats just fall into place.  Others might want to focus on protein, fat, vegetables and fruits and let carbohydrates fall into place.  The key is to find what is sustainable for you.

It does not have to be perfect.  I don’t drive myself crazy worrying about macro levels.  I keep it simple.  By being aware of what I’m eating while making choices throughout the day it falls in place as fairly balanced and within my calorie budget.

Blissfully ignorant – the real science of food

Most of us can resist a food that is sweet, salty or fatty but combine the three in the right amounts and you find you have very little willpower to resist.  This magic formula is called the ‘bliss point‘ by food scientists.

Food manufacturers and restaurant chains are well aware of the bliss point of foods and deliberately design their products to give the broadest range of the population the greatest pleasure.

Foods based on bliss point act as drugs that stimulate feel good chemicals in your brain like dopamine.  It encourages us to keep eating, and it encourages to be addicted to certain foods.

If you have ever wondered why you cannot put down the peanut butter and are compelled to keep eating, it is because of the feel good factor we have from being in bliss.  This does not mean you should avoid peanut butter, packaged foods and restaurants, it is just a gentle reminder to be aware of what you are eating, and when you are focused on weight loss a better strategy will be to limit these blissful foods.

The perils of eating out

Most of us eat out frequently with an average American adult having over 1/3 of their meals away from home.  Eating out is quick, it is easy and it is mostly enjoyable.  However women that eat out regularly eat about 300 calories per day more than their home cooking peers.  That can add up to a lot of extra poundage over the course of a year.

Packaged food from the supermarket all come with calorie and nutrition data.  This should help with guesstimating calories.  However, often the weight of the serving size is significantly lower than the actual product.  I just recently I decided to weigh a box of 60 gram protein bars.  The 12 bars ranged in weight from 62 grams to 72 grams.  That means I could be eating 20% more calories that I expected.

Recently many chain restaurants have started to provide calorie data.  However spot checks have shown that while some restaurants are reasonably accurate, some are underestimating the calories by up to 60%.

This does not mean you should not keep enjoying a lovely meal at a restaurant.  Instead you may choose to do it less often and when you do, be aware that it may very well be more calories than you think.

Recipes are a great place to start

Using simple recipes is a great place to start.  I rarely use recipes anymore but Kimberley and some of the other ladies in the Venus Community have a beautiful collection of recipes and they love to share them with us.

Here are some very simple recipes.  Cooking at home does not have to be difficult, and making larger batch sizes for reheating can provide for multiple meals.

Kimmits’ Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls

12 large prawns / shrimp

1/2 cup shredded Chinese cabbage (wombok)

1/2 cup beansprouts

1 small red bell pepper thinly sliced

1 small cucumber thinly sliced

1/3 cup fresh mint leaves

1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves

1 lime juiced

1 TBSP fish sauce

12 rice paper wrappers

Step 1: Combine beansprouts, cabbage, lime juice and fish sauce

Step 2: Place 1 rice paper wrapper in warm water for 20 seconds (until soft).  Place on clean tea towel to drain.

Step 3: Arrange 1.5 TBSP of beansprout mix, 2 slices of cucumber and bell pepper, herbs and 1 prawn in the middle of the wrapper.  fold in ends and roll to enclose filling.  Repeat with other 11 wrappers.

Serve with sweet chilli sauce.  Serves 4 as a starter or lunch.

Liss’s slow cooked Tex Mex chicken

2.2lb / 1kg of chicken breast fillet

1 large jar of your favorite spicy salsa

1 diced onion

2 diced green bell peppers

Optional: 1 tsp of cumin and smoked paprika / chipotle

Step 1: Place all ingredients in a crock pot on low

Step 2: Cook for up to 12 hours until chicken is ready to be pulled apart

Serves 6 and makes great reheated left overs for the rest of the week.  This can be served in tacos or tortillas or with a kidney bean and corn salad or even over lettuce.

Kimmits’ 5 minute berries with butterscotch custard

1 cup of low fat / 2% milk

1.5 TBSP Mr Bird’s custard powder

1 TBSP of Truvia

1 TBSP Joseph’s SF maple syrup

8 drops of butterscotch Stevia

Mixed berries to serve

Step 1: Prepare custard according to directions on packet

Step 2; Arrange berries in the bottom of a bowl and pour hot custard on top.

Serves 2.

Cooking for your family and with your family is beneficial to all

I love cooking for my husband.  I like it even better when I can get him involved in helping me cook.  When I have family members and friends over I love to get anyone who is willing involved with helping prepare the meal.

I love cooking for Randy. Here I am preparing him an omelet for a TV documentary.

I love cooking for Randy. Here I am preparing him an omelet in a TV documentary.

I really do enjoy cooking for Randy although I will admit there were days when I was fasting that it was too hard to cook for him.  For the most part I’ve found that my willpower is stronger in the morning before I’ve taken on the stress of the day.

