A bottle of soda-pop is a pressurized vessel. In the bottle there is liquid. There is also ‘carbonation’ (the gas) and pressure. When the bottle is sealed, bubbles are not seen. The moment the cap is twisted and the seal is broken, there is a ‘swish’ and the pressure is released from the bottle. Now, all of a sudden there is a formation of bubbles in the bottle, and as time goes, they grow and float to the top of the liquid. Certainly the pressure in the bottle is quite high and the nature of the gas (carbonation) is a different than the 21% oxygen in the ambient air. However the concept is the same. In the hyperbaric chamber, as the pressure goes up, more oxygen from the air is ‘pushed’ into the fluids of the body.
The healing process occurs when a severely compromised tissue in the body begins to receive oxygen, and blood circulation to the tissue resumes. Note: The damaged tissue may not have been receiving enough blood for it to heal, due to a lack of blood circulation caused by the initial trauma.
In the movie Fletch, comedian Chevy Chase plays the role of Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher, a reporter working undercover to expose drug dealing on the beaches of Los Angeles. Over the course of his investigation, Fletch assumes a variety of creative characters as he identifies the corrupt businessmen and cops involved in the drug-dealing ring. In one scene, Fletch pretends to be an airplane mechanic and tries to lie his way into a hangar by saying he was there to check the ball bearings. “It’s all ball bearings nowadays,” is one of the most memorable quotes of this iconic ‘80s movie.
Repeatedly, I have been asked how exercise can help achieve a specific goal. I like fun, but honest way to answer these questions and channel your inner Fletch by replying, “It’s all hormones nowadays.” If you’ve worked with me for very long in any capacity, you’ ve heard me say this time and time again. The term “calories in versus calories out” is as archaic as the Myan ruins.
The endocrine system regulates the production of hormones, which are chemicals that control cellular functions. Hormones can affect a number of different cells; however, they only influence the ones with specific receptor sites. Hormones control a number of physiological reactions in the body including energy metabolism, reproductive processes, tissue growth, hydration levels, synthesis and degradation of muscle protein, and mood. Hormones are responsible for both building new muscle and helping to burn fat, so it is important to have an understanding of which ones are released in relation to exercise as well as understanding the physiological functions they influence.
There are three major classifications of hormones: steroid, peptide and amines (modified amino acid hormones). Each class of hormones has a unique chemical structure that determines how it interacts with specific receptors. Steroid hormones interact with receptors in the nucleus of a cell, peptide hormones are comprised of amino acids and work with specific receptors sites on the cell membrane, and amines contain nitrogen and influence the sympathetic nervous system.
Hormones can either be anabolic, which means they help build new tissue, or catabolic because they play a role in breaking tissue down. The term “anabolic steroids” is often mentioned as a method of cheating used by athletes who want to improve performance; however, anabolic steroids are actually natural chemicals produced by the body that are responsible for promoting tissue growth.
I’ve taken the time to compose a list of these hormones along with how they work and why they are important in reaching your fitness goals.
Insulin
A peptide hormone produced by the pancreas, insulin regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism. When blood sugar is elevated, insulin is released to promote the storage and absorption of glycogen and glucose. Insulin helps reduce levels of glucose in the blood by promoting its absorption from the bloodstream to skeletal muscles or fat tissues. It is important to know that insulin can cause fat to be stored in adipose tissue (fat cells – specifically aroumd the belly) instead of being used to fuel muscle activity. When exercise starts, the sympathetic nervous system suppresses the release of insulin; consequently, it is important to avoid foods with high levels of sugar (including sports drinks) before exercise because it can elevate insulin levels and promote glycogen storage instead of allowing it to be used to fuel physical activity. Wait until the body has started sweating before using any sports drinks or energy gels. If you’ve worked with me for any length I’ve time, you’ve heard me say “NO ENERGY DRINKS!” Gatorade and Powerade, as well as any other drinks like Red Bull are STRICKLY off limits.
Glucagon
Released in response to low levels of blood sugar, glucagon is produced by the pancreas to stimulate the release of free fatty acids (FFAs) from adipose tissue and increase blood glucose levels, both of which are important for fueling exercise activity. As glycogen levels are depleted during exercise, glucagon releases additional glycogen stored in the liver.
