Tag Archive: weight loss

A Case For Letting People Diet

Whenever a friend or family member (or Facebook friend) mentions starting a new diet – vegan, vegetarian, paleo, Atkins, whatever – there’s always a knee jerk reaction to say “Diets don’t work!” Those of us who’ve made peace with our eating habits are the first to scoff and say things like, “Just eat less crap” or “Just eat less” or even “You’re going to gain it all back.” But here’s the thing – how many diets did it take us to reach these conclusions? How many times did we “start over” with our diet or choke down salad 500 times a day? Some of us were born into families with happy balances with their food and bodies that never needed to “diet.” In reality, though, majority of people struggle with this.

So why should we let our poor friends go through this?

First of all, think of yourself some two, five, ten years ago. For some of you the “Eat less crap” would have been a light bulb moment that lead you into a life of health and happiness. For others, it would have been met with blank stares.  Remember the first time you proclaimed you were going on a diet. Imagine if one of your well-meaning friends told you, “You’re doing it wrong, idiot!” How many of you would have taken their advice? How many of you would have punched the jerk in the face?

To a lot of people the journey is really where they pick up invaluable information about themselves. Sometimes it takes going on a ketogenic diet for someone to learn that their body NEEDS carbs (or that going low carb was fantastic for them). Maybe they fall off the wagon because it doesn’t work, but when they decide to diet again they have the background knowledge. They’ve learned that they can’t do diet X against because of Y and Z, so next time they find something else.

It’s this long, often frustrating journey that people have to embark on to gather their own series of experiences to shape their eating and exercise habits in the future. When they eventually find their inner peace it may or may not be with a mainstream diet. Maybe they did just “stop eating crap” or maybe they’ve decided Paleo is perfect for them. Who are we to judge? There are plenty of people who stick to these mainstream diets that we parrot “fail” because it falls in line with their personal preferences. A lot of these diets come with cookbooks and meal plans that can save our friends time, money and energy. They give guidance and direction in a diet industry that throws out so much conflicting information.

Next time a friend goes on a “diet” try to avoid being THAT asshole that tries to convince them otherwise. Let your friends experiment with food and recipes and exercise and be supportive. Let them see how their body reacts to different types of food and support them when they’re low. Don’t try to sabotage them to make a point – they’re your friends!  They need to embark on their own journey to reach the same inner peace that you have.

June 29, 2013 Body Positive, Fat Loss, , , , , , , , , Read more >

If Spot Reduction Does Exist, Why Are There Classes Called “Butts and Guts”?

I’ve mentioned before that “lengthening” muscles doesn’t exist, and that“toning” is a horrible misnomer. I’ve also written about how spot reduction – the idea that a thousand crunches can get you a six pack – is a crock of crap too. To people heavily invested in fitness these aren’t new ideas or concepts. With this knowledge, though, why are there classes like “Buns and Abs” or “Glute Smash” at the gym?

If we look back to my toning article we see that “toning” is really just a euphemism for “decrease fat and increase muscle mass.” If we renamed these classes appropriately they’d be called “Increase Your Heart Rate While Lifting Weights For Multiple Repetitions.” If I were going to the gym to lose a few pounds or to get into shape I definitely would not go to that class. Part of the reason we have these classes named this way is for marketing.

Additionally, let’s look at the clientele. People going to Buns and Abs want to create a tight, firm butt and a thinner waist with definition. Popular media tells these people that exercises like squats with weight, deadlifts, too much running, etc. will create the polar opposite of this. Naming classes this way creates a safe place for these people to be introduced to these exercises and see the positive changes they make for that individual’s body.

Unfortunately, not all classes or trainers use these names for the above reason. At some gyms, such as my school gym, a person can attend a one-day class and pay $50 to become a certified trainer. From then on they can teach any class or train any person at the gym. Obviously not all trainers fall into this category, many of them are incredibly intelligent individuals who undergo rigorous testing to become personal trainers. There are still plenty of trainers who don’t fall into this category and genuinely believe that doing a few hundred crunches a day will create a six pack. These people will perpetuate these myths and create a potentially dangerous environment for those new to fitness.

At the end of the day, we build muscle by challenging it and we lose fat by creating an energy deficit, either through exercise or diet. Where we lose weight is determined first and foremost by our genetics. Fat does not turn into muscle, muscle does not turn into fat, and doing a thousand bicep curls will not get rid of your arm fat. These classes introduce people to weight lifting in addition to cardiovascular activity in an attempt to increase muscle mass while decreasing body fat.

February 22, 2013 Exercise, Myths, , , , , , , , Read more >

Dear New Years Resolutionists,

Hello! Welcome to the weight loss community, or the fitness community, or Fitocracy, Tumblr, Weight Watchers, Curves, the gym or wherever you’ve decided to land yourself for the new year. You have goals, you haves hopes and wishes and dreams and things you’d like to accomplish. You’re ready for a great year, or month or week or day.

First of all, congrats. The first step is the hardest. The first aimless workout in the gym can be the worst. What am I doing? Why did I sign up for bootcamp? Did I really just wake up at 5am to go to the GYM? You’ve done it! You’ve started the long, hard road to an active life. It can be really tough at first but you’ll soon find that the fitness community is a big, wide sea of people that can be your support system.

But not all of us are like that.

You may have encountered resistance. Sneers. “Oh, look, another Resolutionist, gone in a month, taking up my weights or my favorite treadmill.” Hey, it’s tough. We have a routine and we’ve been doing this for a few more days or months or years than you. We can get stuck in our ways and our head slowly begins to ascend up our ass. My advice? Ignore those people. They’re not the type of people you want in your support system, right? Who needs a negative Nancy?

But don’t freak out – there are others. Those of us who smile instead of frown when we see a new face, or who high five after your first mile run or first full depth squat. We’re there. Look for us.

There are some ways to make this transition easier. Maybe you hired a personal trainer you meet with – awesome! Maybe you’re starting with just the group fitness classes – great! Maybe you decided to just walk into the gym and do anything…that can be tough. Don’t worry, there are SO many resources out there. We can help you. We WANT to help you.

So, New Years Resolutionists, we wish you the best of luck. We WANT you to succeed. We WANT you to quit smoking or drop a dress size or run your first marathon or deadlift your body weight. We WANT you to join our community and become another likeminded healthy person. Because, as a community, we are loving and supportive.

Good luck!

January 2, 2013 Body Positive, Exercise, Goals, , , , Read more >

People tend to overestimate the amount of calories they burn

People tend to overestimate the amount of calories they burn. Period.

Ever been to a spin/zumba/fitness class and overheard this: “I just burned 600 calories on the elliptical and now I’m going to burn another 600 in this class!” I have. These same people in my life tend to complain about their inability to lose weight, barely break a sweat during these exercises and/or become frustrated that despite their hours at the gym nothing is budging. I was one of these girls once. I would hop on the elliptical and plug away for an hour then subtract 600 calories from my daily intake, and eat that 600 calories back.

Problem? Machines lie. Yep. I did this exercise above wearing a heart rate monitor and I clocked 21 calories. 21! That’s a far cry from 100 calories. This lies the same way that an elliptical says that the girl reading Cosmo without breaking a sweat burns the same amount of calories as the girl going HAM on the machine next to her. There has to be a conspiracy here.

These machines do not know how hard these exercises are for you. They’re also automatically set for a 150 pound female. They also can’t judge your heart rate. They can’t tell that you’re a marathon runner and you’re cross training on the elliptical, or that you’ve never so much as run a mile in your entire life. Without knowing your heart rate these machines are, at best, a guestimate.

This is a very common theme. It may not seem like a big deal to overestimate how many calories you burn going to a spin class or just running around the block, but over time it can be. Take me for example: I burn about 342 calories during my spin class, according to my HRM. I’ve heard an instructor claim, “How was that for a 600 calorie burn!” after a class. What? First of all, there is no way everyone was at the same level of fitness. Second of all, no. And I know for a fact that some people take these words as law and go home and subtract 600 calories from their intake for the day then eat it back. That’s almost 300 calories overestimating. 300 calories 3 times a week = 900 calories a week. That’s detrimental to weight loss and maintenance.

Machines, websites and people always will overestimate how many calories they burn. Invest in a heart rate monitor or pay attention to how you feel when you exercise if you’re tracking calories. If you’re not sweating during cardio, if your heart rate is not up, chances are you’re not working as hard as the machine thinks you are.

July 4, 2012 Exercise, Fat Loss, , Read more >

What is lean body mass?

Lean body mass is the total weight of your organs, muscles and bones – essentially the weight of everything in your body MINUS fat.

How do you figure out lean body mass?

Simple. Body weight – (body weight x fat %). If you know your body fat percentage then you can subtract the amount of fat you have off of your body weight and figure out how much lean body mass you have.

Example: I am 134 pounds and have 22% body fat. 134 – (134 x .22) = 104.6 or so. I have 104.6 pounds of lean body mass.

Why is this important?

There are a lot of reasons that lean body mass is tracked. First of all, if you’re trying to build muscle you want to make sure that your weight gain is due to an increase in muscle and not fat. Vice versa, if you’re trying to lose fat you can use it to ensure that you’re losing fat and not muscle.

You’ve also heard the adage that muscle burns more calories than fat. Recently science has proven that a pound of muscle burns 6 calories a day vs. fat burning 2 calories per day. Knowing your lean body mass and tracking it can be beneficial to understanding the metabolic needs of your body.

So is this my ideal weight?

Nope. If your lean body mass was your ideal weight, you’d *theoretically* be aiming for 0% body fat. 0% body fat is an unlivable condition. Lean body mass is simply another indicator of weight, much like body fat percentage, weight, measurements, etc.

July 4, 2012 Fat Loss, Read more >