I’m here to warn you about 5 fat loss myths that most people fall for by the time they are over 50. There is so much confusion out there.

This might come across as a soapbox rant, and for that I apologize, but trust me when I say that this is a message that needs to be spread. Your body’s ability to lose fat depends on it.

Don’t waste your time on ANY of these:

This is a Myth: Diet pills will help you lose fat.

It’s so tempting! The commercials make compelling claims about the power of diet pills, but don’t fall for it. The ‘magic pill’ has yet to be discovered (it has been discovered – exercise. It’s just not in pill form…). Diet pills are more likely to damage your health and burn your pocketbook than to slim you down.

They almost damaged my health … click here​ for my personal experience of addiction to these darn pills!

Don’t pop a pill—instead burn calories with exercise.

This is a Myth: You should starve yourself to lose fat.

Attempting to lose weight by starving yourself is not only ineffective, it’s also dangerous. It may seem that severe calorie restriction would deliver the quickest weight loss, but your body is complex and by doing so you’ll disrupt your metabolism and slow your results.

Don’t starve yourself—instead eat healthy small meals throughout the day.

This is a Myth: Lots of crunches will flatten your abs.

We all want our midsection to look trim and toned, mostly so our clothes fit better, but excessive crunches aren’t the answer to this. Surprised? In order to achieve a leaner more toned look you’ll have to focus on burning off the layer of fat that is covering up your midsection.

Don’t obsess about crunches—instead focus on fat burning. At Your Personal Best we don’t do crunches at all and our clients get GREAT results!

This is a Myth: Eat packaged diet foods for speedy results.

It is amazing to see the kinds of foods that are packaged as ‘diet’ or ‘weight loss’ aids. More often than not these products are packed with refined sugar and other artificial ingredients that your body doesn’t need.

Don’t eat packaged diet foods—instead stick with nutritious whole foods.

This is a Myth: You have to avoid carbs to lose fat.

Carbohydrates have been given a bad rap, which is unfortunate because you can (and should) eat carbs while losing weight. The key is to stick with whole grains, oatmeal and brown rice while avoiding processed and refined flours and sugars.

Don’t swear off all carbohydrates—instead stick with wholesome carbs.

Now that you know what not to do in order to look great this summer, it’s time to go over your active vacation plan with a healthier body in mind.

Here’s what you need to know in 3 simple steps:

DO THIS FIRST: Cut out the junk.

The best way to do this is to start by purging your kitchen. Get rid of sugary, processed and fat-filled foods. Once the junk has been cleared out don’t buy any more of it. Remember that your summer vacation more fit and toned body depends on what you eat – don’t eat junk!

DO THIS SECOND: Focus on whole foods.

Replace the junk food in your life with plenty of the following: cooked and raw vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, moderate amounts of seeds and nuts, lean meats and low fat dairy. Clean eating really is that simple.

DO THIS THIRD: Come train with me.

If you’re over 50 years old, this is the most obvious next step. You’re ready to get into great shape and I’m in a unique position as a Functional Aging Specialist to make that happen for you.

Want more guidance as you take your body from flab to fab? I’d love to help you! Give me a call or shoot me an email and let’s get you on track to shed some major fat!

Let’s do this together.

If you could live a longer, healthier life by taking a small pill each day, you’d do it wouldn’t you? You’d be crazy not to! With this fact in mind, the incredible growth of dietary supplements makes sense. It’s estimated one out of every three Americans currently takes some sort of nutritional supplement each day. According to government statistics, more than $11 billion is spent each year on vitamins and minerals in the U.S. alone!

This extreme interest in health and nutrition is, unfortunately, fueled by false advertisement. The Internet, television, and product labels make claims not backed by science, fooling millions and reaping a sizable paycheck. And in America, supplements are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration the same way that foods are, not as if they are medications. This means supplement manufacturers aren’t required to back their claims by science.

Here are three nutritional  supplement myths to be aware of.

Myth #1: “More Is Better”

If vitamins, minerals, botanicals, and herbs are good for you and available over the counter, they must be safe to take in high doses, right? Science has proven otherwise. You feel a cold coming on so you pop the vitamin C pills and lozenges to ward it off, but too much of certain vitamins and minerals can be dangerous. For example, when you overdose on vitamin C, your body loses its ability to absorb copper; too much phosphorous and your body can’t absorb enough calcium; vitamins A, D, and K can build up to toxic levels wtih large dosages; too much vitamin A will put you at risk for osteoporosis; vitamin E may increase your risk of stroke; and iron your risk of heart disease. And you thought those supplements came with no risks.

When choosing a multivitamin and other supplement, look for ones that contain no more than 100 percent of each ingredient and be careful of combining a multivitamin with another vitamin supplement.

Myth #2: “A Supplement Will Make Up for My Unhealthy Diet”

Hate vegetables? Drink too much caffeine? Like to skip breakfast? Well, be wary of relying solely on supplements to make up for your nutritional deficiencies. Supplements should only be taken as icing on the cake since the body is better able to absorb nutrients from real food. Besides, relying on supplements to fill in nutritional gaps can put you at risk for the overdosing dangers mentioned above.

With a healthy diet that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables and lean proteins, you’ve got little room for the need of supplements. Eating a healthy well-rounded diet will also provide millions of phytonutrients unavailable in supplement form. This increases the effects of supplements when taken, as supplements are made less effective when taken on an empty stomach.

Myth #3: “I Can Trust the Claims of Supplement Labels”

Many supplement containers describe the health benefits their ingredients aim to provide. These range from increased vitality to improved disease immunity. While such claims may sound great proper research does not back them. They are, however, great marketing tools that will pull you in and trick you right out of your money.

Supplement companies back their unproven claims with anecdotal evidence. Recently, independent research found that 30 percent of products labeled as multivitamins do not include the ingredients in the amounts listed on the labels and occasionally contain dangerous ingredients.

If you haven’t yet become one of my valued clients then now is the time! I’d like to show you how a consistent, challenging exercise program will dramatically transform your body – once and for all!