Every individual occasionally has private meltdowns which involve eating junk food. So every demographic group is a victim of weight gain.
This is because of several bad habits like eating without planning, eating amnesia, indulging in sweets, mindless drinking, portion distortion, and skipping breakfast.
However, the lifestyle choices that make you gain weight are not always visible. Sometimes, we might have an impulse of losing weight.
Non-communicable illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension are brought on by obesity.
Body image is a small component of one’s self-esteem, even if your excess weight might have an impact on the way you feel about yourself and the way people see you.
The secret to living a healthy and happy life is proper weight management. Also, one should gradually lose weight.
Most people would concur that a weight loss strategy that is healthy includes adhering to small meals, minimizing carbohydrates, and avoiding eating before sleeping.
However, most people are sometimes mistaken regarding these tactics and strategies.
In the age of the digital world, there lies a wealth of information that leads us to believe that everyone is an expert on carbohydrates, fat, and hunger.
Certain diet facts are often considered myths instead of facts. But unfortunately, not knowing the difference between facts and myths, people might harm themselves during the process.
In this article, we will be looking at some myths associated with weight loss.
Contents
- 1 Myths About Weight Loss
- 1.1 Supplements Might Aid With Weight Loss
- 1.2 Detox Diets Work Well
- 1.3 Eat Less And Move More
- 1.4 Reduce Your Carbohydrate Intake To Lose Weight
- 1.5 Fat Might Make You Fat
- 1.6 Any Fat Is Bad
- 1.7 Weight Loss Diets Are Effective
- 1.8 Go Without Food And Skip Meals To Lose Weight
- 1.9 Breakfast Is Essential For Weight Loss
- 1.10 Exercising On An Empty Stomach To Lose Weight
- 2 Conclusion
Myths About Weight Loss
Here are some myths about weight loss:
Supplements Might Aid With Weight Loss
The market for supplementary diet pills is enormous. Numerous medicine companies assert that their diet pills have remarkable impacts.
But studies often show they are not that effective. The placebo effect is mostly to be blamed for some people getting success with supplements.
People are heavily duped by the marketing strategies and therefore want diet pills to aid in their weight loss.
Nevertheless, some supplements have a negligible impact on weight loss. The greatest supplements might enable you to gradually lose very little weight over several months.
This link to the FDA article has discussed more dietary supplements.
Detox Diets Work Well
This dietary myth means that consuming a detox diet for 1 to 3 days could result in a 1 to 2 kg weight loss. It is a myth.
It might be true in the short term, however you risk gaining those pounds back if you perform detoxing. So be careful the next time you think about detoxing.
Your organs could receive much-needed relaxation from a single-day detox while losing water weight.
But it would not result in a reduction of body fat, which is what people want. To reduce body fat loss, you need to ensure that you have a well-balanced meal.
It should include sufficient amounts of minerals and vitamins, high-quality fats, protein, carbohydrates, and fiber.
Eat Less And Move More
Energy is stored as body fat. You must expend more calories than you regularly consume to lose weight.
This makes it quite obvious that cutting back on calories while increasing physical activity might result in weight loss.
Although this suggestion sounds great theoretically, if you adopt a permanent adjustment in your lifestyle, this is not a good idea for people having significant weight issues.
Because of metabolic and physiological considerations, most people heeding this advice generally end up gaining back the weight that they had previously lost.
To lose weight with exercise and food, a long-lasting and significant change in behavior and outlook is required.
It is not sufficient to only increase your physical activity and limit your consumption of food.
Simply encouraging an overweight person to move more and eat less is equivalent to urging an alcoholic person to cut back on their drinking or a depressive person to brighten up.
Here is a governmental study on the same matter.
Reduce Your Carbohydrate Intake To Lose Weight
In the realm of nutrition and health, carbs are perceived as weight gainers and have a poor rap. It is one of the most common diet myths that we often have to hear.
However, carbs are a necessary macronutrient to maintain life. They give the mind and body energy. But we have to understand the distinction between unhealthy and healthy carbohydrates.
Bad carbohydrates are processed and refined, such as biscuits, cakes, refined cereals, and white bread. These carbohydrates make you gain weight.
On the contrary, carbohydrates rich in fiber are good carbohydrates. Examples of healthy carbohydrates are whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, lentils, brown rice, and beans.
