TIME Magazine recently published a very controversial article on the effects of exercise on weight loss.
The article was called “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” (to read the article in full: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-1,00.html)
Doesn’t really encourage people to exercise now does it?
However, there were a lot of stuff in the article that I found incorrect and very misleading, the article however does bring up some important concepts that are vital for the general population to understand:
1.) Exercise WILL increase your appetite
This is correct. Exercise, especially high intensity exercise, increases your metabolism and your body’s ability to burn calories during activity will make you want to increase your energy intake (calories consumed).
However, being hungrier from exercise is not the culprit- choosing the wrong type of food following exercise is!
So if your diets focus on lots of lean protein, healthy fats, and high-fiber fruits and veggies every 2-4 hours, then we will be able to elimnate our exercise-induced hunger and build muscle and burn fat from exercise like we intend to. These foods are proven to promote optimal health, performance, and body composition.
However, if you are are a carb addict (think lots of refined grains and sugars), exercise will only make you crave more carbs leading to intense feelings of insatiability throughout the day due to unstable blood sugar levels. Make no mistake about it- in this case, exercise will not only cause you to NOT lose weight, but most likely will cause weight gain.
I tell most people who come to me to lose weight for them to understand the key to the success they crave:
“If you want to bulk up, add size, and gain weight, be sure to eat plenty of sugars and high processed starches. But if you want to be lean and muscular, swap the starches and sugars for high fiber fruits and vegetables, with a special emphasis on green veggies.”
It’s really pretty simple.
Which brings us to point #2
2.) Exercise without proper nutrition WILL NOT cause significant weight loss
I always tell my clients there is a big difference between eating right and supportive eating. We need the RIGHT SUPPORTIVE NUTRITION to be successful in reaching our goals.
Nutrition is 80-90+% of the equation when it comes to weight management. Hormones govern fat loss and both exercise and nutrition impact your body’s hormone levels- positively or negatively depending on what type of exercise and diet plan you follow.
However, you can never beat out poor nutritional habits with exercise- NEVER! In terms of diet, the hormone we must be most concerned about is insulin, a storage hormone that’s released in large amounts when consuming refined starches and sugars.
Not matter how hard you workout, if you are releasing insulin through the day with a high carb/sugar diet, you will be controlled by insulins to its fat-storing effects.
On the other hand, lean proteins, healthy fats, and high-fiber fruits and veggies do not significantly impact your insulin levels thus allowing you to preferentially burn fat and build muscle in conjunction with the right exercise plan, which brings me to point#3…
3.) Not all exercise is created equal
I also tell my clients though almost all exercise is benfecial we need the right balance of exercise to be really successful at reaching our goals.
The above article failed to distinguish between different forms of exercise. It uses the word “exercise” to refer to aerobic activity or any form of exercise of low to moderate intensity and this is misleading.
We should already know that aerobic exercise alone has zero effect on fat loss over dieting – many studies support this.
So this article should NOT be using aerobics as the only form of “exercise” and it’s impact on weight loss!
No matter what your doing if it’s a kickboxing class, spin class, or a bootcamp if these classes do not challenge your muscles and protect your muscles you are missing a big piece of the puzzle for weight loss. To be successful at losing weight and keeping it off you need to add strength training to your exercise routine.
Furthermore, some do not know that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) burns 9x more fat than ordinary exercise (aerobic training) and actually builds lean muscle and elevates metabolism for up to 24-48 post-workout
In conclusion, study after study proves that when it comes to exercise for fat loss:
CARDIO STINKS AND INTERVALS WORK!
So this TIME magazine article missed the ball on the big picture here: When it comes to being lean, muscular, and healthy, the key is an integrated and research based diet AND exercise regimen- exercise alone simply doesn’t cut it!
Time to Kick it up a Notch!
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
PS- What are your thoughts about this article? Does this hurt or help the weight loss cause? Please share your mind by making a comment to this blog post below, thanks!
Filed under weight loss by on Aug 16th, 2009. Comment. 
There are so many different kinds of protein powder out there most people do not know where to begin. Yesterday I stopped by on WZZM Channel 13′s “Take Five and Company” and talked about a few different kinds of the most popular protein powder and what it should be used for.
