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Ask Mr. Fitness
Jan. 15th, 2002 08:46 pmI'm feeling a little goofy today (partly because I got "Nutrition for Dummies" yesterday on a whim and partly because I did cardio and no weight lifting today), so I'm gonna pretend like I'm a fitness guru and write a column for y'all. Why? Cause it's my journal.. and I can!
Onto the Column
****
Greetings my little readers and welcome to another exciting week in fitness-land. Today, we've brought back some important and often asked questions for those trying to lose weight and find ultimate fitness (hooray).
Mr. Richard T. Bamboozled asked:
I don't understand why people think that high fat/low carb diets should work. It's unbalanced and leads to real cholesterol problems.
Dear Richard,
This is a good point. Yes, the Atkins Diet (low carb/high fat) does seem to work IF you don't eat too much protein and fat. By denying your body of carbohydrates, it's primary source of fuel to work and exercise and grow and play, you force your body to go to it's secondary sources of fuel: fat and muscle. So, yes, your weight does go down, but at the expense of your muscle and your health.
The Atkins Diet is based on pseudo science that, firstly, protein is directly turned into muscle (wheas, in reality, it is burned into calories and used for many purposes, including , but not only, muscle growth.) and, secondly, that insulin, a hormone created when eating carbohydrates, is directly responsible for weight gain.
As for a diet plan that works, Mr. Fitness suggests eating responsibly and exercising daily. That simple. Just eat responsibly and exercise.
Continuing on...
Mrs. Peggy T. Noodlehead asked:
I just started exercising in the hopes to lose weight. But I'm confused: one book I read said I should work in the fat burning zone and another suggested I work within the cardio zone. Tell me, Mr. Fitness, how hard should I be working out?
Dear Peggy,
Here are the facts on the fat burning and cardio zones.
Fact: The harder you work out, the more calories you burn
Fact: The harder you work out, the more the chance that you will burn muscle instead of fat.
That's the whole principle of the Fat Burning Zone. That if you work at a reasonably slow pace, you'll burn more fat than anything else. However, you burn less calories working the same time in the Fat Burning Zone than in the cardio zone. The more calories you burn a day, the more weight you will lose a week.
Mr. Fitness suggests that you try to work in your cardio zone and add some weight training so that you gain, and not lose, muscle mass.
Stay tuned, ladies and gentleman, for another exciting edition for Mr. Fitness latter. But for now, good day and good luck!
Onto the Column
****
Greetings my little readers and welcome to another exciting week in fitness-land. Today, we've brought back some important and often asked questions for those trying to lose weight and find ultimate fitness (hooray).
Mr. Richard T. Bamboozled asked:
I don't understand why people think that high fat/low carb diets should work. It's unbalanced and leads to real cholesterol problems.
Dear Richard,
This is a good point. Yes, the Atkins Diet (low carb/high fat) does seem to work IF you don't eat too much protein and fat. By denying your body of carbohydrates, it's primary source of fuel to work and exercise and grow and play, you force your body to go to it's secondary sources of fuel: fat and muscle. So, yes, your weight does go down, but at the expense of your muscle and your health.
The Atkins Diet is based on pseudo science that, firstly, protein is directly turned into muscle (wheas, in reality, it is burned into calories and used for many purposes, including , but not only, muscle growth.) and, secondly, that insulin, a hormone created when eating carbohydrates, is directly responsible for weight gain.
As for a diet plan that works, Mr. Fitness suggests eating responsibly and exercising daily. That simple. Just eat responsibly and exercise.
Continuing on...
Mrs. Peggy T. Noodlehead asked:
I just started exercising in the hopes to lose weight. But I'm confused: one book I read said I should work in the fat burning zone and another suggested I work within the cardio zone. Tell me, Mr. Fitness, how hard should I be working out?
Dear Peggy,
Here are the facts on the fat burning and cardio zones.
Fact: The harder you work out, the more calories you burn
Fact: The harder you work out, the more the chance that you will burn muscle instead of fat.
That's the whole principle of the Fat Burning Zone. That if you work at a reasonably slow pace, you'll burn more fat than anything else. However, you burn less calories working the same time in the Fat Burning Zone than in the cardio zone. The more calories you burn a day, the more weight you will lose a week.
Mr. Fitness suggests that you try to work in your cardio zone and add some weight training so that you gain, and not lose, muscle mass.
Stay tuned, ladies and gentleman, for another exciting edition for Mr. Fitness latter. But for now, good day and good luck!