Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A few Fat Loss Myths

 

Nice post at Training Like An Athlete by my Twitter buddy Ryan Miller.

Check out these fat loss myths and see if you have fallen for any of them.

Let me know your thoughts below….

Myth:You must cut carbs(or fat) to lose weight

Truth:To lose weight you need to take in fewer calories than you burn regardless of what percentage of carbs, protein or fat you are eating. Your body needs all 3 macro-nutrients(carbs, protein & fat) to survive. If you cut out one of these essential nutrients your body will not function properly and eventually breakdown. Concentrate on whole, naturally occurring foods

Myth:You must do long slow cardio to burn fat

Truth:Training at high intensities cause you to burn a lower percentage of fat calories in favor of carbs, but you use more total calories. That is the key to weight loss. High intensity training also causes an effect known as EPOC…Excess Post(exercise) Oxygen Consumption. This phenomenon has been shown to increase your metabolism up to 48 hours AFTER you exercise!

Sound familiar? Either way, for more, head over and read the whole post.

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4 comments:

John W. Zimmer said...

Hi Nathan - there are a lot of opinions no fat loss... most work too.

One thing that I've tried time and time again is to lose weight by working out. While working out helps get one into a better fitness level... it is hard to lose weight unless there is a calorie deficit.

The hard part is actually counting the calories and also eating 500 to a 1000 less than you need to maintain weight.

I've been losing again for the past couple of months and it is now easy. Check out leananmean.com if you want to see the age old method of eating less and moving more (emphasis on eating less).

Unknown said...

John,

You're right. There a diversity of opinion, and "secrets" per se. And you're right that there has to be a caloric deficit, whether it's achieved by reducing calories taken in, increasing calories burned, or both.

Good stuff. I'd love to hear more about your success.

John W. Zimmer said...

Nathan - I was 260 at the beginning of 2008... I started jogging slow and counting calories. Whenever I started depending on the workouts (burning calories)for weight loss... that did not work too well but I did increase my fitness level.

What worked better was sticking to less calories for several weeks... (I have to do this in spurts as it takes a lot of will power) and then leveling off for a while.

I'm now at 219 for the last month or so... getting ready for my next push (eating less calories and moderate workouts).

The good news is I was able to hole my weight loss through the holiday season this last year... If I can do that a few more years I'll be on to something. :)

take care,

John

Unknown said...

John:
That's great progress. I have a similar goal, but am not on track. I want to lose about 40#. I think we're about the same age, and when you go from peak activity and being able to eat whatever you want to more sedentary lifestyles, it's hard to avoid gaining.
I'm at about 220# now, and my goal is about 180 or 185. Glad to hear that's working for you.
I plan to make strength and technique training (cardio) key components, but know that my main problem is improper diet.
Way to go!

Nathan