When it comes to weight loss everyone has an opinion, and I mean EVERYONE!
Every single day I hear countless stories from clients and members of the gym, all of them with yet another analogy of what works best for weight loss.
More often than not, the process which has been put forward to them is a ‘quick fix’. It will let you lose X amount of weight in X amount of time and you don’t have to do anything else.
A – MAZ – ING!!!
If you want to hear the truth about some of the myths surrounding weight loss, here….we…go!
1. Low fat foods will help you to lose fat.
In order to make foods low fat, the companies who make them have to put something else back in, and that is usually high quantities of carbohydrates. These low fat products quite often have roughly the same calories as the same products that are not low in fat.
Even though you are eating low fat, you aren’t necessarily eating less overall calories and your sugar intake could be greatly increased.
2. Eating 5-6 meals per day helps boost your metabolism.
Unfortunately this is not true. Eating small meals more often, doesn’t help speed up your metabolism. It simply helps keep you more satisfied between meals therefore you are less likely to overeat at your next meal.
3. Eating after 6pm will make you gain weight.
Your total calorie intake is what governs whether you lose, maintain or gain weight. It doesn’t matter what time of day you get these in. Eating after 6pm will not make you gain weight. Eating above your daily calorie requirements will.
4. You have to work out in order to lose weight.
Technically, you can lose weight without working out. Your weight gain and weight loss are governed by calorie intake.
If you want to change the shape of your body, help speed up the process, have more energy and a better quality of life, then you do need to train.
5. The scale is an accurate indicator of weight loss.
The problem with scales is that your weight can fluctuate hour by hour, day by day, and week by week. The scales do not give accurate readings as they cannot tell you how much weight is fat loss, how much is water and more importantly, how much is muscle mass. When trying to lose fat, you don’t want to do it at the expense of your muscle. The loss of muscle may, in reality, slow down the metabolic rate of the body and thereby reduce the rate of weight loss too. True weight status can only be gathered by tracking fat loss – not weight loss. The extent of fat loss can be obtained by getting a body composition analysis done at frequent intervals by a qualified trainer.
6. Weight loss products are the best way to lose weight and keep it off.
There is absolutely NO evidence that weight loss products can provide long term sustainable weight loss.
99.9999999999999999999999% of these products are rubbish, the other .0000000000001% aren’t much better.
Remember that there is huge money to be made from weight loss -£22 billion in the UK in 2012 to be exact. These companies don’t want you to lose weight and to keep it off. That would be madness, as if the product actually worked long term, you wouldn’t need to buy their products anymore! Also, many of the people selling these products are simply sales people, with little or no nutritional knowledge or experience.
#TrainSmart
For further information on Personal Training and Nutrition you can contact me through clicking the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rushe-Personal-Training-and-Performance/120518884715118
* Emmet is the owner and operator of Rushe Personal Training and Performance
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