Wearing a wet suit to stay warm in frigid water, I get. Wearing this while working out? The idea of wrapping yourself in neoprene while working out makes me cringe. Apparently, the goal is to assist in long-term weight loss.
However, y’all know we don’t just go with an initial gut reaction here at Kaplifestyle. I could be wrong. What if the simple act of sweating more is advantageous for burning calories and/or fat? I suppose I had better challenge my own assumptions.
I’ve spent the last few days in the Dominican Republic. As you might imagine, it has been hot and humid. You remember my recent decision to rock a sport coat. Perhaps that course of action was a bit shortsighted, but at least I know what it’s like to don gear with the explicit purpose of sweating profusely. My time in the sun got me thinking. Was I burning calories more quickly? Should I grab a trash bag for my next sprint session? Hell no. From healthyliving.azcentral.com:
Wearing a plastic bag while you exercise makes you sweat more, and it may seem like the more you sweat, the more calories you’re burning. However, that theory isn’t true. Sweating removes water from the body, which can cause you to weigh less immediately after a workout, but it doesn’t burn more calories. Instead, it can lead to dangerous health problems by not allowing your body to cool itself appropriately.
That weight you’re “losing” will come back on as soon as you hit the water bottle. These ideas are popular amongst wrestlers or body builders who are looking to cut weight for a weigh-in, but you risk cramping, poor performance, diminished mental strength, and organ damage for a few minutes of weighing less. Yes, it’s common sense, but it’s astounding how much money folks pay for gimmicks like these and others without science behind them. The phrase “weight loss” alone can sell just about anything, from diet pills to magic clothing. From quora.com:
A quick review of the data suggests that Americans spend between 40 and 50 billion dollars annually on weight loss.
That’s billion, with a “B.” This illustrates three things about our society.
- We are perpetually unhappy with our physiques.
- We like shortcuts.
- We think these shortcuts will lead to our desired scale readings, which will in turn make us happy.
Speaking of scales, you may remember how I feel about them. I spoke at length about the more appropriate goal of eating animals, veggies and fruit (no packaged or processed food) in an effort to feel better in your own skin. Take this mission for a test run. Your clothes will fit better, your outlook may be rosier, and you won’t need to purchase gimmicks (or a scale, for that matter).
Ironically, I’m headed back to Cali in a comfortably fitting sweat suit in the morning.
Kap
Does it follow then that hot yoga has no effect on weight loss compared to regular yoga?
Here it is from the horse’s mouth! When I wrestled in high school, I tried using a rubber suit at practice. You’d start sweating as soon as you put it on. Sorry to share this, but my nickname was puddles! Obviously we were a bit obsessed with our weight, and what I discovered was that the suit actually limited how much I could sweat. By just wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I had MUCH more energy, and could work much harder, and lost more weight.
As pertaining to losing real weight as opposed to just water weight, I believe when you are cold, it raises your metabolism and your body burns more calories to maintain your necessary body heat.
If sweating causes you to lose weight, I’d be 165 with 2% body fat. I sweat like a pig. Lol
Take care all.
I hear ya…how do you think I ended up with the name fishman
Yeah, Kap & Bill, wearing extra sweats & silver plastic “shirts” to lose extra weight for wrestling weigh-in always worked, but it was weird and chicks didn’t dig it.
Haha, Chester that is great. Love your energy to the blog!
-Peter
Reading this post made me sweat
Return of the Sweatsuit! Good for you Kap! Kick it old school baby
I had a dancer teacher who subscribed to this notion that we would burn calories during our class and stay thin little darlings as we were not supposed to be chubby little dancers. No matter how much we complained to our parents, she convinced them that if we weren’t going to follow our “said” diets at home, this sweating of the pounds would work great. I won’t say what I did to defy this but after making two attempts verbally to communicate my disgust, I went an alternate route and had a new dance teacher shortly thereafter.
Sorry but a sweaty girl is no more attractive than a sweaty guy
Kelebek
I was overweight and tried so many things. Different things work for different people and I was lucky enough to find one that worked for me. I lost 18 pounds in one month without exercise and it has been a life changer. I’m a little embarrased to post my before and after photos here but if anyone actually cares to hear what I’ve been doing then I’d be happy to help in any way. Just shoot me an email at oceanflowers82@gmail.com and I’ll show you my before and after photos, and tell you about how things are going for me with the stuff I’ve tried. I wish someone would have helped me out when I was struggling to find a solution so if I can help you then it would make my day