… Or more specifically, nutrition and fitness myths. I’m going to start with one that has been circulating gyms and locker rooms since Jack Lalanne was in diapers:

1. The bigger the shoe, the bigger the… oh, wait. Wrong post. (I’m a size 12 by the way)

Ok, but seriously here they are:

1. “I want to turn my fat into muscle” — While this would be cool, there is no actual CONVERSION. Maybe in the future they’ll find a way to inject stem cells into our butts to send them from flab to fab. As for now though, we can only add muscle with a resistance program and proper nutrition. And fat is lost by consuming fewer calories than we expend. There are thousands of additional side notes for those last 2 statements, but maybe we’ll save that for another time.

2. “It takes 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat.” — Other health professionals are probably scratching their heads right now. But notice the wording. I didnt say to simply lose a pound. I said lose a pound of FAT. You see, when we lose weight it doesnt come solely from fat. So when you lose a pound of weight, it’s more like 80% fat and 20% muscle. So to lose a pound of fat, you actually need to cut out 4200 calories. Yeah, I know… it sucks. To prevent further muscle loss, a higher protein diet should be consumed during weight loss periods.

3. “Eating 46 chicken breasts will make me jacked!” — Yes, protein and the amino acids that make it up are responsible for building and maintaining your “gun show”. But excessive amounts isn’t going to do you any good. Eating more CALORIES is what will help you put on more muscle, not boatloads of protein powders (although they sure are convenient). Any more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or roughly 1 gram per pound of body weight, is overkill. Save those calories for more fruits and vegetables.

4. “A super low calorie/low fat diet is the best way to lose weight.” — Will you drop weight on that regimen. You betcha. But again, check out the wording. It’s a way to lose weight sure, but it’s not the best. As said earlier, you need to burn off more calories than you consume to lose weight. That rule still stands. But how much you cut back is just as important, as is the content of the diet. The problem is that if you follow a very low calorie diet (VLCD), you are telling your body that you arent willing to give it what it needs just to live. The calories that we burn in a day come mostly from our bodies doing what they do… heart pumping, liver metabolizing, lungs contracting/expanding, etc. More specifically, that makes up 60-70% of our metabolism. Since our bodies are smarter than we are, it senses that it doesnt have enough to survive and subsequently slows down to preserve what it has. This is bad. A good goal is to cut back on about 500 calories each day to yield 1 lb of weight loss each week. Or you can eat the same and exercise off 500 calories each day. I don’t really care. Ok, yes I do. You guys rock.

5. “I know I said I’d dispell 5 myths but I’m tired of typing.” –Have any myths you want the REAL answers to? Post a comment and I’ll make sure to hook you up.