These have all been true for my personal weight loss journey (ie, the things they are calling myths have proven to be untrue for me...I incorporate non-sweaty exercise, eat carbs, and lift weights, and have done just fine without bulking up).
All true for me, too. I do lots of yoga and strength training, often eat after 8, don't particularly watch the carbs, haven't bulked up and while more muscular now I still weigh less than I did when I started and wear a smaller size than at my goal weight.
I appreciate your comments. I have been doing the strength training since day one. Since I count calories I sometimes eat after 8 but I still watch my carb intake. It's usually whole wheat pasta and brown rice. I felt pretty good about me when I read the article. Where weights are concerned, I have to watch what I do with my legs because the curve outward, they are muscular but my clothes fit funny. I hate it.
I have read "muscle does not weigh more than fat" several times here. I just really don't get it. it's like the trick IQ question, 'what weighs more, a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers?"
OF COURSE a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same, you're using a measurement of weight... if you use a measurement of volume, like if you were able to use a measuring cup and fill it with one cup of muscle and one cup of fat, the muscle would weigh more, right?
HokieLoki - Yes. Muscle is more dense than fat. The density of fat is about 0.9g/cm3, whereas the density of lean tissue is 1.1g/cm3. In other, more unscientific words, lean tissue is about 22% more dense than fat tissue.
There's something to be said for watching carbs. If all I did was count calories, I would, without exaggeration, eat 70% carbs, 20% fat, and 5% protein. ALL my favorite foods are carbs. When restricting my diet, the proteins are always going to be the thing I cut, in order to keep the things I like. My instincts there are very unhealthy, and making a point to eat plenty of protein (about 40% of my calories) this time around has made a huge difference: I am less hungry, less tired, and more emotionally stable.
The muscle/fat issue really doesn't belong as a myth, because I don't believe that most people believe that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. Most people do realize that what they're really talking about is volume, not mass. "Muscle weighs more than fat," is generally meant to illustrate (which is not a myth) the fact that people with more muscle and less fat, look leaner in comparison to a person of the same height, weight and build, with higher proportions of fat.
Whether you're losing weight for appearance or health, having more lean muscle mass and less body fat is generally a good thing, and not a myth.
As for the carb issue, personally I do much better reducing carbs, even healthy ones - so I think for me, it's more accurate to call "carbs are the enemy" a gross oversimplification rather than a myth, but I think that's splitting hairs.
What do you all think of this???
