Venus Factor Diet Program

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Table of Contents
Venus Quick Start Guide 4
PART 1: THE VENS !ACT"R 1#$%EE& %E'GHT ("SS NTR'T'"N PR"GRA)
 
C*a+ter 1: Ho, to Get Started %it* t*e Venus !actor -
 
C*a+ter #: %*at is t*e Venus !actor. /
     Your New Venus Family 11
     Balance 12
 
C*a+ter 0: Gender 1i2erences in )etabolis3 10
     Size Diference 13
     Body Compositon 13
     Leptn 1
 
C*a+ter 4: Nutri4on Science 1-
     !a"#$p Days %s& C'ea" Days 1(
     Disin'i)i"ed !atn*+ ,-ood Food. %s& ,Bad Food. /'in0in* 1us" -o 1(
     2o"#Bu3on Foods 24
     5'a" S'ould 6 !a"7 21
     1eal /imin* and 1eal Fre8uency 29
     !*o Depleton 2:
 
C*a+ter 5: Calories #-
     De;ci" %s& 1ain"enance 2<
     1e"a)olic =a"es 2(
     /'e /'eory o> Fa" ?%aila)ili"y 31
     /'e =e%erse /aper @ro"ocol 33
 
C*a+ter 6: 1#$%eek ndula4n7 )etabolic "8erride Pro7ra3 09
      
3
C*a+ter 9: 'ntroduc4on to )eal Plannin7 b: Roberta Sau3 4;
sin7 t*e Venus !actor Virtual Nutri4onist 4#
     1A444#Calorie 1eal @lans 9
     1A144#Calorie 1eal @lans B:
     1A244#Calorie 1eal @lans 9<
     1A344#Calorie 1eal @lans :(
     1A44#Calorie 1eal @lans (4
     1AB44#Calorie 1eal @lans 141
     1A944#Calorie 1eal @lans 112
     1A:44#Calorie 1eal @lans 12
 
C*a+ter -: Su++le3ents 106
     5ei*'" Loss 139
     -u" 2eal"' 13:
     6nsulin Sensit%i"y 13:
     Fis' Cils 13:
PART #: A NE% %A< T" )EASRE PR"GRESS 10/
 
C*a+ter /: %ei7*t 8s= S*a+e 10/
     /'inner 6snD" "'e Cnly ?nswer 14
     5'a" De"ermines Your S'ape7 14
     /'e -olden @roporton 13
 
C*a+ter 1;: T*e Venus 'nde> )easure3ents 144
     2ei*'"#"o#5ais" =ato 1B
     5ais"#"o#2ip =ato 1:
     S'oulder#"o#5ais" =ato 1<
     2ow "o /a0e Your 1easuremen"s 1(
     Venus 6ndeE 1easuremen" !Eample -uide 1(
 
References 151
 
 
 

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PART 1: THE VENUS FACTOR 12-WEEK FAT
LOSS NUTRITION PROGRAM

Chapter 1: Ho to Get Starte! W"th the Ve#$% Fa&tor

Before we get started on all the nuts-and-bolts of the Venus Factor, let’s go over the five
ways you can get started with the program.

1. Rea! the 'a#$a(. Pretty obvious, right? rong. !ou’d be surprised how much easier
it is to wor" the program after you’ve read the entire manual as opposed to reading it as
you go along.

2) Fo((o the !"et) Pay close attention to the #$-ee" %ndulating &etabolic 'verride
Program ()hapter *+. ,his protocol is the diet and nutrition portion of this program. -t
lists out your daily caloric needs and how to scale your carbs, fats, and protein up and
down at strategic points throughout the #$-wee" program to ma"e your body more
efficient at using leptin and burning fat. .ead the steps carefully in this section so you
understand what pattern you are meant to follow. ,he patterns change in two-wee"
intervals until you’ve completed the full twelve wee"s. ,here is a significant amount of
freedom within this program for you to choose your own foods and ma"e your own
meals. ,his step was done on purpose so you can customi/e the foods you li"e to eat into
this protocol.

*) Lear# hat to eat) 0ot sure what to eat? ,here are several sample meals in the
-ntroduction to &eal Planning by .oberta 1aum ()hapter 2+. ,hese sample meals go
right along with the #$-ee" %ndulating &etabolic 'verride Program and give you
e3amples of what an effective day of eating loo"s. !ou can use these sample meal plans
as your guide to structuring your diet throughout the Venus Factor program.

+) Ne to or,"#- o$t. !ou have a full #$-wee" wor"out program within this system.
!ou don’t have to use the program4 however, it’s strongly encouraged for you to get at
least some sort of physical activity. -f you feel the Venus wor"outs are too much for you
in the beginning, start with something you can handle, such as wal"ing4 over time, you
can wor" your way up to the Venus wor"outs 5 even if it means doing half a wor"out one
day and another half the ne3t day. %nderstand that you can wor" at your own pace. ,a"e
as much time as you need to build up your strength, endurance, and overall fitness level
until you can do the full wor"outs three times per wee", as suggested.

/) A(rea!0 re-$(ar(0 or,o$t. -t’s li"ely you can substitute the Venus wor"outs for the
wor"out program you’ve previously followed with no ma6or issue. !ou might even get a
daily limit of around one-half to two hours a day, if your fitness level allows. -f you
wor"out more than three times a wee", you can add other activities and e3ercises to the
three-a-wee" Venus wor"outs. 7et in as much physical activity as you feel is necessary.
(
Chapter 2: What "% the Ve#$% Fa&tor.

,he Venus Factor is a complete weight loss and body re-shaping system. ,he
components that ma"e up the entire system are as follows8

1) 12-ee, !"et a#! #$tr"t"o# pro-ra')

2) 12-ee, or,o$t %0%te')

*) 1V1 2"!eo% o3 the or,o$t %0%te' e4er&"%e%)

+) The Ve#$% Co''$#"t0) ,his is a private online community, e3clusive for
Venus Factor members only. !ou can meet and learn from other Venus members,
start your own personal blog within the community, or 6ust browse other
members9 blogs and forums for information. !our level of involvement is your
choice. 'nline access only.

/) The Ve#$% I#!e4 Po!&a%t%. ,he podcasts allow you to listen to other Venus
members tell their weight loss success stories. :very year we host three
transformation contests and interview the winners to get the real inside story on
how they used the Venus Factor to fit their lives and how they overcame
challenges to achieve their weight loss and body shape goals. 'nline access only.

,heoretically you can lose weight using only the dietary tools you will find here4 in other
words, if you never want to wor"out you don9 t really have to. ;owever, physical activity
accelerates and optimi/es the results, which is why we’ve included the #$-wee" Venus
Factor wor"out system for you.

7etting in shape 5 changing the si/e and shape of your body 5 is best as a two-part
process.

<uring the 3"r%t part o3 th"% 'a#$a(, you’ll learn all about e"-ht (o%% a#! 3at re'o2a(.

,his part is almost entirely dictated by your nutrition and diet. !ou can lose all the
weight and fat you want if you have the right dietary approach. ,he Venus Factor
provides the dietary approach that not only allows you to lose the fat but also "eep it off.

This second point about “keeping it off” cannot be stressed enough.

!ou see, many different diet programs help you achieve temporary weight loss.
7enerally, these are =crash diets> that throw your hormonal, psychological, and physical
systems out of balance. ,his leads to weight loss stalling and eventual rebound weight
gain 5 which pushes your systems even further out of balance.
14
e9ve studied this problem and developed a solution that allows for weight loss without
crashing and most importantly without the rebound weight gain. ,his system should be
the last one you ever need as it9s designed to produce as close to permanent weight loss as
possible.

<uring the %e&o#! part o3 th"% 'a#$a(, you’ll learn about '$%&(e %hap"#- a#! to#"#-.

!ou have a uni?ue body structure and shape that is largely determined by two factors8

#. ,he location and amount of body fat on your body.

$. ,he shape and si/e of your muscles.

hile it’s true that much of your natural shape comes from your genetics, much of the
way you store fat and build muscle is within your control. ,he loo" and shape of your
body is entirely within your control to change as you wish. !ou can ta"e fat off where
you want, and you can shape and tone any muscles you want.

1ome people will remove the fat from their body and be perfectly happy with the natural
shape and tone of their muscles and will not want to, or need to, do any e3ercising for
muscle tone or shape.

7enerally, though, most women will find that they want to do more wor" on certain areas
of their bodies. For e3ample many of our past successful Venuses have lost all the body
fat they wanted to lose, and then turned their focus to wor"ing on specific muscles to
complement their new leaner form. &any found that they wanted to wor" on building
their butts4 others found that once they lost their weight they needed to wor" on their
shoulders and arms citing that they already had strong, firm legs but needed their upper
body to come into balance. 1ome of them wanted a whole body wor"out that provides
balance, shape, and muscle tone to their entire figure. @ll of these cases can easily be
done with this program.

'verall, the Venus Factor system is designed to be the simplest approach possible to
achieving fat loss while also providing a wor"out program for developing and shaping
muscle in a manner that is specific to a woman9s body. e want to simplify the process,
not complicate it.

@t this time it9s worth ma"ing a distinction between =simple> and =easy.>

,his program 5 6ust li"e any other diet or fitness program 5 will have some challenges for
you. 1ome aspects won9t necessarily feel =easy> but they will be =simple.> For e3ample, a
push up is a =simple> movement, but it may not necessarily feel =easy>9 the first time you
try it. Ai"ewise eating a bit less sugar or fat is a 9simple9 concept, but it may not feel 9easy9
in the moment.
11
1o to be clear, the Venus Factor is as =simple> as possible, but sometimes it won’t
necessarily feel =easy.>

%p for the challenge? 7reatB ,he Venus Factor 1ystem is the essential diet and fitness
tool you need to get the body you want, while still being able to en6oy your life to its
fullestB

5o$r Ne Ve#$% Fa'"(0

:nter into this program with open, honest eyes about what it is and what you can e3pect
from it. !ou can have it all8 you can lose all the weight and fat you9ve ever hoped for and
you can change the loo" and shape of your body however you wish, and one of the best
ways to get started is to tal" to the Venuses in the community.

!ou can tal" to many of our previous Venus transformation contest winners in the
community and learn e3actly how they did it. ,hey’re more than happy to share. !ou can
also listen to their podcast interviewsC and absorb all of their insights on how they
managed to overcome their own personal struggles along the way to getting their Venus
bodies.

:veryone will have her own personal path to follow and we guarantee there’s a Venus
who has been there and done that and can help you with your personal challenges.

-n short, there is a wealth of e3perience, information, support, and friendship waiting for
you in the Venus community. @ll you need to do is introduce yourself and 6oin the
discussion. -f you don’t li"e to use forums, don’t worry8 you can 6ust po"e around and
read for a while. ,here’s no need to start chatting if you9re not #DDE comfortable at first.
,he community is waiting with open arms for you whenever you9re ready to be a part of
it. .emember, this is a secure community that is only available to active Venus Factor
members. 0obody else can read or access it.

C &ost of our past Venus transformation winners have done a podcast interview to reveal
e3actly how they achieved their weight loss and body shaping goals. ,here is priceless
information in each of these interviews and you can listen to them all for free 6ust by
visiting our blog at www.venusinde3.com. !ou can also find the podcasts on i,unes or
any podcast aggregator you use by searching for 9venusinde39.

6a(a#&e

,his program is also about balance 5 both internally and e3ternally. e fully e3pect you
to have a balanced life between career and school4 family, friendships, and other
relationships4 hobbies4 and getting the body you want. -t9s not an eitherFor situation. !ou
should not, and will not, have to put your life on hold to change your body. @ny program
that teaches you this sort of e3treme action is doing something (and li"ely many things+
wrong.
12
I#ter#a( 7 E4ter#a( 6a(a#&e

,he concept of balance starts with the internal balance of
your body from a metabolic and hormonal level,
e3tending to a balance of your body fat levels and
muscle, and then to a balance of your upper body and
lower body proportions.

