The most common problem that people come to Pete Edwards (our resident nutrition expert) with is chronic poor body composition. They carry too much fat and have done for years. They’ve tried countless “off the shelf” diets and often exercised religiously for years.
Here’s his top ten myths and mistakes that hold people back from their best physique and health.
1. Being overweight is a product of sloth and gluttony, people are fat because they overeat and don’t exercise. (Myth)
People overeat because they are fat. They don’t get fat because they overeat they get fat because they eat the wrong things, eating the wrong things causes fat gain and fat gain causes you to eat more.
Losing fat is about redeveloping the ability to tap into your energy reserves (fat stores). This can only be done through lowering insulin production and improving insulin sensitivity in muscle cells. When you approach this problem properly, you will lose weight without hunger or depriving yourself. The issue is that most people do not know what the real problem is to start with!
2. Reducing calories is the only thing that works (Myth)
Reducing calories will help you lose fat, sure, but only until your metabolism down regulates to match your intake. Fat is far more complicated than just a simple balance sheet.
Reducing calories will slow down cellular metabolic rate and normally reduce energy levels – causing less energy expenditure. Meaning this approach will only work in the short term, then make it harder to lose weight in the long run.
3. High volume, low level cardio burns fat. (Myth)
It’s not very productive to do hours of cardio, not for reducing fat and not for fitness. The truth is that low level cardio is catabolic, so over time it will reduce the amount of muscle mass a person carries. This in turn lowers metabolic rate and strength. A study done on runners who subscribed to Runners World showed that regardless of the distance run per week (some averaging over 40 miles) all runners get fatter year on year. Training will help you lose fat, but only certain types of training are effective, and in the long run (no pun intended) steady state cardio is not one of them!
4. Wholegrain is good for you. (Myth)
Grains, especially wheat, in general are not great foods. They contain two main anti-nutrients that cause damage to health: Phytates that block the absorption of iron and B vitamins and Gluten. Gluten causes inflammation in the GI tract and contributes to food intolerances through increasing permeability of the villi in the intestines. It erodes the brain and can lower thyroid function in people who are intolerant. Grains aren’t part of the natural human diet and are best left for the birds!
5. Fat makes you fat. (Myth)
Fat cells in the body are regulated by hormones, namely insulin. Insulin is spiked by carbohydrates and actually blunted by fat. If insulin is lower, less is stored, if insulin is higher more is stored. I could write a whole article on this one topic, but in a nutshell, anything that spikes insulin causes you to store fat, carbohydrates do that, not fat. In fact the right kinds of fat, particularly omega 3’s will help you to reduce the amount of fat you carry by lowering insulin production by as much as 30% when consumed with a meal!
6. Eating “diet” foods. (Mistake)
Processed food is processed food no matter how much the label shows fields and screams “healthy”.
7. Approaching fat loss as a temporary project. (Mistake)
Approaching fat loss from a rapid, short term perspective works, but usually only in the short term. If you want to be lean and strong for the rest of your life you have got to make permanent changes to your lifestyle, nutrition, exercise and way of thinking. In order to do that your plan has got to be sustainable and rewarding, not restrictive and depriving!
8. Meat is fattening and carcinogenic. (Myth)
Read the top three books on the original human diet and you will find mountains of research showing that for two million years the human genome has thrived on animal fats. Cancer has only been an issue for the last few hundred years and the correlation is not strong. We see a correlation between processed meat intake and colon cancer but red meat and colon cancer has a very low relationship.
Dietary fiber has been shown to lower colon cancer risk. A good diet with plenty of fish, vegetables and real meats (organic, free ranging and wild meats) does not increase risk of colon cancer. A diet low in vegetables and high in processed meats certainly will!
9. “It worked for my friend so it’ll work for me”. (Mistake)
We are all as different on the inside as we are on the outside. Meaning that we’re all mostly similar (two arms, face, two legs all in the same place) but with subtle differences (height, build etc). There are factors that I can assess such as insulin sensitivity and thyroid function that have huge implications for what effect a particular strategy will have on our body.
Many diets thrive off the fact that it works for some people and market those successes for profit. Some people succeed on the plan and others fail. My system is based on the science of individuality and working with our evolution. It works for everyone because it takes into account the characteristics of the individual and provides solutions to the challenges that the individual is battling.
10. It takes discipline. (Myth)
There’s a choice to make here. Do you love pastries more than you love abs? Or do you love abs more than you love pastries?
It’s normally a choice of which you love more and not discipline? Do you want to look and feel great or eat something that’s going to have the opposite affect?
Each of us will love the thought of looking and feeling great to a point, and that point will be the same level at which you love eating the things that hold you back from further progress. So make your choices honestly with yourself first.
