WEIGHTLOSS MISCONCEPTIONS

Introduction:

Before you dive into the process of fat loss, it’s important to delve into the misconceptions that people have about fat loss and whether these statements are true or not.

1) The ‘burn belly fat’ myth (targeted fat burning)

You may have heard something along the lines of “doing situps will get rid of your belly fat”. This idea is referred to as ‘targeted fat loss’ or ‘spot reduction’.

The idea of targeted fat loss has grown in popularity in recent years with companies claiming that with 1 simple trick you can target any area of your body and lose that stubborn fat. However, there is little truth in these statements with countless studies debunking targeted fat loss.

To name a few, one study had 40 overweight women partaking in abdominal resistance training over 12 weeks. This led to no effects on belly fat loss compared to dietary intervention. Another study observed 24 people who, over 6 weeks completed training in the abdominal region. At the end of the study, no reduction in belly fat was found.

However, does this mean that you can’t make certain body parts look more toned? No. A great way to counteract this is by physically training those body parts to build muscle. Doing this will burn overall calories whilst simultaneously building muscle – adding to the more ‘toned’ appearance.

The truth is that you cannot reduce body fat in a certain area of your body that you desire. You lose fat all over your body simultaneously, as you diet and lower your total body fat percentage.

Some areas like the lower back or belly are more apparent and ‘stubborn because they are typically the last thing to reduce in size as your body fat percentage lowers.

Meaning, if you want to get rid of your ‘stubborn fat’ and reveal your abs, you must diet long enough for your remaining fat storage to disappear.

Typically stubborn fat tends to noticeably reduce as you go lower than 20% body. But this varies from person to person.

2) The speed of weight loss (crash dieting)

While the idea of losing a lot of weight quickly seems appealing and is often people’s first approach, there are a lot of problems and consequences in doing so.

2a.Weight Regain

One of the most common results of crash dieting is regaining the weight you have lost. Studies show that up to 80% of people that crash dieted ended up regaining all the weight they lost over the coming year. But how fast is too fast?

Weight loss that is caused by crash dieting usually has the participant of losing more than 1% of total body weight each week, for instance, if a person weighing 100kg lost approximately 1 kg a week consistently, then they may be falling into the statistics of losing weight too quickly and are more likely to experience the negatives that come with it.

2b. Crash Dieting

Studies show that cutting out over 1000 calories a day leads to a slower metabolism. One study tracked “the biggest loser” contestants and concluded that the more pounds they lost, the more their metabolism declined. Furthermore, since you are eating less food, you have the potential to miss out on essential nutrients such as calcium, B12 and iron to name a few. This can lead to a decrease in energy, compromised immune system and fatigue.

2c. Muscle Loss

While this may not apply to everyone, if you take pride in your muscles or have a desire to build muscle, then you should be careful when dieting quickly. Many people will forsake their protein intake to cut down on calories and when doing so your body won’t have enough energy to meet the demands of your muscle and will instead use your muscles for energy instead of fat. To avoid this, make sure you are eating a minimum of 1g of protein for every kilogram of body weight.

3) “You need to get rid of carbs to lose fat”

This is a fairly complex topic as there are some people who react differently to carbohydrates in their bodies. These People most commonly are those who have diabetes running in their family. Or there are some more rare cases where some people react negatively to carbs. 

However, In general, carbohydrates do not negatively affect most of the world’s population. They will certainly not lead to weight gain when you are are ‘dieting’. The main factor that leads to weight loss is being in a caloric deficit. You can still gain fat whilst eating no carbs if you are eating over your caloric TDEE.

Carbohydrates are essential for your body to perform at peak conditions as carbs are turned into glucose performing their main function to bring energy to the body. Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy.

While carbs don’t necessarily directly contribute to hypertrophy, they are important. They will give you the energy to lift for longer and heavier which will increase muscle mass.

It is also important to note that there are two variants to carbs: ‘simple’ and ‘complex’. 

Carbohydrates are made up of three components: fibre, starch and sugar. 

Both fibre and starch make ’Complex Carbs, while sugar with some forms of starch makes a simple carb. Simple Carbs will give you a quick burst of energy but Complex Carbs will give you energy over a longer period of time. It is not recommended to exceed over 30g of sugar a day as over time this can cause some health risks.

Some examples of Simple Carbs:

-Sugary drinks

-Some Breakfast cereals

-Baked goods 

-etc.

Some examples of Complex Carbs are:

-Brown rice

-Vegetables

-Nuts

-etc. 

If possible, you should have a high carb meal (around 90g of Complex Carbs) 1-3 hours before a workout which will give you longer-lasting energy. 

It has been shown that some individuals can actually adapt their bodies to lower carbohydrate levels over long time periods. However, this is quite a long and strenuous process and doesn’t really offer much benefit over a diet that has carbohydrates – Unless you are an individual who responds badly to carbs.

In conclusion, carbs are very important for your workouts as they will provide you with most of your energy throughout your day! They do not directly correlate to fat loss as the main driver for fat loss is a caloric deficit.