Another myth dispelled...

Sometimes you have to say enough is enough. And this is one of those times.

Since I started this blog I have received a tremendous amount of feedback on how confusing the nutrition marketing machine can be when we are trying to understand food labels and fat loss choices. The folks that I speak to don't want to be fooled by fitness and nutrition misinformation anymore.

So this weeks post is about dispelling a common myth about exercise and the type of energy used by the body to do that particular exercise.

Here is the myth: exercising at a lower intensity burns more fat than exercising at a higher intensity because when you exercise at a higher intensity, you instead burn more sugar.

Alright, here is the most simple way I know how to explain this.

When you exercise, your body burns a combination of fuels (carbohydrates and fat).

The lower the intensity, the more fuel that comes from fat. This is because fat requires oxygen to "burn". When you start exercising too intensely, it becomes anaerobic (which means, without oxygen--hence your huffing and puffing for air). As your intensity increases, your body starts to shift more towards using carbohydrates for fuel (think walking to running). But, when you increase your intensity (walking to running to sprinting), you burn more calories per total time spent exercising..

You need to burn more calories to lose body fat.

Therefore, exercising at a higher intensity is the winner if weight loss is your goal. It does not matter if those calories come from fat or carbohydrates; it matters that you are using calories by moving more!

Here is where the confusion lies.
I said that more fuel comes from fat when you exercise at a lower intensity. That does not mean you are burning more body fat -- you are not literally breaking down body fat and using it like gas in a race car.

Fat as fuel and body fat are different. In fact, research continues to mound that higher intensity exercise is more effective than lower intensity exercisefor fat loss. Most people like to hear that low intensity exercise is better -- because it is easier! But it is not as effective.

As Emeril says in his show, you have to "kick it up a notch." In fact, saying lower intensity movement is better for weight loss is like telling someone sitting is more effective than exercising if they want to lose fat. Sounds goofy to recommend sitting for weight loss, doesn't it? But if the thought is that low intensity exercise burns more fat, let's take it to extremes and burn the most fat possible by sitting or sleeping.

What a joke! Of course weight loss requires smart nutrition to truly be effective exercise in and of itself has little effect on fat loss -- when coupled with nutrition, the pieces to the puzzle start tocome together.

Hope this helps,

Til next time...