When thinking about starting out on a weight loss journey, one of the first things people do these days is go online to do lots of research and find communities to share their issues and questions with. For the most part, this information can be great, and there are literally thousands of amazing online networks to get involved with, but on the other side of the coin, there is also a lot of garbage and rubbish! Here are some of the biggest weight loss myths that you might come across that can have the impact of derailing your own journey!
Detoxing might help you drop some quick pounds, but the truth is that most of the popular methods are not good for your body. Things like juice and tea cleanses and super restrictive diets are more likely to slow down your metabolism in the long run because your body responds to the restrictions by going into survival mode.
Don’t just look at the number and decide to have a 200 calorie candy bar over 200 calories of something like fruit and nuts, because there is much more behind those calories. You also need to be thinking about the foods that contain the best nutritional value like those with high fibre and high protein. A handful of almonds might be the same calories as 10 potato chips, but obviously, the almonds are going to be the way to go.
The phrase ‘clean eating’ is falling out of use in the health world because it doesn’t always mean what it says anymore. Completely cutting out all of processed, added sugar, added salt foods is a good premise, but going cold turkey like that is more likely to make you snap and binge at some point. Instead, experts recommend dropping 25 percent of that intake and then increasing as your body gets used to it.
Carbs is a dirty word in some online circles, and although it is definitely good to restrict them, you don’t need to completely cut all trace of them out of your diet. You might lose more initial weight on a low carb regime, but you will find that your body starts to lose a lot of its old energy and will start burning muscle rather than fat. By all means, cut out all the bad
refined carbs, but keep the nutrient dense carbs like whole grains on board.
Of course, if your body has that sensitivity, then you need to be gluten free, but it isn’t necessarily a perfect choice for everyone. Eliminating gluten from your diet leads to a lack of things like vitamin D, B12 and calcium, and the supplements are not always as effective as the real thing. If you don’t have to give it up for health reasons, then there isn’t really much benefit in doing so.