Jun

25

Lose your love handles in 3 weeks!

Filed Under Weight Loss | Leave a Comment

Thisentryis part 1 of 6 in the series SERIES - Weightloss and Exercise Myths

I was going to devote this week to explaining nutrition to your finance geeks who seem to frequent my site :) However, something else caught my eye. While perusing some of the articles at eDiets, I found this little gem on losing your love handles in 3 weeks. Now I usually like eDiets, but I personally think that this article is utter and complete trash! So instead, I’ve decided to devote this week to silly exercise and diet ideas like this one.

The Myth

How many of you watch late night infomercials? Have you seen all those advertisements for machines that will make your abs look better? Or maybe you saw the ones that will make your butt look slimmer? Well, what they’re selling you is a myth. They’re saying you can lose weight in a certain part of your body through targetted exercise of that region.

The Truth

The truth is that your body deposits fat in various portions of your anatomy based on gender and genetics. Men tend to deposit fat in their bellies. Women tend to deposit fat in their thighs and butts. Some people tend towards a pear shape while others tend towards an apple shape. Where your body deposits fat is not up to you. Where your body burns fat is also not up to you.

You can exercise your abs and nothing else but your body may still decide to burn fat from other regions of your body. The only thing you’re doing with exercise is toning the muscle, but that will not get rid of the specific layer of fat covering that muscle. So you can work your abs all your want, but your body may still decide to cover them with fat.

Lesson Learned

There are no spot solutions. You cannot fix one area of your body. If you want your abs to look good you will need to lower your overall fat level. Yes, you may want to workout your abs since that will add definition, but if you want that definition to show, then you will need to remove fat in general. So stop all this nonsense about spot fat reduction and thousands of ab crunches. Eat a healthy diet, exercise your whole body with weight training and add some cardio to your routine. It’s that simple. The fat will come off all over and underneath it you will find beautiful and toned muscle.

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Jun

26

Lose 14 in two weeks!

Filed Under Weight Loss | Leave a Comment

Thisentryis part 2 of 6 in the series SERIES - Weightloss and Exercise Myths

Here we are again, it’s Tuesday, and I just saw yet another advertisement for some miracle weight loss program that will help you shed 14lbs in two weeks.  Ironically, I saw it on my very own site.  Yes, I know it makes me a bit of a hypocrite to complain about the ads on 60 in 3.  Believe me, I’ve tried contacting Google and ask about a way to exclude some ads.  I’ve also considered removing the ads altogether, but this blog does cost a bit to operate.  So until I find a way to filter the ads that show up on my site, allow me to educate you about the reality of weight loss.

The Myth

All these programs tell you that they can make you lose multiple lbs in a period of just a few days.  The usually claim a loss rate of 5 to 10lbs a week, sometimes more.  They don’t really tell you how they’re going to do this but it almost always involves some sort of exercise routine, a diet and a “special” component.  The “special” component could be a pill, a treatment, a new way to eat or a new way to exercise.  Somehow, these diets always expect you to believe that they’ve discovered the “special” way your body works that no one else has, and through this discovery they can make you shed weight real fast!  My response is, total and utter crap!

The Truth

Let’s examine reality for a second.  Fat is what you’re looking to lose.  You’re not looking to lose muscle, bones or any other valuable organ.  No, you want to shed unneeded fat.  Well, a lb of fat contains around 3500 calories worth of energy.  So in order to remove 1lb of fat, you need to spend 3500 more calories than you consume.  If you want to remove 5lbs you will need to get rid of 17,500 calories.  With me so far?

Now, the average man needs about 2000 to 2400 calories just to stay alive and the average woman needs about 1800 to 2200.  These aren’t calories you use up in exercise, these are calories used to do necessary things like keep your heart beating and your brain thinking.  So the average man uses up 14,000 to 16,800 a week while the average woman uses between 12,600 and 15,400 calories a week.  Do you see a problem here?

