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20 Facts to Make You Lose Fat & Transform Your Physique

It doesn’t matter where you turn, the fitness industry is everywhere. Whether it’s the celebrity magazines which are covered with bulging biceps, or even the fitness specific publications which shove those beach bodies right in front of us.

facts to Transform Your Physique and Make You Lose Fat

Fitness is more popular than ever – and that’s obviously great for the health of the world.

With interest soaring, some problems do start to occur though. More information starts to be published and suffice to say, not all of this information is accurate. It can mean that a lot of the “real truths” get buried.

Bearing this in mind, this guide will now look at twenty of the most riveting fitness truths around. Take on these facts, and watch your fitness progress soar.

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Don’t worry – losing weight is hard

losing weight is hard

Many of us moan about losing weight and when you read this fact, it’s for good reason. Even if you are just looking to lose 1 pound of fat, you’ll have to burn through around 3,500 calories. This is more than the recommended daily intake for an adult – which puts it all into perspective.

There’s a reason fat is so bad for us

fat is so bad for us

Well in actual fact, there are probably several. However, for the purposes of providing interesting facts, let’s take a look at the actual calories in fat in comparison with other parts of our diet.

While 1g of fat might contain nine calories, if this is compared to carbohydrates and protein it’s more than double. Both of these have 4 calories each, while as an FYI alcohol has 7 calories.

Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store

It might seem to be a strange piece of advice, but the perimeter of grocery stores is where it’s all happening for the healthy guys. Studies have shown that 90% of healthy food is placed on the perimeters, which is pretty staggering to say the least.

Your own body weight can replace the gym

While the glossy promotional material might suggest otherwise, you don’t necessarily need to turn to a gym to reap muscular rewards. Sure, all of the free weights and machinery are bound to make life easier for you and provide a whole concoction of exercises, but don’t forget all of the resistance that your own body can provide.

You can use your own body weight to your advantage and take on all sorts of exercises that can provide you with adequate resistance training.

Skinny guys might be fat

It sounds like an utterly ludicrous statement to make, but there’s a chance that even the skinniest guys around don’t have low fat levels.

Your body composition can be one of the most deceiving things around and while the weighing scales might suggest that you’re underweight, if you look at your body fat level it still might mean you should change your diet. In other words, skinny guys can still have unhealthy bodies.

Six packs don’t necessarily come through direct abdominal exercises

Most rookies believe that six packs come through hours of sit ups. While direct ab exercises can help, they are certainly not necessary.

The beauty about our core is that it is worked even when we’re turning to completely unrelated exercises, such as squats and deadlifts, which seemingly focus on other parts of our body. They stabilize our body and when you combine this with a good diet (which helps the muscles become more visible), you’ll be onto a winner.

Your muscle soreness isn’t related to lactic acid

One of the big misconceptions about that next-day soreness is that it all happens because of a build-up of lactic acid.

In actual fact, this is completely not the case – your lactic acid levels will return to normality within an hour of finishing your exercise, meaning that delayed-onset muscle soreness (as it’s officially known as), is not related in the slightest.

The old ‘muscle weighs more than fat’ myth is false

That’s right. We don’t need to say anymore; every time you hear the notion that muscle weighs more than fat you can dismiss it in an instant.

However, there is a reason why this is often branded around. Muscle might not be heavier than fat, but it is much more dense.

Body fat calipers tell the truth

Body fat calipers

Weighing scales are useful, but they don’t always tell the full story. You might technically have a low BMI, but if you turn to the fat calipers you might reveal some scary truths. Scales won’t tell you how much or little fat you have in your body, while body fat calipers will. It’s here where you can gauge exactly where your body is.

You can lose weight without any cardio work

calorie deficit

Sure, life is going to be much easier if you put your body through cardio work, but it’s not an essential element of a weight loss regime.

Contrary to what a lot of sources might tell you, losing weight actually comes to a very simple equation. As long as you can find a calorie deficit (where you burn more calories than you consume), your weight will without question decrease.

There’s no equation to calculate body fat

There's no equation to calculate body fat

While the experts may have devised countless ways to scrutinize your body’s general condition, when it comes to body fat no such equation exists. In other words, you can’t use your height, weight or anything else to work it out – you have to physically measure it with a device like calipers.

If you have more muscle, you should have less fat

One of the “side effects” of being muscular is that it’s much easier to burn fat as well. This is because muscle tissue burns fat all through the day meaning that the more you have, the more “ripped” you can be.

Working out whilst dehydrated can kill your progress

Even if you are just 3% dehydrated, the effect it can have on your strength is bordering on the unbelievable. Studies have shown that you’ll have 10% less strength and suffice to say, this is going to impact your progress spectacularly.

Most people who start an exercise program quit

If you’ve just started an exercise program, then congratulations – you’re taking the right steps. However, you should be warned that 80% of people who fall into this category end up quitting. This should act as motivation to keep on going; be in the minority!

Surround yourself by people of a high fitness standard

We’re by no means suggesting that you should choose your friends based on their physical fitness. However, an interesting point is that there is generally a high correlation between your own fitness, and the fitness of the people around you.

You can barter with gyms

If you have taken the plunge to join a gym, don’t immediately think that there’s a set price. Often, it’s more than possible to haggle and lower your monthly premiums – the people selling you these packages often have some leeway.

Never use money as an excuse for eating badly

One of the common arguments is that it’s “too expensive to cook healthily”. As well as being untrue in the direct sense, it’s also worth point out that health care costs in the future should also be brought into play. They’ll be much lower if you keep on top of your body.

The 23 hours of non-exercise are just as important as the one hour of working out

You might be putting your body through the mill for an hour of the day, and you might think that this is going to do wonders for your progress during this period. However, you’ll actually burn more calories in the other 23 hours than you will in the hour that you work out.

You can lose weight on a fast food diet

lose weight on a fast food diet

Even if you were to only consume fast foods (or any unhealthy foods, for that matter), you could still lose weight. It all comes down to the calorie deficit and making sure that you consume less than you burn off.

Of course, whether or not your fat levels would be in a positive state is another matter in its entirety.

An adult cannot lose their fat cells

It’s a sad fact, but as soon as we mature into adults we can’t lose our fat cells. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to lose weight – these cells can shrink over time, even to an extent where they are so small that they almost don’t exist.

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About George Allen

George Allen – Author – An AFPA Certified holistic and preventative nutrition professional. George is a well known exercise physiology and sports nutrition expert, the co-founder of MensAnswer.com.
Syracuse University graduate: bachelor’s degree in nutrition/dietetics (B.S.) and a master’s degree in nutrition science with a concentration in counseling (M.A.)
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