And in today’s post, I’m going to share 3 such fat loss mistakes with you. These are things that slow your ability to burn fat but…

Not anymore…if you take action on what I talk about today. Ready? Let’s go.

Fat Loss Mistake #1 – Too Much Low-Intensity, Long Duration Cardio

I’m amazed that some people think that because of my Treadmill Trainer running workouts, I’m a proponent of long-duration running (or cardio for that matter). But as you know, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Even if you’re a runner, instead of spending 4-6 a week killing your body with endless punishment, you’re far better off spending 2-3 days doing interval training runs. This will lead to better results, with less training, and fewer injuries. Just look at all the people our Treadmill Trainer interval training running workouts have already helped!

But the EXACT same thing goes for fat loss.

Thanks to the good old ’80s and those damn cardio machines that show us that our “fat burning zone” occurs at a very low percentage of our maximum heart rate, millions of people have come to believe that going “nice and easy” for an hour or more is the ticket to fat loss.

This is a topic I’ve written about extensively in the past so if you want the straight-forward, no B.S. answer here it is…

High intensity exercise is the key to fat loss!

The reason for this is that regardless of whatever “fuel burning zone” you’re in during exercise, all that matters is how many calories you burn during your workout. At least from a cardio workout.

However, the other and more important piece of the exercise equation is…

You guessed it…

Strength training!

I’ve said it a million times, if not more.

If you want to burn fat, a single 30-60 minute cardio session is not good enough. Not even 3-5 times per week. Not if you want LONG-TERM results.

The reason you need to strength train is because you need to do whatever you can to speed up your metabolism. And this only occurs by developing more lean mass (ie. muscle) via strength training. Your resting metabolic rate accounts for 70% of the calories you burn each day. Therefore, a single workout is not going to make that much of an impact.

However, over time, you can begin to boost your metabolism via strength training because you’re essentially altering your body composition so that you are more muscle and less fat.

And that’s the key to long-term fat loss success.

Consider the following example…

Person A weighs 200 lbs at 10% body fat (pretty muscular indeed). Essentially, 180 lbs of lean mass.

Person B weighs 200 lbs at 30% body fat (not very muscular and borderline obese). Only 140 lbs of lean mass.

Now because muscle (lean mass) is more metabolically active than fat, it will burn more calories. Thus, in this simple example, person A would burn more calories at rest because he has more fat-free mass. Got it?

This is very important for you to understand because cardio DOES NOT build muscle!

What does cardio do?

It burns a few hundred calories (if you’re lucky) in the short-term, usually lasting no more than a few hours after your workout.

However, if you want to do cardio, that’s fine. Just spend more of your cardio sessions doing interval training. This will ensure you’re working at a higher intensity and burning more calories.

Sound good?

Awesome. Let’s move on.

Fat Loss Mistake #2 – Eating Like Crap

This seems pretty obvious. And it should. A bad diet is killer if you want to lose weight and burn fat.

As important as high-intensity exercise is for burning calories, diet is still about 80% of the fat loss equation. You can never out train a bad diet. Not if you want to get lean.

That’s why what you put in your mouth is critical for losing weight. And the good news is that it’s pretty straightforward…

Eat less. Eat more plant-based whole foods (raw is best). And Avoid grains as much as possible.

If you did just those 3 things I guarantee you would see amazing fat loss results.

The problem is that because the diet and weight loss industry is so massive, there are always new sexy diets that continue to pop up which promise the weight loss breakthrough that everyone has apparently overlooked.

But the reality is that eating for fat loss is really simple – in theory. Application is obviously a different story.

For now, let’s keep it simple and just try following the 3 food rules that I’ve highlighted above. And if you want more help with your diet, then you can always grab a copy of my Eating for Energy program (which I could just have easily entitled “Eating for Weight/Fat Loss” – the principles are the same).

Fat Loss Mistake #3 – Lack of Support & Encouragement

Most people don’t recognize just how important having support and encouragement is in order to achieve ANY goal you set for yourself.

Unfortunately, there are lot of negative people in this world that don’t want you to reach your goals. They try to hold you back and tell you can’t do it. But all they’re really saying is that THEY can’t do it.

Many times, these negative people are part of our family, our work colleagues, and perhaps even our best friends.

Just imagine how amazing it would be if everyone around you was there to support you 100%. They were always telling you…

“Way to go! You can do it!”

“We believe in you. You’re the best!”

“Just because I didn’t do it, doesn’t mean you can’t. Go for it!”

These kinds of statements would be great to hear on a daily basis – and from as young an age as possible. But the truth is that this just doesn’t happen to most of us. And if it does, then continue to surround yourself with these people.

Otherwise, you need to find a new support network. You need to be surrounded by supportive and encouraging people (like me ) that will tell you that YOU CAN DO IT no matter what!

