It seems that for every fat loss fact that exists out there, there is a fat loss myth to counteract it. There’s no question that people are looking for a shortcut to losing fat and getting in shape and sometimes they are all too willing to believe things that simply aren’t true. These myths are pushed by weight loss gurus and fitness magazines often to try to help sell products or simply to generate interest. The problem is if you are someone who has ever believed one of these myths or still do currently they can undermine your fat loss success and leave you disappointed and disillusioned.

Here we’re going to take a look at four commonly held fat loss myths:

Spot reduction-spot reduction is a fat loss myth that we still commonly hear about all the time. When someone has a commercial for a particular product to help you tone and tighten your abs and they use examples of people who have used their products and flattened their belly they’re basically propagating this myth. While doing crunches can build muscles in your abdominals, it cannot help you lose fat in that area. To lose fat you have to lose it all over your body and there is no exercise that can allow you to lose fat from one part of the body versus another.

High rep weightlifting-this is another one that we hear about all the time, low reps for muscle, high reps for fat loss. Fat loss can occur with extended aerobic exercise and a sustained heart rate for 40 or more minutes. If you do arm curls for 40 minutes in a row then yes you might lose some fat. You might also lose the ability to use your arms for about a week. The high reps these people are usually talking about are in the 15 to 20 range and when considering the normal range for building muscle is about 8 to 12 you can see that these few extra reps will not do anything to burn fat. Low rep heavy weight sets that build muscle actually do more to burn fat over the long-term because the increased muscle on your body will help to speed up your metabolism.

Working out on an empty stomach-we’ve all heard that in order to lose fat you must get up first thing in the morning and work out on empty stomach. While it may be true to some degree that without the presence of a ready supply of recently digested food your body may choose to metabolize fat stores for energy, the reality is if you haven’t eaten recently your workout will suffer and your energy will be so depleted it is unlikely you will be able to perform at a high enough level to achieve your results.

Drinking cold water-some have touted drinking cold water as a proven fat loss tip. This one is just laughable. It is wise to get plenty of water into your system throughout the day and a commonly held rule of thumb of eight glasses could certainly be helpful to your overall metabolism but the temperature of the water would not matter one bit. Once the liquid hits your stomach weather it was room temperature or ice cold your body will normalize and regulate the temperature in about 30 seconds or so.

Be sure to use common sense and a good bit of research whenever you hear about a new tip for fat loss that seems a bit too good to be true. There are so many myths out there that it can be hard to tell fact from fantasy. Hopefully, dispelling these four fat loss myths here will help you stay on the right track so that you can achieve the fat loss goals you desire.

When someone decides to lose body fat whether it is for summer, an event or simply to improve their health, one of the first changes they consider making is to their eating habits. Once the decision is made, the next step taken is to research their possible diet options. This may involve speaking with people, reading magazine articles or visiting their local book store in order to find the ‘holy grail’ of diets- the diet that is guaranteed to shed fat off their body quickly and with little effort.

Of course a diet-only approach to fat loss is futile in itself but to make matters worse, dieters often become hopelessly confused about what to eat for the best results. Should they reduce their fat intake? Cut out all their carbohydrates? Eat only soup for a few days? Eat based on their blood type? Follow a de-tox diet? Liver cleansing? The options are endless.

The area that probably has dieters baffled the most is the issue of carbohydrates. Currently there are two dominant schools of thought when it comes to carbohydrate consumption.

On the one hand, we have dietitians and nutritionists telling us for the last 20 years that carbohydrates don’t make us fat. This view is clearly stated in their promotion of the USDA’s Food Pyramid and in more recent times, The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating pie chart. Both of these food guides recommend the majority of food intake come from refined carbohydrate sources, like bread, pasta, rice, cereals and other grain-based food products. In fact, the USDA Food Pyramid recommends we eat 6-11 serves a day of these carbohydrate sources in order to have a healthy diet! The advocates of this style of eating are often heard to say things like, ‘Carbohydrates don’t make you fat, it is what you put on them that makes you fat.’ Examples include, sour cream on potatoes or butter on bread.

