Fat/Weight loss has always been a hotly debated topic in the fitness field. By far it is the main cause of reason for people to start thinking about fitness, going to the gym and eating well.
Don't we all want to look good and impressive with better health. But a problem is, everyone claims to be an expert and a self-proclaimed guru, and with my experience there is a certain amount of misinformation that is worth myth busting :).
Today I will be busting out 5 most common weight loss myths and misconceptions you might have heard of and might be still following for weight loss!
Myth N0.1 - Carbs Are the Causes of All Evil
The Truth:
"Not all Carbs are bad for you. Its literally the cliche statement of too much of anything is bad for you and can make you gain weight, and yes it is often people overindulge in carbs cause they are so tasty!"
Carbohydrates are the primary fuel of our brain and the body. They are our main source of energy.
You should always consider maintaining some good quality carbohydrates; otherwise known as complex carbs for us to benefit from the richly dense nutrients rather than going for refined carbs like sugar, sweets, candies etc.
But generally, people tend to go overboard on these refined carbs which do not provide sustained-steady blood sugar and energy levels. They are undoubtedly the biggest culprits for providing you plain calories and one of the major reasons for obesity.
So have complex carbs in moderation and reap the great benefits!
Myth No.2 - Lose the Carbs, Lose the Pounds
The Truth:
"Firstly, Main rule for losing weight and diet is a 'calorie deficit',when dropping carbs you will see results on the scales, but all you are losing is water weight, not losing fat"
The carbohydrates which get stored in your body as glycogen holds water. Sadly this is the nature of them. 1 gram of carb holds around 3-4grams of water. You are often told to cut out or drop down on carbs, and cutting out carbs can be a magical solution when it comes to losing weight.
Yes, this is true that you would lose weight and your weighing scale would go down this way, but all the weight loss will be ‘water weight’. This weight will come right back as soon as you add carbs back in to your diet.
Stick with complex carbs, they are filling and very useful in creating your calorie-deficit. There is no need to cut down all the carbs from your diet to lose weight.
Myth No.3 - Eat Fats Gain Fats
The Truth:
"As I mentioned earlier – No matter Fats, Carbohydrates, or Protein, it can all be stored as body fat if you consume it more than needed by your body."
‘Fat’ is the essential nutrient in so many bodily processes. Whether it is the absorption of vitamins or the production of important hormones and brain functioning, fats play a vital role.
Weight gain does not rely upon any single nutrient particularly and the fats that you eat doesn’t automatically get shuffled straight into the fat tissues of your body. Fats usually get bad rap because of the name of the nutrient itself and it is often misbelieved that eating fats will get stored into body fat.
Myth No.4 - Eat 5-7 Small Meals a Day
The Truth:
"Meal frequency is not what matters, It’s the overall calories you eat during your whole day. However for certain individuals who have a varied relationship with food spread out meals help create good habits."
The generally belief surrounding the frequent meals hypothesis is that it boosts the metabolism and doesn’t let your body enter into starvation mode. How does this spikes up your metabolism? In order to get energy from the food, our body burns calories. This process is known as the "Thermal Energy effect of the Food" (TEF). It is the amount of energy that our body requires to metabolise the food that we consume.
So technically the more frequently we eat, the higher our metabolism and the calories we burn right? Nope!! It does take energy to digest food, however your overall calories are what matter and if your overall calories for the day are the same whether you eat 3 big meals or 5-7 small meals, You will burn the same amount of calories to digest it.
Now lets talk Starvation mode -Until and unless someone has a terrible lack of access to the food for days or some eating disorder like anorexia the body doesn’t enter into that mode, but depending on your relationship with food, you can misunderstand the cues for craving with starvation.. this is a whole conversation in of itself - we will put a pin it for now.
A human body is way too smart and it still utilizes and uses up the calories which you have eaten before.
Myth No.5 - Go Mad With Cardio to Lose Weight
Truth:
Cardio is not the only way or the best way to lose weight. In fact, you can burn more fat and calories by performing weight training, or even HIIT.
I have seen people places cardio on the highest of pedestals which is not at all necessary when you want to shed fat and drop some weight. There is no point in torturing yourself for hours and hours on the treadmill at the gym (unless you are doing endurance training 🙂) , but smart cardio can be effective.
In fact, weight training would help you to burn more calories by shooting up your metabolism even when your body is at rest - otherwise known as afterburn.
Cardio should just be used as a tool for enhancing your fat loss journey by increasing your energy expenditure instead of solely relying upon it.
If you really wanna go the cardio way to burn fat, then I would suggest you for a short HIIT- High-Intensity Interval cardio rather than walking for hours which is LISS- Low-Intensity Steady State cardio.
Researches have shown that High-Intensity Cardio is far more effective than steady-state cardio as it helps you to burn calories even while your body is at rest by keeping your metabolism elevated for the next 24-48 hours.
Sample HIIT cardio: When your goal is to burn fat, You can try adding 5-10 minutes short bursts of sprints after you finish your strength training to increase your afterburn i.e 1 minute of a sprint followed by 30 secs of walking for cool-down.