What do I mean by overly processed and refined carbs? Think about white bread, donuts, muffins, pastries, white rice, candy, sugary breakfast cereals, white pasta, potato chips, crackers, soda. Foods like these digest very quickly and give your body a rapid spike in blood sugar, which, when fat loss is goal, is something we want to avoid. After your body takes blood sugar it needs to replenish muscle glycogen, whatever is left over from that spike will get stored as fat.

What makes supportive, quality carbs different? They digest more slowly, producing a more gradual rise in blood sugar and providing a more even source of fuel. Look for breads and cereals made from whole grains, pasta made from whole wheat flour, brown rice instead of white rice, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, fruits in moderation and vegetables in abundance. Whole grain carbs will keep you feeling satisfied longer, and not looking to devour a bag of chips within an hour of eating your plain bagel.

So, lesson is to not get taken over by carb phobia and fill your shopping cart up with all of new low carb products. Just like in early 80’s when food manufacturers were frantically trying to come up with low fat versions of every product under sun, they are doing same now in order to sell more products, not because they are concerned with your health. Back then, consumers were tanking up on SnackWell cookies. They are low fat, so they must be okay right? Well, since low fat boom of 80’s, obesity rate in this country has skyrocketed. That is not because true culprit is now carbs. No, reason is because junk food, whether low fat, low carb, or low whatever, is still junk food.

Dave Soucy, Fitness Consultant and Certified Personal Trainer, is the owner of Perfect Fit, LLC.

Next, body does not know why it is suddenly getting less food, so a million years or so of evolution kick in and direct it to go into famine survival mode. Fat is body's long term survival energy source, so it decides that it must conserve fat to survive. That is probably not what you were hoping to hear, but unfortunately that is way it works. In order to make up deficit in available energy sources brought on by diet, body begins to break down muscle to use as an energy source. Another important science nugget to know is that muscle is metabolically active tissue and fat is not. In other words, muscle burns calories throughout day, while fat just sits there. The more muscle you have, more calories you burn, even if you are just sitting on couch. Of course, as we just discovered, dieter is losing muscle due to calorie restricted diet, so he is now actually burning fewer calories throughout day. Again, looking to survive perceived famine, body becomes more efficient at storing fat and slowing down its metabolism to adjust to lack of food coming in. Haven’t we all heard someone complain that no matter how much they diet, they cannot lose weight because they are victim of a slow metabolism? The reality is that, for vast majority of people, we are CREATORS of our metabolism, NOT victims of it. Now body has slowed down it's metabolism to point where dieter stops losing weight. The usual reaction is to cut calories back even further. Of course, as we now understand, this only compounds problem as more muscle will be broken down, further hindering body's ability to burn calories throughout day. Diets based on calorie deprivation usually are not sustainable for long term, and eventually dieter becomes discouraged and returns to their pre-diet eating routine. Unfortunately, this person has slowed down their metabolism significantly and is burning fewer calories than they were pre-diet. So, when they go back to their old eating habits, weight comes right back on and it comes back as fat, not as muscle that they lost. If they started out at 200 lbs with 25% body fat and lost 15 lbs during diet, when they gain weight back and hit 200 lbs again, their body fat percentage will now probably be closer to 30%! This is an illustration of a term most people are familiar with, yo-yo dieting, and it is why surveys show that over 80% of people who lose weight by dieting alone say that they gained back all of weight they lost, if not more, within a year. Does this mean that people should just give up trying to lose weight? Not at all. It just means people need to stop looking for next quick fix diet that comes down road. Nobody wants to hear that it takes actual effort to lose weight, but I am sorry to say that it does. It should say something that obesity rate in this country continues to climb while all of diet gurus out there rake in millions from innocent people looking for a solution. Obviously, reasons for being overweight vary, and every individual responds in a unique way to a weight loss program. But, for true long term fat loss and improved overall health and fitness, there are some common sense truths: * A need to eat a balanced diet containing complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, and essential fats. Avoid highly processed carbohydrates, excess sugars, and excess saturated fats. * Eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout day is better than eating 2 or 3 larger meals. You will have more energy throughout day, and your body will burn calories more efficiently. * Performing moderate aerobic activity provides many benefits including improved cardiorespiratory function, improved endurance, lower blood pressure, and improved cholesterol to name a few. * In addition to aerobic activity, people should perform resistance training to maintain or increase lean muscle mass. As we have learned, maintaining our muscles mass is critical in driving our metabolism and key to losing not just body weight, but body fat. Keep these points in mind next time you hear about latest ‘miracle’ or ‘breakthrough’ diet and you will be on your way to losing pounds, and not just your money.

Dave Soucy, Fitness Consultant and Certified Personal Trainer, is owner of Perfect Fit, LLC.

Dave can be reached at (603) 641-8297, via email at dave@perfectfitonline.com, or through www.perfectfitonline.com Copyright © 2004 Perfect Fit, LLC. All rights reserved.