Dieting Myths De-Bunked

3/31/20109:11:22 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment

Dieting, Weight Loss

I was just reading a nutrition article online and despite my best efforts to ignore it, my eyes peeked over at the flashing ad in the left column of the screen.  What I saw next made me both snicker and cringe - this is what they were selling: "Men - Lose up to 27 pounds of belly fat in just 32 days!  No exercise required!" 

So, where do I begin?  I'll skip the reason I found it a touch funny and let you draw those conclusions for yourselves in a few minutes.  More importantly, this made me cringe because this promotion was on a major men's health and fitness website, so thousands of people will see it and some will think there could be a legitimate scientific claim behind it.  I mean, twenty-seven pounds in 32 days?!  No exercise required?!  Let's look at this closer and analyze the numbers.

If you've ever read a food label, you've probably seen that the "average American" needs about 2,000 calories per day for our body to perform all of its processes and to provide us with the energy necessary to perform our daily activities.  This will obviously vary based on your lifestyle, but we'll work with this general figure.  The second number we need to know is that we have to burn 3,500 calories more than our body needs to lose one pound of fat. 

Now, the two ways we can create a negative caloric balance (more calories burned than we consume) is to alter our diets (eat/drink healthier or less volume) and to be more active (exercise).   So, given our body's 2,000 calorie daily need, it's impossible to lose almost a pound OF FAT per day without any increase in exercise.  Let's dive into the math a bit further:

Let's say you're on a mission to lose weight, so you eat more vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats, reduce your soda or alcohol intake, and cut down your portion sizes.  These changes reduce your daily caloric intake from 2,300 calories per day to 1,800 calories, giving you a 500 calorie drop from your previous normal consumption, and a 200 calorie daily deficit from what your body "needs".  That's a huge swing in your calorie intake that will provide results, for sure!  After all, you're consuming 3,500 calories less per week than you were previously and you've created 1,400 calorie weekly negative balance, or almost a half a pound.  That means your body not only doesn't have to store 300 extra calories per day, it gets to burn 200 calories it has stored, which comes right out of those fat cells.  Not bad.

Add in 3-4 walks during the week, or maybe a few fitness classes and/or resistance training, and you can easily double that number, making a pound of fat loss per week very doable. 

So, let's quickly go back to our ad - 27 pounds in 32 days with no exercise.  How's that possible?  See why I got a chuckle out of this?  But, it's actually very sad that marketers throw out this crap knowing that people want to lose weight so badly that they may buy into it, both mentally and financially!  Pretty messed up, right?

The next time you see an ad promising drastic results, come back here and plug their "promise" into this equation to see for yourself it it adds up.  Cheers to a healthier, better educated you!

Consistency - If only it were easy...

2/10/201010:24:53 PM Link 0 comments | Add comment

Consistency, Goal Setting

I started back with my running group this week for the first time in almost four months.  I don't know the names of most of the people that call themselves Gazelles, but it's still great to be surrounded by so many friendly faces and like-minded people.  The workout itself was a painful awakening of just how long it's been, yet the enjoyment of the environment and underlying competition far outweighed my burning legs and panting breath.

It's amazing how easy it is to get de-railed from healthy lifestyle commitments that seem so routine, then suddenly fall by the wayside.  If only it was as easy to break our bad habits as it is our good.  Looking back at the patterns I've created over the past half-decade or so, it seems that I'm completely dedicated and determined to reaching new goals, but as soon as I do, off the wagon I fall.  Another noteworthy point is that I'm at my best when I have a training partner or group both to push me and hold me accountable.  Realistically they may be doing neither, but it my twisted little brain that mind-game works and I strongly encourage you to create your own to keep you motivated.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention, I committed to a new race this week - the Cap 10k.  New goal, new reason to stay on track.

Staying consistent is tough for most people, but if you set goals to keep you motivated and focused, and find a partner or group to push you along and hold you accountable, you are much more likely to stay on track. 

Now it's off to bed - running in the cold rain tomorrow morning, bright and early!