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The
Things You’ve Been Led To Believe When Losing Weight The Things You’ve Been Led To Believe When Losing Weight So many techniques to lose weight have bombarded the market today. People’s quest for a healthier, sexier and fitter body has unveiled more than a couple of ideas how to realize that quest. There are even explanations as to why a specific “technique” works. Many also claim that their techniques have no “bad effects” in a person’s health. Let’s check out some of the statements we were led to believe to achieve success in losing weight.
Guess what? These techniques do not really guarantee the fast and satisfying results they promise. Do you really think you would lose weight by not doing anything, or by just taking those supplements, and starving yourself? According to Tom Venuto, author of the Big Fat Lies and Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, the twelve statements above are not the surefire ways to lose weight, keep a healthy and sexy body and still stay fit. In fact, some of them can cause more harm than good to your health. Take for example dieting. It should not necessarily come to the point that you have to starve yourself to make sure you do not gain weight. Tom stated that all you need is exercise, nutrition, and proper mental attitude to lose and eventually maintain your ideal weight. The body needs all the nutrients it can get for its everyday functions. You must remember that losing weight is not the only task the body has. You go to work, go to school, you attend to your family, attend to other people even before you attend to yourself. Other than those, you have more extra activities. It is only proper that you give your body the nourishment it needs to gather all the strength needed to do all those activities. If you are not eating properly, what do you think will happen to yourself after doing all those things? Most of the time, food supplements do not necessarily provide the nutrients your body needs. Did you know that it is necessary to have a medium to above-average intake of calories? Because calories are then turned to energy that provides strength to accomplish all the tasks you need to do. In that way, you will be able to have the strength to spend for work, and all the other activities in your routine including exercising. You do need to work out to shake of excess fat. Convert them into muscles instead. Remember the saying “every hard work pays off”. You do not have to resort to steroids, ephedra and other growth hormone or weight loss drugs as they may cause side effects not only to your physical health but to your mental health as well if not taken properly. Losing weight is a gradual process so, do not believe the “over-night” guarantee some weight-loss tips promise you. And, again, you do need to work it off and not wait because it won’t shake off by itself. Magazines are a form of advertising. You must have noticed that the figures shown seem too good to be true. Well, there may be proof of their reality, but again, they couldn’t have happened overnight and without hard work. Yes, the figures in the magazines are great inspiration to follow. But it would only frustrate you if you wouldn’t be able achieve the figures in the prints. The tricks in pursuing your quest for a healthy and sexy body are patience in training, endurance in hard work, and of course, the contentment and confidence in yourself.
The Health and Fitness Tip: Don’t Be Afraid of Your Fridge Being fit and healthy does not necessarily mean keeping your distance away from your fridge. In fact, it would be more effective to befriend your fridge and all its contents instead of seeing it as the villain in your quest for a healthier, sexier and fitter body. Take a look at what’s inside your fridge. Do not cringe if you see “fattening” food inside. Are you really sure they are “fattening”? What defines a fattening food anyway? Most diet programs always check on the calorie count, and the carbohydrate count, fat count and other food elements and their measurements. Then there are fitness experts who will tell you to stay away from high-calorie food, much carbohydrates, fats and even sugar as they can add up to the fat and weight. There are studies that show low-carb diets, low-cal diets and low-fat diets are the most effective and sweat-less weight-loss techniques. It may work for others but not for everybody. Again, it still depends on how your body reacts to different weight-loss programs. Calories and carbohydrates are just some of the things believed to make a person gain weight. So, in most diet programs, people are advised to cut down on their intake of these two. However, some experts say that it’s not necessary to cut down calorie and carbohydrate intake as they can be very useful in a person’s daily activities. This is because calories and carbohydrates are the source of energy people use in their daily activities. Without these two, there’ll