When your goal is to shed extra pounds and get into shape fast,
you'll want to steer clear of a few common weight loss myths that can
quickly sabotage your efforts.
In this article, I'd like to bust 3 common myths that many people fall victim to on their quest to better health and a better body.
Weight Loss Myth #1: "In Order to Lose Weight, It's Best to Starve Yourself or Only Eat Very Little"
This is without a doubt one of the most common weight loss myths. You see, starving yourself all day long is not the solution to losing weight and getting fit.
Starvation diets will cause all kinds of health problems, both short term and long term.
Healthy weight loss involves providing your body with all of the essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and other nutrients your body needs in order to function properly.
Also, when you go long hours without eating, your blood sugar levels plummet which affects your energy levels.
Even worse, going long hours without eating causes your body to think that there's a famine going on, and when your body thinks it's being starved, it will store more calories as body fat in order to prepare for the next perceived "famine".
Instead of following some crazy and unhealthy starvation diet that deprives your body of vital calories and nutrients required for optimal health and well being, you should be eating several smaller meals throughout the day to keep hunger at bay and your metabolism elevated.
For example, if you've figured out that your daily caloric intake for fat loss needs to be 1,400 - 1,600 calories per day, aim to consume approximately 375 - 400 calories through 4 small to medium sized meals every day.
When you feed your body frequently throughout the day, you'll never trigger your body's "starvation" alarm, thus you won't have to worry about the calories you eat being stored as body fat.
Focus on consuming lean sources of protein such as fish, chicken, turkey and lean red meat. Eat more good fats and less bad fats and eliminate refined, processed foods which are loaded with sodium and sugars that only make it more difficult for you to achieve your fitness goals.
Weight Loss Myth #2: "Exercising For Hours Every Single Day Is the Best Way To Lose Weight"
This is another huge weight loss myth. Here's the deal, every time you workout, you stress your body both physically and psychologically.
Too much exercise causes your body to produce the stress hormone cortisol, which makes it more difficult to lose body fat.
If you train with weights at moderate to high intensity on a daily basis, you're depleting your brains neurotransmitters which are a vital part of a healthy central nervous system (CNS).
Too much CNS stress will lead to chronic fatigue, poor memory and concentration, sleep disturbance and depression.
Just know that too much exercise is very counterproductive and will quickly lead you to over-training.
Once you're over trained, your body pumps out massive amounts of cortisol as a protective or survival mechanism against stress.
To avoid becoming overtrained and for optimal fat loss results, exercise no more than 1 hour at a time. If you weight train and do cardiovascular exercise in the same workout, 30 minutes of each activity is plenty for one day.
Whenever you feel overly fatigued or more tired than usual for no reason, cut back on your workout frequency and even take a few days off from all exercise.
Weight Loss Myth #3: "Weight Training Will Make Me Bulky"
I shake my head whenever I see ladies at the gym avoid the free weight area and instead, perform hours of cardio in hopes of losing weight and getting fit.
You see, looking like a bodybuilder takes years of
hard work and dedication both inside and outside the gym. Gaining big
muscles takes a lot of gut busting work and requires good physique
genetics.
If you fear that weight training will cause you to look like a bodybuilder, you should know that women produce much less testosterone in their bodies that men, so this will never happen.
Additionally, gaining a large amount of muscle mass requires a high protein and high calorie diet.
Gaining 8 to 12 pounds of lean muscle will work wonders to help you achieve your weight loss goal. This is because muscle tissue is metabolically active, meaning that it burns calories even while the body is at rest.
The bottom line on weight training for fat loss is this; Weight training helps you get that lean, toned and fit look by building muscle tissue. Muscle tissue boosts your metabolism, which in turn helps you burn more calories and body fat.
There are of course many more myths that will prevent you from attaining your ideal physique and one article is not enough to cover them all, but these 3 are the most common ones.
Avoid these 3 common weight loss myths and watch your physique and health change for the better.
In this article, I'd like to bust 3 common myths that many people fall victim to on their quest to better health and a better body.
