5 Weight Loss Myths
1 - Detoxes & Detox Teas
We've all seen the pictures with the cute tea cups next to brightly coloured packaging on Instagram and Tumblr advertising the amazing property of detox teas and how you can get a flat belly in 14 days! Sadly this is all wrong and can be very dangerous.
There is no such thing as a detox or cleanse. The word has been warped and abused by those wishing to make money from it. The claims of these companies is that your body will be rid of toxins but their blurbs are always very vague and never actually detail what toxins they will actually rid you of? That's because these is no credible or scientific evidence to confirm that these detox kits or teas will remove these so-called "toxins".
Unfortunately I have read posts on people reviewing these teas who have had experience of the dangerous side affects. Many people claim that the colon is what needs to be "cleansed" because we build up "mucoid plaque" which we need to be rid of immediately. "Mucoid plaque" does not exist. So to cleanse to your body of this scary nonexistent plaque and other apparent toxins, some of the teas are packed with laxatives. Yes these may be natural ingredients (such as senna) but can still be dangerous. You'll certainly get a flat stomach because you'll spend your time on the toilet pooping (maybe even diarrhea) and unable to eat which may cause permanent damage to your digestive system. Within one review I read, the author unfortunately had menstrual issues because she had to poo excessively which in turn messed with her contraceptive pill.
The posts and websites advertising these detoxes will use buzz words (i.e. skinny, organic, fat shrinking, non-GMO, antioxidants, toxin cleansing etc.) to make them sound more credible but surely something like that would have to be thoroughly tested and accredited.
You can always find pictures on instagram of the beautiful girls holding their cups of tea next to their toned abs but they've gotten that product for a reason. They've been sent that product to promote because they have a large number of followers and that's how advertising works; we make the connection between the tea and the abs so we think "if I drink the tea, I get the abs!". They attained that body because they're naturally slim or they work very hard to maintain it. No tea is going to make you look like Candice Swaenpol on an average day! If anyone ever recommends a detox or cleanse to you, no matter how long or short, you would do very well to question their credibility and any other information they have given you.
2 - 1200 calories is the magic number
I think the most harmful myth I have seen on numerous occasions is that of 1200 calories. Somewhere along the way, it's been hailed as the magic number to lose weight and you should stick to that so you achieve your body goals.
1200 calories is actually the number of calories the "average" woman can eat before her body starts to suffer more negative health impacts and go into starvation mode. This number will create a calorie deficit that is too low (even worse if you think you can eat that much and workout) thus causing your net calories to be below your BMR (the basic calorie needs of your body just to survive) which could lead to sickness, thinning hair, reduced bone mass, muscle loss, menstrual issues, tiredness, increased risk of digestive issues, gallstones and thyroid issues.
It would be very difficult to eat so little for a sustained period as your body knows it is starving and begins to crave more high energy foods, like junk foods, to get some energy and survive. In the long term, you will also be much more likely to gain back any weight you have lost because your body wants to recover and meet its basic needs.
It would be very difficult to eat so little for a sustained period as your body knows it is starving and begins to crave more high energy foods, like junk foods, to get some energy and survive. In the long term, you will also be much more likely to gain back any weight you have lost because your body wants to recover and meet its basic needs.
Yes you will lose weight eating that little but at the same time you will get sick and eventually you will put the weight all back on because it is not sustainable. It looks as though some people just pluck a calorie goal out of the air or aim for what others eat without considering their own calorific needs based upon their individual statistics. If you want to figure out how much to eat then I recommend the IIFYM calculator at iifym.com. Using your own statistics and goals, it tells you how many calories to aim for on a daily basis (whether or not you're working out on that day). This is a lot more accurate than the numbers pumped out by other well known calorie intake tracking websites (naming no names) which recommend a lot of people eat 1200 calories a day. I presume there's a fault in their math somewhere along the lines.
Once again, I would greatly question the qualifications and motives of someone recommending you to eat 1200 calories a day.
Once again, I would greatly question the qualifications and motives of someone recommending you to eat 1200 calories a day.
3 - You'll bulk up if you lift!
