Hey!
Crazy MOFO Fitness blogger here!
I hope you're having a blast and today I'd like to expose some Fat Loss myths that I hear or read every single day and quite frankly, I laugh my ass off:)
There is no particular order in which the myths will be discussed so I'll just keep writing as the BS I hear every day will flow in to my brain :)
- Myth: Carbohydrates will make you fat!
Now that's a good one, and I don't understand how anyone can back this up, but science as experience, show us completely the opposite!
First of all carbs are ESSENTIAL for your glycogen deposits (energy, stamina etc.), for your nervous system, for your insulin sensitivity (by the way insulin is the most anabolic hormone in the body) and countless other factors that 50 blog posts of 2000 words each wouldn't be enough, trust me.
Secondly, without carbs you can't build muscle, period! Without building muscle you won't have a raised metabolic rate and without raised metabolic rate you burn less calories and you will lose MORE mass and gain fat on the long run.
How's that for BS that is circulating around the net and in the gyms.
Now how did this myth came about? Well to be fair not all carbs are created equal. Actually some carbs will aid to give you the big belly :) and these are usually refined, processed carbs like white bread, white tortillas, white sugar etc.
If you want to lose fat you'll have to go for unrefined, unprocessed carbs like: sweet potatoes, yams, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, fresh fruits (NOT good pre training or at night), oatmeal and veggies (fibrous carbs) preferably broccoli, cabbage etc.
Now to be fair, I have to say that if you eat more carbs than your body actually uses you will gain fat, but that goes for every other macronutrient too. The secret to have carbs working for you instead of against you is to manipulate your carb intake and timing just right.
That way you'll gain more mass and actually lose tons of fat and dry out. I will cover a little bit of carb manipulation on another post.
- Myth: Fat will make you fat!
No sir! BAD fat will make you fat.
What is bad fat? How about butter, fatty meat, chicken skin, bacon, fried olive oil, whole fat cheese and milk etc, etc.
Good fats are unsaturated fats. Essential fatty acids like the omega fatty acids contained in white fish, unprocessed nuts, avocados, sesame oil, olive oil among others is the way to go.
Do yourself a favor and consume good fats in your everyday nutrition, you will be healthier, you'll regulate your blood pressure save your cardiovascular from trouble, burn more fat (you read right), help your joints, feed your brain and nervous system and numerous other benefits you don't want to miss.
- Myth: fat loss pills will make you lean in no time!
What a crock of $hit! Fat loss pills will actually LOWER your metabolism on the long run because of that little thing called REBOUND.
What happens is that when you take fat loss pills containing stimulants like caffeine, mahuang, ephedra extract and the works, your metabolism is raised in a unnatural, too fast, non-progressive way and that causes an alarm in your system. As soon as you stop those pills (and you will have to eventually) your body crashes and rebounds (homeostasis anyone ;D) by lowering its metabolic rate lower than before you take the fat loss pills so eventually you'll gain more fat.
If you want supplements that will help you lose fat in a smoother more natural and progressive way and improve your health too, go for a good omega fatty acids supplement, a good carnitine supplement and a good cortisol blocker. Trust me, you're better off without stimulants. You'll lose more bodyfat and be healthier on the long run.
- Myth: Cardio will make you lean.
No it won't. It will just burn some extra calories and get rid of some water, that's all. Cardio will keep you metabolism elevated for no more that 5 hours.
Weight training is that way to go if you want long term, permanent fat loss.
You'll gain muscle and when you do, you're burning more fat all day long, point simple, point blank, not to mention that weight training keeps your metabolism elevated for up to 48 hours depending on the intensity you put in your workouts.
If you want to use cardio wisely, go with 3-4 20-minute High Intensity cardio sessions per week, no more.
You'll have far more better and faster results if you focus on proper nutrition and weight training and you can take that for a fact.
This has been tested again and again by the top trainers and fitness gurus all over the world and it sure works!
I don't want to bore you anymore by exposing all the BS out there one by one so to get it over with... Green tea, fat loss pills, miracle diets, ketogenic diets, fasting diets and all the latest "secrets" out there are completely junk in terms of fat loss.
It's good to balance your system out from time to time be detoxifying your system with some of these diets but no more than 4 days and making sure that you don't train on these days.
Other than that, the long cut is always a short cut which means that the recipe for fat loss is one and consists of: Proper nutrition, supplementation, ball to the wall weight training and wise use of cardio and that recipe proves itself time and time again, everyday, everywhere.
Talk to ya on the next post until then...
Go and kick some Arse ;)
Harry