On the other hand, there are the advocates of low-carb diets. Popularised by Dr Robert Atkins in the 70′s (even though their use has been documented for at least 150 years), low-carb eating appears to be experiencing a re-surgence. This is due mainly to the fact that many Hollywood celebrities have confessed to using them to achieve their movie-star bodies. As a result, the market is being flooded with low-carb diet books and an amazing array of low-carb products, including meal replacement bars, cookies, muffin mixes, cereal products, pizza bases and many others. Often these diets allow an almost unlimited amount of food so long as carbohydrates are restricted.

These diametrically opposed views often leave people hopelessly confused about what to eat to achieve maximum fat loss. In this article I hope to clear up the confusion so you can enjoy your food whilst at the same time lose all the body fat you want.

Insulin and glucagon

In considering carbohydrate and its affect on our body fat stores, we must firstly understand the function of two hormones, insulin and glucagon. Both of these hormones are produced by the pancreas (an organ that sits behind the stomach) and work in concert to regulate our blood glucose level. For example, when our blood glucose level rises (after a meal), insulin is the hormone responsible for storing the glucose and normalising the blood glucose level. When the blood glucose level falls, glucagon promotes the release of glucose from the liver, bringing the level back up again.

For fat loss to occur, insulin release must be minimised as much as possible because of the effects it has in the body, which include:

• Promotes the storage of nutrients in cells (positive effect- anabolic).
• Promotes the storage of fat in the adipocytes (fat cells).
• Promotes the uptakes of glucose into the adipocytes and their conversion into fat.
• Increases the activity of fat manufacturing and fat storing and enzymes (lipoprotein lipase – LPL and fatty acid synthase – FAS).
• Inhibits the release of fat from the adipocytes (which could be used as a fuel source).

Insulin is released as a result of mainly two factors and the amount of insulin released is in direct proportion to these two factors.

•The size of a meal.
•The amount of glucose in the bloodstream.

Accordingly, eating smaller, more frequent meals may help to reduce the insulin response (i.e. eat 5 small meals a day).

Also, regulating the amount of glucose entering the bloodstream will help. This may be achieved by:

• Reducing the portion of carbohydrate in each meal.
• Emphasising low Glycaemic Index (GI) carbohydrates.
• Emphasising low-density carbohydrates.
• Ensuring each meal contains a portion of protein, fat and fibre as well as the carbohydrate.

Reducing the portion of carbohydrate in each meal

Since insulin is released in response to an increase in blood glucose and fat loss will be maximised if insulin is low, people may be forgiven for thinking that a low-carb diet is the answer. Whilst it is true that these diets do promote fat loss, I do not recommend them for the following reasons:

•They are too hard to sustain long-term.
•They may lead to deficiency diseases due to their avoidance of fruits and vegetables.
•They may negatively affect bodily functions due to a reduced fibre intake and possible high intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol.

Despite the possible negative consequences of low-carb diets, the overall philosophy of reduced insulin response is sound. Therefore, people wanting to lose bodyfat should reduce (without eliminating) their portion sizes of carbohydrate in every meal.

Emphasising low Glycaemic Index (GI) carbohydrates

The GI is a score given to carbohydrate-containing foods based on how rapidly they cause a rise in blood glucose after being consumed. A high GI means the food causes a rapid rise in blood glucose and a low GI means the food causes a more sustained release of glucose into the bloodstream.

Since a rise in blood glucose promotes insulin release we should emphasise low GI carbohydrates in our diet. See Table 1 for more information.

Emphasising low-density carbohydrates

Carbohydrate density describes the amount of carbohydrate a food contains per serve. For example, pasta (high-density) contains 76.5 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams whilst broccoli contains a minuscule 0.5 grams per 100 grams. Obviously the greater the carbohydrate density the greater the likelihood of the food causing a rapid rise in blood glucose, and in turn, insulin as well. See Table 2 for more information.

