Busting 3 Fat-Loss Myths

One of the worst myths I hear is that eating “health food” will help you stay lean.

The truth is you can eat nothing but tofu and rice cakes all day, and live the life of a monk, and still gain weight in today’s world. That’s because the key to high-speed fat burning has nothing to do with what modern “nutritionists” are talking about.

Let me explain…

Myth #1: Cutting calories will make you drop weight. Cutting calories doesn’t work because your body has a built-in intelligence. For example, if you drop your calories too low and grow hungry, your body reacts as if it’s starving and does everything it can to preserve fat. And whether you eat 500 calories or 5,000 calories a day, you’ll gain weight if you don’t eat the right kinds of calories.

For example, a starchy carb calorie is not the same as a protein calorie or a fat calorie. Your body “counts” them in completely different ways. Take a French fry, for example. That’s almost the same as eating table sugar. And the excess sugar of starches and carbs is what spikes your blood sugar and eventually gets stored as fat.

But a burger, on the other hand, is filled with protein – an essential form of fuel. So when you eat protein your body uses this energy source to function at its best – and actually melt fat. That’s why it’s not about eating fewer calories, it’s about eating the right stuff.

Two patients of mine demonstrated this better than any study I’ve ever read. One patient, S.T., was trying to gain weight. He ate from 4,500-5,000 calories a day of mainly high-protein foods. And you know what? He dropped six pounds.

But L.S. on the other hand was trying to drop weight. He cut more than 600 calories a day from his diet, exercised five days a week, and still ended up gaining four pounds.

Myth #2: Cutting back on fat will make you drop weight. Eating fat doesn’t make you fat. But eating the wrong kinds of fat will. Our bodies need fat to absorb vitamins. In fact, vitamins A, D, E, K and CoQ10 can’t even be absorbed without fat. And when you deprive yourself of fat, you eat more carbs. And that’s what really makes you fat.

One study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who ate low-fat diets showed no improvement in body composition, blood sugar, insulin levels, or blood pressure.1

The key to fat loss is NOT to deprive yourself of the fatty foods you were born to eat. You just need to make sure you eat the right kinds of fats in the right ratios.

Myth #3: Long cardio workouts lead to fat loss. The exercise industry has been spoon-feeding this lie to you for years. They tell you that spending long hours pounding away at the treadmill at the gym is what you need to do to melt fat. But they’ve got it all wrong. Melting fat while you exercise tells your body to make more fat to melt the next time you exercise. And after a while, your body gets very good at doing just that. And before you know it, you’ve hit a plateau. No matter how many hours you spend at the gym or how grueling your workouts are … you can’t drop the pounds. That’s why the key to lasting fat-loss exercise is to melt fat after you exercise – not while you work out.

At my Center for Health & Wellness in Florida, I’ve used a seven-step plan that has worked wonders for my patients. It’s from my book, High Speed Fat Loss in 7 Easy Steps.

To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD