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Top 10 diet and exercise myths
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Gaining weight with age is not inevitable
Every year, millions of Americans resolve to lose weight, whether on New Year’s Day, their birthdays, or just some morning when their mirror or the bathroom scale seems particularly unkind. And every year, many get frustrated and give up before they reach their goals. Contributing to this problem is a host of bad information about diet and exercise that circulates through gyms, workplaces, and over the Internet. Here is a list of explanations and solutions to help debunk and uncover the reality of some of the most common diet and exercise myths that have recently emerged.
10) Sweating means you’re losing weight
People think, “I’m sweating, therefore I'm burning a ton of calories.” Sweating means losing water, or water weight. Although a spin class followed by the sauna may shed a few pounds immediately, those pounds are not real body weight, or fat, and will come back on as soon as water or food is consumed. This is not an excuse to not drink water and/or not eat after a workout. Water should be consumed shortly after or during aerobic activity to regenerate water balance in the body. However, when sweating, the body is releasing toxins and mal substances from the body, which does help to improve the metabolism, and eventually to lose weight.
Instead of judging intensity by how much you sweat, use a heart-rate monitor or a pedometer. Monitor your heart rate during spinning, cardio, or yoga classes, or whatever activity you’re using for exercise. You might be surprised to find out that you're not working as hard as you thought you were, because you were sweating so much, and therefore not burning as many calories as you thought. You should maintain a heart rate of 60-75 percent of your maximum, with bursts up to 85 percent, depending on your goals and fitness level. To find your body’s ideal heart rate for burning calories and losing weight, checkout heartzones.com. 145-pound woman in a typical 40-minute Spinning class burns about 300-460 calories.
9) Eating late night will make you gain weight
There are no magic hours to eat or not to eat. We associate late-night eating with weight gain because we usually consume more calories at night, and shortly after, go to bed and are sedentary for up to 8 hours. We do this because we usually deprive our bodies of adequate calories the first half of the day, and naturally are hungry later at night, and tend to continue eating throughout the evening.
To curb large dinner portions and late night snacking, start the day out with a decent sized breakfast that includes protein, carbohydrates, and a small amount of fat. (2 eggs and a piece of toast with 1tbsp peanut butter and a banana) Eat every 3-4 hours throughout the day. Keep lunch the same size as dinner, and you will be less likely to over-indulge at night, yet you can enjoy a small late-night snack without the fear of it sticking to your middle while you’re dreaming.
8) Smoothies are good for you
Although the combination of fruit, yogurt, milk, nuts, etc. can be a great source of vitamins and antioxidants, calcium and nutrients, it can also pack as many calories as a full meal, and sometimes more. This would be okay if the drinks were used as a meal replacement, but in most cases, a smoothie is a mid afternoon snack, or used as a drink to accompany a meal. For example, a 24oz Razzmatazz smoothie from Jamba Juice packs 440 calories, a 16oz (small) Peanut Butter Moo’d Smoothie has 530 calories and a 16oz small Acai Cup (supposedly the wonder fruit) contains 620 calories, which is definitely more than enough for a meal. When ordering at a chain juice store, always look for the options that include the word “light,” which usually means they are in the 100-200 calorie range, which is much better for a quick, energizing snack.
Also, making them at home, and knowing exactly what’s in them is even better. For a quick and tasty smoothie, combine 1 banana, ½ cup blueberries, ½ cup raspberries, about 5 strawberries, 1 tbsp non fat yogurt any flavor, a half cup (eye ball it) of almond, soy, or non fat cow’s milk, with a tbsp of peanut butter and ice. This will give you an antioxidant, calcium and protein packed treat, for under 200 calories.
7) You have to eat animal protein to develop and maintain muscle
Of the three major nutrients, protein, carbohydrate and fat, protein is the least efficient energy source. Carbohydrates are the best source of muscle energy followed by fat. The body tries to spare protein for tissue maintenance and repair functions.
Building muscle mass involves two things: Using enough weight to challenge muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you burn. With all the hype about high protein diets lately, it's easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle and burning fat, but, according to the American Dietetic Association, muscles work on calories, so you need all three types of nutrients - carbohydrates, protein and fat.