Starvation Diet

Assuming the average man starved himself of all food, he would still lose less than 5lbs.  That is, assuming the average man stops eating altogether and somehow still manages to keep his metabolism going, which is pretty unrealistic, he would still only use up 16,800 calories.  That’s 4.8 lbs.  It’s even worse when you consider the fact that starving yourself like this will only cause your body to spend less calories.  Which means you’ll lose even less.  In fact, you probably shouldn’t go too far below your average daily calorie needs.  You don’t want your body to start shutting down vital things like your kidneys.

Insane Exercise 

Ahh, you say, but what about exercise?  Can’t we lose lbs that way?  Absolutely I say, and again, let’s do some math.  At a decent rate of speed on the treadmill, I can lose about 750 calories an hour.  So if I wanted to lose those 17,500 calories of fat, I would need to run for 23.3 hours.  That’s 3.32 hours a day.  Are you going to run for 3.32 hours a day?  Can you even run that long every single day?  I know I can’t.

Combo Strategy 

Well, what about a combination of diet and exercise?  Well, let’s take a look.  Suppose I cut 1000 calories off my daily diet.  This is already bad since I’m now below my basic daily requirements for bodily functions, but let’s just assume that.  So now I only need to lose 10,500 more calories to hit my goal of 5lbs in a week.  Hey, that’s only 2 hours of running a day!  No wait, that’s still impossible.

More Truth 

By the way, all the numbers I mentioned above are best case scenarios.  For smaller men and most women, who don’t spend as many calories a day on basic activities and who don’t burn as much while working out, your results are going to be even worse.  The scenarios above also fail to consider that your body slows down when starved causing you to spend less calories.  They also fail to consider that you need some extra calories when you workout a lot to repair the damage.

Sorry, but the truth is that miracle diets never work.  You’re much better off going for a more realistic goal of 1 to 2lbs per week.  Even that’s hard enough.  losing 2lbs in a week means spending 7000 more calories than you ate.  In other words, you need to add 10 hours or running, subtract 3.5days worth of food or some kind of combination of the above just to reach that.  Believe me, that’s not easy, but it is doable.

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Jun

27

It’s not my fault, I have fat genes!

Filed Under Eating Healthy, Exercise, Weight Loss | 5 Comments

Thisentryis part 3 of 6 in the series SERIES - Weightloss and Exercise Myths

How many times have you heard that from people who were overweight? How many times have you listened to people point out all the overweight and obese relatives in their families as proof that fat runs in their family? I hear it all the time. I hear it at work, at home, even at the gym. Somehow, that big butt is never our fault, but always someone else, and in this case, that someone else happens to be our parents.

The Myth

The common belief is that if your parents were fat then you yourself must be fat. There’s just something in your genetics that makes you predisposed to fatness. Your grandparents were fat, your parents were fat and this is proof that people with your genetics have really slow metabolisms that just like storing fat.

The Truth

Your parents are not responsible for your big butt. They did not force you to eat that chocolate cake and they did not force you to sit on your sofa for three hours watching that American Idol marathon. Your parents are not secretly pouring extra lard and sugar into your morning cereal. Furthermore, your parents did not pass along genes that give you no option but to be fat. It’s a convenient excuse that allows you to not take responsibility for your own actions, but that’s all it is, an excuse.

Your parents did pass along three things that contribute to your health. The first is diet. We learn what we eat when we’re young. If we’re raised on a diet of healthy food then we learn to eat healthy food. If we’re raised on a diet of junk food from McDonald’s then we learn to eat junk food. Yes, your eating habits are learned in childhood. However, unlike an old dog, you can indeed learn new tricks. So even if your parents taught you that a good meal means two hamburgers and some fries, there’s no reason why you can’t educate yourself. That is after all why you’re reading this blog.

