Merry Christmas!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. This is a difficult time of year for fat loss, but it still is possible.

That being said, don't be afraid to have a good time. Have a couple drinks, eat a little dessert, have some fun! Just don't go overboard.

This is one of the most special times of the year for a lot of people and I want you all to enjoy it. Spend some quality time with your family and stop worrying about fat loss for a while.

As long as your not too crazy, you'll get right back on track in a couple days.

Merry Christmas!

-Matt Maresca

The True Beauty of Fat Loss

Have you ever accomplished something difficult?

I'm sure you have, so how did it feel?

Pretty darn good, I bet.

Now, let me give you a hypothetical example. Suppose you were to run a race against someone with a broken leg. You, of course, win easily. However, you do not end up feeling very satisfied. This is because it was, in fact, very easy. You did not actually accomplish anything great at all. This was no thrill of victory. There was no satisfaction of achievement.

Suppose, on the other hand, you were to run a race against a former track star with two good legs. This would be a much more difficult match. If you were to go on and win this one, it would be a remarkable accomplishment. You would feel great. You would go and brag to all your friends. It would be something to not easily be forgotten.

If you play chess and beat a nine year-old just learning how to play, you would not feel much from the victory. On the other hand, if you were to beat a world champion, it would be an unforgettable experience.

My point is that the beauty of fat loss is that it can be a monumental achievement in your life. It can be an experience that you never forget. It can drive you to bigger and better things. It can make you grow as a person.

And it can do all this because fat loss is not easy. It is a challenge.

I want you to take this challenge that you have in front of you and embrace it. Take full advantage of the opportunity to find out a lot about yourself.

I don't want you to just dig deeper like all the other people who are "giving it 110%". I want you to dig where they are all digging and then dig even further. Get to that point where 99.9% of people stop pushing and go a little bit further. Go to the point where you would normally stop and then take another step.

That is called growth. I want you to grow.

Fat loss is not just about a better body and better health. It is about finding a better you. And once you have found that "better you", it is about bringing that person out each and every day of your life.

That is what makes your fat loss journey so beautiful.

Go out and find yourself.

Try it with your next workout. Try to push a little harder than you would normally push and get in that extra rep or two. Push a little harder on the treadmill or bike. Take your workouts further than you would normally go. You will love how great it makes you feel.

And you will learn a little bit more about what your body can really do.

Fat loss is all about the person you become along the journey.

That is the philosophy being my book that can be found at www.conquerthefat.com.

Weight Loss Gimmicks and Gadgets Demolished

There have been a number of gimmicks, gadgets, and fads that have become popular in the so-called “health-craze” that has taken place in recent years. You know what I’m talking about, that health-craze that has led our society to deeper levels of poor health and obesity. Some craze that is!

We’ve seen hundreds of diets surfacing in the past few years with a few becoming very popular. These diets range from low-carb to high carb, from high protein to low fat, from calorie restricted to fasting and liquid diets, etc. Anyone who has had an idea for a diet and been able to present some kind of scientific study to support its claims has been able to profit by going after desperate consumers.

Is that what I’m doing with my program?

No, absolutely not. I am actually doing the exact opposite. I do not want to create a craze or a frenzy surrounding my program. What I’m looking to do is bring an end to all the fads and all the trials and tribulations. I want to bring about some stability to those looking to shed some pounds of bodyfat. I’m looking to transform lives and make it simple to do so. And when I say simple, I do not mean easy.

Diets that come and go are fads. They are fads for a reason. They simply do not stand the test of time. Either they are impossible to follow for a significant period of time or they produce short term weight loss due to losses in bodyfat, muscle, and water only to see the weight come back in bodyfat and water with a deficit in muscle. This is something that will be discussed in more detail later. The important thing to understand right now is that 99% of the diets on the market produce temporary results. The studies they cite are either loosely related, not reliable, short-term, or finagled a little to make the diet look good.

Enough about diets, though. There are millions of products on the market that are supposed to make losing weight easy. Some are exercise programs. Some are in the form of diet pills. Others are in the form of exercise products. Once again, approximately 99% of these are completely ineffective for your fat loss goals.

