3 Major Fat Loss Myths That Will Sabotage Your Results

Weight loss myths are everywhere you look and they can be detrimental to your health as well as the goals you have set for yourself. It is necessary to take the beliefs you have about losing weight and turn them in your favor. 

Don't fall victim to information that will stand in the way of your fitness progress. 

In recent years, so-called fitness influencers, self-proclaimed experts and everyday gymgoers have been spreading weight loss fallacies that have set millions of people back in their weight loss journeys. 

Here I will highlight three major weight loss myths that will sabotage your results.  

Myth #1: Willpower is the Most Important Weapon in the Fight to Weightloss 

It is a commonly held belief that when it comes to losing weight and resisting the temptation to eat everything in sight that it is simply a matter of willpower. While willpower, motivation and discipline, do play a role in whether or not we are able to be successful in our weightloss efforts, there are plenty of other factors at work as well. 

Our body composition is based on a variety of factors, such as genetics, the culture we live in, our home and work environments, our lifestyle choices, our medical history, our attitude towards food and the condition of our health, including any health problems we have.

If you leave everything up to your willpower then you are likely to fail at the weight loss game. 

In fact, willpower and sticking to a fat loss diet is often what people struggle with most. In human psychology, there is a multi-layered construct to habit building. Early stages of habit building include inspiration and motivation, as described in Evidence-Based Habit Building: Finally Get Sh*t Done. 

Understand that your brain adapts when it experiences a change in thinking and behavior. You can improve your self-worth, wellbeing and ability to make positive lasting changes by harnessing neuroplasticity.

The good news in all of this is that eating a mostly nutritious diet on a consistent basis and regular exercise can help you overcome the barriers that may seriously interfere with your weightloss efforts.

Myth #2: Being Strict and Depriving Yourself is the Fastest Way to Weightloss  

If you choose a strict diet that severely limits the types and quantities of foods you eat, such as eliminating carbs or fats, your weightloss is at risk of stalling, or even reversing. 

This is also unhealthy as your body needs a number of different vitamins, minerals and nutrients and it can only get these from a variety of food choices. Strict, long-term dieting is generally not the most effective means of losing weight and it likely won't work for most people. 

It's okay to allow yourself a treat occasionally as long as you are eating slightly fewer calories than you burn on a daily basis. Deprivation will get you nowhere.

The simplicity of effective fat loss diet structuring is detailed in The Renaissance Diet 2.0: Your Scientific Guide to Fat Loss, Muscle Gain and Performance. 

By far this is the most comprehensive, easily understood book on structuring nutrition for optimal fat loss and muscle building that I have read to date. 

Myth #3: Eating Foods Late at Night is More Likely to Pack on the Pounds

This is a common myth that is believed by many. The truth is that if you consume more calories on a daily basis then your body requires, the excess will be stored as fat. The opposite is also the case -- if you take in fewer calories than you burn then you will shed pounds.

For this reason, the time of day you eat does not really matter so much as how much you eat and how much fat you burn through physical activity. 

In fact, it's rarely advisable to go to bed hungry, as this may prevent you from having a sound sleep. After all, you are fasting while you sleep.

That is what breakfast the following morning- break the fast- is all about. Generally speaking, eating something like a bit of slow digesting protein and a small amount of carbohydrates an hour or two before bed will likely help you sleep better. 

These three weightloss myths are just a few of the commonly held beliefs that exist in diet culture. Don't fall prey to misinformation that will halt your progress and set you back. And remember, the process of periodization for fat loss is a sound approach to losing weight and keeping it off. 

*Please note that if you purchase the products from the Amazon links that I've included above, I may receive a small monetary commission. 

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