Second, your parents passed along their lifestyle. If their lifestyle consisted of sitting on the sofa, smoking a pack of Marlboro’s while watching soap operas, then you might consider that lifestyle acceptable and healthy. If your parents liked going hiking, dancing and occasionally heading to the gym, then you’re going to grow up thinking of that lifestyle as normal. But again, even if your parents raised you with an unhealthy lifestyle, there’s nothing that says you can’t change.

Finally, your parents did pass along some genetics. Your body shape for example is mostly from your genes. So if you tend to pack along the fat in your belly instead of your legs, that’s genetic. If you tend to a larger or smaller frame, that’s genetics. Body fat % though is not genetics, unless your genetics happen to control the number of cupcakes you ate for lunch.

Personal Example

When I was growing up, my parents passed along a very healthy lifestyle. My dad was very physically active, frequently going dancing, hiking and biking. My mom’s cooking tended to be slightly heavy on the meat, but she also passed along great eating habits like a healthy but light breakfast, avoiding candy and spacing out multiple meals. Due to this, I was a very healthy child.

When I left home for college, all those habits went away. I ate one big meal a day, I slowly stopped being active and I ate junk food of the worst kind (If anyone reading this knows what hot dog soup is, you’ll know how bad my diet had become). So yes, I gained weight and kept gaining weight. Was this my parents fault? Was it my genetics acting up? No, it was me and no one else.

Guess what. Later on when I started eating and living healthier, I lost the weight and put the muscles back on. Genetics didn’t stop me, unless you count the fair skin I inherited from my mother, which did make jogging outdoors harder due to sunburn.

Summary

Stop blaming your parents. Your parents and your genetics are not making you fat. The difference between the calories you take in and the calories you spend are what’s making you fat, and that difference is completely up to you. Yes your parents might have passed along some bad lifestyle choices, but you’re an adult now and you can make the conscious choice to change those.

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Jun

28

But I’m Too Tired To Exercise! (In other words, I just want to see one more episode of survivor)

Filed Under Exercise, Motivation, Work Out | 5 Comments

Thisentryis part 4 of 6 in the series SERIES - Weightloss and Exercise Myths

Ahh yes, the common refrain heard in homes all around the world, “I’m too tired to exercise.”  Sometimes you hear the added “I had a long day, I just can’t workout right now.”  I especially love hearing this one from information workers like myself who spend most of the day behind a computer.  Yes, that’s right, those long hours sitting on a chair and typing away at a keyboard really wear you out physically.  Oh wait, no they don’t.

The Myth

If you worked a full day, you don’t have the energy to exercise.  Somehow, work sapped away all your will to move and now you can do nothing but sit on the couch.  You poor thing, you need to rest, and hey, my favorite show is on!

The Truth

There are two things that power your body, calories and sleep.  If you don’t get enough sleep, fix it.  Go to bed earlier or adjust your sleeping position so you don’t snore as much.  If you do get enough to sleep then saying you’re too tired to work out is just an excuse, and not a very smart one either.

The Truth 

Remember calories?  Those little units of energy that you’re trying to work off?  If you were really out of energy, that would mean you had expanded all of your calorie reserves.  So let’s check that.  Look down, is your belly still big?  Does your butt still bulge?  Is there still fat on your thighs?  Yes?  Well there you go, plenty of energy reserves for you.  You’re not out of energy and you’re not too tired to work.  Your body is just not used to doing anything other than sitting on the couch.

Ask people who work out if they feel tired after exercise.  Ask them if they feel worn down or out of energy.  The truth is that most people feel like they have more energy after working out, not less.  They feel invigorated and refreshed.  That’s because physical activity tells your body to perk up.  You’re telling your metabolism “hey!  I need energy right now, so wake up and start working!”  Your body responds by upping your energy levels and you feel refreshed.  Try it yourself.  Next time you get home and you feel tired.  Take a walk.  You’ll feel awake and full of energy when you’re done with that walk.

