In this weeks episode I had the extreme pleasure of interviewing Tom Venuto, fitness write, entrepreneur and lifetime natural bodybuilder.  He has also written articles for numerous health and fitness magazines.

Tom is not only very smart but also one of the nicest guys in the industry.  His book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle has helped literally thousands of people transform their lives.  It’s been in ebook form for about 10 years and now it’s being released in hard copy.  In this interview we discuss his book and I hit him with a bunch of questions about it.  He was also nice enough to answer some listener questions.

Trust me, you will come out inspired and ready to take on your challenges after listening to this.  Here’s what we discussed and the questions I asked him:

• A brief history about the book and how it came to be
• Why I like the book – it’s simplicity!
• You used to be a chubby kid, right?  What made you decide to change?
• From what I’ve read, a big part of your approach is the “mental training” or mindset. Can you talk about why you think that’s so important?
• What is the role of nutrition to getting and maintaining results?
• You say that you still use bodybuilding style training to this day even though you’ve retired from competition but you might not recommend the same workout you use to everyone else. Why is that?
• Is it possible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?
• What’s the best way to avoid losing muscle mass when trying to lose fat?
• Can you give our listeners a brief overview of the LEAN plan of action?
• Who is Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle good for?  In other words, who should pick this up when it comes out?
• In Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle you speak a lot to the importance of strength training.  Why is it so important?
• What would be the #1 piece of advice you’d give someone who is looking to start their own journey?

Listener questions:

Michelle Watt-e: Should certain foods be avoided if trying to lose fat and build muscle ?

Suzy Hanks: Do the cravings ever go away?!

Charles Johnson III: There is so much information and so many recommendations, I feel like I know so much. Maybe too much.  For those who want to make a body composition change (“burn the fat”) but are drowning in info overload, where is the best place to start?

DeShon Bell: what are some exercises you would suggest that burn core fat most efficiently?

Collette Cooper: What are his thoughts on supplementing with BCAA’s during fasted training?

Resource Links

Buy the book: Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

(Amazon affiliate link)

Burn the Fat Blog website

Facebook: Tom Venuto – Burn the Fat

You can also find him on Twitter here