Cortisol
Cortisol is a catabolic steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glandss in response to stress, low blood sugar and exercise. It supports energy metabolism during long periods of exercise by facilitating the breakdown of triglycerides and protein to create the glucose necessary to help fuel exercise. Cortisol is released when the body experiences too much physical stress or is not sufficiently recovered from a previous workout. While cortisol helps promote fat metabolism, exercising for too long can elevate levels of cortisol to catabolize muscle protein for fuel instead of conserving it to be used to repair damaged tissues.
Epinephrine and Norepinephrine
These amine hormones play an important role in helping the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) produce energy and in regulating the body’s function during cardiorespiratory exercise. Classified as catecholamines, epinephrine and norepinephrine are separate but related hormones. Epinephrine, often referred to as adrenaline because it is produced by the adrenal gland, elevates cardiac output, increases blood sugar (to help fuel exercise), promotes the breakdown of glycogen for energy and supports fat metabolism. Norepinephrine performs a number of the same functions as epinephrine, while also constricting blood vessels in parts of the body not involved in exercise.
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone produced by the Leydig cells of the testes in males and the ovaries of females, with small amounts produced by the adrenal glands of both genders. Testosterone is responsible for muscle protein resynthesis and the repair of muscle proteins damaged by exercise, and plays a significant role in helping grow skeletal muscle. Testosterone works with specific receptor sights and is produced in response to exercise that damages muscle proteins.
Human Growth Hormone
Human growth hormone (HGH) is an anabolic peptide hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland that stimulates cellular growth. Like all hormones, HGH works with specific receptor sites and can produce a number of responses, including increasing muscle protein synthesis responsible for muscle growth, increasing bone mineralization, supporting immune system function and promoting lipolysis, or fat metabolism. The body produces HGH during the REM cycles of sleep (this is one reason I stand on my soap-box a preach about sleep; if you’re not getting enough sleep, you WILL NOT drop weight) and is stimulated by high-intensity exercise such as heavy strength training, explosive power training or cardiorespiratory exercise at or above the onset of blood lactate (OBLA, the second ventilatory threshold).
Insulin-like Growth Factor
Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) has a similar molecular structure to insulin and is stimulated by the same mechanisms that produce HGH. IGF is a peptide hormone produced in the liver and supports the function of HGH to repair protein damaged during exercise, which makes it an important hormone for promoting muscle growth.
Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotransmitter that helps stimulate the production of new cells in the brain. The production of BDNF is closely related to the production of HGH and IGF—the same exercises that elevate levels of those hormones also increase amounts of BDNF. High-intensity exercise can stimulate anabolic hormones for muscle growth while elevating levels of BDNF, which can help improve cognitive function; thi)s is one of the many reasons I promote High Intensity Interval Training.
Understanding how exercise influences the hormones that control physiological functions can assist you in developing effective exercise programs. Hormones have both short- and long-term responses to exercise. In the acute phase immediately post-exercise, testosterone (T), HGH and IGF are produced to repair damaged tissue. Over the long-term, there is an increase in the receptor sites and binding proteins, which allow T, HGH and IGF to be used more effectively for tissue repair and muscle growth. For those who want muscle growth, the levels of T, HGH and IGF are produced in response to the amount of mechanical stress created during resistance-training exercises. Moderate to heavy loads performed until momentary fatigue generate high levels of mechanical force, which creates more damage to muscle protein, which signals the production of T, HGH and IGF to repair protein, which results in muscle growth.
While there are a myriad of hormones responsible for an almost infinite number of physiological functions, the hormones listed above are directly influenced by physical activity and play important roles in helping the body adapt to the imposed physical demands of exercise. Seasoned health and fitness professionals such as myself, understand that the nervous and muscular systems play important roles in determining the outcomes of an exercise program. However, the reality is that hormones influence many of the physiological adaptations to physical activity. That means that, “It’s all hormones nowadays,” is the appropriate response to many questions about how the human body responds to exercise.
There are trainers in the business that have incorrect and basically archaic information regarding weight loss. We know so much more now than we did in the 80s and 90s. The world of fitness and nutrition is a lot like technology in that it’s ever changing. We are always learning new things about the way our bodies respond to exercise and our nutritional challenges, as well as the role hormones play in whether we gain weight or whether we lose weight.
