On the right hand side there’s a very familiar looking calculator. Heck they even call it the Adonis Index!

Great News!

Unfortunately it goes kinda downhill from there.

Downhill part one is that they are using the Adonis Index to promote their own product.

Downhill part two they got the actual calculation wrong!

Men’s Health is using the Chest to Waist Ratio, not Shoulder to Waist.

From my experience that’s a big mistake.

Back when I was really into power lifting I had a 44 inch chest and 47.5 inch shoulders.

I can tell you that this was a BAD look.

I was a barrel.

My T-shirts either a) hung off my chest like a bell, making my stomach look fat or,

b) were tight enough to fit my stomach, but made me look like I had man-boobs.

After altering my workouts for the better part of 3 years my measurements are now a 42 inch chest and 49 inch (ish) shoulders.

I know it’s only a matter of an inch-or-two here-or-there, but it makes a HUGE difference in how I look and how clothes fit.

So here’s the bottom line

I’m glad that the theory behind the Adonis Effect (and Venus Effect too) has made it onto the menshealth.com homepage, but sad that they’re using it to promote their own product, and that they got the calculation wrong.

BP

Weight lifting (or any form of resistance training) helps you burn more fat while on a diet then you would with just the diet alone.

You can read Adam’s post HERE, and be sure to check out the great graph!

BP

PS- Even my program EAT STOP EAT isn’t just about meal timing and short periods of fasting for weight loss - it is the combination of short periods of fasting combined with resistance exercise. I truly believe that this combination is the key to long term weight loss success!

I get up. I make some oatmeal. Clean the kitchen. Go up stairs. Brush my teeth. Turn on my computer. Check my email. Then I laugh (or sometimes cry) while reading all of the new stories about the latest and greatest “fat loss” ingredients.

It is an absolute mystery to me why, after over 20 years of failed promises, we still turn to magic ingredients and magic foods for fat loss.

What shocks me even more is that we are still hoping to find something we can eat that will cause us to lose fat. It is almost becoming an oxymoron.

We are looking for something to consume that will make us consume less!

Here are just some examples of magic foods and ingredients in the new today:

Recent research (performed in a test tube) suggests that extract from Chilli peppers may stop fat growth. According to this research Chilli extract may hold the key to preventing immature fat cells from developing into mature fat cells.

In a different study, it was suggested that spearmint tea can not only lower a man’s sex drive but can also decrease the amount of hair on a women’s body. (Admittedly, this isn’t fat loss research but if you think the body builders in your gym smell bad now, wait till they read this research and stop brushing their teeth for fear that they may be lowering their T levels!)

Finally, more research shows that dairy calcium (but not calcium supplements) can cause a decrease in the amount of fat in your blood after a meal.

I can’t really tell you too much about this study because I stopped reading after the first page that mentioned that the study was funded by the Danish Dairy Research Foundation and the Dutch Dairy Association!

A Dairy Foundation and a Dairy Association funded the study, and the study found that dairy calcium, but not calcium supplements had weight loss benefits? Please.

Now honestly, there is some merit to this research. Eating more spices on your food is definitely a good idea. Eating foods that contain calcium is also a good idea.

However, thinking that taking chilli extract pills or consuming 3 bowls of ice-cream per day will make you lose weight IS NOT what you should be taking away from this research. (Nor is skipping your morning tooth brushing!)

If you want to lose weight there are only three things you need to do, and you don’t need to read any research to do them.

Firstly, find a nutrition plan that works for you.

Secondly, get active. And I don’t mean walk on the elliptical for half an hour every other day, I mean get a real work-out program and challenge yourself.

The third and last thing you need to do is to stop (or don’t start) falling for the media’s version of the latest and greatest fat loss research. It will only lead to disappointment and is usually a very poor and hyped up version of what the research was really telling us.

These are the real 3 “magic” fat loss ingredients!

BP

Eat Stop Eat

It all started with a very well written and well researched article that Adam wrote about diabetes and carbohydrates. If you’d like to learn more about Adam’s article and the American Diabetes Association’s response then Click HERE to visit Adam’s Blog.

BP

Fasting Diet, Circuit Training