3 Weight-loss Myths Keeping You Stuck
“I indulged pretty heavily last weekend...I’ll just workout more to burn off the extra calories.”
Have you ever found yourself saying this exact line? What if I told you this logic is completely flawed? This exact line of thinking is what gets many people in trouble when it comes to weight loss. So today I am here to bust the top three weight-loss myths!
Myth #1: Overeating = More Working Out
The reason why this doesn’t work is because your don’t burn enough calories working out to make up for consuming far too many calories. You burn more calories throughout the day just moving around than you do in a single session at the gym. It’s called NEAT -- non-exercise activity thermogenesis -- and it’s the movement you get all day long. For example: if you drink a can of soda (approx. 138 calories), you would need to run for almost 15 minutes to burn it off. Now multiply that by even 2 or 3 sodas (since many people routinely drink more than one soda a day) and you would spend nearly your entire workout just trying to burn those calories. Crazy, right?!
Myth #2: 1,000 Calories Should Do the Trick
Starving yourself to lose weight might sound like the right thing to do, but I promise you it will backfire! Not only is it not sustainable, but it will actually cause your body to hold onto fat because it will force you into survival mode. Another reason to avoid this is because starving yourself can lead to an obsession with food and not eating (anorexia), binge-eating and purging (bulimia), as well as an unhealthy relationship with food that could take years to repair. When your body goes into starvation mode you may also lose muscle because this is a source of energy for your body, and we definitely don’t want that! And if those aren’t good reasons, it will also negatively affect your metabolism. That means you won’t burn calories as efficiently as when you eat a healthy, normal diet and make small modifications to lose weight.
Myth #3: Cardio, Cardio, Cardio
Cardio has a time and place and is a great way to boost heart health and requires little to no equipment or real knowledge of fitness. However, doing excessive cardio can be detrimental to your overall goals! I used to be a marathon runner and I thought I could eat whatever I wanted because I ran all the time. Please refer to Myth #1 -- you can’t out-train a bad diet. I was skinny fat and I felt frumpy. It wasn’t until I began seriously weight training and eating the right foods in the right portions that I was able to completely transform my body. You will not get bulky getting lifting weights. Let me repeat that: you will not get bulky by training with weights. It takes years to gain muscle. When I am in off-season for my figure competitions, I can barely gain 1-2 pounds each year. It’s really hard and takes a lot of work and effort.
Lots of cardio is not the answer. Just enough cardio for heart health is all that you need. Weight lifting is the true magic!
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