Top 15 Weight Loss Myths
So, after hours of speculation, you have finally decided to embark upon the weight loss journey. Where do you start? Most likely you will start by looking up the internet, to find the quickest ways for losing weight and needless to say you will find tons of them.
But more than half of the ways you will come up with are well-established myths. Even though, you know the best way to lose weight is eating right and working out right, still you will fall in the trap of fad diets and detox routines.
So, before you start this slim-down journey let’s see what are some of the biggest weight loss myths and lies, that will cut out most of the confusion.
1. You Can Lose Fat By Just Working Out
Many of us will join a gym and start slogging away for hours on the treadmill, overexerting ourselves thinking that a rigorous workout will burn away the excess calories and lead to weight loss.
Let’s get this straight, workout (no matter how intense it is) is not a substitute for an unhealthy diet. Losing weight requires creating a calorie deficit, suppose your body requires 2000 calories a day to maintain it’s usual weight, so to lose weight you need to take in less than 2000 calories. Now when you start working out your body’s requirement of calories increases. If you burned 300 calories in the gym your daily requirement will change to 2300 calories. To create a deficit you need to eat less, if you continue your usual 2000 calorie diet, you will create a 300 calorie deficit.
However, that’s not the case most of the time. People start thinking that since they are working out they can start eating more than usual. This instead of creating a deficit leads to a surplus of calorie. That is why even though you workout extensively yo don’t see the results.
Research shows that caloric restriction is more likely to result in significant weight loss than exercise alone. According to the Centres for Disease Control, you need to reduce your food intake by at least 500 calories a day to lose around a pound of body fat per week.
To summarise, exercise is just a catalyst in the weight loss reaction which can speed up the whole process but in no way can exercise alone lead to weight loss. A healthy diet and consistent workout (even if it’s not that rigorous) together complement each other to cause weight loss.
Also Read: Tabata Training- The 4 Minute Workout To A Leaner Body
2. Eating At Night Will Make You Fat
The logic that backs this myth is that since your body is going in the sleep mode, eating at night will turn the food into fat. Well that makes sense, right?
In fact, research supports this myth by stating, late night eating is linked to weight gain and many diseases. Then how is this a myth?
Because while stating this myth we tend to ignore the fact that late night eating has also been linked to opting for unhealthy food options. A study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition states that late-night snacking is connected to weight gain because people are more likely to eat bad foods at late hours.
Working conditions today are such that many people don’t get home from work early enough to follow these time restrictions and since they are working during the day they eat less during the day when the metabolism is at peak and stuff themselves with unhealthy snacks at night. The problem lies with what and how much you eat and not the time of eating.
Our metabolism, also known as Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories that our body consumes over a 24-hour period at rest, and according to the CDC, it’s the number of calories we burn over a 24-hour period (which also includes sleeping) that affects our weight.
Suppose you ate most of your usual daily calories during the day and you are snacking on a healthy option at night, which accounts for a very small part of your total calorie intake, this won’t lead to weight gain.
On the contrary, eating small, nutrient-rich meals rather than large mixed meals before bed has been shown to be beneficial, helping with morning metabolism and satiety.
Also Read: Why Is It Difficult For Women To Lose Weight?
3. Detox, Juice, And Liquid Diets Help Lose Weight
Liquid diets and detox regimens have been extremely popular for far too long for weight loss. They claim to detox harmful “toxins” from your body, which are blamed for causing poor health and of course weight gain. They will definitely make you lose weight initially, that is what makes them so popular. But in the process to lose weight quickly people completely ignore the fact that these diets are completely wrecking their metabolism. No established reputed organisation supports these diets because they are stupid.
Let me tell you how these diets actually work. When you go on a 3-day detox or juice cleanse you are depriving your body of the essential macronutrients and pushing it into the starvation mode. Our body stores energy in the form of glycogen and body fat. Body fat is stored via a complex process and is not so easily accessible, so glycogen is the first one to be used when you start starving. So, detox diets deplete your glycogen stores and since water bonds to glycogen molecules, you lose water weight, energy, and muscle mass !!
Plus, juices are nothing but concentrated sugar solutions. You take a fruit rip it off all its fibres and what you get is a sugary drink. It tastes great and makes you believe it’s very healthy but you are just fooling yourself (not your body). The high sugar content spikes your blood sugar.