Weight Loss Myth #1: "In Order to Lose Weight, It's Best to Starve Yourself or Only Eat Very Little"
This is without a doubt one of the most common weight loss myths. You see, starving yourself all day long is not the solution to losing weight and getting fit.
Starvation diets will cause all kinds of health problems, both short term and long term.
Healthy weight loss involves providing your body with all of the essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and other nutrients your body needs in order to function properly.
Also, when you go long hours without eating, your blood sugar levels plummet which affects your energy levels.
Even worse, going long hours without eating causes your body to think that there's a famine going on, and when your body thinks it's being starved, it will store more calories as body fat in order to prepare for the next perceived "famine".
Instead of following some crazy and unhealthy starvation diet that deprives your body of vital calories and nutrients required for optimal health and well being, you should be eating several smaller meals throughout the day to keep hunger at bay and your metabolism elevated.
For example, if you've figured out that your daily caloric intake for fat loss needs to be 1,400 - 1,600 calories per day, aim to consume approximately 375 - 400 calories through 4 small to medium sized meals every day.
When you feed your body frequently throughout the day, you'll never trigger your body's "starvation" alarm, thus you won't have to worry about the calories you eat being stored as body fat.
Focus on consuming lean sources of protein such as fish, chicken, turkey and lean red meat. Eat more good fats and less bad fats and eliminate refined, processed foods which are loaded with sodium and sugars that only make it more difficult for you to achieve your fitness goals.
Weight Loss Myth #2: "Exercising For Hours Every Single Day Is the Best Way To Lose Weight"
This is another huge weight loss myth. Here's the deal, every time you workout, you stress your body both physically and psychologically.
Too much exercise causes your body to produce the stress hormone cortisol, which makes it more difficult to lose body fat.
If you train with weights at moderate to high intensity on a daily basis, you're depleting your brains neurotransmitters which are a vital part of a healthy central nervous system (CNS).
Too much CNS stress will lead to chronic fatigue, poor memory and concentration, sleep disturbance and depression.
Just know that too much exercise is very counterproductive and will quickly lead you to over-training.
Once you're over trained, your body pumps out massive amounts of cortisol as a protective or survival mechanism against stress.
To avoid becoming overtrained and for optimal fat loss results, exercise no more than 1 hour at a time. If you weight train and do cardiovascular exercise in the same workout, 30 minutes of each activity is plenty for one day.
Whenever you feel overly fatigued or more tired than usual for no reason, cut back on your workout frequency and even take a few days off from all exercise.
Weight Loss Myth #3: "Weight Training Will Make Me Bulky"
I shake my head whenever I see ladies at the gym avoid the free weight area and instead, perform hours of cardio in hopes of losing weight and getting fit.
You see, looking like a bodybuilder takes years of
hard work and dedication both inside and outside the gym. Gaining big
muscles takes a lot of gut busting work and requires good physique
genetics.If you fear that weight training will cause you to look like a bodybuilder, you should know that women produce much less testosterone in their bodies that men, so this will never happen.
Additionally, gaining a large amount of muscle mass requires a high protein and high calorie diet.
Gaining 8 to 12 pounds of lean muscle will work wonders to help you achieve your weight loss goal. This is because muscle tissue is metabolically active, meaning that it burns calories even while the body is at rest.
The bottom line on weight training for fat loss is this; Weight training helps you get that lean, toned and fit look by building muscle tissue. Muscle tissue boosts your metabolism, which in turn helps you burn more calories and body fat.
There are of course many more myths that will prevent you from attaining your ideal physique and one article is not enough to cover them all, but these 3 are the most common ones.
Avoid these 3 common weight loss myths and watch your physique and health change for the better.
Adi Crnalic is a certified personal trainer, lifetime natural
bodybuilder and a fitness and fat loss coach. Over the past few years,
his information has been featured in several publications including
Fitness & Physique Magazine, The Fitness Expert Network and others.
Visit his fitness blog today for more helpful fitness and fat loss
articles and videos: www.PBfitnessblog.com
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