be not enough energy for the body to use in accomplishing tasks. And besides, losing weight does not necessarily happen with dieting alone. Most of the time, there is the great need to exercise, sweat and stretch. So, let’s check again what’s inside of your fridge. In Jesse Canone’s article about 5 fitness myths that are responsible for thousand of fitness failures, the number four myth states. “Pasta and bread are fattening!” to which Jesse replies “anything is fattening”. It is true, because every food you take which has calories in it could be stored as fat. And that’s when you gain it. But, if you use it up in all your activities, you need not to worry about it being stored. It is then converted into energy you can use at work, school, exercise, having fun and many other activities that you don’t see as weight-loss activities. Jesse also states, “Muscles burn calories, so the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn which makes easier to burn fat and not gain it”. If you help yourself, the rewards will be sweet. Don’t just rely on the magazines and the diet programs you were told to follow. It is more important that you are educated and determined on how to get and maintain a healthy and fit body. The next time you open your fridge, do not cringe. Check out what’s inside and see what can help you gain strength that you can use in your daily activities. Eat and work it out, that’s where the secret is. How can you work when you have no strength and no nourishment? Everything taken in moderation is good. Do not deprive yourself, because the more you deprive yourself, the more you will crave for larger portions of what you wanted. If you resort to eating other than what you’re craving on, the tendency is that you can’t be satisfied and that it’ll only frustrate you. The secret is to control, not to deny yourself, the things you wanted to eat. Do you see some chocolates, pasta and other “fattening” food? Smile, indulge a little and work it off. Have fun staying fit!
Fat
Loss Lie #1: Exercise, nutrition and the proper mental attitude (positive self-image) are the only things you need to lose fat permanently. Supplements are not a requirement. Some basic supplements are helpful for “nutritional insurance,” and some supplements can help speed up the fat loss process a little, but not nearly as much as the advertising leads you to believe. Even supplements that have been proven effective are only responsible for a small fraction of the results you achieve. Based on 20 years of experience in bodybuilding and fitness, I believe that at least 97% of your results will come from good training and good nutrition. If most of your results come from nutrition and training, then why would you chase after that last 3% “edge” if you haven’t even maximized the first 97%? Isn’t that approach completely backwards? FOCUS ON YOUR DIET AND TRAINING PROGRAMS FIRST! Believe it or not, advanced trainees, competitive bodybuilders or athletes will probably benefit more from using supplements than beginners. High-level athletes are more likely to have "maxed-out” their training and nutrition programs. Their diets are impeccable. Their training is intense. Their discipline is unwavering. Once you've reached a high level of development from intelligent, intense, methodical training and quality nutrition, and the closer you get to your ultimate genetic potential, the slower your progress will become. Progress can and will continue indefinitely, but as you reach higher levels of achievement, this is when supplements and other “minor” details make the most difference. In world-class athletics, competitions can be won or lost by hundredths of a second, a tenth of a point, a fraction of a pound, or a single judge’s opinion. The extra 3% that supplements might provide could be the difference between winning and losing. Now look at the average beginner or intermediate: They're still eating junk foods and skipping meals. They're not even working out consistently. And what do they do FIRST? You guessed it; they immediately run out searching for a "shortcut" in the form of a pill or powder. It's a shame that so many people look for easy ways instead of making the effort to learn how to eat and train better. It makes no sense to dive into heavy supplementation first in hopes of finding an easier way. Get your nutrition and training in order and maximize the first 97%. Once your training and nutrition is on point, THEN, by all means, start nit-picking and sweating the small stuff: Take advantage of every legal, natural and ethical edge possible to help you fulfill 100% of your potential and gain a competitive advantage. Respected exercise physiologist Dr. Tim Ziegenfuss of Kent State said, “Supplements should be the icing on the cake.” That’s a good way of looking at it. If anyone tries to convince you that supplements are essential and that you can’t reach your goals without them, beware; they are probably just trying to sell you something.
