Top Ten Weight Loss Myths Part 1:
When following a weight loss
plan, one can often be bombarded with seemingly contradictory advice. If you
have experienced this before, then you know how frustrating it can be when trying
to figure out exactly what advice to follow. Below I will discuss 5 of the more
common weight loss myths that still prevail in the fitness industry today. If
you’d like to be sent Part 2 of this article, click here: NEWSLETTER and enter your email address.
If you have any questions or
comments, I’d love to hear from you, so feel free drop me a line at innerimagept@gmail.com
Thanks for reading!
Kristian Leach
We've all heard the saying
"If you eat carbs in the evening you will turn into a big giant
Carbo-Wolf". Actually, I just made that up, but, this whole "no
carbohydrates in the evening" myth is absolute nonsense. It has lead to
some people to become afraid to eat carbohydrates in the evening, without
having a shred of scientific evidence to back-up that fear. If you are at a
caloric deficit (you expended more calories than you consumed) at the end of
the day, you will lose weight. Research has shown that if you eat a set number
of carbohydrates in a day, you will not lose more body-fat if you consume the
carbohydrates earlier in the day versus later in the day, versus spread out
throughout the day. Carbohydrates in the evening can actually help aid sleep by
elevating our serotonin (feel-good neurotransmitter). A good night’s sleep can
help decrease your cortisol (stress hormone) levels, which can actually help
you lose body-fat. Bottom-line: be mindful of how many grams of carbs you are consuming
in a day, but don't stress over eating them in the evening!
Several recent studies have shown
that fasted cardio (cardio done on an empty stomach) and non-fasted cardio done
at the same intensity for the same duration of time burn a relatively equal
amount of fat and calories. There is no greater “fat burning” benefit to doing
fasted cardio. One study also showed that protein breakdown doubled for
individuals in the fasted cardio group. This means that the fasted cardio group
was more likely to experience muscle catabolism (muscle loss)… Not cool! If you
do know someone who appears to have experienced successful weight loss with
their fasted cardiovascular activity; their success is most likely due to a
consistent diet that puts them in a caloric deficit. Bottom line: make sure to
eat prior to exercising and make sure to give yourself enough time to digest
the pre-exercise meal or snack.
A 2004 study conducted by the University of
Vermont found that 96% of people have a Resting Metabolic Rate that falls
within 200-300 calories of the calculated normal rate for their bodyweight and
age. In other words, 96% percent of people have a relatively “normal”
metabolism. Before one makes the argument that their metabolism is slow, they
should first spend a week or more tracking their daily caloric intake using an
online app such as myfitnesspal. This is a great tool that will give you some
solid feedback as to whether or not you are consuming more or less calories
than your body requires to maintain your current bodyweight. If you do decide
to track your calories, be prepared to weigh and measure your foods each day,
as eye-balling can lead to a false calorie total. This can be a bit tedious,
but it’s the only way to be sure of your exact daily caloric consumption.
Not only do they not work, they may be doing more harm than good!
* Just as a clarifying point, I am discussing
the weight loss potential of detoxes, and not the potential to detoxify (that
is a probably a whole other article in itself) *
Diet detoxes actually do end up resulting in a lot of short term weight loss. Even as much as 5-10 lbs over a 7-14 day period. This is not due to a miracle potion however, but simple math. If you only consume 800-1000 calories per day of lemon water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper drinks, all while chugging down some herbal laxatives, then of course you will lose weight (most of it water weight). One could lose a similar amount of weight eating 5 regular-sized MacDonald's hamburgers (1000 calories in total) per day, while likely preserving more muscle tissue than one would doing a diet detox/cleanse. I' m certainly not suggesting you do that either!
The research has shown that people who try these rapid weight loss cleanses end up losing hard-earned muscle tissue and re-gaining even more of the weight (after the fact) than they originally lost during the cleanse. I've seen so many people go through this cycle time and time again.
So...When it comes to sustainable and healthy weight loss, slow and steady wins the race EVERY SINGLE TIME. Instead of wasting your muscle and $59.99 on a miracle detox, try spending $1.25 on a notebook and begin tracking your food intake for a little while. It sounds boring and tedious, but it works.
Try making gradual, but not drastic, improvements to your dietary intake, week-by-week. The simple act of tracking your food intake may lead you to realize you are consuming more calories than you had actually thought, or eating too much of this food, not enough of this food etc.
Diet detoxes actually do end up resulting in a lot of short term weight loss. Even as much as 5-10 lbs over a 7-14 day period. This is not due to a miracle potion however, but simple math. If you only consume 800-1000 calories per day of lemon water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper drinks, all while chugging down some herbal laxatives, then of course you will lose weight (most of it water weight). One could lose a similar amount of weight eating 5 regular-sized MacDonald's hamburgers (1000 calories in total) per day, while likely preserving more muscle tissue than one would doing a diet detox/cleanse. I' m certainly not suggesting you do that either!
The research has shown that people who try these rapid weight loss cleanses end up losing hard-earned muscle tissue and re-gaining even more of the weight (after the fact) than they originally lost during the cleanse. I've seen so many people go through this cycle time and time again.
So...When it comes to sustainable and healthy weight loss, slow and steady wins the race EVERY SINGLE TIME. Instead of wasting your muscle and $59.99 on a miracle detox, try spending $1.25 on a notebook and begin tracking your food intake for a little while. It sounds boring and tedious, but it works.
Try making gradual, but not drastic, improvements to your dietary intake, week-by-week. The simple act of tracking your food intake may lead you to realize you are consuming more calories than you had actually thought, or eating too much of this food, not enough of this food etc.
Resistance training based
programs lead to greater short and long-term weight loss when compared to
programs that focus more on longer duration (30 min. or more) steady-state
cardiovascular activity.
In fact, two independent studies
found that long periods of cardio actually lead to weight gain by causing
participants to overeat. Thus the picture of the guy eating pizza while running
A
program focused on short intense bursts of cardio (i.e. Intervals, HIIT)
combined with progressive resistance training is
most effective for achieving both short and long-term weight loss.
Within the resistance training
program try to focus on perfecting the “bang-for-your-buck” compound exercises
such as squats, deadlifts, pushes, pulls, lunges, etc.
Beyond
all that fancy exercise talk, the bottom line still boils down to being mindful
of your daily caloric intake (do I sound like a broken record yet?? ;) A person
has to create a caloric deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound of body-fat.
If a 150lb person walked at a brisk pace (3.5 mph) on a flat surface, it would
take them about 18.5 hours to lose one pound of body-fat! Pretty crazy stuff,
hey?
Thanks
for reading, and stay tuned for Part 2!
Kristian.
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