The Great Cardio Myth by Craig Ballantyne

Author:Craig Ballantyne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rockport Publishers
Published: 2016-11-07T05:00:00+00:00

REASON 1: WE EAT MORE CALORIES THAN WE THINK

According to “mindless eating” guru Dr. Brian Wansink, the average person under estimates daily caloric intake by about 20 percent.201 If you’re overweight, it’s closer to 30 to 40 percent.

That means if you think you’re eating 2,000 calories a day, it could actually be closer to 2,500 … or more. If that sounds shocking, let’s check the marathoner’s cupcake math.

On average, a person burns one hundred calories running one mile (1.6 k).202 So:

1 mile (1.6 k) = 100 calories, but

1 cupcake = 300 calories

(according to Google)

As you can see, that’s not exactly one cup-cake per mile (1.6 k) marker. So what would have happened if this runner treated herself to a cupcake for every mile she ran during the marathon?

Calories eaten: 26 cupcakes ×

300 calories = 7,800

Calories burned: 26.2 miles (42.2 km) ×

100 calories = 2,620

-----------------------------------------

Estimated calorie surplus: 5,180!

A marathoner burns an extra day of calories in a race, yet so many use this as an excuse to feast and gorge. And I can’t say I blame them: If you’re exercising for nine miserable hours, which is how long it took those three women to finish the marathon, then it certainly seems like you should be able to eat anything you want—with no guilt.

But nature isn’t so generous.

If you have the same calorie (mis)counting mentality during months and months of marathon training, it’s going to spell trouble. And it’s not just a marathon mindset.

Every year my friend has a Super Bowl party. More than seventy-five personal trainers, nutritionists, and physiotherapists gather in his backyard in southern Florida to watch the big game … and more importantly, to binge eat food they otherwise avoid all year long.

It’s a ridiculous scene. Dozens of them eat themselves into immobility, and many of them complain about how painful their stomachs feel. They also brag about how they fasted and did excessive amounts of cardio during the day to make up for it.

They are as foolish as any client I’ve ever worked with. They know better! They know that the calories in a dozen chicken wings, four slices of pizza, six chocolate cookies, and bowl of ice cream far exceed what they could burn off in even a literal marathon training session—and yet they still justify their binge eating through exercise.

It’s not a battle you can ever win, especially on Super Bowl Sunday.

We all know (I hope) that “a calorie isn’t a calorie.” In other words, a 400-calorie Vanilla Buttercream cupcake from Starbucks isn’t the nutrition equivalent of a 400-calorie quinoa salad. And high-fat, high-sugar foods are going to have a negative effect on your body no matter how much penance you pay in the gym.

That said, we usually get the “calories burned” math wrong, too.

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