Drastically cutting down calories by adhering to liquid diets ultimately slows down your metabolism. That is why even though you lose weight quickly, most of the weight comes back within a few weeks.
4. Cut On Fat To Lose Fat
The bias against fats is uncalled for. Any macronutrient taken in excess can be converted to body fat be it proteins or carbs. Fat is the most calorie dense macronutrient and if you have been living on fat rich food cutting on the dietary fat is recommended but that does not mean that fats should be completely shunned. Fats are an essential part of a healthy diet.
Fat is a source of essential fatty acids, which the body can't make itself. Fat helps the body absorb vitamins A, D and E. These vitamins are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be absorbed with the help of fats.
In 1980 the US Government recommended a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet as the standard diet because dietary fat was linked to a number of dangerous diseases, including heart disease, cancer, obesity, and strokes back then. What’s shocking is that this stigma against fat continued for 35 years despite no scientific back up to support it. However, in the 2015 guidelines the recommendations for carbs was reduced and those for fat were increased.
This does not mean you can gorge on fat filled junk foods. There are still good fats and bad fats. Junk foods are high on trans and saturated fats. Avoid them and instead, opt for unsaturated fats and do not look for fat-free foods because when you remove fat from any food you need to fill it with other ingredients and these ingredients are generally sugar, sugar alcohols, sugar substitutes, or sodium.
Additionally, diets that are high in good fats (but low in carbs) have been shown to cause weight loss in numerous studies (13).
5. Spot Reduction
Many people have a certain problem area. I have heard so many people saying, “ I am okay with my body but I just need to get rid of this belly fat”. I wish losing fat from a targeted area was possible but things don’t work this way. Spot reduction does not exist.
Strength and resistance training focus on a particular muscle at a time and help to gain muscle in that particular area but this does not mean that this will also lead to fat loss in that particular area. That is why even though you work hard on your abs it’s not so easy to make them visible because your abs are building up to be stronger but the fat layer covers them up.
Increase in muscle mass increases your basal metabolic rate, which accompanied by creating a calorie deficit will gradually lead to fat loss. This is a slow and indirect process. The best shot you have is to keep working out and maintain a calorie deficit diet which will eventually lead to an overall body fat loss. With fat loss, your muscles developed during the targeted training will be much more visible and you will look lean overall.
Also Read: 17 Foods To Reduce Bloating
6. Skipping Meals Or Starving Will Help Lose Weight
Just like juice and detox diets, skipping your meals, starving yourself or going on a crash diet is also not a great idea. It’s true that you need to reduce the number of calories you are taking in but skipping meals or starving yourself is taking this advice to the extreme.
I have already explained what happens when you go on a liquid diet, the same applies here. Initially, you will lose weight but that’s only temporary. Your metabolism will slow down and the moment you give up on these crash diets you will end up stuffing yourself with high-fat and high sugar foods. You will not just regain what you lost you will end up gaining much more because now with a slower metabolism you are burning even fewer calories than earlier.
Some people will also go for the classic “eat less and move more” advice. This is a terrible idea most people who follow this advice end up gaining all the weight back, and there are physiological and biochemical reasons for this (6). Crash diets can lead to numerous nutritional deficiencies as the body is getting less food overall.
7. A Calorie Is A Calorie
From the start, we have been talking about calories and calorie deficit. A calorie is nothing but a measure of energy. Even though all "calories" have the same energy content all calories are not the same.
Calories their nutritional value and the metabolic pathways they follow to release energy depend on the source of the calorie. A calorie from pizza will not have the same effect as a calorie from veggies. Different foods have different effects on hunger and the hormones that regulate body weight. Also, calories from whole foods are much more filling than calories from refined foods. It’s the nutritional content that matters.
8. Weight Loss Curve Is Not A Straight Line
When you start on your journey to weight loss, you might lose weight quickly within a few days but gradually you might not lose as much weight or even hit a weight loss plateau. Weight loss is not a linear process. Somedays you may even gain a few pounds, that's just a part of the journey, bear with it and move on.
In fact, everyone will have a separate weight loss curve. Some people will lose more weight in a week while others might lose less. So, don’t get demotivated just keep going.
9. Obese People are Unhealthy And Skinny People Are Healthy
It’s a fact that obesity is linked to many chronic diseases however, this does not mean that skinny people are healthier. A number of obese people are metabolically much more healthier than slim people. Your weight is not a measure of your health.