The endocrine system regulates the production of hormones, which are chemicals that control cellular functions. Hormones can affect a number of different cells; however, they only influence the ones with specific receptor sites. Hormones control a number of physiological reactions in the body including energy metabolism, reproductive processes, tissue growth, hydration levels, synthesis and degradation of muscle protein, and mood. Hormones are responsible for both building new muscle and helping to burn fat, so it is important to have an understanding of which ones are released in relation to exercise as well as understanding the physiological functions they influence.
There are three major classifications of hormones: steroid, peptide and amines (modified amino acid hormones). Each class of hormones has a unique chemical structure that determines how it interacts with specific receptors. Steroid hormones interact with receptors in the nucleus of a cell, peptide hormones are comprised of amino acids and work with specific receptors sites on the cell membrane, and amines contain nitrogen and influence the sympathetic nervous system.
Hormones can either be anabolic, which means they help build new tissue, or catabolic because they play a role in breaking tissue down. The term “anabolic steroids” is often mentioned as a method of cheating used by athletes who want to improve performance; however, anabolic steroids are actually natural chemicals produced by the body that are responsible for promoting tissue growth.
Listed below are some important hormones involved in exercise along with the physiological functions they control.
Insulin
A peptide hormone produced by the pancreas, insulin regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism. When blood sugar is elevated, insulin is released to promote the storage and absorption of glycogen and glucose. Insulin helps reduce levels of glucose in the blood by promoting its absorption from the bloodstream to skeletal muscles or fat tissues. It is important to know that insulin can cause fat to be stored in adipose tissue instead of being used to fuel muscle activity. When exercise starts, the sympathetic nervous system suppresses the release of insulin; consequently, it is important to avoid foods with high levels of sugar (including sports drinks) before exercise because it can elevate insulin levels and promote glycogen storage instead of allowing it to be used to fuel physical activity. Wait until the body has started sweating before using any sports drinks or energy gels.
Glucagon
Released in response to low levels of blood sugar, glucagon is produced by the pancreas to stimulate the release of free fatty acids (FFAs) from adipose tissue and increase blood glucose levels, both of which are important for fueling exercise activity. As glycogen levels are depleted during exercise, glucagon releases additional glycogen stored in the liver.
Cortisol
Cortisol is a catabolic steroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland in response to stress, low blood sugar and exercise. It supports energy metabolism during long periods of exercise by facilitating the breakdown of triglyceride and protein to create the glucose necessary to help fuel exercise. Cortisol is released when the body experiences too much physical stress or is not sufficiently recovered from a previous workout. While cortisol helps promote fat metabolism, exercising for too long can elevate levels of cortisol to catabolize muscle protein for fuel instead of conserving it to be used to repair damaged tissues.
Epinephrine and Norepinephrine
These amine hormones play an important role in helping the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) produce energy and in regulating the body’s function during cardiorespiratory exercise. Classified as catecholamines, epinephrine and norepinephrine are separate but related hormones. Epinephrine, often referred to as adrenaline because it is produced by the adrenal gland, elevates cardiac output, increases blood sugar (to help fuel exercise), promotes the breakdown of glycogen for energy and supports fat metabolism. Norepinephrine performs a number of the same functions as epinephrine, while also constricting blood vessels in parts of the body not involved in exercise.
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone produced by the Leydig cells of the testes in males and the ovaries of females, with small amounts produced by the adrenal glands of both genders. Testosterone is responsible for muscle protein resynthesis and the repair of muscle proteins damaged by exercise, and plays a significant role in helping grow skeletal muscle. Testosterone works with specific receptor sights and is produced in response to exercise that damages muscle proteins.
Human Growth Hormone
Human growth hormone (HGH) is an anabolic peptide hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland that stimulates cellular growth. Like all hormones, HGH works with specific receptor sites and can produce a number of responses, including increasing muscle protein synthesis responsible for muscle growth, increasing bone mineralization, supporting immune system function and promoting lipolysis, or fat metabolism. The body produces HGH during the REM cycles of sleep and is stimulated by high-intensity exercise such as heavy strength training, explosive power training or cardiorespiratory exercise at or above the onset of blood lactate (OBLA, the second ventilatory threshold).