However many of us do not have the option of not cooking for our family so it may be helpful to think about aligning your food and fasting with family meals.  For example if dinner time is important and you typically have low willpower at this time, then fast dinner to dinner.

Learning to cook with lower calorie substitutes may also be useful.  For example a steak, broccoli and sweet potato dinner may be 450 calories, whereas the same volume of chicken, roasted pumpkin and french beans may be 320 calories.

I think most of the moms in the Venus Index Community understand the importance of teaching their kids about food and learning to have healthy eating habits for life.

By cooking for and eating with your family you are role modelling your new habits and behaviors.  You are teaching them how to make good food choices.

Happy cooking!

Kimberley

Ro

 

Filed Under: calories, fat loss, Food, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Girl Who Gets To Wear Cute Clothes Into Her 50’s

March 4, 2013 by 4 Comments

Today John talks to Terry Clauss who placed seventh in the 6th Venus Index Transformation Contest.

Check out her transformation pictures from the 12 Week Contest:

Terry Clauss before the contest

Terry Clauss before the contest

Terry Clauss after the 12 week contest

Terry Clauss after the 12 week contest

The inner athlete

Terry always knew she had an athlete inside herself.  She knew she was strong and she liked to workout, but she never got the truth about calories until she found the Venus Index Workout.

Like many of us she only had one half of the equation down; exercise.   We couldn’t understand why when we worked out and built muscle we just looked bulky, hefty, and strong instead of feminine, sleek, and strong.  It’s all about calories (along with a superior workout design).

Terry loves her new look, strong yet feminine.  That is how the Venus Index is designed.  “The focus is proportions and shape (rather than weight loss at all costs or building muscle like a guy)” – John Barban.

Like most of us Terry learned the hard way regarding diet.  After years of trendy diets and good food lists and bad food lists, Terry found the Anything Goes way of eating refreshing. That’s what we do in the Venus Index Community.

As far as food goes you can have everything you want, just not all at once.  You learn to setup your own calorie budget and follow it.  No more depriving yourself of foods you love.  Just learn to eat the right amount for your size.

She is learning to enjoy being fit and have a nice shape without worrying so much about overall weight.

You can wear cute clothes in your 50’s

Ever wonder what it’s like to have the following problem; You are a grandmother shopping in the junior’s section because nothing in the women’s section is small enough to fit you.   Well Terry knows, just ask her how much fun it is.

Clothes shopping and planning for work or social events used to be stressful.  Now it’s fun.  It used to be that nothing looked good or felt good.  Now everything is cute and fun.

This was a big deal to Terry.

The problem used to be nothing fit right, nothing felt right, and nothing was comfortable.  Now the problem is everything fits and you can’t buy the whole section of cute small clothes that all fit and look good.  It’s like you turned into a barbie doll.  It’s just about every woman’s dream.

Like many of us, Terry found her dream in the Venus Index Community.  She said the community is amazing.  Everyone chimed in to answer her questions and give her support.  She learned to love blogging there.

When she didn’t have anything to blog about she read what others wrote and was amazed at the lessons learned.  She is amazed at all the successful transformations and that it is not a bunch of fake advertisements.

These are real women of all ages, from all over the world, achieving their dreams and transforming their lives.

Check out the comparison; The first picture was Terry when she was 60 pounds heavier.  She has lost 41 pounds since she started Venus Index.

The second picture is Terry now.   She has done a fabulous job.  Her hard work and dedication to her health and fitness has paid off!

Terry in Feb 2009 compared to Feb 2013

Terry in February 2009 compared to February 2013. She looks fabulous!

 

Advice from Terry:

 

Read what Terry wrote about her experience with Venus Index:

I began VT6 by doing VI Circuits but then switched back to Phase 2. I think Circuits is a great workout and I will go back to it at some point  … Continue reading here.


Listen to Terry’s interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: calories, Contest, Exercise, Interview, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Are You Running To Stay In The Same Place?

March 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
Are you running to stay in place?

Are you running to stay in place?

Life sometimes gives us setbacks

How many times have you heard someone say that they got sick and so inevitably the weight started to pile on? Yup, we all nod in agreement. It’s not your fault. It’s too bad about that but of course you became over weight when you:

  • broke your leg
  • had to take care of your sick relative
  • traveled 7 months of the last 12
  • <insert your situation>

Life will throw you curve balls. Regardless of the reason, just because you’re not able to exercise, gaining weight is not inevitable.

Because in order to maintain how much you were eating you exercised.

Since you had a valid excuse for why you could not exercise, you had every right and reason to gain weight. Right?

Do you tell yourself this story? It’s hard not to. Anywhere you turn, including the news, movies, fiction, even supposedly scientific books, you will find the perpetuation of this myth: You have to work it off.