7et away from e3treme thin"ing in blac"-and-white
terms. ,here is already too much of this sort of thin"ing
in the diet and fitness world, and it only leads to
significant stress over the process 5 which can be the root
of why so many women e3perience failure from dieting.

ithin the Venus Factor, you won’t find many diet
industry =rules> about eating because they’re simply not necessary and add stress to a
process many already find stressful enough. ,his program presents the essentials 5 6ust
the tools you need to succeed.

-n the following section you9ll learn about the ma6or gender differences in metabolism
and body composition, and why the Venus Factor is designed for women specifically.
!ou9ll see that when the systems of your body are out of balance it leads to difficulty
losing weight. From there you’ll learn how the program wor"s to correct any imbalance
and put you bac" in an optimal state to both lose your unwanted body fat and also "eep it
off.

13
Chapter *: Ge#!er 1"33ere#&e% "# Meta8o("%'


&en and women are physically different, but many people don’t stop to consider that
what ma"es them different on the outside actually starts on the inside.

S"9e 1"33ere#&e

,here are some rather obvious differences in men and women from a metabolic
standpoint. 7enerally, men have more lean body mass than women and, as a result, can
eat more calories than women can while still maintaining a leaner body.

0eed a real world e3ample? -magine a man and woman having dinner at a restaurant.
0ow, thin" of the serving si/es on their plates. ,he portions are the same, but they seem
to be =calibrated> for the man. -n other words, the serving si/es seem fine for the man,
but way too big for the woman. <oesn’t it seem unfair that he can clean his plate while
she has to leave some food behind especially given that she’s more concerned about her
calorie inta"e?

,he alternative would be a portion si/e =calibrated> for the woman. ;ere, she could eat
everything served and leave the table satisfied without worrying about how many calories
she 6ust ate. 'bviously, a =woman-specific> portion si/e isn’t on most menus, but this is
at least something women can control when coo"ing for themselves.

6o!0 Co'po%"t"o#

,he ne3t big difference is how the hormones testosterone and estrogen affect our bodies.

:strogen ma"es a woman a woman and testosterone ma"es a man a man4 however,
women and men ali"e have a normal, healthy, and important circulating level of both of
these hormones. @ woman’s estrogen levels are much higher than the small amount a
man would have4 li"ewise, a man9s testosterone level is much higher than a woman’s
normal healthy levels. ,hese gender differences in estrogen and testosterone levels are
what dictate the differences we see in the normal healthy ranges of body composition
between men and women.

,he normal body composition range for men is between #DE - $DE body fat and for
women is $DE - GDE. )ritically low body fat for men is appro3imately GE, whereas for
women critically low is appro3 #GE (as indicated by the appearance of potentially
dangerous metabolic abnormalities+.

)learly, there is a difference in the general normal body composition of men vs. women.
,hese body composition differences are due to the effect testosterone and estrogen have
1
@ man can be at or below #DE body fat and loo" healthy and lean. @ woman achieving
this level of body fat could actually loo" abnormal, sic"ly, and 5 if enough muscle mass
is on her body 5 she could have a more masculine appearance.

7enerally, most women don’t want to go any lower than #*E - #HE and still maintain a
feminine loo". @nything below $DE is considered athletic for women (whereas for a
man, a body fat percentage of appro3imately HE - #DE achieves the athletic appearance+.

Ieep in mind that the body fat percentage you want to achieve is specific to you. !ou
might want to hit the target healthy range, which is $DE - GDE, or you might want to go
lower. &ost of our Venus Factor transformation contest winners have anywhere between
#HE - $DE body fat. !our body fat percentage will depend on the loo" you’re trying to
achieve. Just remember, the goal is not to hit DE body fat or even hit the percentage that
you have decided you want. ,he goal is to achieve the body that ma"es you the happiest
and proudest.

hat have we learned so far?

#. Because women generally have less lean body mass than men, they don’t burn
as many calories on a daily basis.

$. omen have more estrogen and less testosterone than men, which is what
determines their lower healthy body fat range.

0ow, let’s tal" about leptin.


Lept"#


Aeptin is a signaling molecule that’s released from your fat cells
and typically is described as the master hormone that regulates fat
loss. ,his is because it is 5 more or less 5 released in proportion to
the amount of fat you have on your body. 1o, the more fat, the
more leptin ('wec"i, et al. $D#D+.

;owever, this leaves out all the other roles it playsB e can view
leptin as a master signaling hormone involved in the regulation
and signaling of bone density4 metabolic rate4 fat mass4 cognition
and memory4 inflammation4 taste and sweetness perception4 insulin sensitivity4 and even
the pathogenesis of s"in tags (&oran )0, et al. $D##4 de Boer ,0, et al. $D#$4 ;orio 0,
et al. $D#D4 :l 1afoury, et al. $D#D+.

@s you can see, leptin plays a significant role in many different systems of your body,
and it9s especially important to fat loss and overall appetite regulation.
1B
Body fat produces and releases leptin and some of its many duties 5 in addition to those
roles described above 5 are to8

1ignal to your brain the amount of fat on your body.
,ell your brain how much food you’ve 6ust ingested.
.espond to e3ercise intensity and duration, as well as the amount of chronic
inflammation in your body (1u/u"awa &, et al. $D##+.

-n other words, any typical diet intervention andFor e3ercise routine will stimulate a
response in leptin. Because you have at least twice as much leptin as a man, your specific
diet approach must be designed to wor" for you as a woman. ,his 6ust means you need a
different style of nutrition and e3ercise (if you choose to e3ercise+ to ma3imi/e your
results.

@gain, you have roughly twice as much leptin circulating in your system as a man does.
Because leptin is a ma6or metabolic signaling molecule, you might thin" that means you
should burn twice as many calories as a man4 however, that’s not the case. ,ypically,
when there is more of a hormone circulating in the blood that means it is re?uired to be at
that level for some reason, or that the other systems of the body are =resistant> to that
hormone. -t seems women are somewhat naturally resistant to leptin compared to men.

@ctually, =resistant> seems a little harsh, so instead thin" of it as it ta"es more leptin to
do its 6ob in a woman’s body compared to in a man’s body. ,his difference increases
with higher body fat levels and is partly why it9s difficult for women to start and stay
consistent on a diet long enough to get the results they really want. -t9s also why severe
low calorie and very strict dieting (=crash dieting>+ doesn9t wor" for women but might
actually be more useful for men.

-n fact, let’s tal" about genders, leptin, and calorie restriction for a minute. ,wo research
studies by 0ic"las, et al. in #KK2 showed that leptin falls almost twice as much in women
compared to men. ,his means that women e3perience higher leptin highs and lower
leptin lows when attempting to diet than do men. &en don9t have these same dramatic
swings in leptin as they have lower natural circulating leptin levels, and when men go on
a calorie restrictive diet they don9t get as much of a decrease in leptin. -n other words, a
man9s metabolism won9t crash on a severely calorie restricted diet as easily as a woman’s
could. -t also means men won9t e3perience the same feelings of hunger and cravings for
carbohydrates during a weight loss program. ,his probably sounds familiar to you if
you’ve ever attempted to diet alongside a male counterpart and noticed how much easier
of a time he seemed to have with it.


1imply put8

#. &en seem to have higher natural sensitivity to leptin and therefore lower
natural circulating blood levels.
19
$. hen men go on a very low calorie restrictive diet they e3perience less of a
drop in leptin and as such their metabolism doesn9t crash as easily and they don9t
get as severe cravings for carbohydrates.

.ecall that one of the main focuses of the Venus Factor program is balance, and men
have an easier time balancing leptin when dieting. ,his is why so many diets that have
been written or created and tested on and by men never really wor" out so well for
women. 7enerally, men can push through a low-calorie diet with brute force without
e3periencing large drops or swings in leptin that cause cravings and metabolic
disturbances.

@n effective diet program for women must be designed to limit these dramatic swings in
leptin in order to allow them to successfully complete their weight loss program and
arrive at their ideal weight.

-n order to eliminate these swings in leptin and avoid creating massive food and
carbohydrate cravings and metabolic disturbances, you need to increase your sensitivity
to leptin.


Lept"# Se#%"t"2"t0

,here are four ways you can increase your leptin sensitivity8

7et more sleep.
Follow a well-designed e3ercise program.
%se a supplement designed to increase leptin sensitivity.
Fast.

#. 1leep

ant to really screw up a body process 5 including leptin sensitivity? 1top getting
?uality, consistent sleep.

.esearch shows that a lac" of sleep can lead to leptin resistance ()harles A:., et al.
$D##+. 1o, a simple but effective strategy for increasing leptin sensitivity is to get enough
?uality sleep. &any people discount the importance of sleep for a healthy body but it
cannot be stressed enough. 7ood ?uality, consistent sleep is going to ma"e everything
wor" better and feel better, and that includes your leptin sensitivity.

-f you9re not getting enough sleep, or not getting good sleep, you should definitely put a
plan in place to improve your sleep ?uality.

1:
$. :3ercise

Just as sleep has an effect on all systems of your body, so does e3ercise. .esearch also
shows that a consistent e3ercise program will improve leptin sensitivity (7uerra B., et al.
$D##+. 1imply put, e3ercise is an effective tool for improving leptin sensitivity.

,his doesn9t mean you need to lift huge weights li"e a bodybuilder, though. :ven low
intensity, non-resistant training e3ercise will do it. -f you9re not getting enough e3ercise
(or any at all+ then you9re missing out on some ma6or fat burning benefits.

G. 1upplements

%ntil recently there have never been any supplements that wor" directly with leptin. <rug
companies thought that dosing people directly with leptin would be a cure for obesity (as
it is in mice+ but unfortunately that doesn9t happen in people. @s it turns out, having too
much leptin isn9t the answer. -mproving your sensitivity to the leptin you already have,
however, is e3tremely powerful for producing a fat-burning effect. ,here have been a few
herbs discovered that can do this and you can find one very useful supplement that can
directly increase your leptin sensitivity. ,his will be one of your most useful diet
supplement tools for achieving your fat loss goals.

%ntil the supplement companies started focusing on leptin, most supplements were
focused on getting you wired with no regard to leptin sensitivity. ,his is a =male> way of
thin"ing4 not everyone developing weight loss supplements has considered that there
might be differences between men and women and that women might not want to ta"e
the same fat burner supplements that men do.

0ow there is a tailor-made option for women that provides a natural, smooth-feeling
energy boost that also wor"s on improving leptin sensitivity directly. Aearn more in the
supplements section of the manual ()hapter H+.

L. Fasting

Periods of short term fasting can help improve leptin sensitivity and reduce body fat
stores. ,his doesn9t mean you need to go an entire day without eating4 rather, practice
=strategic meal s"ipping.> ,hroughout this manual and your involvement in the Venus
Factor community, you9ll find that many of our past Venus transformation winners
incorporated some form of fasting into their program with great success.


1<
Chapter +: N$tr"t"o# S&"e#&e


Eat-Up 1a0% 2%) Cheat 1a0%

%p front, let’s get clear on =cheat days> and =eat-up days.>

7enerally, cheat days have been promoted as days when you can eat massively e3cessive
calories, well above your metabolic needs for the day. @s an e3ample, this has become a
sort of ritual for fitness competitors and body builders who follow severely restrictive
diets. =)heat days> become a free-for-all on food.

;owever, this can be an unhealthy practice for a couple of reasons. First, on any given
cheat day we can overeat enough to undo wee"s of dieting. )learly, this is 6ust ta"ing a
giant step bac"wards. 1econd, using the word =cheat> implies you’re doing something
wrong or dishonest. @s we’ve discussed, dieting and managing food is already
psychologically stressful enough4 there is no reason to add anything that ma"es you feel
li"e you’re doing something wrong 5 and on purpose, no less.

,here is no way to lose body fat without creating a caloric deficit. -n other words, if your
body re?uires #,HDD calories to function in a day, you need to consume less than #,HDD
calories in order to force your body to burn up some of its body fat to ma"e up the
difference. ,his is a fundamental law of energy balance and fat loss and it does not
change.

hen men follow a severely calorie-restricted diet they don9t have as severe of a drop in
leptin4 therefore their metabolic rate seems to remain stable throughout the process.
omen on the other hand cannot simply hit it hard, and go super low on calories for
e3tended lengths of time. !our leptin levels will fall dramatically leading to metabolic
changes that could slow the fat-burning process, as well as leaving you ravenously
hungry and craving carbs.

