Diet and Exercise, Fat Loss, Nutrition Articles, Vitamin Information


	10 Surprising Facts About Health and Fitness Many facts about fitness are obvious to almost everyone. One such fact is that getting into shape requires regular exercise, sound nutrition, and adequate rest. But some other facts are less obvious, and others are downright surprising to many. Although these facts can be surprising, knowing them can make a big difference in your ability to achieve your goals. So, here they are: The most fattening nutrient is fat. There is a low-carb craze that has many people believing that carbs are the most fattening nutrients. But anything that gets stored as fat must be converted to fat. The exception to this rule is fat which needs no conversion. Also, something must yield 9 Calories for every gram of fat that it creates, but a gram of carbohydrates only yields about 4 Calories. There is no way to get 9 Calories out of only 4 without breaking the laws of physics. So gram for gram, carbohydrates can never add as much fat as fats. Weightlifting is more effective than cardio for fat loss. Cardio is excellent exercise. It improves the circulatory and respiratory systems. It also burns a lot of calories which helps with fat loss. But weightlifting is even better for fat loss. In addition to burning calories directly, weightlifting increases your lean mass which increases your resting metabolic rate to burn more calories 24 hours per day. Also, when your body is in a caloric deficit, it can break down either muscle or fat to balance that deficit. Weightlifting stimulates the body to build muscle instead of burning it. This forces the body to be more selective in using fat instead of muscle to satisfy a caloric deficit. Losing fat is physiologically easy but psychologically hard. It takes a caloric deficit of around 3,500 Calories to lose a pound of fat. This is around 7.7 Calories per gram of fat loss. But it takes a caloric surplus of around 4,091 Calories to gain a pound of fat. This is around 9 Calories per gram of fat gain. There is a disparity here. The reason for this disparity is that you get less usable energy out of a system than you put in. For example, if you alternated between a 500 Calorie surplus (more than 1/8 lb fat gain) per day and a 500 Calorie deficit (1/7 lb fat loss) per day, it will be a caloric equilibrium over time, but you will still lose fat. So, the laws of physics make it physiologically easier to lose fat than to gain fat. Losing fat is psychologically hard because we have survival instincts that program us to acquire energy (Calories) and conserve it. It is why we crave high Calorie foods and feel low on energy when we go hungry. It is possible to still starve while eating excess calories. If someone eats 1,000 grams of fat per day and nothing else, that person would be ingesting 9,000 Calories per day. That is a very high caloric intake. But that person would still be starving from lack of protein, carbohydrates, etc. So, starvation can happen in a caloric surplus or a caloric deficit if the diet is nutrient deficient. In starvation, the body will cannibalize lean tissue and bone mass for the necessary nutrients to stay alive. Also, a caloric deficit on its own will only cause starvation if the person is at the lower limit of their body fat storage. That is because the body will have to cannibalize lean tissue if there is not enough fat to use in this case. In all other cases, the body will tap into its fat stores to balance out the caloric deficit. Frankly, this is how people get leaner. In normal cases, starvation is caused by a lack of nutrients. This causes the body to cannibalize lean tissue to satisfy the deficiency in nutrients. When trying to cut Calories, some people become deficient in caloric nutrients like protein or carbohydrates. It's because cutting out these nutrients is a way of cutting calories. This deficiency in nutrients is what causes starvation. But it gives the illusion that starvation is caused by the caloric deficit. Perfectionism can work against you. People who only workout in perfect conditions rarely ever do. They also quit at the slightest inconvenience. People who stay fit don't wait for perfect workout conditions. Also, they don't always have perfect meals or sleep schedules. They do the best they can with the resources they have in the situations that they are in. It is why they excel. In fitness, perfectionism can be the enemy of excellence. Excess amounts of a nutrient stop acting like the nutrient. To understand this, we must first know what a nutrient is. A nutrient is a substance the body needs but cannot make enough of to satisfy the need. So, if your body needs something but cannot make enough of it, you must consume it, which is what makes it a nutrient. But once you have eaten the limit of what your body can use, any extra won't work the way the nutrient does. Caloric nutrients such as carbs, protein, or fats illustrate this clearly. For example, once you have eaten the maximum amount of a caloric nutrient that your body can use, any extra becomes empty calories. The faster you lose weight, the harder it is to keep it off. Losing weight quickly makes it harder to keep it off for physiological and psychological reasons. Losing 2 pounds of fat per week may not sound like much, but it takes a 1,000 Calorie deficit per day to do. So, if someone loses 10 pounds in a week, they probably lost muscle and water with the fat. After all, it's not likely that anyone can maintain a 5,000 Calorie per day deficit. The lost muscle will slow the metabolism and make it hard to keep the weight off. Rapid weight loss also needs drastic changes that disrupt the lifestyle. It makes the person want to get it over with so they can go back to their old lifestyle. But doing so will cause the person to gain the weight back. Slower weight loss needs less drastic adjustments to a person's lifestyle. These adjustments will likely become habits by the time the person reaches their goal. Water is the best thing for removing toxins. Many people see regular detox as part of a healthy lifestyle. It makes sense, and some people will use supplements to do it. But the body also has ways to detoxify itself. Here are 3 of the most effective: Bowels Urination Perspiration They all excrete water from the body and need water to work. For example, dehydration can cause constipation regardless of how much fiber you eat. So if you want the cheapest and most effective detox, stay hydrated. A measuring tape is better than a bathroom scale. Muscle is denser than fat. So, as people get fitter, they sometimes will gain weight while shrinking in size. This is a case where the bathroom scale can deceive you. No trousers or dress sizes are listed in pounds or kilograms. A measuring tape is more accurate than a bathroom scale for measuring your progress. It is smaller, lighter, and more portable too. Whoever acquires and prepares your food will dictate what you eat. Whoever acquires and prepares your food makes your food available to eat. Also, you can only eat what's available, which is why they will dictate what you eat. So, you will need to take part in grocery shopping and meal preparation if you want high-quality nutrition. This is especially true if you live with someone who eats a lot of junk food. These facts are surprising to many people. But knowing them can make a difference in reaching your goals or not. They can also affect your long-term health. So, they are worth remembering and applying. Other articles

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