Do we really think neoprene clothing can help us lose weight? Well, I concede, they can help one lose weight—water weight. The fact that I am seeing an increasing number of sponsored posts on social media for clothing items that are meant to help one lose weight in 2017 is beyond comprehension. I thought we pretty well figured out by 1987 that these were hogwash.
I wore a “tummy trimmer” (essentially a neoprene belt) along with “plastics” in high school wrestling—back when these were allowed. I wore these not so much for cutting weight but for the added heat stress. I guess I was a glutton for punishment. Still we understood, even then, that these only helped us lose water weight. Even before I got degrees in exercise physiology, I knew I couldn’t simply sweat away pounds of fat.
The clothing is much more fashionable these days, but the physiology has not changed. Sweat is water, not melted fat. If it could melt away fat, I would be wearing my neoprene Farmer John wetsuit all the time (since I am not getting enough wear kayaking these days). The fact is, all they do is trap the heat and thus the sweat between the neoprene and skin. The added calories burned are negligible.
If you want to lose fat, eat less and exercise more. Save the money to buy nice new slimmer clothes.
Carpe momento!
Image: Silver Lining Playbook