To watch my segement please watch the video below!
Filed under Nutrition, weight loss by on Aug 5th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Anything that promises quick weight loss without changes of lifestyle habits and proper nutrition and exercise should send you running for the hills. Body wraps were popular many years ago and I noticed more recently they are coming back again. I did some research once again to see what all the new hype is about.
Many body wrap companies market themselves as providing fast weight loss and reduction of inches from your body. Most body wrapping businesses are also spas that provide other cosmetic services from face masks to tanning.
How Body Wraps Work
Measurements are taken from various areas of your body. Usually these areas are trouble spots for the person being measured. The next step usually involves being covered with some type of mixture (could be mineral salt, oil, mud, etc.) and then being wrapped in cotton bandages (basically from head to toe) that may or may not have been soaked in some type of herbal solution.
The next step is to begin the sweating process which can be achieved through methods such as light movement or lying under a thermal blanket. After the process is completed, the wrap is removed and measurements are taken again to check how many inches have been lost.
The new craze is also now the “Do at Home Wraps” the one being pushed around here in Michigan is the “Ultimate Body Applicator” from a company call “It Works”
Claimed Benefits of Body Wraps
- Tightens and firms skin
- Lose inches (typically 6 or more)
- Eliminates toxins
- Reduce appearance of cellulite
Body wraps DO NOT shrink fat cells or burn body fat – no matter what type of wrap: bandages soaked in minerals, herbs, enzymes, plastic, foil, vinyl, clay, seaweed, mud – it doesn’t matter, body wraps don’t burn fat!
And those sauna “wraps” or rubber “wraps” that go around your waist? They can’t “burn” an ounce of fat either.
Some of these products definitely CAN take off inches (for example reduce your waist measurement), but it’s temporary and it’s not fat, its water weight and fluid.
Remember, “Inches” and “fat” are not the same thing.
Suppose I made this claim in an advertisement:
* Lose Up To 20 inches in 1 Hour! *
This is legal advertising because the claim “lose inches” might be supportable (if enough circumference measurements are taken with a tape measure at enough sites, that might add up to a total of 20 inches in circumference loss)
However I feel that these types of claims are misleading (and probably intentionally so), because “inches” is not the same as body fat but you might easily confuse “inches” with “fat.”
Contrast that claim with this one:
* Lose Body Fat without diet or exercise in 1 Hour!*
that claim is totally false and unsupportable.
Again, body wraps cannot burn fat or “shrink fat cells.”
If fat loss could be achieved with body wraps it would be very easy to test and prove.
Body composition (body fat) testing (rather than measurements of inches) could be performed before and after the wrap, and the answer (“does it work”) would become easily exposed.
Since it doesn’t work, you won’t find any wrap people accepting your challenge to allow you to do independent body composition testing, nor will you find a shred of scientific evidence showing reduction of body fat from wraps.
Some experts even warn that certain types of wraps can be dangerous, mainly due to the rapid and excessive fluid loss/dehydration.
If you want to get wrapped because you find it relaxing or you consider it a “pampering”, “spa-like” treatment, that’s one thing. Just remember, wraps have absolutely nothing to do with fat loss.
All body wrapping companies vary in their process. Don’t fall for the “weight loss” gimmick that some may use to market themselves. You don’t lose fat or have long term weight loss by performing a body wrap. For the most part, you are losing water weight during the process. The loss of inches are purely for cosmetic purposes and are commonly used to “fit into that dress” or those jeans that don’t quite fit anymore.
The inches lost simply come from loss of fluid. And guess what – those inches (and or water weight) will come right back in days if not hours, as soon as you completely re-hydrate yourself.
I’d suggest completely avoiding any companies that advertise fat loss when it’s only water and inches you’re losing, because a dishonest company is one you don’t want to patronize at all.
Always keep in mind that there are no quick fixes to losing weight. You have to put in the effort through proper diet and exercise.
Last word is SAVE YOUR MONEY, and invest in something that “DOES WORK”
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
Filed under Lifestyle, weight loss by on Jul 25th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Does alcohol make you fat? Will going out for a few drinks with friends damage your weight loss progress? If you’re not sure whether alcohol makes you fat then check out these points – you might be surprised!