The flaw with this logic is the minute you hit a setback, if you habitually eat the same amount, you will gain weight and you will believe it’s out of your control.

Illness is no excuse

Your next setback is waiting to happen.

It happens to all of us.  It’s a matter of when.  What will be your plan?  You can learn to handle the situation and maintain your weight.

How fast are you “running”?

Have you read “Through the Looking Glass”, the sequel to “Alice in Wonderland”, by Lewis Carroll? A famous quote from The Queen has always resonated with me:

“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”

The fact is that simply maintaining is work.

You can’t over exercise too many calories, but you can learn to eat within your correct maintenance calories which are dictated by your height, gender and activity level.

The sooner you learn how much your body actually needs each day to maintain with your current lifestyle constraints, the better prepared you are for life’s setbacks.

This year I was broadsided by illness that set me back for two months, I could not work out at all. After that, I began the arduous process of regaining my strength.

Do you suppose I piled on pounds of fat?

No indeed, I did not.

And why is that?

Because I have a very clear idea of how much I need to eat to maintain my weight.

When I was forced to drop the gym habit, I simply cut back a bit on calories. I didn’t cut back as much as you might think. I just made small changes. A little less here, a few missed breakfasts, ice cream less often.

I made simple changes and I watched my waist metric. Without the ability to lift weights I simply had to eat less.  Every time the tape measure started to increase, I made a few adjustments to keep it in check. I rested, got well, and got the mental mindset to get back in the gym.

Every single time you have to start the gym habit again, it does require some discipline. The good news is habits don’t ever go away; they lie dormant.

The first week I was very sore. I had to talk myself into showing up for the first 3 weeks.  I eventually built up the strength to do the Venus Index Workouts.

We all have illness now and then

In November, my whole family got broadsided by a virus that was sweeping the town. I lost 10 pounds in one week.

I’ve never been more grateful for the simple fact of health and a strong body. To honor this body, I will not overfeed it or overwork it.

I will instead eat what I need. No more, no less.

I found myself faced again with the need to build strength in the gym. I “ran” to stay in the same place (not overeating in order to maintain) when I was sick. Now I am “running faster” (lifting heavy) in order to get my muscles back into the shape I like.   I follow Brad Pilon’s “Fat Loss Divide and Conquer” rule.

What about you? Are you making excuses or are you “running” towards your goals in whatever way you are currently capable?

 

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, Diet, Exercise, Health, Metabolism Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

An Original Venus Who Never Gives Up

February 25, 2013 by 1 Comment

Today John talks to Tina Roman who placed sixth in the 6th Venus Index Transformation Contest.

Check out her transformation pictures from the 12 Week Contest:

Tina Roman before pictures

Tina Roman before the contest

Tina Roman after pictures

Tina Roman after the contest

A tenacious original Venus knows how to stick with the program

Tina is one of original women to try out the Venus Index Workout when it first came out.  She has stuck with it since the beginning.

She got an email from Craig Valentine regarding Eat Stop Eat and that is how she found the Venus Index Workout by John Barban.

Like many of us Tina did the yo-yo on a variety of diets finding most of them complicated and unsustainable.  Tina found the biggest key in the Body Centric Eating Manual which is part of the Venus Index.  No one ever told her she was simply eating too much for her size.  She finally learned something that made sense;  the truth about calories.

Life is not fair but she realized that she had to stop eating the same size portions as her husband.  Portion sizes are designed for 6 foot tall men.

Tina really liked the goal setting metrics that are part of the Venus Index program.  This made sense to her.

Mindset is 90% of the battle

Tina had never had a problem with exercise, in fact she worked really hard and couldn’t seem to lose the fat.  She joined several Venus Index transformation contests and found that with each contest she dropped more weight each time.  Tina found most of the battle to be the mental mindset.  The contests and the Venus Index Community helped her get the mindset she needed to succeed.

Tina also found the the unsensored podcasts to be educational and motivational and attributes much of her success to listening to them.  It didn’t take long for her to want “all in” with the Immersion program.  She sees the value of investing in yourself and deciding you are worth it.

Tina's constant commitment to Venus Index brought her this far!

Tina a few months before the first ever Venus Transformation contest compared to finishing her last contest (VT6).  She has done a fantastic job!

Advice from Tina:

 

Read what Tina wrote about her experience with Venus Index:

I was always the thin girl in high school, no more than 100 lbs soaking wet. I started weight training to avoid “girls” gym  … Continue reading here.


Listen to Tina’s interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: calories, change, Contest, Interview, transformation, Uncategorized, weight loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Married to Adonis

February 22, 2013 by 3 Comments

Adonis, in Greek mythology, is the god of beauty and desire.   Venus is the Roman goddess of love, beauty, fertility, prosperity and victory.  A match made in heaven.  Mostly that is.

