Weight Loss: Myth Vs. Reality
Date: 04-06-2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info TeamUnited States |
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We all know there are tons of myths surrounding fitness, weight loss and exercise. It is difficult sometimes to separate the facts from the fiction.
Most people have a lot of common sense and know that losing dramatic amounts of weight quickly isn't possible, however some advertisers will use all of their powers to convince you of other miracle claims, and may often only reveal the truth in the fine print. In addition, there is always a lot of misinformation circulating around the general public regarding nutrition, exercise, weightloss and fitness.
Here are some of the top myths we run into on a regular basis.
Myth #1 Drop 5 pounds in 5 days!
We all would love to be able to lose weight this fast, but no one we know would agree it was possible to lose 5 pounds of fat in 5 days without some seriously dangerous crash dieting and massive amounts of exercise.
To lose 1 pound of fat, you need to expend at least 3500 calories. The total daily energy expenditure for one of our “average” workers in the office here is about 2400 calories a day. This means that they would burn about 2400 calories in a day just surviving. To create a 3500 calorie deficit, they would have to basically not eat anything all day, and still exercise away another 1200 calories (which would require they run about 6 mph for an hour and a half.) Even if you somehow managed to meet your nutritional needs, we doubt it would be possible to keep up the required exercise without seriously injuring yourself.
However, some very obese people who have very high BMR because of their extremely high bodyweight, MAY be able to lose 5 pounds in 5 days without compromising their nutritional needs, but we still wouldn't recommend it.
Obviously this kind of extreme dieting and exercise has a better chance of injuring or killing someone than losing them weight. There is no other way we know of to lose weight (fat) other than moderate calorie deficit and exercise and have not come across a single product, exercise regimen or diet that can accomplish this kind of dramatic weight loss in such a short period of time.
Most experts recommend losing a maximum of ONE to TWO pounds per week, and we recommend sticking to the former 1lb per week to be on the safe side.
Myth #2 All Fats are Bad
We've all heard this before. FAT IS BAD. This couldn't be more untrue. Fat is a macronutrient, and is a required part of a healthy diet. We need fat for normal growth and development, energy, absorbing certain vitamins, providing cushioning for organs, maintaining cell membranes, and for giving food good taste, texture and consistency.
The two basic types of fat are: saturated fat and unsaturated fat (which includes monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, trans fat, and omega 3,6 and 9 fatty acids). Monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and omega 3,6 and 9 are the so-called “healthy fats” Foods such as grain products, fish and sea food, soybeans and fish oil can all contain polyunsaturated fats.
The debate still rages on about whether or not saturated fats are part of a healthy diet, since some people are concerned that the studies claiming that saturated fats are bad did not make a differentiation between diets containing saturated AND trans fats.
However, of the different kinds of fats, we believe that a diet free of trans fats is a requirement of a healthy lifestyle and healthy body. Trans fats occur in small quantities in the meat and dairy products derived from ruminants. Most trans fats though are consumed in the form of hydrogenated plant oils. Many studies show that trans fats increase the risk of coronary heart disease, and are not beneficial to good health.
Myth #3 Carbohydrates are bad
Carbohydrates are not necessarily bad; rather, it is highly refined carbohydrates that people often choose that can lead to unnecessary weight gain. When cereals and grains are processed, most of the fiber, vitamins, and minerals are stripped out. Our bodies are not meant to process carbohydrates in this form, which may lead to a variety of ailments including diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Highly refined foods also tend to have a high-glycemic index, which causes a rapid rise in blood sugar that the body then stores as fat since they cannot be converted to energy quickly enough.
Complex, unrefined carbohydrates containing fiber, however, are not bad for you. Choose complex carbs that are in the most natural state as possible, such as oatmeal and brown rice. Many scientific studies have shown that foods such as broccoli can help to reduce the incidence of many diseases.
