Foods That Burn Fat, Foods That Turn To Fat

Foods That Burn Fat, Foods That Turn to Fat This recommended list of “fat-burning foods,” also known in the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) program as “the terrific twelve,” might be the most valuable resource you’ve ever laid your hands on. Although the possible variety is your food choices is nearly infinite, these twelve are the staple foods that should make up the foundation of your program. Variety is important, but these are the foods you can’t go wrong with and the ones you’ll keep coming back to time after time.

1. Oatmeal

If I could only choose one source of complex, starchy carbohydrates for a fat loss program, this would be it! Oatmeal is the one carbohydrate food that virtually 100% of all bodybuilders and fitness models eat on a daily basis. What makes it so great? Well, although it’s a starchy carbohydrate, oatmeal has a nice balance between carbs, protein and good fat.

A half a cup contains 3 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbs and 5 grams of protein. The low glycemic index, combined with the presence of protein and fat makes oatmeal a very slowly released carb – exactly what you’re looking for when you want to get lean. Make sure you choose the all-natural oats; either old-fashioned oats (such as Quaker) or the quick oats. Stay away from the sweetened and or flavored oatmeal packets. Oatmeal is delicious with natural (sugar free) applesauce and cinnamon. Or, try some crushed walnuts or flaxseeds in your morning oats, which will give your “porridge” a nice crunchy texture while adding those desirable “good fats” we all need. For a complete meal, try a couple scoops of Vanilla Praline flavored protein powder in your oatmeal. If you get tired of oatmeal, there are plenty of other cooked whole grain cereals in the “oatmeal family.” Look in your local health food store (or a gourmet supermarket) for barley, wheat, titricale, rye, oat bran and flax cereals (or a multi grain combination of the above).

2. Yams (and sweet potatoes) 

Right behind oatmeal, yams (and sweet potatoes) are probably my second favorite starchy carbohydrate. Flavorful, all-natural, low in calories, and packed with nutrients and antioxidants like beta-carotene, it’s no wonder yams are a favorite carbohydrate among bodybuilders, fitness competitors and health-seekers alike. According to Brian Rowley, science editor for FLEX magazine, “Bodybuilders use yams when cutting bodyfat because they are low on the glycemic index. Waxy white potatoes (boilers) are high on the glycemic index, so they make an excellent postworkout meal, but nothing compares with a yam the rest of the time.”

Although the glycemic index is a secondary factor when making carb choices on the BFFM program, if you’re carb sensitive or if you’re on a very strict diet (like a contest diet), then the glycemic index should be given more weight in your choices. Yams are one of the best. Sweet potatoes are not exactly the same thing as yams (they’re slightly higher on the glycemic index), but they’re otherwise similar, which also makes them good choices for fat burning diets. You can identify a yam by its darker orange color, pointier ends and unusual sizes/shapes. Combine a yam with a green veggie, a chicken breast, lean red meat or fish, and you’ve got yourself a perfect fat-loss-for-idiots-diet fat-burning, muscle building, metabolism boosting meal.

3. Potatoes (white or red) 

Potatoes have earned an undeserved reputation as a food to avoid on a fat loss program. But think about it; Potatoes meet every criteria of a great carbohydrate: potatoes are a complex carb. They are all-natural. They contain fiber, vitamins and minerals. They are filling. They are low in calories. So why do people avoid them? One reason is because they confuse a dry potato with a loaded potato. Smother a potato with butter, sour cream and bacon bits and then you’ve got yourself a fattening, calorie-dense ensemble. Eat it dry or top it with Butter sprinkles, salsa or your favorite low fat, low calorie topping and you can’t go wrong. Another reason people might avoid the potato is because they are using the glycemic index as their primary gauge for choosing carbohydrates. Potatoes are high on the glycemic index, which means they are absorbed as blood sugar very rapidly.

