I got an email from Dave who asked me about my thoughs in regards to food combining and Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle e-book which directly contradicts it.
 
 below is how I responded.
 
 
 ---- Original Message ----
 From: dave@******.com
 To: Rob
 Subject: Question about BFFM
 Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 16:01:40 -0400
 
 Hi Rob:
 
 I discovered your website yesterday and have found it very educational and enjoyable so far. I'm also an advocate of BFFM and I was wondering if you find it conflicts with your beliefs about proper food combining? Obviously, most of the meals
 you would normally eat with BFFM are in direct conflict with most advice on proper food combining.
 
 Hey, have you ever read or followed the Body for Life program? It's VERY similar to BFFM and actually much easier to read/understand. BFFM gets pretty technical at times and makes for a tough read for most people.
 
 Best Regards,
 Dave M.
 
 ----- End Email ----------
 
 This is not the first time I've gotten this question about me having information about food combining on my website and then me also talking about BFFM which contradicts it.  Not only contradicts it, but I'm following it.
 
 Here's what I tell people:
 
 Food combining works.  It really gives the body a break in the digestion of food.  It becomes easier to digest food and the energy that's saved goes into a lot of other processes in the body, namely cleansing.  For anyone with any sort of serious health challenges, it's one of the first things that should be started.  I'm convinced that all health issues begin with the stomach and a cleanup of the diet and the 9 stomach busters is the first thing to be approached.
 
 Yes, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) is in direct conflict with food combining.
 
 Food combining, in my opinion is a great way to jump start your health and help give the digestive process a rest, but it does not necessarily have to be followed all the time.  I did it religiously for a great number of years and I've only recently begun to break the fruit rule (see below).  I have empowered my digestion by years of healthy eating, food combining and the system specific whole food products that I use (S_R) which have a formula that nourishes the digestive system.  I also firmly believe and tell my clients to try things and see what works for them.  Don't believe what I tell you, but try it and prove me wrong or right, then you decide what works for you. 
 
 Food combining was introduced to me through a book called Fit For Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond.  Harvey himself has said that he's changed his stance on a few principles and realizes that the program does not need to be followed strictly nor for life and that the rules can be broken once your digestive system has been "jump started" or "reset".
 
 BFFM along with other programs promote the proper combinations of protein, fats, vegetables and grains at each meal.  Chicken, Rice and cauliflower for example.  Yep.  Poor combination.
 
 My results?
 
 Thermogenics increased, fat burning increased, no real loss of energy.  The body has the ability to digest them together, but at a far higher price in energy.  If your digestion is not up to it, it may very well cause energy loss.
 
 What I do still notice though, is that I was to add a desert to that, or sugar to be specific, I'd burn out very fast.  Sugar and protein DO NOT MIX.  If I add sugar to a protein meal, I won't eat again for 6 or more hours, and I can easily burn up a meal in 3.
 
 I recommend food combining to improve your health, jump start your digestion, improve cleansing, eliminate heartburn etc and especially follow the rules of proper fruit consumption.  Once those things are all settled, then begin to experiment.  I met a woman at a personal development course.  She had asked me for some advice about the sickness she was feeling at the time and I mentioned food combining.  She knew the principles. I told her to just follow them for a few days and her result was that she improved very quickly.  Her energy levels came back up, her headaches went away and she became more regular.  Quick, simple solution.
 
 I also recommend the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program for anyone who wants to accelerate their fat loss program and get really really lean.
 
 As for Body For Life by Bill Phillips, I think it's a good book too.  I recommend it for people who are looking to get started in physical fitness.  It covers fitness routines, healthy eating and is very inspirational.  I followed the workout program in the book for about a year so that I could say I've done it and to give my own program a change up.  Change is good.  I have a friend who's in his 50's who just begun weight training. He's 100 pounds soaking wet, and he borrowed my copy.  He finds it an easy read and still comments to me about the change it's made in his life.
 
 What we tend to do as humans, and I'm speaking from experience, is that we tend to get caught up in one thing as gospel.  I read Fit For Life and began to preach it because it was working so well for me.  I pissed my roommate so much that she told me to read more books.  I was hurt for a bit, then realized that she was right.  I began to diversify.
 
 What I found was that change is good.  I change up my weight training program every 6 weeks because my body adapts to it so quickly and I find that the new program stimulates my interest again and I'm focused for another 6 weeks.  The same can be said for your health.  Read all there is to know about health, fitness, exercise.  Put the new ideas into practice and see what works for you.  Record what you're doing so that you can change some variables and monitor the results.  You won't know if you're eating too few calories or too many unless you first know how many you're eating and in what percentages.  Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle teaches this.
 
 Both Body For Life and Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle are good books.  Get them both.  Then just keep reading.
 
 PS, if someone challenges your beliefs by saying that "so and so program is better, or your so and so program is full of crap...", just do some more research into theirs and your own and then try it.  See what works for you.  Proof is in the pudding.
 
 PPS, me breaking the proper consumption of fruit rule.  Well, it just so happens that I like to experiment and put things to the test.  I did not break the "fruit" rule for over 10 years.  Now, some new information has come to my attention regarding post workout meals (re-fueling for maximum muscle gain).  The information I've learned is about eating a specific ratio of simple carbs to protein and fats within 10 minutes after your workout.  I am choosing bananas (4 of them) along with egg whites and a little Udo's Oil along with two S_R Products.  Other than this, I do not eat fruit any time except during the summer months and then I restrict it to berries. (go ahead, ask me why.)  This post workout meal is the only time I eat simple carbs and I calculate the rest of my daily meals based on this one "shake".
 
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This response has been posted to my website as well:

http://www.formerfatguy.com/fatloss/index.asp

Rob