7 Weight Loss Myths That Are Keeping You From Success

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7 Weight Loss Myths That Are Keeping You From Success

Most of us have tried many different diets and still can’t seem to have success losing weight.  From south beach to cabbage soup there is a lot of misinformation out there, and while you can lose weight on all these diets it might not stick or even be healthy.  Here are 9 weight loss myths that might be holding you back from the success you crave.

The most success I’ve had on one of these diets was with the South Beach diet.  This is the one where you have absolutely zero carbs for a few weeks and then you start slowly dropping them back in.  This was great for a little while.  I lost 25lbs on this diet.  Until I got sick.

I got the flu and I was struggling to keep eating according to the plan.  There are just things you MUST have when you’re sick.  For me, it’s pizza.

I had to have it.  And so I did.  That was the beginning of the end.  My stronghold on carbs was broken and I started to eat them.  It didn’t take long before I was back at the weight I started at.  It came back a lot faster then it went off I know that for sure.   Pretty soon I blew past the weight I started at there was no way I was going to South Beach any time soon.

That’s depressing.

So I started to do a little research and here is what came up.

Myth #1: Carbs are the devil

Fact: Carbs aren’t the problem, calories are!  Do you really think you can eat bacon and eggs and steak all day and be healthier and lose weight?  It doesn’t work that way.  Just as your body needs protein it also needs carbs and fat too!  When you eat the right carbs you get some added benefits.  Besides being less processed, the right carbs are full of fiber.  This keeps you fuller for longer with the same amount of calories.  Just don’t pile on the sauce and butter…that’s not getting you where you want to go.

Myth #2: Low-fat or non-fat means lower calories and healthier

Fact: You have to be careful here.  Most of these overly processed products are loaded with sugar to compensate for the lower fat.  When it comes to any of these, you have to read the labels thoroughly.  Many times they don’t lower the fat at all and just change the serving size on you to make it appear lower in fat.  Be careful – the things they add here is scary.

Myth #3: Eating after 8pm causes you to gain weight

Fact:  It does not matter when you eat, it is the total number of calories in versus the total number of calories out.  It doesn’t matter what time of day you eat, if you consume more calories than you burn with physical activities your body will store that as fat.

Myth #4:  Drinking water is the key to losing weight.

Fact: Not at all. Drinking water is extremely important to a healthy life style and a healthy body but the key to weight loss?  I don’t think so.  Again its calories in versus calories out.  The upside to drinking water is that when you are hydrated you are able to keep your metabolism up, you are more focused on the task at hand, and if you drink it before a meal it can fill you up so you don’t eat quite as much.  Getting your 8 glasses a day is important but its not going to be the reason you lose weight.

Myth #5: Have a light breakfast to keep your calories down

Fact: Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day.  It doesn’t have to be huge but this is a good place to have a bunch of carbs, it will be the fuel for the rest of your day.  Try having green smoothies.  I love this for breakfast the mix of fruits and veggies fills me up and keeps me from binging later on in the day.  The energy boost is incredible as well.

Myth #6: Cut out the fat to lose weight

Fact: You need a good amount of good fat in your diet to stay healthy and lose weight.  As soon as you can determine the good fat from the bad fat you are on your way.  Saturated fat is bad, unsaturated fat is good.  Your fried chicken is bad and your baked salmon is good.  Good fats will actually keep you feeling fuller longer.  Try adding some flax seeds to your breakfast smoothie or having some natural peanut butter and an apple for a snack.

Myth #7 :  You have to do hours of cardio to get any results.

Fact: Many times, less is more.  It has been scientifically proven that high intensity interval training will actually burn more calories than your traditional hours on the treadmill.  When you are done with your 20 minutes of HIIT training, your body keeps burning for hours afterwords.  That’s the real benefit.   Just alternate highly intense bursts with less intense exercise.  For instance, try jogging for thirty seconds and then sprinting for 30 seconds.  Then rinse and repeat.  You may not be able to sprint right now, but if you try to go as hard as you can and then bring it back down to normal you will see the benefits.  You can do this on a bike or simply walking.

There is a lot of bad information out there right now.  And someone is always coming up with some crazy diet plan for people to follow that sucks us in and takes our money.

But if we keep it simple, and we do the research it doesn’t have to be difficult to lose weight.  You just need some motivation, consistency, and common sense and you can reach your goals.

Check out this post for more information:  5 Great Weight loss Motivation Tips

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