The 10 Biggest Lies Blokes Believe About Weight Loss part one of two
02/11/2009 at 08:25pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
Fat Free Fitness' article about weight loss myths as featured on leading men's wedding site www.iamstaggered.com.
If trimming down for The Big Day is something your missus won’t stop banging on about, or you’ve watched Fight Club recently and thought to yourself ‘a body like that can’t be too hard to get, can it?’, this is for you.
You see, as consumers, we get fed (pun maybe intended) a lot of conflicting information about getting into shape. I’m here to debunk the most common diet and fitness untruths, like a fitness version of that bloke off Mythbusters, but without the awesome handlebar tache.
Myth one: Sit ups = a six pack
Gents, this is number one in the list for a reason, as so many men base their trimming down efforts around this one exercise.
Although yes, crunches and sit-ups do help develop your abs, what good are they if they’re hidden away behind the flabby result of your fondness for kebabs and Snickers? Whether you’re going for Vin Diesel, Daniel Craig or Brad Pitt’s look, getting rid of the telltale sign that you’re not afraid of a few tinnies will have your bride-to-be rushing through the nuptials to get you in the matrimonial sack.
Myth Two: One pint won’t hurt
I hate to break it to you, but a session at the gym rounded off with a pint or two could be why your gut just doesn’t want to shift.
When it comes to accepting that the calories we take on through alcohol can completely negate any good we may have done at the gym or on the roads, many blokes choose to justify having a drink by saying that they in some way deserve it for training. As hard as it may be to hear, giving your mate a piggyback after he’s just declared his love for you for the 20th time doesn’t really count as exercise either.
The average pint has around 200 calories give or take, which means that a couple of drinks can totally ruin your efforts. Try picking a day a week where you drink, and cutting the amount you drink; either by taking longer over your pint or alternating between diet coke and pints on a night out.
Myth Three: You don’t need to lose weight
Whether you suck it in when you pass a mirror, or choose to ignore the fact you’re down to the last few holes on your belt, if you find yourself heading for the crisps almost automatically every time you go in to pay for petrol, chances are you could do with losing a few pounds.
I know, I know, you’ve heard it all before, but those few pounds can lead quite quickly to a few stone, inching you (again, pun maybe intended) towards potential Diabetes, heart problems and the dejection of relatives and mates thinking it’s funny to poke your bulging stomach.
Myth Four: Eating eggs raw a la Rocky is the way forward
The Rocky films are home to some of the best training scenes ever filmed, without doubt, but also responsible for one of the silliest fads to enter the world of fitness.
You see, gulping down uncooked eggs won’t help you as much as you may think. Although on average every egg has around 9 grams of protein, the bioavailability (basically, how much of the nutrients your body can actually utilise) of the protein in a raw egg is significantly less than that of a cooked egg.
If you’re trying to develop the size and shape of your muscles at all, whether through bulking up or just going for a bit more definition, protein is your friend. You’ll want as much of it as possible, within reason, around 1 gram per pound of bodyweight per day, according to many reports. So, to take on protein that your body simply won’t use is not only inefficient, but you’ll have to drink slimy yolks too.
Some reports say that only 50% of the protein from uncooked eggs is usable, whilst over 90% is useable from cooked eggs. Bear it in mind when your mate waxes lyrical about how manly his drinking raw egg makes him.
Myth Five: Obesity doesn’t affect sperm count
So, you’re getting married. Chances are, having a nipper will be pretty high on your priorities, or if you already have one, no doubt she’s planning numbers 2, 3 and 4 as you read this.
Let’s not disappoint her then by glossing over the fact that being overweight and lazy does exactly the same thing for your swimmers. Many studies, as recently as last month have shown that overweight men have a much higher chance of having a low volume of sperm, and some studies show that sperm mobility is affected too. In short – the lazier you are, the lazier your sperm are.
Part two coming up soon!
Fat Free Fitness featured on men's wedding site iamstaggered.co.uk!