Alcohol WILL make you fat
I’m sorry to say it but alcohol will make you fat. I know many of you were hoping I would say that it wouldn’t but I have to be honest with you.
Here is some good news about alcohol and fat calories: A very small percentage of the alcohol calories you drink are turned into fat. It’s in the single digits. But the problem with alcohol and it’s calories is that when consumed it reduces the amount of fat that your body can burn off for energy.
Here is a super quick lesson about the body and burning body fat. Your body wants to burn body fat for energy. Especially when at rest. When you workout it wants to use carbohydrates and glycogen (stored carbohydrates) for energy to fuel it through those workouts. But when the activity stops your body wants to burn fat. It wants to burn it when you’re watching TV, reading a book, cooking dinner, brushing your teeth, and even sleeping. But the lifestyle of the person will dictate how much, if any fat is being burned for energy.
Things that can prevent the body from burning body fat as energy are skipping breakfast, low-calorie diets, not enough sleep or rest, skipping meals, and drinking too much alcohol.
Why does this happen? It comes down to a substance called acetate. Acetate levels rise sharply after alcohol is consumed. This substance pretty much tells the body to STOP burning body fat ASAP. And yet another problem is the body starts making another substance called acetyl CoA. This causes the body to actually start making more body fat.
There are a quite a few reasons as to why alcohol will cause you to gain weight and many of them aren’t as obvious as you might think. I will give a brief explanation of the main ones below.
•Alcohol is a weight loss suppressant and this is the main reason alcohol will make you fat.
To put it simply, the energy in alcohol is not easily used by the body so it oxidizes it into a form that is easily used. When this happens the other nutrients that need to be oxidized like protein, fats and carbohydrates miss out and get stored in the cells. Thus, alcohol helps you to gain weight by slowing down the whole weight loss process.
•Many alcoholic drinks have added sugar in them which, when mixed with the above processes, makes weight gain a whole lot easier.
•When you go out for a beer or a cocktail with your friends you may want to take watch of how your habits change. You generally order snacks at the club, then head down to the fast food joint on your way to your next bar and then you sleep in until midday because you are too hung over and thus miss your exercise for the day and your first two or three meals. So, in this indirect way, alcohol can impede your weight loss progress.
Another interesting fact about your body and alcohol is that it can only process about .5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour. To the body it is a toxic substance. And it is extremely hard for the liver to perform all of it’s regular functions, and even more so when alcohol is added to the mix.
12 ounces of beer has around .6 ounces of alcohol in it. So if you drank 5 beers your body would not be able to burn fat for up to 6 hours. The more you drink the longer you delay the body’s regular fat burning mechanism.
Also remember when you drink alcohol that it is empty calories. You get no nutritional benefit from it. No vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, omega-3′s, nothing!
So what to do? Well, if you were on a fat loss plan the best thing to do would be to avoid it. But for some people that’s out of the question. So if that’s the case always remember the word ‘moderation’. I’m sure you’ve heard it before with your nutrition and other parts of your life.
Some other tips would be to choose wine or a light beer. And limit your intake to just 1-2 days a week with a maximum drink limit of 2. Drinking everyday on a fat loss plan is not a fat loss plan at all.
If you are trying to lose weight then I would skip alcohol altogether. If you want to go out with your friends then try drinking something else so that you still feel included.
A night of hitting the town and heavy drinking will generally slow down your weight loss for the next two to four days. Is it worth it?
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
Filed under Lifestyle, weight loss by on Jul 17th, 2009. 2 Comments.
Is Aerobic Exercise The Answer To Fat Loss??
I see it every day people doing hours on the treadmill or the bike.
Others taking a 60 minute aerobic class on an empty stomach
Even more people coming in and just doing the elliptical for an hour and then doing a few crunches and then hitting the showers.
Does aerobic exercise burn fat? Yes and No. Meaning it can if you have everything else right!
If your not eating enough of the right calories and the right balance of foods you could be burning muscle for fuel!
Aerobic exercise is good for your heart and lungs, its also good for burning calories, which in turn will create a calorie deficit to lose fat.
