The health and fitness industry is full of myths and misconceptions, which most of us end up believing and putting into action.
This kind of misinformation is everywhere in blogs, media, celebrities or even friends. I understand, some of the people giving you this information may mean well, but putting this information into action can hinder weight loss or affect your health negatively.
While there are hundreds of myths in the health and fitness industry, I’ll share with you the most popular misconceptions in the industry.
It’s time to sit back and unlearn the lies that have been fed to you.
#1 Fats will make you fat
Fats are essential macros and the body needs them to perform its functions properly.
Though over the years, fats have gotten a bad rep, truth is; fats don’t make you fat or sick.
The reason this myth became popular is due to early studies, which concluded that the population that ate more fat had more cases of obesity and heart disease.
There were no basis for these studies and they were based on assumptions and correlation. As studies later came to discover, fat taken in moderation is beneficial to the health. In fact the real enemy is sugar.
So if you had cut out fat, it’s time make some changes and start eating healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fatty fish, olive oil and coconut oil. These foods will help you improve your health.
#2 Saturated fats are bad for you
The same studies that were for #1, also made the conclusion that saturated fats are unhealthy.
Some studies even concluded that saturated fats raise cholesterol increase the risk of heart attacks.
Again, these studies on saturated fats were not based on experimental evidence in humans. The conclusions were made on assumptions and studies on animals.
In fact recent studies have concluded that saturated fats raise HDL, the good cholesterol. Bottom line is, saturated fats have no negative effects on the body as previously believed.
Foods which are high in saturated fats include lard, meat, coconut oil, dairy products, dark chocolate and palm oil.
#3 You Can Out-Train a Crappy Diet
I used to make this assumption too, I thought because I was exercising I could eat whatever I wanted. Good for me, I got to know better early enough.
I’m sure you have seen many folks who are hitting the weights and running but still can’t seem to shake off that body fat; bad diet is mostly the cause for this.
You may be eating bad foods or overeating, either is not good, it makes fat burning hard regardless of how much effort one puts on exercise.
Eating healthy foods and the right amount of food is the key to losing weight and burning fat.
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#4 Moderate Cardio is The Best Way To Burn Fat
There have been numerous studies on cardio and which level of intensity is best for fat loss.
While there’s no doubt that cardio has many benefits to our bodies which include; increased endurance, strengthening of muscles, increase circulation of blood and reduce stress and tension. It may not be your number one option if you are looking to burn fat and lose weight.
High intensity interval training is more effective because it burns more calories and for a longer period. HIIT takes a shorter period and burns extra calories hours after the work out.
The other and the best option is strength training. Even though cardio burns is great for burning fat, you’ll get excellent results by adding strength training.
Strength training has the same benefit of after burn effect as HIIT, you’ll burn calories hours after the workout.
While cardio is important, combine it with strength training for great results.
#5 Egg yolk is bad for you
This is a really popular and I still hear my friends say this all the time. Truth is, eggs are an important source of proteins and omega-3 fatty acids, and contain some other important nutrients.
All the cholesterol in an egg is found in yolk and since dietary cholesterol was believed to cause unhealthy blood cholesterol, this lead to the demonization of yolk.
The thing about cholesterol is that the liver produces it in large amounts. When we intake a lot of eggs (high in cholesterol), the liver produces less of it.
Numerous studies show that, eggs are healthy and people who eat eggs don’t have higher chances of developing heart disease. So, enjoy the whole egg and reap all the health benefits.
#6 Eating 6 meals a day will enhance fat burning
When you eat, the body releases energy to break down the food you have consumed. But the amount of energy released is proportional to the number of calories consumed not the number of times the food is consumed.
So the frequency of the meals will not enhance fat burning in any way at all.
#7 Ab exercises will give you a six pack
It is true, ab exercises can give you a six pack but that’s only if your body fat percentage is low.
Most people tend to believe that they can get rid of belly fat by doing ab exercises. If you haven’t heard this before “it’s not possible to spot reduce”. If you want to lose belly fat you have to do full body exercises and lower your overall body fat.
The only thing ab exercises do for you is develop ab muscles. Muscles covered by fat and nobody will ever know they exist, even you!
The best way to go about it is to first lower your body fat percentage then engage in ab exercises later.
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