Fat Burning Lies…

Research shows belly fat torching sweat fest workouts yield 2-3 pounds of weight loss over 6 month periods on average.

That’s a lot of work for measly weight you can drop faster by working on diet.

Sad news …

…because I always hoped biking longer or a last minute Insanity Workout would burn off the entire bag of chips I ate due to an alien hijacking my brain.

Great for the blood sugar not for the muffin top.

Dang!

Good news for those that dread workouts.

Perhaps this research frees you from the notion you have to workout vigorously to burn fat…

…or maybe you’re like wait – what about the “fat burn” mode on treadmills and elliptical machines…is that bs?

Fat burn zones are those where you’re doing cardio for longer durations at a lower intensity for 2+ hours to get fat burn.

Technically, more movement of any kind will help you to increase caloric burn BUT fat loss is slow.

Ever notice the days you’re more active weight goes down or you feel better?

Have you ever gone on a vacation where you walked a ton and actually lost weight?

This is what I’m talking about – movement is good but thinking of it for fun not fat loss.

Which brings me to the next hot fat burner…

Drinking lemon water and apple cider vinegar with meals torches fat, right?

Also not a lot of solid proof on those for fat burning.

But they do stimulate the digestive system to digest food better so you could get a metabolic boost there. (I’m not saying don’t do those – I do think they help -more for carb burn).

And after you have your lemon infused water on your drive to your cold plunge – you’ll finally get to fat burning?

Nope. No solid data at all on cold plunges and fat burning.

Annoyed yet?

I’ve started my day with HIIT workouts fasted, sipped on my lemon water when I hit 16+ hours of fasting, took my shots of apple cider vinegar, drank my 40 gram protein drinks infused with supposed magical gross green super food powder blends, creatine and aminos after workouts, made sure to take 10,000+ steps a day, ate my perfectly calculated macros at each meal, avoided anything that remotely had gluten, dairy, soy, corn plus sugar, stopped eating by 4p and still gained weight!

I know I’m not alone.

But doc, what about weight lifting, more muscle = faster metabolism right?

Yes, that’s true but more muscle doesn’t always = more fat burn.

I’ve poured over all the notes I’ve taken on nutrition for years and mined Pubmed to conclude that most of the fat burning advice I’ve learned and shared with clients (cringe) hasn’t helped me or my clients one bit.

So how do you burn fat – for real?

It appears to be a combination of what you eat, how you eat it and what your gut, liver and cells do with it.

Clearing out the liver with a very low carb, low fat and higher protein diet for 4 weeks works to reset your liver metabolism (especially if you have fatty liver).

Followed up by doing a little macros research on yourself to figure out what your body likes. (Adam Ross is the best guy for helping with this by the way).

The more you are aware of what your body does with certain foods the better.

Track for a few months then ditch the tracking once you learn what your body needs.

Hit another plateau or body changing again…because it does that every few years as hormones decline with age?

Repeat the process.

Your health and metabolism are dynamic – you can’t “fix” your metabolism to set it and forget it – it needs maintenance.

What about those super lean ripped folks on social media?

That’s all diet.

Low fat, low carb and high protein.

They look super cheery on social media but fitness trainers and docs like me who’ve worked with folks training for fitness competitions know better.

When you drop your carbs and fat super low for too long you get grumpy and down right snippy.

You’re missing dopamine big time and hating life.

This is why many women gain 30-100 pounds on average post fitness competitions…

…and why weight comes back on easily after ditching a strict diet.

I despise giving strict diet plans and why I don’t do weight loss in my office.

Not that I won’t give a plan for a temporary time frame to help guide someone out of a flare up with a health condition.

But it’s not meant to be permanent.

If food is joy for you…trying to fit your food personality into a diet box backfires.

Figure out a way to get in the foods you like and offset those macros.

Same goes with fitness – if you’re not a gym person – don’t force it.

Find something that you enjoy and end the struggle for good.

If you’re ready to stop following trends and get some progress – check out Adam’s website for more info.

Here’s to following what you need not what influencers are pushing,

Dr. J

PS: Did you know your food habits & relationship with food could be connected to a trauma response? My gal pal Theresa Lear Levine is hosting a FREE worksop on intergenerational trauma (<-click to learn more) & how it impacts your habits, behaviors & beliefs. If you’re looking for support from a female perspective & ready to explore deeper – check out her video on intergenerational trauma below.

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