Myth #4 Skipping meals and crash dieting is a great way to lose weight
You may say, “if I eat less than I’ll lose weight since I’m creating a calorie deficit”, however, this is not an effective way to lose weight. Research has shown that skipping meals, particularly breakfast, can actually cause you to gain weight. One reason for this is that people who skip breakfast often consume more calories later on in the day, instead of consuming smaller amounts of food throughout the day, which leads to weight gain.
Another negative effect of skipping meals or ‘crash dieting’ is that the human body is designed to go into starvation mode if enough calories are not consumed. This may actually slow down your BMR, so even though you are eating less you may lose weight, but it will be difficult to keep it off. One study published in the American Journal of physiology, Endocrinology and metabolism followed nine young, normal-weight men over a 21-day period. The men were fed 40% fewer calories than were needed to maintain body weight. Even though they lost an average of 3.8 pounds, 2 pounds were of lean body mass, and the basal metabolic rate of the men decreased by approximately 12% (Friedlander et al., 2005).
Myth #5 Ab crunches, situps or [insert miracle machine here] will give you great abs
This is simply not true, unless you are in great shape, work your abs regularly, and have a low bodyfat percentage. For males, it is estimated that your body fat percentage needs to be about 10-12% to have visible abs, and about 8-10% to have a ‘six-pack’. For women, body fat percentage needs to be about 15% or lower to start seeing visible abs.
According to The American Council on Exercise, acceptable body fat percentages are 25-31% for women, and 18-25% for men. For athletes, the range is 14-20% for women and 6-13% for men (Wikipedia.com).
The body fat percentages required to have visible abs are very low, so unless you intend to do some serious training to become very lean, it is unlikely that you will have ‘great abs’. It is definitely possible to obtain strong abs by working them a lot, but if they are covered up by a layer of fat, it is not likely that anyone will notice all of the hard work that you’ve put in. However, having strong abs, even if they aren’t visible, has many benefits including better posture, and having a flatter, more toned appearance to the midsection.
Myth #6 Sports and Energy have no calories
We've all tried them. Gatorade, Red Bull, Powerade, etc. These drinks are very heavily advertised to sports and fitness enthusiasts, and many people we have talked to believe that they are a requirement for good workouts. Some people believe that; because they are sports drinks they have little or no calories. What most people don't realize is how many calories from carbs are in one of their large drink containers. Drinking down a large container of Gatorade during a workout can contribute 200 added calories of sugar and carbs. What most people don't realize is that a serving of Gatorade is actually approximately 240ml (or 8 fl oz) or 1 of a large container.
It's our belief that a trained athlete working out at high intensities and sweating for long periods of time can benefit from a drink like this, but the average person on a weight loss routine needs to closely examine their calorie expenditure during exercise and see if consuming more carbs is warranted. For example, if your weight loss regimen consists of creating a 250 calorie a day deficit through diet and exercise, and you add an extra 200 calories of sports drink, you are negating almost your entire deficit goal. If you feel the need to have a sports drink to replenish lost sodium and electrolytes, make sure you follow the drink's nutrition label serving size recommendations.
Around here, we'll have a small serving of a sports drink before our morning workouts, since in the morning we're dry, dehydrated and have found that a small amount of Gatorade before working out in the early AM actually helps us get through the workout easier. However, we're all careful not to ingest too much of these beverages since they do have calories and aren't (in our opinion) a critical component of a healthy diet.
Myth #7 Salads are a great diet food
While most salads in their “natural” form have very few calories, many are also a bit light on macronutrients (i.e. Carbs, Protein, Fats) and unfortunately, many people use copious amounts of salad dressing on their low calorie salads (even 1 teaspoon of canola oil contains 40 calories). This leads to a bad combination of increased fat intake and reduced protein and beneficial carbohydrate consumption. Since your body needs a balance of macronutrients, a plain old salad loaded up with dressing, bacon bits and croutons probably won't meed these needs. A good alternative is to add some protein, healthy carbs and a modest amount of healthy fat to your salad. However, you need to be wary of fast food salads that look healthy at a glance, but may contain a lot of sodium and have dressings that contain almost as many calories as the entire salad itself.
