The Myth: If I eat a salad every day for lunch, the weight will fall off!
For most of us, salad is the quintessential diet food. It’s the first thing we all think of when we decide to put ourselves on a “diet.” And restaurants are all too happy to help, offering many varieties of salad loaded with tasty goods, like croutons, bacon, hardboiled eggs, olives, cheese, corn, tostada shells, dressing... REALLY?! Order a hamburger already, darling, because putting these things on top of your greens makes that lunch almost as fattening!
Let’s sit down and get our facts straight, shall we? Complex carbohydrates are our friends, as much as the greens in a salad. They stabilize your blood sugar, and give you energy to last through the day. Ever wondered why most people crash and burn by 4 p.m.? Because the last time they saw a hint of a carb was 9 hours before, at breakfast!
Consider this too: go without carbs and you’ll suffer from low blood sugar, no concentration, memory loss, dizziness, weakness, fatigue, slow metabolism, excessive fat consumption, weight gain, malnutrition, and increase risk of diabetes.
Next time you're dining, skip the salad section of the menu and make sure you’re getting enough complex carbs. The benefits will astound you: reduced risk of some chronic diseases, vitamins and minerals essential for the maintenance of your body, reduced diverticulosis and constipation, lower cholesterol, proper bowel function, and a feeling of fullness, which guess what: leads to weight control!
Be a carb smarty pants, and know where they come from. It is NOT just about the bread basket! Brown rice, quinoa, beans, vegetables and fruit all contain the best of the best carbs. Slow down, and keep your diet balanced, and everything, including your mood, will feel better and more stable. Still thinking of eating a salad for lunch? Didn’t think so!
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Truth About Cardio
Maybe it was all those hours of Jane Fonda tapes, but somewhere along the line, ladies got it stuck in their heads that hours and hours of cardio is what will make us lose fat and, ultimately, weight.
Not only is this extremely false, but convincing people of the benefits of strength training remains every trainer’s challenge. Most of us seem to believe that weight training is going to put weight on, not take it off. Women especially are so petrified of looking like a she-male that we easily buy into the myth that if we pick up anything heavier than a 5 lb dumbbell we'll grow chest hair. Gross! All those hours on the elliptical, and no wonder your mind is doing circles.
The grand irony here is that building muscle will actually take weight off better than hours of cardio. Skeptical? Of course you are! Listen. It’s a simple formula, really: muscle burns calories. The more muscle you develop, the more calories (and fat) you will burn, even while you're sitting on the couch watching Glee.
Interval training – small, intense bouts of cardio mixed with weight training – is the best and most efficient way to get in shape! That also means challenging yourself with those weights. Don’t be afraid to pick up the heavier weight! You will build muscle, but that doesn’t mean size. It means strength and definition, and, wait for it… a rockin’ metabolism too!
See? The truth doesn’t always have to hurt!
Not only is this extremely false, but convincing people of the benefits of strength training remains every trainer’s challenge. Most of us seem to believe that weight training is going to put weight on, not take it off. Women especially are so petrified of looking like a she-male that we easily buy into the myth that if we pick up anything heavier than a 5 lb dumbbell we'll grow chest hair. Gross! All those hours on the elliptical, and no wonder your mind is doing circles.
The grand irony here is that building muscle will actually take weight off better than hours of cardio. Skeptical? Of course you are! Listen. It’s a simple formula, really: muscle burns calories. The more muscle you develop, the more calories (and fat) you will burn, even while you're sitting on the couch watching Glee.
Interval training – small, intense bouts of cardio mixed with weight training – is the best and most efficient way to get in shape! That also means challenging yourself with those weights. Don’t be afraid to pick up the heavier weight! You will build muscle, but that doesn’t mean size. It means strength and definition, and, wait for it… a rockin’ metabolism too!
See? The truth doesn’t always have to hurt!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Mythbuster Monday: Fourth Edition
Myth: When trying to lose weight, diet drinks and diet foods are a convenient, healthy way to cut calories.
Our answer to that involves a simple math problem:
Faux sugar + faux fat = faux weight loss!
Here’s the skinny on those “diet” foods: they contain fake sugars and fake fats to make them taste good. Simulated fat and sugar can only be created using chemicals, and chemicals have no place in a healthy eating and weight loss plan.
Sure, they are packaged beautifully; they're advertised with happy, ethereal people floating on a cloud of sugar free decadence. They come in cute, convenient little packets containing 100 calories each. The boxes are labeled with ZERO, or FAT FREE, or SUGAR FREE to lure you into buying them. DROP THE BOX and keep moving!
Your new BFF while dieting should be the word "clean". That means no ingredients you can't pronounce or that you need a PhD to understand. Natural, healthy foods do not need packaging or market research to prove they are good for you. Grains, fruits, veggies, lean protein, and of course H20 are still what's best for you while you create the new you!