Insulin-like Growth Factor
Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) has a similar molecular structure to insulin and is stimulated by the same mechanisms that produce HGH. IGF is a peptide hormone produced in the liver and supports the function of HGH to repair protein damaged during exercise, which makes it an important hormone for promoting muscle growth.
Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotransmitter that helps stimulate the production of new cells in the brain. The production of BDNF is closely related to the production of HGH and IGF—the same exercises that elevate levels of those hormones also increase amounts of BDNF. High-intensity exercise can stimulate anabolic hormones for muscle growth while elevating levels of BDNF, which can help improve cognitive function.
Understanding how exercise influences the hormones that control physiological functions can assist you in developing effective exercise programs specifically for you. Hormones have both short- and long-term responses to exercise. In the acute phase immediately post-exercise, testosterone (T), HGH and IGF are produced to repair damaged tissue. Over the long-term, there is an increase in the receptor sites and binding proteins, which allow T, HGH and IGF to be used more effectively for tissue repair and muscle growth. For those who want muscle growth, the levels of T, HGH and IGF are produced in response to the amount of mechanical stress created during resistance-training exercises. Moderate to heavy loads performed until momentary fatigue generate high levels of mechanical force, which creates more damage to muscle protein, which signals the production of T, HGH and IGF to repair protein, which results in muscle growth.
While there are a myriad of hormones responsible for an almost infinite number of physiological functions, the hormones listed above are directly influenced by physical activity and play important roles in helping the body adapt to the imposed physical demands of exercise. Many fitness professionals like myself understand that the nervous and muscular systems play important roles in determining the outcomes of an exercise program. However, the reality is that hormones influence many of the physiological adaptations to physical activity. That means that, “It’s all hormones nowadays,” is the appropriate response to many questions about how the human body responds to
I’m about to share with you the single best exercise for burning fat. But first, I want to explain the number one mistake people are making in the gym, today.
This mistake is leading to some pretty big consequences like:
Causing you to age faster
Breaking down your joints
Causing your body to STORE fat, instead of burn it
Causing your hormones to get out of balanceMost people who want to burn fat and lose weight falsely assume that going to the gym and doing traditional aerobic exercise, like jogging on the treadmill, is the best way to see results.If you’ve been spending hours on the treadmill and not seeing any results, it’s because long distance cardiovascular exercise can decrease testosterone and raise your stress hormone levels like cortisol. Increased levels of cortisol stimulate the appetite, increase fat storage, and slow down or inhibit exercise recovery.The Journal of Sports Sciences found that long periods of aerobic exercise increased oxidative stress leading to chronic inflammation.If you want to see results fast without the negative benefits of cardiovascular exercise, your best option is burst training. Burst training (aka interval training) combines short, high intensity bursts of exercise, with slow, recovery phases, repeated during one exercise session. Burst training is done at 85-100% maximum heart rate rather than 50-70% in moderate endurance activity.Essentially, burst training is exercising like a sprinter rather than a marathon runner.Burst (or interval) training isn’t necessarily new. Elite athletes and Olympians have known this secret to exercising and have been doing interval training for years. The research proves that anybody – not just elite athletes – can do interval training and achieve amazing results, no matter your experience or fitness level.The reason burst training works is because it produces a unique metabolic response in your body. Intermittent sprinting causes your body to not burn as much fat during exercise but after exercise your metabolism stays elevated and will continue to burn fat for the next 24-48 hours!Another study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, April 2007, researched eight different women in their early 20’s. They were told to cycle for 10 sets of four minutes of hard riding, followed by two minutes of rest.Key Benefits of Burst Training
After two weeks, the amount of fat burned increased by 36 percent, and their cardiovascular fitness improved by 13 percent.
Also, chemicals called catecholamines are produced which allow more fat to be burned and this causes increased fat oxidation which drives greater weight loss. The women from the study lost the most weight off their legs and buttocks.
Research from the University of New South Wales Medical Sciences found that burst (interval) cardio could burn more than 3 times more body fat than moderate cardio. The researchers studied two groups and found that the group who did eight seconds of sprinting on a bike, followed by 12 seconds of exercising lightly for 20 minutes, lost THREE TIMES as much fat as other women, who exercised at a continuous, regular pace for 40 minutes.
