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Myths of weight loss:
There are some popular misconceptions associated with weight loss. Before you actually start an exercise regimen, it's important to remove all pre-conceived notions. We have listed out some of the most popular ones:
Myth 1: Ab exercises flatten the stomach.
Fact: Ab exercises only tone and firm the lower layers of stomach muscle. If you happen to have layers of fat above, it won't make any difference. Therefore do aerobic exercises to shed the fat.
Myth 2: Drinking water before exercise is harmful.
Fact: Water is essential to replenish fluids lost during strenuous exercise. Therefore, drink water in equal amounts.
Myth 3: Eliminating fats helps shed weight faster.
Fact: Fats in small amounts can help you feel fuller during the day. This avoids binging.
Myth 4: High protein, low carb diets burn fat faster.
Fact: Ingesting too much protein can result in high fat and cholesterol levels in the body. Too many carbohydrates in the diet can result in the formation of Ketones which lead to kidney stones. The trick lies in a balanced diet.
Myth 5: One can lose weight no matter what one eats.
Fact: Not watching what's eaten can lead to alarming weight increases
Myth 6: Skipping meals burns fat quickly.
Fact: When you skip meals, your body goes into a conservation mode where its metabolic rate starts dipping, resulting in weight gains.
Myth 7: Weight training doesn't shed weight.
Fact: Weight training can actually be a great way to lose weight in a short time span.
Myth 8: Consuming nuts and dairy products can be fattening.
Fact: If taken in small doses, nuts can actually be good for health.
Myth 9: Counting calories isn't really necessary.
Fact: It is absolutely necessary to keep track of everything you eat "" right from sugar to tea or even snacks.
Myth 10: Salads are a great health snack.
Fact: Yes salads are great but not with the fatty dressing.
Cardio to help shed fat It has been clinically proven that cardio exercise is your one and only ticket to effective and quick fat loss. Cardio exercises involve any form of exercise that raises heart rate to higher levels. Especially when it comes to fat loss goals, the higher the intensity, the greater the chances of your slimming down quicker!
Why high intensity cardio is so great There are many reasons why cardio helps shed weight fast:
- High intensity cardio rapidly raises your metabolic rate - This increased metabolic rate remains at the same rate even after exercise - Increases lean muscle mass which contributes to increased resting metabolic levels
Other benefits include:
- Greater lung strength
- Strengthens your heart
- Improves blood circulation.
Timing and its impact The best time of the day for any cardio exercise is early in the morning, before you've had any breakfast. This is because in the morning hours, muscle and liver glycogen levels are really low. This means that with lower blood sugar levels, your chances at burning fat at this time is much more than later in the day.
Top 5 cardio exercises to shed fat If you think a 30 minute morning walk at moderate pace will help, then you're wrong. While it certainly will help you lose more calories over a period of time, if you're looking for fat loss - you need something extra!
1.Jump rope: On an average if you jump rope for 15 minutes you burn 174 calories!
2.Swimming: The forward crawl stroke seems to burn fat the best and it's also non-impact.
3.Sprinting: It will burn tons of calories, beats fat like none other and reduces stress and tension in the body.
4.Step aerobics: Burns a whopping 400 calories in a 30 minute time span.
5.Cycling: It exhausts carbohydrate reserves in the body resulting in enhanced metabolic rates.
It happens at every party: You swear that you’ll stick to your diet and you’re really sticking to your guns, popping crunchy baby carrots into your mouth like chocolate bon bons while everyone else is loading up on nachos and guacamole dip.
Then someone – your mother who has been slaving over the hot stove all day, your Uncle Mike who has polished off three martinis, your best friend Mary who has been trying to lose 25 pounds for the last 25 years – steps up to your plate and fills it with an extra-large helping of guilt.
“Come on, live a little. Just eat one piece," your sister says as she tries to stuff the stuffing in your face. “It’s your favorite, and I made it just for you. I’ll be hurt if you don’t at least try it."
And before you know it, you’re having your and everyone else’s cake and eating it, too.
