Busting 17 Weight Loss Myths
Posted on January 10th, 2007 by garyPosted in Diet, Exercise, Fitness, Health
For people who are struggling to lose weight one of the toughest battles is separating fact from fiction and getting past all of the diet and weight loss myths. Here’s a look at 17 common weight loss myths.
Drop 15 Pounds in 15 Days: This is a pretty common one with lots of variations like “10 pounds in 10 days”, “30 pounds in 30 days” and so on. The problem is weight loss really isn’t a race. It’s a slow gradual process that occurs over a long period of time. According weight loss experts like those at the respected Mayo Clinic 1 to 2 pounds a week is a safe and realistic goal to achieve.
Fats are Bad for You and Your Body: This is another big one that even had lots of nutritionists spreading it around for a while. Just like everything else there are “bad fats” and “good fats” these are known as essential fatty acids and are vital to keeping your body operating top form.
Carbohydrates are Bad for You: We have diets like Atkins to thank for this one. Again some carbohydrates such as heavily refined white flours and breads don’t have much nutritional value. However there are good carbohydrates you should be eating on regular basis.
Don’t Eat Before Bedtime: While it is true that your body processes food much more slowly when you are sleeping, that’s really not the problem. Most people just want a quick snack before bed so go for some heavily processed food with lots of salt or sugar. If you’re hungry have an apple or piece of celery and a glass of water, instead of a doughnut and soda.
Drinking Lots of Liquids Will Help You Lose Weight: It’s true that drinking the proper amount of liquids and staying hydrated is an important part of good health. However drinking sports and energy drinks won’t help you lose weight in fact the high levels of sugar and carbohydrates may make you gain weight. The same holds true for sweetened teas and colas, so limit the how much you drink. Drinking tea is a healthy option as is water.
Celery, Grapefruit or Cabbage Soup helps you Burn Fat Faster: Eating certain foods won’t help you burn fat or boost you metabolism. Some foods with caffeine can temporarily give you an energy boost, but the effect is temporary and these foods usually have lots of sugar added to them. Some foods like celery have so few calories it’s possible to burn more calories eating them than they give you, but eating a diet exclusively of celery would deprive your body of vitamins and minerals it needs.
Nuts are Good/Bad for Helping you Lose Weight: Nuts are high in protein, calories and fats. The fat in nuts are healthy fats and good for you. However as with all foods they need to be eaten in moderation . Anything more than a small handful is probably too much.
Fast Foods are all Bad for You: A big cheese burger is never going to be as good for you as an apple or orange but fast food and convenience are part of everyone’s lives. Try to cut down on the fast foods and make healthy food choices whenever possible. When you do go to a fast food restaurant make healthy choices like a salad over a king sized cheeseburger.
Salads and Salad Bars are Healthy Choices: It’s true that salads filled with fruits or vegetables are good for you. However most people add unhealthy items like bacon, chicken strips, and cheese to their salads. The worst offenders at a salad bar are the dressings which practically negate any positive effect the salad may have had.
Foods with Lots of Starch like Potatoes are Bad for You: This is another misunderstanding of the problem. Foods like rice, pasta, and potatoes are low in calories and fat. However put a big spoon of sour cream, pat of butter or melted cheese on it and you’ve changed the entire meal adding calories and fat. Skip the toppings or use them very small amounts when you need to.
Skipping Meals is a Good Weight to Lose Weight: This is another counter intuitive myth. It takes 20-30 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain it’s full and to stop eating. If you skip a meal your stomach will be emptier and need more food for it to feel full, so you will overeat. The best strategy is to eat normal portions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. With 1-2 healthy snacks in between your major meals so you aren’t starving when you do finally eat. Also make sure you eat and drink enough before your workout so you don’t get tired and run out of energy during your workout.
Doing a Certain Exercise will Make Your Belly/Butt/Thighs Smaller: Spot weight loss is another big myth. When you lose weight it is from all over your body, not just one spot. The spots on your body with the largest fat deposits may lose slightly more but it’s not worth working at. By focusing your exercising on one muscle group you may end up causing muscle growth making the area bigger.
You Need to Join a Gym to Lose Weight: I’m sure this was started by someone who owned a gym or heath spa. You don’t need to join a gym to lose weight, you can lose weight just by changing the foods you eat. Adding exercise will definitely speed up the process of losing weight. However for most people 30-60 minutes of exercise is all they need, so joining a gym might help but certainly isn’t a requirement.
Doing More Repetitions with Lower Weights Will Help Me Look Thinner: This is another exercise myth that got twisted around. You always want to be working your muscles when you exercise. If you normally lift 60 pounds for 10 repetitions, lifting ten pounds won’t really help you, even if you do 600 repetitions. A lot of people also think doing 100 sit ups will help them get six pack abs what you really need to do is add more resistance and do less repetitions.
Lots of High Cardio Workouts like Aerobics Will help me lose Weight Faster: Doing lots of cardio exercises won’t help you lose weight any faster than other types of exercise. In fact if you do an excessive amount of cardio you may start to lose muscle mass. The less muscle mass you have the less exercise you will be able to do. Remember 30-60 minutes a day is enough exercise for most people.
Muscle Weights More than Fat: What we have here is a concept problem. Which weighs more 5 pounds of muscle or 5 pounds of fat? Ok trick question they weight the same. What we are really talking about is volume, density and mass. 5 pounds of muscle mass is much smaller than 5 pounds of fat mass.
Exercise Video A is better than Exercise Video B: To be honest the difference between one exercise video and the next is so small it’s almost irrelevant. What’s important is that you get up off the couch and exercise. Find someone you like, find interesting, motivating, or just plain fun. The more enjoyable you find it the more likely you are to just do it.
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