What most people don’t realize however, is that when you eat your potato as a whole meal with your favorite lean protein, the glycemic index of the entire meal is much lower. Most people also don’t realize that some white potatoes are higher in the GI than others. Baking potatoes are higher in amylose, a slow releasing starch, so the glycemic index is lower. Russet potatoes are also moderate on the GI. Waxy potatoes or boilers are high GI foods. If you’re extremely carb sensitive or hypoglycemic, then you might want to eat more yams than white potatoes, but generally speaking, white potatoes make a superb addition to almost any fat burning diet. I personally eat white potatoes right up until the day of a bodybuilding contest and I have no difficulty reaching 3-4% body fat.

4. Brown Rice

Brown rice is another staple food of bodybuilders and you often see the “muscled ones” chowing down platefuls of rice, both in season and out of season (in smaller quantities during the “cutting-up” season). Prior to contests, bodybuilders sometimes reduce the amount of rice (starchy carbs) and add in more green veggies (fibrous carbs), but rice is a solid year round staple, as long as you keep your calories in check. Obviously, this means avoiding fried rice or other rice dishes that have added fat and calories. Steamed or boiled rice is the way to go. Of the many types of rice, slow-cooked brown rice or basmati rice are your number one choices. Instant (pre-cooked) rice is fine when you’re in a crunch for time, but the instant rice digests much more quickly and is processed in the body more like a simple carbohydrate. The same goes for white rice, especially the sweet variety that’s usually served in Chinese and Asian restaurants (including sushi rolls). White rice is the processed version of brown rice. Although it’s still technically a starchy complex carbohydrate, the white rice burns faster and has been stripped of much of its nutritional value. When you’re on a very strict fat loss diet, stick with the slow-cooking brown rice for best results.

5. 100% whole wheat and whole grain products

The “baseline diet” can and should contain a wide variety of bread products with one condition: They must be made from 100% whole grains (and the label must say, “100% whole wheat” or “100% whole grain” as the first ingredient). White bread and anything made out of white flour is not allowed in any quantity on this program (except the occasional planned “cheat meal”). If you’re particularly carb-sensitive, then bread – even the whole wheat variety – is one of the first things to go.

A small handful of people – usually one in 200, depending on what source you listen to – have sensitivity to the gluten in the wheat. Gluten is a protein found in wheat products and, much like lactose intolerance from dairy products, gluten intolerance can cause digestive difficulties and bloating in certain individuals. Most competitive bodybuilders drop out all the pasta and bread products for the 12-16 week dieting period before a contest, then usually put them back in for off-season maintenance. On very strict fat loss diets, wheat and bread products are usually eliminated completely. Generally speaking, however, 100% whole wheat and other whole grains are perfectly acceptable additions to a healthy diet for long term body composition control, it just depends on how “strict” you want or need to be with your nutrition.

6. Green fibrous vegetables (broccoli, green beans, asparagus, lettuce, etc) 

Fibrous carbs are your number one choice for fat burning carbohydrates. Green vegetables, also known as fibrous carbs, hardly contain any calories (they have a low calorie density). It’s virtually impossible to overeat green vegetables. Eat them liberally and eat more of them late in the day. A diet of green vegetables combined with lean proteins is one of the best methods of getting lean as quickly as possible.

7. Fresh Fruit 

Whole fruits are a fantastic, healthy food suitable for nearly any fat loss program. Although there are some “guru’s” in the bodybuilding industry who claim, “fruit is fattening,” this statement is somewhat misleading. It’s true that a diet of mostly complex carbohydrate will give you better results than a diet of mostly simple carbohydrates, but that’s not the same thing as saying “fruit is fattening.” Although fruits are simple carbohydrates, they are natural simple carbohydrates. Most fruits are low in calories, low in carbohydrate grams (compared to starches) and high in fiber.

Some fruits such as raisins are extremely calorie dense and best avoided when you’re on a strict fat loss program and your calorie allotment is small. Fruits like apples, peaches, grapefruits, and oranges, at only 60-80 calories apiece (or less), are a great addition to almost any nutritional plan. Just make sure the majority of your carbohydrates are of the complex type. An all-fruit or mostly fruit diet won’t be as effective for fat loss as one that is mostly green fibrous carbohydrates with lean protein.