Summary

The truth is that you’re not too tired to exercise and you’re not too tired to do something physically active.  You’re tired because you don’t do anything physical.  You’re tired because you’ve gotten used to sitting on the couch.   So instead of whining about how tired you are, get up and do something.  Get active, go walk, take a bike ride, lift some weights, dance in your underwear.  Whatever it takes, do it.  Get active and stay active.  You’ll see some dramatic differences in your energy levels and you’ll finally understand why the rest of us always groaned and looked annoyed when you told us you were too tired to do anything.

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Jun

29

Diet is temporary, weightloss is permanent

Filed Under Eating Healthy, Exercise, Weight Loss, Work Out | 4 Comments

Thisentryis part 5 of 6 in the series SERIES - Weightloss and Exercise Myths

How many times have you heard a friend or a family member say “oh, I found this new diet. It looks so great and my friend lost 20lbs with it. I’m going on it for three months”? Actually, how many times have you said that to yourself? If you’ve heard it or said it, you’re a victim of one of the most common myths about weightloss and health.

The Myth

Everywhere you look there are people telling you that weightloss and being healthy is about temporary efforts. Try this diet for two months, go on this eating plan for four weeks or start this exercise program for ten weeks. All of these things are telling you that you can lose some weight, put on some muscle or get healthier with a short, one time project. Unfortunately, this is nothing more than nonsense.

The Truth

If you’re on some temporary health project such as diet or exercise plan, you may indeed see some results. However, like your project, these results will be temporary. The minute you stop this diet, eating plan or workout routine, your body will go back to where it was before. This is because your unhealthy habits haven’t changed, you just took a short break from them. As soon as you go back to them, the weight will come back and the muscles will go away. You do not change your health through temporary efforts. You’re not going to accomplish permanent changes with a program that’s going to end in a few weeks or months. The only way to get permanent results is by making permanent changes to your life, and this is something many people don’t seem to understand.

Counting Points

There have been a number of studies on people who have gone on various eating plans. Do you know which one is the most successful? It’s weight watchers. Interestingly enough, this program is successful not because it encourages you to eat specific foods, but because it teaches you a new way to think about foods and portion sizes. Weight watchers leaves you with knowledge and skills that you will use for the rest of your life and that’s why it works. This is an important lesson for everyone out there who is thinking about getting healthier.

Don’t do anything temporary. Anything you do needs to be a permanent change. Any exercise plan needs to be something you can keep up for the rest of your life. Any eating habits need to be things you can do every day of every week of every month for all the years to come. If you’re going on some insane, “I’m not going to eat anything but shrimp” diet, you better really love shrimp because that’s all you’re going to eat from now on.

Now there are some cases where temporary plans are good, but only if you’re working towards a temporary goal. For example, if you’re training for something specific, like an upcoming marathon, then yes, you do need a temporary plan with an end date. However, ask yourself this, is your health temporary? Do you want to look good for the next three months and that’s it? Are you only interested in being healthy for the next year? If the answer is no (and I really hope it is) then you better stop thinking of diets and workouts as a temporary. Start thinking about them as lifelong habits that you’re about to learn. Otherwise, you’re just setting yourself up for failure.

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Nov

7

Fat is bad! Fact or Myth?

Filed Under Eating Healthy, Nutrition | 2 Comments

Thisentryis part 6 of 6 in the series SERIES - Weightloss and Exercise Myths

I’ve had a few comments over the past few weeks that make me wonder if people understand what fat really is, not to mention what my opinion of it is. For example, a few days ago, someone commented on my cancer prevention post. The commenter said that reducing fat is a bad idea, to which I say, maybe…

What is fat?

First of all, let’s understand a bit more about fat. A quick trip to wikipedia gives us this definition:

Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are generally triesters of glycerol and fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at normal room temperature, depending on their structure and composition. Although the words “oils“, “fats” and “lipids” are all used to refer to fats, “oils” is usually used to refer to fats that are liquids at normal room temperature, while “fats” is usually used to refer to fats that are solids at normal room temperature. “Lipids” is used to refer to both liquid and solid fats. The word “oil” is used for any substance that does not mix with water and has a greasy feel, such as petroleum (or crude oil) and heating oil, regardless of its chemical structure.

