Summer is already here and all of us want that beach body. You can get information about weight loss from the media, Internet or TV and at one point, you get confused as to whether all these recommendations are true or not. Actually, it is quite easy to get confused and start applying a bad weight loss technique. There are millions of weight loss myths out there, most of which created by some inexperienced “specialist”.
Do not let some bro science person tell what is the best way to gain or lose weight. In this article, I will present some of the worst weight loss myths of all times.
# 1 – Eating after 7 pm makes you gain weight
It may sound reasonable, but there is no real scientific evidence behind that theory whatsoever. Of course, if you eat a bowl of ice cream just before bedtime, it will not be very beneficial for your body shape. However, if you are an active person you need a good meal for dinner. Some healthy fats and carbohydrates are always good. When you work out during the day, your body runs low on glycogen supplies. You need to replenish your glycogen stores, otherwise your body will break down muscle in order to recover. You need these muscles to burn the fat. So, is you are doing much cardio exercises a healthy bedtime snack is not so bad idea after all.
# 2 – If you want to lose weight, you need to eat only fruit and veggies.
Let us face it; you do not want to eat carrots all day especially if you are training at the gym regularly. The secret of losing weight is simple. Our diet consists of carbohydrates, fats, proteins in all their forms. If you eliminate one of these three components of your diet, you will lose weight. However, this will create the notorious yo-yo effect. Once you start eating normally, your body will regain the weight you have lost during that time.
# 3 – Our genes are not that important when losing weight.
We like it when we inherit our parents’ good genes like intelligence, beautiful smile, blue eyes, sense of style or something else. However, nobody would want to take over the genes that make them prone to gaining weight. It may sound incredible, but the number of the fat cells in your body was determined when you were back in the womb. Fat cells do not just disappear - they get big or small. When you gain weight, your fat cells get bigger and when you diet and exercise your body starts using these cells as a power source. Yet, fat cells do not vanish, they just become smaller.
# 4 – When you sweat, you are losing weight.
Probably one of the biggest misconceptions every gym newbie believes in. There are even some training ‘’gurus’’ who promote the idea that the sweat is nothing but fat leaving the body. First, what is sweat? Sweat consists mostly of water, salt and some traces of different minerals. Our bodies use sweat to regulate their temperature when we perform an intensive activity. In that matter when you are sweating it means your body is active, which is a good thing when you are trying to lose some weight. However, that does not mean this is fat leaving the body.
# 5 – Starving is the best way to reduce your weight.
Yes, when you are starving you will lose some weight but in a long shot, you tend to make more damages to your body. For sure you will notice the difference on the scale, but your body will start to lose muscle first and then the fat. Your body starts to consume its own muscles in order to compensate the lack of nutrition. The fat stores will be the last resort of energy. When you have lost all your muscle tone and fat, you will look very unhealthy, not to mention that you can develop all kind of diseases like gastric ulcer and anorexia.
When it comes to weight loss myths, it can get crazy. Do not trust just anything you read or hear in the gym. Some of the biggest deceptions that come from an uninformed fitness instructor could cause you a lot of health problem in future, so be very careful about who you listen to before you start dieting.
