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Fat Loss Myths Revealed
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to eat as much as you want as often as you want and have body fat melt away while you sleep, watch TV, or sit behind your desk at work? I’d certainly go for that - being able to be fit with very little or no effort at all.
Turn on the TV and what do we see? Television ads promising you weight loss and fitness with no effort. Want to lose that extra fat around your belly? Just take these pills. Walk into the bookstore and browse through the rows and rows of books advocating one diet fad or the other. The problem is that most of them offer conflicting information. I’ll be straightforward in telling you that rather than separating the fat from your body, most of these people are more interested in separating your money from your wallet.
I’ve tried many of these diet and exercise fads and can tell you that most of them flat out do not work. Some of the diets will work, but will force your body to do things that it was designed to not do, therefore your body thinks it’s deathly ill and starts burning fat as an energy source. Losing fat is not a bad thing at all, but tricking your body into burning fat by responding with a survival mechanism is. What are the long term effects of these fad diets? Who really wants to live the type of restrictive lifestyle that these diets push on you? Who really wants to work hard and suffer for something that in 20 years from now will be the laughingstock of the fitness community? There has to be a better way…
The true path to fat loss is so simple, yet no diet book author would ever admit it. The secret is this:
Burn more calories than you eat.
That’s all. There’s really nothing more to it than that, and you probably already know this! There is no more effective way, no special fruit from the amazon, no machine that you can use that will give you better results.
Unfortunately there are plenty of people who would like to pull the wool over your eyes about what to eat, how to starve yourself, what machine to use to get the perfect body. Next time you reach for the next diet fad book, brochure on an ab exerciser, or pick up the phone to dial a number you got off of an infomercial, think about this - they didn’t work in the past, and they won’t work again because you’re still not burning more calories than you’re taking in.
After scouring the internet, bookstores, and trying just about any diet I could find to lose that extra 30 pounds I’ll tell you what’s worked for me:
Keep a food journal, tracking all of the calories that you take in. Be detailed. You’ll be surprised at how much stuff you can cut out if you just write it down. Personally, I was disgusted at the amount of sugars and junk foods I was ingesting on a daily basis. I didn’t eliminate them, only cut back a little.
Find out how many calories you burn in a day. You burn most of your calories just by existing. This is called basal metabolism. Find a chart to see how many calories are burned for certain activities for your weight class.
Exercise regularly. It doesn’t take much, only around 20 minutes a day 3-5 days a week. Regular exercise will increase your metabolism and cause your body to burn even more calories even while you’re not active.
Being fit is a lifestyle. It doesn’t have to be severely limiting and it doesn’t even have to be painful. Being fit is always easier in the long run than putting yourself through the ringer with limiting or starvation diets.
My search for the perfect diet and exercise program took me 8 years and ironically the one thing that worked for me was the easiest and least expensive thing out of all of the others I tried.
Swimming Burns Fat
Hitting the pool is one of the most popular warm-weather activities there is. It’s a great way to have fun on a hot summer’s day while spending quality time with family or chatting with friends. But the pool is also a great place to get a good workout.
Besides the fun factor, swimming for exercise has lots of benefits. Here are a few of them:
* Swimming keeps you cool on hot days. That means that you don’t have to be as concerned about heat stroke or heat exhaustion as you would with most types of exercise. If it’s too hot to go running, you can go to the pool instead.
* Water activities are very low impact, so there is very little risk of injury. If you have joint problems or are pregnant, they could be one of the few ways that you can safely or comfortably get your heart rate up to a beneficial level.
* Swimming is very relaxing. The stress-busting tendencies of exercise combined with the soothing water provide great psychological benefits.
What Swimming Does for Your Body
One of the key factors that makes swimming such a great exercise is the fact that it builds muscles. The water provides resistance to every motion. The motions required when swimming also work virtually every muscle in the body, so there’s no need to do several different exercises to make sure your entire body gets a workout.
Swimming also provides a very good cardiovascular workout. It is very much an aerobic exercise, because it requires you to control your breathing and does a wonderful job of getting your heart rate up.
Swimming for Exercise at Home
Perhaps for one reason or another, you prefer not to go to the public pool. But you can still get a great swimming workout at home. And you don’t even have to have a large pool to do it.
Swimming machines are one option. Often used by those training for competition, they set the water in motion so that you can swim without actually going anywhere. These are, however, rather expensive.
A less expensive and more accessible option is a pool tether. This simply attaches you to something outside of the pool by your foot or waist so that you do not move forward. You can find these online or at sporting goods stores.
Swimming is a great way to get a workout in the summer. It keeps you cool and helps prevent injury while giving your muscles and heart the workout they need. Even if you are already following a workout regimen, swimming can add variety and allow you to work more muscles. And best of all, it’s lots of fun, making it easy to stay motivated!
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