Posts Tagged ‘Myths’

10 Common Misconceptions When Losing Weight (ACSM)

Posted: August 26, 2011 by williampower in Exercise, Nutrition
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Severely restrict their caloric intake. A starvation diet ( i.e., reducing your caloric intake to less than 50% of what your body requires) presents a number of problems to people who are trying to lose weight. First and foremost, it doesn’t work. Any weight that may have been lost is subsequently regained because most individuals cannot maintain such a restrictive eating plan over the long haul.

Have an unduly narrow perspective of the problem at hand. Too many people view losing weight as simply a matter of cutting back on what they eat. In reality, it’s an issue of basic physics – balancing energy in with energy out. As such, if you really want to lose weight and keep it off you need to increase your level of physical activity and eat in moderation.

Ignore the need to maintain their level of lean body mass. A common tendency among individuals who exercise is to focus their activity efforts only on aerobic exercise. In this process, they lose muscle mass, which is replaced by fat when they inevitably regain whatever weight they lost. In turn, their metabolic rate as well as the number of calories that they need to maintain their current weight, is diminished. This adjustment creates a cycle that is counterproductive to sustained weight loss.

Misinterpret food labels. It is extremely important for individuals who want to control their weight to be aware of the fact that labels that state that a particular foodstuff is either “no fat” or “no sugar” does not mean “no calories“.

Try to lose too much weight too rapidly. Research shows that a weight-reduction program that involves a slow and steady loss (i.e., approximately 1lb or less per week for women and 2lbs or less for men) has the best chance for success, particularly when it is combined with an effort to change any inappropriate lifestyle habits.

Believe that spot reduction is possible. The concept of spot reducing is a complete myth. No exercise will eliminate fat from a specific area of the body, just as no change in your caloric intake will guarantee that the fat will melt away in the area of the body you most want to address. As a rule, the pattern in which you lose body fat is genetically predetermined.

Mistake water lost through sweating for actual fat and weight loss. Your body has millions of sweat glands that cover your skin, excreting water and electrolytes. When you exercise, the amount of water (sweat) that is perspired increases in an effort by your body to keep you cool and regulate your body temperature. The water you lose from perspiring can mislead you into believing that you’ve lost more fat and body weight than you may have actually lost. Such water weight is replaced when you subsequently consume fluids.

Buy into the “magic beans” theory. Selling supplements and related pills and powders and potions that will purportedly somehow facilitate a person’s efforts to lose weight is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Other than being a waste of money and a purveyor of false hope for individuals who are looking for an easy and quick-fix approach to losing weight, such items also can have negative health consequences.

Follow unproven and spurious dieting advice. The number of unsound diets that target unsuspecting individuals with undocumented claims and unhealthy practices seems to grow exponentially every year. Truth be known, these diets share at least two traits – they don’t work, and they may actually be harmful (physically and financially) to a person who tries them.

Consider a surgical solution to their “weight” problem. Some individuals consider a surgical option for losing weight. In this regard, two procedures tend to receive the most attention – liposuction and gastric bypass surgery. Liposuction involves the removal of fat from specific regions in the body. Gastric bypass surgery, on the other hand, is a procedure that makes the stomach smaller and allows food to bypass part of the small intestine, resulting in fewer calories being absorbed. Although guidelines vary, gastric bypass surgery is generally reserved for severely obese individuals.

8 Common Myths of Diet

Posted: August 23, 2011 by Bizzy Amor in Myth Busting, Nutrition
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Taking Vitamin C prevents colds. With all due respect to the late Linus Pauling and
his widely publicized theory on the relationship between vitamin C and the cold virus,
research on the subject has not found that taking vitamin C helps to ward off those
unwanted sniffles. On the other hand, studies have shown that vitamin C may (in some
instances) slightly shorten the duration of a cold.

Consuming more protein builds bigger muscles. Ingesting additional protein (in
whatever form – meat, pills, powder, etc) will not help most individuals develop larger
muscles. Your protein daily requirement is based on your body weight. Most individuals
meet their needs through food alone. If you eat more protein than what your body needs
on any given day, most of the excess will be converted to and stored as fat. As such,
exceeding the recommended daily allowance for protein can be, at best, a waste of time
and money.

2% milk is 98% fat free. Not surprisingly, food marketers – in an effort to encourage you
to buy their products – often engage in advertising that is misleading. For example, a
food label may proclaim that a particular foodstuff is fat free to a specific percentage. In
the case of 2% milk, the number refers to the relative weight of the fat in the product, a
factor that is inconsequential and misleading. In reality, what you really want to know
with regard to the fat content of milk is the percentage of fat calories in the milk itself.
A cup of 2% milk for example contains 35% fat calories (42.5 calories of the total 120
calories).

Eating low fat foods will not cause you to gain weight. Keep in mind that the labels “fat
free” and “low fat” do not mean no calories. For example, non fat and low fat foods
could easily be full of sugar and high calories. Controlling your body weight is a by
product of maintaining the appropriate balance between the number of calories you ingest
and the number of calories that your body uses. Excessive calorie intake, regardless of
whether it comes from “healthy” non fat or low fat foods, will promote weight gain.

If consuming some of a particular nutrient of food is considered healthy, eating more
of that foodstuff will provide even greater benefits. Your body needs a specific amount
of nutrients (carbs, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and water) to function properly.
Exceeding that level will not give you an extra “boost”. In fact, ingesting too much of
some nutrients can be potentially harmful.

Antioxidants can help prevent types of cancer and heart disease. Eating foods that
are relatively rich in antioxidants (e.g., beta carotene and vitamin C and E) or taking
antioxidant supplements has not been found to prevent either cancer and heart disease
– despite numerous studies that have investigated the matter. To date, no conclusive
evidence exists that shows that antioxidants lower the risk of either medical condition.

Foodstuffs that are labeled “natural” or “herbal” are always good for you. Foods can
be “natural” or “herbal” and still have negative health consequences. Neither term is a synonym for harmless or non – addictive nor guarantees that a particular food contains the essential nutrients your body needs. In fact the opposite may true. Cocaine and nicotine,
for example, are also naturally occurring plant by-products.

Healthy eating represents the end of appetizing meals. Eating in a sensible healthy
manner does not have to be an exercise where you force yourself to consume poor-tasting
food at the expense of mouthwatering delectable alternatives. What it does involve,
however, is determining what foods are good for you and learning how to prepare them
to “delight” your taste buds. It also entails making good eating habits an integral part of
your daily living,