Fast Facts Friday: Lies about Losing Weight

As a fitness professional, I have people come to me everyday asking me questions about how they can exercise to lose weight. If there is one question that can get me on my soapbox, that is the one. There are so many lies out there that people believe when it comes to exercising to lose weight, and those lies will keep you from seeing success! Today, I am going to correct some of those lies.

1) If I lift weights, I will get bulky!

This might be the biggest load of crap I have ever heard. Getting bulky is roughly 75% what you eat, and 99% of the general population does not eat to get bulky, so really, just forget that lie even exists. You will not get bulky from lifting weights! In fact, it helps you slim down!

Lifting weights and gaining lean muscle boosts your metabolism. This metabolism boost will help you to burn more calories and fat, further whittling away that extra fat on your body. Don't be afraid of the weights! They help you lose weight!

Now, when it comes to how much weight to lift, you also cannot be afraid to lift heavy. Seriously. The groceries that you carry into your house weigh more than that five pound dumbbell that you are doing bicep curls with, so just stop it, it's not helping. Step into the next level of training and pick up a heavier weight! If you can complete 10 repetitions at a weight without struggling to finish the 10th repetition, then it's time to add more weight. Trust me, you are stronger than you think.

Out of the two pictures above, I would much rather be the girl on the left. She is fit and healthy. The girl on the right is not healthy. Some girls eat normally and are just naturally thin, but most girls that look like this are not eating properly, and this can lead to multiple health complications. Seriously, being fit and healthy is way prettier than being skinny.

2) If I workout, then I can eat more.

Just don't even go there. Really. If you want to lose weight, but every time you get a workout in, you are heading out to eat some of that white queso (yea I know it's good), then you are defeating the purpose of working out. There's this great saying that says: "you are what you eat," and that's no joke. If you shovel down some cheese dip, you're going to carry that fatty cheese dip around with you.

Nutrition is far more important in your weight management than working out. Working out is very important and should never be overlooked, but abs are made in the kitchen. Ps, if you want in on a little secret, it does not matter how few calories you are eating if they are not nutritious calories. You could eat 1200 calories of cupcakes per day, but that is not going to help you lose weight. You will be missing vital nutrients that your body needs, plus you'll be starving from eating only empty calories and that is not good either.

3) But I have to eat 1200 calories per day...

Let me start by asking a question. Are you a number? Do you want to be labelled by a number? Are you a drone that does the same thing as every other person on this planet? I'll go ahead and answer those questions for you: NO!

While 1200 calories may be a good estimate for some people, this number is NOT the right daily calorie intake for everyone. Eating too few calories can halt weight loss because your body will enter starvation mode and store your food as fat. Your best option is to talk to your doctor to see what is best for you when it comes to calorie intake. It depends on exercise, how active you are during the day, how fast your metabolism is, and how much weight you have to lose. My best advice here is to talk to your doctor before doing anything drastic so that you do not halt your weight loss!

Questions? Feel free to comment or email me with them! Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, GFC, and Bloglovin!

God Bless!
Hannah

Eat This, Not That

 

As a fitness instructor, I really like to make sure I am taking care of my body in any and all ways that I can. If there's one thing that really makes me mad about trying to be healthy, it's all the misleading labels on food products out there. Just because it says "low fat" doesn't mean it's healthy, because low fat can sometimes mean more sugar, and that totally defeats the purpose of trying to make the healthy choice in the first place!

Introducing: Eat This, Not That (yes roll your eyes, you've heard it a thousand times, but have you really ever scrutinized the nutrition labels on the foods you're eating?)

1) Your Yogurt

 

First of all, if you're not eating greek yogurt, then you should probably go ahead and make that change first. Greek yogurt has so much more protein than regular yogurt, meaning it is going to keep you feeling full longer. 

If you've already moved on to greek yogurt, then congratulations, that is step one to finding healthy yogurt. However, now it's time to read those nutrition labels and get the most out of those calories that you are consuming. Check out the labels above. The one on the top is Dannon Lite & Fit Strawberry Greek Yogurt, and the one on the bottom is Chobani Strawberry Greek Yogurt. A couple things to notice:

1.  The Dannon Lite & Fit yogurt has significantly fewer calories than the Chobani yogurt
2. The total grams of fat is the same, and Chobani has just slightly more grams of protein than Dannon Lite & Fit
3. Here's the big one: look at the sugar. Dannon Lite & Fit has just 7 grams of sugar, while Chobani has 19 grams of sugar!! That means there are more carbs in the Chobani (20) in comparison to the Dannon Lite & Fit (9). 

For carbohydrates, there are about 4 Calories per gram, meaning that there are 44 extra calories from carbohydrates in the Chobani than in the Dannon Lite & Fit, and 36 of which are from sugar! If you ask me, I think the clear winner on greek yogurt is Dannon Lite & Fit.

 2) Your Afternoon Snack

 

One of my favorite afternoon snacks is popcorn, but I have to be careful with it, because popcorn can pack quite a bit of extra fat depending on how you flavor it. Above are two nutrition labels, the one on the top is Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop Kettle Korn, and the one on the bottom is Act II Butter popcorn. Here are the main things to look at:

1. Total Calories: 100 compared to 170, so clearly there is something extra in the Butter popcorn!
2. Carbohydrates are similar, and so is protein
3. Look at the total fat. The kettle korn has just 2 grams of fat, while the butter popcorn has 11 grams of fat. 

 Since fat is about 9 Calories per gram, that is 18 Calories in the kettle korn compared to 99 Calories in the butter popcorn. To me, the clear winner here is the Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop Kettle Korn (and it's tasty!).

3) What's in that Guacamole?

 

People say guacamole and think either one of two things: 

1. That's healthy!
2. That has lots of fat in it.

Honestly, both are true. It is very healthy because of all the good fats in it, but at the same time, everything in moderation because of the amount of fat! Here's the real kicker though, are you really eating guacamole made from avocados?

The one on the top is Wholly Guacamole, and the one on the bottom is Deans Guacamole Dip. As you can see, Wholly Guacamole has very simple, normal ingredients, as guacamole should. Now let's look at Dean's. First of all, why is there coconut oil in guacamole?? Not that it's a bad thing to eat, but it's guacamole we're eating here. Second of all, the main ingredient of guacamole is avocados, yet the label clearly says: "less than 2% of: avocado....". Um, what? Isn't this guacamole dip? Clearly, my winner is Wholly Guacamole because of the simple ingredients. If I can't pronounce the name of an ingredient, then I probably shouldn't be consuming it.

I tend to get on a soapbox when it comes to eating healthy, so I'll go ahead and put it on pause for now. If you have any questions for me, I would love to answer them! Also, don't forget about my Simple Addiction giveaway!

I would love it if you would follow me! Just click "join this site" on the right! :)

God Bless!
Hannah


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