Top 10 myths about weight loss

Top 10 myths about weight loss

MYTH 1: SPOT REDUCTION WORK

It is widely believed that if you focus your exercise and strength training on specific areas of your body, you can reduce the amount of fat in that particular area or region. In reality, there is no stain reduction. When you start exercising and exercising, you will lose weight evenly throughout your entire body. However, another common myth is that a high number of reps burns more fat, when in fact fewer reps with a heavier weight will actually cause you to burn more fat in a shorter amount of time than a higher number of reps with a lighter weight.

Myth 2: Drinking cold drinks reduces fat

This is a very common myth that is actually credible when you consider the reasons behind it. The myth goes on to say that since your body needs to warm the water, it will automatically burn calories when you drink cold water. This calorie-burning frenzy continues until your body adjusts the water temperature to the warmth of your normal body. While drinking water (at any temperature) is an important part of any weight loss system, you shouldn't expect to lose weight just by drinking alone. Water helps flush out your system and keep you healthy and free of toxins. However, you cannot burn calories by drinking it without a healthy diet.

MYTH 3: Eliminating food groups leads to fat loss

This myth is a bit confusing, so let's set the record straight. Eliminating (or at least minimizing) certain foods (such as sugary foods) should be part of your transition to a healthy diet. You always want to minimize the number of high-fat (low-energy) foods whenever possible. However, cutting out entire food groups from your diet and focusing on eating only one type of food is not only very difficult. To maintain a healthy diet, you need a comprehensive selection of healthy foods from all food groups.

MYTH 4: LOW CALORIC DIETS ARE THE ONLY WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT

Almost every diet focuses on lowering your calorie intake and increasing your overall activity level, and rightly so. The problem comes when dieters believe that by drastically reducing their calorie intake, they will lose the weight and keep it off. It's important to reduce your calorie intake gradually so that your body's natural system doesn't go into starvation mode. This causes your system to think that you need to store food for possible famine (this has been part of our system since the dawn of humans). You also need to watch out for a disruption in your body's natural metabolism, as dramatically reducing calories can slow down the rate and make it harder to shed those pounds.

MYTH 5: YOU HAVE TO WORK AT CERTAIN TIMES

I've seen this myth circulate the weight loss communities many times over the years, and while the "best time of day" always seems to change, the basic idea remains the same: you need to exercise at certain times to achieve maximum results. In reality, you don't need to exercise early in the morning, late at night, or anything in between, as long as you actually exercise. Focus more on maintaining a consistent activity schedule and less on when you actually do it. For busy moms and business owners, setting a specific schedule isn't always the easiest thing to do. Therefore, it's good news that no matter when you actually exercise, your body burns the same amount of calories for the same workout regardless of the time of day.

MYTH 6: You have to exercise for XX minutes before it starts working

I believed this myth myself. The idea is that your body needs to “warm up” for a certain amount of time before switching into “fat burning mode.” Therefore, everything xx minutes ago simply doesn't count. This is complete nonsense! While you should always aim to include a warm-up (as well as a slow-down process) during your workout, you'll actually start burning fat right from the start!

Myth 7: Eat fat-burning foods to lose weight

If you ever really find a food group or food item that causes instant weight loss, please let me know! Realistically, there are no foods that burn fat instantly. However, there are types of foods that can increase your metabolism (which subsequently helps you lose weight).

MYTH 8: HIGH PROTEIN / LOW CARB DIETS ARE THE BEST

These diets are typically difficult to follow because they are very restrictive about what you can eat. Furthermore, the reality is that although your body may lose weight quickly at first, your body will plateau and you will have a hard time getting over the “hump.” Instead, focus on following a healthy eating plan that includes foods from the four food groups, ensuring that you not only get extra flexibility with your meals, but also get the minerals and vitamins your body needs.

MYTH 9: EAT LESS AND BURN MORE

Did you know there is such a thing as a “sumo diet”? It is believed that sumo wrestlers eat close to retirement and rarely eat themselves throughout the day to pack on pounds. The reason for this is not because eating after 7pm actually causes a lot of weight gain (the number of calories you have stored at the end of the day will still be converted to fat regardless of when you ate), but rather they do so because when you eat less, your body stores more fat while lowering your metabolic rate. It's important to eat regularly throughout the day, preferably 6-8 times (three meals and healthy snacks every two hours will keep you satisfied and cause your body to stay in constant fat burning mode).

MYTH 10: Eliminate all fat from your diet

This myth is not only extremely difficult but can also harm your system. We all need fat in our diet to survive, nourish our muscles and promote growth.

While reducing your fat intake will help you lose weight, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to reduce it overall.

Inspired by Andrew Eli