Commonly held myths about fitness and weight loss.
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In this section I will discuss some commonly held myths out in the general
community. I will try to explain why they are false or true. If you have
a urban myth about weight loss or fitness e-mail me to find out if it's
true or not!! Myths are commonly held beliefs that are passed down the
generation and that people hardly ever question as they are held to be
true. A myth can be quite destructive if it is false and people are quite
reluctant to disbelief the myths. A myth can be so strongly held by
the community that even scientific data proving that it is wrong is not
believed. Don't fall for this trap it is your heath and well-being
that is at stake take advice from the experts.
Write
in with your questions about common myths.
Myths discussed so far:
Using Insulin to "burn" fat in Non-diabetics. Don't work out with weights until you first lose body fat. Eating dietary fat makes you fat I don't have time to work out. Being on your feet all day is all the exercise you need. Carbohydrates are the best energy. Running is the only aerobic exercise that works. If your Parents are fat you will be too. Stop Exercising and your muscles turn to fat! Spot Reducing works. The more Sit-ups I do the more ripped my abs will be. If you eat fat free foods, you can eat all you want. You must do at least 30 minutes of aerobics to burn fat. Women who lift weights will end up looking like men. The best personal trainers look the part. Exercising during pregnancy will harm the unborn child. The fewer calories eaten, the bigger the weight loss.
Write in with your question about commonly held beliefs and find out if they are true and false and why.
Using insulin to "burn" calories for weight loss in non-diabetics. .
The function of Insulin is to make the glucose in your blood go into your cells so that it can be used as energy and be stored. If you have to much Insulin all of the glucose will enter the cells and your blood glucose level will fall dramatically which may lead to brain damage and death. So Insulin is actually a storage promoter, it will make you fat. Having too little insulin is also a problem as the blood sugar level in your blood is going to rise and this may cause coma and death as well.
So insulin as a weight-loss drug is a myth.
Don't work out with weights until you first loose body fat.
Burning energy is what makes you loose fat and doing weights can
be a great complement to other exercise. If you increase your muscle bulk
you will increase the amount of calories that your body uses up and this
will help you loose weight. Having a varied exercise program also helps
you loose weight and prevents you from losing interest in exercise. Also
getting toned is great for your self esteem and for your general well being.
So you don't have to feel that you have to loose the fat first before you
can start doing weights or other exercise.
Eating dietary fat makes you fat.
Eating to much fat does certainly make you put on weight,
but fat is a vital part of your diet and some fats are good for you, believe
it or not. Essential fats are important for your body to build up your
cells and vital for your brain to function correctly. Your daily fat intake
should be less than 20% of your diet and having no fat in your diet can actually
be bad for you but having too little fat in the diet is very difficult in the western diet. Foods like almonds,
walnuts, avocado and olive oil contain essential oils promoting good health
and a lean body. So providing you have the right proportion and amount
of fat in your diet you will actually promote weight loss.
I don't have time to work out.
This is probably the most common complaint that I hear, and I have
many a time used it as an excuse not to exercise in the past. But life
is about priorities and you should put your health first. Being a Doctor
I certainly working long and hard hours and not getting much time for life
but still I manage to do a minimum of 2 hours of exercise every week and
you can too. Be creative!! Take your bike to work, stop the car some distance
from work and take a brisk walk. If you have children make them participate
in your exercise so that you do it together. So there is time, you just
have to use it!!!
Being on your feet all day is all the exercise you need.
This is unfortunately not true. If you have ever tried to get in
shape and loose weight you have probably noticed that you need to get moving
quickly and sweat before your body reacts with any weight loss. It is recommended
that you need to have your heart rate up to 150 for a sustained period
of time before you get any cardiovascular fitness. I would also recommend
that you do at lease 2 hours off vigorous exercise a week to loose weight
or get fit.
Carbohydrates are the best energy.
This depends on what you mean by "best". Fat is the energy source
that has the highest amount of energy per gram nearly 3 times as much energy
per gram compared with carbohydrates. Fat is not readily available as a
energy source as it can not be converted to glucose. Fat is used by the
body to store energy (see the segment on Starvation
for more details). When it comes to rapid access energy simple sugars provide
the fastest available energy source. Simple sugars get rapidly absorbed
and can be used for your bodies energy needs very rapidly. Complex carbohydrates
get broken down to simple sugars over a couple of hours. They are a great
energy source that will provide you with energy spread over some time and
if you use up the energy it will not be stored as fat.
Running is the only aerobic exercise that works.