Take a salad at McDonald's for example:
A Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken contains 320 calories, almost 1 gram of sodium and 10 grams of fat. Add 1.5 ounces of Creamy Ranch sauce and you'll be adding another 200 calories, 22 grams of fat and another 320mg of sodium.
But not all salads have to be loaded with sodium and fat to taste good. They can also be a balanced source of carbs, protein and healthy fats. Our suggestion: skip the fast food restaurant salads. They look great on the outside, but often contain amounts of sodium that make their health benefits moot. And many of the dressings contain relatively high amounts of cholestorol, fats and sodium. Make something at home instead. You can use healthy amounts of turkey, chicken, eggs, and cheese to add flavor. Nuts, fruit, berries and tofu are all things you can add at home to spruce up boring old lettuce and spinach salads.
Myth #8 More exercise is better
More exercise is not necessarily better, and in fact can lead to overtraining. Symptoms of overtraining include fatigue, increased susceptibility to contracting illness, insomnia, general aches and pains, depression, irritability, headaches, and an increase in cortisol levels. As well, the body may become calorie deficient, thus increasing the breakdown of muscle tissue. Over time, an actual decrease in the level of fitness can occur. Overtraining in common in athletes, and can lead to symptoms of compulsive exercising.
Myth #9 No pain no gain
This is a common myth, especially in the bodybuilding community, where many people think they cannot increase strength and muscle size without pain. This is not true! If you are experiencing pain, it means that you are working at too high of an intensity, which can quickly lead to injury. It’s true that you may experience a bit of discomfort when starting out a new routine, but if you are in pain, you need to adjust your workout. This is also a common reason that people have for not sticking to their routines. If you’re in so much pain after a workout that you can’t move for days, you’re not likely to be motivated to continue. Delayed onset muscle soreness, which occurs 24-48 hours after exercise, is normal though, and is caused by microscopic tears in the tissues that surround muscle fibers. Remember to alternate body parts when working out, and to vary your cardio routine, so that muscles have time to heal properly after workouts.
Myth #10 You can lose weight without diet or exercise using [insert miracle product here]
Unfortunately there are many so-called quick fixes, pills, supplements, spot reduction gimmicks and herbal remedies that claim to be able to help you lose massive amounts of weight with no effort. They show a depressed, overweight man or woman that “has tried everything” to lose weight until they discovered the advertisers miracle product. After purchasing said product, the person goes on to lose incredible amounts of weight overnight.
The bottom line is that human beings are thermogenic, biological machines that expend calories to perform work. This “work” includes everything we do in a day; walking, biking, swimming, crawling, and just living. There is non-exercise associated calorie expenditure (i.e. your body burns a certain amount of calories a day just surviving) and exercise induced calorie expenditure. Most experts agree that the only way to reliably lose weight is to create a moderate, daily calorie deficit over a period of time through a combination of diet (calorie restriction and exercise). For example, if your basal metabolic rate is 1800 calories a day, and you perform an extra 500 calories a day of work, then you have a total daily energy expenditure of 2300 calories. If you wanted to lose approximately 1 lb of weight per week, you would need to reduce your calorie intake by approximately 3500 calories per week (or 500 calories per day). Therefore, you would probably want to reduce your total caloric intake to 1800 calories a day to create a 500 calorie per day deficit.
However, many things can affect the rate and short term success of fat loss, even when you are on a caloric deficit. Many people metabolize their macronutrient intakes differently, and many people have different basal metabolic rates. People of the same weight with different body composition may also lose fat at different rates. A very significant proportion of dieters also significantly under-report the amount of calories they actually eat in a day. Adequate hydration is also important in fat loss, and depending on your sodium and water intake, your weight can vary significantly from day to day.
If you have been on a long term weight loss journey, just haven't lost ANY weight and believe you have done “everything right” check with a nutritionist, personal trainer or doctor. Also, take some time to write down your daily calorie intake (include everything), calculate your bodyfat percentage, BMR and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) to figure out how many calories you are actually burning in a day and whether or not you are actually creating a deficit.