I think many women will admit that when they see a man in Adonis shape they get a physical and visceral reaction.  A frisson of energy and interest.  I have heard it is the same for men when they see a woman at her Venus metrics.


Adonis

 

There is a lovely symmetry when you can say that your soulmate is intellectually equal, emotional connected and physically matched.  However, there are a number of gender differences that can make this journey of togetherness a little challenging.

The truth about calories hurts

As an average height woman in Venus shape at just a shade under 5’4”, I am married to a 6’2” Adonis at his golden ratio.  At maintenance I get to eat about 1,400 calories per day……Adonis gets about 2,400 calories per day.

This really is a big challenge for me.  Portion sizes are made for big men.  Even a snack like a chocolate bar, a fru fru ‘grande’ sized coffee or a muffin can be 30% to 50% of my daily calorific intake.  Not for my Adonis.

We have all been trained over a lifetime to eat these portions.  For many women it is not just a matter of having a muffin less frequently.  It is a matter of both frequency and half sized portions.

I will give you a case in point.  My Adonis holds his maintenance at about 9-11% body fat (by DEXA).  When he decides to drop a little flab he stops his ice cream and chocolate intake and just start shedding pounds.

I hold my maintenance at about 15-17% body fat (by DEXA).  When I want to shed a little, I have to cut meals, portions, weigh everything and have no treats.  Then maybe the scale will move a little.

In general women just have to watch calories and portions more and cut a higher percentage of their daily calories to lose weight.

The truth is you cannot eat like a man and be Venus.

Muscle magic

Why is it that men just seem to look at a dumbbell in the gym and visibly start growing muscle.

I weigh about 60% of what my Adonis weighs.  Pound for pound I out-lift him on almost every move.  Yet my results pale into comparison with what he can achieve.  It is gender genetics and hormones but I find it really frustrating.

In addition a man in Adonis shape will have a body fat that is probably 8-10% less than a woman in Venus shape.  It is genetic, women just have a higher essential fat percentage.  In a man essential body fat is recognized as 2-5%, for women it is 10-13%.

This is important because on a like for like basis men will just be more ripped.  You will be able to see the muscles, striations, and more vascularity.

As a Venus you need to lift like a man but never expect the same results.

Ironman Mag Nov 2012

That crazy testosterone

That magic hormone that not only gives amazing muscle growth but also is responsible for that male courage and machismo to go and do crazy things.  Or to just be bigger and stronger.

I go to the gym with my Adonis but we also do all our adventures and sports together.  For us this includes skiing, mountain biking, hiking and sailing.  We typically do difficult and expert levels of these sports.

I know when I am standing on top of an extreme double black ski run that often times I am scared.  I worry about my physical strength and endurance.  I overcome this, but my Adonis just jumps in and off he goes.  When I look around it is quite rare to see another woman.  It is mainly men skiing together on this stuff.  Or some man trying to talk down his terrified wife.

Am I the only woman that feels like she is the weakest link in these physical pursuits?

Where are “U”?

Brad Howard’s “Attention U” explains how when we are at the top of our physical game we get attention and reactions from others.

It is true.  But I do think there is a gender bias.  When you are in Venus shape and maintaining more or less in fitness model shape, you will likely find you are an exception.  When you go to the gym you will likely be the only one with the mix of feminine shape, leanness and muscle.

For a man it is different.  At most big gyms across the world you will see 5 or 10 men in Adonis shape.  It is uncommon but not exceptional.

There is also a difference in the type of reactions an Adonis gets versus what a Venus gets.

I have spent the past 12 months working with my Adonis.  He is tall, in amazing shape and obviously strong and fit.  He just gets respect and instant leadership credibility.  People listen and believe him.

I too get a reaction but is more a recognizable spark of attraction.  I get my respect and leadership credibility, but I have to work it the old fashioned way.

Even at the gym, my Adonis gets asked about his program and results.  I on the other hand am much more likely to be told I look great.  No questions about how I got there.

An Adonis gets respect, a Venus gets attention.

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, Diet, Exercise, Muscle Growth, psychology, Shape Tagged With: , , ,

How To Become A Beautiful Beach Mom

February 18, 2013 by 1 Comment

Today John talks to Lisa Stout who placed tenth in the 6th Venus Index Transformation Contest.

Check out her transformation pictures from the 12 Week Contest:

Lisa Stout before the contest

Lisa Stout before the contest

Lisa Stout after the contest

Lisa Stout after the contest

A stay at home mom can make it work

Lisa was looking for a jump rope workout routine and found one on Rusty Moore’s Fitness Black Book website.  Rusty had good things to say about the Venus Index Workout so Lisa decided to try it.

She wanted a workout she could do at home while raising her three young children.  Lisa liked the three day Venus Index routine and the fact that all she had to do was follow the well laid out plan by John Barban.