8. Skim milk & nonfat dairy products

“Dairy products” cover an entire category of foods including milk, cheese, yogurt, sugar free frozen yogurt, and cottage cheese. To make it on the BFFM “approved” list, a dairy product must be labeled “fat-free,” “skim,” or 1% lowfat. Whole milk dairy products are not allowed, as they are high in fat. Even 2% low fat milk is still 37.5% fat by calories.

Dairy products are a “combination food” – they contain carbohydrates and proteins. Because the protein found in dairy products is high quality, complete protein, a high protein dairy product can count as an exchange for a protein food. For example, you could have non-fat cottage cheese as a protein instead of a serving of lean meat. Non-fat cheese can also boost the protein content of a meal. Yogurt tends to have less protein than cottage cheese, so a single container of yogurt wouldn’t count as a full protein serving. In fact, yogurt would count more as a simple carbohydrate exchange than a protein (although, you could mix in a scoop of protein powder into your yogurt to make it “high-protein yogurt).

9. Chicken Breast (and Turkey Breast)

Chicken and turkey are probably the number one most popular protein sources among bodybuilders and fat loss seekers. Remove the skin and get the light meat found in the breasts. The thighs are higher in fat and calories. Naturally, your poultry should be broiled, grilled, or roasted and not fried.

Also, we’re talking about the real bird here, not the sliced lunch meat you find at deli’s or pre-packed in supermarkets. Lunch meats are processed proteins. Some nutritionists call them “fabricated foods” because they are made from a mix and poured into a mold before being cooked and wrapped. While these are acceptable occasionally, don’t make them a staple in your regular daily diet. Lunch meats are loaded with sodium, preservatives, binders, fillers and other nasty chemicals that you don’t want floating around in your body!

10. Egg whites 

The name of the game in fat-burning, muscle-building nutrition is to eat a lean protein with every meal. With zero fat, egg whites are as lean as lean proteins get. Egg whites are right up there with chicken breasts as one of the top three lean proteins of choice for losing fat and gaining muscle. Eggs are a super-high quality protein. The problem with whole eggs is the high fat and calorie content. Fortunately, 100% of the fat is in the yolk, while the protein is split evenly between the yolk and the white. This doesn’t mean you have to throw out all your yolks, but it does mean you should limit your yolks. I’d recommend one yolk for every six whites you eat. Just crack them open, and separate the yolk from the white using the edge of the shell. Or, even easier, simply use “Egg Beaters” or another packaged egg white product. There must be hundreds of ways to make eggs, so use your imagination: Omelets, frittatas, scrambled, fried (in nonstick spray), over easy, sunnyside up, hard-boiled or any other way you like them, use egg whites liberally!

11. Fish and shellfish

Many people complain about the lack of variety in a bodybuilding-style fat-burning diet, which typically has you eating egg whites, tuna and chicken day in, day out. What most people don’t eat enough of is fish and seafood. By using different types of fish and shellfish as protein sources, you can add an incredible amount of variety a well as getting those valuable good fats. Here is just a partial list of fish to consider: salmon, tuna, haddock, flounder, mackerel, trout, snapper, sea bass, swordfish, mahi mahi, perch, orange roughy, sole, Halibut, herring cod and catfish.

As with other meats, eat your fish baked, grilled or broiled and avoid fatty, high calorie sauces and butter. Most fish are very low in fat and high in protein. Some fish, such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and trout, are high in fat. However, because fish is so high in Omega 3 fatty acids, these fish can and should be used liberally. Shellfish have many of the benefits that fish have and it can add some variety to your diet if you’re getting bored of egg whites and chicken. This category includes shrimp, crab, lobster, mussels, etc. By the way, when you’re eating in restaurants, fish is a great choice, as long as you make sure there are no hidden bad fats or extra calories.

