Weight Loss Myths Debunked!

Hey all! I wanted to share this article because I have seen all of these suggestions while reading about how to correctly diet and exercise. I found sometimes reading all the different articles out there is actually more confusing and conflicting. But it's also hard not to believe everything you read. On your journey to a New Fit Body I'm sure you will come across information that makes you question why you are not trying new fad diets or tricks, but here's some reasons to look closer.

Here's a few myths that I have read and the article provides simple explanations of why they are not 100% true. Below is a link to the original article. Enjoy!

http://www.bestdietpills.com/post/6-common-myths-about-diet-and-weight-loss/

The myths that this article addresses are:

-If you eat after dinner you will gain weight (we will look into more research about this later)

-Fasting will kickstart any diet

-Low-carb diets are more successful

-Drinking water when hungry will help you lose weight

-Exercise on an empty stomach will burn more calories

-Low fat or calorie free packaged snacks help you lose weight

photo courtesy of:

http://www.bestdietpills.com/post/6-common-myths-about-diet-and-weight-loss/

Words of Wisdom

:) Amen.

Just a little background on the importance of this photo to me, as well as to the New Fit Body program. In the About Me section you can find a short history of my struggle with eating right and living a fit life. For many years of my fitness journey I ate whatever I wanted, which included at least two meals a day of fast food, and mostly processed garbage. I worked out hard a the gym and hoped that it would fix the health issues I was having as well as give me the body I dreamed of. As you can guess, it did not.

Exercising is great for you, and important. But when your body does not get the nutrients and vitamins it needs then you're still not healthy. You can burn a ton of calories but that doesn't mean your getting the things you need to rebuild your health. It takes the right foods to help your body repair itself. Working out is not a cure for what a bad diet is doing to you.

New Fit Body focuses heavily on foundations of good diet to change your life. Of course exercise is a large part of it. But, our focus is nutrition and this is one of the reasons why.

Jump into Diet and Exercise Together

Howdy! I wanted to share this article because often I hear people say how hard it is to start a diet and exercise program all at once. Sometimes they just pick one or the other. This article highlights a study where diet and exercise going hand in hand produced better results than trying to start one and then the other separately.

I say go all in. If you fail at one or the other...just keep trying again! My diet was a sore subject for me because I constantly struggled to not eat when I was feeling emotional or in need of a reward. When I fail I just start over again at the next meal. Mistakes don't negate the progress you've made. What has seemed to help me the most in my exercise routine, is when I work out I feel more obligated not to back peddle and ruin what I did earlier that day. The also goes for eating right.

Let one encourage the other! If you mess up on one then you still have the other to succeed at next. One meal is one meal. Let's never forget that. If you miss a work out, you can always do something. 50 jumping jacks can make you feel better. If you eat a donut for breakfast, you still have lunch and dinner to nourish your body with great foods. Let these things work together and encourage the other. Here is a link to the article.
http://www.exercisedaily.org/cgi-bin/details.pl?article_id=3481

Enjoy!

Different Belly Fats and Taking a Closer Look

Here is a great article on belly fat and the risks involved with having each type fat. I was very excited about this article because I was informed of a more dangerous belly fat even in people who were not overweight and started looking around for more information. Take a look!

here is the original link:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2010/August/taking-aim-at-belly-fat

Some interesting information in the article is the two types of fat that they look at. I never knew there was more than one. Of course this hits at home because I at one point had an expanding waist line and was staying around the same weight. Visceral fat was the culprit due to bad diet but I had no understanding of it. Of course a visit to the doctors verified my bad diet was the cause and then of course I started doing some research!

Here's a chart from the article explaining where these types of fats tend to stay.

Where's the fat?

illustration of abdomen showing visceral and subcutaneous fat

The article also goes into the risks of visceral fat and then of course how to do a basic check on yourself. The last sections of the article explain how visceral fat can lead or contribute to other disease and the importance of shedding the fat and keeping it off. Enjoy this article!

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2010/August/taking-aim-at-belly-fat

That's 200 CALORIES!? Well it is...all in the name of art.

While looking around the internet for interesting food art, I can across this interesting photo series. This is not any sort of eating guideline, it is just really interesting! I always joke about how much spinach you can eat before you reach a 100 calorie marker compared to the 100 calorie snack packs, which are sadly small. I like this as a reminder that those who think they must starve on a diet, are most likely eating very high caloric foods and are having to limit themselves. If you ate your broccoli, you might get really full!

http://www.artfido.com/blog/photographic-series-showing-what-200-calories-looks-like-in-different-foods/

Here are some photos from the article: