4 lies about weight loss and fitness
We see a lot of great promises on social networks and nutrition & wellness sites: lose 20kg in 3 days, lose breasts but not thighs, build muscle while losing weight. time to shed weight and disentangle the true from the false, on the subject of diets and other detoxes and monodieties. .
1. “I can lose fat wherever I want”
Let it be said once and for all. You CANNOT choose where you lose weight. No exercise in the world will make you lose “the buoy”, no food miracle will only attack the circumference of your thighs. It is utter nonsense to think that it is possible to target. At least that is very misunderstanding how a human body works.
The body stores fat in relatively defined places : breasts, hips, thighs, buttocks and stomach for women, rather the stomach only for men. In the event of weight loss, it will draw on these fat reserves, and therefore consume them. BUT it is not possible to designate one region over another . Priority areas vary from person to person. This explains why some women can keep their breasts after a diet and others lose a lot there, for example.
In the same way, the sport makes it possible to create muscle, to tone certain zones. But in no case does it burn the fat in that region. It can improve the appearance, by tightening the skin, or by retaining the organs more, if we are talking about the abs, but it will not specifically consume this fat.
Hence the need to combine weight loss, thus a difference between calories ingested and calories used, and strength training.
2. “I can eat whatever I want as long as I exercise”.
eeeh no. The body is a formidable machine, but neither is it capable of magic. Again, it’s all about calorie balance. If you exercise for hours and hours, but eat more calories than you spend, you will stagnate or gain weight. Nothing can compensate for a poor diet, and if it is not felt on the weight, it has anyway other physiological effects: fatigue, deficiencies, vulnerability, acne, …
3. “If it’s light, it’s good for my diet.”
Nope. If it’s light in fat, it’s probably loaded with additives & sugar to make it taste, and if it’s light in sugar, full of sweeteners. If it’s a ready meal, and there are few calories in it, it’s mostly because the portion size is ridiculous.
It’s time to relearn how to eat properly, rather than stuffing yourself with diet tips. Healthy eating never equates to hacked food to be lower in calories. Maybe you just have to drop the idea as before but in light, and focus on a new way of eating, healthier and more respectful of your body.
You can read the article on flexible dieting, for example, to learn more about the different nutrients and what they do!
4. “Once I lose x kilos, I will be happy and well in my body”
That would be great fun. But it doesn’t work like that. Self-love doesn’t come all at once, no matter how 5 or 10 pounds you weigh. It’s a slow process, and it really has little to do with weight. Body image, and the happiness we derive from it, comes only from our own perception. Nothing to do with anything factual, much less with a simple number on the scale. You have to make the effort to enjoy yourself, or at least to try, day after day. Losing weight does not make you happy. But to be proud of the efforts you make, to keep your commitments, to respect your body, yes.
