There are three liars out there who you need to break up with: they are pillars in the fear based weight loss world that you need to learn to avoid.
Liar Number One says you need to lower your calories, in order to lose weight.
In the recent The Economist, they placed a hamburger on the cover and the title read: “Is the Calorie Dead?”
The article is close to right. Calories are well known units of energy. But what is less known, is how quickly calories are absorbed, how optimally they are absorbed and how different people metabolize them.
Calories aren’t dead but they are LESS important than people think. My clients have lost over 1000lbs by NOT COUNTING.
More and more research shows that when doctors and health professionals focus on NUMBERS, people don’t lose weight well.
It’s just too difficult to always be counting. Remember Rain Man? No one has the savant to estimate or calculate calories accurately as they fly by our eyes. Even dietitians underreport their portion sizes by ~30%! Nor should we be under that burden of calculating numbers all day long.
Liar Number Two says that it’s all about the cardio.
The self-perpetuating message is to walk more, run more, go to more exercise classes, and, now do more spinning classes.
Cardio doesn't have a case.
Research shows time and again that they only long-term benefit to CARDIO-vascular training is using calories, a short boost in metabolism and a stronger heart/lung combo.
Only muscle helps boost calorie burning at rest.
In order to lose and maintain weight, we need to build lean body mass through weight bearing activities. Our ancestors were thinner merely because they had to do weight bearing activity every single day to survive in agrarian societies: they lifted children, they lifted bales of hay, they carried wood, they chopped wood, they tiled soil and they pulled plants from the ground.
The last liar to ditch is Liar Number Three that says it's all the carbs.
Let me ask you this: if carbs are so bad for you, then why are the healthiest foods on the planet??
Carbs are not the problem: carbohydrates are found in ALL foods except for pure meat or fat.
That includes all the healthy foods: fruit, vegetables, grains, seeds, nuts, legumes, beans, bread, rice, potatoes, greens, salads and, yes, even, celery.
The planet lives on plants. Most traditional cultures subsisted off a plant based diets, meaning we eat and need a lot of carbohydrates.
This is why you shouldn’t really listen to diets that tell you that you need to eat 1200 calories a day, you should do ten spin classes or cut out all those toxic carbohydrates.
Yeah, break up with them today. Find a new partner.
(And yes, if that’s me, I’d be privileged to help you find a healthier plan using one simple rule.)
TTYL
Nora