One of the major benefits of burst training is that it can be done in the comfort of your own home with no or minimal equipment. An easy example of burst training would be going to a track and walking the curves and sprinting the straight aways. Or getting on a spin bike and cycling hard for 20 seconds then going easy for 20 seconds, then repeating that cycle for between 10 to 40 minutes.
Similar exercise methods to burst training include High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and the Tabata method. With burst and other types of interval training you are getting the same cardiovascular benefits as endurance exercise but without the negative side effects. Also, burst training is the fastest way to lose weight and burn fat fast.
So, What’s the #1 Exercise to Burn Fat Fast?
A recent study in Psychoneuroendocrinology showed evidence of long-term high cortisol levels in aerobic endurance athletes. Researchers tested levels of hair cortisol in 304 endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, and triathletes) and compared to non-athletes. The results showed higher cortisol levels with higher training volumes.
But recent research is proving that long distance cardiovascular exercise is NOT the fastest way to burn fat and lose weight.
The number one mistake is doing way too much cardio.
Can burn up to 3x more body-fat than moderate cardio
After two weeks of interval training, fat burning increased by 36%
Your body will continue to burn fat for the next 48 hours after you are done exercising
You can workout in less time and see better resultsBurst training is exactly what we do at Empower Wellness. We have our own YouTube channel where you can watch and participate in burst training right from your living room; plus you have a real life Personal Training to help you through every aspect of your training.
Many people think weight loss is simply about cutting calories. They believe that to lose weight, you must reduce calories (either eat less or burn more), to gain weight you must add calories, and to maintain weight you keep calories constant. To these folks, calories in, calories out is the only thing that matters. They usually oppose my program because they assume that I “deny” the importance of calories in weight loss.
Well, they’re wrong. I don’t deny the importance of calories. Calories absolutely count. And if someone has lost weight, they have necessarily expended more calories than they consumed. That said, there are some major misconceptions about calories, body weight, fat loss, and health. These calorie myths are often rooted in truth but presented in black-or-white terms that are useless at best, harmful at worst, and do little to help the average person lose body fat.
Let’s dig right in.
Calories in, calories out is all you need to know.
Simple is nice. Simple is good. But overly simple is dangerously inaccurate, so let’s break this statement down.
What does “calories in” refer to?
Calories in — what we eat. We can’t metabolize sunlight or oxygen. We can’t feast on the souls of the damned. The food we eat determines “calories in” entirely. Simple.
“Calories out” is where it gets confusing. There are several components to “calories out”:
Resting energy expenditure — the energy used to handle basic, day-to-day physiological functions and maintenance
Thermic effect of food — the energy used to digest food and process nutrients
Active energy expenditure — the energy used during movement (both deliberate activity like lifting weights, jogging, and walking plus spontaneous activity like shivering and fidgeting)
Not so simple, is it? There are a lot more variables to consider.
Oh, and about those variables…
Calories in and calories out are independent variables.
That would be nice. You could drop energy intake and maintain your resting metabolic rate while burning the same amount of energy digesting food (even though you’re eating less of it) and working out. The fat would melt off at a predictable, constant rate. Anyone with basic arithmetic skills (or a calculator) could become a successful weight loss coach and very few people would be overweight.
In reality, the amount and type of calories we eat affect the amount of energy we expend:
During calorie restriction, the body “defends” its body weight by lowering resting metabolic rate and reducing spontaneous physical activity. To keep weight loss going, you often have to lower food intake even more (to counteract the reduced metabolic rate) and remind yourself to fidget, tap your feet, twiddle your thumbs, and shiver (to recreate the missing spontaneous movement). And you have to do it again when the body readjusts.
Whole foods take more energy to process and digest than processed foods. In one example subjects either ate a “whole food” sandwich (multigrain bread with cheddar cheese) or a “processed food” sandwich (white bread with cheese product). Both meals were isocaloric (same number of calories) and featured roughly identical macronutrient (protein, fat, carb) ratios. Those eating the multigrain sandwiches expended 137 calories postprandially (after their meal). The white bread group expended only 73 calories, a 50% reduction in the thermic effect of food.