But aerobic exercise can actually slow down your metabolism. Aerobic exercise is catabolic, meaning it can sacrifice muscle tissue if done wrong or for too long.
Aerobic exercise is not EFFECTIVE for fat loss by itself. You need to have a concern for muscle!
You need to challenge and protect your muscle through resistance training and actually eating ENOUGH to maintain muscle.
Resistance training is #1 in losing fat and keeping it off. Why because the more muscle you have the fat you burn!
If you are not doing resistance training you are not going to lose fat and keep it off!
If you are doing resistance training and have been doing the same routine for more than 2 months! You need something new!
Add in the right nutrition plan with the right exercise routine you have now created a fat burning machine.
Are you not sure if you’re doing everything right to reach your goals?
Then what are you waiting for?
Contact me know to find out all the options I have for you to succeed!
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
Filed under Nutrition, weight loss by on Jun 29th, 2009. Comment.
Weight Watchers is a quite popular diet program based on low fat eating, exercise, and group counseling. Every food item from ice cream to pizza has a point value based on its nutritional content. You can eat as much as you want as long as you stay within your points. To assist the dieter in their lifestyle changes all members are encouraged to attend group discussion and counseling sessions, mostly in person, at local Weight Watchers centers. As of late they have come with out a new creation called Flex points, this is just the same program in a better marketing package. In the Flex plan they have added a weight watchers point calculator and use more weight watcher recipes. Most dieters are given a reserve 35 points (flex points) to use for unplanned activities or cravings. I see no difference from before.
I have many clients that say they had success on the Weight Watchers plan in the past. Yet I always question if it worked so well why are they seeking out a NEW solution? It obviously didn’t work for them in the long term. If it worked so well why didn’t they stick to it?
Weight Watchers in my opinion used to be a pretty sound program, far as trying to help people, but as of late it seems to be using a lot of slick marketing and advertising to bring people in. Far as being successful that’s a different story. They usually advertise telling people enjoy the foods you love and lose weight while you do! The points plan controls the amount of food you consume but not always what those foods are. So you could be potentially eating less food but not exactly better choices for healthy weight loss and long-term success. So the dieter thinks he or she is making some healthy changes in their diet by eating fewer calories and staying within their points but could be consuming higher sugar and fat meals, meals that are not balanced enough, or high enough in calories to support your metabolism. See the problem here? The points system does not differentiate between foods high in sugar or high in carbohydrates protein or fat. This diet is assuming all calories are calories and they all affect your body the same way. I’m here to tell you they do no!
Some foods are more easily stored as fat, some foods effect your blood sugar levels more than others, some foods are actually more thermic, meaning your metabolism actually increases trying to break these foods down! Some foods combinations can make you fatter, while some can make you leaner. If your goal is long-term fat loss (not just weight) then the specific foods you are consuming are more important than the calories from food in general. When will people realize calories are not BAD! Calories are fuel for the human machine. Without the right amount of calories you will slow down are metabolism, and store more fat in the long run. You need calories and the right ones.
Now Weight Watchers is actually selling their own processed frozen meals. They are nice for convenience yes…but are they good for you? No, not really they are balanced yet they are loaded with sodium, preservatives and have a have a paragraph for the ingredient list. You can make the same meal yourself for the same the price and with fewer preservatives. Any diet that cost money to join and then try to sell you their own food has other interests in mind.
Exercise is not a #1 priority for this Weight Watchers program and if your goal is long- term success it should be! The problem with long term diet counseling and group support which most Weight Watchers program includes is you develop no self- reliance and self- discipline to do it on your own, which is crucial to succeed long term. This diet is added to my list that use low calorie deprivation to lose weight on a scale. Weight loss on the scale is not accurate indicator of fat loss. I know many people who lose lots of WEIGHT on a low calorie diet and then long term they gain the majority of it back. Their are 3 things you can lose on the scale:
1)Water
2) Fat
3) Muscle
There are better and more successful options people..trust me.
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
Filed under Lifestyle, Nutrition, weight loss by on Jun 9th, 2009. Comment.
You can’t really miss it on the Internet these days. Seems like everywhere you look there’s another company promoting the nutritious Acai Berry as a weight loss miracle.
