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High
calorie, low calorie, high carb, low carb, high
protein, low protein, liquid food, whole foods
– the choices for consumers are seemingly
endless and definitely confusing.
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Photo
by LS Phillip Hunt
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Honest
information about nutrition and fat loss is harder to
come by than ever before, and nearly everyone has been
misled at some stage.
Here we expose some of the lies surrounding the fitness/supplement
industry and help you understand the subject of fat
loss.
Lie
#1: You need supplements to lose fat.
Supplements are not necessary to lose body fat. Exercise
and nutrition are the only things you need to lose fat
permanently. Some supplements can help speed up the
process a little, but not nearly as much as you may
have been led to believe.
Lie
#2: The only way to get really lean is to “starve”
yourself.
Very low calorie diets slow down your metabolism and
cause you to lose muscle. 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.
Lie
#3: Meal replacement products and diet shakes help you
“burn” fat.
Meal replacement products are nothing more than “powdered
food” – they are simply convenient.
The process of digesting solid food every three hours
actually increases your metabolic rate.
Lie
#4: Thermogenic “fat burners” containing ephedrine
and caffeine are the best weight loss products.
“Thermogenic” fat burning pills have become
the hottest weight loss craze in the fitness industry.
But are these products all they’re made out to
be? No!
Lie
#5: Losing fat can be accomplished quickly and easily.
Losing fat is simple, but for most people it is not
easy. There’s a big difference between simple and
easy.
Getting a lean and muscular body requires two things:
You must be willing to work hard and you must be patient.
Lie
#6: Some people will never be able to lose weight.
It’s true, your heredity will, to a large degree,
dictate your athletic ability and the ease with which
you lose fat or gain muscle. However, it’s a lie
to say that some people can’t lose weight because
they’ve inherited a “slow metabolism.”
Everybody can lose fat; it just takes a little longer
for some than for others.
Lie
#7: Zero or very low carbohydrate diets are the best
way to lose fat permanently.
Very low carb diets are difficult to stick to, are unbalanced
and missing many nutrients, may be unhealthy as they
often promote eating large amounts of fat such as bacon
and sausages for breakfast and cause your energy levels
to plummet.
Lie
#8: If you eat the right diet, you can lose fat permanently
without exercise.
Yeah right, and you’ll make a million dollars a
day without working! An effective fat burning program
must have the following: Aerobic/anaerobic exercise,
a nutritious diet with a mild calorie deficit, resistance
training, goal setting and motivation.
Lie
#9: You can lose 30 pounds of fat in 30 days.
Is it possible? Yes, through dehydration, but the question
you should ask is how can you lose it healthfully and
permanently?
Don’t
confuse weight loss with fat loss. The recommended safe
weight loss rate is no more than 1-1.5 kilos a week.
You can reach any fat loss or fitness goals you commit
to, but there are limits to how quickly you can safely
achieve them.
Tips
to lose the muffin tops
Accredited
practising dietitian Susie Newman chews the fat on overeating.
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Muffin
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Eat,
drink and be merry. So they say, but overeating and
drinking over the Christmas and New Year period can
be bittersweet.
If you have returned to work and found your uniform
noticeably tighter you may have put on a few unwanted
kilos.
The serious issue is that if we continue this lifestyle
behaviour, we may end up a stone (6kg) heavier by Christmas
this year and very “un-merry”.
Here are a few tips to take off those bad boys clinging
to your belly – you know, the muffin tops:
