Don't Be Fooled

" If something is too good to be true... It probably isn't! "

Okay, let me tell you something you deserve to know if u don't know it yet. In the world of health and fitness, there are many gimmicks and other products. They can be found almost anywhere. From the fitness industries to your simple health magazine books. They're EVERYWHERE!

There are some products on the internet that will tell you about almost anything to get you to buy their product. They use stuff like, "Get ripped 6-pack abs in 1 month", "This product will help you lose weight without doing anything". Seriously, ask yourself for a moment, if there was a product like that, then why would anyone need to go to the gym or watch their nutrition? And if everyone became lean and muscular, what do you think will happen to the fitness industries across the world? You guessed it, nobody will ever need to buy their products! No more fat people = No more buying fitness products = No income = No profit = Their losing their business!

So to solve this problem, they've used many methods to keep you paying for their products. They make their product sound so good, you JUST gotta have it. It's not only their products, but did you know some trainers from fitness industries give out wrong information? For example, there are trainers that ask you to go on super low calorie diets. Sure, you might think this is okay. But the fact is, super low calorie diets do more harm than good to the body. It messes up your metabolism and it also depletes your source of vitamins and other important nutrients. Of course, you'll lose fat in the first few weeks, but at the expense of your muscles. As it carries on, your body realizes that you're falling short of your energy supple, so it decides to go into starvation mode. Starvation mode is when the body will do anything to hold on to more fats and use up your muscles as energy! This is because to the body, your fat is like the bodies energy reservoir, your backup energy, since fat has a high calorie value of 9kcal per 1 gram compared to protein (your muscle) which only gives a 4kcal per 1 gram. So in any case, your body will adapt and start using protein from your muscles to supply you with energy.

Our body is an intelligent unit, whether we fully actually understand it or not. It's adaptation abilities are beyond comparison with other organisms. 

So in this case, as your body realizes that you're unknowingly starving yourself, it will slow down the fat burning process until it halts. The first few weeks results are very good. You're probably losing alot of fat. But as time goes on, the amount of fat you lose begins to lessen until you realize that it doesn't go any lower. After that, you get depressed that you're not getting anymore results. So what is the next thing you do? Instead, you quit the diet and go back to eating like you once did. In fact, you'll be so hungry that you're bound to overeat since you've starved yourself for so long. Your craving for food starts to kick in. And a few months later, you'll be back at the weight you were before you started the diet... Only difference is that most of that weight is actually FAT and not muscle. To make matters worse, you'll go back to the fitness industries and ask for help and by the time you know it, they already have another product waiting for you to try and fail and come back to them already. 

Okay, so moving on, I'd like to share with you on those "magic pills" you may have heard of online or in a fitness magazine or etc. I'll share with you a secret, but don't be discouraged: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MAGIC PILL THAT WILL MAKE YOU LOSE FAT!

No miracle pill can do that for you, sorry to say. But look at it this way. Now that you know about this fact, you won't be tempted to buy those fake gimmicks the magazines or whoever it is shows you. From that, you've already saved yourself ALOT of money. 

Another thing you must understand is that in fitness, there is no EASY way to get lean or fit. It all takes hard work and dedication. I can assure you that the steps are extremely simple but not easy. Simple means it's not hard to understand a process or something. Easy means it requires little or no effort to carry out. There is a great difference between those two! 

So you really want to get in more fitter? More muscular? More healthier? Then prepare yourself for alot of self sacrifice and hard work. Don't be discouraged when I tell you that, 'cause at the end of the day, you'll be the one enjoying your life. You'll be the one feeling good. You'll have something to be proud of, because I can honestly tell you that alot of people are not in good health. This is especially common in working people who have to work for long hours. But I'll show you how you can make time to cultivate a healthier lifestyle and find time to do so in the future posts. 

So remember: There is alot of sweat and blood involved but do not give up. Do not let this bring you down, but tell yourself that you're going to do better for yourself! To be the best of what you can and even more! You can set your goals to look like how you want to be, but never compare yourself to others. Everyone is different. Think of this health issue as a long marathon or race. Don't look at how fast other people are running, but concentrate on how fast YOU can run. 

More valuable info: Have you ever seen those muscle packed guys (and some women) on cover of fitness or health magazines, and at the corner saying like "Learn how I got my ripped abs by using these supplements!" or anything like that? Yeah, well, chances are high that they were paid by a nutrition company to just be a model on the front cover of their page. And these guys the company pays... They're all bodybuilders or people who have actually put in years of sweat, tears and blood to become what they are today. In fact, you can believe that some of them admit they have actually NEVER even tried that supplement! They're just promoting! They get paid by the nutrition companies for being in their photos shoots.  

If you asked a fat guy to be on the cover of their magazine, would anyone actually even buy it? Heck, some might not even bother to read through it! So it's essential they get all those buffed guys to promote their products. I'm not saying all companies are like that... Maybe just about 90%? Maybe higher? 

Also, by putting information about "new supplement breakthroughs" into editorial format into the magazine, they appear much more believable since the whole idea of this business is to make you believe that this product works, even if it's never been tested or properly studied. Nowadays, these magazines have turned into nothing more than encrypted "supplement catalogs". 

Now let's see the internet side. There are people claiming that their product works by showing you before and  after photos. Well, most of the time, they're actually fakes. It's actually quite simple. Programs like Photoshop can be easily used to change ones physical appearance. Hey, it could even turn Taylor Lautner from buffed to REALLY FAT. (A friend of mine made a photoshop of Taylor Lautner actually and I must say, it looks like he's been on a donut diet for the past 20 years! ;P) So don't get fooled by it. Plus there are some small techniques to change the appearance of a person without photoshop or photo editing. Examples: Lighting and size of your stomach (I don't have a name for it, sorry!) Well, the size of your stomach can actually be controlled. How? By the amount of air you breath in! Notice that if you exhale and suck in your stomach, it becomes more slimmer. But when you relax it and breath a mouth full of air in, your stomach tends to bulge out like a balloon, making you look like you have a pot-belly! 

Tip to remember: If you've ever signed up for a fitness program, you'll notice that some people are getting awesome results, while others aren't. This is because no program will 100% work for two people. It can be caused by genetic factors. Now that you know that, I will help you develop an ideal method of understanding your body type needs and how you should take control of it. Each of us may not have the same body type, and therefore if you want to succeed in fitness, you have to do what's best for YOUR body. Through this, you'll learn to be independent which will contribute to other aspects of your life.

Well, that's about the main summary for this part. I hope after you've read this, your idea of fitness and health is much more clearer and you have a better understanding. Do leave comments if you're not sure on anything! Until next time, stay healthy and see ya soon! ^^