Seriously, how is an abdominal machine supposed to help you dramatically reduce your bodyfat? You’ve seen the commercials for those products with the machine that you can use while watching TV that is supposed to sculpt your abs like Michaelangelo did David’s. You are supposed to see that six-pack from working just minutes a day in the comfort of your own home. Then they present the before and after pictures of people who have used the machine. These people not only lost a tremendous amount of bodyfat, gained that six-pack, but they also built some nice muscle in their arms, chest, back, and legs.

All that with just minutes a day using a simple ab machine? Sign me up. I’m sold. But wait, that’s not really possible, is it?

No, my friend, I’m afraid it is not. Using an abdominal machine is not going to produce significant fat loss results. It is not going to give you a six-pack. And it certainly is not going to build muscle anywhere but your abdominals. It might tighten up your stomach’s appearance slightly, but no more than some other exercises would that are more effective overall.

This is why you must say no to those abdominal gadgets.

There are a few tools you can use in your workouts like stability balls, medicine balls and balance boards. These can work great if utilized properly.

Just avoid those gadgets that seem like their claims are too good to be true because they probably are.

A lot of people are out there to trick you. Be careful. Do not trust someone just because you saw them on TV. Unfortunately, a lot of people in the fitness industry do not know what they’re doing yet claim to be experts.

I’ve read articles in magazines that make me shake my head. I’ve read programs created by so-called expert trainers that make me cringe. I’ve heard of celebrity trainers whose workouts could’ve been created by someone with absolutely no experience. A lot of the advice out there is just dumb.

The reason for this is that the fitness industry is relatively new, especially when it comes to fat loss. Years ago, the world was not concerned much with fat loss. Most people were in pretty good shape. This was before the convenience age that I have discussed in other articles.

Nowadays, everyone is trying to cash in on the huge problems we are currently facing. In the United States, a third of the population is obese and two thirds are overweight.

There are thousands of people trying to put an end to this by offering ludicrous advice that took very little though and consideration. Thousands more are offering products that simply do not get at the heart of the problem.

The heart of the problem is that people are not willing to work hard. People are not willing to change, and until that are then our current problem is going to continue.

Do not be fooled by products and advice that claims to make fat loss easy. It is not going to be easy at all. Hopefully that point will be hammered down by now. Hopefully the world will realize this soon and those who made their half-hearted attempts to “solve the problem” just to cash in will be made broke. Then those who really want to help and really have the ability and knowledge to help can take center stage.

Healthy and effective fat loss really is simple when you break the process down, but it will NOT be easy.

Here's Your First Christmas Present

I decided to get the drop on everyone else this year by making sure that I was the very first person you know to start giving out Christmas presents, and what a present I've got for you!

I've been asked by my friends Dax Moy and Pat Rigsby to contribute a very special e-book that I've just finished working on called Conquer the Fat: Mental Makeover to their 12 Days of Fitness Gift-Giving Program.

The e-book will teach you step-by-step exactly how to break down your old, weak fat loss mindset and overcome the biggest things that are preventing you from achieving phenomenal results. This report is the missing piece to your fat loss repertoire.

But whilst I'm pretty excited about being able to offer you my gift, I'm absolutely over the moon that I've been chosen as one of a handpicked group of just 250 health and fitness experts from all around the world to participate in the largest gift-giving program ever.

This means that, as well as getting your gift from me, you'll be able to download a sackful of videos, audios, ebooks and special reports on just about every area of health and fitness from Diet to Nutrition, Fat loss to Strength training, Back pain to Mom's fitness and just about EVERYTHING in between.

Seriously, Dax and Pat have ensured that only the very best quality gifts have been allowed into this years gift-giving, meaning that many of the contributors have created gifts that you would happily pay for...

But you get each and every one of them for free!

All you have to do to get you hands on my e-book (and the other couple of hundred amazing gifts, of course) is pop on over and register your name and email address at www.12daysoffitness.com and you'll get the whole lot delivered to you with my compliments by way of thanks for reading the Conquer Fat Loss blog.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Get on over to www.12daysoffitness.com now! : )


Matt Maresca


P.S - Feel free to tell your family, friends or work colleagues about this promotion so that they can take advantage of this massive gift-giving. After all, it's not every day that you get access to this kind of information for free right?"

Time to Repair

Thanksgiving is now over and it is time to repair the damage done by that huge carbohydrate-rich meal. It's time to step your fat loss efforts into high gear. Don't do what most people do and wait til after New Year's. Holiday season is not the time to cease all workouts and good eating habits. Keep up the hard work and your body will thank you with your best year ever.

