Common Fitness Myths & the Truth About Effective Weight Loss
Myth: Keto is the best way to lose weight
Truth:
There is actually NO one strategy that is more effective for losing weight than another. If the diet you’re on has you burning more calories than you’re consuming (a caloric deficit), you will lose weight.
Many women start keto because they see fast weight loss in the beginning. However, the extra weight loss at the start of the diet is actually water weight. The weight loss will slow down after that and then your ability to stick to the diet truly depends on whether or not you actually enjoy keto.
If you like carbs, I highly suggest trying another strategy. Keto only works if you're intending to STAY on keto.
When it comes to dieting, the best strategy is simply the one that
- Puts you in a caloric deficit
- Fits your lifestyle best
Pursue the strategy that feels the easiest for you to commit to. If you like carbs, eat them. If you don’t like eating breakfast, maybe try intermittent fasting. If you like a diet with a lot of variety, try flexible dieting.
Myth: You need to spend hours in the gym to lose weight.
Truth:
You can make significant progress with simple 30 minute workouts if you choose to! Work smarter, not harder. If you’re using your time as effectively as possible when it’s time to break a sweat, you DO NOT need to spend hours upon hours exercising.
Circuit and plyometric workouts are a great way to be as effective as possible when you want to get an intense, effective workout in with a small time commitment.
If you want to try a circuit workout similar to the ones I give my own clients, you can start HERE!
Myth: You need to cut out junk food to lose weight.
Truth:
You do NOT need to cut ANY foods from your diet. You can continue to eat EVERYTHING you eat now and still see weight loss results! It is not the quality of your food that creates results, but rather the quantity. Of course, it’s still important to get most of your calories from nutrient rich food sources but for the sake of the scale, you merely need to be eating fewer calories than you’re burning.
If you haven’t heard of flexible dieting prior to this article, THIS is a great place to start! Flexible dieting is the strategy I use to help my own clients to lose weight and it allows you to continue to eat all of the foods you love while taking the pounds off!
There are other benefits to a diet that encourages food variety. Your body actually gets a better distribution of the nutrients it needs to function properly when you DON’T start eliminating foods and living off of “clean” foods only. Moreover, keeping all foods in your diet maintains your body’s ability to properly digest them.
Myth: As a woman, lifting weights will make you look more masculine.
Truth:
Your body does NOT naturally have the hormone levels to support the muscle growth it would take to have a man’s physique. Lifting weights will absolutely not make a woman look masculine.
What it WILL do is build feminine curves and tighten your body. Lifting weights allows you to manipulate the SHAPE of your body. Maybe you want a bigger butt or smaller waist or less arm flab! Lifting allows you to change your overall shape while cardio will reduce your overall size.
A combination of weight lifting and cardio with a sustainable dieting strategy is the best way to achieve optimal weight loss/body transformation results. Do not fear the weights!
Myth: There are certain foods you should be eating to lose more weight.
Truth:
There are no “magical” foods. You can eat ANY foods you enjoy and still lose weight. Weight loss is really this simple: calories in < calories out. Eat less than you’re burning and you will lose weight whether or not you choose to eat carbs, junk food, fats, or anything else.
Myth: You shouldn’t eat carbs after dark.
Truth:
It does not matter when you choose to eat your carbs. Your body is going to burn whether you choose to consume them in the middle of the day or 3 in the morning.
There is actually research that shows eating the majority of your carbs before bed can actually lead to better diet adherence, which of course, leads to better results! When it comes to meal timing in general, focus on what works best for YOU. If your schedule is most effective when you’re eating a carb heavy breakfast, go for it! If you like to go to sleep on a nice full stomach, then do so! As long as your diet is something you can most easily commit to, you will see success.
Myth: Doing a detox is an effective method for losing weight.
Truth:
Detoxes are NOT meant to be weight loss tools. I wrote an entire article about detoxes for weight loss HERE. Any weight loss you are seeing from a detox is coming from the loss of water weight and carb stores and will return to your body soon after. Detoxes actually flush valuable vitamins OUT of your body, which is not what we want!
As soon as you get back to your regular diet, you simply put the weight back on… and probably suffered a lot to do so. Moral of the story: skip the detox and focus on tracking your caloric intake and incorporating a sustainable exercise routine.
Are you looking to transform your body but lost on where to start?
I've been helping women just like you build muscle, lose fat, and improve their metabolism with an easy to follow flexible diet and FUN workout routine.
If you're ready to say HECK YES to changing your health, your body, and your life, APPLY HERE for 1 on 1 coaching. I will be there to coach you every step of the way so we can get you better, lasting results.
Not convinced? Check out some of these amazing success stories from women JUST LIKE YOU. If you're sitting there telling yourself you're too old, too far off, too busy, or too tired, STOP RIGHT NOW.
You can do this no matter where you're at in life. Don't hold yourself back from the quality of life you CAN and WILL have if you take the leap.
No more waiting for the perfect time. There will never be a perfect moment. The time to make a change is always RIGHT NOW! Let me show you what you can do.
To Your Good Health & Success,