Convenience, while tempting, should not stop you from choosing wisely. Power bars and diet sodas are not the answer simply because they are fast. Foods like bananas, apples, and raw unsalted nuts are just as fast, healthier, and easier on the wallet. Convenience = laziness, and laziness doesn't serve you here. In fact, it takes you backwards. Go to the market, plan ahead, and cook your own healthy meals. Knowing and controlling what goes into your body will pay off. You'll be sleeping better, you'll have glowing skin, more energy, better sex, and the golden egg: a bangin' body.
Lastly, if you’ve fallen victim to “diet food” scams, don’t beat yourself up. They are carefully designed to get you to buy them, so don’t let advertisers fuck with your brain and your body. Now that you know better, stop wishing, start reading, and do it right!
And may all your weight loss, be REAL.
Which 3 faux foods can you let go of right now?
Our answer to that involves a simple math problem:
Faux sugar + faux fat = faux weight loss!
Here’s the skinny on those “diet” foods: they contain fake sugars and fake fats to make them taste good. Simulated fat and sugar can only be created using chemicals, and chemicals have no place in a healthy eating and weight loss plan.
Sure, they are packaged beautifully; they're advertised with happy, ethereal people floating on a cloud of sugar free decadence. They come in cute, convenient little packets containing 100 calories each. The boxes are labeled with ZERO, or FAT FREE, or SUGAR FREE to lure you into buying them. DROP THE BOX and keep moving!
Your new BFF while dieting should be the word "clean". That means no ingredients you can't pronounce or that you need a PhD to understand. Natural, healthy foods do not need packaging or market research to prove they are good for you. Grains, fruits, veggies, lean protein, and of course H20 are still what's best for you while you create the new you!
Convenience, while tempting, should not stop you from choosing wisely. Power bars and diet sodas are not the answer simply because they are fast. Foods like bananas, apples, and raw unsalted nuts are just as fast, healthier, and easier on the wallet. Convenience = laziness, and laziness doesn't serve you here. In fact, it takes you backwards. Go to the market, plan ahead, and cook your own healthy meals. Knowing and controlling what goes into your body will pay off. You'll be sleeping better, you'll have glowing skin, more energy, better sex, and the golden egg: a bangin' body.
Lastly, if you’ve fallen victim to “diet food” scams, don’t beat yourself up. They are carefully designed to get you to buy them, so don’t let advertisers fuck with your brain and your body. Now that you know better, stop wishing, start reading, and do it right!
And may all your weight loss, be REAL.
Which 3 faux foods can you let go of right now?
Monday, November 1, 2010
Mythbuster Monday: Third Edition
The Myth: the number on the scale is a good measure of my progress.
We all want to look good and fit into our old favorite jeans. We want lean arms, flat stomachs, tight asses, and smaller waistlines. If you think the number on the scale makes a difference to your size 2's, knock it off! The anxiety alone of worrying and stressing about a pound or two or more will make you gain weight.
The number on the scale is just that: a number. Plus, the number itself can fluctuate anywhere from three to five pounds a day. Weighing more or less at the end of the day is no indication that you're fatter than you were when you woke up. It just means you're retaining fluids, had a heavy lunch, missed a workout, or skipped a date with the John. We know you've heard it before, too, but muscle is more dense than fat - 18% more, to be exact - so the same pound of muscle takes up less space in your body than a pound of fat does. When you step on the scale, there's no way to differentiate fat from muscle, fat from water, muscle from tissue, or organs from blood.
And really, why do you want to tell your body to weigh 120 when it wants to weigh 125? If you're happy with the way you look, happy with the way you feel, keep up whatever you're doing! Or just chop off a limb, because that would be the quickest way to lose 10 pounds. If you're not happy with the way you look, maybe you should take a hike and consider self-acceptance. Step on a treadmill instead of a scale for a change! If you know you can step on a scale and not have a panic attack, go ahead. But if you can't, trash the scale.
Think back to when you were at your "ideal weight". What were you doing then?
We all want to look good and fit into our old favorite jeans. We want lean arms, flat stomachs, tight asses, and smaller waistlines. If you think the number on the scale makes a difference to your size 2's, knock it off! The anxiety alone of worrying and stressing about a pound or two or more will make you gain weight.
The number on the scale is just that: a number. Plus, the number itself can fluctuate anywhere from three to five pounds a day. Weighing more or less at the end of the day is no indication that you're fatter than you were when you woke up. It just means you're retaining fluids, had a heavy lunch, missed a workout, or skipped a date with the John. We know you've heard it before, too, but muscle is more dense than fat - 18% more, to be exact - so the same pound of muscle takes up less space in your body than a pound of fat does. When you step on the scale, there's no way to differentiate fat from muscle, fat from water, muscle from tissue, or organs from blood.
And really, why do you want to tell your body to weigh 120 when it wants to weigh 125? If you're happy with the way you look, happy with the way you feel, keep up whatever you're doing! Or just chop off a limb, because that would be the quickest way to lose 10 pounds. If you're not happy with the way you look, maybe you should take a hike and consider self-acceptance. Step on a treadmill instead of a scale for a change! If you know you can step on a scale and not have a panic attack, go ahead. But if you can't, trash the scale.
Think back to when you were at your "ideal weight". What were you doing then?
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