My Turn

It's my turn to try some of my own fat loss techniques. I put on a good bit of weight over the past couple months. Most of it was muscle, which was my goal, but some of it was fat. Now, I realize that I don't have a bodyfat problem, but it still would be nice to get more of a ripped look.

Unfortunately, a wrist injury has precented me from doing any kind of upper body work. I also can't do lower body work involving free weights. This has been the case for 3 weeks now. I'm hoping one more week of rest will do the trick, but I'm really not sure. But, instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself, I intend to do some leg work on Monday and Wednesday with a tough session of interval training on the bike on Tueaday.

I also need to change up my diet a bit to cut out some carbs except around my workout period. I can't wait to start going at full-strength again.

Matt Maresca
www.conquerthefat.com

P.S. The injury was my own fault and I should have taken care of it when it first happened. It probably would have healed in just a few days had I done this, so don't feel bad for me.

Simple Answer

Q: What is the biggest killer of a fat loss program?

A: Lack of consistency.


It really is as simple as that. Put in a consistent effort in which you constantly challenge your body by following a sound workout and nutrition plan; and you will get results.

So why aren't you being consistent?

What did you do today?

What did you do yesterday?

What will you do tomorrow?

The answers better all be in line with your goals.

Another Quick Note About Fat Loss vs. Weight Loss

A few people have come up to me in the past and said something like, "My clothes are fitting more loosely and I can notice some changes in my body shape, but I'm not losing that much weight."

And to that I respond with, "Great!"

If you're looking better, feeling better, and your body is responding positively to your efforts then what is the problem? Do you think anyone really cares how much you weigh? Do you walk around with your weight posted on your forehead?

Seriously, weight is not that big a deal unless you are at a risk for serious diseases. Even then, excess bodyfat is the main problem. Which of these situations would you rather:

1) Lose 5 pounds of fat and 5 pounds of muscle for a total weight loss of 10 pounds.

2) Lose 10 pounds of fat and gain 5 pounds of muscle for a total weight loss of 5 pounds.

Unless you haven't been following, you would probably agree that the clear choice would be #2. Don't worry about the scale if all other signs are positive.

Why Do I Say Fat Loss?

A lot of people ask me why I always use the phrase "fat loss" and not "weight loss". Quite frankly, I don't give a rat's butt about weight loss. What good is weight loss if all you've lost is muscle or water weight. I care about losing bodyfat. Whether you realize it or not, this is what you care about, too.

For one thing, you need to preserve as much muscle as possible to keep your metabolism high. This will help you lose additional fat and keep it off long-term. Most people put weight that they had lost through diet and cardio back on relatively quickly due to a loss of muscle. If you were to gain a couple pounds of muscle, your overall weight loss profile might not look as good, but you would be in a much better position to continue on a positive trend of losing bodyfat.

Another reason to be concerned about fat loss is that it looks darn good! When you lose fat and muscle, you may get skinnier but you don't have that nicely defined figure that looks so great in a bathing suit. Add a little muscle and burn a little more fat and you will start turning heads!

Don't worry too much about the numbers on the scale. Look at bodyfat %, measurements, clothes sizes, and the way you look in a bathing suit. Remember, fat loss and not weight loss.

Push-Button Society

There has been some discussion in the media recently regarding the dramatic increase in obesity and people getting significantly overweight all over the world. Some have suggested that the people are to blame. If you are fat it is because you are lazy. Others have blamed society. The world is making it easy to get fat. I think both theories are correct. We are all to blame. We are living in a push-button society in which we expect a quick and easy solution to every problem.

Picture this. You come home at night after a very tough day at work. You are hungry but you do not feel like making anything. You just want to hurry up and satisfy your hunger and get some much-needed and well-deserved rest. And most people would not blame you one bit for feeling this way. So, you go to the fridge and pull out a frozen dinner. You pop it in the microwave, push a button, and in a matter of a few minutes you have a hot dinner ready to be eaten.

Now dinner is over. You feel better now that your hunger has been satisfied. You are ready to put your day’s work behind you and clear your head. You need something to entertain your mind for a little while. What do you do? You go into the living room, sit down on the couch, grab the remote, push a button, and…voila. Entertainment!