Ensuring each meal contains a portion of protein, fat and fibre

Not only does having protein, fat and fibre with the carbohydrates ensure a more ‘nutritionally complete’ meal but these nutrients also have the effect of slowing down the absorption rate of the carbohydrates, which allows a more sustained release of glucose into the bloodstream and therefore a reduced insulin response.

Quite often people will have a piece of fruit, a diet yoghurt or a low-fat muffin for their mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal in their quest to lose body fat. Unfortunately, these foods alone don’t provide an adequate amount of all the nutrients required by the body and may also cause a rapid rise in blood glucose, halting fat loss in its tracks!

As a result, these foods should only be consumed with other foods to ensure a complete meal. For example, have a piece of fruit with some nuts, mix a small amount of cottage cheese with the yoghurt (it doesn’t taste that bad- honest!) or have a low-fat muffin with a protein shake.

From this information it is safe to conclude that following a diet based on the Food Pyramid or Australian Guide to Healthy Eating perhaps isn’t the best way to assist our fat-loss efforts. Furthermore, a big question to ask yourself is this:

’Since the Food Pyramid was designed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), do their interest lie in looking after our health or in supporting the economy?’

[NOTE: The base of the Food Pyramid recommends 6-11 serves a day of high density, mostly high GI, refined, grain-based carbohydrates.]

In summary, your fat-loss efforts will be greatly improved by consuming carbohydrates in the following way:

• Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
• Reduce your portion size of carbohydrate without eliminating it.
• Ensure all meals contain portions of carbohydrate, protein, fat and fibre.
• Slow the passage of glucose into the bloodstream by emphasising low-density and low GI carbohydrates.

If you make an effort to ensure these recommendations are followed every day, you can literally watch the fat melt off your body! Go for it!

Despite the pleas on some tearful celebrities, the answer is the people. The same individuals who made ordinary actors, singers, and politicians into celebrities in the first place actually hold the deed on celebrities. So long as celebrities stay in favor with the public, they continue to live a blessed existence of fame and fortune. But if a celebrity loses favor and begins to fade away, they simply cease to exist for much of the world. In some cases they might retain some of the fortune, but the fame is certainly gone.

An audience creates a celebrity. Many individuals have starred in movies or performed at concerts without gaining celebrity status. It is only when the world begins to sit up and take notice of an individual that true star status is obtained. This is how stars are born overnight. If people care about the comings and goings of an individual and the media picks up on this interest, news and tabloid coverage will increase. This creates a celebrity. If nobody cares about a singer’s shopping trips or political message, it is a safe bet that individual will not be stalked by paparazzi and won’t be gracing the covers of magazines. Simply, celebrities are selected.

Certain websites have constructed an algorithm to demonstrate the popularity of celebrities. This algorithm and the celebrity’s popularity equate to a market price, much like a stock price. Members of the site are able to buy and sell celebrities for their personal portfolios and if the celebrity increases in value – both popularity and price, the portfolio value increases. If a celebrity begins to lose value, he is undesirable and dumped.

There can be no clearer message about not only the value of celebrities, but also the ownership of celebrities. Just as celebrities in a portfolio can create a return for investors, those same investors take the time to research the celebrities in forums, news articles, and blogs. This research and drive for information increases the celebrity’s popularity and price. When a celebrity fails to generate news, or generates too much bad publicity, the public will simply lose interest, the celebrity loses value, and stardom begins to fade.

Celebrity obsession is certainly nothing new. If anything you would have figured we as a society would have become more accustomed to and quite bored with celebrities by now. As far back as you can go in history you will see that we have made celebrities almost royalty in the sense that not only does our society need to hear and see their every move and action of these celebrities but large corporations are aware of the fact that we trust the opinions and endorsement of these celebrities more then we trust our own. Turn on your television and you will be bombarded with celebrities selling you everything from fast food to weight loss pills. Can you believe the irony of all of this? We as a society support these celebrities to such and extent that they are now millionaires yet we now put them in a position to make even more money by us purchasing the products they promote.

