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They
Said It on TV, So It Must Be True |
by:
Dave
Soucy |
Lose
30 pounds in 30 days! Lose the weight without
the effort! Eat anything you want, and still
lose weight!
Everywhere you look - magazine covers, print
ads, radio, TV infomercials, the internet
- headlines like those above, promoting
the latest weight loss sensation, abound.
They are impossible to avoid. Whether it
is for the latest diet craze, magic pill,
or infomercial gadget, we are inundated
with a large daily dose of weight-loss-made-easy
promises. And these ads obviously work,
as the American Obesity Association estimates
that American consumers spend over $30 billion
per year trying to lose weight. Some estimates
even put the figure higher, at over $50
billion.
Every day, in the quest to achieve the results
claimed in the ads, people question which
of these diets, supplements, or gadgets
really work the best. It is a question that
can best be answered with another question:
If any of these products or diets really
worked, why is it that, according to the
Center for Disease Control, currently 65%
of adults in this country are overweight?
The truth is, while the ads work wonderfully,
the products do not. Let's face it, if any
of them did what the ads claim, nobody would
be fat! We would all just pop a pill, or
stop eating bagels, or use Suzanne Somers'
latest gizmo for just 7 minutes a day, then
run out and buy smaller clothes. Have you
ever stopped to wonder why all of the "After"
pictures in those ads have "Results not
typical" stamped on them in really small
print?
If these products do not work, why do we
spend billions of dollars on them every
year? There are a number of reasons, and
some of the main reasons combine to create
a very compelling force which drives people
to make emotional spending decisions, when
logic would dictate that they should know
better.
* Overweight people have often tried dozens
of different weight loss programs and some
become desperate for a solution.
* People want to hear that there is hope.
* Very clever marketing, often disguised
as science, reaches these people with the
offer of that hope.
* Given that most people do not understand
the science behind how the body works, they
are willing to believe that this deceptive
marketing actually is based in science,
and the hope they desire can be theirs for
just 3 easy payments of $39.95.
We are a society that wants instant gratification,
and with a simple phone call and our credit
card number, that weight loss is just a
new, exciting miracle pill or best-selling
diet book away.
Sadly, the only thing consumers are losing
is money. Let's focus on the myriad of fad
diets out there. Many of you will think
I am crazy for saying this, but for the
vast majority of people looking for long
term fat loss, health, and fitness, diets
simply do not work. Regardless of which
book you run out and buy, in most cases
calorie restricted diets, while showing
short term weight loss on the bathroom scale,
in the long term will lead to a slower metabolism
and greater body fat than the dieter started
with.
Think about it. We all know someone on a
diet. How many of those people are dieting
for the first time? Probably very few. Who
doesn't know a dieter who can list all of
the 'great' diets he has been on?
"Oh, in '89 I lost 23 pounds on the Cambridge
Diet, then in '92 I lost 27 pounds on the
Scarsdale Diet, in '95 I lost 30 pounds
on that grapefruit diet, I did The Zone
in 2000 and lost 16 pounds, then in '02
I did great and lost 24 pounds on Atkins,
but now I think I'm going to do the South
Beach Diet because I need to lose some weight."
One more diet and this person should weigh
about 34 pounds. The unfortunate truth is
that just about every time someone attempts
weight loss with a diet based on calorie
deprivation, they will end up gaining back
the weight they lost, and then some.
Low carb, low fat, nothing but grapefruit..
It does not matter what kind of diet you
choose, because behind the marketing hype,
they generally all have one thing in common:
The dieter is restricting calorie intake.
A quick science lesson is needed to understand
how our bodies react to a calorie restricted
diet. First, when a dieter severely cuts
back on their caloric intake, especially
by cutting out carbs, they will quickly
deplete their glycogen stores. What is glycogen?
Well, when carbohydrates are ingested, they
break down into sugars that are transported
by the bloodstream and stored in the muscles
and liver as glycogen. Glycogen is one of
the main energy sources used by our bodies.
An important fact to know is that every
gram of glycogen stored in our muscles stores
approximately 2.4 grams of water with it.