12. Lean red meat 

Bodybuilders are quite famous for loving their red meat. Many bodybuilders believe that red meat helps muscle growth, and there may be much truth in that statement. Red meat is high in protein, B-12, iron and creatine. The problem with most cuts of red meat is the high fat content. However, not all cuts of red meat are the same. It’s a mistake to label the entire red meat category as a no-no because of high fat content. If you carefully choose the leanest cuts possible and keep your portion sizes small, red meat can be a great addition to a fat burning program. For example, a 6 oz serving of lean, trimmed top round steak has only 9 grams of fat, while a 6 oz of untrimmed porterhouse has 37 grams of fat (and the 18 oz porterhouse you’re often served in a steak house has over 100 grams of fat!)

About the Author: Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, personal trainer, gym owner, success coach, freelance writer and author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle" (BFFM): Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models. Tom has written over 160 articles and has been featured in IRONMAN magazine, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine, Olympian’s News, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise. Tom’s informative and inspiring articles have been featured in literally dozens of websites and e-zines worldwide. You can visit Tom on the web at Fitness Renaissance (www.fitren.com) or www.burnthefat.com. You can subscribe to his monthly E-mail newsletter at www.fitren.com/listserv.cfm

What This Blog Can Do for You

This Blog not only gives you tools to help you to evaluate how over fat you are and what diseases you are at risk for, it gives you a strategic plan to take off the excess fat and keep it off. Here is some of the important fat loss information you will receive from this blog.

1. Changing a relationship with food is not like changing a relationship to drug addiction. I can’t tell a person who is morbidly obese, “You’ll never be able to eat again for the rest of your life.” That’s impossible. But in this blog I can teach you to transform food from an enemy into an ally by explaining how it works in the body. The food program in The Fat-Burning Bible is not only delicious but will never leave you hungry.

2. People often ask me, “Is all fat bad?” No, it is not. Everyone has to have a certain amount of body fat to survive. But there are healthy and unhealthy body fat percentages. Most important, there are healthy and unhealthy ways for fat to be distributed in the body. A normal man carries his fat above the waist. A normal woman carries hers in the hips and buttocks area. When your fat crosses the line and your body begins to take on the fat pattern of the opposite gender, then you have developed a potentially dangerous configuration known as a reverse fat pattern. This blog shows you how to identify that pattern and how to eat in a way that will help burn fat and normalize where you carry your fat weight.

3. Studies have shown that women burn more fat at low to moderate levels of exercise intensity and men at moderate to high levels of exercise intensity. The exercise program in this blog is designed to capitalize on these findings to help you boost your metabolism and achieve maximum fat loss for the time invested. During the basic four-week Fat-Burning Metabolic Fitness Exercise Plan, you will be performing 300 minutes of specially designed exercise per week, six days a week. If you wish to capitalize on your new found metabolic efficiency and fat-burning capacity and lose even more weight, I offer you two more four-week programs that decrease in time but increase in intensity. In the second month, you will only need to exercise for 260 minutes per week, five days per week, and by the third month you will only need 200 minutes four days a week. My maintenance program, which is 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise, will keep you slim for life.

4. If you faithfully follow the Metabolic Fitness Plan, in as little as four weeks you will see a dramatic improvement in your overall appearance. You will lose an average of 14 to 16 pounds of scale weight in one month. For each pound lost, you should lose an average of three-quarters of an inch in your total body measurements. You will drop 0.75 percent of body fat/week. (If you continue into the third month, you will lose 1.5 percent body fat/week.) If you are a woman, you will drop two to three dress sizes in one month. If you are a man, you will see 2 to 4 inches disappear from your waistline.

5. If you choose to go to your doctor and get a lipid profile, you will most likely see an improvement in your total cholesterol, HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides, and glucose. While heredity plays a part in the lipid profile—for example, high cholesterol runs in some families—studies have shown that people can control approximately 70 percent of hereditary factors through lifestyle.

6. If you suffer from imbalances in your levels of human growth hormone, thyroid, testosterone, and estrogen, you will see dramatic improvement in your hormonal profile in as little as four weeks.