Protein takes more energy to process and digest than other macronutrients. Compared to a low-fat, high-carb diet, a high-protein diet increased postprandial energy expenditure by 100% in healthy young women. And in both obese and lean adults, eating a high-protein meal was far more energetically costly (by almost 3-fold) than eating a high-fat meal.
Calories in affects calories out. The two variables are anything but independent of each other.
Weight gain is caused by eating more calories than you expend.
Calorie fetishists love pointing out that weight gain requires overeating. That is, everyone who gains weight necessarily ate more calories than they expended. Okay. We’ve established that everyone agrees on this. But it’s just restating the issue. It doesn’t tell us anything new or useful. It’s merely descriptive, not explanatory.
To show you what I mean, let’s do the same thing with other phenomena.
Why was Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated? Because someone pointed a sniper rifle at him and fired it.
Why did Usain Bolt win the 100 m final in the Beijing Olympics? Because he crossed the finish line first.
Why is the restaurant so crowded? Because more people entered than left.
These are technically true, but they ignore the ultimate causes In King’s case, they fail to discuss racism, the civil rights movement, or the motivation of the shooter. They don’t mention Bolt’s training, genetics, or his childhood. They don’t discuss why the restaurant has attracted so many customers — new menu, Valentine’s Day, graduation? They simply restate the original statement using different words. They just describe what happened.
I’m interested in what truly causes us to eat more than we expend and/or expend less than we eat. I don’t care to merely describe weight gain because that doesn’t help anyone.
A calorie is a calorie.
Look. I loved Carl Sagan. Like everyone else, I got chills when he’d wax poetic about our place in the universe and our shared origins as “star-stuff.” But just because steak comes from the same star-stuff as a baked potato, isocaloric amounts of each do not have identical metabolic fates in our bodies when consumed.
We even have a study that examined this. For two weeks, participants either supplemented their diets with isocaloric amounts of candy (mostly sugar) or roasted peanuts (mostly fat and protein). This was added to their regular diet. After two weeks, researchers found that body weight, waist circumference, LDL, and ApoB (a rough measure of LDL particle were highest in the candy group, indicating increased fat mass and worsening metabolic health. In the peanut group, basal metabolic rate shot up and neither body weight nor waist size saw any significant increases.
Does this invalidate the relevance of energy balance? Of course not. Since the peanut group’s metabolic rate increased, they expended more calories in response to added calories, thus remaining in balance. But it does elegantly and definitively invalidate the simplistic notion that all calories, especially added calories, are treated equally by the body.
Weight loss and fat loss are the same thing.
People don’t want to lose weight. “Losing weight” is common parlance, but we really want to lose body fat and retain, or gain, muscle. And studies indicate that the macronutrient composition can differentially affect whether the weight lost is fat. It’s not just about total calories.
Take the 2004 study from Voltek that placed overweight men and women on one of two diets: a very low-carb ketogenic diet or a low-fat diet. The low-carb group ate more calories but lost more weight and more body fat, especially dangerous abdominal fat.
Or the study from 1989 that placed healthy adult men on high-carb or high-fat diets. Even though the high-carb group lost slightly more body weight, the high-fat group lost slightly more body fat and retained more lean mass.
Just “weight” doesn’t tell us much. What kind of weight? Are we losing/gaining fat or muscle, bone, sinew, organ? Are we increasing the robustness of our colons and the number of bacterial residents (who, though small, carry weight and occupy space) from added prebiotic fiber intake? These factors matter for health. I’d argue that they’re the only factors that actually matter when losing or gaining weight because they offer insight into our health and body composition.
Exercise helps you lose weight only by burning calories.
Most people think of exercise as a way to mechanically combust calories. And that’s true, to a point. Exercise does “burn” calories, and this is a factor in weight loss. But it does lots of other cool things to our physiology that can assist with improving body composition, too.
Compared to something high intensity like burpees or something aerobic like running a 10k lifting free weights doesn’t burn many calories when you’re lifting them. But it does improve insulin sensitivity, which reduces the amount ofinsulin we secrete for a given amount of carbohydrate and increases our ability to burn body fat. It increases muscle mass, which uses calories (protein). It strengthens connective tissue, which also uses calories. It even preserves metabolic rate during weight loss and boosts it for up to 72 hours post-workout. All these changes affect the fate of the calories we ingest.
