We have been led to believe many different ideas and material about how to lose weight, exercise and diet. We are all obsessed with dieting and weight loss. This topic has evolved into a billionaire dollar international epidemic. Almost daily we seem to be bombarded with new information about diets, much of it contradicting what we have long held as true. The conventional facts about weight loss and dieting dogma dominate the health conscious population, despite being totally false. It’s vital to cut through all of the misinformation circulating out there and shine light on the Truth about dieting and weight loss.
Going Against the Myth
“Humans live through their myths and only endure their realities.”
- Robert Anton Wilson
MYTH 1: Cutting calories will make you lose weight faster.
Cutting calories causes the starvation response to ignite. This response can be defined as a proportional reduction in metabolism in response to reduced availability of food. This response has been trained by the human body by its evolution. Drastic calorie cutting causes the body to think it’s starving, causing a reduction in its metabolism by slowing down physiological processes and maintaining your current weight. Remember you eat to live not live to eat.
MYTH 2: Low-fat or no-fat diets work and are healthy.
The body needs fat for energy, tissues repair and to transport vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fats are an important contributor to the building blocks of the cells of the body and hormones.
MYTH 3: Consumption of saturated fat is bad for your health and weight loss program.
Saturated fat plays a vital role in the health of the bones. They also enhance the immune system. Saturated fat is also vital for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids.
MYTH 4: Fade diets make you lose weight effectively and quickly.
This may be true in the short term, but ultimately it will hinder your weigh
loss. It is also not safe or healthy for your physiological system. The loss of lean muscle tissue causes a fall in the basal metabolic rate, which eventual cuts down the amount of calories your body needs on a daily basis. This unfortunately means your body will need fewer calories that it did previously, making weight gain more likely once you stop dieting.
MYTH 5: Low-carbs diets are essential for body fat reduction.
Depending on your unique biochemistry a low-carb diet can be detrimental to your health and weight loss goals. Diets that exclude or have low amounts of carbohydrates as a means of caloric restrictions promote breakdown of lean muscle tissue which provide the glucose needed for energy, as well as causing ketosis. Be cautious, and be aware of your biochemical individuality before attempting a low carb diet. This can be very dangerous because it will promote the breakdown of lean body tissue, not the reduction of stored body fat.
MYTH 6: One diet fits all – The best diet.
There is no such thing as one diet fits all or the best diet. We have all been created perfectly unique and different. Everyone possesses a unique “biochemical individuality.” A one-size-fits-all approach is non-existent and doesn’t work. It is not possible to imagine all humans have the same basic nutritional requirements. The notion of individuality in diet is the key. There can never be any one diet or product that works for everyone. We must all discover which formula works for our biochemical and cultural individuality.
MYTH 7: The mind doesn’t play a role in weight loss and muscle building.
The mind is one of the most powerful pieces of your exercise puzzle. It important to condition and train it, just as you would any other muscle. The mind will help you reach your full fitness potential. Utilize positive visualization and the mind/body connection can benefit your exercises program and help you achieve the goals you are reaching for.
MYTH 8: Performing Cardio on an empty stomach is effective.
Fat burning doesn’t occur during cardio exercise, but about two hours after. Your body attacks your muscles for energy resource. So unless you are working out to slow down your metabolism and lose the lean muscle tissue you have, go ahead and run on no fuel.
MYTH 9: Eating fewer meals can help lose weight.
Eating fewer meals can have the reverse effect. When you eat fewer meals, your metabolism slows down because you are not fueling the metabolism with calories.
MYTH 10: You can lose weight by skipping meals.
Skipping meals can have the reverse effect. When you skip meals, your metabolism slows and you end up overeating as a result.
MYTH 11: A slow metabolism prevents weight loss.
This is a common myth among dieters who are struggling to lose weight.
Normally the larger you are the more calories you need to keep your body going and the higher your metabolism. The main issue is that the weight gain occurs from the type of calories that are being eaten and the sedentary lifestyle.
MTYH 12: The key to a successful weight loss is a strict diet.
It is extremely difficult to stick to a very strict diet that requires you to eliminate food groups or limit and you are more likely to give up on the diet entirely.
MYTH 13: Eating late at night will cause me to gain weight.
All things considered, it doesn’t really matter when you eat. What matters is what you are consuming in that particular meal and how much of it.
MYTH 14: Willpower is the only method to being successful on a weight loss program.
Willpower is an important factor when it comes to how you respond to cravings, but if you eat due to your biochemical individuality, you shouldn’t experience cravings. Willpower is not sustainable …What’s sustainable is love, joy, pleasure and freedom. Willpower is a way of being under a control or fighting against oneself. Pressuring yourself to do something is not sustainable. Just simply love yourself and treat yourself with love by taking care of your body.
MYTH 15: One must eat X number of calories (or have X number of points) every day.
Does it make sense that you would need exactly the same amount of fuel every day? Aren’t there just days when you are hungrier than others, maybe because of your activity levels or hormonal cycles? Rather than setting yourself up for failure, just start paying more attention to the needs of your body. Allow yourself the flexibility to adjust your intake based on your actual needs rather than an arbitrary number. Your body will let you know when more fuel is required or not required, you just need to become aware and develop a connection to your body. You control your body; your body doesn’t control you.
MYTH 16: You can lose fat and build muscle at the same time.
With very few exceptions, losing a lot of fat and gaining a lot of muscle at the same time is very hard to do. That’s because of the opposing demands these goals impose on the body.
MYTH 17: One needs to only do cardio and resistance exercise to lose weight.
If you want to lose fat, then exercise alone is not enough. You’ll need to eat right too. If you want to make achieve ultimate fat loss, then take a closer look at your diet.
MYTH 18: You need to exercise for 20 minutes or more to burn fat.
Fat is stored energy. To lose it, you have to use more energy (calories) than you get from your diet. And it doesn’t really matter whether you burn those calories in one long workout or several shorter ones.
MYTH 19: Long durations of cardio will help me lose weight.
When you engage in short bursts of high-intensity exercise, your body uses glycogen stored in the muscle tissues for energy. Over time this conditions your body to store energy in the muscle – rather than as fat. Exercising this way will also cause you to burn more fat during your recovery period, instead of your body losing lean muscle tissue during long durations and decreasing your metabolism.
