Seven Myths about Weight Loss

Watch on your mobile device >>

There are many things that you will hear people say when it comes to weight loss.  Some are going to be true, but also you will hear many that will be myths as well.  Now how do you know whether they are true or not?  Some people learn from experience, but also many people know through knowledge.  Below are seven ideas that people believe to be true when it comes to weight loss, but unfortunately they are myths:

1. “Eating late night will cause you to gain weight.”

It really does not matter when you eat, just as long as you keep within your calorie limit.  Any extra calories that you intake your body will store as fat, so if you are within your calorie limit, go ahead and enjoy a healthy midnight snack.

2. “If you cut down your calories drastically, you will lose weight faster.”

When you cut down your calories drastically all at once, you will make your body turn into “starvation mode.”  So the calories that you do consume, your body will be forced to hold onto in order to maintain your weight.

3. “If you skip meals, you will lose weight.”

Much like the statement above, if you skip meals your metabolism will actually slow down, which in turn will prevent you from burning the calories throughout the day.  That is why breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it helps kick start your metabolism.

4. “You should eat healthy 100% of the time.”

First and foremost, it is very difficult to eat healthy all the time.  Even the most fit and athletic people like to indulge in their favorite non-healthy foods from time to time.  As long as you keep it to an 80%/20% ratio in healthy foods to non-healthy foods, you will be fine.  Having the OCCASSIONAL cheat meal will help you keep your sanity and help you keep yourself motivated towards your fitness goals.

5. "Spot reduction is possible.”

Whenever you turn on the TV, you hear commercials preaching that if you take this magic pill, you will lose five pounds of belly fat, or use this ab machine only, you will get rock hard abs in a short amount of time.  When you lose weight, you lose it evenly over the body, not just in one spot.

6. “Since you workout, you can eat whatever you want to.”

Just because you go to the gym and burn 500 calories, does not mean you can go to McDonald’s afterwards and eat three chicken sandwiches and think you are going to lose weight.  Those three sandwiches will account for roughly 1000 calories.  So that workout you just had did you no good. You will need to stick to an evenly healthy diet.

7. “All carbohydrates are bad.”

First off, carbs are your fuel source when you exercise.  So completely cutting them out of your diet, you will just feel exhausted and not be as motivated.  That being said, there are also good carbs and bad carbs.  Good carbs you get naturally, like from brown rice, whole grain foods, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables.  Bad carbs come from refined and processed foods that are usually high in sugar and white flour (candy, baked goods, white pastas and sodas, just to name a few.)

So make sure you do not always believe in what you hear other people say when it comes to weight loss.  There will always be facts and myths when it comes to this, just make sure you know the difference between the two.