TABLE OF CONTENTS

MYTH 1:EXERCISE INCREASES YOUR APPETITE.
MYTH 2:SLOW AEROBIC EXERCISE BURNS MORE FAT, RESULTING IN MORE WEIGHT LOSS.
MYTH 3:YOU CAN SHED FAT FROM YOUR STOMACH BY DOING 100 CRUNCHES A DAY.
MYTH 4:WALKING IS JUST AS GOOD FOR YOU AS RUNNING.
MYTH 5:CONTINUOUS EXERCISE BURNS MORE CALORIES THAN INTERMITTENT EXERCISE.
MYTH 6:DOING LOW INTENSITY EXERCISE IS THE BEST WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT
MYTH 7:YOU MAY GAIN WEIGHT WHEN YOU FIRST START AN EXERCISE PROGRAM

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MYTH #1: EXERCISE INCREASES YOUR APPETITE

This sounds right but research hasn't turned up compelling evidence of a same-day or day-to-day change in hunger or food consumption among exercisers. Exceptions, of course, are elite athletes with very high energy needs. For regular folk who do a 30 minute workout session, increased hunger has not been found in the research. Intense workouts sometimes even suppress hunger, especially in obese people. It's unclear why exercise doesn't typically boost appetite. One theory holds that a higher body temperature resulting from exercise keeps a lid on appetite; another theory cites the reduced blood flow to the gut and increased flow to the working muscles when you're very active.

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Truth: running burns more calories than walking due to the higher intensity.
It's true that exercise at lower intensity burns mostly fat. As intensity increases, the body starts burning more carbohydrate (glycogen) and less fat.
These levels are based on the PERCENTAGE of the calories burned with the activity. In other words, a higher percentage of the calories burned in walking are from fat energy sources; for running a higher percentage is from glycogen energy. However, you will still burn fat calories with running, just at a lower percentage than with walking.
The reality is that you could end up burning more fat calories because running burns so many more calories. Even if the percentage is less, the actual fat calories burned could be higher.
Plus, total calories burned is what goes into the weight loss equation, not the percentage of fat versus carbohydrate burned. Running burns more CALORIES than walking.
If weight loss is your goal, adding some higher intensity workouts can only help in your efforts becuase you'll burn more calories.
In addition, research shows a fat "afterburn" lasting up to 24 hours following intense anaerobic workouts. Anaerobic exercise is done at higher intensity, resulting in muscle "burn" and heart rates approaching maximum. During the "after burner" period, your body continues to burn extra calories.

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"Get a flat, sexy stomach in just three minutes a day!" states the promo. Reality? Exercise physiologists state it just isn't so. It's the whole spot-reduction issue, which is totally unfounded. You can't work one spot of the body in the hopes of losing fat off that specific spot, be it your abs, your arms, or those love handles.

To replace that beer belly with a six-pack of bulging abdominal muscles, or to trim those not-so-lovely love handles, you must combine regular, whole-body exercise with a good diet. Losing fat off the entire body is needed and targeting one problem spot just won't work.

Ten thousand sit-ups will build big abs, all right - and push that extra 15 pounds of lard farther out over your belt. It's not a coincidence that of the estimated $2.4 billion worth of workout gear sold to retailers and consumers in 1996, the fastest-growing segment was abdominal exercise gizmos.

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Given that about one out of three adults and about one out of five adolescents in the United States are overweight, some experts argue that any activity is a step in the right direction. Walking - even just getting up out of the couch and moving - is going to improve your fitness if you are a couch potato. So much of the problem is people not doing anything, as opposed to walking three times a week or running. For more conditioned health devotees, however, the issues are total calories burned and improving heart and lung efficiency in a given period of time. In that sense, an average run is superior to an average walk, although walking may be more relaxing and psychologically uplifting.

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Even most scientists embraced this view until recent years. Ninety percent of studies show no difference if you exercise continuously or in spurts. A mile is a mile, whether you run it straight or in thirds. Assuming the same intensity of exercise in both regimens, you burn the same number of calories, although a single, long workout is a better way to boost endurance. In one study, researchers found that 56 obese, sedentary women were more likely to adhere to a regimen if it entailed multiple, short bouts each day rather than one long bout. For some people, three shorter sessions in a day are less daunting and more tolerable physically, make for a nice change of pace, or fit into work schedules better. Others prefer to get their exercise out of the way in one outing.

These findings are particularly good news to harried mothers who juggle work and home duties. While finding a full 30 minutes to exercise may be out of the question, finding three 10-minute sessions where you can take a brisk walk will also do the trick for working your heart.

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When we exercise, our body burns fuel. When we exercise at a low intensity, the fuel burned tends to be fat. As our intensity increases, the fuel burned is carbohydrate.
Given that, it would make sense that if you want to lose fat, low intensity exercise would be the way to go since it burns more fat.
But weight loss is based on the calories burned versus the calories taken in. If your exercise burns more calories - whether in the form of fat or carbohydrate - the result is weight loss as long as calories burned is greater than calories consumed.
Low intensity exercise burns considerably fewer calories than high intensity exercise. For example, if you walk for 30 minutes at a moderate pace, you'll burn about 140 calories. If you run for 30 minutes, you'll burn closer to 300 calories. Assuming you can run 30 minutes, that would burn more calories and result in improved weight loss. If, however, you can't run due to low fitness levels, walking may be the mode of choice where you'd be able to walk 30 minutes but only run for 5 minutes. Then, walking would burn more calories.
In summary, low intensity exercise is not the magic pill for weight loss. Burning calories is the goal and the more you burn, the more weight is lost.

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MYTH #7: NO LOSS OF WEIGHT AT FIRST?

When you start an exercise program along with dietary changes to lose weight, it’s important to understand the difference between fat loss and lean tissue loss.
If you do not exercise you lose lean tissue — mainly bone and muscle mass. This is especially true for people who sit most of the day. But when you start to exercise you tend to gain lean weight (muscle weight).
Thus, when you start an exercise program, you may not lose weight on the scale for a few weeks, or even a few months. This is normal, and you shouldn’t worry. Fat weight is being lost, but lean weight is being added at about the same rate. You’re losing fat and gaining muscle, so don’t sweat it!
Don’t depend on the scale to chart your progress especially at first. Just look at yourself in the mirror. How do your clothes fit? Are good changes going on with your body shape or physique? Do you feel better?
Fat takes up more than four times as much space as lean muscle mass for the same weight. Muscle is much more dense than fat. So if you want to reduce your size, then reduce your percentage of body fat. An obvious indicator is your waistline. If your pants are becoming baggy but your weight is not changing too much, you know you are heading in the right direction.
The cool thing about increasing muslce mass is that it results in overall increase in metabolism. That means you burn more calories even at rest since muscle burns more calories than fat.

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