Fads, Fallacy, Shortcuts & Secrets

I caught the news last night when they were talking about the Power Balance Band and it got my blood boiling. This unimpressive looking band - not unlike your typical charity band - claims to 'harness the bodies natural energy' to improve strength, balance, flexibility and performance. Really? A band?! It was put to the test with subjects being blindfolded and then given the Power Balance Band and a normal band in turn. The results rather unsuprisingly showed there was no difference or improvement whatsoever, thus proving that any 'enhancement' that may be felt when using the band is simply a placebo effect; you perform better because you expect yourself to do so.

What annoyed me even more is that these bands have been seen on the wrists of several top sportsmen and women including David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andrew Strauss and Shaquille O'Neal. They've also been seen adorning the wrists of Robert De Niro and Queen-to-be Kate Middleton. These people, in particular the athletes who so many idolise and revere, should be setting a good example in the knowledge that they have the ability to strongly effect their followers consumerism. They should not be encouraging them to buy into these worthless fads that promise unrealistic results for the sake of a cheque in the mail.

Unfortunately the madness doesn't end there; these fads are an all too common occurrence. ShakeWeight, albeit great for it's masturbatory comic value, is another product better suited as a door stop or paper weight. And these are just two examples of a plethora of market products aimed at innocent people who want to find fitness but don't know how.

What more? Diet. Diet. Diet. This is probably the biggest area of conflict in the industry today. It's also the most controversial as the wrong diet can seriously affect your health and well-being. Yet there are so many people promising to 'take the hard work' out of dieting, that people have started to believe dieting truely is hard work. It's not. It's certainly not hard enough that you should buy a fad diet book or pay to attend a group to be told how to eat incorrectly. The trouble spawns out of a country-wide lack of understanding of nutrition and the human body, but you can't argue with people as they always think they know best. "I can eat what I want because I'm trying to put on weight". "I'm trying to lose weight so I'm not going to eat". "I saw a testimonial where a woman on this crash-diet lost 100lbs in 3 months so I'm going to do that". It's not going to be easy to break that cycle - and I especially don't expect that people will take some unknown blogger's word on the net as gospel - but I intend to do what I can to help those who are interested in fitness, nutrition, health or generally looking to change their lives for the better.

But come on, there must be some secret, right? Wrong. Believe me, over the last few years I've lost 35lbs/15kg and I've put 39lbs/18kg back on in lean muscle mass. And how did I do it? With nothing more than a head full of good advice and a heart full of grit and determination. I'm sorry to burst your bubble but there are no shortcuts. You want to lose weight? You've got to get up off your ass, get your body moving, get your heart rate up and burn some damn calories. And you've gotta back that up with a good diet. You want to start by working out your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR. This tells you how many calories your body uses on a typical day. Then subtract 500. This is how many calories you need to be eating per day for successful weight loss. And you need to reach that calorie target with a balanced diet made up of protein, complex carbohydrates and good fats. That's right, fats. You've got to be eating fat to lose fat - I'm rocking your world right now, aren't I? You also want to be eating smaller meals every 2-3 hours to really fire up that metabolism. You know that lethargic feeling after a big meal? A food coma? That's your body struggling to process the mountain of food you've just piled up inside it and it's the fastest way to a slow metabolism and unwanted weight gain.

And please, to all those thousands of people out there who think they can lose fat by not eating - listen to me when I tell you you're going about it the wrong way. If you don't eat your body will go catabolic. This is the process where the body breaks down large molecules into smaller ones to create the energy you're not providing with food. In essence, your body is eating away at itself. Might sound great to someone who wants to lose weight but it's not. The human body is a wonder and when starved it will actually go into 'survival mode' - slowing down your metabolism and storing any fat you have. Often you may find you actually gain more fat. Any weight loss you achieve from starving yourself is a loss of water and muscle tissue, leaving you weak and frail. Your immune system will also take a beating leaving you feeling run down, permanently lethargic and unwell. 

Nothing about exercising or diet has to be hard work. Trust me when I say that the more you do it, the more you enjoy it. Once you see the benefits of training smart and training hard; once you see the fat come off or the muscle mass pile on, you will be hooked and you will love it.