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Misconceptions About Weight Loss

• Exercise burns relatively few calories and therefore makes an insignificant contribution to changing the energy balance.
  - Even though total calories expended during exercise seem to be low, a negative energy balance of as little as 200 calories a day can result in weight loss over time.
  - For example: A 170 lb person decides to add one hour of tennis, three days a week to their schedule. Adding this will replace 1 hour of watching television.
  - Calories burned playing tennis = .045 calories a minute per pound of weight
  - So: 170 lbs X .045 X 60 minutes = 459 calories
  - Calories burned watching television = .008 calories a minutes per pound of weight.
  - So: 170 lbs X .008 X 60 minutes = 81 calories
  - 459 calories - 81 calories = 378 more calories burned for each hour of tennis
  - Intense activity (anaerobic exercise) can burn fat hours afterward; 3 to 14 hours
  
• An increase in physical activity will automatically result in an increase of the amount of food eaten.
  - In lab tests, when moderate exercise is performed, food intake either remains the same or decreases. At the same time, weight will decrease. With longer periods of sustained activity, food intake will increase in response to increase caloric expenditure. In this case, weight will remain the same if the diet is ad lib.
  
• Exercise can be used to reduce fat from a specific area of the body.
  - Fat loss will occur in a preprogrammed proportion dependent upon genetics, sex, and hormonal levels.
  - Areas with the largest amount of fat lose more fat although these areas will seem to be totally reduced last.
  - With adequate fat loss muscular definition will be achieved in the peripheral and gradually toward the waist, hips, or thighs.
  - Exercise will help burn calories and maintain lean body weight, which can result in fat loss. Increases in muscle in specific areas can change the appearance of those areas but will not result in specific loss of body fat.
  - If the muscle mass improvements out pace fat loss in a specific area, girth can be greater.
  
• Sauna and steam baths are effective for losing weight.
  - Any weight loss occurring in saunas or steam baths is fluid loss. These fluids will be replaced and the weight will come back.
  
• Passive exercise machines can be used to reduce body weight.
  - Many machines exist that are electronically powered, which do the work for you. These types of machines won't assist in weight loss or fat reduction.

Why Diets Fail

1. Most diets restrict your caloric intake so much that your metabolism slows down.
   - Drastically reducing calories can slow your metabolism and hinder the weight loss process
   - Very subtle decreases in calories may result in more permanent weight loss
   - If too few of calories are being consumed, simultaneous adjustments should be made
   - Increase calories throughout day by eating 3 balance meals and 2-3 snacks
   - Increase anaerobic activity and aerobic activity
   
2. Dieting may result in depression, which is counter-productive to losing weight.
   -Depriving yourself of food can lead to depriving yourself of social events. You may give up eating meals out or eating with friends because you don't want to eat something off your diet. This can lead to depression and possible overeating to compensate for what you’re missing.
   
3. Most diets don't encourage lifestyle changes.
   -Making temporary changes in eating habits or eating prepackaged foods from weight loss programs will facilitate weight loss. However, when you reach your goals or go off the weight loss program, you maybe more likely to return to old eating habits and gain the weight back (and possibly more). To have permanent weight loss, you must make permanent changes in food choices and eating habits.
   
4. With very low calorie diets, weight loss is usually lean body weight.
   -Diets that severely restrict caloric intake, facilitates loss of lean body weight as opposed to fat weight. This can result in a person who isn't overweight, but has a high body fat composition.

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