Health and Beauty - CELEBRITY WEIGHT-LOSS MYTHS
CELEBRITY WEIGHT-LOSS MYTHS
We hear that a celeb follows x, y, or z rule and we assume it must be right. But the famous often fall for the same dated weight-loss myths that the rest of us do and end up following regimes that are completely unsustainable in the long run. We’ve de-bunked the biggest weight-loss myths and showed you how to get it right…
Myth: Sex gets you in shape
Celebrity offender: Kelly Brook
Kelly is often quoted in the press attributing her amazing physique to lots of sex.
Fact: Unless you’re indulging in regular dawn-till-dusk marathon sessions, you’re unlikely to whittle your waist away with a bit of nookie. Sex burns around seven calories a minute and research shows that the average British sex session lasts a mere four minutes. (That’s half an apple burnt off…)
Tip: You might not burn tons of fat through sex but you can tone your muscles, and your lower body in particular. Anything which involves you hovering or using your thighs to prop yourself up is a winner in the lower body-toning stakes.
Myth: You can turn fat to muscle through exercise.
Celebrity offender: Lilly Allen
Lilly Allen recently attributed her weight loss to a regular gym routine, explaining she hadn’t lost weight – she’d just turned fat into muscle.
Fact: This is still one of the oldest myths around. Not many people are aware of the fact that you can’t turn muscle to fat – they’re simply two different types of body tissue.
Tip: Get rid of fat layers with a reduced calorie diet and aerobic exercise; and at the same time, tone the underlying muscles with classes such as Body Pump and even Pilates.
Myth: Diets don’t work
Celebrity offender: Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell has attributed her pre-tour weight loss to healthy eating, stating that diets just don’t work.
Fact: The unfortunate truth is that diets do work – it’s when you stop dieting and return to previous unhealthy eating behaviours (such as comfort eating and/or bingeing) that you gain weight.
Tip: Aim to eat well (make healthy choices and watch portion sizes) 90 per cent of the time but give yourself the odd day off. That way, you should avoid the cycle of boom/bust dieting.
Myth: Eating late at night makes you fat
Celebrity offender: Kim Ryder
Kim Ryder has lost a fair bit of weight since her Coronation Street debut. One of her strategies was to avoid eating late at night because she claimed it slowed her metabolism.
Fact: Your weight is governed by how many calories you consume versus how many you burn off in a 24-hour period – the time at which you eat those calories is irrelevant.
Tip: If your aim is to rev up your metabolic rate, try working out more intensely once a week, and have a cup of coffee before you work out if you really want to tweak your metabolism.
Myth: Sit-ups give you a flat stomach
Celebrity offender: Victoria Beckham
Some 200 sit-ups a day is the tip Posh recently passed on to her fellow Spices to help them tone up for their forthcoming tour.
Fact: If only this were true! Unfortunately sit-ups just tone the abdominal muscles that lie underneath a fat tum. Posh’s flat stomach has probably got more to do with her diet of edamame beans and iceberg lettuce – a diet this low in calories will make a spare tyre around the waist highly unlikely.
Tip: Pick tummy-flattening exercise to aid your diet and sit-up efforts. Swimming front crawl and classes such as boxercise will help to tone all the abdominal muscles, including the obliques – the waist muscles responsible for giving you an hourglass figure.
Myth: Walking gets you fit
Celebrity offender: Sara Cox
In a recent interview DJ Sara Cox claimed that she gets fit by walking her dog.
Fact: Unfortunately, walking is not considered an effective way to boost cardiovascular fitness. In order to up your fitness levels, you need to be getting sweaty and out of breath – something that is unlikely to happen when you’re out for your average walk.
Tip: Include hills and vary your pace if you want to get the most out of your Sunday stroll. And don’t forget to add other forms of more strenuous activity, such as running or aerobics, if you really want to progress your fitness.
Myth: White bread is bad for weight loss
Celebrity offender: Kate Lawler
Kate Lawler has to avoid white bread when she’s losing weight because, according to the Big Brother winner, it sabotages her diet.
Fact: There’s no need to avoid white flour products completely for the sake of weight loss. Although brown bread and other whole-grains are better for your blood sugar levels and digestive health, in terms of calories white and brown bread are much of a muchness.
Tip: Vary your intake of grains so you’re getting the healthy whole-grains without feeling deprived. You can endeavour to eat healthy wholemeal bread throughout the week and then treat yourself to a croissant or two at the weekend.
Myth: Vodka is good for weight loss
Celebrity offender: Sienna Miller
Sienna said she was delighted to find she shed pounds for her role as Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl by switching from wine to vodka.
Fact: There’s actually not much difference in calories between a glass of white wine and a vodka, particularly if you mix your vodka with a full-fat coke or juice.
Tip: You’re better off drinking white wine spritzers if you really want to shave off alcohol calories – or, better still, try alternating alcoholic drinks with diet drinks on a night out. Your liver will thank you for it too.
Myth: Carbs are evil
Celebrity offender: Rihanna
When commenting on her diet, Rihanna was recently quoted as saying that “carbs are the enemy”.
Fact: It’s become very fashionable to shun carbohydrates in favour of high-protein diets, but all sorts of food falls into the carbohydrate category – including fruit and veg.
Tip: Manipulate your carbohydrate intake – keep simple, high sugar carbs such as sweets and soft drinks as pre-workout fuel. They’ll provide you with pure energy for a really intense workout.
CREDIT: 55 MINUTES OF ROLLER SKATING = DEBIT: A SLICE OF APPLE CRUMBLE 330 CALORIES
AND FINALLY…A tablespoon of vinegar in a glass of warm water in the morning will detox, cleanse, stimulate weight loss, and boost energy. The vinegar helps burn fat and speed up metabolism by stimulating the thyroid gland.
For more information on losing weight and getting active check out www.nickiwaterman.com or www.virtualgym.tv
