Article # 575. Drinking Ice Cold Water Burns Fat! True or False?

“By drinking ice cold water your system burns a massive amount of calories to bring it to the body’s temperature!?” Is that True?

 In a way, it is true that when you drink ice cold water, your body uses energy (i.e., calories) to raise the liquid’s temperature to match body's temperature.

However, the calories consumed are so few that it’s almost non relevant at all. Certainly not nearly enough to cause any appreciable decrease in your body fat.

Let’s do a little bit of math to better understand what we’re talking about.

Let’s say you drink a 8-ounces (240 grams) of ice-cold water at around 4°C your body will expend calories to bring it to body temperature, which is about 37.5°C. That’s a difference of 33.5˚.

To raise 1 gram of water of 1˚ C, 1 calorie is necessary (but be aware, in scientific terms  this is a “little” calorie, 1 food calorie - those we usually refer to - is equal 1,000 of this “little” calories).

Raising 240 grams of water by 33.5˚ will take: 33.5 x 240 = 8,040 little calories or 8 food calories (also known as kilocalories).
I won’t say that 8 calories is nothing but if you think that one celery stalk has 10 calories, you can easily see that it’s highly unlikely that you’ll lose any fat just by drinking ice cold water.

Even if you drink 10 glasses of 8-ounces ice cold water throughout the day you’ll burn 80 calories, again not bad, but if you think that 1 pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories...well, I’ll let you do the math.

Article # 574. Plank Pose Leg Lift.

Well it isn’t, but it’s not easy. It is worth the effort, however. In fact, planks offer one of the best forms of strength training to help you become fit.

Plank Pose Leg Lift-Variation of the plank pose that adds a new challenge: Lifting one of your legs up in the air while balancing your body with the other. The best idea is to lift your leg at the moment you are pullingyour belly button in. For an added physical benefit, squeeze your glute muscles while the leg is lifted. Return to the plank pose, and repeat for the other leg. Do 5-8 sets on each side.

This is a variation of the plank pose but adds additional challenge with the leg lift. Although the plank pose is isometric, this move is a combination of isometric exercise and a moving exercise as you are lifting and then holding the position.

How to do the Plank Pose Leg Lift

• Start in plank position as described above.
• Lift your right leg off the ground about 6 to 8 inches while pulling in your belly button towards your spine and hold for a count of 30 seconds. 
• For more body toning, squeeze your glutes, the butt, while doing this move.
• Return to plank position and repeat lifting the left leg this time.
• Repeat this on each side for 3 to 5 repetitions.

Article # 573. How the Body Uses Calories

Some people mistakenly believe they have to burn off all the calories they eat or they will gain weight. This isn't true. Your body needs some calories just to operate — to keep your heart beating and your lungs breathing. As a kid, your body also needs calories from a variety of foods to grow and develop. And you burn off some calories without even thinking about it — by walking your dog or making your bed.

But it is a great idea to play and be active for at least 1 hour and up to several hours a day. That means time spent playing sports, just running around outside, or riding your bike. It all adds up. Being active every day keeps your body strong and can help you maintain a healthy weight.

Watching TV and playing video games won't burn many calories at all, which is why you should try to limit those activities to 1 to 2 hours per day. A person burns only about 1 calorie per minute while watching TV, about the same as sleeping!