1o, in your case you must add in strategic =eat-up> days to prevent these dramatic drops
in leptin and to avoid the carb cravings that will come. &ost men can push for wee"s
without having an eat-up day, but through our research and wor"ing with (and listening
to+ hundreds of women we9ve found that women need to have these strategic 9eat-up days
much more fre?uently than men. ,his means you9re only going to be in a deficit for short
stretches of time, then you’ll need to eat up to maintenance to restore normal leptin
functioning and avoid any chance of a crash, cravings, or a rebound.

,hroughout the program you will find that your eat-up days can come as fre?uently as
every three days stretching to every fifth or si3th day. ,he point is that you9ll never go an
entire wee" eating in a deficit and you9ll always be able to bring your calories bac" up to
maintenance to reset your system.

1(
:Eat"#- Up; Mea#% Eat"#- at Ma"#te#a#&e

!our daily calorie burn is what we call =maintenance.>

hen we say =maintenance> calories, we are referring to the number of calories you burn
in a day and that eating up to this amount of calories is such that you don9 t gain or lose
weight but rather you =maintain> your weight and maintain your metabolism.

,hin" about the e3ample we covered before8 if your body re?uires #,HDD calories to
function today, and you eat #,HDD calories, you are eating up to maintenance. ,his is what
an eat-up day is8 eating up to the total number of calories you burn in a given day.

,he way eat-up days function significantly contrasts with how cheat days wor". <uring a
cheat day, you’re instructed to eat significantly above maintenance, in some cases
thousands of calories above maintenance. ,his can lead to a string of days where you 6ust
binge eat and send yourself spiraling bac"wards both physically and psychologically.

hich brings us to the phenomenon called =disinhibited eating.>




1"%"#h"8"te! Eat"#-: :Goo! Foo!; 2%) :6a! Foo!; Th"#,"#- M$%t Go

<isinhibited eating comes from the belief that there are
=good> foods you should always eat and =bad> foods you
should never eat.

@ctually, all foods can have their place in a weight loss
program. .esearch shows us a psychological
phenomenon happens when a person believes heFshe has
eaten a forbidden or =bad> food4 heFshe goes into a state
of =disinhibited eating> where one step over the line leads
to an all-out feeding fren/y (Aemmens 17, et al. $D#D,
1tirling and !eomans, $DDL+.

!ou might have e3perienced this at some point when you have dieted in the past. ,he
scenario goes something li"e this8 you’re on a diet, and you9ve been doing well for almost
an entire wee", only eating healthy foods li"e salads, veggies, fruit, lean protein sources 5
but no grains, no sweets, no processed or =6un" foods.> ,hen one day you9re out with
some friends and instead of opting for a salad you indulge and 6oin everyone for a slice of
pi//a. ell now that you9ve crossed the line into forbidden food territory all bets are off,
and that one slice of pi//a turns into five slices @0< a ?uart of ice cream for dessert
afterward.

24
!ou see, after that first slice of pi//a your inner voice says, “Well you've done it now.
That pizza was in the forbidden bad food zone and since you've crossed the line there is
no looking back for today... Today is lost so you might as well go all out and eat the rest
of the pizza A! the ice cream and we'll get back on track tomorrow.”

1ound familiar? ,hen you9ve e3perienced disinhibited eating. !et, the only way to
e3perience an all-out eating fren/y is by having the belief in your mind that there are in
fact good and bad foods. - want you to wor" on eliminating the mindset of =good foods
vs. bad foods> and instead view food from a standpoint of total calories. -t is the total
calories that you consume that will determine your weight loss success and it really
doesn9t matter where those calories come from as long as you9re hitting your calorie
targets for your personal weight loss goal.

Ieep in mind that for a short while when your goal is weight loss, calories are really all
that matter. !ou9ve got the rest of your life to determine what e3act foods you9d li"e to
have as a part of your diet. :at any and all foods you desire, even if some of those foods
include foods that most people would call =bad.> ,his doesn’t mean you should survive
solely on potato chips, ice cream, and chocolate, but it does mean that all of these foods
can have their place in a balanced diet and within your weight loss program itself.

(0otice that word =balance> again? ,hat is because this program is about balance, which
also includes a balance of foods ranging from all forms of vegetables and leafy greens, all
forms of fruits, grains of any "ind, dairy, meat, poultry, fish and seafood, and yes, even
processed foods, fast food, candy, and whatever people would call 6un" food. @ll of it can
be part of a successful weight loss program if you do it intelligently, and that is e3actly
what you9ll be doing with the Venus Factor program.+

@llowing you to freely choose which foods will fit into your diet program is essential to
removing the problems that come with the all-or-nothing, blac"-and-white mindset of
good vs. bad foods. From now on, you need to wor" on letting go of any belief that there
are strictly good or bad foods and instead thin" of food you en6oy eating vs. foods you9d
rather not eat. &ost li"ely, you’ll end up with a list of foods from all categories.


Hot-6$tto# Foo!%

ith that said, you li"ely have a few foods that
don9t wor" well with your body. !ou9d do well to
limit your e3posure to these =hot-button foods,> but
in general - would still never label a food as good or
bad.

ait, what’s a hot-button food?

ell, everyone has different (or many differentB+
hot-button foods, but in general your hot-button
21
food is the troublema"er 5 the one you can’t stop eating. For e3ample, many people list
peanut butter as their hot-button food 5 one bite leads to the whole 6arB For others it’s
pasta, chocolate, or ice cream.

-dentify your hot-button foods 5 the ones you can’t seem to e3ercise control over 5 and
limit your e3posure to them.



What Sho$(! I Eat.

!ou can lose weight eating 6ust about any foods you li"e4 in
fact, the only way to ma"e this stic" might be by allowing
yourself to have a little bit of everything.

ith that said, there are some foods that can cause a bit of
an uphill battle when it comes to getting rid of body fat.




So0

For starters, you might want to test your tolerance and
e3posure to soy-based foods as they can have an
estrogenic effect that may ma"e it a bit harder to control
appetite and the fat loss process. ,his isn’t to suggest soy
is a =bad> food4 only that you should test to see how it
affects how you feel during your weight loss efforts.

&any vegetarian-based protein supplements and food
options use soy for their protein source. -f you are eating more than one or two servings
of soy each day and are having a difficult time losing body fat, you may want to try
cutting it bac" to one serving every day or every other day and see how that affects your
ability to burn fat. ,est this for appro3imately two wee"s.

S$-ar

,here’s no doubt about it8 for many, refined white sugar tastes
great, and it9s used in all "inds of ba"ed goods, salad dressings,
sauces, spreads, and many other "inds of processed foods.

Aet’s not ta"e the =sugar is evil> route. -nstead, let’s focus on
limiting sugar simply because the calories can pile up F@1,.
hen possible, loo" for options low in sugar.

22
:ven artificial sweeteners are better than tons of sugar 5 for the short-term purpose of
weight loss. 'f course, if you’re dead set against artificial sweeteners you can simply
have nothing at all 5 water always wor"s wonders.



Art"3"&"a( Seete#er%

-f you9re concerned about consumption of
artificial sweeteners while losing weight, try
rotating the sweeteners you use. !ou can cycle
between sucralose (1plenda+, saccharin,
acesulfame ", aspartame, and neotame
(0utra1weet+, and stevia products. ,hese are the
most common ones and each has proven itself as
an acceptable alternative for sugar for short-term
use. !ou can either mi3 a few at the same time if you don9t li"e the taste or aftertaste of
any single option, or you can substitute directly with one then change to another the ne3t
time you want something sweetened but don9t want to consume too much of any single
sweetener.

-f you find all artificial sweeteners 6ust too artificial tasting and you9re really missing the
smooth sweetness of sugar you can 6ust cut the sugar content in half and substitute the
other half with a sweetener. ,his way you9re still getting some of the taste from sugar but
still cutting the calories from sugar in half.

ith artificial sweeteners you have to "eep in mind that if you don9 t want to consume
them on a regular basis you won9t have to once your weight loss is over and you9re
maintaining your new lighter body. !et, for the short term they9re very useful for adding
a bit of sweetness while cutting bac" on total sugar calories.


6e2era-e%

-t9s easy to over consume calories through beverages and
drin"s when they are full of sugar4 try to "eep these to a
minimum. %nfortunately, women 6ust don9t have as much
wiggle room for drin"ing calories as a larger man does.
!ou have to ma"e a choice and decide if it is worth it to
you to consume some of your calories through beverages.

@lso, research shows that we simply don9t feel as satisfied
or full from the calories we drin" compared to the calories
we eat. -n other words, you could drin" #,DDD calories
from various beverages including full sugar soft drin"s,
full sugar and fat drin" items from places li"e 1tarbuc"s
23
and other forms of beverages but you will not feel li"e you9ve consumed #,DDD calories.

-n contrast, if you sat down to a #,DDD calorie meal of various food items including some
sort of lean protein source such as a chic"en breast, some vegetables, and perhaps a side
of rice and finished your meal with a dessert of mi3ed berries and yogurt you would
certainly F::A li"e you really did eat #,DDD calories and be totally content.

,he real problem with drin"ing calories is that not only will you not feel li"e you9ve
consumed as many calories as you have, you will still have room to eat all the food you
can handle for that day.

)offee8 @ 1pecial 0ote

For some, coffee is a &%1, in the morning. ,he Venus
Factor isn’t so idealistic that anyone e3pects you to 6ust
stop drin"ing coffee if it’s a source of sanity.

;owever, if you’re using mil" or cream, then you need
to consider that you might brea" your #$ hours of
overnight fasting. (1ee =&eal ,iming and &eal Fre?uency> below for information about
the #$-hour overnight fast.+ !ou can approach this issue in two ways.

,he first way is to determine when you want to have your morning coffee and wor" bac"
#$ hours from there. ,hat is when you will stop eating the night before. For e3ample, if
you need a morning coffee at H a.m., then in order to have a true #$ hour overnight fast
you must stop eating the night before at H p.m.

,he second way is to push your morning coffee bac" so you are not consuming it until #$
hours after your last meal the night before. ,his second strategy is li"ely not as easy since
most of us have a fi3ed morning routine and much more fle3ibility and choice about
when our last meal before bed will be.

)affeinated drin"s are pretty important to many people, so if you can’t ?uite ma"e the #$-
hour overnight fast wor" while still having your coffee at the appropriate time, then go
ahead and have it when you normally would. Just abstain from having any food or a
snac" with it. :ven if you have mil" or cream with your coffee, you’ll still be better off
than if you had a muffin or donut to go with it.



Car8oh0!rate% <+ Ca(or"e% per Gra'=

)arbs are the first of the three ma6or macronutrients.

!ou can eat any form of carbohydrate that you wish. 1ome are more
calorie dense than others, meaning some can have more calories per ounce. For e3ample
2
the e?uivalent weight of rice has more calories than cauliflower. ,he e?uivalent weight of
certain cereals will have more calories than rice and so on. !ou will find a happy medium
between high and low calorie density carbs that suit your taste and fit into your dietary
budget.

!ou9ll have to choose between lower calorie density =bul"ier> carb sources li"e
vegetables vs. higher calorie density compact foods li"e pastas, ba"ed goods, and grains.
,here is nothing wrong with this latter group and you can have them during your diet.
,he issue is learning to understand how many calories are in the foods you9re eating and
how to "eep yourself from overdoing it. Because veggies are so low in calories, most
diets simply restrict all other carb sources and tell people to only eat vegetables.
,echnically, this will wor", but mentally it becomes challenging. @t some point you will
want to eat some higher calorie density carbs as there is 6ust no way to replace the
satisfaction they provide.

