Hey Friend,

  I saw a post on Facebook yesterday and it reminded me that there's something I haven't discussed in a while.

This particular individual said that she was struggling to lose weight and her coach/trainer recently upped her cardio.

She was confused.

Why isn't my body responding when I just added in two additional cardio sessions per week?

Umm...because cardio sucks for fat loss. :)

That's right, I said it.

I actually didn't say it to her.

She already has another coach and one thing I will never ever do is step on toes.

Even if I disagree with the approach.

If you've got a coach and something doesn't feel right.. tell your coach!

If they don't listen.. get a new coach. LOL.

Anyway, let's get back to our good friend, cardio.

Cardio has a ton of health benefits (assuming it's used and not abused).

However, it's actually a pretty bad for getting fat loss results.

Why?

Because it's a very manual way to burn calories.

You have to work pretty hard with not much to show for it and it doesn't do you much good after the fact (from a fat loss perspective).

Cardio can improve your mood. Make you feel accomplished. Improve your cardiovascular health. Stamina. Heart health. And plenty more.

However, it doesn't do much in terms of fat loss.

Sure, you burn a bunch of calories for that 30-60 minute or however long session.. but that's about it.

Your body doesn't burn any additional calories post-workout like it does with strength training.

Your body also can accommodate for the manual calorie burn by subconsciously moving less throughout the day.

Your body may also feel hungrier and have more cravings as a result of doing cardio.

But the real kicker is that your metabolism becomes more efficient with calories.

The more cardio you do, the less calories you burn from the same amount of cardio.

So what's the answer? Even more cardio?

That gets old pretty quickly.

Just like with calorie restriction (not fasting, but restriction. There's a big difference.)

What do you do when your body adapts to low calories? Go even lower?

Hopefully you know better since you're a subscriber to my emails ;)

Anyway, we should be looking at ways to prime our metabolisms for sustainable fat loss.

That means fueling with protein and training in a way to support more calories being burned at rest.

Strength training helps.

Eating the right foods helps (especially protein and fiber).

Drinking enough water helps.

And moving more throughout the day helps.

Cardio can be used as something you simply enjoy doing, whether for pleasure, or for the other health benefits.

But let's not act surprised when additional cardio doesn't lead to additional fat loss.

Instead, work smarter, not harder.

Eat real foods.

Fast sometimes.

Prioritize strength training and walking.

Use cardio in the amount you enjoy and be sure to monitor your hunger response and overall stress.

Structure your plan in a way that best suits your personality type.

Integrate the process to allow for things you enjoy doing like date nights, restaurant meals, social events, alcohol, etc.

And listen to your body to see what makes you feel your best.

Or you can shoot me a reply to this email and I can do all of that for you.

If you do.. I can assure you I won't get you unstuck by recommending more cardio ;).

I've been able to successfully work through many a plateau in the most efficient way possible.

If you're feeling stuck, you should probably hit reply.

I'll make sure you're a good fit for my program and if you are, we can get started right away.

Kevin

P.S. I just started posting a lot of cool content on Instagram (all of the cool kids are on Instagram :) My Instagram account is @kevinvalluzzi. If you're on there, follow me to get all of the latest info on fitness, fasting and weight loss.