Do we all really want to be celebrities? Well, the answer is yes and no. The fact of the matter is not many of us are talented enough to excel in sports or the entertainment world and a lot of us would not care to be bothered with the burdens that come with the lives of celebrities. However, each and every one of us, whether it is at work or in our homes, do contribute and would love to feel appreciated for what it is we do on a daily basis.

There are several myths which discourage a fat person and divert his mind when he is trying to reduce his fat. A fat person always thinks negatively about the consequences of his fat reduction programme because of the myths and the fear which he is having in his mind which he came to hear from his surroundings.

                                                   I am going to tell you some myths and realities of loosing fat and its consequences. There are several points on which a fat person thinks before he starts his fat loosing programme. He thinks that how effective will be this programme and will he able to loose his extra fat without any bad effects on his body. Will he able to lead a normal life after loosing fat or he will have to compensate his fat loss in any other ways such as weakness, low immunity, anxiety and any thing like that. Some of these myths are mentioned below:-

Dieting programme sometimes harm you in return.

This is a common myth prevailing in society that if you are on a diet, it can prove fatal instead of giving you a healthy life. But it is not like true, as a dieting programme is just like a fat reduction treatment and a guide to loose fat if it is programmed sensibly. All you need to keep in mind is that your body must get all the important and necessary nourishments which are required for maintaining health. If you are on a diet and taking care of your body by supplying proper nourishment to your body it will never harm you. It has been observed that many countries people remains on fast for more than two days subsisting only on water, and if you are giving proper nourishment to your body you can be on a diet for months without any harm. A person may die due to many diseases which are associated with obesity, but never by dieting. Obesity is a result of imbalanced diet and dieting is a step in the direction of rectifying these faults.

Skin becomes loose and flabby after fat reduction

This is a baseless myth that skin becomes loose and flabby after fat reduction as skin has its own capability to shrink and expand. Flexibility is one of the most important qualities of the skin. Even if it can be seen in some cases, it is a temporary process and gets rectified automatically after some time. If we see some cases like, pregnancy and dropsy we can observe that skin gets it own shape after a particular time period. None of the fat reductions treatments affects skin like that.

Luster on face vanishes and face becomes pale and dull.

This is again a bluff that luster vanishes from a persons face following a dieting programme. If it is so in such cases it is also a temporary problem and face regains its luster and glow very soon. One who is under a dieting programme with an anxiety that he is going to have some side effects of weight loss, must know that all these problems are temporary and vanishes soon.

Digestive system becomes weak.

It has been  also came to listen that  if we loose weight our digestive system becomes weak as it has to change its working style and needs to adapt a new body structure .

This is ridiculous to say like that because after fat loss digestive system becomes healthier and improves its efficiency. It is over eating and not dieting which is responsible for digestive disorders. Fat free diet is always recommended to keep digestive system healthy. In a fat stomach there is a lot off cholesterol and extra mucus deposition which is responsible to digestive disorders and many fatal diseases.

Fat loss makes a person ill-tempered.

This myth is associated with the fact that carbohydrate controls the mood of a person. This is true that a person remains happy and easy going if his body is supplied with a proper amount of carbohydrate. But I do not know how a fat person becomes ill-tempered after he looses is extra fat. Is carbohydrate related to fat in anyway? No it is not. A slim person is also as happy as a fat person as both of them have a proper amount of carbohydrate in their body.

 In reality it is the fat person who is always target of fun and derision. When he looses fat,

He looks smart and shapely; he becomes more confident, cheerful and enthusiastic. A fat person is always under depression and has inferiority complex as he is always targeted for fun. Because of this he becomes mentally sick and that results in ill-tempered behavior. So it is always wrong to say that a fat person becomes short-tempered after loosing weight.

So never get carried away by these myths as there is no harm if a person tries to loose fat scientifically and rationally. He only stands to gain many things. So start your mission now to regain all the profits of fat loss and lead a happy life, cut fat build muscles and get rid of your fat belly.

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