Not a bad definition overall. There’s more over at Wiki if you want to read about fat’s chemical makeup. You can find the entire entry here, but this is enough for our purposes.

Can fat be good?

Are there benefits to fat?  You bet!  Here’s quick list, again from Wikipedia.

  • Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats. Fats are sources of essential fatty acids, an important dietary requirement.
  • Fats play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function. They also serve as energy stores for the body. Fats are broken down in the body to release glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted to glucose by the liver and thus used as a source of energy.
  • Fat also serves as a useful buffer towards a host of diseases. When a particular substance, whether chemical or biotic — reaches unsafe levels in the bloodstream, the body can effectively dilute — or at least maintain equilibrium of — the offending substances by storing it in new fat tissue. This helps to protect vital organs, until such time as the offending substances can be metabolized and/or removed from the body by such means as excretion, urination, accidental or intentional bloodletting, sebum excretion, and hair growth.

Yes, fat is absolutely a vital part of your diet.  Furthermore, fat is a good thing to have in your body, within reason.  Many people obsess about weight loss and their body fat level.  They think that removing as much fat as possible from their bodies is good.  However, fat not only serves  a number of important nutrition roles, it’s also your body’s store of emergency energy.

Remember, we evolved in an environment in which food was scarce.  Sometimes our ancestors had plenty of food and sometimes they had none.  So fat is our body’s way of taking the excess from times of plenty and storing it for times of famine.  If you reduce your body’s fat level by too much, your systems will start shutting down.  This is your body’s way of protecting itself from spending too much energy and running out.  The first few systems it will shut down are relatively nonessential.  For example, reproductive systems are the first to go.  Your body will also reduce your overall energy levels in an attempt to conserve energy for when you really need it.  This in turn leads to a lower number of calories burned per day which is counter to what you’re probably trying to achieve.  So yes, fat is absolutely necessary as a part of your diet and as a part of your body.

So why does fat have such a bad reputation?

Even though fat does have a whole host of important functions, we’ve come to see it as our enemy in matters of fitness and nutrition.  Why is that?  Well, there are two reasons that I can see.

First, we eat and store too much of it.  Our ancestors may have evolved in an environment of scarce resources, but most people in developed countries live in an environment where food is plentiful.  That means we no longer live in times where famine is just a day away.   So we eat too much food in general and too much fat specifically.  Remember, our bodies evolved to see fat as good.  It was a source of easy and useful calories.  They’re still thinking like it’s a few hundred years ago and they’re telling our brains “mm… fat is tasty!  Eat more of it so I can store some more in case of an emergency.”  So we overindulge and we overeat and we gain weight.  This leads us to store too much fat.

The second problem is our source of fat.  We get most of our fat these days from processed meats, candy bars and other such junk food.  All fat is not in fact created equal and fat from these sources is not as good as fat from healthier sources like lean meats, nuts, fish and such.

So how much fat is right?

There’s a wide variety of opinions out there, but for adult men who are fit and healthy, the right amount is probably around 13% to 18%.  For adult women who are fit and healthy, that number is somewhere between 20% and 25%.  That number will vary according to your athletic level, body type and a few other variables.  If you want to know where you should aim for, go and see a doctor or a professional dietitian.  They can work with you to determine what’s the right amount of fat for your body.

What are good sources of fat?

I already mentioned a few, but here’s a quick list:

  • Lean, unprocessed meats like fish, venison and others.
  • Nuts
  • Unprocessed vegetable oils like olive oil

By the way, about 20% to 30% of your daily calories should come from fat.
Summary

I do not and will not advocate removing all fat from your diet.  I am not a fan of the low fat diet and don’t think people should follow it.  Fat is a vital part of a healthy diet.  I just think people are eating too much of it from too many bad sources.  Fix those issues and fat can once again be your body’s ally instead of an enemy.

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