FAT LOSS MYTHS
By Noelle Walker at New Fitness Personal Training
There are many fat loss myths out there in the fitness and nutrition industry that are simply not true. In this blog I’m going to list them and explain why they are myths and not truths.
CARBS WILL MAKE YOU FAT
There are so many people who are afraid of Carbohydrates, thinking it causes direct fat gain. Carbohydrates are a food group that the body requires and prefers to provide us with energy to do daily activities and make our brain function. It provides us with fuel for our workouts as well. It has 4 calories per gram compared to fat that has 9 calories per gram and protein which also has 4 calories per gram.
I think the fear stems from a connected myth that says it causes an insulin response and if your insulin increases that also causes direct fat gain. Both connected myths are completely false. Insulin does not cause fat gain and neither does Carbs. The only time Insulin will cause excess fat gain is if glucose in the blood is too high and that is a direct result of eating too many calories. It’s pretty simple as to what causes fat gain. It’s not complicated at all. People gain because they are eating too many calories and not expending enough calories. This results in a calories surplus. In order to lose fat you need to be in a calorie deficit instead.
EATING TOO LITTLE
This is possibly the most ridiculous myth out there or one of the most ridiculous. The myth is if you eat too little food or calories, your body will go into a starvation mode and cause you to gain weight. The theory at work here is your body will respond by preventing fat loss and in turn will make you gain weight. This is not true at all. It’s complete nonsense.
The reason people might think this is true is because if you eat too little, you will get too hungry and start binging. So in effect, you are not eating too little. You are definitely eating too much. Think about it this way, if eating too little caused weight gain, there would be no such thing as Anorexia. Or starving people in third world countries. I hate to bring those two points up, but it gives you perspective!
EATING AT NIGHT
This is a long standing myth. It has been around for ages. The myth states that if you eat late at night or simply in the evening, you will gain fat. People believe that if you eat at night, your body will store all the food as fat but in reality your body does a whole lot of work at night. It digests food and is still burning calories while you sleep. Fat loss or fat gain directly relates to calories in and calories out. It’s the rule of Thermodynamics and we cannot as humans defy this, no matter how hard we try! In other words, it doesn’t matter when you eat, it’s the total calorie intake that matters.
DOING TOO MUCH CARDIO WILL MAKE YOU GAIN FAT
There is a prevalent myth that doing too much Cardio will make you gain weight. Does this sound familiar? You’re doing hours of Cardio and you’re still not losing weight or worse, you are gaining. This is not because you are doing Cardio. You may be doing slow ineffectual Cardio that doesn’t burn enough calories to cause you to be in a calorie deficit.
Or you might be eating too many calories, more than what you burn off in your Cardio sessions. The fact is, Cardio burns calories and fat so if you are doing enough and effective Cardio, you will lose fat and inches.
These are some of the most common and talked about fat loss myths out there. There are many more, but I listed just a few. Don’t fall for these myths. Believe the Science and always double check the facts when you read or hear something regarding fat loss, fitness and nutrition.