That’s what I believe. I believe that you can achieve anything as long as you want it badly enough and are willing to put in the work.

But your fat loss journey will be so much more easier and more enjoyable if you are surrounded by positive people who will stand behind you and support you along the way.

Social support is perhaps one of the biggest overlooked pieces of the fat loss puzzle.  But I want to help you. That’s why I’m here!

==> On a scale of 1-10, where do you rate yourself/your situation in these 3 areas (1 = not good, 10 = amazing)? How could they be better?

On Saturday, we played one of our arch rivals – Carleton University – and lost our first home game in 3 years!

It was a crushing 1-0 loss considering we gave up a goal (from a long throw in) that we had trained all week to defend against!

Anyways, as you can imagine, the guys were distraught.

But there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. For us, that light is the fact that we’re hosting the National Championships in November, which gives us an automatic spot in the “big show”.

Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean that we’ll be settling for sub-par results and poor performances.

But nor will we let one little loss derail our season. There’s no way that we’re going to let a little hiccup stand in the way of our dream goal – winning the National Championships!

How about you?

Have you had a small hiccup on your road to your goals?

If so, has it set you back?

If you answered YES to these questions then I need to tell you something…

Move on!

You may have seen those WWII posters that have made a come back with the slogan…

“Stay calm and carry on.”

That’s exactly what you nee to do if things don’t always work out as you wish they would.

You need to be able to put the set-backs behind you and continue moving forward. Otherwise, life becomes a “why me?” or “poor me” game.

Let me give you another example.

Think about the stock over the past 25 years. Specifically, the Dow Jones.

The Dow-Jones 25 years ago was at 964 points. Ten years ago it was at 5,117. And this morning it sits at 10,860 points.

Now would it be realistic to say that the market was ALWAYS on the rise.

Not at all.

The market went through periods of lows and highs. Just like you and me!

As you well know, the last few years haven’t been the greatest for the market and the economy but that doesn’t mean things are going to keep getting worse.

If history has told us anything it’s that, in general, we move onwards and upwards.

And the same thing will happen with you.

If your goal is to lose weight you need to realize that you WILL NOT lose weight in a linear fashion every single week.

Some weeks you’ll lose more, others less, and maybe others none at all.

The key is to realize that that’s part of the process.

And, as long as you’re following a healthy nutrition plan and workout system, you’ll be fine – it’s only a matter of time!

Have patience and faith in yourself and the process.

It might also be helpful to remember that if someone else did it…

So can you!

You can bet your last dollar that our soccer program will be working hard each day and perfecting the little details of our game to reach our goal.

And I want you to do the same.

Have a great Monday!

You know what I mean…

Bad eating habits. Not feeling motivated to workout. Just feeling pretty “blah” overall.

Have you ever been able to relate to this?

Recently, one of my youtube viewers wanted help with such a situation. She’s been in a rut for quite some time and was looking for help in overcoming bad eating habits.

Here’s what she wrote me…

“Hello Yuri, I watched your videos all the time and I think they are very informative and helpful but I still find myself very stuck in finding ways to START getting back into shape and eating well.

Here’s a little bit of my background; for starters growing up we always ate very tasty and starchy kinds of foods making it hard to appreciate the natural more simplier foods (fruits and vegetables) but I do understand the importance of having a healthy diet.

It’s a constant battle between letting go of all I know and what I’m use to, to learning a totally different way of life. All myself since no one around me eats healthy foods, which makes it even harder and more tempting to keep eating all the bad foods. I believe I am addicted both mentally and physically to bad food.

Back in Decemeber 09′ I started juicing for my health (I have had high blood pressure every since I was 18) and I was starting to feel better, my mind was clear, I was doing great in school, had more energy, and I found myself more happier and in tone with the world but then I was having really bad stomach pains and constipation.

I figured I was probably allergic to one of the fruits and/or vegetables I was consuming so I stopped and went back to the vicious cycle of bad eating.  As far as my body goes, I always had a fast metabolism and I put on muscle easier than most people I know but at the present time I am overweight (170lbs, 77.2kg) I don’t work out because of the side effects of the bad foods which make me groogy and tired.

I know I probably have a deeper rooted issue with food, perhaps emotional eating but I have to find a way to break out of this bad cycle. So I guess my question to you is, if someone like me were to come to you for help what would be the first thing you would tell them? What would be your plan for them? and so forth…. Any input will be greatly appreciated.”

As you can see, there’s a lot going on here. So to give the best possible answer I could to this individual, I put the following “Ask Yuri” video together.

Give it a watch and let me know your thoughts or questions in the comments below!

=> Click here to learn more about our natural cleansing program.

In the meantime, I put together a quick little video describing 2 amazingly simple, but very powerful, tactics to help you eat healthier.

Watch and learn:

Give these 2 healthy eating tips a shot and let me know if they’re helpful for you or not.

Have a great day!

Yuri