With a host of websites out there, touting questionable fitness and nutrition advice, it’s refreshing to find www.exrx.net. This site references research to support the information posted. It is a free resource that is useful for fitness and wellness professionals, health enthusiasts, and weekend warriors, alike. The navigation pane on the left side of the home page provides access to several useful pages for anyone aspiring to lose weight. Some of these include: beginner’s page, exercise instruction, aerobic conditioning, fitness testing, weight management, diet and nutrition.
The diet and nutrition page provides a complete list of sub-pages. Some that may be especially beneficial for people aspiring to lose weight are: “Dietary Guidelines,” “Progressive Eating Goals,” and “Rationale.” ”Develop a Diet” may help you learn how to eat in such a way that you can sustain your weight loss, long term. It is a way of eating that can become a way of life; this is not intended to be a “diet” in the restrictive sense.
“Foods for Fat Loss” lists certain foods that may rev up fat metabolism, and it documents the research studies that have supported the claim. However, just because studies have been done that support the notion that a certain food or beverage boosts fat metabolism doesn’t mean that the claim is true or the date complete. (exrx.net does a great job in listing the items on this page as “foods that MAY aid in fat loss”). For instance, one of the things listed on that page is that drinking cold water may help you burn more calories, because of water-induced thermogenesis (your body having to warm the liquid to room temp). The post referenced a large study that supported the fat-burning claim of drinking cold water because it requires roughly 24 calories to raise the temperature of a cold glass of water from 22 to 37 degrees Celsius in the body. Although that is true, the nominal amount energy expended during thermogenesis is not believed to be substantial enough to consider cold water a fat-blasting miracle maker. http://www.chow.com/food-news/54270/does-drinking-ice-water-burn-calories/ Be diligent about looking up the studies referenced and do your own research to see what else you can find on it. After gathering all the information you can, decide for yourself if it’s worth a good ole college try.
www.exrx.net is an informative website that contains plenty of useful information for anyone interested in furthering their knowledge of fitness, health, and wellness. We find it practical enough to consider Exercise Prescription on the Net worthy of #16 on our 101 Legit Ways to Lose Weight countdown.