So, by restricting carbs and depleting muscle
glycogen, the dieter also releases a lot
of water. This is one of the main reasons
the scale will show a large loss of weight
when one initially goes on a diet. Unfortunately,
the goal should be to lose fat, not water
which the body needs.
Next, the body does not know why it is suddenly
getting less food, so a million years or
so of evolution kick in and direct it to
go into famine survival mode. Fat is the
body's long term survival energy source,
so it decides that it must conserve fat
to survive. That is probably not what you
were hoping to hear, but unfortunately that
is the way it works. In order to make up
the deficit in available energy sources
brought on by the diet, the body begins
to break down muscle to use as an energy
source. Another important science nugget
to know is that muscle is metabolically
active tissue and fat is not. In other words,
muscle burns calories throughout the day,
while fat just sits there. The more muscle
you have, the more calories you burn, even
if you are just sitting on the couch. Of
course, as we just discovered, the dieter
is losing muscle due to the calorie restricted
diet, so he is now actually burning fewer
calories throughout the day. Again, looking
to survive the perceived famine, the body
becomes more efficient at storing fat and
slowing down its metabolism to adjust to
the lack of food coming in. Haven't we all
heard someone complain that no matter how
much they diet, they cannot lose weight
because they are the victim of a slow metabolism?
The reality is that, for the vast majority
of people, we are the CREATORS of our metabolism,
NOT the victims of it.
Now the body has slowed down it's metabolism
to the point where the dieter stops losing
weight. The usual reaction is to cut calories
back even further. Of course, as we now
understand, this only compounds the problem
as more muscle will be broken down, further
hindering the body's ability to burn calories
throughout the day. Diets based on calorie
deprivation usually are not sustainable
for the long term, and eventually the dieter
becomes discouraged and returns to their
pre-diet eating routine. Unfortunately,
this person has slowed down their metabolism
significantly and is burning fewer calories
than they were pre-diet. So, when they go
back to their old eating habits, the weight
comes right back on and it comes back as
fat, not as the muscle that they lost. If
they started out at 200 lbs with 25% body
fat and lost 15 lbs during the diet, when
they gain the weight back and hit 200 lbs
again, their body fat percentage will now
probably be closer to 30%! This is an illustration
of a term most people are familiar with,
yo-yo dieting, and it is why surveys show
that over 80% of people who lose weight
by dieting alone say that they gained back
all of the weight they lost, if not more,
within a year.
Does this mean that people should just give
up trying to lose weight? Not at all. It
just means people need to stop looking for
the next quick fix diet that comes down
the road. Nobody wants to hear that it takes
actual effort to lose weight, but I am sorry
to say that it does. It should say something
that the obesity rate in this country continues
to climb while all of the diet gurus out
there rake in millions from innocent people
looking for a solution. Obviously, reasons
for being overweight vary, and every individual
responds in a unique way to a weight loss
program. But, for true long term fat loss
and improved overall health and fitness,
there are some common sense truths:
* A need to eat a balanced diet containing
complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, and
essential fats. Avoid highly processed carbohydrates,
excess sugars, and excess saturated fats.
* Eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout
the day is better than eating 2 or 3 larger
meals. You will have more energy throughout
the day, and your body will burn calories
more efficiently.
* Performing moderate aerobic activity provides
many benefits including improved cardiorespiratory
function, improved endurance, lower blood
pressure, and improved cholesterol to name
a few.
* In addition to aerobic activity, people
should perform resistance training to maintain
or increase lean muscle mass. As we have
learned, maintaining our muscles mass is
critical in driving our metabolism and the
key to losing not just body weight, but
body fat.
Keep these points in mind the next time
you hear about the latest 'miracle' or 'breakthrough'
diet and you will be on your way to losing
pounds, and not just your money.
Dave Soucy, Fitness Consultant and Certified
Personal Trainer, is the owner of Perfect
Fit, LLC.
Dave can be reached at (603) 641-8297, via
email at dave@perfectfitonline.com, or through
www.perfectfitonline.com
Copyright © 2004 Perfect Fit, LLC. All rights
reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dave Soucy, Fitness Consultant and Certified
Personal Trainer, is the owner of Perfect
Fit, LLC. Dave can be reached at (603)
641-8297, via email at news@perfectfitonline.com,
or through www.perfectfitonline.com
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