Join Bianca and Exercise Physiologist Mike Smeltzer as they discuss the misconceptions and realities of weight loss in the third episode of the Fit Not Fad podcast.

Bianca: Hi and welcome to another episode of the Fit Not Fad podcast. This episode’s topic is weight loss and lifestyle choices, and as promised, I brought in a guest to have this conversation with. Today, my guest is Mike Smeltzer. Mike, welcome to the show.

Mike: Thank you for having me, Bianca.

Bianca: As always, I would like to mention that this is not medical advice, and all the guidelines we  are providing come directly from the American College of Sports Medicine. Always talk to a physician before starting a physical activity program, especially if you’ve been physically inactive for a long time, have cardiovascular, pulmonary, orthopedic or metabolic health problems or if you are taking medication.

Bianca: Let’s chat, shall we? Mike, will you tell us a little bit about your experience in the health and fitness field?

Mike: Sure. Currently I work for and have actually for the last 10 years worked for a medical-based fitness facility. In which I've had numerous different job titles, ranging from Fitness specialist -  which includes personal training clients one-on-one - as well as teaching group exercise classes and providing assessments and programs for members. I've done a lot of community outreach programs in terms of diabetes prevention programs and community weight loss programs. My current role I specialize now in creating and developing wellness programs for our members in our community.

Bianca: With such an impressive background, I’m sure you’ve helped many people with a variety of fitness levels and health issues. We know weight loss takes a lot of hard work, dedication and a strong support system, and unfortunately many people try to start this journey without a lot of information on it. What do you think are some common misconceptions people have regarding weight loss?

Mike: With my experience weight loss is a multi-facet problem that has its unique characteristics. Meaning that everybody is going to approach weight loss a little bit differently because everybody's behaviors are going to be different. I would say the number one misconception I think surrounding weight loss is this idea that you have to follow a diet.

The problem with diets is that they create a very strict set of rules and people end up trying to adjust their lifestyle to accommodate these rules, and unfortunately most individuals struggling with weight also lack some sort of discipline. Those individuals that are going to benefit from a diet or a set of rules on how to eat  and what to eat are going to be those individuals that are disciplined.

Another common misconception that I see is you have to exercise. Sometimes people get overwhelmed by weight loss being, again, this kind of two different approach to either exercise or creating calorie deficit in your diet and that you have to do both and sometimes people get hung up on trying to change too much too soon. So I think for most people weight loss starts in the kitchen. Starts by addressing calorie deficit, thereby reducing total caloric intake. 

Another misconception that I see is that you must include certain foods or avoid certain foods. That somehow if we include a certain set of green vegetables or certain set of lean proteins or healthy carbohydrates that’s automatically going to produce weight loss and it's just not true. Again, when we're looking about or talking about weight loss we're talking about total caloric intake. That is what is going to drive weight loss or weight gain.

And then lastly, I would say that sometimes people get confused about eating for health and eating for weight loss; don't necessarily have to be the same thing. We can certainly reduce weight loss without changing a lot of our food groups, but certainly can improve our health by changing those food groups. So you don't have to create these rules for yourself. A lot of people box themselves in. What we need to focus more on is addressing the behaviors that drive our decisions or our lack of decision-making in a weight loss journey. 

Bianca: Given all the misinformation out there and hurdles that people might have to jump over in their weight loss journey, what is the best resource for an individual looking to lose weight?

Mike: I would say first and foremost, a great resource for anybody looking to make a behavior change, this when applied and extend beyond weight loss, is to have first and foremost somebody that you can trust and when looking to lose weight it’s helpful to connect with somebody who has gone through that exact same experience. Somebody who has changed their behavior in a way that has produced sustainable weight loss. 

But I don't want to undermine the importance of your support system on those within your immediate household, those that maybe know your bad behavior, those that can be a source of positive reinforcement to enforce good behaviors. I think you need that kind of role model to guide you and give you good accurate advice. Whether that be somebody who has gone to the experience, a nutrition coach, a dietitian or physician. I think a lot of long-term success is going to be relying on those within your immediate circle in your own household. Maybe who have to adopt this journey with you or make some changes to help.

Bianca: It's really unfortunate that, you know, the media and people who reached a wide variety of populations. They don't really talk about these things. A lot of people just tend to focus on just exercise or nutrition. Rarely both and almost never just on a support system or behavior change and I think it's our role as fitness professionals to raise awareness. Would you agree?

Mike: You hit the nail on the head there. We see this a lot in the health and fitness industry. These trends pop up. They pop up and everybody rushes to jump on this trend. Because, they sell the trend as the next greatest thing right? It’s the shiny object, it’s what’s going to get the greatest results in the shortest amount of time. And we saw that we sell it on social media, people adopt these mentalities. You see it with intermittent fasting, keto and all of these mainstream diets. 

Not that any one of them don't produce results. They all certainly can. but we see it with exercise equipment. We see it even in product lines. Everybody, influencers if you will, are out there and they have a product to sell. And a lot of times, you know, they're in a much further position than most of their audience. They're in better shape and have more optimal health, but they don't always sell the journey on how they got their. They kind of oversell the products. So I would agree absolutely. It's our job to kind of balance that out and give accurate information to bring awareness to what works, and what may be just a fad.

Bianca: Weight loss involves a lot of dedication, perseverance and consistency. You have a background in behavior change and coaching, what is the best way to create a new positive habit?

Mike: Great question. This is one, really, I think where the switch is happening. The change in the healthcare industry, the wellness industry in particular, is this idea of coaching. Which is to rather than present somebody with a set of rules to which they must adapt. We are trying to instill positive habits or break down bad behaviors and replace them with positive ones. In order to do that, we have to break that down. 

So for example, if somebody comes to me with the goal of eating healthier. That’s a very broad goal that might mean something different to me than it does to them. So we have to break that down and maybe that's one particular meal or addressing one particular food within a certain meal. 

So, breaking down that behavior down to the smallest possible skill, developing the skill and using that to produce the habit. Because often, habits are driven by cues. So we have a rough day at work. We're stressed out. Stress drives us to eat and eating is the reward that makes us feel better. Eating is the routine, sorry.

The feeling we get after eating would be the reward, so we have to break that cycle. We need to interrupt that cue, instead of thinking oh I’m stressed out, I need to eat. Oh I am stressed out, maybe I try to exercise. But again, we have to do it in a way that allows us to be successful. 

Bianca: So then let's think about a person who's new to health and fitness was just thinking about starting a workout regime, thinking about their diet. They just want to be healthy. What's a great piece of advice you would give to a person in the beginning of their Journey?

Mike: The best advice I could give somebody is to start small and think simple. Change is a growth process. It's a journey and it's one that really does require us to grow and develop skill. So start small. We all should have lofty goals. But if we can bring those goals down into smaller, more attainable achievements that's going to help us to build some positive reinforcement to help you feel accomplished. 

We can go from there to start small and think simple, kind of avoid the distractions. Everybody has advice on the best way to go about it. What you're looking to develop is the best ways for you. What lifestyle do you want to live?

Bianca: Very well said, Mike. Thank you again for joining me tonight and thank you for sharing some of your wisdom. It’s always nice chatting with you.

Mike: Thank you Bianca.

Bianca: This concludes another episode of the Fit Not Fad podcast. Thank you for listening and make sure to share this episode with friends and family. I’ll be back in two weeks. Until then, stay safe and healthy.