For diet Lisa just followed the calorie estimates listed in the Venus Index program and did a little fasting.  She found she could skip breakfast and didn’t have to eat if she was not hungry.

Even though it was scary for her, Lisa joined the transformation contest to challenge herself.

Lisa found the Venus Index Community helpful because of the fact that it’s all women and that age was not a factor.  She noticed there were plenty of women over 40 years old and busy moms who were successful at their fitness goals and didn’t go to crazy extremes to get there.

 

You don't have to be a fitness model to be confident in a bikini

You don’t have to be a fitness model to be confident in a bikini

You don’t have to be a fitness model to feel confident in a bikini

The contest results were announced on Lisa’s 40th birthday and she was thrilled to have placed in the contest.

Lisa is especially happy because she loves to play at the beach with her kids.  She likes feeling confident in a bathing suit and being able to move and stay active with her children.

Even though her weight and measurements stayed the same, Lisa changed her shape significantly by following the 12 week Venus Index Workout and managing her calorie budget.

Lisa is inspired to try new physical activities and stay fit because of her accomplishments.

Links from the interview:

Advice from Lisa:

 

Read what Lisa wrote about her experience with Venus Index:

I finished all twelve weeks of the workout this time. Hooray for me.  The last two weeks
were the most difficult and  … Continue reading here


Listen to Lisa’s interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: calories, change, Contest, Exercise, Interview, transformation, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Creation of a Masterpiece: The Venus

February 15, 2013 by 3 Comments

Re-framing Fitness

One thing that eluded me throughout my fitness history was a concept that could have saved me from the beginning. You see most people go to the gym to work off their “eating failures.”  If I could have re-framed what the gym was about, it could have saved me years in getting to the body of my dreams.

venus_goddess_black_236832_l

You choose your statue’s look

Carve and Sculpt at the Gym

The gym is to build muscle and sculpt your body. Period.

I compare it to the carving of a statue. Without weight lifting, you are a blank piece of marble, just another stone in the quarry, nothing unusual.  The beautiful statues that are preserved in museums and studied by scholars the world over all have a sculptor who took time to carefully carve each muscle, getting each angle just right.

The artists used the Golden Ratio which is exactly what John Barban designed into the Venus Index Ideal for goal setting metrics.

This is what weight lifting can do for you- build each muscle until your physique is just right. You can even take down a prominent muscle group if you need to. The end result is a beautiful, well-sculpted body that is pleasing to the human eye.

Showcase your Work with Calories

Your calorie intake is akin to a sheet that covers the statue. It does not matter how much sculpting and time you have put into your statue, you cannot see the details beneath a sheet.  So until you get your intake in check and start bringing down your body fat percentages, that physique is going to be hidden underneath the covering.  As your body fat percentages come down, details will slowly start to show through the covering- collar bones, then bicep muscles, some veins, abs, etc.

Calories are King

Let me re-emphasize that you cannot out train a bad diet. A friend of mine once jokingly said that it takes her 30 hard minutes on a treadmill to burn 300 calories and about 30 seconds to inhale 300 calories of chips.

Do not mix the two:

  • the gym is for sculpting
  • the food is for showcasing the work.

Brad Pilon calls this “Fat Loss Divide and Conquer”

We do not work out to burn calories here at Venus Index, we workout to build our best bodies.   Once I sorted this out I found my success.

Liss found her Golden Ratio Venus Ideal by using the Venus Index goal setting metrics

Liss found her Golden Ratio Venus Ideal by using the Venus Index goal setting metrics

At some point close to the Venus Index Ideal, women usually find a happy medium where they have their best shape.  The “best shape” can be highly individual and is a level that fits your lifestyle; it is different for each person.

This is when your best attributes are showcased, and your calorie intake does not feel restricted.

That is what living at Venus Index should feel like- an everyday Venus.

-Liss

 

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, cardio, Muscle Growth, Uncategorized, Weight training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Nutrition & Training: Flexible vs. Structured

February 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 2.

Today’s topic: Nutrition & Training: Flexible vs. Structured

Are you a type of person who needs a meal plan for every day or can you handle more loose structured way of eating?

Are you a type of person who needs a meal plan for every day or can you handle more loose structured way of eating?

When it comes to nutrition & training advice, how much structure is best for you?

Our last episode was on optimal vs. practical training and today John Barban & Brad Pilon take this topic a bit further while discussing flexible vs. structured training and diet.

As stated in our last article with the rise of obesity it’s safe to say that an emergency is on our hands when it comes to our health and we must take action.  But what nutrition & training advice should we follow to become consistent obtain successful results?

The information on diet and fitness becomes more and more daunting. From nutritional strategies consisting of: macro/micro nutrients, slow/fast proteins, what foods are good, what foods are bad, and the highly controversial thoughts on meal timing, a person could become easily overwhelmed.

