10 Fat Loss Myths (First Five here)

There are misleading programs and tactics that are not only ineffective but often dangerous when it comes to fat loss. Below are 10 FAT LOSS MYTHS that you must know about.

MYTH 1: ELIMINATING FOOD GROUPS WILL CAUSE FAT LOSS

This myth is a bit confusing, so let’s set the record straight.
Eliminating (or at least minimizing) certain foods such as foods that are high in sugars) should be part of your transition into healthy eating. You always want to minimize the number of high fat (low energy) foods whenever possible.

However, eliminating complete food groups from your diet and focusing on eating only one kind of food are not only very difficult to stick with, but in order to maintain a healthy diet, you need a well rounded selection of wholesome foods from all of the food groups. So when you hear about a diet that consist of just eating CARBS or Protein or Fats instead of a healthy mix of all three you can pretty much be 100% sure it won’t last and won’t work for long.

MYTH 2: DRINKING COLD BEVERAGES REDUCES FAT

This is a very common myth that actually is believable if you consider the reasoning behind it.

The myth goes on to indicate that because your body needs to heat up the water, it automatically begins to burn calories whenever you drink cold water. This calorie burning frenzy continues until your body has adjusted the water temperature to be that of your regular body’s warmth.

While drinking water (at any temperature) is an important part of any weight loss system, don’t count on losing weight just from drinking alone. And even if it sounds good in theory, the energy used to heat up that water is so little that it won’t have an effect in itself on your weight loss.

Water does however help to flush out your system keeping you healthy and free of toxins, but you cannot burn calories just by drinking it without a healthy diet.

MYTH 3: SPOT REDUCTION WORKS

If you focus your exercise and weight training on specific areas of your body you will be able to reduce the amount of fat in that specific area. FALSE!!!

In reality, there is no such thing as spot reduction, and instead as you begin to work out and exercise you will start to lose weight evenly throughout your entire body.

Another common myth is that a high number of repetitions will burn more fat, when in truth, fewer repetitions with a heavier weight will actually cause you to burn more fat in a shorter amount of time than a higher number of reps with a lighter weight.

MYTH 4: LOW CALORIE DIETS ARE THE ONLY WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT

Nearly every diet out there focuses on lowering your calorie intake and increasing your overall level of activity, and rightly so. The problem comes when dieters believe that by dramatically reducing their calorie intake they will shed the weight and keep it off.

It’s important to gradually reduce your calorie intake so that your body’s natural system doesn’t shift into ‘starvation’ mode, which triggers your system into believing that you need to store food for a possible period of famine (this has been part of our system since the beginning of man).

You also need to watch out for a disruption in your body’s natural metabolic pace, as dramatic reductions in calories can slow it down making it harder to shed those pounds.

MYTH 5: YOU MUST WORK OUT AT SPECIFIC TIMES

I’ve seen this myth circulate the weight loss communities many times over the years and while the “best time of day” always seems to change, the basic idea remains the same:
You need to work out at specific times for maximum results.
In reality, you really don’t have to work out early in the morning, late at night or anything in between as long as you are actually exercising.

Focus more on maintaining a consistent schedule of activity and less on when you actually get it done.

For busy moms to business owners, being able to set a specific schedule isn’t always the easiest thing to achieve, so it’s great news that the real facts are that regardless of when you actually exercise, your body will burn the same amount of calories for the same workout regardless of the time of day.

Stay tuned for the next 5 Fat Loss Myths. They will be out in the next blog post.

Come in and sit down with me for a free consultation and go through a TRIAL SESSION to see what it’s really like to get fit and healthy.

Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC.

Chad thanks Peter Carvell for his contibution to this blog post.