What if I did it on an empty stomach in the morning and in my target heart rate
zone? (read that one sarcastically!)
I'll say it one last time. We need to be more concerned with our 24-hour metabolism,
not how much fat or even how many calories are burned during the workout.
Myth 4: Drinking ice cold water will help you burn calories and
lose fat.
Standing in line at the grocery store is a great place to pick up the latest fat
loss myths. You'll also find this one all over the Internet.
This myth often comes along with some calculations showing that by drinking 8 glasses
of ice-cold water you can burn 70 calories per day. I don't believe that actually
holds true in real life. Regardless, drinking cold water is not going to burn any
more fat off your body than drinking room temperature water.
Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe you should drink 12 glasses of water per
day, but the temperature of your water won't have any effect on your overall fat
loss success.
Myth #5: Adding one pound of muscle will burn 50 extra calories
each day.
Uh-oh, now I'm cutting down a myth that supports my use of strength training in
a fat loss program. But I have an obligation to set the record straight about this
extremely prevalent myth (even though I just saw a big name fitness expert perpetuate
this myth in a recent article!).
This myth sounds so good. Add a pound ouf muscle, boost your metabolism 50 calories.
That doesn't seem out of line at all.
But do the math for a guy that puts on 30 pounds of muscle. Does his metabolism
really increase by 1500 calories? Absolutely not. For an average guy, that would
require his resting metabolism to increase from 2500 calories to 4000 calories per
day. How would he be able to keep any of that muscle with a metabolism like that?
He'd have to eat like a pig forever.
So when you look at the big picture, you can see this little myth start to fall
apart.
That's not to say you should stop your strength training, but just don't use this
myth as an excuse to cheat on your diet.
Bonus Myth: Negative Calorie Foods Cause You to Lose Weight
According to the "experts", a negative calorie food requires more energy
to digest than it provides you when you eat it. And included in the negative calorie
food list are apples and bananas.
So by this logic, I would actually starve to death if I had nothing to eat but apples
(because I would have a net energy loss from eating a so-called "negative calorie"
food).
There is no such thing as a negative calorie food.
It's a shame that people are out there promoting this stuff, and it's too bad that
so many people fall for it.
Remember the old phrase, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Instead, let the common sense fat loss principles apply. It's going to take consistent
effort, working hard at your workouts and with your nutrition to get the results
you want.
I guarantee you that Turbulence Training will successfully guide you to the fat
loss you deserve and desire.
Sincerely,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training