7. Fifty percent of our children are obese or overweight and a significant number of kids are already experiencing major health problems such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, deformities of the hips and knees, asthma, premature puberty, increased triglycerides, high cholesterol, and decreased levels of HDL. When an airplane is in trouble, parents are told to put on their oxygen mask so that they can help their children.

The only way that we are going to save our kids is to put on the mask—to take responsibility for developing healthy nutritional and exercise patterns ourselves. This blog will give you powerful strategies to deal with fat accumulation as you age. As fat-related health problems spiral out of control in our society, the knowledge I am offering you here can literally save your life. If you are just beginning to put on fat, it can reverse this dangerous trend and keep you from succumbing to diseases prematurely in your thirties and forties.

Eating For Health AND Pleasure!

I believe that enjoying food is an essential part of being successful at living and loving a healthy life!

The fear of "giving up good food" deters many people from taking the step toward eating healthy. It certainly would make me hesitant! I love food, which is why I am in this business. And I would never want anyone to stop enjoying food for the sake of being healthy.

At least once a week someone will tell me, "I don't know if I'm ready to start a healthy eating program yet. I don't want to give up good food." In their minds, healthy eating is not pleasurable. I disagree!

In my opinion, those people who believe that "foods that promote weight loss and living a healthy life exclude foods that taste good" are wrong! If you are one of these people, rethink that thought, otherwise it will most certainly sabotage your success!

The idea is not to "give up food" but rather to "eat and enjoy food" to lose weight and be healthy!

When I first learned that I had "Insulin Resistance" at a medical conference many years ago, the speaker was advocating a "low carbohydrate" diet such as Idiot Proof Diet, Atkins or Protein Power. My first thought was, "He's telling me that I have to give up brownies for the rest of my life!" (I didn't realize how much I loved brownies until I was told that I couldn't have them!)

I knew that I couldn't live with such a plan and that I definitely could not recommend them to my clients! At that moment, I went on a mission to find a way to eat brownies and other high carbohydrate foods forbidden on other "diets" and still control insulin levels, eat healthfully and lose weight!

I discovered that the secret is not to exclude foods but to include all foods in moderation, and to focus on the foods that will help you to stay healthy!

In fact, you should focus on including adequate amounts of these foods every day! The USDA guidelines for healthy eating recommend that all adults include three servings of whole grains, 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups of fruits and vegetables, and three servings of low fat dairy foods daily.

We know from many years of research that diets that are rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy foods can help to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. So there is no reason to exclude these health-promoting foods from your diet.

And don't think for a minute that this style of eating is dry, tasteless and boring!

Envision, if you will, some wonderful options:

Can you imagine a table set with foods from the Mediterranean? Foods that are centered upon fresh, ripe vegetables of the season, robust sauces, and freshly picked herbs. Here is a culture of wonderful foods that, for the most part, are healthy and low fat (other than a moderate use of healthy olive oil). No one can say this type of healthy food lacks flavor and passion!

Now consider an Asian table. Think about crisp, delicately seasoned stir-fries, spicy Sichuan, Hunan, Indian or Thai dishes, clear broth soups, or fruity island delights. These foods also focus on fruits and vegetables and on delicious flavor!

Let your mind wander now to South and Central America. Again, foods from this culture are anything but dull and boring! They rely on spices, vegetables and whole grains for their basis and their flavor!

Think of other foods that you love.

If your idea of great food is a double cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake, you are right in thinking that these foods won't get you very far in your efforts to eat healthy or lose weight. But that doesn't mean that you have to trade them for rice cakes with dry tuna and a plain salad with lemon juice!

Many of them can fit nicely into a healthy diet, perhaps with a few modifications to make them lower in fat or to add more vegetables or whole grains. I often find that I enjoy the new and improved versions even better! And any foods can be included as an occasional splurge, even double cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, or brownies!

My advice is to start today to gradually change your way of eating to add more fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy foods, and to reduce your saturated and trans fat intake.

Don't wait till you are ready! You are ready now! What do you have to lose but a chance to enjoy some wonderful foods with delicious flavor and to improve your health?