They have a beautiful husk and take longer to digest. So you won’t overeat as you feel fuller for a long time.
Fat Might Make You Fat
In comparison to protein or carbohydrates, which have only 5 calories per gram, fat has about 8 calories per gram. Junk food contains a lot of fat, which is calorie-dense.
However, fat won’t make you fat if your calorie consumption is within a healthy level.
Furthermore, several studies have shown that diets low in carbs but high in fat result in weight loss.
While eating a lot of high-calorie, bad junk food might make you fat, the fat macronutrient is not the only one to blame. Your body requires healthy fats to be able to function correctly.
Any Fat Is Bad
Similar to carbs, lipids are seen as one of the main reasons for weight gain. However, like carbs, there are unhealthy and good fats.
Healthy fats are crucial for your general wellbeing. They support the health of your cell walls, skin, and nervous system.
Good fats could be found in coconut oil, walnuts, avocado, and handmade ghee. When consumed in moderate quantities, they are wonderful for losing weight.
Despite having several calories, these calories are not empty calories. They are abundant in nutrients, which makes you less likely to binge and makes you feel fuller.
Weight Loss Diets Are Effective
The diet industry wants people to think that weight loss diets are effective. However, research indicates that weight loss diets are rarely successful in the long term.Notably, within a few months, 80% of dieters end up gaining their weight back. Furthermore, many studies also showed that dieters are most likely to acquire extra weight in the future.
Therefore, these weight loss diets indicate weight gain in the future rather than decrease, and so you should not approach such weight loss tactics having a dieting mindset.
Instead, you should choose a long-term lifestyle change as your main objective so that you could live a happier, better, and physically fit life.
You might see a reduction in your weight if you could sleep better, eat healthier, and raise your physical activity levels.
Go Without Food And Skip Meals To Lose Weight
The idea that going without food and missing meals might hasten your weight loss is an utter lie. You could only prevent yourself from excess eating to a certain level.
Although fad diets might promise a lot of stuff, going without food and skipping meals is not a healthy way to lose weight.
Because of your extreme hunger for skipping meals, you might consume anything that is offered to you. This results in an excess addition of calories.
So you should, instead of skipping meals, eat at regular intervals. By doing this, you shall eat fewer unhealthy items and be fuller for a longer duration of time.
You could keep an accurate record of the food that you consume and focus on practicing portion control.
Having said that, you might want to note that every person’s body is different. As a result, one theory does not work for all. That is why I try multiple things, and then I determine what exactly works for me and what exactly doesn’t.The same thing goes with portion control. It may work for some, while it may not work for others.
Counting your calories using a calorie app and grabbing some nuts and fruit is another wonderful way to make sure that you stay under your calorie restriction.
Breakfast Is Essential For Weight Loss
According to numerous studies, people who skip breakfast usually weigh more than those who do not.
But this could be most likely due to breakfast eaters being more inclined to follow good lifestyle habits.
In reality, a 5-month study comparing breakfast habits in 308 individuals found no significant difference in the participants’ weight depending on whether they skipped or ate breakfast.
Additionally, it is also untrue that having breakfast increases your metabolism and having numerous smaller meals throughout the day causes your body to burn more calories.
Stop eating when you are full and eat when you are hungry for the best results. If you choose to have breakfast, you should not anticipate it to have a huge impact on your weight.
Here is a governmental article on the same matter.
Exercising On An Empty Stomach To Lose Weight
Exercising on an empty stomach might cause vertigo. It is because your muscles lose protein and your sugar levels fall.
Therefore, it is important to eat something light and healthy before exercising. Also, you ought to have some carbs which are easy to digest before a vigorous workout.
You could try pre-workout snacks like a bowl of oats with almonds and figs with one teaspoon of honey, or a banana.
Even a lime smoothie, ginger, and beetroot could be an option. That may also work fine.
Conclusion
Overall, it might be difficult to lose weight. The bodies are equipped to retain energy as they were designed for surviving in crucial times.
Although many of us live in a world where calories are very easily accessible, our bodies continue in retaining this energy. In general, exercising regularly and cutting calories are the most effective methods to lose weight.
Therefore, before starting a weight loss program, people having chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes should see their doctors.
Most foods are not unhealthy. However, it is highly advised to limit your consumption of high sugar and high-fat foods.