02/11/2009 at 08:18pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
Leading men's wedding site iamstaggered.co.uk, which gives men down-to-earth advice and information about everything wedding and marriage related asked Fat Free Fitness to write an article about weight loss myths men most commonly believe. Check it out below!
http://www.iamstaggered.com/featured/fitness-the-10-biggest-lies-blokes-believe-about-weight-loss
Top fashion website features Fat Free Fitness!
30/10/2009 at 08:24am by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
Leading celebrity fashion website gave us a fantastic mention - featuring our recent Christmas dieting tips! Check the coverage out below.
http://www.mycelebrityfashion.co.uk/article/how-to-fit-into-your-christmas~632/
How to fit into your Christmas Party Dress - without all the lumps and bumps!
28/10/2009 at 08:00am by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
It’s just under two months until Christmas party season kicks off, and if you’re looking to trim down to fit into your party dress, you haven’t got a moment to waste.
We here at the UK’s only specialist weight loss personal training agency www.fatfreefitness.co.uk are urging women looking to slim down for Christmas and New Year to start their efforts sooner rather than later in a bid to prevent dangerous ‘crash dieting’. We've written a guide for trimming down in a short space of time, which we hopes will help people approach weight loss healthily this Christmas.
With Christmas and New Year festivities just around the corner, we thought now was the time to ask the public to start thinking about their weight loss.
You can expect to lose 2-4lbs a week with healthy eating and exercise, something people should bear in mind if they’re thinking about losing weight in time for Christmas.
Crash dieting, no matter which celebrity is doing it, is dangerous, eventually unsuccessful, and all too often relied on as a last resort. Why wait to start something in January that can only ever be a quick fix, when you can start something now that will help you see real lasting results?
I've put together my top 5 tips for losing weight in a timeframe:
1. Keep a food diary – keeping track of what you eat and when keeps you honest and you’ll be able to reflect on what worked and what didn’t
2. Don’t diet! – You’ll lose weight short term, but you’ll also lower your metabolism, meaning you’ll burn fewer calories during the day
3. Get active! – Whether it’s walking the kids to school, going for bike rides or leaving the car at home, any exercise will help you lose weight. Using personal trainers and/or joining a gym and following a good programme can help you reach your ideal weight and shape even quicker
4. Tell a friend – Telling family and friends will reinforce your effort and they’ll keep you on track
5. Set realistic goals – Expect to lose 2-4 lbs a week with healthy eating and exercise – start your weight loss journey with this in mind
If you’re looking to fit into a dress you may have outgrown but kept hidden in the back of the wardrobe, or would love to slim down to fit into that dress you’ve had your eye on, we know how to help.
We often get asked how many lbs you’d need to lose in order to drop a dress size, and whilst this isn’t an exact science and it totally depends on the dress sizes you’re dropping from and to, anything between 7-10lbs is a good estimate, although never guaranteed.
So, if you’re looking to drop one size, give yourself 4 or 5 weeks of healthy eating and activity and as long as you’re being honest with yourself, you’ll get there. The people who struggle to lose weight are quite often the ones who either aren’t being 100% truthful with themselves and others, or who aren’t aware of the small things that make a big difference, like the useless calories from alcohol.
Although I don't personally believe in one-size fits all eating plans as marketed by some dieting companies, there are a number of pitfalls I believe people should avoid.
Don’t let yourself get caught out; many people looking to lose weight have been caught out by one of the following:
• Thinking of your healthy eating as a ‘diet’. Diets are synonymous with deprivation, and depriving yourself of things you want will lead to you resenting losing weight, one of the main reasons people get so depressed and simply revert to old eating habits. Beat this by learning to see treats as a vital part of any weight loss effort.
• Obsessing over your calories. Calories are just a unit of measurement, don’t be scared of them. Try not to be one of those people who tells your co-workers about every single meal you eat and know that whilst overeating won’t help your weight loss, there’s always a chance to make up for it.
• Skipping meals. Whilst avoiding breakfast might seem like a good idea, it’ll sting you in the long run. Eating small and often, so you know that your next meal is just a few hours away will prevent you from snacking in-between. Prepare food the night before to ensure you can eat regularly, whilst at work or out and about.