Fat
Loss Lie #2: Most commercial diet programs are very low in calories. Many border on starvation: 1200 calories, 1000 calories, even 800 calories or less! Ironically, the more you slash your calories, the more your metabolism slows down. In fact, very low calorie diets can actually make you fatter! It’s physiologically impossible to achieve permanent fat loss by starving yourself. When you eat less, your body burns less. When you eat more, your body burns more. It’s the ultimate paradox. Very low calorie diets not only slow your metabolism so you burn fewer calories, they can also cause muscle loss. Eventually, they shut down your metabolism completely. When this happens, the weight loss stops and any increase in calories that follows will cause immediate fat gain. This “rebound effect” is inevitable, because no one can stay on low calories forever. Carefully scrutinize the calorie recommendations of any diet program before you start it. You'll probably discover that 95% of them have you slash your calories to “starvation” levels. Any diet program that’s extremely low in calories will cause weight loss in the beginning – but it will never work for long. You see, the human body is very “smart” - it always strives to maintain a magnificent state of equilibrium: Metabolism, body temperature, blood sugar, hormone levels, acid-alkaline balance and every other system in the body, are all regulated within a narrow range that your body finds safe and comfortable.
When you subject yourself to drastic measures in an attempt to create sudden changes such as rapid weight loss, your metabolism cybernetically adjusts itself to maintain equilibrium in energy balance, much the same way as a thermostat maintains the temperature of your home within a desirable range. As soon as you’re in danger of starving, your body will quickly adjust your metabolic rate downward like a thermostat, so you burn fewer calories. This is often referred to as “the starvation response.” The only way to lose fat and keep it off permanently is to reduce your calories slightly and increase your activity greatly. It’s always better to burn the fat than try to starve the fat.
Fat
Loss Lie #3: Most magazine publishers own supplement companies and use their magazines as the primary means for promoting their products. Certain well-known magazines have been doing this for decades. One day, it dawned on the rest of them that more money could be made selling supplements than selling advertising or subscriptions. Before long, every publisher jumped on the bandwagon and started supplement companies. You see, magazines have mega-credibility. After all, they can’t print a lie right there on paper, can they? If its in print, it must be true, right? They’d get in some kind of trouble with an “alphabet agency” otherwise, wouldn’t they? Maybe. Maybe not. Editorials are more believable than advertising (that’s why they try to make ads look so much like articles these days). Most people will believe almost anything if it’s printed in a "reputable" medium such as a nationally circulated magazine. That's why magazines are the perfect vehicles for promoting supplements. Did you ever notice how many magazine articles are about the latest, greatest "breakthroughs" in supplements? These "articles" aren't really articles at all; they’re nothing more than advertisements in disguise! (with an 800 number for easy ordering at the end… how convenient!) Even if a magazine doesn't have a vested interest in a supplement line, you still can't count on them to reveal the whole truth to you because they don't want to offend the deep-pocketed companies that are spending big money to advertise. A full-page ad in a high circulation national magazine can cost tens of thousands of dollars. With this kind of money at stake, do you think any magazine will print an article saying “supplements don't work” and on the next page, run an ad for the same supplements they are criticizing? Not likely is it? It’s in the magazine’s best interest to promote supplements like crazy, regardless of whether they work or not, because the more supplements that are sold, the more the supplement companies will advertise. The more they advertise, the more supplements they sell, and on and on the cycle goes. This is the same reason you often get better investing advice from the smaller, lesser-known financial newsletters than you do from the major financial magazines and newspapers; because the major publishers don't want to write editorials that will upset the advertisers. Don't believe everything you read. Question everything. Use your head. Use common sense and your own good judgment. Beware of hidden motives. Just because it's right there in black and white doesn't mean it's the truth. If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is.
