8 Weight Loss Myths - Busted!
Weight loss myths have been around for centuries and with the advent of social media, they are coming in hotter and heavier than ever before. A lot of these have some truth in them, but for the most part – they are complete bullshit and can oftentimes be a hinderance on your weight loss goals. Let’s break down some of those weight loss myths so you can get over the hump and truly succeed in your weight loss journey.
1. Cleanses
Cleanses do not work. Period. First off, your body doesn’t need “cleansing.” That what your liver does for you every day. Secondly, if you’re living on just juices for several days, you’re starving your body so the likelihood of you gorging yourself once the cleanse is over is pretty high since you’ll basically be starving by the end of it, thus resulting in gaining any weight you’ve lost back fairly quickly.
2. Any Diet That Forces You to “Start Over”
There is no “starting over” when it comes to nutrition. Unless you’re going to go back into your mother’s womb – nutrition is something that has no “restart” button, If a strict diet is forcing you to “start over” every time you slip, you’re setting yourself up for failure and it most likely isn’t the nutrition plan for you. If you’re forced to feel like a failure every single time you make a mistake, you won’t go far. Try something that is more conducive for your lifestyle.
3. Doubling Up on Work Outs
Also, not a thing. If you’ve eaten more than you should have one day, overdoing it at the gym the following day is not the answer. Just continue on with your routine. There is only so much our bodies can take at the gym on any given day and you cannot “un-eat” food you’ve already consumed. Just get back to business and carry on – you do not need to overdo it after a slip up or missing a workout - just get back on track.
4. Skipping Meals
Many programs such as Weight Watchers give you an allotted amount of points to use for food throughout the day which can help a lot of people stay on track with their goals. What it can also do is lead to disordered eating. Say you have 50 points. You go to McDonalds and use 45 points on lunch because you’re in a bind – that leaves you with only 5 points left for the day, leaving very few options for dinner so you decide to skip dinner. Instead, you probably should just have a healthy meal that night. When we start skipping meals because we overdo it on one meal, it can lead to some serious disordered eating habits.
5. Diets That Don’t Allow Carbs
The God Lord made carbs for a reason my friends. Carbs give you energy to get through your day. When you can place quality carbs in meals throughout the day, your body can truly benefit from the healthy carbohydrates we find in things like fruits and vegetables, rice, quinoa and sweet potatoes. Cutting carbs out completely doesn’t do anything but turn you into a complete bitch. Diets like Keto may work for a time, but they rely on you basically never eating carbs again which can lead to hair loss and severe liver damage. Simply put, you cannot not ever eat carbs again. When looking for ways to lose weight, you want to think of ways to lose weight long term and keep it off - not a quick fix. Besides, Keto was designed for children with seizures (don’t believe me – look it up. There’s even a made for TV movie starring Meryl Streep about it) not for adults who need energy to get through their day and want to lose weight.
6. Stop Relying on Social Media
Everyone is on their own journey and that has nothing to do with you. Find something that works for you and your schedule and not some random person you found on social media. Every body is different and is nourished differently. And *gasp * people lie on social media all the time. If you’re struggling losing weight or getting the results you desire – contact your doctor or a dietitian or nutritionist to help.
7. Meal Services
Things like Jenny Craig are great to get the ball rolling but aren’t really teaching you how to nourish your body properly. Solely relying on meal services like Nutrisystem will help jump start weight loss, but what happens when you don’t want to pay for the meals anymore and want to go out on your own? Again, we all need to find something that works specifically for us so anyone telling you “this works for everyone” is full of shit.
8. Anything Promising You Can “Lose 10 Pounds in a Week”
Just no. No. No. No. Whatever they are going to recommend you is most likely not healthy and chances are the second you stop doing whatever it is they tell you to do, you will immediately gain all the weight you’ve lost back.
Losing weight and getting in shape can be a daunting task but it can be done. If you’re really looking for help, find out what works for you. If it seems too good to be true – it most likely is. You don’t walk into a casino and win a million dollars on your first bet, so you shouldn’t think the same about weight loss. The hardest thing to hear is usually the truth so here it is: a healthy diet and exercise over time will lead to the greatest results. I know it’s not the sexiest thing in the world – but it’s the truth.