Outrageous Fitness Myths Part II - You're proving my point!
fad diets, exercise, calories, diet, fitness myths
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Today I posted about fitness myths and one of the comments I received on my www.primetimeworkouts.com blog is worthy of a response. I am grateful for this person for voicing an opinion about what many may believe to be true. I will leave the name of the person anonymous out of respect. So for the purpose of the discussion let’s call him:
"Gym Shorts"
First: The issue in question:
Myth #2: You have to count calories for weight loss
There are so many fad diets out there that paint the picture that weight loss is a complicated process. You have to eat certain foods at certain times and avoid other foods at all costs. Of course all of these popular diets conflict over which foods you should or shouldn’t eat.
The truth is that you don’t have to make weight loss such a science. Simply eat healthy fresh foods that haven’t been processed, and eat smaller amounts and more often than you’re eating today.
No brain science there, just results.
The comment from Gym Shorts:
#2 is not a myth (you have to count calories for weight loss)
If what you say is true, we could sit on our couch and eat healthy fresh foods in small amounts all they long and we wouldn’t get fat. A nice thought but far away from reality. If you want to get smaller, you have to eat below maintenance calories, which can be calculated fairly easy. If you want to grow, you have to eat over maintenance calories. Simple as that. Now what you are saying could still result into eating below maintenance, but has nothing to do with not counting calories. At the end if there is more energy in form of food that goes in, compared to the energy that goes out, you will get fat. If you count or not.
In fact, many of these “weight loss breakthroughs” you bash in your first paragraph, or diet programs based on them, use exactly this to hype their program (”you don’t have to count calories”).
My Response:
1. This proves my point. There is so much misinformation that some of it can actually make sense - if it hasn’t already confused you. If all of these diet DID really work and provide a solution for people anywhere past 30 days would we have an obesity crisis that is now not just our problem in the U.S. but internationally?
2. Yes. If people exercised, ate healthy fresh foods in small amounts more frequently during the day they would increase their metabolism and lose weight NOT gain weight.
3. Yes. If people who did not exercise ate healthy fresh foods in small amounts more frequently during the day they would lose weight.
4. It is actually another myth that most fat people over eat.
5. Nine out of every ten of my clients over the past 16 + years, when evaluated, had Caloric intake that was too low compared to their adjusted BMR (Basal Metabolic rate) - squashing their metabolism. In EVERY case the strategy was for INCREASED CALORIE CONSUMPTION and they lost weight - every time and kept it off.
6. MOST people are busy. Very busy. They do not have time for counting Calories and if they are forced to - eventually they stop, fail again and look for the next weightloss breakthrough, new gym or even a different trainer.
7. When I was competing I never ate more Calories in my life (3800 per day) and I couldn’t gain weight to save my life but what I did do was lose body fat.
This is reality. When developing strategies and information to help people reach their fitness goals - the long term is what is important. Eating well and exercising consistently has to work for the long run.
The days of fad diets, split routines and long drawn out cardio sessions are on their way out and for good reason. The practitioners in the industry are the one’s that drive the real research which validates what we are doing and have been doing with our clients for years.
Eat well. Exercise. Win
Dave
www.homeofficeworkouts.com
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on 8/28/2008
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