Nutrition Myths by Nancy Clark

These Myths are from the Galloway book Women’s Complete Guide to Running. I made them a little more brief than Nancy. 

Myth: You must exercise in order to lose body fat

“To lose body fat, you must create a calorie deficit.” That is why I was able to loose my extra pounds with the Medifast diet with no exercise. 1000 calories a day. I was very happy with my results.

Myth: The more you exercise, the more fat you lose

I was disappointed to find this a myth. Nancy says, “Often, the more you exercise, the hungrier you get and the more you eat, or the more you believe you “deserve” to eat.” She has got me pegged. More hungry and more deserving! Yeah, I had to stop that because I couldn’t get away with it. Not even with 20 miles!

Myth: If you train for a marathon, your body fat will melt away

“Wishful thinking. I commonly hear marathoners... complain ‘For all the exercise I do, I should be pencil thin...’ They fail to lose fat because they put all their energy into exercising, but then tend to be quite sedentary the rest of the day.” Well, not me on the sedentary, but yeah I was hoping to get thinner. I think her last comment has me pegged. “Remember: calories mindlessly eaten standing up or on-the-run count just as much as calories from meals.” Now she tells me....

Myth: Couples who exercise together, lose fat together

Well us women have a harder time at this because when men TRY they LOSE. So at my house you know who’s giving this their ALL. Enough said.

Nancy’s bottom line: “If you are exercising to lose weight, I encourage you to separate exercise and weight.” Do not do exercise for weight loss - this is like a punishment. “When exercise is something you do to your body, rather that do for your body, you’ll eventually quit exercising. Bad idea.”

Well, I just thought this was a cool chapter.