,he way to thin" about carbs is to thin" in general terms of higher or lower calorie
density carbs and how much of each that you eat on a regular basis. - recommend a 2DFGD
split. 2DE of your carb sources come from low-calorie density sources (meaning all
forms of vegetables and most fruits and berries+. ,hen the other GDE can come from
higher density sources li"e grains, breads, pastas, and other ba"ed goods. ,his split
doesn9t need to happen every day4 it can be a wee"ly split. !ou can choose to go veggies
only for your carbs from &onday through Friday, and then add in your higher density
options on the wee"end. @lso within this program you will have specific eat-up days
when you can eat more calories and on some of those days eating more carbs and calorie-
dense carbs will be the e3act recommendation.

-n summary, carbs are your choice. Just remember the 2DFGD guideline of 2DE lower
density carbs, and GDE higher density carbs.


Fat% <> Ca(or"e% per Gra'=

Fats are the second of the three ma6or macronutrients.

Fat isn9t really something you have to go loo"ing for to
include in your diet as a specific food item. -t is usually
associated with most of your protein sources, sauces,
dressings, and toppings on your carb or protein items.
-t9s used for coo"ing and ba"ing and in most cases we
need to find ways to consume less of it instead of more
of it.

Fat has nine calories per gram, whereas carbs and protein only have four. ,hat means for
every gram of fat you9re getting over double the calories. ,hese calories can really add up
if you9re not paying attention to your fat inta"e.

2B
ithin the #$-wee" Venus Factor program you9ll find specific days and phases when
you9ll be eating more fat on purpose to teach your body to burn fat. -n order to ma"e these
higher fat days wor" we have to "eep fat content lower on the days leading up to and
after them. -f you9re choosing fat sources you can opt for a mi3 of different "inds.
'mega-G fats are good, as are monounsaturated (olive oil being the most common+.
@void trans fats if possible (they appear mostly in processed foods li"e coo"ies and
potato chips+. Fortunately, saturated fats aren’t e3actly the enemy.

-n summary, you don9 t need to see" out and purposefully eat more specific fat items. Fat
will be part of coo"ing, ba"ing, and many of the food choices you already ma"e. ,ry to
"eep fat content low as it is very calorie-dense and the more fat you eat the less room you
have for carbs and protein.





Prote"# <+ Ca(or"e% per Gra'=

Protein is the third of the three ma6or macronutrients.

,he best protein sources include red meats4 fish and
seafood4 poultry4 por"4 dairy4 and eggs. 1econdary
sources include soy4 beans4 nuts4 and legumes.
Vegetarians need to mi3 their protein sources to get
all the necessary amino acids into their diets.
'mnivores (people who eat both plant and animal
based foods+ don9t need to go out of their way to mi3
protein sources, as they will be eating mostly
complete protein sources.

Protein sources are usually where most of the fat in your diet will appear. For e3ample,
every form of meat, fish, poultry, or seafood will have some fat along with the protein
content. <ifferent forms will have different amounts of fat. .ead your labels carefully
when choosing protein sources and aim for lower fat options when possible. <airy
protein sources such as mil", cheese, or yogurt will also have an associated fat content. -n
general the creamier, richer sources are also the highest fat. !ou can certainly have some
of these, but be aware of how fast the calories add up when you opt for these higher fat
choices.

-n summary, protein is in two general categories8 animal based and plant based. @nimal
based sources are complete with higher protein content. -f you eat plant based protein
only you must be diligent with mi3ing them up. Finally, most of the fat in your diet will
come as part of your protein sources.

29
Mea( T"'"#- a#! Mea( Fre?$e#&0

,he number of meals you eat each day is your
choice. 1ome research shows the number of meals
you eat each day is irrelevant to weight loss. ,here
is research showing one meal per day wor"ed for
weight loss 6ust as well as two meals and three
meals, all the way up to nine mini meals per day
(Farshchi, et al., 1meets, et al+. -t really doesn9t
matter as long as you9re staying within your total
daily calorie limit.
)onsidering the number of meals per day doesn9t
matter, then neither does the timing of those meals.
@fter all, how could meal timing matter if eating si3
meals per day is 6ust as effective for weight loss as eating two? .ight?

Focusing on meal timing or meal fre?uency misses the point that the total amount of
calories you are consuming is the driving factor to losing weight. e9ve had successful
Venus transformations with people eating anywhere from two to five times per day.
1ome Venuses even started by eliminating brea"fast all together. -t9s a pattern you will
need to figure out on your own.

e do "now from research that the more you eat at brea"fast the more you will li"ely eat
all day. e also "now that the longer you delay eating in the morning the easier it is to
"eep your calories low for the day. ,hin" of it as an =on> or =off> switch. ,he minute you
start eating today it9s '0B -n other words, your mouth and stomach are open for business
as soon as you brea" the seal with brea"fast, whenever that may be. ,herefore, the sooner
in the day you start eating the more time that day you will spend in the =on> state and
available for eating.

'n the other hand, if you decide that your first bite of food will not happen until
lunchtime (noon+, you can avoid all the morning snac"ing and e3tra food you might have
eaten that you really didn9t need in the morning.

,here is no metabolic re?uirement to eat food in the morning, especially when your goal
is weight loss. Aet9s assume you sleep appro3imately eight hours (or at least went to bed
and were there for about eight hours+. Aet9s also assume you stopped eating perhaps two
hours before you went to bed. ,hat would mean you9ve been without food for #D hours
the moment you wa"e up.

,his is a good thing because during those #D hours you are forcing your body to start
burning more and more of your body fat. :ach minute you prolong your overnight fast is
one more minute of high fat burning. :3tending this overnight fast will also help improve
your leptin sensitivity (recall the section on leptin sensitivity and fasting+.

,he minute you eat brea"fast you put a stop to that fat burning process.
2:
,ry setting a goal of a #$-hour overnight fast. For e3ample if you stop eating today at #D
p.m., try to ma"e it to #D a.m. tomorrow before you start eating again. -f you can push
that out to noon and create a #L-hour overnight fast, even better.

-n fact, there is a popular form of intermittent fasting called #*-H. ,his simply means
e3tending your overnight fast for #* hours and then allowing yourself to be '0, or
available to eat for the remaining eight hours of the day. For most people this means
prolonging the overnight fast until about $ p.m. to L p.m. the following day, depending on
when the last meal of the day happened. &any people find this to be a simple and
effective fasting strategy, which could be due to something called =ego depletion.>

,he bottom line is that e3tending your overnight fast is a simple and easy way to reduce
your total amount of calories consumed by removing them from the time of day when8

!ou don’t really need them.
!ou have the highest level of willpower to resist eating.
!ou will li"ely feel better without them.

,he times of day you choose to eat will vary based on where you are, the day of the
wee", and social events. !ou should be concerned with your total calorie consumption
not how many times of day you are eating or when you are eating.

E-o 1ep(et"o#

<elaying the first meal of the day is typically easier than pushing the last meal of the day
forward for a reason called =ego depletion.>

:go depletion is a psychological phenomenon that can be e3plained as follows8 we all
start each day with a full gas tan" of willpower or mental and emotional energy. ,his
willpower is referred to as =ego.> ,his is the willpower you use to avoid eating, but it9s
also the same mental energy you use to deal with the stresses you face at wor", family
life, e3ercise, driving in traffic, dealing with people all day, and 6ust your life in general.

,hroughout the day this reserve of mental and emotional energy becomes depleted and
your ability to resist temptation gets wea"er, hence =ego <:PA:,-'0.> -9ve found that
it9s easiest to cut bac" on food and avoid cravings and temptations earlier in the day
because your willpower and ego reserve is highest. ,oward the end of the day, when your
reserve of willpower is drained from the stresses of daily life, you become less capable of
resisting temptation. &any Venuses have found it easier to save more of their daily
calories for later in the day when it’s harder to resist eating. Based on ego depletion, this
is an effective approach.

2<
Chapter /: Ca(or"e%

@s mentioned before, the total number of calories you
eat will determine if you are successful at weight loss or
not. ,otal calories are much more important than the
specific foods you choose to eat. ,otal calories are more
important than when you eat. <on’t allow yourself to
get bogged down in worrying about what things to avoid
or what the latest super food is. ,ime spent on that only
distracts you from the real issue8 )@A'.-:1.

-n order to lose body fat you must consume fewer calories than you burn in a day, but
you also must do this in a pattern that doesn’t eventually crash your system and cause you
to be less efficient at fat burning.

@s discussed earlier, as a woman your leptin levels will go through more dramatic highs
and lows when you change your calorie inta"e so you cannot eat very low calories for
e3tended periods of time the way a man can. -n order to avoid these big swings in leptin
(specifically the dramatic drops+ the Venus Factor system adds in eat-up days that allow
you to eat up to your maintenance calorie levels for the day. 'n these days you’re not
going to be in a calorie deficit. ,he point of your eat-up day is to restore leptin to a
normal level and avoid it dropping any further.

1e3"&"t 2%) Ma"#te#a#&e

:at-up days are days when you match your daily calorie burn with your calorie inta"e. @s
e3plained before, this is called eating at maintenance, i.e. maintaining your bodyweight.

<eficit days are the days that you will be burning fat by creating a calorie deficit. !ou
will be ta"ing in fewer calories than your body needs to function. ,his forces your body
to ma"e up the difference by burning off some of your body fat. ,he fat on your body i s
stored e3cess energy and by eating below your daily calorie needs you are using it.

Because it appears leptin levels start to fall off enough that you .:@AA! want to eat
more around the si3-day mar", you will not spend more than si3 days in a deficit until
you get to an eat-up day. ,ypically, this allows enough days of deficit eating to burn off a
significant amount of body fat without pushing you too far and causing any metabolic
disruption.

-t’s about time that we address the one burning ?uestion that might be in your head right
now. @nd that is8 =1o how many calories do - get to eat anyway?>

!our daily calorie burn is determined by your resting metabolic rate and any calories you
burn from e3ercise. )alories burned from e3ercise are almost impossible to ?uantify
2(
yourself, but never add those calories bac" into your day’s calories. 1o let9s e3plore what
average metabolic rates are for women.


Meta8o("& Rate%

!our resting metabolic rate (.&.+ is determined by your internal organs and the rest of
your lean body mass. -f you do very little physical activity in a day your resting
metabolic rate will account for most of your calorie burn. -f you do a significant amount
of physical activity a day (say, one to two hours of e3ercise+, then you can end up
burning $DE - LDE more calories than your resting metabolic rate.

,his chart is ta"en from various
scientific 6ournal articles measuring
average resting metabolic rates for
women.

,he chart is an average from data
collected on thousands of sub6ects.
,here’s an =.&. .@07:> section as
well as the =&:@0> section because
it’s highly li"ely that your specific
.&. will fall somewhere within the
given .&. .@07: and not e3actly
on the &:@0. ,his is where some trial
and error has to come in on your part to
find what your specific .&. li"ely is.
@lso "eep in mind that any e3tra
calories you burn from a wor"out are
not accounted for in these charts. 'n
days when you wor"out you’ll be
burning significantly more calories than what the ranges in these charts indicate for your
height.

@s you can see from the .&. charts, there is a direct correlation between .&. and your
height. 1horter people burn fewer calories than taller people. -n research done by
@manda )., et al in $D#D her group directly measured the .&. of L2 women and
compared it to the popular .&. estimator e?uations. ,he average .&. for this group of
women was #,D$2 calories per day. ,he average height of the group was M’M’’.

-nterestingly, the predictive e?uations all overestimated .&., and the worst one (;arris
Benedict+ overestimated by 2DD caloriesB -t’s tough to hear it, but we all 6ust need to eat
fewer calories than we’ve been led to believe.

-n a review of ## studies done on .&. in over MDD healthy adults (both men and women+
researchers found the highest average .&. to be appro3imately #,HDD calories per day
34
(the largest men+ and the lowest at #,$HD calories per day (einsier .A., et al. #KK$+.
,his research included men and women of varying heights and groups of lean and obese
individuals. ,he only correlation they found to metabolic rate was Fat Free &ass (FF&+.
FF& is all the parts of your body that are not fat, this includes internal organs, bones, and
muscle mass. -n other words, your metabolic rate isn’t affected by how much fat you
have4 it only matters how big or small you are underneath the fat, and that is largely
determined by how tall you are.

@lso, leaner people didn’t have higher metabolic rates than the obese people. Further
research done by .avussin, et al in #KH$ showed that the obese people actually had
higher resting metabolic rates than the lean control group. ,he average metabolic rate of
the obese people was measured at appro3imately #,HDD calories per day compared to
#,LMD calories per day for the normal weight control group. (,he obese group was
actually shorter on average than the controls so we would guess based on height that their
metabolic rate should have been lower if all other things were e?ual.+ ,he difference in
metabolic rate was because the obese people actually had an average of GDlbs more total
FF& than the lean people. ,his doesn’t mean they had GDlbs more muscle4 rather more of
everything including organ mass, bone mass, and residual tissue mass (of which a small
amount might have been muscle tissue+. 'ut of all these tissues the most active ones that
contribute the greatest proportion to your metabolic rate are your internal organs.

.esearch by &uller, et al, in $D## shows that not only do your internal organs contribute
the largest portion to your metabolic rate but that they scale to the height of your body
and to the overall si/e of your body. -n other words, the taller you are and the bigger you
are the bigger your internal organs are and thus the more calories they burn.

,he following is a list of the relative amount of energy each tissue contributes to your
daily metabolic rate per pound of each tissue (data from Bosy-estphal, et al $DDK+8

;eart N $DD calsFlbs
Iidney N $DD calsFlbs
Brain N ##D calsFlbs
Aiver N KD calsFlbs
&uscle N * calsFlbs
Fat N $ calsFlbs
Bone N # calsFlbs

@s you can see from this data, your heart, "idneys, liver, and brain are the most highly
metabolically active tissues in your body and as you will find out, they actually
contribute the most to your metabolic rate. ,he amount of energy muscle uses at rest is
actually much closer to the amount of energy fat ta"es. -t really doesn’t burn many
calories when you’re not wor"ing out.

.esearch by ;eymsfield, et al. in $DD# indicates that appro3imately *KE of your resting
metabolic rate is from your internal organs (specifically the combination of your heart,
liver, "idneys, and brain+. ,he other G#E comes from your bones, muscle, and fat tissue.
31
,his research shows that striving to add e3tra muscle isn’t going to increase your resting
metabolic enough to change how many calories you can eat to lose weight and your
metabolic rate is li"ely lower than you were lead to believe.

The Theor0 o3 Fat A2a"(a8"("t0

,o e3plain the theory of fat availability, we have to start with a little bit of basic
physiology. 1pecifically, we have to loo" at how our body fat actually wor"s.

,he main purpose of our body fat is to serve as an =energy reservoir> for our bodies. -n
times of caloric e3cess (overeating+ our body fat e3pands to store energy by one of two
processes8

#. H0pertroph08 Fat cells get bigger in si/e.

$. H0perp(a%"a8 Fat cells multiply in number.

,hey e3pand to store energy in the form of triglycerides, to be used later as energy to
supply our metabolic demands when energy from food is limited (caloric restriction or
dieting+. -n other words, our body fat has the uni?ue ability to rapidly e3pand or contract
depending on nutritional status (:nergy 1urplus or :nergy <eficit+.

Free fatty acids (FF@s for short+ are released from adipose (fat+ tissue when we need
energy. 0otice, this happens throughout the day even if you’re not dieting4 however, it’s
elevated when we are fasting, e3ercising, or in a caloric deficit (dieting+. ,his is a good
thing as most of us who are dieting and e3ercising are doing so because we want to
decrease the amount of our body fatB

hen =fat> is released from your body fat stores, it can end up in a few different places.

-t can go to the liver and get stored there.
-t can get burned for fuel by other organs (such as your heart, liver, and "idneys+.
-t can simply get recycled bac" into your body fat cells to be restored. (,hompson B.
&ol )ell :ndocrinol. $D#D4 @hmadian & -nt J Biochem )ell Biol $D#D+

,he simple reality is that all three of these processes happen throughout the day, every
day. hen gaining or losing weight, the ma6or difference will be the percentage of fat
being recycled bac" into fat tissue vs. the amount being burned by other organs.

,he movement of fat in and out of your fat cells is an e3tremely important process that
#ee!% to 8e t"-ht(0 re-$(ate!. ,he FF@s that are not burned, as fuel must ?uic"ly be
ta"en up by the liver or recycled and stored bac" in your fat tissue.

:3cess circulating fat that is not either burned or stored can cause an inflammatory
response, which when chronically elevated, can lead to a whole host of health issues and
32
metabolic disease states. ,his is how e3cess fat and an inability to effectively burn andFor
store the fat contributes to metabolic disorders li"e adult onset diabetes and heart disease.

It -et% or%e) 1hould this e3tra fat remain circulating for too long, it can also cause
=ectopic> fat storage, which is basically fat being stored in places it shouldn’t be stored
(li"e your heart and liver+. -9m sure you can imagine how this can lead to severe health
conse?uences in the long-term.

@s you can see it is e3tremely important for your body to regulate the amount of fat
entering your blood stream.

1imply put, you cannot have every single one of your fat cells empty out all at once into
your blood 5 the results would be catastrophicB

:ach of your fat cells is able to release fats into your blood stream at a pre!eter'"#e!
rate, and the rate at which an adipocyte can do this is relatively fi3ed for your own
protection. -t can increase to match the needs created by dieting and e3ercise, but even
during e3ercise, higher energy needs simply cannot be met by fat (which is why we rely
primarily on carbohydrates during high intensity e3ercise+.

1o, the amount of energy your fat can provide when you are dieting is dependent on how
much body fat you have. ,he more body fat you have, the larger the calorie deficit you
are able to =fill> with the energy stored in your fat.

,he word =fill> is actually a good way of describing what your body fat does when
you’re dieting. hen you diet, you create an energy deficit 5 essentially a gap between
the amount of energy you ta"e in, and the amount of energy you’re e3pending on a daily
basis. -n an ideal world, this gap is filled e3clusively by the energy that is stored in your
body fat.

;owever, as you lose body fat, the amount of fat that can be released also decreases. ,his
means most people do dieting wrong, and specifically, they do it bac"wards. ,he more
body fat you have, the lower you can go with your calories and the longer you can go
eating low calories without e3periencing any ill effects. !et, toward the end of a diet,
when body fat levels get lower and lower, the calorie deficit needs to be shorter and
smaller.

The T"'e 3or Rap"! Fat Lo%%

hen you are carrying large amounts of e3cess body fat, you can eat less for longer
because your body has plenty of fat to burn as a fuel to =fill in> your calorie deficit. 'ne
way to imagine it is li"e having a full =tan"> of reserve energy. @s your body fat levels
decrease you can no longer handle as large a deficit for as long a period of time. ,his
ma"es sense4 the less fat you have to lose, the slower it comes off. ,hin" of it as having
less =taps> to pull from, where each tap has a ma3imum outflow of fats that can be
released in any given time period.
33
@t the e3treme low end, when your body fat cannot "eep up with the energy deficit
you9ve imposed on your body, t he energy &%1, come from 1'&:;:.:. ,his is
when you are at ris" of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to as
=starvation mode>+. ,his happens at e3tremely low levels of body fat, under *E in men
and #$E in women (Friedl I.:. J @ppl Phsiol, #KKL+.

hen a large energy deficit is maintained while there is limited body fat available,
metabolic disturbances such as altered testosterone, thyroid and cortisol levels begin to
ta"e place and negatively affect both your muscle mass and overall muscle strength
(0indl B.). &ed 1ci 1ports :3erc, $DD24 Freidl I.:. J @ppl Physiol $DDD+.

The Theor0 o3 Fat A2a"(a8"("t0 S$''ar"9e!

@s body fat levels decrease so does your ability to handle a large energy deficit.

&ost trainers or weight loss coaches are not paying attention to (or are completely
unaware of+ the ,heory of Fat @vailability when they design a diet. ,hey end up telling
their clients to continually decrease the amount of calories they consume as they get
leaner4 this leads to a whole host of problems, including feeling sluggish, depressed, and
moody 5 not to mention a loss of muscle mass, water retention and bloating, metabolic
alterations, and a general feeling of Onot wanting to diet or e3ercise anymore’ (Freidl I.:.
J @pple Physiol, #KKL4 Ieys, @. Biology of ;uman 1tarvation, #KMD4 Ieys, @. 1cience
ashington, #KL*4 ,aylor ;.A. 1cience, #KMD+.

,here is a fi3ed rate of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
,he more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
,he less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
,oward the end of a weight loss diet, when body fat is e3tremely low you may not have
enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

The Re2er%e Taper Proto&o(


)alories could be the most confusing part of all health and nutrition. @fter all, if each of
us "new how many calories we should be eating, the health and fitness industry would
loo" a lot different.

But this is where the confusion comes in. e <'0’, really "now how many calories we
should be eating. e don’t "now what is optimal and what amount is potentially
dangerous. -n fact, many of us don’t even "now what a calorie is.

1o to start8 a calorie is the amount of energy re?uired to warm one gram of air-free water
from G.M P) to L.M P) at standard atmospheric pressure. -n other words, it’s 6ust a way to
measure energy. !ou can’t touch or pic" up a calorie and you can’t see them. ,hey are a
form of measurement, li"e an inch or a degree. ,herefore a CALORIE IS A CALORIE.
3
1aying all calories are not e?ual is li"e saying an inch of string is longer than an inch of
yarnB -t’s a measurement4 it has to be the same by definition.

1o what we are dealing with when we tal" about calories is really 6ust energy 5 or more
accurately the energy provided through diet. Because your body’s total energy needs are
made up of the calories (energy+ provided by your diet and the calories (energy+ provided
by your body from its stores (your body fat+. @ =diet> is simply a way to lower the energy
being provided from your food in a way that forces the deficit to be filled in by the
energy you have stored in your body.

Based on this premise, it does not ta"e a Ph< to reali/e that someone with ME body fat
(dangerously low internal energy stores+ should not be eating an e3tremely low calorie
diet for an e3tended period of time, if at all. @lso, someone with ME body fat really
shouldn’t even be fasting for any longer than $L hours :V:. 5 if @, @AA.

-n order for a diet plan to be effective, you should match your degree of energy deficit up
with the degree of fat you have left to lose. ,he more body fat you have to lose, the larger
energy deficit you can wor" with.

@s you start to lose weight, you can start to eat more calories until you’ve normali/ed at
the end to the number of calories you need to sustain your new bodyweight. -n other
words, you do the E@ACT opposite of any other diet. 5o$ %tart (o a#! e#! h"-h)))or
to 8e 'ore %pe&"3"& 0o$ e#! at :'a"#te#a#&e);

,his is the main benefit of .everse ,aper <ieting 5 not only do you match your calorie
deficit to your body fat, but you also slowly increase to the amount of calories needed to
maintain your new lean body 5 this is what we call =calorie optimi/ation.> e do NOT
want you to be on a diet for the rest of your life. e want you to learn how to eat at a
level that is =optimi/ed> for your new body.

0ow, here is the real "ic"er, and the reason that the .everse ,aper Protocol is so
important8 weight loss will always follow an energy deficit. ,here is no way around this
physiological fact. ,he less you eat the more weight you will lose. %nfortunately this is
even true "3 the tota( !e3"&"t "% 'ore tha# the e#er-0 0o$r 8o!0 3at &a# %$pp(0)

'ur goal is to achieve and then maintain the ma3imum rate of FAT LOSS while we lose
body fat, and not to go over this rate in the false assumption that more WEIGHT LOSS
somehow means more FAT LOSS) ,his is an important distinction to ma"e. !ou can
still have a deficit larger than what your body fat can fill in4 however, this is not what you
want to do since the energy must come from somewhere else4 o3te# th"% 'ea#% 8(oo!
%$-ar a#! prote"# %o$r&e% %$&h a% 0o$r "#ter#a( or-a#% a#! e2e# '$%&(e 'a%%)

Based on these facts, it9s ?uite obvious the rate that your body fat can meet your deficit is
also the Opt"'$' Rate o3 We"-ht Lo%% <ORWL=) !ou can e3ceed your '.A, but
doing so will only be due to a combination of transient water loss and lean mass loss.
3B
,his is the result of crash dieting and losing too much si/e, shape, energy, and mass along
the way.

