But like we said, our latest success came after lots of trial
and error over the years. In other words, we made plenty of
mistakes, which is good news for you. It means this book can
help you sidestep those pitfalls—and there are plenty. Here are
some of the biggest blunders people make when they try to
drop bodyfat (yep, we’ve made most of them):
•Eating only one or two meals a day (you’ll burn loads of
muscle and teach your body to horde fat; not good!)
•Making a drastic calorie cut all at once (another muscle-
burning, fat-hoarding strategy; bad idea—think gradual!)
•Staying strict at all times (you need to cheat—yes,
cheat!—to keep fat-burning hormones active)
•Not using weight training correctly—or at all (lifting
convinces your body not to burn muscle for fuel; plus,
training your muscles stokes your metabolism—better
than aerobics—and having more muscle on your frame
forces your body to burn more fat, even at rest)
•Stepping on a scale (your body can build muscle, lose fat
a n d c ha n g e d ra s t ica lly w i th ou t a bod y w ei gh t
fluctuation; you can’t gauge progress by the number on
the scale)
•Eating almost no carbohydrates (your body can start
burning muscle tissue for energy, which produces toxins
and makes fat loss much more difficult; you’ll also give
in to binges due to repressed cravings)
•Eating almost zero fat (various types of fat can help you
burn bodyfat as well as fortify your anabolic hormones)We’ll discuss all of those in the coming pages, as well as
outline loads of critical body-transformation info, so you’ll know
exactly what to do to shed pounds of bodyfat and pack on
muscle at the same time. You want abs? We’ll show you how to
let ’em rip! And you can do it faster than ever with your health
intact and with no drugs whatsoever (well, maybe a little
caffeine). Ready? It’s time for you to get X-treme Lean!
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
IRON MANTraining & Research Center