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The 10 Biggest Lies Blokes Believe About Weight Loss - part one of two

Posted: 02/11/2009 at 08:21pm 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 (all caps) 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 20^th
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!

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