I know most of the South wants this brutal winter to be over, but I’m here to tell you that Mother Nature isn’t done. The immediate forecast reveals below-freezing temperatures and a possible wintry mix. But despite the weather, spring break is next week, and we’re all trying to shed that winter weight.
When it comes to weight loss, there are a lot of conflicting myths and debates about what’s best. I am certainly no expert, but I want to tackle a few myths plaguing people everywhere.
Myth: Reducing calories reduces weight. The facts state that if you decrease your intake of calories, it will lead to weight loss over time, but people use this information to justify skipping a meal or two. Skipping meals doesn’t lead to faster weight loss. When you skip meals, you’re more likely to overindulge later. If you suddenly start skipping meals and reduce your calories by an excessive amount, your metabolism will slow down and conserve the limited number of calories you’re eating. Instead of attempting to drastically decrease your calorie intake, make a plan to slowly reduce the number by eliminating 100 calories from one meal and another 100 from another. Find ways to trim the excess calories, and eventually it will lead to trimming your weight.
Myth: Exercise offsets prolonged sedentary periods. Life can be pretty easy sometimes because of the luxuries of technology and convenience, but that doesn’t give you the excuse to live a sedentary lifestyle. Exercising is a great start, but there’s always room to improve. Fit people tend to not only exercise, but take the stairs, walk to the grocery store and find more ways to incorporate movement into daily life. Don’t waste a workout by spending the rest of the day in front of the TV or computer; rather, use it to guide the rest of your day. Countless studies have successfully linked the time spent on your rear end to heart disease, diabetes and an early death. The longer the large muscles in your legs remain stationary, the more harmful blood fats can build up in your bloodstream. To combat this without springing for a standing desk, simply get up for a minute or two every half hour or during every commercial while watching TV.
Myth: Cardio is the king of weight loss. This statement cannot be more false. I am sure everyone has heard of the recent hype about high-intensity workouts and how they promote weight loss among other health benefits. Unlike cardio, high-intensity workouts help people lose weight because they cause more calories to be burned throughout the day. A medium- to low-intensity cardio session may burn more calories during the workout itself than a high-intensity workout, but the low-intensity workout will take longer. Also, the high-intensity workout has other numerous health benefits which include lower cholesterol and increased VO2 max.
Myth: The quality of food doesn’t matter. It’s true that there have been people who have eaten a McDonald’s diet and lost weight, and if you want to jump on the bandwagon, be my guest, but I find it easier to let the food do some of the work. A diet rich in fiber from fruit, vegetables, legumes and seeds will cause your metabolism to work harder to break down the food and thus burn some extra calories. Nutritional food takes up more volume and will thus make you full faster. In other words, eating a 1,000-calorie pizza may be easy, but try and eat 1,000 calories worth of fruits and vegetables and let me know how that goes.
This list could take up the rest of the newspaper and still not be complete, but I hope I could offer some guidance in a clouded area.