5o$ &a#At B$%t 3or&e 3at (o%% to happe# 3a%ter tha# 0o$r 8o!0 &a# ha#!(e (not without
powerful drugs+. ,herefore, your goal should be to optimi/e it and match your calorie
deficit with your ma3imum rate of potential F@, A'11 at any given body fat percentage.
,his ma3imum rate changes as your body fat percentage changes and for this reason, we
suggest a wee"ly assessment to see what your pro6ected fat loss will be based on your
available fat.

.emember, in most cases, you will never be able to eat below your fat availability level
until you get noticeably lean. @t these higher levels of body fat, it would be nearly
impossible to create an energy deficit that e3ceeds your fat availability.

-n fact, this would be nearly impossible, even at what most people would consider a
healthy level of body fat4 however, once you’re really lean this becomes a 1AIL5
possibility. -f you’ve ever done a transformation or fitness or bodybui lding contest, or
"now someone who has, then you "now that the h"-he%t r"%, o3 '$%&(e (o%% "% "# the
3"#a( ee,% o3 the !"et"#- pro&e%%)

ith the .everse ,aper Protocol (.,P+, you start with your lowest calorie inta"e when
you have the highest body fat percentage. @s your body fat percentage decreases, you
slowly taper up your calories to the point where you end your diet in contest shape @0<
eating a maintenance number of calories. -n other words, with the .,P, you slowly
progress from calorie restriction to calorie optimi/ation and learn how to maintain your
new lower level of body fat all while losing the ma3imum amount of body fat possible.
Th"% "% 0o$r 8e%t !e3e#%e a-a"#%t re8o$#! e"-ht -a"#) &a"e no mista"e about it,
&'1, competitors and dieters in general e3perience a rebound weight gain. ,his is why
you hear the statistic that goes something li"e this8 =KME of all dieters gain all the weight
bac".> ,his is because they’re following a standard taper protocol instead of the .,P.

,he bottom line is the leaner you get, the slower you will lose fat. ,his is an e3tremely
important fact you must understand because any crash dieting when you are already
e3tremely lean can result in muscle loss. 1lower fat loss does NOT mean you9ve
6ROKEN anything (li"e your metabolism+. ,he lower your body fat percentage is, the
more precise you must be with your calorie inta"e to avoid lean mass loss.

@ctually, many of the bodybuilders and fitness competitors - have wor"ed with will
report their bodyweight hardly budging at all in the final two to four wee"s of dieting for
a competition, even though they are still getting visibly leaner. ,hese people have
managed to get such a low body fat level, they’re now e3periencing the slowest rate a
human body can possibly lose fat regardless of how hard they try to diet or force it.

hen fitness competitors and bodybui lders try to continue dieting hard at these lower
body fat levels, they start feeling wea", depleted, and e3hausted. ,his is when
competitors are also at ris" of a rebound binge if they try to push their diet too hard at
39
such low body fat levels. @t this time, many attempt to correct the problem with an
increased calorie inta"e day (sometimes called the infamous =cheat day> or a =re-feed
day>+ or by cycling their calories or carbohydrates. ;owever, this still doesn’t prevent the
problem from happening again 5 "tA% B$%t a te'porar0 3"4)

<ieting too hard and trying to force fat loss to happen faster than what9s possible is what
leads people to believe all of the fi3es such as cheat days and carb cycling are necessary
and somehow play some sort of metabolic tric" on your system. -n reality, they were
simply pushing harder than their body could go at the time and created a need to recover
from over-dieting.

,his is also why .,P seems to be the most effective for stripping off body fat while
teaching people of all shapes and si/es how to maintain their new body si/e once it’s
over. By following .,P, you’ll start low and end high at your maintenance calorie needs
for your new body. ,his way, you end up slowly learning how to eat for your new si/e.

By following the theory of fat availability and using a reverse taper for your diet, you
slowly eat up to your new calorie re?uirement. -nstead of crashing at the end of the diet,
you will eat your way bac" up to a healthy normal calorie level for your new leaner
lighter body.

The Re2er%e Taper Proto&o( S$''ar"9e!

,he .everse ,aper Protocol8

&atches the si/e of your calorie deficit to the si/e of your body fat stores. (,he more fat
you have to lose, the bigger the deficit you can sustain.+
:liminates the tired and lethargic feelings that normally come with crash dieting.
:liminates the ris" of binging and out of control cheat days.
:nsures that all the weight lost is fat and not muscle.
,eaches you how to eat to maintain your new, lean body.
:liminates the potential for a huge rebound and massive weight regain.

3:
C*a+ter 6: 1#$%eek ndula4n7 )etabolic "8erride Pro7ra3
3<
U%"#- the 12-Wee, U#!$(at"#- Meta8o("& O2err"!e S0%te'


Per'"%%"o# to 8e I'per3e&t

0ow that you’ve had a chance to review the program, let’s tal" about something that is
critically important to your weight loss success 5 and that is to give yourself permission
to be imperfect.

,he weight loss process is not a perfectly straight line down. 1ome wee"s you’ll do great
and see the scale move two or three pounds within a few days. 'ther wee"s you might
not see such a big change. ,here are always a few bumps in the road.

,hin" of the process as a =controlled stumble forward.> 1ome days you’re moving ahead
smoothly8 the diet feels effortless, the wor"outs feel great, and you feel unstoppable.
'ther days you’ll stumble and fall and totally mess up the entire process, you might s"ip
your wor"out for some reason and completely mess up on your eating. 1till other days
will be 6ust ='I> with a mediocre wor"out effort and what - would call getting =half way
there> on the diet side of things.

@nd this is all perfectly 0'.&@A.
3(
:verybody goes through this including top-level fitness competitors and fitness models.
,he weight loss process is inherently bumpy. 1o give yourself permission to be
imperfect. <o your best, and when things don’t go as planned forgive yourself for being
human and get bac" on trac" the ne3t day.

!ou don’t need to follow the program #DDE perfectly every day4 that’s impossible.

:3pect to mess up, e3pect to simply not have the effort to do it 6ust right each day. But
always try your best when you can. ,he ?uic"er you get bac" on trac" after a bad day the
?uic"er you will reach your weight loss goals.

-f you can get to even 2DE or HDE compliance with the guidelines here then you’ll be
doing 7.:@,B

!our weight loss success will be largely determined by how well you deal with falling
off the wagon and getting bac" on it rather than how perfectly you can follow the
program every single day.

1o let me repeat this part8 you’re going to fall down. e all do. -t’s how ?uic"ly you get
bac" up and get bac" on the program that determines your success.

7ive yourself permission to be imperfect and start your controlled stumble toward weight
loss. -ronically once you accept that you’re not going to be perfect at following the
program your weight loss will start happening much faster than if you e3pect to be #DDE
perfect at it every dayB


4
Chapter C: I#tro!$&t"o# to Mea( P(a##"#-
80 Ro8erta Sa$'


Aearning that you don9 t need restricted diet rules and regulations and that you can choose
your own food is tremendous freedom. ,his is one of the most important s"ills you will
need in order to successfully lose fat and maintain your fitness and physi?ue.

,he following list of meal plans were put together with food choices that were made by
many of our successful Venus contest winners. ,hey are merely a starting point for you
to use if you need them, so feel free to substitute your own choices at any time.

:3amples of substitutions might be sourdough bread vs. whole wheat bread or rice vs.
another grain. !ou can choose butter vs. olive oil vs. coconut oil. <airy protein vs. meat
vs. fish vs. vegan protein. !ou can soa" and coo" your own legumes if you want (- do+,
or you can go to the fresh food section of the grocery store and buy something pac"aged
up. 'bviously, if you have food reactions or allergies that you "now of you will need to
ma"e some substitutions right away. ,he point is8

5o$ ha2e the 3ree!o' to &hoo%e a#! I e#&o$ra-e 0o$ to 3"#! 3oo!% 0o$ (o2eD

,he #$-wee" %ndulating &etabolic 'verride Program that John designed and you 6ust
read about was created to help prevent =crashing> and allow your body some recovery
from a calorie deficit. -t should help your body become more efficient at utili/ing protein
for muscle repair and recovery, and ma"e it more efficient at burning carbohydrates. ;e
1
has already told you that when you eat and how often you eat ma"e no difference on your
weight loss, so you can arrange the meals and snac"s however they fit your lifestyle best.
@ll that matters are the calories at the end of the day. -f you use :at 1top :at methods or
other methods of fasting you can ad6ust the meal timing accordingly or s"ip meals as you
wish. -f you li"e a meal plan but feel you need to eat lower calories, simply ta"e some
items out until the menu matches your needs.

,he meal plans start at #,DDD calories and move up in #DD-calorie increments. !ou can
use these e3amples as a complete meal plan or you can plug-and-play any meals or items
from any day until you find a menu that suits your macro-nutrient and calorie needs. ,he
goal is that over time you will be able to design your own menu. @s you start to do that
you will need an online calorie counting and trac"ing tool to ma"e sure those foods fit
into your calories for the day. ,he calorie estimates in my meal plans were calculated
from http8FFwww.myfitnesspal.com.

hen you are a small female trying to lose weight, especially when you get down to the
last #D-$D pounds and begin tapering up your calories (you have less body fat therefore
re?uire more calories+, there is less room for error. eighing and trac"ing can be crucial
if you are e3periencing plateaus and need to troubleshoot. ,here are already built in
errors in calorie estimates, within the online tools, pac"aging labels, and who really
"nows how much sugar is in that specific carrot or apple, or how many calories are in the
specific egg in your hand? hat -’m saying is you already only have a close
appro3imation.

&a"e sure to chec" multiple sources for calorie amounts in the beginning because not all
sites will have the same values for the same amount of food. For e3ample you can find
several different values for # large egg. -f - don’t have a pac"age that gives me the calorie
amount, - will usually choose the higher value and stic" to that amount. :3periment,
research, and change your own menu accordingly. -f you want to ta"e this a step further,
you can buy a digital scale and weigh your food. &any pac"aged foods contain more than
the pac"aging label says because legally they cannot sell less than what the pac"aging
states4 so, often times you may get more than a pac"age states. ,he only way to "now for
sure is to weigh it with a digital scale or measure the portions out with measuring cups
and measuring spoons.

.emember that your body is the end game, not the numbers on a scale. !our body tells
you if you are truly eating at a calorie deficit. ,he loss of mass is what defines a deficit.
!ou may need to e3periment to find the e3act calorie level for you4 the nutrition
calculators are a very close estimate and give you a place to start. Patience and a bit of
trial and error are re?uired.
2
3

Ma"#te#a#&e Ca(or"e% - ,his is the number of calories you will consume on your 9eat
up9 days. ,his is our best estimate at your daily calorie needs to &@-0,@-0 your
current bodyweight without gaining or losing. ,his is also the daily calories you will
be eating to reset your system after eating at your deficit fat loss numbers.

S$--e%te! 1a"(0 Prote"# I#ta,e - ,his is your suggested protein inta"e that you will
re?uire for proper repair growth and lean muscle maintenance while you lose weight.


1a"(0 8o!0e"-ht 3($&t$at"o#% - this is the average amount of weight your body may
fluctuate on a day to day basis given your measurements.


6e%t 8o!0e"-ht ra#-e - this is the range of bodyweight that you will li"ely be within
when you hit your ideal Venus -nde3 measurements. @s you can see this is ?uite a wide
range and it9s specific to your height. e cannot "now for sure how much you will
weigh when you9ve reached the body you want but given all the research we have seen
almost all women will fall within the ranges our calculator gives.

6e%t E%t"'ate! Tar-et We"-ht - this is simply the middle point of your ideal
bodyweight range. e cannot "now for sure how much you will weigh when you arrive
at your best shape. ,his number is 6ust the mid-point of your suggested bodyweight
range. &ost people of average height will arrive somewhere close to this number.
:3ceptionally tall or short people tend to land further to the ends of the bodyweight
range, as do people with genetically higher or lower muscle mass.

