How could a weight loss myth be helpful? If it’s a myth, it’s not true. How is that useful?
Sometimes weight loss myths stem from a well-meaning person, who, in their attempt to make a complex topic easier to understand, oversimplifies to the point that it’s no longer valid. Other self-proclaimed experts are more dogmatic: There’s only one way to achieve your goals, and if you don’t agree with them, then you’re wrong. Myths are also perpetrated by the fitness industry. They take a popular, yet not-entirely-true misconception to mislead people into buying their weight loss products or services.
Just because a myth is wrong doesn’t mean it is all bad. If we learn to look at the messages we hear from the health, nutrition, and fitness industry with an analytical mind, we can learn to take what is helpful and useful and disregard the rest.
MYTH: CARBS ARE BAD FOR YOU / CARBS MAKE YOU FAT
Neither of these statements is true. Healthy whole food carbohydrates can be a part of a healthy diet. It is possible to lose weight while consuming a diet high in healthy carbohydrates. Some people choose to reduce carbs or eliminate carbs, and that is their choice, but it doesn’t mean that carbohydrates are unhealthy or cause weight gain. High-quality whole food carbohydrates can fuel your workouts to help you look, feel, and perform at your best.
WHAT’S HELPFUL ABOUT THIS MYTH?
Consuming highly processed carbohydrates can lead to weight gain, poor health, and poor habits. A lot of favorite junk foods are mainly carbohydrates: pizza, hamburgers with a giant bun and french fries, ice cream, and potato chips. Most people will do well to reduce or eliminate these foods from regular rotation in their diets. If a person believes that all carbs are bad and stops eating these types of foods, they likely will lose weight due to a cut in high calorie, highly-palatable, easy-to-overeat foods. I call that a win.
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK
Reduce highly-processed carbs and limit your carbohydrate intake to mostly whole foods derived from nature, such as fruit, vegetables, potatoes, oatmeal, quinoa, rice, and beans.
MYTH: FAT MAKES YOU FAT
It seems logical: eat fat, gain fat, but it’s not true. Healthy fats are an essential part of our diets; our bodies need fat. They help us absorb some nutrients and are important for hormone balance.
WHAT’S HELPFUL ABOUT THIS MYTH?
Fat has more than twice as many calories per gram than the other macronutrients: carbohydrates and protein. Fats can be easier to overeat since they are more calorie-dense (not to mention, delicious). Limiting unhealthy fat calories can benefit your waistline.
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK
Aim to consume healthy fats from nature and be sure they fit within your calorie allotment for the day. A good rule of thumb (pun intended) is to limit fats to about a thumb size at each meal: A thumb of avocado, a thumb of nuts, a thumb of nut butter or approximately a thumb of olive oil. It will help you control portions, which allows room for healthy fats without excess calories.
MYTH: EATING AT NIGHT MAKES YOU FAT
To lose fat, you want to eat in a slight calorie deficit; eating fewer calories than you burn. Some believe that eating at night can make you fat because you are not burning many calories in the evening hours before bed, or while you sleep. Generally speaking, if you’re eating in a calorie deficit, it doesn’t matter as much when you eat those calories.
WHAT’S HELPFUL ABOUT THIS MYTH?
If you spend the after-dinner hours grazing on food because you are bored, anxious, lonely, or you’re snacking out of habit, rather than hunger, you could be adding extra calories that your body does not need. When you consume more than you need, your body stores it as fat.
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK
If you avoid night time snacking, it could help you stay in the calorie-deficit needed to lose weight. However, an evening snack or a later healthy meal that fits within your dietary needs, shouldn’t hurt your results.
MYTH: YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP ALL YOUR FAVORITE FOODS FOREVER TO LOSE WEIGHT
Diets generally don’t work because they are temporary. No matter how to choose to eat, make sure it’s sustainable for the long term. Going on and off diets, and the yo-yo weight loss and gain than follow causes more harm than good. If you swear off all sweets forever, consider if that is even possible. When some personality-types restrict foods, it can eventually lead to overindulging on them.
WHAT’S HELPFUL ABOUT THIS MYTH?
Limiting unhealthy foods will help you reach your goals faster. If you are aware of the foods that are helping you make progress towards your goals, and those that you’ll benefit from limiting, you will be better equipped to make healthier choices most of the time.
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK
Allow indulgences in moderation to avoid an all-or-nothing diet mentality. Learn to make healthier versions of your favorite foods, and soon you’ll discover that some of your favorite foods are the healthy ones.
MYTH: A LOWER SCALE WEIGHT IS ALWAYS A POSITIVE RESULT
It can be easy to get attached to the number on the scale, but be aware that a lower number on the scale is not always a positive result. If you lose weight, but you lose muscle along with fat, it can cause a lower metabolism and a more likely chance of weight rebound.
WHAT’S HELPFUL ABOUT THIS MYTH?
For some personality-types, it can be helpful to monitor your weight regularly. Significant weight gain doesn’t sneak up on you if you maintain a level of awareness of your scale weight.
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK
Use the scale as one method of measure, but use body measurements, clothing size, performance, and how you feel as other markers of progress. Eat plenty of whole food protein and perform resistance training exercises such as squats, push ups, rows, and deadlifts in your exercise routine twice a week to help maintain muscle as you lose fat.
MYTH: GO HARD OR GO HOME
The myth says if you’re not performing high-intensity exercises six days a week, then you’re wasting your time, but for some people, the opposite may be true. Regular movement throughout the day can help you lose or maintain your weight. Extreme exercise can lead to over-training, injury, and, yes, it’s true, worse results than if you scaled back. If you’re not recovering properly in between hard workouts, you may never see the full benefit of your hard work and could stall progress.
WHAT’S HELPFUL ABOUT THIS MYTH?
Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone will usually bring results faster than always staying comfortable. If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK
Push yourself appropriately, then rest as much as your body needs, which varies from person to person based on training age, physical age, experience, genetics, and lifestyle. An older person will usually need more rest than a younger person, and an experienced athlete will generally need less rest than a newbie. A genetic freak may get by on little rest, while a person with a high-stress lifestyle (work, family, sleep habits, etc.) will need more rest between workouts.
Examine popular health claims objectively, take the best from them as it applies to your body, and leave the rest behind. You get the best results when you listen to your body’s needs, measure results, and make adjustments as needed. No one knows your body as you do.
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