In fitness, the biggest myths lie around building muscle and losing fat. This article is going to focus on the latter, fat loss myths.
I will be surprised if you haven’t heard of any of these before, but it's about time we put some of them to bed and educated everyone on how you really lose weight ( the secret will be revealed at the end of the article, and you only have to do ONE thing).
Weight loss is always fat loss
Your weight can fluctuate daily and this is perfectly normal. It can be due to a numerous amount of things; salt intake, how much sleep you had that night, how much exercise you did, the amount of food you ate and at what time and the last time you went to the toilet. You woke up lighter, it’s exciting, I get it. I don’t want to kill your buzz, but if you haven’t eaten anything since lunch the previous day, you are going to wake up lighter. It's most likely just a loss of glycogen in your muscles and water in your body.
You can spot reduce fat
The fat loss myth that I wish was true above all others. Carrying a little bit of extra weight over the abs? Just do a few crunches and you have lost some fat over the abs. Bigger legs than you want? Do a few sets of squats, sorted? Sounds too good to be true right? It is! Where you lose fat and the rate at which you lose fat is unique to you.
The more you sweat, the more fat you lose
I can see why people would think this has legs. Sweating is associated with working hard. So, the harder you work the more fat you should lose? Well, sort of. You do have to work hard to lose fat, but the amount you sweat has nothing to do with it. Don’t get me wrong, you will lose weight after a sweaty session, but it’s mainly water. Your body sweats to keep you cool, not to lose fat. The way we lose fat is actually through breathing, but that’s a topic for another article.
You need exercise to lose fat
Exercise certainly helps, but by no means is it needed for fat loss. Fat loss can be attained alone from your diet alone. Introducing exercise into your routine simply helps you burn more calories and can help improve the way you look at feel.
Carbs are the enemy
No food source is an enemy, they all play important roles within the body. Carbohydrates are what give us our energy, so guess what’s going to happen if you label them the enemy and don’t eat any of them? You’re going to feel lethargic and have a tough time concentrating. Plus, if you are exercising, expect your workouts to suffer as you aren’t getting in enough energy to perform them to a high intensity.
You need to cut out all alcohol
You need to limit it, but you won’t have to cut it out completely. If you can, that’s brilliant, but there are some simple ways around it if you still want to enjoy a nice cold one now and then. The first is to stick to lower calorie drinks. There are plenty of low-calorie beers around now which are a perfect substitute. If you fancy something a little bit harder, gin or vodka with a slimline tonic are the way to go. You should still try limiting your weekly intake to 2-3 drinks a week and track the calories if you can.
The secret
The secret and only rule to losing fat is to remain in a calorie deficit. This means you are eating less calories than your body needs. If you aren’t losing fat, there’s only one reason why. You aren’t in a calorie deficit.
