Weight loss is a complicated process. There are several factors that you need to consider if you want to lose weight. From food to exercise, to unexpressed emotions, and genes – have to ability to mess up your weight loss goals.
But what makes the process all the harder are those widespread myths that we end up believing in. It can hence, get really tough to sort fact from fiction.
Planning on losing weight? Here are 10 worst weight loss myths you should know about.
Top 10 Popular weight loss myths
- Stay away from alcohol if you want to lose weight.
This statement entirely depends on how much a person drinks. If your count exceeds more than 10 to 15 drinks per week, then it’s time you take a rain check. But if you are not much into drinking, cutting out the booze may not have any significant impact on your weight loss goals.
In fact, studies have found out that moderate drinking (men – no more than 2 drinks/day and women – 1 drink/day) won’t make you fat.
- The more you exercise, the more weight you lose.
No doubt, exercising can exert a lot of positive impact on the body. It is good for the heart, bone density, strength… (the list is never-ending). But the average person does not exercise enough to burn the adequate amount of calories to get in shape. And, they end up bingeing.
Going on a leisurely bike ride isn’t same as committing to high-intensity interval training at the gym (Get fit at Fit O’ Clock – best gym in Jaipur). A bike ride won’t use up as much energy.
Exercising is good. But if you are expecting to get results solely by relying on it (with no dietary changes), you are heading for disappointment.
- Avoid carbs. They make you fat.
The idea that carbs are bad for your shape is one of the most common myths that you come across. Most of us, do not understand the concept of carbohydrate and mix it up with carbs and sugar. While it is good to ditch junks like cookies, chips, and candy, but we also end up avoiding bread, rice, and potatoes (which are staple starches and won’t make you fat).
Our body needs 50 percent carb out of our total daily macronutrient requirement. So, when the amount is deprived, we crave them even more, thus messing up the whole arrangement.
- Skip calories during the day to lose weight.
Despite popular belief, calories are significant. Skipping a meal during the day will make us hungry (quite obviously), and we may end up overeating in the evening.
Try not to skip your breakfast. It can be anything healthy from oatmeal with berries to toast with nut butter. It will keep you full so that your body only craves in moderation throughout the day.
- Go hungry to shed more kilos.
The first rule of dieting… never skip any meal. Because when you do so, you feel hungry, get irritated and end up crashing your diet plans. Also, skipping meals end up slowing your metabolism while craving more food later in the day.
If possible, aim for healthy snacking every three hours during the day. Dig into healthier options like nuts, Greek yogurt with berries, carrots with hummus, etc.
- Weight loss is 30 percent food and 70 percent exercise.
Weight loss takes a lot more than eating less and doing more exercise. This advice can contribute to gaining weight on the contrary. When you deprive yourself of eating the adequate necessity, you will subconsciously find other ways to meet your cravings.
It’s like asking a depressed person to ‘be happy’ without showing any empathy. It’s not that easy. You need to change your habits and lifestyle instead.
- Dieting is damn effective.
No doubt you need to change your eating habits to get the transformation you desire. But, restricting your body to just one kind of eating habit (dieting) and committing to it, is the real challenge.
Most of us fail to maintain the same lifestyle because it gets monotonous and we end up gaining more weight in the long run.
- Selective food can speed up metabolism.
Metabolism is the on-going chemical processes that keep us alive. They aid in breathing, repairing cells and continuous digestion. If metabolism is the engine, energy is fuel.
The food we eat has a lot to do with the increase or decrease in metabolism. But there is very little scientific evidence that selective can help make metabolism faster. But, it is wise to stay away from high levels of caffeine and sugar.
- A liquid diet can help you lose weight more quickly.
A liquid diet or juice cleanse is considered effective to lose weight and detox. But it is not true! Because you end up eating a lot of liquid sugar which induces weight gain. While on such a diet, your body goes tend to go into conservation mode and it is unsure of your next meal.
- The slower you lose weight, the more effective it gets.
This is again not true. Slow and steady cannot win the race here. Though most of us prefer to see results sooner than later. It seems only tempting to fit in those pair of pants as early as convenient. But, there is practically no advantage to losing weight slowly. When it comes to weight loss, both slow and quick strategies can be equally effective.
Note: There is no best way to lose weight. It won’t impact much even if you hit the gym (visit best gym and fitness center in Jaipur) without fail if you do not take your body requirement into the process. Each ‘body’ is unique. You need to find out what is best for your body to achieve success. Try not to stumble upon these myths and the next time you hear them, make sure you help out a friend with backed up facts.