Do you want to know what has been holding you back from reaching your weight loss goal?
In this article, I’ll cover 8 common myths that are holding you back from reaching your weight loss goal and how you can fix them.
1. Going very low on calories to lose weight quickly.
The first thing that most people think about when it comes to weight loss is cutting calories.
Going on a very low-calorie diet, which is below 1200 calories per day is unhealthy and can also be dangerous. Doing this for a long time will lead to weight loss failure and all manner of frustrations.
Your body’s primary goal is survival. So, when there’s very little food coming in, it thinks there’s a shortage. And so it goes to work to protect itself against this fake shortage. And does this by making it hard to lose any weight.
Low-calorie diets are not pleasant. You’ll experience light-headedness, nausea and problems concentrating at work. After a while, you’ll reach a point where you’ll get tired of feeling like this and will give in to your body’s demands.
And when this happens, you’ll end up overeating to compensate for eating so little for so long. The weight gain will soon follow sending you into an endless cycle of losing and gaining weight.
2. You have to be strict with your diet to lose fat.
If you choose a strict diet that limits your foods by cutting out complete food groups, you’ll quickly get bored and lose interest in your diet.
Your body and taste buds like variety. Also, you need vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that you can only get by eating a variety of foods.
Your diet must be sustainable. If you can’t follow it for the next 6 months or one year, that’s a clear sign that it’s not good for you and it’s time to get rid of it.
3. You must never eat unhealthy foods
Starting your weight loss journey with the intention of never eating unhealthy foods is a bad idea. This will without a doubt lead to failure.
You can only stay on track if you allow yourself to eat some unhealthy favourite food once in a while. Moderation is the key to losing weight and to keeping it off in the long term. So, give yourself permission to enjoy your favourite foods once in a while.
Aim to eat clean 80 to 90 per cent of the time. If you can do this, the rest won’t matter. You can shed that body fat without denying yourself.
4. Eating late at night will make you gain weight.
Basic nutrition science shows that if you eat more than your body needs, you’ll store the excess as fat. And if you take in fewer calories than you burn then it’s obvious you will shed weight.
For this reason, it does not matter the time of day you eat.
What matters is how much you eat and how much you burn off through physical activity. Your quality of food is of greater importance than the time at which you eat the food.
5. You must avoid snacking at all costs to get to your goal.
If you feel snacking is one of your bad habits, then you need to work on eliminating the habit.
But, snacking is not bad in itself. So long as you’re not snacking on junk food, you can snack without affecting your weight loss goal in any way.
If you choose a small healthy snack between meals it can actually do you good. It will keep your blood sugar levels stable and so avoid sharp spikes and dips in your energy levels.
Healthy snacking can also act as a way to discourage you from overeating at your next meal.
Choose fibre-rich foods such as almonds which are rich in proteins and good fats and are satiating.
But, snacking is optional. If you don’t have the time or don’t like it then don’t do it. There are people who do well on 2 or 3 square meals per day with no snacks.
So, pick whatever works for you and double down on that.
6. You’ll lose weight faster by removing all fat from your diet.
Most people equate eating fats to gaining fat. There has been a campaign for many years encouraging people to eat low-fat foods.
This has backfired big time because instead of eating healthy fats just like in the 70s, more people are eating processed carbohydrates full of sugars. This has been and still is the biggest driver of the obesity epidemic around the world.
Removing fat from your diet is one of the worst mistakes you can make when trying to lose weight.
Fat is necessary for the proper functioning of the human body and we all need it in our daily diet. It provides protection against such things as heart disease and some cancers. For example, Omega 3 fatty acids:
- Reduce inflammation in the arteries
- Help to lower blood pressure
- Decrease the level of triglycerides in the blood
- Prevent hardening of arteries
- Help increase the viscosity of blood.
If you want to lose weight, it’s important to choose your fats wisely while watching your portions.
Because fats have more calories per gram compared to proteins and carbs, they are so easy to overeat. Be mindful of your fat intake to avoid any frustrations from a lack of progress.
8. You can only lose weight through grit and willpower
Even though self-control, discipline and willpower are necessary for weight loss, your weight is a result of a variety of factors.
Your genes, culture, environment, lifestyle choices, medical history, and even your attitude towards food and exercise play a role in losing weight.
So, if you think you’re going to use brute force to shed that weight, you’re not going to get the result you want. This is because you can only push so much without giving up and throwing in the towel.
You can instead get to your fat loss goal by eating a nutritious diet and working out consistently.
So, clean up your diet and increase your levels of physical activity. You’ll get to your goal faster by doing this than by employing grit and sheer willpower.
8. Cardio is the best way to burn body fat
There are a lot of benefits to doing cardiovascular exercise. But, the belief that cardio is the best way to burn body fat is wrong. And sadly, this is the main reason why so many people fail when it comes to losing weight or fat.
When most people decide that they want to lose weight, the first thing they do is slash their calories and start doing tons of cardio. It is true that an hour of cardio burns more calories than weight training for an hour.
But weight loss is not just about calories burnt. Using calories burnt as a way to measure progress is bad because your body adapts to whichever cardio you are doing.
So, the more cardio you do, the more your body becomes good at it. Your body tears down your muscles making you more efficient at burning fewer calories.
As a result, your metabolism slows down and you end up becoming a smaller but fatter version of yourself. You become lighter on the scale but with the same body and a sluggish metabolism.
After some time, you’ll reach a point where even though you’re eating very little and doing lots of cardio, you’ll find it difficult to lose weight or fat.
On the contrary, you can reach your fat loss goal, look better, and become stronger by doing resistance training.
Combining resistance training with a sensible eating plan is the best way to lose weight and keep it off for good.
Which one of these weight loss myths is holding you back from reaching your fitness or fat loss goals?
Let me know in the comments below.
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