5 Diet And Exercise Myths Dispelled

Today, I’m going to cover 5 exercise and diet myths. You may have heard or read about any of these before, so I’m going to dispel them once and for all.

Myth 1: You’ll gain weight if you don’t exercise.

Truth be told, body fat doesn’t occur as a result of lack of exercise. It happens when you take in too many calories. What exercise does is help you to burn these excess calories. Some people tend to think that because they work out, they can eat whatever they want. The truth is that you will not lose weight just by working out alone.

You will not lose weight if you end up taking in more calories than you burn through exercise. Also, the type of calories matter too. You can have the best workout in the world consisting of weight training, interval training, and steady state cardio, but if your diet is full of starches, sugars, and trans fats, and low in fiber rich, natural, and whole foods, then you will continue to gain body fat, or at least not lose any.

So this is the most important thing to remember if you want to lose weight: taking in more calories than you can burn means your body will be storing them as fat. Even if you didn’t exercise, you could still lose weight if your diet was spot on. Of course, adding exercise to the mix makes for a powerful fat loss combination.

Myth 2: Your metabolism starts to slow down after you turn 30.

Research studies have shown that the root cause of a slowing metabolism happens as a result of muscle tissue loss and not necessarily because you reach a certain age.

It turns out that as we get older, we stop being physically active. Most of us get married, get jobs that typically involves sitting behind a desk for 8 hours per day. We stop doing the physical activities we did as kids, or young adults, and muscle loss is related to a lack of physical exercise.

So if you want to avoid the slowing of your metabolism as you age, add some form of physical activity to your daily routine. In particular, try adding weight training as it has been proven to increase muscle mass, even in older folks. I’m not saying you’re one of these “older folks,” but let’s face it, you aren’t getting any younger.

Myth 3: Carbs are bad for you.

For a time, it seemed that all carbs were bad for you, and it seemed that everyone was cashing in on the fad. There were books on how to avoid carbs, snacks permeated the grocery store aisles, and even the fast food industry got into the action.

Foods like pasta and bread were being avoided like the plague by people who believed these foods are fattening because they are sources of carbohydrates. Even today, the carb myth persists.

The truth is that any kind of food or drink can be fattening if you abuse it and eat more than you need. This includes foods deemed as healthy, or even “low carb.” It’s not the amount of carbs that are going to make you fat, but how many calories you take in. Also, not all carbs are created equal. The carbs from a can of soda are treated differently by the body than those from an apple.

I won’t even get into the effect that carb consumption has when you pair it with other nutrients such as proteins and fats. The important thing to remember is that moderation is the key to fat loss. You can eat carbs, but do so in moderation. And of course, make healthy carb choices.

Myth 4: Eating after 7pm makes you fat.

This is simply not true. You will get fat no matter what time of day you eat if you’re eating more calories than your body burns. But if your body needs those calories, you can eat after 7pm without worrying about your weight.

The key is to eat larger, more carb heavy meals in the morning, and then as the day progresses start shrinking your meals, and change the ratio to more protein and fewer carbs later in the day. By evening, you should be eating small, high protein meals or snacks.

Myth 5: Weight training makes you bulky and muscle bound.

You wouldn’t believe how many women worry about this, and some men too. The truth is that a properly structured weight training program will not produce undue bulk in men or women.

Most people don’t realize that it’s awfully difficult for the majority of the population to gain any appreciable weight from weight training. If this weren’t the case, then you’d see an undue amount of bulked up denizens populating commercial gyms.

However, when you walk into a gym, you’ll be hard pressed to find oversized muscle freaks. On the contrary, you’ll usually find average sized, and even pudgy, and overweight people trying desperately to gain muscle, or lose fat.

Bottom line: gaining muscle is hard. But that shouldn’t stop you from trying since adding lean muscle mass to your frame will help your body burn calories. Therefore more calories are burned if you have more muscle mass.

Conclusion

I hope this article has cleared up these 5 persisting diet and exercise myths. Now that you know the truth, spread the word. Send this article to your friends and family.

Click here to discover how to lose all the weight you want while enjoying your favorite foods…

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