Family and friends, the people you expect to support you, are the very ones who are most likely to sabotage your diet, either consciously or subconsciously, and that’s why you need a neutral buddy to get you through not every wedding, birthday, bar mitzvah and holiday party, experts say.
“When we sit down at the table, we’re all sort of comparing how we shape up with the other people there," says Henrietta Harrison, a psychotherapist and life coach in Westport, Conn. “We’re all looking around the table to see who looks older than last year, who looks thinner, who looks heavier."
And when people indulge, adds Laura Cipullo, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with offices in Manhattan, New Jersey and upstate New York, “typically they want others to be ‘bad’ with them and indulge, too."
But as Cipullo and Harrison point out, just because you are offered the piece of homemade pumpkin pie doesn’t mean that you have to eat the whole thing. But it does mean that you can understand why you are being asked to eat it and then enlist your family and friends to help everyone beat their bad eating habits.
“It can be threatening to a partner when the other loses weight because the thinner person will become more attractive to other people," Harrison says. “When you lose weight, particularly if you are a woman, your confidence increases and it’s empowering. This can upset the balance of power because as she gets more assertive, she becomes confident enough to change jobs, run for the PTA or even go back to work."
By making your family and friends your buddies, everybody wins the weight-loss game, Harrison and Cipullo say. “The buddy system is a good idea," Cipullo says, “because the entire family can be on the same page. If mom and dad are eating a certain way or one child is eating a certain way, the whole family should be eating that way – healthy."
Outside buddies, who provide encouragement and help 24/7, also can be part of your weight-loss network. “I recommend having someone to talk to before, during and after you go to these events," Harrison says. “Buddying up during the holidays is crucial for people who are alone because you get companionship. You get someone on your team. WeightLossBuddy.com is one way to do this. It is ideal for a lot of people because it’s like one-stop shopping."
Once you have a buddy, you can work together to change the menu for future parties. “Make the holidays less about food," Cipullo says. “Meet for appetizers and drinks, not for formal sit-down dinners. Go ice skating or go for coffee or go out to a restaurant and choose your own food. Go out and look at holiday lights. Go for a manicure or a pedicure with your friends so you can sit around and chat and catch up."
And if your willpower does buckle under the mistletoe, remind yourself that it doesn’t have to be feast or famine. “When you learn to ride a bike, you sometimes fall off," Harrison says. “And when you learn, you don’t learn to ride in a straight line; you weave back and forth and that’s how diets should be."
WeightLossBuddy.com’s Top 10 Tips for the Holidays
1.Find a buddy to help you get through the event and call or e-mail the buddy before, during and after the party. For more information on the buddy system, go to www.WeightLossBuddy.com.
2.If you are a guest, eat a small low-calorie snack before you go to the party at the time you usually eat dinner. If you are the cook, eat a small low-calorie snack before you prepare the meal.
3.Eat smaller portions of everything on the table.
4.Nibble your way through the party.
5.Use the three-bite rule: If someone insists you eat a food that’s not on your diet, only eat three bites of it. That way, you can tell the cook how much you have enjoyed it, and everyone is satisfied.
6.Ask whether you can take a piece of pie or cake home to eat later. Savor every bite by pacing yourself, only eating a little bit every day.
7.When you turn down a fattening food, substitute a lower-cal food in its place. For instance, instead of the pumpkin pie with whipped cream, eat an apple.
8.Just say no to that extra helping of stuffing. But do it politely.
9.Change your holiday traditions so that activities, not food are the center of attention.
10.If you do blow your diet, don’t punish yourself and don’t end your diet. Every day is a new day.
Copy-right Weight Loss Buddy Press 2004
We at www.WeightLossBuddy.com are devoted to helping you find a 24/7 buddy who will not only help you lose weight but who also will get you to change to a healthy lifestyle. You choose your own diet and your own exercise regime, and we find you a buddy who will literally stick with you through thick and thin. Signing up for a buddy is free. Simply call up www.weightlossbuddy.com or call 1-877-BUDDY-UP.