And that’s why I thought it was critical to write you today. I want to make sure you know my opinion on the subject.
First, you know better than to believe you’re going to pop some pills – ANY pills – and have the pounds and inches melt off like magic. If you’ve been listening to me for any length of time you know true fat loss comes from a variety of factors, including exercise and proper nutrition.
I received and e-mail today that said: “Busy mom loses 30 pounds in 30 days without diet OR exercise”
Sound to good to be true? Well it is! Anyone losing 30 pounds in 30 days is losing lots of water and probably some muscle.
Second, any fitness expert worth their fees will tell you that any diet that promotes you eat any one food all day long and then eat a sensible dinner, well, don’t bother. Yes, you will lose some weight short-term, but as soon as you go back to your old eating habits – and you know you will – you know exactly what happens.
Third, the Acai Berry contains VERY powerful antioxidants and it is getting a lot of good press for that very reason. Yes, antioxidants as in the extraordinary nutrients that help fight the free radicals associated with aging, cancer risk and other degenerative diseases.
And while on the subject, I wanted to fill you in on something that has recently come to light. Did you know that coffee berries (the berry that covers the coffee bean) is one of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet? It’s something researchers have discovered in recent years.
What’s really cool is my friends at Prograde Nutrition have just created an amazing Whole Foods based Anti-Aging formula called Prograde Longevity that includes both Acai Berry and Coffee Berry. Oh, and it also utilizes Green Tea, Pomegranate, Wolf Berry and Biovin Grape (Red Wine extract.)
Just to give you an idea of how powerful this formula is, well, you’d have to eat an entire POUND of raspberries to get the same ORAC value. And in case you’re not familiar with the term, ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.
I have been taking “Longevity” for the last month to prevent the holiday flu and cold bugs…..and to cleanse my body.
So far so good! 
You can read more about “Longevity” by
Clicking HERE
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
Filed under Lifestyle, Nutrition, weight loss by on Dec 18th, 2008. Comment.
Oprah has made the official announcement. She is back over 200 lbs. I watch her show quite frequently and it has become very noticeable that her weight has once again dramatically increased since her 2006 weight of 160. Her current weight and body fat percentage would put her in the obese category and at put her at a much greater risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol and diabetes.
She writes in her new January O magazine that “She has fallen off the wagon,” that “I am very mad at myself,” and “I’m embarrassed.”
1. I would have her STOP making excuses and take some responsibility for her actions. She also likes to blame her thyroid condition. She at one time admitted that once she was diagnosed she was afraid to exercise and ate whatever she wanted. Admitting that it is her actions that got her to where she is and not someone else or something else in her body. I am not saying the slow thyroid isn’t a real issue with someone and it can make it hard to lose weight, but there is still a lot of things Oprah could and should be doing to combat the fat.
2. I would take her off the long slow boring cardio routine. From what I have seen and hear, she tries to walk for 30-60 minutes a day (when she was exercising). I would have Oprah doing shorter more intense cardio sessions and have her do some incline speed walking or running. This would stimulate her metabolism and also be a shock to her system to burn more fat.
3. I would have her doing at least 3-4 days a week of high intensity circuit training with weights. Thirty minutes of total body resistance training with heavier weights will be more efficient for her and will shift her body into a fat burning mode. From this circuit training she would also tone the muscles and create feminine shapes.
4. I would have Oprah eating supportive meals every 3 hours six days a week and allow a one day a week reward day where there are no rules and she can eat whatever she wants. She will feel so lousy after over indulging reward day, that she won’t want to eat that junk for another week.
5. Lastly, I would have Oprah reexamine her goals and what she really wants from her life. This will remind her WHY she wants to lose weight and how her life would be different because of it. I would have her understand about how bad and uncomfortable her life would be if she continues to gain weight. I would have her see how much different her life could be if she lost 50 lbs.
Well there it is! My 5 Ways to get Oprah back to her to a healthy weight.
These 5 steps will work for anyone looking to lose fat and keep it off for good!
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
Filed under Lifestyle, Nutrition, weight loss by on Dec 16th, 2008. Comment.
