In today’s society, there are many marketing gimmicks fuelling the misconceptions about weight loss. Products claiming to help you lose weight, cut inches off your waistline, build muscle, etc.
You would have also heard of many “fitness trainers” online claiming to know what they are doing and giving off “advice”. That, however, just adds to the misconceptions you might already have instead.
Jump ahead:
- Disclaimer
- Not Sweating
- Not Eating / Eating Less
- Detox Teas / Weight loss supplements
- Weight Lifting and Bulking
- Spot Reduction
Disclaimer: I’m not a sport scientist, Dietician or Nutritionist, but I’ve been actively participating in competitive sports for over 10 years.
Hence, what is shared includes my personal experiences fuelled by research I’ve found from other credible sources.
You might have followed these myths and adopted them into your exercise routine, and wondered why you’re not seeing any progress.
In this article, I will be debunking 5 myths or common misconceptions surrounding the controversial topic of weight loss.
1. If I’m not sweating during exercise, I’m not burning calories.
This is wrong on so many levels! Firstly, your ability to sweat depends on your body type. I’m not one who sweats a lot even during intensive exercise. I can finish a 3km run, and not sweat buckets. Does that mean my workout wasn’t effective and I’m not burning any calories?
NO!
Secondly, this encourages the wrong kind of mindset when it comes to exercising. If you’re like me and is not one who sweats a lot, you are likely to:
- Think that exercising is a waste of time (I’m not sweating so I’m not burning. What’s the point of exercising?)
- Over exert yourself beyond your limits which is dangerous (I need to work harder to sweat more to burn more!).
Thirdly, every workout is a good workout. No workout is ever a bad workout. It is a bad mentality to have when you miss a few reps in the gym or run short of your goal in terms of distance or speed.
Likewise, this results in you growing to dislike the process of exercising and ultimately, you will lose your drive to exercise in the long run.
It is ok to miss a few reps or complete a run earlier/shorter than planned.
Cut yourself some slack! Don’t overwork/push your body too hard!
2. Not Eating / Eating Less = Weight Loss
Your diet plays a role as important as exercise does in your weight loss journey.
Providing your body with the adequate nutrients & vitamins it needs to push you through your exercise and refueling after your workout is just as important to build muscle and burn fat!
By eating less or not eating at all before and after a workout does not help you to lose weight!
This only lowers your performance during each workout as you do not have enough energy to help your body get through the workout. Furthermore, you are wearing your body out with the exercise due to the lack of food in your system.
Not only are you putting yourself at high risk of injuries during exercise, but you might also feel lightheaded throughout the workout, or even faint. There are many ways to eat clean and healthier rather than starving yourself throughout your weight loss journey.
There are tons of accredited sportsmen promoting healthy eating habits and they share their diet, while stressing the importance of balance and cheat meals. Don’t allow yourself to fall into the vicious cycle of negative body image and eating disorders.
Here are some sportsmen whom I look up to for diet & meal inspirations:
- Imke Salander (@imkesalander)
- Claire P Thomas (@clairepthomas)
- Seneda Greca (@seneda.greca)
- Colleen Quigley (@steeple_squigs)
- Alica Schmidt (@alicasmd)
They all have their share of fun, training, cheat meals, and so should you!
3. Detox Teas / Weight loss supplements help you lose water mass.
This is one thing I swear to keep out of my life. What are these supplements made of? Are they safe for consumption?
I make it a point not to consume anything that I cant read on the labels or can’t pronounce to stay on the safer side.
With so many weight loss products in the market, if unprescribed to you by your GP, how would you know if they are licensed or unlicensed?
Moreover, what do detox teas have in them that supposedly help you lose weight when Green Tea itself contains tons of benefits and is well known to be safe for consumption?
Most of the time, people are drawn into the products because of the message marketed by brands. As a business student with various internship experiences in the marketing field, I know this very well.
The whole point of marketing is to capture the audience’s attention and convert it to sales. Of course, the message will sound like clickbait and seem too good to be true!
Just stick to green tea that has been proven time and time again to offer you a plethora of health benefits! You can’t go wrong with it, and it speeds up your metabolism which helps in the fat burning process too!
Stop falling for weight loss supplements and detox teas!
4. Incorporating weight lifting into my exercise routine will make me big & bulky.
This is a very common misconception that women have!
I would like to put it out there that this is definitely not true! According to mindandbodyelite, women have 10-15 times less testosterone, making it highly unlikely and more difficult for us to bulk up.
As someone who has also been incorporating strength training into my exercise regime for about 3 years or so now, I can safely say that it is very much difficult to bulk even with heavy weights every session.
To bulk, your diet also plays a role, and it is a different exercise regime altogether as compared to losing weight.
I would also like to emphasize the fact that lifting weights and resistance training makes it easier to burn more calories by increasing your lean body mass. Of course, this takes time and a diet that goes along with it.
You can read up more about this here.
Building lean body mass through strength training helps to burn more calories in your everyday life, and tone your body.
Not everyone can attain extremely defined muscles with those clean-cut lines, but to a certain extent, it is still possible. Everybody’s body is different so don’t compare your progress to someone else’s or what you see on the internet!
You are likely to feel less motivated after that rather than more encouraged to reach your goals. Been there, done that, and never again.
Weight lifting helps to attain definition rather than make you bigger!
5. You can burn specific areas of fat by just targeting the problem area.
No, No and No!
If you want more visible muscles, you need to incorporate full body and cardio exercises that help to reduce your overall body fat!
This is probably on the top few ranks on the list of common misconceptions about weight loss!
It happens a lot of the time: For example, you want more visible Abs. To do so, you do 100 crunches a day.
This only helps to give you a stronger core, but it does not reduce your body fat. Instead, if you have a strong core, with high body fat, your midsection will just keep getting bigger rather than smaller.
If you think this is not credible, check out this article written by Yale Scientific here. Targeted fat loss, also known as spot reduction, has been proven to not work over and over again.
Hence, to facilitate reducing overall body fat, you can incorporate high-intensity exercises, cardio, etc to get your heart rate up. Then combine with targeted toning exercises that help to strengthen and build your muscles.
Do not just focus on one aspect of your body alone. Also, there are many ways to incorporate exercise into your daily lifestyle!
On busy days, you can do short 10-15 min HIIT or targeted toning exercises such as glutes, core, quads, etc. On days where you have more time, you can go for a run, to incorporate the fat-burning aspect into your exercise routine.
You do not need to do both cardio and strength training everyday to burn fat!
This article should have cleared up some of your common misconceptions about weight loss. Losing weight is as simple as having a consistent exercise routine combining both Cardio and Strength training while maintaining a proper diet.
Sticking to high protein and nutrient-dense foods helps to keep you full for longer, resulting in less snacking and eating less as a whole.
Just remember, change takes time. Your body also needs time to adapt to your exercise routine before showing any changes.
Don’t compare your body with others as it will only reinforce the negative body image you have in your head!
If you’d like to find out more about my exercise routine, diet, lifestyle, etc, I’ve linked them respectively! Also, follow us on social media (@thewunderinglab) to find out more about our day-to-day lives and join us on this journey towards a healthier lifestyle!