Top 10 Fat Loss Foods
by Tom Venuto author of the Online Best Seller
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Anytime the topic of discussion in my blogs, articles or newsletters has turned

to my own personal grocery shopping list, there has always been a spike in interest.

It seems that many people are not only curious about what foods a natural

bodybuilder eats to maintain single digit body fat, but they also want to be

taken by the hand and told exactly what foods to eat themselves while on

fat-burning or muscle building programs.

Of course, I can’t tell you what YOU should eat because I don’t know your

likes and dislikes, not to mention whether you have any intolerances, allergies

or foods you don’t eat for ethical reasons, etc.

What I CAN do is show you what I eat, which has helped me keep my body fat

under 10% all year round and peak in the low single digits when I want to

get cut for competitions or photo shoots

I decided to put together four separate “top 10″ lists of healthy foods to feed

your muscle and burn fat.

Exact quantities and menus are not listed, just the individual foods, and of

course my food intake does vary.

I aim to get as many different varieties of fruits and vegetables as possible

over the course of every week and there are a lot of substitutions made,

so you are not seeing the full list of everything I eat, only what foods I eat

most of the time.

I also want to point out that while I don’t believe that extreme low carbs

are necessary or most effective when you look at the long term, research

has shown that there are some definite advantages to a low to moderate

carb and higher protein diet for fat loss purposes.

These include reduced appetite, higher thermic effect of food and “automatic”

calorie control.

Personally, I reduce my carb intake moderately and temporarily prior to

bodybuilding competitions. Specifically, it’s the foods that are on the starchy

carbs and grains list that go down during the brief pre-competition period

when I’m working on that really “ripped” look.

I keep the green and fibrous veggie intake very high however, along with large

amounts of lean protein, small amounts of fruit, and adequate amounts of

essential fats (“LEAN, GREEN and MARINE!”)

This list reflects my personal preferences, so this is not a prescription to all

readers to eat as I do. It’s very important for compliance to choose foods you

enjoy and to have the option for a wide variety of choices.

In the past several years, nutrition and obesity research – in studying ALL

types of diets – has continued to conclude that almost any hypocaloric diet

that is not completely “moronic” can work, at least in the short term.

It’s not so much about the high carb – low carb argument or any other debate

as much as it is about calorie control and compliance. The trouble is, restricted

diets and staying in a calorie deficit is difficult, so most people can’t stick with

any program and they fall off the wagon, whichever wagon that may be.

I believe that a lot of our attention needs to shift away from pointless debates

(for example, low carb vs. high carb is getting really old… so like… get over it

everyone, its a calorie deficit that makes you lose weight, not the amount of carbs).

Instead, our focus should shift towards these questions:

* How can we build an eating program that we can actually enjoy while still

getting us leaner and healthier?

* How can we build an eating program that helps us control calories automatically?

* How can we build an eating program that improves compliance?

Here are the lists of foods I choose to achieve these three outcomes. This eating

plan is not difficult to stick with at all, by the way. I enjoy eating like this and

it feels almost weird not to eat like this after doing it for so long.

Remember, habits work in both directions, and as motivational speaker

Jim Rohn has said, “Bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with and good

habits are hard to form but easy to live with.”

These are listed in the order I frequently consume them. So for example, if

oatmeal is on the top of the list, it means that is the food I am most likely

to eat every single day.

My 10 top natural starchy carb and whole grains

1. Oatmeal (old fashioned)

2. Yams

3. Brown rice (a favorite is basmati, a long grain aromatic rice)

4. Sweet potatoes (almost same as yams)

5. Multi grain hot cereal (mix or barley, oats, rye. titricale and a few others)

6. White potatoes

7. 100% whole wheat bread

8. 100% whole wheat pasta

9. Beans (great for healthy chili recipes)

10. Cream of rice hot cereal

My Top 10 top vegetables

1. Broccoli

2. Asparagus

3. Spinach

4. Salad greens

5. Tomatoes

6. Peppers (green, red or yellow)

7. Onions

8. Mushrooms

9. Cucumbers

10. Zucchini

My top 10 lean proteins

1. Egg whites (whole eggs in limited quantities)

2. Whey or Casein protein (protein powder supplements)

3. Chicken Breast

4. Salmon (wild Alaskan)

5. Turkey Breast

6. Top round steak (grass fed beef)

7. Flank Steak (grass fed beef)

8. Lean Ground Turkey

9. Bison/Buffalo (lean game meats)

10. Trout

My top 10 fruits

1. Grapefruit

2. Apples

3. Blueberries

4. Cantaloupe

5. Oranges

6. Bananas

7. Peaches

8. Grapes

9. Strawberries

10. Pineapple

Note: I DO include healthy fats as well, such as walnuts, almonds, extra virgin

olive oil, flax seeds, flax seed oil (supplement – not to cook with), avocado

and a few others.

Also, I do eat dairy products and have nothing against them, nor am I lactose

intolerant. I simply don’t eat as much dairy as the rest of the stuff on my lists.

When I eat dairy, its usually skim milk, low or non fat cottage cheese, low or

non fat yogurt and low or non fat cheese (great for omelets).

Last but not least, I usually follow a compliance rate of about 95%, which

means I take two or three meals per week of whatever I want – stuff that is

NOT on these lists – like pizza, sushi, big fatty restaurant steaks, etc -

whatever I want (contrary to the persistent rumors, I’m not some cyborg

or “food neurotic” that never enjoys a good restaurant meal…

believe me – I DO!)

I hope you found this helpful and interesting. Keep in mind, this is MY food

list, and although you probably couldn’t go wrong to emulate it, you need

to choose natural foods YOU enjoy in order to develop habits you can stick

with long term.

If you’d like to learn more about fat burning nutrition and what to eat for

maximum fat loss, then be sure to take a look at the

go ====> Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program.

Thousands of men and women call this their “fat loss bible” – and it comes

with some bonuses that go into more depth about the best healthy foods to eat

* Foods that burn fat

* Foods that turn to fat

* The A-Food, B-Food Lecture, How to get good grades

on your food choices

And, Burn The Fat includes a “clean food” data base which shows you

in a quick reference chart an extensive list of exactly what to eat.

For more details on fat burning foods and Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle,

just go to: Burn The Fat – Feed The Muscle

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto,

Fat loss coach

Tom Venuto is a celebrity fitness consultant and fitness coach specializing in fat burning and muscle.
You can find out more information on his best selling fitness plan at his website
Go —> Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle