Chandi SchwabThere are many different points of view when it comes to diet and exercise and living a healthy lifestyle, here are a few Healthy Facts VS Myths for you to check out!
1. "Strength training will bulk me up." First, let's tackle the myth that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. A pound is a pound is a pound, whether it's made up of muscle or fat. That said, muscle is more dense than fat and takes up less room, so two women who weigh the same can look much different if you have a higher ratio of lean muscle mass to fat. Muscle weight is a good weight because you look firmer, smaller, and more fit.Just having more muscle will boost your metabolism throughout the day to help keep you leaner.
2. "I exercise every day, so I can eat whatever I want." The sad truth:(Even though I do this all the time) Even if you work out religiously, going to power pump several times a week and sweat it out in Spin class, doesn't mean you can eat as much as you want and still expect to lose weight. This may seem obvious, but the desire to reward a workout well done is natural; after all, you endured those endless squats so you deserve an extra slice of pizza (or three), right? Not if you're trying to lose weight. Even though you burn calories and fat when you exercise, it's often not as much as you think-or what the readout on the treadmill tells you.
Try eating 250 fewer calories per day and aiming to burn an extra 250 calories a day; that creates enough of a calorie deficit to achieve an average weight loss of a pound a week.
3. "It's harder for women to lose weight than for men." Okay, this one has some basis. Biologically, men are built with more lean muscle mass than women are, meaning his metabolism is working at a 5 to 10% higher rate (even if he's the same height and weight as you) when you're lying on the couch together. Annoying, isn't it?
Another challenge women face is that we generally have more body fat than men do, and our bodies are more inclined to store it. On top of that, women lose about 1/2 pound of calorie-burning muscle mass a year during perimenopause and sometimes a pound a year during menopause. You can do something about these problems, but it's going to take some work-and sweat. Add strength training to your fitness routine at least twice a week to shed fat and build lean muscle mass that will fire up your resting metabolism.
4. "All calories are equal, so it doesn't matter what I eat." I hear this one all the time! Ever since you learned what a calorie is, you've been told that they're all alike: Whether you eat 500 calories' worth of celery stalks or chocolate donuts, your body will burn or store them equally, right? Wrong. New science shows that when it comes to weight loss, calories are nowhere near alike.
Some foods take more work to eat-and therefore burn more calories while you're digesting them. Just the act of chewing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean cuts of meat can increase your calorie burn by up to 30%! And then your stomach and intestines do their jobs. Researchers have found that women who ate the foods that required the most work had significantly slimmer waistlines than those who ate the softest, easiest-to-eat foods. The fiber and protein in such foods take so much effort to digest that your body 'doesn't absorb some of their calories. Crazy huh?
5. "Eating fat will make me fat." Monounsaturated fats-MUFAs (pronounced MOO-fahs), for short-come from the healthy oils found in plant foods such as olives, nuts, and avocados. A report published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that a MUFA-rich diet helped people lose small amounts of weight and body fat without changing their calorie intakes. Another report found that a breakfast high in MUFAs could boost calorie burn for 5 hours after the meal, particularly in people with higher amounts of belly fat. Pair these delicious healthy fats with a reduced-calorie eating plan and you'll lose weight and reduce belly fat.
6. "Eating at night will make me gain weight."
Cutting out nighttime snacking is a popular weight loss strategy because it feels logical,eat less when you're less active. But this topic has been debated for years, it has been found that eating after 8 pm may increase the risk of obesity, but there aren't clear-cut reasons why.
It's mainly how much you eat-not when you eat-each day that affects weight gain. Many people eat at night out of boredom or other emotions instead of hunger, and they wind up consuming more calories than they need for the day,calories that are then stored as fat. Also, people who eat at night may wake up without an appetite and skip breakfast, the meal that helps control calorie intake throughout the day.
7. "Drinking a ton of water will help me drop pounds."
A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study found that people who regularly drink water eat nearly 200 fewer calories daily than those who consume only coffee, tea, or soda. And if you sip water instead of sugary drinks, the calories you've saved will help shed pounds.
Drinking ice-cold water can help you burn more calories too. German researchers found that drinking 6 cups of cold water a day raised resting metabolism by about 50 calories daily-possibly because of the work it takes to warm the fluid up to body temperature. It's up to you to decide whether 50 calories is worth guzzling ice water-or whether it would be easier just to take the stairs.
8. "Weight gain and belly fat are unavoidable after 40."
Let's be honest here: You're not going to wake up on your 40th birthday with a gut and 10 extra pounds on your frame. It does get harder to lose weight as we age, but you can put some healthy habits into practice now to maintain your weight-or even lose-as the years pass by.
Fine-tune your workouts and eating habits to shed those pounds-and keep 'em off-with these tips:
• Crank it up for 10 minutes a day: In a Kaiser Permanente study, a similar group of women who exercised vigorously (by jogging, for instance) for 10 or more minutes a day had waistlines nearly 6 inches smaller than those of women who didn't raise their heart rates that high.
• Lift weights: Two or three sessions a week can help stave off age-related muscle loss, which slows your metabolism.
• Skip the refined carbs: Women whose diets were high in whole grains and fiber gained less weight than those who ate more sugar and white flour, reports a Danish study.