The body fat mass can be divided into two types- visceral and subcutaneous fat mass. Visceral fat surrounds the organs, it develops in the abdominal cavity and wraps around the kidney, intestines, stomach, and liver whereas subcutaneous fat is stored just below our skin and this is what makes you look fat. Yes, you guessed it right subcutaneous fat is the culprit for those love handles and that bulging tummy. People who look skinny but have a high body fat are the ones with high visceral fat but less subcutaneous fat.
So, all of those with high subcutaneous fat but low visceral fat, you are healthier than your skinny friend with high visceral fat. Research links high visceral fat to increased risk of heart diseases, high cholesterol, low mineral bone density, loss of cognitive function and insulin resistance and even increased risk of death.
Also Read: How To Eat Healthy Even At Parties
10. Carbs Make You Gain Weight
Just like fats, there are a lot of misconceptions about carbs too. It’s true that low-carb diets can help with weight loss. (9, 10).
However, this certainly does not mean that all carbs cause weight gain. There are bad carbs and then there are good carbs. The obesity epidemic started around 1980 but humans have been eating carbs since ages.
The real culprit is refined carbs (like refined grains and sugar) which have been associated with weight gain, but whole foods such as fruits and whole grains that are high in carbs are very healthy.
Cutting out carbs altogether is a bad idea, our body uses carbs as it’s the main source of energy and it’s the fuel for our brain too!! That’s why when you cut out carbs completely you tend to become cranky and irritated. No carbs diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies, increased risk of health problems, and low energy levels.
Excess of anything can be damaging to your weight loss plan. So, stick to healthier carb options, limit their intake but don’t completely cut them out.
11. Zero And Low Calorie Foods Help Lose Weight
Zero-calorie drinks, diet sodas, and low-calorie foods exist to make you feel you are eating healthier but the truth is they are no better than the regular high-calorie products. Reduced calorie products contain 25% fewer calories than it’s actual full calorie version and low-calorie products contain 50% less calorie than the actual one. That means a low-calorie version of a high-calorie food will still have much more calories than we expect.
Diet sodas and other such products containing zero or low-calories are loaded with artificial sweeteners. The thing with sweets, dessert or anything that contains sugar is that it activates our brain’s reward centre which makes us further crave these unhealthy junk foods.
According to a study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, artificial sweeteners have been linked to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
12. Cheat Days Are Okay
Cheat meals are okay but cheat days are not !!
If you have spend an entire week working hard and maintaining a strict healthy diet, rewarding yourself with one cheat meal is fine. But dedicating an entire day to indulge in high-calorie foods which you have been carefully avoiding can actually stall your weight loss. Instead of scheduling cheat days, stick with cheat meals or small treats.
13. You Need To Quit Drinking To Lose Weight
Well, to be completely honest if you can quit drinking nothing could be better. Alcohol is linked to a number of chronic diseases so if you think about your health overall quitting is the best option.
But even if you don’t you can continue to lose weight while having a few occasional drinks every week. A moderate consumption ( 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men) along with an active lifestyle will not lead to any significant increase in weight over a short period of time, however, over years this may lead to significant weight gain.
Also, do not go for sugary margaritas or cocktails. The best option you have are the classic spirits like vodka, gin, rum, whiskey or tequila. They have as low as 64 calories but don't mix them with soda or any other sugary drinks. It's always better to have them on the rocks or add water, this will not add any extra calories to them.
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14. Do Only Cardio To Lose Weight
While cardio burns the most calories, it does not help build lean mass much. You need to complement your cardio with strength training too !!
When you shed weight by dieting, you lose both fat and muscle. Losing muscle slows down the metabolism and you start burning fewer calories. Building muscles can increase your basal metabolic rate and will also help you look much leaner.
15. Once You Lose All The Weight You Can Relax
I wish this one was true but sadly being healthy and slim is not something you can achieve and then sit back to relax. The reality is that you need to change your lifestyle permanently. And that’s really difficult, your body resists any weight loss so you need to keep fighting your body.
Initially, this will be tough but over time when your body accepts it’s new weight, you can go a little easy on yourself. But still, that doesn’t mean you can go back to your earlier lifestyle.
I hope that I have at least debunked some of the myths that you have been living with till now. If this article was helpful please leave a comment.
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-12-biggest-myths-about-weight-loss#section6