I!ea( H"p C"r&$'3ere#&e Ra#-e - ,his is the range we would e3pect your hip
measurement to fall within when you9re at or near your ideal Venus -nde3 waist. ,his is
a range rather than a specific number because hip structure varies greatly based on
genetics. 1ome women will simply have a bone structure for wider hips than other
women and thus we give a range of where most women will li"ely arrive.

I!ea( Sho$(!er% - ,his is your target shoulder circumference we would e3pect you
to arrive at for your ideal Venus -nde3 measurements.

I!ea( Wa"%t - ,his is your target waist circumference we would e3pect you to
approach for your ldeal Venus -nde3 measurement.




Vi deo Tutori al : How to Use t he
Venus Factor Vi rt ual Nutri t i onist
B
Ho to U%e the Mea( P(a#%

-f the VFV0 gives you #,$DD calories for your deficit days, you can use any of the meal
plans in the #,$DD-calorie section (meal plan Q# through meal plan Q#D+ and remember
you can substitute anything you don9 t li"e or that you can9t eat for any reason. -f you do
ma"e changes, use an online calorie-trac"ing tool to ensure your total daily calories add
up to #,$DD.

%se any #,$DD-calorie meal plan for any deficit day for the full #$ wee"s.

-f your maintenance calories are #,MDD pic" any menu from that category and use them
for any maintenance days for the full #$ wee"s4 however note that on the days that
re?uire more fat, protein, or carbs you will have to choose one of the plans that have
more fat, protein, or carbs compared to your deficit days.
1A444 Calorie
1eal @lans
9
:
<
(
B4
B1
B2
B3
B
BB
B9
1A144 Calorie
1eal @lans
B:
B<
B(
94
91
92
93
9
9B
99
9:
1A244 Calorie
1eal @lans
9<
9(
:4
:1
:2
:3
:
:B
:9
::
:<
1A344 Calorie
1eal @lans
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1A44 Calorie
1eal @lans
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(:
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((
144
1AB44 Calorie
1eal @lans
141
142
143
14
14B
149
14:
14<
14(
114
111
1A944 Calorie
1eal @lans
112
113
11
11B
119
11:
11<
11(
124
121
122
123
1A:44 Calorie
1eal @lans
12
12B
129
12:
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134
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132
133
13
13B
139
Chapter E: S$pp(e'e#t%

We"-ht Lo%%

,he process of losing weight re?uires as much help as you can get and supplements can
definitely help the process along. ,here are hundreds of supplements on the mar"et and it
can be overwhelming when attempting to choose one for your weight loss program.

,he first thing you need to understand is most supplements are designed by men, for
men. :ven the ones you see mar"eted toward women are usually designed by men. -
"now this because - used to develop weight loss supplements and - wor"ed on many
products for women.

,he best one -9ve seen for women so far isn9t even mar"eted specifically for womenB

@s discussed earlier, a ma6or difference between the way men and women lose weight is
rooted in leptin and how your leptin levels fluctuate compared to a man’s. omen will
have higher highs and lower lows in leptin, which can indicate a general leptin resistance.
,he highs and lows can end up causing cravings, binges, and crashes. 1o, anything that
can help normali/e and increase leptin sensitivity would be a huge advantage in the
weight loss process.

.ecent research on a standardi/ed e3tract of the herb -rvingia 7abonensis shows that it
can increase leptin sensitivity by up to M$E. -n a research paper using this herb sub6ects
lost an average of $Hlbs in #D wee"s compared to those who too" the placebo4 they lost
an average of only Glbs. ,his is the only herbal e3tract - "now of that can affect leptin
li"e this and that also has clinical research proving it can also help with weight loss.

@nother specific ingredient called 'leanoic @cid (from 'live Aeaf :3tract+ has also been
shown to stimulate leptin signaling and binding to the hypothalamus (specific part of the
brain+. ,his enhanced binding effect is e3tremely important for women as the issue with
weight loss isn9t a lac" of leptin, but a lac" of sensitivity to it.

-rvingia 7abonensis and 'leanic @cid both increase leptin sensitivity and can reduce the
large drops you will normally e3perience when attempting to diet. -9ve only found one
supplement to date that actually incorporates both of them in a weight loss formula (along
with a few other useful fat loss agents+.

!ou can find it at this lin"8 www.thefatburninghormone.com.


www.fatburninghormone.com
13:
G$t Hea(th

&any people overloo" is the healthy functioning of their gastrointestinal system (gut+.
<ifferent foods cause different reactions and even our gut microflora (bacteria that
naturally lives in our gut+ changes as we age and also as our body fat levels change. 1ome
foods you used to be able to eat with no problem can become less easy to digest, and
other foods you never used to digest well suddenly can be easier to digest.

'ne thing you can do to normali/e this and get things moving smoothly is ta"ing a
probiotic designed specifically for long term gut and bowel health.

Aearn about probiotics here8 www.biotrust.com.

I#%$("# Se#%"t"2"t0

@nother ma6or category of supplement that could help with your weight loss goals is an
insulin sensiti/ing agent. hen you eat carbs, they are absorbed into your blood as
glucose. From there your blood glucose can go one of three places8

!our liver as stored glycogen to fuel your organs and brain.
!our muscles as stored glycogen for e3ercise activity and movement.
Fat cells stored as fat for future use when you don9 t have enough food.

!ou don’t want it stored as fat for future useB .ather, you want it used to fuel your organs
and brain or stored in your muscles for e3ercise and other movement. ,hese options are
dependent on the cells being sensitive to insulin to clear the glucose out of your blood,
"eep it out of your fat cells, and put it into muscle cells where it’s most useful.

:3ercising can increase the sensitivity of your muscles to insulin but so can some herbal
e3tracts. 7etting any advantage you can is worth it during the weight loss process and
this is one of those things that could really help if you thin" you9re sensitive to carbs.

Aearn about -nsulin 1ensitivity here8 www.biotrust.com.

F"%h O"(%

-n our discussion of fats - mentioned omega-G fats and that you can get them into your
diet by eating more fish or ta"ing a fish oil supplement. 0ot everyone li"es or eats fish4 a
fish oil supplement is best for these people. @ good fish oil supplement can help reduce
inflammation, improve s"in ?uality, help with the fat loss process, and improve your
overall health. -9ve had success with fish oils reducing my triglycerides as well as helping
my 6oints heal between wor"outs. Fish oil supplements are almost universally useful to
people in 0orth @merica because our diets are very low in fish and fatty fish. e 6ust
don9t get enough omega-G fats, plain and simple.
www.Biotrust.com
www.Biotrust.com
13<
-9ve wor"ed with a supplement company to develop a fish oil supplement and it9s also the
same one - ta"e. !ou can find it here8 www.bluestarnutraceuticals.com.


,he above list of supplements are worth a serious loo" if you want to do as much as
possible to ma"e your weight loss goal a reality. Ieep in mind that these are
supplements. ,hat means they supplement the process, they cannot replace the dieting
process itself or the wor"out process4 however, they can certainly enhance and accelerate
the progress.

,he best way to view your weight loss process is as a three pronged approach.

1) 1"et) ,his is the most important part and it’s the basis of this entire manual.

2) E4er&"%e. !ou have the Venus Factor #$-ee" or"out to complement the diet.

*) S$pp(e'e#t%. ,he supplements -’ve mentioned can enhance the effect of the diet
and e3ercise programs.

-ntelligent use of all three factors 5 plus the Venus community and tools li"e the podcasts
5 will produce the fastest weight loss. Aeaving any of these three components out will
slow the process to less than what it could be.

0ow it9s time for you to ta"e action and start changing your body today, let9s get startedB

www.bluestarnutraceuticals.com
13(
PART 2: A NEW WA5 TO MEASURE PROGRESS


Chapter >: We"-ht 2%) Shape

There is an ideal shape for your body.

0o matter how tall you are, no matter your current body shape, no matter how politically
incorrect that might sound 5 there is an ideal shape for your body.

hat’s even more fascinating is that this shape is based on solid anthropometrics (which
includes body proportions+, health, and psychology research and is obtainable by almost
every woman.

e call this shape the Venus -nde3 (V-+.

!our V- is a uni?ue set of proportions based on your height and three ratios8

;eight-to-aist .atio.
aist-to-;ip .atio.
aist-to-1houlder .atio.

1eem familiar? ,hey’re similar to the measurements used when determining the
proportions of a classic hourglass shape.

;owever, what might not be so familiar is how they are intricately connected to your
height, or the fact that almost any woman can wor" toward obtaining these ratios.

,he shape and si/e created by these proportions create your =best> shape and is the target
that this wor"out aims to move you toward.

,he =best> shape is not model s"inny. ,he level of e3treme thinness that is present in
most high-level models only loo"s good in pictures, television, and under the forgiving
lighting of the fashion runway. -n everyday real life, this loo" is simply not attractive 5
nor is it healthy.

,he =best> shape isn’t too big or bul"y, either. 1ure, it includes an amount of muscle that
is considered healthy and fit, but it doesn’t re?uire overly masculine levels of muscle.

@ctually, - call this shape the =7oldiloc"s Phenomenon>. -t’s based on the natural ranges
of fat and muscle typically found on a woman at any given height, and achieving it is
=6ust right.>
14
Th"##er I%#At the O#(0 A#%er

@lthough it seems li"e the driving force behind both the fitness and mainstream media is
the idea that constantly losing weight and getting thinner is the answer to all your fitness
and weight loss goals, they’re not.

-f you thin" about it, it’s actually pretty ironic. @t some point, =getting in shape> became
=getting as s"inny as possible,> without no real consideration as to what shape that
becomes.

;aving a healthy, good-loo"ing body means considering your body fat range and muscle
shape and tone, too. 'therwise, you’re 6ust =s"inny fat> 5 even if you fall into the healthy
ranges of measurements li"e Body &ass -nde3 (B&-+, it’s still not nearly as healthy as it
could be.

,he idea is to be lean, firm, and toned. eight loss by itself isn’t a strong enough goal4
0o$ #ee! a %hape -oa(. .ecent research has clearly illustrated that one of the best ways
to measure a person9s ris" of chronic disease is by loo"ing at the shape of the person’s
body. For e3ample, the simple ratio of your height and waist can predict your ris" of
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. 0ot coincidentally, these are
some of the measurements that are part of the V- and part of the reason why we thin" it’s
an ideal all women should be aiming for.

@ good V- is not as far off as you might thin". It !oe%#At 'atter here 0o$ are
%tart"#-, you can always improve your shape to move closer to your ideal Venus -nde3.


What 1eter'"#e% 5o$r Shape.

11
!our muscle is what provides the real shape of your body, however if you don’t have
much muscle you’re at the mercy of your genetic fat distribution pattern, i.e. one of the
four shapes in the previous graphic.

.egardless of which shape your body most closely resembles, you can always move
toward a shapely, lean figure if you wor" on developing your muscles and reducing your
body fat. -n fact, a lean female body with well-developed muscles will always end up
closer to an hourglass shape than any other.

,he goal of the Venus Factor program is to help you develop, shape, and refine your
muscles and strip away body fat so that you’re not at the mercy of your genetic
predetermined fat storage pattern and allow your true shape to show.

5o$r TRUE Shape Co'e% 3ro' 5o$r M$%&(e%

,he Venus Factor wor"out program is designed to wor" your muscles in the e3act ratios
needed in order to create an aesthetically pleasing body. !ou still reap all the health
benefits of weight training, but you move toward a specific goal rather than 6ust building
muscle and hoping that it turns out loo"ing o"ay.

&any people fail to consider that the wrong weight training program that increases the
si/e of your muscles in the wrong proportions can actually ma"e you loo" worse. ,he
goal of the Venus Factor wor"out program is to move you toward a defined and
measurable body shape goal, using the 7olden Proportions as a guide.

Wh0 a Spe&"a( Wor, O$t Pro-ra'.

,he ideal Venus -nde3 is based on the concept of the 7olden .atio, this is also called the
7olden Proportion or the =<ivine Proportion.>

,he 7olden .atio is an irrational mathematical constant called =P;-.>

-t’s represented as this symbol8 R

-t is a ratio of #8#.*#H

1o what is the significance of this proportion?