I get asks on my tumblr quite frequently from girls that are scared they will bulk up as soon as they do any strength training or weights. The truth is that it is very hard for women to bulk up because as women have about 5-10% of the testosterone levels that men have. Testosterone is required to gain lean muscle so, as a woman, you would have to work so hard to bulk up. You have to lift very heavy and eat at a calorie surplus (above maintenance) to gain muscle because you cannot gain muscle whilst eating at a calorie deficit (apart from in a few situations but I won't go into that today).
What lifting weights and strength training will do for you is allow you to maintain your muscle mass so that, when you lose fat through cardio, you will eventually have tone and definition. If you do a lot of cardio and not much strength work then you muscle mass will reduce. There are lots of fit celebrities that lift weights and do lots of strength work to maintain their shape. You can see plenty of pictures of Adriana Lima and Jessica Alba doing strength work as well as the gorgeous girls on tumblr who lift very heavy to get their peachy butts!
4 - I gained weight overnight
Natural weight fluctuation is very normal and happens to everybody. It can be due to bloating, water retention, soreness of muscles, the mass of food in your system, hormonal changes, constipation or increased salt intake etc. You did not suddenly gain 5lbs because you ate a cheeseburger yesterday so there is no need to panic or think you need to give up these foods.
1 pound of fat is generally believed to be 3500 calories so in order to gain then you would theoretically have to eat that on top of your TDEE (the number of calories you need on a daily basis to maintain your weight).
This is also the downside to weighing yourself frequently because natural fluctuation may be misconstrued as weight gain and thus change your relationship with weight loss in a negative way. Just go back to your usual daily routine and any weight you have "gained" won't be there next week. I think it puts a lot of people off enjoying themselves around birthdays or the holidays as they think that excess calories will actually cause permanent weight gain but calories are not fat cells in food form. It is 100% to be healthy and enjoy the things you may consider as junk foods but it is all about moderation.
5 - You can spot reduce
5 - You can spot reduce
The worst thing I see on magazine covers is "get rid of your love handles" or "crunch away your belly fat" which implies that we can pick and choose where our boy loses fat from. This is not the case at all. You can do all the crunches you want to firm up your abs but that will not make your body burn fat from that area.
Our bodies all lose fat differently and we can't change that. I myself initially lost weight from around my upper body and calves whilst my thighs and butt took a long time to catch up! There is no exercise you can do which will make you lose weight from a specific area. You can do strength moves which will target the muscles and possibly make the area look different through tone but it is really just a waiting game as to where your body will lose fat from when you do cardio exercises. That's why we need a mix of cardio and strength in our workout routines.
Next week I will be posting my 5 main tips for healthy and sustainable weight loss, with the week after focusing on the basic equipment you need for working out and where to get it on a budget!
Thank you very much for reading and I would really appreciate any suggestions you have for my blog and the posts I create on here or on Instagram (nkgage)
Next week I will be posting my 5 main tips for healthy and sustainable weight loss, with the week after focusing on the basic equipment you need for working out and where to get it on a budget!
Thank you very much for reading and I would really appreciate any suggestions you have for my blog and the posts I create on here or on Instagram (nkgage)
xoxo
I read your blog and I noticed some useful tips from this post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing some unique information with your post.
kimera
Getting thinner is the normal issue which all ladies confront no less than one in their life.For example,when they are pregnant, a few ladies may have the hormones' issue subsequent to giving a birth to a kid. I know such ladies who kept to an eating routine however didn't figure out how to lose much weight as they had other medical issues associated with their hormones lack. There are Weight Loss Tips how to get in shape however I think it ought to be a mind boggling which you should decide for yourself in the wake of considering all eating regimens as all people have distinctive quirks of the body.
ReplyDeleteI very much like the way you have provided some extremely useful information about weight loss myths and how it helps in burning belly fat. Thanks for sharing some extremely useful and effective information. By the way let me share my personal experience. There was a time when I gained almost 39 pounds of extra body weight and was desperately trying to reduce that. I took up different type of fat burning exercise but all that went in vein. Then I came across this pill: Lean Belly Breakthrough
ReplyDelete. I took this pill and lost almost 39 pounds within a few weeks. That’s really amazing isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing the additional information with us
ReplyDeleteniacin for weight loss.
Unlock Your Hip Flexors
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd9rMyt83oA&list=PLR_IcKtsKOwIw0up5inFlFzciakugyvNm
Thanks For sharing information. sour candy
ReplyDelete