Good luck with getting into shape and allow looking and feeling great throughout the party season to be your prize!
Fat Free Fitness Weightloss Agency is a Gloucestershire-based company that partners people who wish to lose weight with qualified and experienced trainers and diet experts whilst enabling them to track their weightloss journey online through personalised updates.
What to do with your wobbly bits
22/10/2009 at 06:04pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
Whether it’s ‘bingo wings’, ‘flabby tums’ or ‘thunder thighs’, you may have them and hate them.
The thing with some of the faddier fitness developments and products is that they’ve incorrectly marketed the idea that you can ‘spot reduce’; or lose body fat from problem areas by simply exercising that body part. Products like ab cradles promote the belief that by doing hundreds of crunches, you can rid your stomach of fat and reveal an amazing toned torso.
Put simply, spot reduction is a myth. You could do 1000 situps a day at home or in the gym, but if you’ve got a layer of body fat hiding the muscle behind it, you’ll see no real difference. You’ll probably become disillusioned as a result, carrying your unhappiness around with you and maybe even spread your experience to friends, family and co-workers that ‘no matter how much you exercise, it just doesn’t seem to be working’. What should be noted is that there are many different types of exercise, crunches being part of the resistance exercise group. Not all exercise was created equal!
I’ll give you some advice. It’s not all about training hard, it’s also about training smart.
Whether you cycle your way to being slim, run, box, swim, walk, skip or dance, exercise-wise, you simply can’t forget the cardio. Whilst resistance training (with weights or your body weight) is fantastic and can help with the shape of your body and increase your metabolism and thus the calories you burn, be sure not to fall into the trap of neglecting the cardiovascular exercise!
Maybe you weren’t aware that you can’t just crunch your way into smaller jeans, or maybe (and be honest here!) you just don’t want to do any cardio and find any excuse to avoid it. The bottom line is, sure, identify the areas you want to improve most, but know that you can’t lose weight from designated areas – when you lose weight, you lose it from all over.
<< Previous 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | Next >>
Newsletter Signup
Sign Up For Free Tips & Advice
Top 5 Blogs
Guest post - Why do we overeat? Includes tips on how to beat it!
Guest post: Male fitness cover-model David White gives his diet alternatives!
Rich gives guest interview to online fitness magazine finalfitness.co.uk
Real life story - How Fitness Changed My Life
Good news: a big bum = healthy! Health, Diet and Fitness Today - 12/01/10
Have you read these?
Kelly Brook talks diet and exercise
Could this talking plate prevent childhood obesity? Health, Diet and Fitness Today - 06/01/10
What to do with your wobbly bits
Good news: a big bum = healthy! Health, Diet and Fitness Today - 12/01/10
Fat Free Fitness on Gloucester's Heart FM 102.4
Fat Free Fitness Weight Loss
Launched in 2009, fatfreefitness.co.uk is the UK's only weight loss specific personal training agency. Fat Free Fitness helps you stop dieting and counting calories, by teaching you how to improve your nutrition, increase your activity and exercise levels and lose weight. Fatfreefitness.co.uk is a great way to lose weight and save money. fatfreefitness provides you with expert diet, fitness, exercise, gym and personal training advice and support, similar to ivillage.co.uk, weightlossforall.com, thecolumn.org, weightlossforgood.co.uk, tescodiets.co.uk and weightlossresources.co.uk. Win diet, exercise and fitness products by entering fatfreefitness.co.uk competitions. Fatfreefitness.co.uk is not a weight loss support group like Weight Watchers weightwatchers.co.uk or Slimming World slimmingworld.com. Fat Free Fitness is updated regularly with new information. Fatfreefitness.co.uk and weight loss expert, personal trainer and fatfreefitness.co.uk founder Rich Leigh disagree with and discourage fat loss tablets, diet tablets and weight loss aid tablets, fad dieting and crash diets such as the Atkins diet, the Cambridge diet, the cabbage soup diet, the Beverley Hills diet, the baby food diet and all other carbohydrate and calorie restricting diets.
