Don't Believe What You Read

Yesterday, I was reading the Sunday newspaper. There was an article in the sports section about the success of a local training facility in preparing players for the NFL draft.

I'm reading along about the prospects and their different goals when I see this...

"Some players...need to gain weight. Others need to lose some, or convert body fat to muscle. Others need to rehab injuries or show the NFL their rehab is complete."

You CANNOT convert fat to muscle. Period.


Muscle and fat are two different types of tissue. You can't turn wood into stone, you can't turn plastic into metal, you can't turn a leg bone into a liver and you can't turn fat into muscle!

Unfortunately, this kind of misinformation is rampant. No wonder the average person doesn't get the results they want from their exercise program.

!@#$%!* This is Why People Are So Confused

I am so annoyed that I'm not even going to wait until tomorrow to post this rant.

I opened an e-mail from Discovery Channel's National Body Challenge today and saw a link for an article titled Small Changes, BIG Weight Loss. The author started out explaining the value of simply reducing your calorie intake 100-300 calories per day.

The premise is true and the advice beneficial. So, a harmless article on weight loss, right? Maybe, until I read this...

How to Knock Out Calories

Of course, if it were that easy, you wouldn't be reading this now. So how do you hunker down and continuously knock out those 200 to 300 calories a day? The often-repeated formula is to combine eating less calories with regular cardiovascular exercise. Do all three, and you're guaranteed to melt away fat.

I'm not sure but I think the third of "do all three" refers to an earlier comment about increasing daily physical activity. The example used was "walking around the office instead of shooting out emails nonstop."

Not a single mention of strength training! Nothing about cardio intervals, of course. No wonder people spend hours doing cardio and then give up from lack of time or mediocre results.

Even worse, the author goes on to say...

But be forewarned: Your body can only metabolize a certain amount of fat — 1 to 1.5 pound(s) a week — on a low-calorie diet, says Tallmadge.

I won't challenge this point although Alwyn Cosgrove and quite a few others would because I'm more appalled by what she says next...

At some point, the fat will turn to muscle, which is why you want to build muscle when losing weight.

What?????? Fitness pros have a hard enough time getting people to understand that fat cannot turn into muscle and vice versa. Muscle and fat are two different types of tissue. You can't turn wood into stone, you can't turn plastic into metal, you can't turn bone into a liver and you can't turn fat into muscle!

It is unbelievable to me that a "health journalist" would not know that. Worse yet is that no one at Discovery caught it.

How many people have been misinformed by that article?

You can read the entire article here ==> Small Changes, BIG Weight Loss

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