5 Myths About Weight Loss
You’ve made the decision to start losing weight, and you’re serious about it this time. You’ve created all of these strategies and you’re committed to sticking to them until you see your goal number on the scale. But it’s possible that a few of your strategies may not be helping you lose weight at all, and some of them may even be preventing you from losing weight. Here are some weight loss myths to avoid during your weight loss journey.
Myth 1: You’ll Lose Weight If You Skip A Meal
Most people know that if you want to lose weight, then you need to burn more calories than you consume. While that formula is true in theory, this doesn’t mean that skipping entire meals will help you lose weight. Your body needs a constant supply of energy during the day in order to function, and it will respond negatively if you skip a meal. A skipped meal leads to a drop in your blood sugar, which can mess with your ability to concentrate and can negatively impact your mood. Consistently missing meals can even slow your metabolism, which will make you gain weight as well as make it more difficult for you to lose weight in the future. This also leads to you compensating for the missed meal by overeating the next time you get food, which can hurt your weight loss efforts as well.
At the same time, you don’t necessarily need to eat three square meals or six small meals throughout the day. Everyone’s body is different and, therefore, everyone needs different amounts of energy at different times of the day. This means that you should just eat when you’re hungry and stop eating when you’re full. Adopting this practice will help you control your portion sizes and will ultimately lead to you eating fewer calories overall, which will help you lose weight.
Myth 2: You Have To Stop Eating Carbs
A popular way that people try to limit their calorie intake is by reducing the number of carbs that they eat. Not only does this not help you lose weight, but this also leads to malnourishment. Your body’s main source of energy comes from carbohydrates, which means cutting them out will result in your body not having the nutrients it needs. It also usually means that people are cutting out too much fiber from their diet, which is a crucial mineral in the weight loss process. Although it is true that people who eat a low-carb diet experience weight loss in the beginning, that weight tends to be water and muscle rather than body fat.
Instead of reducing your overall intake of carbohydrates, try to swap out unhealthy ones for healthy ones. This means choosing complex carbs instead of simple ones, like whole-wheat options instead of refined options. You can also choose healthy carbs over unhealthy ones. Choose to snack on fruits and vegetables rather than cakes and other sweets. This will also help you stay full during the day.
Myth 3: You Can’t Have Cheat Days
This isn’t a myth so much as it is misguided advice. You should definitely work to limit the amount of unhealthy food you eat. But the fact is that you’re going to crave those foods every now and again. Instead of fighting yourself to stay away from these foods, it’s actually better to give in to those cravings. The longer you try to fight the sensation, the stronger those cravings become, which leads to binge eating later or even to you ending your diet change altogether.
The key to enjoying your guilty pleasures is to do so in moderation. Look for a feasible weight loss program that can help you learn how to enjoy your favorite foods without deviating from your weight loss goals. This way you’ll be able to manage your temptations without giving up the foods that you love.
Myth 4: You Should Go To The Gym Seven Days A Week
While physical exercise is important in any weight loss routine, this doesn’t mean that you need to be in the gym lifting weights seven days a week. Not only is that impractical for most people, but it also negatively impacts your weight loss goals. Overtraining doesn’t give your muscles time to grow and recover from your workouts, which means your body isn’t burning fat to build your muscles. It also can cause intense hunger, which will cause you to eat more, and putting all that stress on your body can actually make you retain body fat instead of losing it.
Instead of trying to maximize the time spent in the gym, work to make your workouts as efficient as possible so that way you can make as much progress as possible without overexerting yourself. This means learning to correct exercise mistakes you may be making and going to the gym with a plan so that way you’re not wasting time wondering what to do next. As long as you work to fit in 30 mins of physical activity on your rest days- through simple things like walking and cleaning your house- then you’ll see success.
Myth 5: Foods Labeled “Low Fat” Are Good For You
It may seem like anything labeled as “low-fat” or “reduced-fat” is obviously better for and will help you with your weight loss journey, but this is not true at all. Prepackaged foods that have had the fat taking have often been loaded with sugar to help make them taste good, which means that these foods are not any more healthy than their full-fat versions.
It’s also important to remember that there’s a difference between good fats and bad fats. Unsaturated fats— those found in nuts, avocados, and olive oil— are good for you and can help to make you feel less hungry after a meal, which promotes weight loss. Saturated fats— found in red meat, butter, and chicken skin— are less healthy but don’t need to be cut out of your diet completely. Trans fat— artificial fat that is found in prepackaged snacks and anything containing hydrogenated vegetable oil— is not good for you and should be avoided as much as possible. Knowing the difference between these fats will help you make better dietary choices, which will help you reach your weight goals more effectively.
The Secret To Weight Loss
If you’re serious about losing weight, then you need to create lifestyle changes that are realistic and sustainable. There are no tricks that are going to make it happen easier or faster. Start with small changes that you can then build on once you get comfortable with them. If you work to consistently be as healthy as possible, you’ll hit your goal weight with little issue.
