I’ve been writing and researching on the topic of health and fat loss for the past 20 years. I was forced to research alternative studies other than the conventional wisdom of government policies and nutritional institution recommendations 10 years ago. Why did I do this?
1) Better science and information on diet and exercise is available, but as a whole, we are not putting it to good use.
2) Conventional wisdom has people eating less and exercising more, but not losing weight
3) As a society we have access to more food, and better quality, but we are not healthier
The inept facts are:
– Math vs. Biology: The static model of energy balance (calories in vs. calories out) based on the idea that to lose 1 pound of fat we need to expend 3,500 calories of energy is just incorrect
– The calorie approach to weight loss is ineffective over the long term because it doesn’t account for macronutrient ratios, insulin response, how the body alters hormone levels or how metabolic conditioning can affect preferred fuel source (whether your body uses fat for fuel or carbohydrates)
– The effect of chemical exposure and endocrine disruptors, all of which negatively influence body fat levels are totally ignored in mainstream fat loss advice
– The focus of a low-fat, high-carb diet without emphasis on vegetable consumption for weight loss are harmful to health and disappointing for long term fat loss
– Exercise does not play a big part in fat loss. It helps but if you’re eating food that are causing you internal stress, clogging your natural metabolic processes or not provide the essential nutrients to recover from exercise you are only going to make matters worse when you “eat less and do more”. Working out is a matter of recovery. You should not “workout” until you’ve “worked in”
The essential truth is that Fat loss is not easy; firstly it requires changing how you live. We cannot achieve long term fat loss by doing steady cardio on the Crosstrainer, lifting lightweights, taking magic pills, or starving yourself by cutting calories. Consuming low-fat processed foods, nutrient depleted foods or getting minimal sleep is very unlikely to lead to successful long-term fat loss either.
What is really going on?
We keep doing the same thing but expect a different result. Poorly educated fitness professionals with no real professional experience or supervision spread fads and misinformation. Magazines and “bloggers” with a ton of deceptiveand incorrect material on how people gain body fat, and consequently how they can lose it are everywhere.
Furthermore, people are afraid to try new methods and replace old misinformation with new correct knowledge… We were told 50 years ago that fat was bad, egg yokes raise cholesterol and margarine is healthier than butter – all as a result of bad science. You must wake up and see what is going on around you… the current conventional wisdom is just not working!!
The 3 major lies in mainstream fat loss wisdom are:
Lie #1: Low-Fat,Calorie Restricted Diets Are Best For Fat Loss
Low-fat diets are NOT best for fat loss. Higher protein, higher fat dietary models tend to be much more effective for fat loss because they are very filling and help you avoid hunger. While fat has more energy per gram you tend to eat less total calories because you will become fuller faster and remain satisfied for longer.
In addition, carbohydrates cause insulin spikes and make your body rely more on glucose for its energy source. Your body then finds it difficult to access its fat stores to burn them because it prefers to use glucose for energy, making it very difficult to lose body fat.
The calorie approach is incredibly flawed! Macronutrient ratios, insulin response, how the body alters hormone levels or how metabolic conditioning can affect preferred fuel source are not accounted for in the calorie approach. The focus of a low-fat, high-carb diet without emphasis on vegetable consumption for weight loss are harmful to health and disappointing for long term fat loss
Lie #2: Aerobic Exercise Will Help You Lose Fat
The truth is that aerobic exercise is a fat trap; this is the hardest truth for most to grasp. In the long term, aerobic exercise appears to be utterly useless for fat loss. We need to ‘move’ as much as possible and exercise just enough. Continual movement at a low pace trains your body you utilise fat as a fuel but ‘Chronic Cardio’ elevates stress hormones and has been shown to have negligible effect for fat loss. High-intensity interval exercise is much more effective due to the hormone profile it elicits as well as the metabolic afterburn effect.
Lie #3: Chemicals Don’t Make You Fat
High chemical level is one of the major reasons people find it hard to lose fat in the modern era. Your body has an amazing capacity to store fat but is extremely sensitive to chemicals and must process them out of the body as soon as possible. If your body is overwhelmed and can not eradicate toxins from your system it must move them out of active circulation, so it stores them in body fat – safely out of harms way but that fat can not be lost until the chemical load issue has been dealt with.
Understanding how your body burns fat, what foods are best for fat loss and what hinders fat loss are the keys to better body composition.
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