Things aren’t much better on the training side of the house as we are faced with a myriad of factors to take into account. Ranging from: Workout Intensity, Volume, length of actual workouts, and the rest/recovery period.

While some structure is necessary how much structure do you actually need?

At what point does too much structure hinder or stop your progress?

In today’s UNCENSORED training, you will also discover:

  • With consistency, effort, and patience anyone can change their look significantly in one year
  • Why structured metric goals along with a more relaxed approach to diet and fitness makes you successful
  • How to determine the level of structure you need
  • How the structure you need is a continuum
  • How fitness products sell too much structure with goals that are too vague
  • How Top Level athletes follow extremely strict regimes for a specific purpose that is unsustainable to the average person
  • How too much structure and restrained dieting will slow down your progress
  • How there is a minimal amount of structure needed for each individual
  • For diet the first level of of structure should be how much you eat
  • People spend so much time on diet structure that they miss the point that what matters is how much they eat
  • How to manage your diet so that it is less structured
  • How to manage your training so that it is less structured

 

Filed Under: calories, change, Diet, Exercise, stress, Uncategorized, weight loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Your Fitness Goals in the New Year, How Bad Do You Want It?

January 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment

What Is Your Motivation?

As we move into the New Year you might be starting to work on new resolutions or goals.  Will you be one who completes your goals this year?  How bad do you want it?  There is pain and sacrifice to achieve it, but there could be pain if you don’t achieve it.  Recently someone in the Venus Index Community posted this article “What is your Motivation?” and I was intrigued by the author’s use of pain motivation and his figurative “Alpo” as the pain.

I read this right around the US Thanksgiving holiday.   I was actually a bit frustrated on the holiday due to several weeks of social eating events and my jeans no longer fit comfortably.  Rather than have a meltdown I took a deep breath and decided I would not ruin the holiday with my precious husband Randy.  I would come up with a plan to fix the problem the next day.  The following day I decided to take a picture of the several pair of jeans that didn’t fit and place them on the refrigerator and pantry doors.  I also included a smiley face and the words “pain motivation”.  The picture reminded me of how awful I felt when the pants didn’t fit.

Be Kind to Yourself Right Where You Are, Right Now

As I was pondering this I had a thought about struggles and victories; cycles continue, struggle, victory, struggle, and victory. Self-worth issues don’t magically go away when you reach your fitness ideal. The best time to treat your body as the temple of beautiful treasures is right now, while continuing the lifelong seasons of reaching new goals.

Randy kind of frowned at me when I put up the picture in the kitchen because it was negative.  Not only that but he thought I looked perfect the way I was.   I was probably still somewhere around 12% body fat.  Since I tend to be hard on myself I have to be careful with the concept of pain motivation.  Many of my girlfriends tell me they must be careful with this concept as well because of a history of eating disorders that stem from issues of self-worth.  I’ve never had eating disorders or emotional eating issues but like many women I struggle with body image issues.  I have to remember that the images of fitness models in fitness magazines are Photoshopped.

I had to remind myself that even though I wanted to achieve a mini goal of fat loss that I was also okay right where I was.  I was healthy, I looked fit, no one saw the little extra bit of fat except me.  It was up to me to make the choice how far I wanted to take it.  Randy, knowing my personal history, warned me with his frown that he’d better not see me beating myself up over this mini goal.

Be Flexible, It’s Okay to Switch It Up

It only took a few weeks to achieve the goal of fitting into the jeans so I switched my motivator to a more positive pleasure motivator (the photo below with the quote “Nothing tastes as good as FIT feels”).  I still remember how I felt the day of this photo shoot and how ecstatic I was when I saw how the pictures turned out.  I decided to make my own (first ever) motivational poster and use it for myself to continue on with my mini goal.  So far it’s working for me.

I switched to a positive pleasure motivator.

I switched to a positive pleasure motivator.

How Bad Do You Want It

The author talks about moving from a state of “Coulda Shoulda Woulda” to a state of “Must” and that reminded me of when I reached my peak of weight gain in 2009.  My weight topped out at over 170lbs.  Something had to change.  I couldn’t possibly do more fitness so I had to change something else.  I had to change my mental mindset and I decided to simply eat less and cut my portion sizes in half.  As I made progress losing weight I constantly used a symbol in my mind of door #1 and door #2.  Door #1 represented achieving the fitness level I had always wanted.  Door #2 represented everything else, every excuse, and simply staying where I was or worse.

The vision of what was behind door #2 was so painful to me that I felt I had no choice.  I must take door #1 which meant continuing to eat at a calorie deficit.  It didn’t mean I had to deprive myself of food; I simply had to eat the right amount to achieve my goal.  This is the beauty of the Anything Goes Diet, Eat Stop Eat, and the Venus Index principles.  Every day when I wanted to eat more than I needed I simply told myself I could have more tomorrow (door #1).