Fat
Loss Lie #4: Supplement companies would like you to believe that meal replacement products (MRP's), powdered mixes and shakes have some sort of "magical" fat-reducing or muscle-building properties. The truth is that they’re nothing more than "powdered food" (or “liquid food”). The primary benefit of these products is convenience. It's a challenge to eat frequently and to get enough high quality protein from whole foods, so quality MRP's are great when you're in a hurry and you don't have time to eat food, but they’re not better than food, no matter what any supplement "guru" says. Owners of supplement companies will say that MRP's are the greatest thing since electricity. That shouldn't come as any surprise; sales of these products run in the tens of millions of dollars each year. With the one possible exception of post-workout nutrition during mass-building programs, eating real food is better than drinking shakes. The human gastrointestinal system has evolved to efficiently digest whole food, not powders or pills. The process of digesting solid food every three hours actually increases your metabolic rate. This is known as the "thermic effect of food." Powders fail to take advantage of this metabolic boost.
Fat
Loss Lie #5: Xenadrine, Hydroxycut, Metabolife, Thermadrol, Diet Fuel, Stacker and Ripped Fuel. Ever heard of any of these? If not, you must have been living in a cave somewhere for the past ten years because "thermogenic" fat burning pills made with the herbal stimulant ephedra have become the hottest weight loss craze in the history of the industry.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on these products every year and there's no end in sight to this fat burning pill feeding-frenzy. Even if Ephedra is banned for over the counter sale because of FDA pressure, it’s likely that ephedra-free stimulant products will take their place in short order, even if they’re weaker versions of the original products. The strength of the brand names seems to be carrying them forward. But are these thermogenic products all they're made out to be? Let me set the record straight once and for all. Open up any bodybuilding or fitness magazine these days and you'll see multi-page advertisements boasting of “amazing”, “clinically proven,” “university-tested” results, with dramatic photos of physiques allegedly transformed overnight by using these products. One headline says "Proven to increase fat loss 1700%." Another says "Burn up to 613% more fat!" Still another says, "34 times more fat lost than control group." Frankly, the hype surrounding these products borders on being ridiculous. Where did these numbers come from? 1700% or 613% or 34 times greater THAN WHAT? Obviously, some “apples” are being compared to “oranges.” It's easy for supplement companies to cleverly take statistics out of context - just one of many sneaky tricks they have up their advertising sleeves. (Did you know there’s an infamous book called “How to Lie With Statistics,” written on this very topic? If you don’t believe me, go to Amazon.com and see for yourself.) If any supplement really did burn 1700% more body fat, there wouldn't be any overweight people left! But there are: There are more overweight people today than ever before in history! Don't believe the hype! It’s not that these products don’t work at all – the problem is more in the deceptive marketing and advertising than the products themselves. The claims are simply outrageous. Thermogenic fat burners do work, but they don't work miracles and they’re not a substitute for proper nutrition and training. Because the primary ingredients ephedrine and caffeine are strong central nervous system stimulants, they also have many potential side effects and contraindications. Use caution if you use thermogenic products at all and never use them if you are sensitive to stimulants and/or have a history of heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid disorders or any other medical problems. If you’re not sure if ephedra products are safe for you, check with your doctor first. Most of your results will come from hard training and a good diet. There are no magic pills. Why is it that people just don't seem to get this? It's human nature, I suppose. We all want instant gratification, so it's awfully easy to be swayed by the glossy four-page magazine spreads with those mind blowing (doctored?) before and after photos. Certain supplement companies are partly to blame for our obsession with fast results. Instead of teaching and educating the public about healthy, sensible, slow and steady permanent fat loss, they tease and tempt with very shrewd marketing campaigns. Testimonials, endorsements, scientific studies and before/after photos are incredibly persuasive because they appeal to your emotions. “Take this pill… go to bed…wake up skinny – it’s magic!” Even the names of the products were carefully chosen: Do you think it's a coincidence that the #1 selling herbal weight loss supplement Xenadrine sounds a lot like the prescription drug Xenical? Not a week goes by that someone doesn’t ask me about the ”drug” Xenadrine (Xenadrine is a brand name for an over-the-counter, ephedra product; Xenical is a prescription drug). If you want to lose body fat, get your diet and training program in order FIRST. Once you're eating nutritiously, moderately restricting your calories, doing cardio and working out with weights, then and only then - and only if you have a clean bill of health - should you even consider a thermogenic herbal product if you need an “extra boost.”
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