Lee Fairbanks, author of the new weight loss book "Keep America Slim", shares four "Myths of Dieting" that are popular in the United States, including focusing on pounds rather than body fat when trying to lose weight.
Lee Fairbanks, author of the new weight loss book "Keep America Slim", has shared four popular "Myths of Dieting" that many Americans are blindly following while working on their weight loss New Year’s Resolutions. One of these myths is focusing on the scale rather than monitoring body fat percentage.
"There’s a simple reason 95% of dieters gain back all the weight they lose on existing programs," said Fairbanks. "They are measuring the wrong marker of success. All existing weight loss programs focus on weight, weight, weight, and this is a virtual guarantee of failure long term. You can lose weight on any diet program, but to keep it off you must restore the correct balance of lean muscle to fat in your body," he explains. "The amount of muscle you have determines how much food you can eat without gaining weight. If you don’t measure that, how will you ever know if you have reached your maintenance goal?"
Fairbanks calls the focus on pounds instead of body fat one of the ‘4 Myths of Dieting’. According to Fairbanks, weight has virtually no bearing on true health or desired appearance. Based on their weight in relation to their height, most NBA and NFL players are obese. The true measurement of success in ‘weight’ loss is body fat percentage. Since muscle weighs three times as much as fat while taking up the same space on the body, a person can actually gain weight while losing inches. These myths and other weight loss factors are discussed further in Fairbanks’ book "Keep America Slim".
The following three myths complete the four "Myths of Dieting" have been long held by Americans to be dieting facts:
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A person must eat less to lose weight
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A person must exercise to lose weight
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Faster weight loss is better
"The sad thing is that losing weight and keeping it off is so easy once you know the facts, but despite a mountain of information Americans are not making the right choices when it comes to weight loss and control," says Fairbanks. "It’s time people started to realize that the old ways don’t work. It’s time for a new approach."
Keep America Slim recommends that men aim for 11-19% body fat, while women are allowed slightly more at 17-23%. Lower levels are only safe for athletes, while levels above 25% for men and 30% for women are considered obese. People can check their own body fat reading online at www.keepamericaslim.com, where Fairbanks has also provided the truth behind the four "Myths of Dieting".
About Lee Fairbanks
Lee Fairbanks is an award-winning journalist who developed a passion for health after witnessing diet-related illnesses in his own family. Since 1992 he has lectured and written about health for a major international nutritional company. He has spoken on weight loss, sports fitness nutrition and longevity in six countries and his training manuals have been translated into four languages. He began developing the Keep America Slim program in 1995 after becoming disappointed by the inconsistent results of the existing programs he was teaching. By applying journalistic principles of interviewing and analyzing data and opinions, he formulated the Keep America Slim program to help people understand conflicting and confusing 'scientific' opinions, and to create a program that could be personalized by anyone to meet their own individual needs and challenges.
About Keep America Slim
Keep America Slim was created in 1998 as a program to be offered by certified consultants. Fairbanks wrote the first edition of the book in 2001 to offer help to a wider audience. The book was updated and re-released in 2005 and is available through the website: www.keepamericaslim.com.
