The
SparkDiet resource centeri
has consulted fitness experts to find the 4 most prevalent myths
concerning metabolism and metabolism-boosting.
Since
this book has been about reality and not myths, we didn’t cover any
of them in the actual book. Yet, considering how common these myths
are, it can indeed be useful for you to know them; and to know that
they’re myths.
That
way, if you come across them in a magazine, at a fitness club, or
just from the well-intentioned but misguided advice of a friend, you
can confidently say (or at least just think): sorry, but that’s a
myth; I’m not going to fall for that one!
The
general consensus on diet pills are contained in two powerful words:
BUYER BEWARE.
The
problem here is that many makers of diet pills offer claims that
simply aren’t realistic; and if you read the fine-print of most of
these advertisements, you’ll see that they’re really too good to
be true. Little notes like the claims made in this advertisement are
not typical should be enough of a wake-up call to realize that
there’s more to the story.
In some
cases, diet pills can help boost metabolism temporarily. This,
however, can be risky and generally shouldn’t be done without a
doctor’s say-so. Unfortunately, people can become somewhat
addicted to diet pills, and this can lead to disaster.
And
before we go onto myth #2, remember that some diet pills are water
loss pills. That is, they are diuretics that promote water loss,
usually through excess urination. The jury on water-loss diet pills
is somewhat less open-minded than diet pills in general: THEY DON’T
WORK!
Seriously:
water loss diet pills are built on the premise that you’ll lose
weight through water. And, yes, that’s true: if you urinate 15
times a day, you’re physically going to weigh less.
But this
is not actual weight loss! This is merely unhealthy temporary weight
loss, and it will come roaring back the minute that water stores are
replenished through diet.
Or, even
harder to comprehend, if a person taking these water pills fails to
restore their body’s fluid needs, they can actually suffer
dehydration; which can, and has, led to coma and death.
As we
discussed earlier in this book (but it’s so important that it
deserves an encore here at the end), trying to lose weight by
drastically cutting down calories doesn’t work; in fact, it’s
unhealthy.
The
thing to remember is that the body’s ability to lose weight is not
controlled by calories. Calories are the input. The real control
mechanism is that famous concept that you’ve become very familiar
with: metabolism.
Calories
are merely units of energy. It’s how your body deals with that
energy that determines whether weight is gained or lost.
So with
that being said, cutting down your caloric intake to, say, 1000
calories a day isn’t necessarily going to help you lose weight;
because it doesn’t necessarily change your metabolism.
Indeed,
as you know, if you slow down your caloric intake, your body –
which is always trying to help you in the best way that it knows how
– will slow down its metabolism.
Really,
it makes sense: the body says that something has gone wrong; instead
of the 2000 calories that it needs, it’s only getting 1000. The
body doesn’t know why this is happening; it doesn’t know that you
want to lose weight.
It just
senses that something is wrong; perhaps you’re trapped in a cave or
something, or stuck in a snowstorm. So the body, trying to help you,
will slow down its metabolism; it will do its best to slow down the
conversion rate, so that you have as much energy on hand as possible.
Now, if
your body was able to read this book and you could say: look, please
just do what you normally do, but do it with 1000 fewer calories a
day for a while, then we might actually get somewhere.
But the
body doesn’t work that way. It won’t help you lose weight if you
dramatically cut down on calories.
It will
slow down metabolism, and (here’s the worst part), if and when you
ever increase calories again, your body will have to deal with that
via a slower metabolic engine. So you can actually gain weight if,
after cutting down your calories for a period of time, you find that
you consume extra calories (say while on vacation or something).
It’s
fair to say that any exercise is better than no exercise. So if you
lead a sedentary lifestyle, then even walking around your block for
10 minutes a day is going to something positive for your body and its
metabolism.
True,
that difference may be imperceptible to the naked eye (or it may
not?), the bottom line is that exercise is good.
Yet with
this being said, some people believe that they should perform
low-intensity workouts even when they could be performing more
high-intensity workouts.
That is,
instead of jogging for 20 minutes with their heart at the top end of
their aerobic zone, they opt for low-intensity jogs that barely break
a sweat.
Low
intensity workouts simply don’t lead to a faster metabolism; they
can’t. Remember, as we discussed very early in this book,
metabolism is a process.
And that
process is really one of two types: taking energy and making cells
(anabolism), or breaking cells down to make energy (catabolism).
If you
don’t achieve a high-intensity workout, your body can’t tap
achieve catabolism; it won’t need to. And the only way your body
is going to go and break down existing cells is if it needs to.
So keep
this in mind as you exercise, either at home or at a gym. Low
intensity workouts are better than nothing at all; and they may be
necessary if you’re recovering from injury, or just starting out on
the exercise journey.
But once
you reach a level of basic fitness, only high intensity (aerobic)
workouts will make a difference in terms of your metabolism. High
intensity workouts force your body to find energy to help you
maintain that level of exercise; and it does so through catabolism.
Speeding
up your metabolism and achieving your weight loss goals involved a
certain degree of focus; after all, there’s a lot of things
competing for your attention (including that delicious Chef’s
Special pecan pie!), and you certainly need to be able to keep your
eye on the goal in order to maintain your program.
Yet
sometimes too much focus can be a bad thing; and some dieters
understand this all too well.
Remember:
speeding up your metabolism is a holistic effort that includes
exercise, lifestyle, and diet changes.
Focusing
on only one of these at the expense of the others (either one or
both) can be detrimental. In fact, in some cases, it can be
counter-productive.
So the
myth here is that you shouldn’t go all out and focus on becoming an
exercise guru, and then move onto lifestyle, and then to diet.
You have
to integrate all 3 aspects into your life at the same time. True,
based on your unique situation, you will likely emphasize one more
than the others. That’s fine and normal. But it’s a myth –
and a mistake – to ignore any one of these.
It takes
all three to speed up your metabolism, and to get you to your weight
loss goals for the long-term.
i
SparkDiet.
http://sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=476
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