If you consume too much protein, you run the risk of creating a nutrient imbalance, kidney strain, or dehydration. Plus, excess protein results in extra calories that are either burned or stored. (A.K.A eating a large amount of protein without working out to compensate for it will result in weight gain) For muscle mass, you should incorporate a healthy eating plan, as well as a workout that combines cardio exercise as well as consistent weight training.
6) Gaining weight with age is inevitable
This excuse is too easy and used too often. Yes, growing older does mean weakening of body systems, tissues and muscles, but it does not mean the body quits working all together just because it’s aging. Scientific research has shown that with exercise, especially aerobic exercise, weight training and a low-fat diet, you can increase lean body mass and decrease fat mass, no matter what stage of life you’re in. Even at age 90, people can experience renewed strength, increased mobility, stronger bones and greater flexibility just by exercising and avoiding McDonalds.
5) I can eat anything I want, as much as I want, as long as I work out
Even if you exercise regularly, you should still keep track of calories, portions and the types of foods you’re eating. A typical hour long workout burns about 300-500 calories, which is usually replaced right after or soon after that workout. Add this to the other meals of the day, plus drinks and other snacks that you’re consuming because you’re hungrier from your workout. Eating 3,000 calories in one day seems hard to do, but when portions and food choices are not considered, it’s easier than you think, and that 500 calories you burned earlier in the day is being counter acted.
Regular exercise and good nutritional habits go hand-in-hand. Without one, the other has a limited effect.
4) As long as I eat healthy foods, I can eat as much as I want
A calorie is a calorie. Although oatmeal is healthy, if you eat four cups of oatmeal, the calories add up. Healthy or otherwise, you still must be aware of portion sizes. Losing weight is a simple equation that has been so blurred by fad diets, diet pills, teas, “miracle foods”, cleansing products, and ridiculous treatments and surgeries, all because people want an easy way out. Losing weight is simply burning more calories than consumed. That’s it, and the only miracle that will help you to do this, is you.
3) If you don’t eat carbohydrates you’ll lose weight
This is the same concept discussed before. Whenever you eat more calories than you burn, you’ll gain weight. Whenever you eat less calories than you burn, you’ll lose weight. Yes, bread, pasta, cereal, rice etc. are heavier in calories (again, portion sizes), but so are bacon, steak, beef, and cheese, which according to the Atkins style diets, are your way to a thinner, healthy you, only with a few clogged arteries, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, liver damage, and sky rocketing sodium levels.
Carbohydrates eaten carelessly will absolutely add on pounds (just because the whole bag of pretzels has no fat, doesn’t mean that eating the whole bag of pretzels will not make you fat), but eating complex carbohydrates, like brown rice, whole wheat bread and pasta, couscous, quinoa, and fruit, provides essential vitamins, nutrients and the right amount of carbohydrates to keep you energized and feeling good.
What differentiates complex (good) carbohydrates from simple (bad) carbohydrates that make them better for us? Complex carbohydrates are simply sugars bonded together to form a chain. Digestive enzymes have to work much harder to access the bonds to break the chain into individual sugars for absorption through the intestines. Digestion of complex carbohydrates takes longer. The slow absorption of sugars provides us with a steady supply of energy and limits the amount of sugar converted into fat and stored.
2) All fat is bad
Contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of “good fats” out there that are essential for good health and aid in disease prevention. They are the ones that occur naturally in foods like avocados, nuts, olives, and fish, as opposed to those that are manufactured. Including small amounts of these foods at meal times and snacks can help you to feel full longer and therefore eat less.
1) I bought it at Whole Foods, so it must be healthy
Whole Foods is great. Organic and natural products are great. They taste great, and in most cases are an amazing and healthy alternative to processed, manufactured or chemically altered or tainted food. Yet, a calorie is still a calorie, and Whole Foods, Safeway, or home made, chemicals or not, an 800 calorie slice of cherry pie is still an 800 calorie slice of cherry pie.
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