I realized that I used the pain and pleasure motivators all along; door #1 was painful to go through at times but pleasure was on the other side, and door #2 was more pleasurable to go through but pain was on the other side.  Which did I want?  I chose door #1 just about every day for two years.

This dress was my motivator and my reward for achieving my goal.

This dress was my motivator and my reward for achieving my goal.

I had posted up a catalog picture in the kitchen of a swim dress from an athletic clothing company because I wanted to purchase and wear the dress someday.  The picture was a symbol of my door #1 and I kept it posted in the kitchen for about a year.  I achieved that goal and purchased the dress and wore it to the Caribbean last Christmas.  It was my motivator and my reward.

Positive Motivators Worked for Shannon As Well

My friend Shannon who is a busy working mom and wife struggled all her life with weight fluctuations up and down.   She said the tools that finally helped her nail down her success were the Reverse Taper Diet, the Anything Goes Diet, and the Venus Index Workout metric goals using the “Golden Ratio“.

For motivation Shannon said this:

       My past experiences taught me about several components to successful weight loss:  estimating my daily calories so I can be sure I am in a deficit, following an exercise program that I enjoy, taking measurements to track my progress, and working towards a set of daily goals. 

     The process isn’t all that exciting, but the outcome is!  I have been using a planner and stickers to track several daily goals since before my baby was born, including a sleep goal, a calorie deficit goal, a step goal, and a workout goal.  I get a sticker for hitting each of these daily goals, and I find that the number of goals I hit in a week is strongly correlated with weight loss (or maintenance) success. 

     It’s a simple system, and I can easily see the little wins as they pile up.   I like to think about these daily goals as little gifts I am giving to myself every day that have both short term and long term positive effects.

Shannon’s results motivated her husband to start the Adonis Index program.  I would say positive motivation worked very well for her indeed:

Positive motivators worked for Shannon

Positive motivators worked for Shannon

Experiment and Find What Works for YOU

Motivation is different for each person.  You must first define what you want and set your goal.   Then find what motivates you.  Be flexible and if something isn’t working try something else.  Make sure it’s fun and really does motivate you.  Be kind to yourself at all times.  You can change and adjust your plan any time you want.  That is the beauty of experimentation.  You don’t have to stay stuck in a plan that is not working, causes you anxiety, or ends up being destructive to your self-worth or self-image.  We all make mistakes sometimes and learn from them.

  • Set goals
  • Experiment
  • Find what motivates you
  • Make it fun
  • Be kind to yourself
  • Make it a daily routine
  • Track progress
  • Get support
  • Give yourself rewards
  • Be flexible

It is the Yew Year, 2013.  What are your goals?  How bad do you want it? Make it happen.

Ro

 

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, Diet, Exercise, fat loss, Food, Health, Metabolism, psychology, Shape, Uncategorized, weight loss, Weight training Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Ten Thousand Ways that Won’t Work

August 10, 2012 by 1 Comment

“Ten Thousand Ways that Won’t Work…”

As I finally started finding success with my weight loss I exclaimed to my husband Randy “I can’t believe how simple this is yet I failed at it for at least 15 years!”

So Randy reminded me of the quote Thomas Edison made regarding his process for inventing the light bulb:

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ― Thomas A. Edison

Randy and I both laughed at how I found probably the 10,000 ways how not to lose weight!   Although the victory is still sweet for me, you don’t have to take 15 years and wait until you are 50 years old like I did.

Lifelong Eating Habits Engrained

As a young child I grew up in a poor family with four siblings and a single mom who tried her hardest to care for us under extreme adversity.  This was in the 1960’s and although we lived in the land of abundance it did not always make it to our table.

This was back when bringing food stamps to the store felt shameful yet my mom held her head high and did what she could to provide for us.  I remember how she treated all the food in the refrigerator as a precious commodity.

Circa 1969, I am on the far left and that is my identical twin on the far right.

We didn’t go out to eat much and she prepared healthy meals for us and packed our school lunches.  She would get mad if we tried to skip breakfast and she was always there in the morning to cook something simple like one fried egg and a piece of toast with butter.

We didn’t have a lot of snacks.  On occasion we might get a treat and go to taco bell.  I laugh at the memory of it because there were 5 or 6 menu items to choose from, all pictured up on the overhead wall.  Looking back, I think she had it right back then.

But I also remember her making us popcorn and placing it in a big bowl in the middle of a round table. All of us kids sat around the table and scarfed it down as quickly as we could afraid that others would get more.

Overall I think this season of my life taught me to appreciate the food we had and to not mindlessly eat.

The next season of learning about food happened for me in the foster homes I lived in after that.  I was fortunate to live with a Filipino family and an Italian family who both taught me how to cook their ethnic foods.