Once you are done being entertained for the moment, you decide that you want to know what is going on in the world. You want to know where the most death and destruction is occurring. You want to know why one political party is criticizing the other now. You want to know what actress just broke up with her singer boyfriend. So you go to your computer and click away. Each button push gets you more and more answers and it is so satisfying that you keep going for over and hour.

During the time you were clicking away on the Internet, you happened to come across an advertisement for some swimwear. This got you thinking. “I wish I could wear that and look like that actress who just broke up with her singer boyfriend,” or the guys “I wish I could walk next to a girl on the beach who was wearing that and have her think that I looked good enough to be with that actress who just broke up with her singer boyfriend.”

Now you are picturing yourself on the beach in your current shape. It gets you to declare your determination to lose some weight and flatten your stomach. But how do you do that?

Well, if you can push a button and have a hot meal ready in minutes, if you can push a button and have entertainment for an hour, and if you can push a button and learn what is going on anywhere in the world, why can’t you push a button and get the body you want?

And there we have the core of the attitude of our push-button society.

This may seem to be an exaggerated example. I mean no one really thinks they can push a button and get a “hot” body, do they?

Maybe people don’t think this exactly, but, at the root of the matter, the feelings are the same. We want something now and we want getting it to be easy. It seems as if we have put that old say that “nothing worth achieving comes easy” to pasture. We want everything to come easy and when it doesn’t we get discouraged.

This is a huge problem because fat loss is not easy. It can not be easy. We are talking about changing your body composition. We are talking about reversing months or even years of damage. This cannot be accomplished with the push of a button. There is no magic pill that does this. There is no magic exercise that can be done while laying in a comfortable position that does this. There is no diet that can make you lose 30 pounds of bodyfat in 30 days and keep it off.

We are living in a world of lies and disillusion. We want everything to be easy and comfortable. We want fast results without having to put in much work for them.

Here is a newsflash people: The world’s population is getting fatter everyday even while technology is improving. If getting the body of your dreams were easy, then why, in this day in age, would we not all look great in our bathing suits? Why are so many people extremely overweight if successful fat loss is easy? The answer, of course, is it’s not easy!

Losing bodyfat and improving your physique takes hard work and dedication. It takes discipline and courage. It requires sacrifice and consistent application. All this comes down to each person individually. We must destroy this push-button lifestyle. Sure, it is great having modern conveniences, but they should not take over our lives.

If you want to burn that fat, flatten your stomach, and feel healthy then you are going to have to work for it. The first step to achieving these goals is to understand that it is not going to be done with the push of a button.

The overweight and obesity problems we are currently facing in the world are due to both society and individuals. We have created a mentality that everything should and can come easy. If we are going to reverse this problem then we most begin by creating a new mental approach to life and fat loss. And yes, even this cannot be accomplished with the push of a button.

For more, please visit http://www.conquerthefat.com and get on my mailing list. Let's conquer this fat loss problem together.

Yours truly,

Matt Maresca

Meet Your Fat Loss Guide

Hi guys, I am Matt Maresca. I am glad that you decided to check out my blog. I am sure that I will be able to be of help to you in achieving your fat loss goals. That is my aim with this blog. I want to change the scope of the world of fat loss, and hope to start seeing more success stories.

In fact, there is nothing better than a good success story. That is why, if you have one, I want you to send it over to me and I will post it on this blog (with your permission of course). Hopefully, your success story will inspire others to go after their dreams.

If you do not have a success story just yet, don't worry, it is on its way. Just keep plugging away in the gym and keep practicing sound nutrition habits. You will succeed, and you have to keep that positive approach. For now, if you are struggling with something, feel free to send me an e-mail with questions and comments. I'll try to help you out as best I can.

Go ahead and bookmark this blog and check back daily. It is my goal to post something every single day, most likely at night before I go to bed. And if I am going to help you reach your goals, then I better make darn sure that I reach my own. That is one of my philosophies: practice what you preach. OK, so I didn't make that up myself, but it is still something I believe in.

I leave you with this piece of advice: Develop a plan for yourself that you will follow every day. Take some time in creating it so that it is a plan that will take you to your goals. Once you have that plan in place, act on it! Follow your plans to your greatest dreams and you will get there, so long as your plans are accurate. But remember, you will never get to where you never try to go.