New "Superfood" to Lose Weight!

        We have all heard the term “superfood” that claims do something amazing like lose 20lbs in a month or get you abs in a ridiculously short amount of time.  They range from some fruit juice containing some new berry, to some magic pill and special shakes!  If this worked everyone would be walking around lean with six pack abs!  I hear this term used mainly by a salesperson trying to make a quick buck.  Most of these foods are endorsed by some movie star who apparently used this to get in shape. Everyone by now has heard of Acai berry for losing weight.….hmmmm right!  Stop falling for this and understand there is no shortcut for getting in shape! 

            Some of these foods are high in a certain nutrients (omegas, antioxidants, vitamins etc.), but always think, does the nutrient in the food even have anything to do with weight loss or whatever else they are claiming the product does.  Most of the time what they claim doesn’t even make sense.  A friend of mine recently called me telling me about a new found “superfood” for weight loss that claimed to drop belly fat and help people lose 2 pounds a week!  He then went on to try and get me to market it too my clients.  I had to stop and think, did he really believe the product would help people lose weight or even understand what the product was he was trying to sell?  My friend worked as an electrician, lived an unhealthy lifestyle, smoked probably a pack a day consumed a lot of alcohol and ate fast food almost daily.  Right sounds like the authority on fitness to me.  Don't get me wrong he is a very nice guy.  Always look at who is trying to sell you the product and you can easily tell if they are trying to make a profit or actually knowledgeable.  Upon research I found the product he was trying to sell me was a natural plant high in fiber and maybe some vitamins taken in a pill or powder form.  Would that be something new to help people lose weight, not at all considering you get fiber and the same vitamins from vegetables and many other foods available at the grocery store!  Wouldn’t a healthy diet and exercise get people the same results without the expensive supplement? I think so.

           I do agree that some of these foods are high in certain nutrients and very well may be healthy for you, however how does overloading on a certain nutrient help you when your body only needs so much of it?  Just because something is healthy for you doesn’t mean there isn’t a point where too much is not healthy!  I know exercising is good for me but should I work out ten hours a day.

              You can’t just research the “top ten superfoods” and think eating them will make up for your lack of exercise and crappy diet.  These so called foods will not make up for the other poor choices in your nutrition.

            Instead of focusing on one so called “superfood” in your diet try eating a variety of natural clean foods and combining this with a realistic exercise program made for your goals and then you will see results!

Dan The Man’s Myth Busters! Myth #1- Spot Reduction!

People have been led to believe by the media trying to sell gimmicks that certain exercises will burn fat in certain areas.  We all remember the "Thigh Master", who go skinnier thighs from using that?  For example doing a thousand crunches and other abdominal exercises will drop body fat in your abdominal area right?...No this is ridiculous and doesn’t work!, Here’s why;

            This is a myth known as “spot reduction” and will not work.  Fat stored in the abdominal region, known as adipose tissue cannot be burned by the body until it is converted into Free Fatty Acids (FFA) by the liver witch when metabolized create large quantities of ATP; which provides energy for the body.  For this to take place your body needs to be burning more calories than are being consumed.  Unfortunately fat is lost on the entire body and is genetically determined where it will be burned from first.  Diet and exercise will reduce ENTIRE body fat not just from one place. 

         The truth is you have no more control over where you lose body fat from than you did over where you gained it!