5 Fat Loss Myths That You Might Be Wasting Your Time With
A large percentage of the population are overweight, so it’s very important to lose fat. However, doing this is not easy at all. One of the main reasons is that there is a lot of bad advice about fat loss out there. And people are likely to believe anything they read on a trendy website or in a magazine. Some of these old ridiculous fat loss myths never die and keep getting passed around.
The 5 Most Common Myths Which Are Hindering Your Fat Loss Results
1. You have to do a lot of cardio
Running for an hour on a treadmill or any cardio equipment is a complete waste of time if you are trying to lose fat. When you force your muscles to contract continuously for a long time, the energy will come from somewhere, and it’s not fat.
Specifically, your body is very stubborn and it will not burn fat only for energy, instead, it can burn your muscle, therefore, killing your metabolism. And once your metabolism is decreased, your body will burn fewer calories throughout the day even though you can burn 700-1000 calories during the cardio workout.
- Better bet: The key to losing fat quickly is by doing strength training or exercises that can stimulate your metabolism. It is highly recommended for you to exercises like squat, deadlift and do HIIT since they force your body to build muscle and keep burning calories even after you are not training.
2. You have to eliminate all fats from your diet
There are different types of fats such as saturated fats, trans fats, and unsaturated fats. While the first two types are bad for your health, especially trans fats, unsaturated fats are considered healthy or good fats.
In short, remember that not all fats make you fat. Therefore, eliminating all fats from your diet is not a good idea no matter whether you intend to lose fat or not. Good fats will provide you a lot of energy, essential fatty acids, and they can also make you feel full long after you eat. Furthermore, they are very important for your building cell membranes.
- Better bet: Instead of eating fats from meat products, butter, french fries, you should eat healthy fats which are found in fish, walnuts, avocado, olive, etc. And remember to eat up to about 35% of calories from fat to maximize your fat loss results.
3. You can lose fat in specific areas
This myth is what makes people do 1000 crunches or sit-ups every single day in an attempt to lose belly fat. Sadly, you can’t just drop pounds around your waist or thighs only while the rest of your body stays out of shape. Simply put, your body doesn’t work that way. Hence, you just can’t lose thigh fat or belly fat only. In fact, you can only drop pounds in general, not just in any particular area.
- Better bet: Focus more on your diet and compound exercises which target different muscle groups to boost metabolism.
4. The less you eat, the better
It is obvious that when it comes to weight loss or fat loss, it is a must for you to cut calories. However, if you blindly cut too many calories, it will do more harm than good.
In details, cutting more than 500 calories a day may help you lose some pounds, however, it can cause you a lot of health problems in the long term. This is because if you don’t eat enough calories, the protein you eat may get burned for fuel which results in muscle loss. Besides, you may get overly hungry all the time, thus, you will tend to eat more junk foods or unhealthy snacks. This is how you ruin your fat loss plan.
- Better bet: Instead of cutting back on calories too quickly, just trim 300-500 calories a day. This way, you can give your body a bit of a chance to get used to a new diet plan.
5. All “calories” are created equal
It is obvious that the calorie is a measure of energy and it’s true that all calories have the same energy content. However, it doesn’t mean all calorie sources have the same effect on your body.
Keep in mind that different foods go through different metabolic pathways and therefore, having different effects on your hormones. For instance, a protein calorie is not the same as carb calories or a fat calorie. Replacing carbs and fat with protein helps your metabolism, reduce cravings and appetite, while still optimizing the function of your body.
Also, calories from unrefined carbs are much more filling than ones from refined carbs. That’s why you should eat brown rice, whole grains, beans, peas instead of processed grains, white rice, and sugary beverages.
- Better bet: Stay away from processed foods, and dial in your calories and macronutrients to optimize your fat loss.
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- 5 Fat Loss Myths That You Might Be Wasting Your Time With - November 22, 2017