,his ratio happens to be at the root of how your body is designed and proportioned, and
it’s also what many people find most pleasing to loo" at.

ould you guess this proportion occurs throughout nature, and it’s a guide for the
proportions of the human body?
12
For e3ample, famous sculptors used the 7olden .atio to map out and build statues and
sculptures. @rtists li"e Aeonardo <a Vinci used it to create some of his greatest wor"s of
art. Plastic surgeons use the 7olden .atio to reconstruct and remodel faces on patients
who have been in accidents and need reconstructive surgery.

:ven maga/ine artists use the golden ratio as a guide to =touch up> their cover models
(part of why being =model s"inny> isn’t the answer 5 artists 6ust move them toward their
Venus -nde3 through the magic of photo editing+.

,he point is that there are many aspects of your body that are in the golden proportion
and as it turns out there is scientific research to support the theory that most people find
this ratio very pleasing to loo" at. ,he following illustration shows some of the
proportions of the ideal body that appro3imate the 7olden .atio.

13
The Go(!e# Proport"o#%



,hese particular ratios are genetically predetermined and most women will fall e3tremely
close to these, if not right on them. 1till, these specific ratios are a secondary factor to
your body’s visual impact 5 the Venus -nde3 being the primary and most important, and8


ItA% &o'p(ete(0 "th"# 0o$r &o#tro( to &ha#-eD

1
Chapter 1F: The Ve#$% I#!e4 Mea%$re'e#t%


e’ve ta"en the concept of the 7olden .atio one step further and applied it to three
ratios on your body that, together, ma"e up your Venus -nde3. ,hese three measurements
are based around the =inflection points> that attract the human eye to your figure.

,he three inflection points are as follows8

1houlder circumference
aist circumference
;ip circumference

,he human eye will trac" these three points as a curve
(thin" of the classic hourglass shape+ which will form
the shape and visual image of your body, and you’ll
notice that these points are circumferences so you can
see them from all angles (side, front, or bac" view+. ,he
most critical and starting point for the Venus -nde3 is
the ideal waist measurement.


He"-ht-to-Wa"%t Rat"o

,he ideal waist is identified by the ratio of your height
to your waist. ,his ma"es sense, as generally, a taller
woman is li"ely to have a larger ideal waist than a
shorter woman.

-n order to determine your ideal waist we first have to
identify the li"ely upper limit past which health issues become a legitimate concern.

Upper L"'"t He"-ht-to-Wa"%t Rat"o

.esearch indicates a waist si/e above MDE of height indicates an increased ris" of health
issues. 1o, we can li"ely safely assume that a waist greater than MDE of height is simply
not good for your overall health, but this doesn’t mean simply getting a waist below MDE
of height is ideal4 it’s 6ust the cutoff where we can show that your general health status
starts to improve as you drop below it.

1ome of these researchers and some health organi/ations suggest the target percentage
for improved mar"ers of health is below L*E of height (#+. hatever the specific number
ends up being, it’s becoming clear in the research that there will soon be
recommendations of a standard cut off point for public policy, insurance rates, and as a
guide for when medical practitioners advise a patient to lose weight.
1B
@t this point we "now for the health benefit alone it appears that as your waist drops
below MDE of your height your measurements of health become significantly improved,
and at least some research indicates it further improves if it drops below L*E of height.
,his gives us a rough upper limit to wor" with based on health and the ne3t step is
establishing a rough lower limit.

Loer L"'"t o3 He"-ht-to-Wa"%t Rat"o

-n order to gauge a lower limit or e3treme on the opposite end we loo"ed into research on
the average height-to-waist ratios of various models over the past MD years. ,he average
waist si/e for these women is between GME and G2E of height ($+. ,his may represent
the lower possible end of what loo"s good and is still healthy but may not be entirely
realistic for all women across the population to achieve.

%sing this as our cut off on the lower end we end up with an e3panded healthy height-to-
waist range of GME to L*E.

Hea(th0 He"-ht-to-We"-ht Rat"o

1o far we "now8

Loer L"'"t Wa"%t S"9e G */H o3 He"-ht: <ropping below this number is li"ely
associated with being in an unhealthy low body fat level.
Upper L"'"t Wa"%t S"9e G +IH o3 He"-ht: 7oing above this number is li"ely associated
with increased ris" of certain lifestyle diseases such as )V< and diabetes.

,herefore your =ideal> waist is somewhere between these two limits, and we thin" the
7olden .atio is what tells us e3actly where.

The Go(!e# Proport"o# a#! He"-ht-to-Wa"%t Rat"o

-t’s li"ely that most women cannot get their waist down to GME of their height without
being genetically smaller in the waist to begin with. -t’s also li"ely that having a waist
that is L*E of your height isn’t going to be ?uite small enough to give you the curves that
ma"e up a great loo"ing V- proportion (this doesn’t mean that you’re not in good health
with a waist of L*E of height4 it 6ust means you’ve still got some room for improvement
to get to your best loo"+.

Based on these upper and lower limits of a healthy waist si/e we propose an ideal si/e
that is closer to the middle of these two numbers.

hen we cross-reference the available research on healthy college-aged (average age $#+
women in the late #HDDs with data from the proportions used by artists to sculpt female
bodies, and with the data on active women with healthy body fat levels we find an
average waist si/e that ends up at appro3imately GKE of height (G+. ,his number also
19
agrees with the measurements we’ve made with our own clients who would be
considered fit and in shape but not overly s"inny and not overly muscular.

7iven this information, combined with the prevalence of the divine proportion in the
human body, it becomes evident that a realistic target for an ideal waist for most women
can be obtained by using the 7olden .atio.

By applying the 7olden .atio to the height-to-waist ratio and then to your shoulder-to-
waist ratio we find that your waist and shoulder circumferences are in golden proportion
to your height.

-n other words, if we ta"e your total height and divide it at the golden section we end up
with the following number for your ideal waist8 GH.$E of height.

,he calculation we used to determine the ideal waist is based on the golden proportion8

#F#.*#H 5 # N D.GH$ or #F R-# N D.GH$

Based on this calculation we determined that the ideal waist proportion is GH.$E of
height, which matches closely with the research we’ve seen that appro3imates an ideal
waist of GKE of height, and the measurements we’ve ta"en of our own clients.

@ height-to-waist ratio that closes in on this number is clearly within a healthy range and
will li"ely mean you’re at a body fat defined as =fitness level> by the @merican )ouncil
on :3ercise and other scientific associations. @lso, because so many other aspects of the
human body are also predicted by this e?uation, it might not be a coincidence that the
ideal waist seems to be dictated by the 7olden Proportion.

ote" To be clear# we$re not talking about a masculine looking e%tremely low body fat
level# but rather a body fat level that allows your real shape to show through.

-n general, as your height-to-waist ratio approaches this number of GH.$E the overall
loo" of your shape will be improving. ,his doesn’t mean you &%1, hit this number
e3actly (as any movement toward this number will be an improvement+, but instead it’s
the overall target to shoot for. ,his also removes the idea that Olighter’ and losing more
weight is the only answer to getting in shape. -n fact, some women may simply need to
wor" on the proportions of their body to get closer to this number "tho$t (o%"#- a#0
e"-ht at a((.

@gain, understand this is a ratio based on your height. ,hat means a woman who is five
inches taller than you should have a larger waist than you, and a woman that is five
inches shorter than you should have a smaller waist than you. (,here are always
e3ceptions but this rule will fit for most women.+ ,his is also why you shouldn’t compare
yourself to anyone else but instead compare yourself to yourself (before and after you
start the V- program or any other e3ercise andFor diet routine+.

1:
inflection point is the hips8 aist-to-;ip .atio.

Wa"%t-to-H"p Rat"o

,he second inflection point is the hips, and the hip measurement ma"es up half of the
ne3t ratio of the Venus -nde38 aist-to-;ip.

,he waist-to-hip ratio is a much debated and studied topic and there is yet to be a
consensus in the research on an ideal ratio. ,he number that most research seems to
return to is a waist-to-hip ratio of appro3 D.2 (L+, although some research indicates some
men are more attracted to a lower waist-to-hip ratio closer to D.*M and as far as D.*D, and
on the slimmer side of D.HD. Just to get it clear in your mind, the lower the ratio the bigger
the difference between hips and waist. -n other words, a waist-to-hip ratio of # would
mean your hips and waist are the same si/e, if your waist-to-hip ratio was D.M it would
mean your waist is e3actly half the si/e of your hips (ta"en as a circumference+.

,he interesting point here is that ideal waist si/e had a bigger impact than the waist-to-
hip ratio in that the rating of attractiveness of waist-to-hip ratios from D.*M - D.2M didn’t
change much if the waist remained slim (M+. -n other words, getting to your ideal waist
will have a bigger impact than hitting a specific waist-to-hip ratio.

-f we use 2DE as our basis then the calculation based on ideal waist is as follows8

-deal waist 3 #.L$ N -deal hips (for a 2DE ratio+

%sing our calculation for ideal waist you get the following e?uation for your ideal hip
si/e8

!our ;eight 3 .GH$ N !our ideal waist si/e
!our ideal waist si/e 3 #.L$ N !our ideal hip si/e (at D.2 waist-to-hip+

For women with a bit more natural hip, the waist-to-hip ratio might converge closer to
D.*M. (,he calculation for this would be8 your ideal waist 3 #.MG.+

Personal preference li"ely varies to some degree on this ratio, but not by much. 1ome
people tend to li"e the loo" of a slightly slimmer ratio, and others tend to li"e a slightly
larger ratio, but in general we’re tal"ing 6ust a few percentage points one way or the
other. For this reason we give between D.2 and D.*M as the waist-to-hip ratio to shoot for.
'bviously as you change shape you can decide what end of this range seems to be most
realistic for your body.
1<

,he final Venus -nde3 measurement is shoulder circumference and it
ma"es up the third ratio in the Venus -nde38 1houlder-to-aist .atio.

Sho$(!er-to-Wa"%t Rat"o

,he shoulder circumference is the third inflection point that can
dramatically affect the loo" of your body. ,his doesn’t mean that you
need to build up large shoulders, but shapely defined shoulders can
provide the illusion of a smaller waist that will further enhance the
hourglass loo", and this is where the golden ratio applies again to your
body.

,he ideal shoulder si/e is in golden proportion to your height and your
waist, the calculation is as follows8

-deal shoulders N D.*#H of your height (which is e?ual to #.*#H 3 your i deal waist+


&ach 'easurement (ocation is one of the ) *nflection +oints and should to be taken as a
circumference ,like a belt around your waist-.
1(
Ho to Ta,e 5o$r Mea%$re'e#t%

,a"e your measurements first thing in the morning, before you eat or drin". Bloating
from water or food that you’ve eaten throughout the day can s"ew your measurements if
you wait until later in the day. -t’s not unusual for your waist measurement to be higher
during your monthly cycle. Just record the measurements and press on. -t is the gradual
change over time that matters more than a single wee"’s metrics.

:ach measurement is ta"en as a circumference with a tailor’s tape measure. -n the
e3amples below, we used a myotape that can be purchased online. ,his type of measuring
tape can be a little user-friendlier.

Mea%$re'e#t Po%t$re

-n order to "eep accurate and comparable data, try to be
in the same posture each time you ta"e your
measurements. @ great way to start each time is standing
with your heels, butt, shoulder and head touching a wall.







Ve#$% I#!e4 Mea%$re'e#t E4a'p(e G$"!e

Sho$(!er Mea%$re'e#t

,a"e the shoulder measurement at the widest part of your shoulders.









1B4
Wa"%t Mea%$re'e#t

,a"e the waist measurement at the smallest point between your chest and your hips. For
most women, it is right below the ribs.



















H"p Mea%$re'e#t

,a"e the hip measurement at the widest point where your butt stic"s out the most.










1B1
Re3ere#&e%
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2*(M+8MGH-L$. $D#D
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he in!or"ation #ithin this book is "eant !or healthy adult indi$iduals. $ou should
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