I was always ambitious and loved to be the one who cooked dinner and receive the praise for the meal.  We prepared our food at home and going out to eat was a rare treat.   At this point I started eating more and eating seconds was encouraged in both families, but I was young enough and luckily wasn’t too chubby (yet).

This was probably where learning about food portions started becoming distorted for me.

Me at California International Marathon a while back.

Learning to Love Exercise

My first high school job was as a summer camp counselor and I decided then that I loved the outdoors and being physically active.

I started my first full time job at a high tech company during my senior year of high school. The company I worked for encouraged physical activity and the work environment was like a college campus.  There was a par course and running trail, gyms, locker rooms, showers, basketball and volley ball courts, and even a softball park.

I took an aerobics class in the campus gym when I was 19 years old and that is when I met a 50 year old instructor who had the body of a teenager.

The image of her always stuck in my mind and I decided I wanted to be like her when I was 50.

I didn’t stick with the aerobics class because it didn’t fit my schedule but I learned that music made exercise more fun.

I started running outside and lifting weights at the gym and bought my first Walkman.  Walkman’s were expensive and it was a big clunky thing that used cassette tapes and ran on double A batteries but it was well worth the investment.  It helped me look forward to exercise (If you are not feeling like working out, music will always give you that needed pump).

If you are like me then you may also hate running and even weight lifting. However, if you stick to it for some time, you will start seeing some amazing results and the positive effect exercise can have on your mood and life in general, and you WILL LOVE IT.

The Slow Weight Gain Creeping up, Sounds Familiar?

The fact that I spent my lunch hour exercising meant I had to pack my food rather than go to lunch with other employees.

For years I packed my food and ate when I could during breaks.  These were habits that serve me well today.  What I didn’t realize was that my portions were still too big and I ate too much.

I exercised hard and at one point realized I had run six miles a day, six days a week for 10 years, along with weight lifting and other physical activities.

This was in the 1980’s when eating fat free and high carb was the in thing and so I did this for many years.  The memory makes me cringe now.  All the running made me hungry and I ate too much.

I ate this way for years while running marathons and couldn’t figure out why I was not the athlete that I wanted to be.

As time went on my weight kept doing the slow creep up so I tried several popular diets which only worked temporarily and some didn’t work at all.

These were the diets I tried (if you been in involved in this industry for a while chances are you’ve tried them too):

  • Low fat high carb
  • Slim-Fast
  • Weight Watchers
  • Atkins
  • Organic
  • Weston Price Diet
  • The Schwarzbein Principle
  • Eat Fat Lose Fat
  •  The Ultimate PH Solution
  • The Makers Diet
  • A  friends diet from a personal trainer/dietician

I finally just got sick of it all and made up my own diet with healthy foods I enjoy and smaller portions.

I ate my meals from small desert plates and bowls.  I stopped eating in the evenings.  I started calling what I did mini-meals and mini-fasts and I lost 40 lbs.  Then I found Eat Stop Eat, The Venus Index Workout, and the Venus Index Community.

I recently read the Anything Goes Diet.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in losing weight or maintaining fitness.  I found this book to be amazingly insightful and John Barban covers all bases.  Honestly the book is so good that I can’t see how you wouldn’t succeed if you actually read the book and followed the principles.  It gave me some new ideas for my own maintenance plan.

Even though we still have so much diet confusion and conflicting advice in the media it seems like the simple truth is buried there, eat less, move more.

Here are some examples where the truth does exist in sometimes humorous ways.  I do not necessarily agree with everything in these articles but you can see some points of truth:

After attempting various diets and eating restrictions over the years I have learned to cherry pick from them and found what works for me.  Some days I temporarily change things up and eat low carb or try something different.

Still, my all-time favorite books about thinking of successful ways to eat are John Barban’s Anything Goes Diet, Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat, and Bethenny Frankel’s “Naturally Thin”.

 

Before and After. The slowly the weight crept up year after year, but the Venus Factor gives you hope.

Before and After.  Slowly the weight crept up year after year, but the Venus Factor gives you hope.

Don’t get Discouraged by Failures

Don’t get discouraged by failures.

Every successful person has failures and part of why they are successful is that they learn from their mistakes.

It is just like Thomas Edison inventing the light bulb.  You don’t have to reinvent the light bulb or the wheel.

The tools are right here right now.  Using the available tools may not stop you from all your mistakes, but you can keep your chin up and learn from them.  Most likely these tools will prevent some wasted effort and you won’t have to wait until you are 50 years old to achieve your dream.

If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.

Thomas A. Edison, Encyclopedia Britannica

US inventor (1847 – 1931)

Since you don’t have to learn the 10,000 ways how not to lose weight like I did, what are you waiting for?

It is never too late to follow your dreams!

-Ro

Filed Under: Bodyfat, calories, cardio, change, Diet, Exercise, fat loss, Food, Health, Shape, weight loss Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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