Running is a great way to burn a lot of calories especially if you
do it the right way. It can however be a strain on the body especially
you knees and can become very boring if you are not in to running. Running
is certainly not the only aerobic exercise that works. Any sport that has
a lot of movement will burn fat. Sports such as tennis, squash or swimming
will work just as well as running and can keep your interest in sports
alive so that you incorporate it as a fun part of your life.
If your Parents are fat you will be too.
If your parents are fat then you are not bound to go down the same
road if you don't want to. There is a small genetic predisposition to becoming
obese but the largest part of being a "large" family is social habit. If
your parents are fat they are less likely to exercise and they are more
likely to overeat. As the children learn from their parents, they will
learn all the bad habits that lead to obesity and this is why you will
become fat. If you are willing to change your life style there is nothing
that will hinder you from becoming thin and muscular. The potential is
there so grab it!!
Stop exercising and your muscles turn to fat!
This is physiologically impossible as fat and muscle are two completely
different tissues. It's like saying that muscle can turn into brain etc.
impossible. What happens when you stop exercising is that your muscles
get smaller and the fat that you have increases. This happens quite quickly
within a couple of weeks so it's therefor important to be consistent with
your exercise and do it every week. It's easy to get fat but darn difficult
to get rid of it, as you probably know.
Spot Reducing works.
Some people have the idea that you can get rid of fat from specific
places by exercising that part. Such as doing stomach crunches to get rid
of abdominal fat. This does not work. The reason for this is the way the
body breaks down fat. It doesn't matter what way you burn calories, fat
will be taken from your bodies fat depots in the same way, a general reduction
in fat all over your bodies. Some places in the body such as the abdomen
and hips have what's called long storage fat which gets broken down as
a last resort. It's because of this long term storage in the abdomen and
hips that it is so difficult to get rid of this fat.
The more Sit-ups I do the more ripped my abs will be.
Doing sit-ups
is very beneficial for you, it strengthens the back and promotes well being.
But if you want ripped abdominal muscles you need to get rid of all fat
from your abdomen as even the smallest amount will obscure your abdominal
muscles and they will not look ripped. So doing sit-ups is certainly good
for you but so long as you have any abdominal fat they will not show up.
If you eat fat free foods, you can eat all you want.
This is as far from the truth that you can get. Eating lots of fat
makes you fat but any energy source in your food will be turned into fat
if you do not use up the energy in it. So if the body doesn't use up the
energy that you get from e.g. carbohydrates it will turn into fat for storage.
So don't kid yourself so that you are eating fat free food as the only
solution for being overweight.
You must do at least 30 minutes of aerobics to burn fat.
This depends on how much you eat and how many calories you are getting.
If you are eating less calories that your body is using then any amount
of aerobic exercise will burn fat. From my experience people often eat
a lot more than their body is using up so in most cases you probably need
more than 30 min of exercise to burn of your fat. It's up to you!!.
Women who lift weights will end up looking like men.
This is not true. Women have different hormones and genetics then
men. They don't have a lot of testosterone and their hormones don't promote
muscle growth the same way that men's do. Even full time bodybuilders that
train every day don't end up looking like men (unless they are on steroids).
So if you are a woman it's safe for you to do weights without being worried
about looking like Hercules, it just wont happen.
The best personal trainers look the part.
This is not necessarily true. Like great tennis coaches, or other
trainer you don't have to be an elite athlete to be a good trainer. You
need to be a good teacher and good in inspiring and motivating people.
People that are quite buffed up themselves my be spending more time on
themselves than they spend on you. Ask other people that have had the same
trainer. Make a choice on skills not appearance.
Exercising during pregnancy will harm the unborn child.
So long as you are having a healthy diet and don't overdue the exercise
it should not have any impact on your child. The child is very well protected
in the abdomen with several layers of tissue and swimming in fluid so
that it takes quite a large amount of force to harm a baby. Some medical
conditions may prevent you from doing exercise during pregnancy such as
cervical incompetence, so always check with your doctor before starting
any vigorous exercise. In the vast majority of cases though no harm will
come to the baby even after vigorous exercise, but itÂ’s important to check with your doctor before you start any exercise program.
The fewer calories eaten, the bigger the weight loss.
This statement usually is taken for granted, and is held to be true.
Unfortunately in the vast majority of cases it's false. You may in the
beginning get a rapid weight loss but this will not be sustained. The body
compensates for the lack of energy by reducing the amount of energy it
uses and changing the basal metabolic rate. What normally happens is that
you after a while reach a plateau in weight and when you start eating a
bit more you will gain all the weight back and usually more. Calories eaten
are also not the only determinant of weight loss. The only way to loose weight
sustainable is by a balanced diet and exercise see other sections on this
web page.
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