Weight Loss and Fitness Facts vs Factoids
The health/fitness and diet industry is based almost completely on factoids and half truths. Today I’m issuing you a test to see if you can tell fact from fiction. But first we have to define what a ‘factoid’ is.
A factoid is a questionable or spurious—unverified, incorrect, or fabricated—statement formed and asserted as a fact, but with no veracity. The word appears in the Oxford English Dictionary as “something which becomes accepted as fact, although it may not be true.” However, the word can sometimes mean, instead, an insignificant but true piece of information. (wikipedia)
Most of the claims you hear or read about in the health/fitness/diet industry are simply factoids.
In many cases they started with a misinterpretation of a scientific theory or fact and quickly turn into something completely untrue and in some cases the opposite of what the science tells us.
Finding out if a claim is a fact or a factoid takes time and effort to research where it came from and how it became popular.
Many claims in the health and fitness industry are difficult to prove in your daily life (if you gain 1 pound this week, was it muscle or fat?!)…so factoids can persist and many people get taken to the cleaners spending money on products based solely on factoids.
So here is the challenge. I want you to guess which of the following claims are facts or factoids…(re-read the definition of factoid above if you have to while you’re doing this exercise)
1. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and kickstarts your metabolism. If you skip breakfast you’ll overeat at the end of the day and you won’t perform as well at work/school.
2. Eating late at night causes you to gain fat
3. Your metabolic rate is determined by your fat free mass (all the parts of your body that aren’t fat)
4. Adding an extra pound of muscle to your body causes you to burn about 50 more calories per day
5. High Intensity Interval Training causes you to burn more calories than steady state cardio (given the same amount of work)
6. Cardio on an empty stomach in the morning causes you to burn more fat than glycogen
7. Low insulin levels are correlated with a shift to a high percentage of fat burning
8. Working out your abs will give you a flat stomach
9. Certain foods cause you to burn more calories digesting them than others
10. The only scientifically repeatable and proven way to lose body fat is to eat less calories than you burn
Put your answers in the comment section. If you think it’s a fact just put “F” and if you think it’s a factoid put “FT”
I’ll be taking up the answers with 10 video posts throughout the rest of this week.
And let the game begin.
John
18 Responses to “Weight Loss and Fitness Facts vs Factoids”
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February 15th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
1. FT. I do think it’s possible for some people to skip breakfast and over-compensate later. Or skip lunch and over-compensate later, or dinner, etc. That’s more of a personal thing, not a scientific issue. So definitely FT.
2. FT
3. F
4. FT
5. Well, I guess that’s true if the “same amount of work” means the same amount of time. I.e., 10 minutes of high intensity exercise would burn a few more calories than 10 minutes of low intensity exercise. But you also consider a factoid to be an “insignificant but true piece of information,” so I guess it’s FT in the sense that the difference in calories is inconsequential.
6. FT
7. FT
8. FT
9. I know some people (maybe Lyle MacDonald?) say that protein has more of a thermic effect, thermogenic effect, whatever you call it. Untrue, or an “insignificant but true” factoid, not sure which. lol. So I’ll say FT.
10. Definitely F!
February 15th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
1. FT
2. FT
3. F
4. FT
5. FT
6. Tricky. I would say yes in the short-term but makes no difference in the long-term. I’m going to say F.
7. F but same comment as previous.
8. FT
9. F
10. F
February 15th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
1 FT
2 FT
3 FT
4 FT
5 FT
6 FT
7 F
8 FT
9 F
10 F
February 15th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
1.FT
2.FT
3.FT
4.FT
5.FT
6.FT
7.FT (only F if you have an increase in GH, otherwise it’s a FT)
8.FT
9.FT
10.F
February 15th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
I can’t wait. After reading all of your post here and every place i could find, the answers seems easy, but im sure i make mistakes.
Fact: 5,6,10, not sure about 7,9, rest is FT
February 15th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
1. FT
2. FT
3. F
4. FT
5. F, but I’m not exactly sure how you’re defining “work” here. I mean, 15 minutes of HIIT vs. 60 minutes of steady state could be a wash, depending on how hard you go in each.
6. FT
7. FT
8. FT
9. FT
10. F
February 15th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
I assumed John meant work in the physics sense which is essentially the transfer of mechanical energy to the environment. So I think he means the same amount of calories burned between the two exercises.
February 15th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Correct.
February 15th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
I think the only two that are F are 6 and 10 (though I don’t care for the way 6 is worded; “exercise in a fasted state” would be more correct – it’s not just time of day that matters). The rest would then be FTs.
February 15th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
1) FT 2) FT 3) F 4) FT 5) FT 6) FT 7) FT
FT 9) FT 10) F
February 15th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
1. FT
2. FT
3. F
4. F
5. F
6. FT
7. FT
8. FT
9. F
10. F
Looking forward to the videos
February 16th, 2010 at 6:02 am
1- FT
2- FT
3- F
4- F
5- F
6- FT
7- FT
8- FT
9- FT
10- F
By the way John you have a great blog. Just the truth (and common sence I might add) No bullshit.
February 16th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Awesome post! I still see this one going around…..
The vegan who gets skinnier but keeps feeling fatter…means she isn’t eating enough protein to hold on to muscle. She’s losing muscle and holding on to fat.
A trainer I know claims this is a fact????
February 16th, 2010 at 8:25 am
1.FT
2.FT
3.FT
4.FT
5.F
6.FT
7.F
8.FT
9.FT
10.F
February 16th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Fact 3, 10
February 16th, 2010 at 10:24 am
Scratch that…
Fact 10.
Number 3 seems like a fact, but I think your activity level affects your metabolic rate in a significant way.
February 16th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Well, in that case, I change my answer lol
June 9th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
[...] No problem. John did a good miniseries on his blog on facts and factoids: Weight Loss and Fitness Facts vs Factoids | JohnBarban.com Here's the blog the specifically addresses your question: Calorie Burning Foods | JohnBarban.com [...]