15 Weight Gain Myths Which Have To Be Absolutely Ignored

 

The moment people hear that you are working on weight loss, they pound you with some unwanted information on how to follow a specific diet or exercise regimen. But most advises you receive from people are social myths that have been doing the rounds since ages, and they really don’t have any scientific basis to them. Here are a few myths that you hear or read about that you should completely ignore, and use the proper diet and exercise routine to lose weight.

Myth #1: Eating fat makes you fat.

While fat is often demonised, there's no proof that the fat you eat beelines to your butt or thighs or tummy. That's because your body only turns calories into body fat when you eat more calories than it can burn — and that goes for calories from any nutrient, including protein and carbs.

Myth#2: Processed Carbs you eat at night turn to fat.

Again, total calorie consumption is what matters most. In other words, a late-night protein shake can do just as much damage as a sleeve of cookies no matter what time you dig in if you end up consuming more calories than your body can burn through basic functioning and exercise.

Myth#3: Monday is the best day to begin a new routine.

Monday may feel like a convenient day for a healthy start, particularly if booze-filled days and pizza nights make your weekends worth living for. However, the whole wait-until-Monday mentality will only deter you from reaching your goals ASAP — and that is the goal, right? Why not start right now?

Myth#4: Abs exercises give you a six-pack.

You can do sit-ups for days, but if you have a high percentage of body fat, your abs will stay in hiding. You'll only see your abs "pop" when you get rid of the belly fat that covers them. High-intensity interval-training can help — but not nearly as much as making changes to your diet, like cutting out sugar and artificially sweetened drinks, to start.

Myth#5: The more sore you feel after exercising, the better your workout was.

While soreness can be a sign that you K-I-L-L-E-D it at the gym (and enormously satisfying, for some people), you can get a perfectly good workout without feeling sore the next day. Every body is different, and some experience more delayed onset muscle soreness than others. Pain is not an indicator of the effectiveness of exercise.

Myth#6: Protein shakes only work within 30 minutes of your workout.

While eating protein after you exercise can help your body rebuild the muscle tears that occur when you work out, research suggests the window of opportunity for consuming protein can last up to a few hours after you stop sweating — especially if you ate before exercising. Even if you hit the gym on an empty stomach, it's no big deal if you can't get your hands on a high-protein snack within 30 minutes. A couple of hard-boiled eggs, a protein bar, or a Greek yogurt will still benefit your body more than junk food, even if you eat it later in the day.

Myth#7: Your workouts can target fat in certain places.

While you can target a particular muscle by performing an exercise that engages it, it's physically impossible to spot treat fat cells with exercise.

Myth#8: Body fat can be turned into muscle.

Nope — fat and muscle are two entirely different entities. Muscles are tissues running from joint to joint, while fat is distributed throughout your entire body. You can't turn one into the other, and to that end, you can't technically get rid of fat cells. Your best bet is to reduce the size of your fat cells (which occurs when you lose weight) and build muscle through strength training to firm up all over.

Myth#9: The more you sweat, the better your workout.

Not necessarily. Some people sweat more easily than others, and it doesn't mean they're pushing themselves to the max. That's why intensity, not sweat, is the best way to gauge your workout. If you gave it your all and then some, chances are your workout was A+.

Myth#10: Exercise is the best way to lose weight.

Unfortunately for gym rats who absolutely L-O-V-E to eat, studies suggest that dieting is a more effective weight loss strategy than exercising, with the ol' diet-and-exercise combo for the win. Real talk: You can't possibly burn enough calories through exercise alone to offset an awful diet, and of course it will always be easier to eat a little less than burn a little more.

Myth#11: Metabolism slows down at night.

Sounds logical. After all, your body isn’t doing much, right? Turns out there is no truth to the rumor! It turns out that the way your body handles the food and the calories contained within the food you have for dinner has a lot to do with your body’s own unique physiology, and your level of activity.

Myth#12: Superfoods boost metabolism.

Superfoods have loads of healthy benefits for overall health, but boosting metabolism isn’t necessarily one of them. Eating too much of any food, super or not, could mean excess calories that aren’t being used for immediate energy and end up as stored fat. The secret for successful weight management is calorie restriction without hunger or fatigue.

Myth#13: Eating six meals a day keeps metabolism revving.

Eating frequent meals is a great way to prevent hunger and avoid binging later in the day but the quantity of food consumed in six meals is something to keep any eye on. Eating frequent meals without looking into the total caloric consumption may lead to weight gain instead of weight loss.

Myth#14: Exercise is worthless if you can’t do it regularly for hours.

Getting in shape doesn’t have to take a really long time. The fact that it does for most people though, is probably a good thing. Let’s be clear: there’s no silver bullet, and there’s no magic method to get in shape quickly, but there’s a great deal of new research that shows a healthy exercise regimen doesn’t mean spending hours at the gym every single day. Some studies predict that 20 minutes per day can be all you need to get into the shape of your dreams.

Myth#15: Losing weight is healthy.

If you ever hear anyone complaining of high blood pressure or a high blood sugar level, the first advice that most people are quick to offer is that they should immediately lose weight. However, losing weight is not always healthy – one should try to lose fat, not muscle, although both eventually lead to weight loss. Therefore, instead of undertaking crash diets or low calorie diets that lead to loss of muscle, you should aim for better diets that are designed to burn fat and keep the muscle.

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