If calories burnt were the most important factor, then the best way to lose weight would be to hammer it out with as much endurance exercise as you can withstand because that’s the most calorie intensive. But studies show that combination training — aerobic and resistance training — leads to greater reductions in body fat than either modality alone.
Even aerobic exercise isn’t just about mechanically burning calories. It also targets the reward regions of out brains ucing the allure and spontaneously lowering our intake of junk food.
Counting calories allows us to accurately monitor food intake.
You’d think that, wouldn’t you? Most foods at the grocery store have labels. Even restaurants are beginning to emblazon menus with calorie counts for each item. As humans, we implicitly trust the printed word. It looks so official and authoritative, and it spells out with great specificity exactly how many calories we’re about to eat.
Except studies show that’s not the case. Whether it’s the nutritional information provided by restaurants, the calorie counts on supposedly “low-calorie” pre-packaged calorie counts are rarely accurate. Food manufacturers can even underreport calories by 20% and pass inspection by the FDA.
Maybe that’s why people have so much trouble sticking to their allotted number of calories. If only reality would bend to the will of the label!
You may roll your eyes at some of these ideas because they’re so preposterous, but consider where you’re coming from, where you’re reading this. This is how the general public – and, often, the experts and physicians advising their patients and writing policy — approaches the question of fat loss. Sure, not everyone immersed in conventional wisdom holds every one of these myths to be true. And when they’re actually faced with the statement, few will claim that a calorie of steak is metabolically identical to a calorie of white sugar or that weight loss is the same as fat loss. But when calories in, calories out is the first line of attack against excess body fat, these are the kind of myths that become entrenched.
It’s important to take them head-on.
No one wants to be fat. The obese know they’re obese. They’ve had “calories in, calories out” drummed into their heads for years. If it were really as simple as eating less and moving more, they wouldn’t be obese. And yet here we are. That might be the biggest danger of the continued propagation of these myths — they convince people that they’ve failed at something simple, basic, and central to being a healthy, moral human being.
At no point in your life will you ever feel more alone, more abandoned, or more orphaned that at the time when you lose your parents. In a matter of 18 months, I lost the people nearest and dearest to my heart. At this point in one’s life, it’s natural that you would step back and take a long hard look at your life, your passions, and your dreams for your future. It’s natural that at this time, you would look for something that fills that empty space where loved ones had resided all those years. Being a heart-centered person, I looked high and low for a career that would fulfill me. I worked in medicine for many years, and it did not take long to see that the system we call “healthcare” is broken. Because time with your physicians is fiercely limited, Enormous amounts of time is spent on illness and little to no time is spent on health and wellness. But if more time could be spent on wellness, there would be less time required to spend on sickness. It’s a cyclical pattern that needs to end. Several years ago, I been seeking out a career in which I could use my heart-centered gifts to advocate for patients In this “sick-care” system in which we all must live. But it wasn’t until the passing of my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and then my own mother that I became adamant about finding a career in which I could help people live longer, healthier lives. Sadly, a career like this was not going to be found in Western medicine. It wasn’t until a medication side-effect suddenly took the life of my mother that I became determined to be the change that world needed. I did hours and hours of internet research and found the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and realized that the career I had searched for for so long was that of a Health and Wellness Coach. Sick-care has over-burdened Western medicine and Health Coaches are the future of the HEALTHcare system. It is my heart-centered desire and passion to see people live long, happy, healthy lives with the people they love. No person should lose a loved one because of a sick-care system that can’t possibly treat the population of chronically ill people. Becoming a Wellness Coach is the greatest thing I could have ever done for me and my family; but my education has been bittersweet as I have learned things about wellness that may have prolonged the lives of those that I held nearest and dearest to my heart. But I am determined to see to it that nobody else loses a loved one to an untimely sudden death because of our sick-care system. You see “Medicine is not health care. Medicine is sick-care. Integrated nutrition is healthcare. Let’s get this straight.” Don’t let the people you love be a causality of the sick-care system. Fight for them. My loved ones are gone, but I WILL fight for yours.
Frankie Davis, Penny Davis, Norma Aklestad…. May you always rest in peace.
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