6 Fitness Myths That Coaches Wish Would Die
Deep Dive
Takeaway: Let’s clear up six misconceptions about weight loss nutrition.
6 Fitness Myths Fitness Coaches Wish Would Die
There is a long list of misconceptions that plague those looking for useful weight loss information online.
These misconceptions include false or misleading information, often disguised as helpful advice, and do more harm than good.
In this article, I want to point out some of the most common myths and misconceptions that the best fitness coaches wish would just die already.
1. Carbs Are Bad
Keto, Adkins, and other fad diets propose the benefits of a low carb diet.Â
Proponents of low-carb diets often attribute the rise in obesity rates to an increase in carbohydrate intake, namely sugar, and that in order to effectively lose weight one should refrain from consuming any foods high in carbs or sugar.
Although excessive sugar intake has been linked to an increased risk in type II diabetes and other preventable diseases, carbs (including sugar) play an important role in your body.
Carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of energy, especially for the brain (which uses sugar as fuel).
Sufficient carbohydrate intake also plays a role in how well you can perform in your workouts.
Carbohydrates should not be avoided, but the types of carbs you consume should be taken into consideration.
Ideally, you want the majority of your carbohydrates to come from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables high in fiber, and reduce your consumption of processed, sugar-filled treats.Â
However, this does not mean that these more processed sugars are inherently harmful. It is completely fine to eat your favorite treats every now and then.
Moderation is key.
2. Fats Are Bad
This misconception dates back further than the low-carb era, and suggests that body fat increases with an increase in your consumption of dietary fats.
As a result, it is argued, all fats should be avoided in the diet to achieve successful weight loss.
There is a difference between ‘types’ of fats.
Unsaturated, the healthy fats, include things like olive oil, nuts, and avocado. Polyunsaturated fats, a type of unsaturated fat, also includes important omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.
Saturated (animal product) and trans-unsaturated (hydrogenated oils) fats should be eaten sparingly. While unsaturated fats will increase levels of good cholesterol (HDL) in the body, saturated and trans-fats—in excessive amounts and when coupled with a sedentary lifestyle—have been shown to decrease good cholesterol and increase bad, artery-clogging cholesterol (LDL).Â
We recommend our members consume anywhere from 20-30% of their daily calories from fats.
It’s important to distinguish that recommendation for lower quantities of dietary fats is not because they are bad, but because of their caloric density.
Due to their caloric density, the lower amount of fat allows one to consume more quantity of total food per calorie, helping many people to feel both physically and psychologically satiated.
3. Skipping Meals Can Help Weight Loss
Many people believe that skipping meals will aid in weight loss.
If you aren’t eating the meal, then you aren’t consuming the calories—leading to a bigger deficit, right?
This may not capture the full picture. Ultimately, weight gain and loss boils down to total caloric intake and expenditure.
For this reason, skipping meals—made popular by intermittent fasting—can aid in controlling appetite and total daily calorie intake.
However, in some people skipping meals can have the opposite effect. For some, skipping meals sets them up for failure in two ways:
When it does come time to eat they will be starving, which means the amount of food they eventually consume will be higher.
This skipping of meals, and resulting ‘banking’ of calories, can also lead to greater justifications to make poorer food choices. Since you have so many calories left, why not spend them graciously?
Figuring out your ideal meal frequency will be dependent on your goals, lifestyle, and personal preferences.
4. As Long As You Exercise, You Don’t Have To Track Calories
Many people underestimate the amount of calories they consume and overestimate the amount of calories burned from exercise.
By ignoring the nutrition part of the equation, you are setting yourself up for frustration and failure.
It’s far easier to eat back the calories you burned than to burn them away through exercise alone.
You must learn to manage and navigate your nutrition world in order to be successful with your weight loss goals.
5. You Can Spot Reduce Fat
How humans gain and lose fat is pretty universal. Most carry extra weight more easily in their torso and hip regions, and therefore tend to gain extra weight here first and lose it here last.
That is both good and bad news.
The bad news is that you can’t spot reduce this body fat. The good news is that once you begin losing body fat, losing it in these problems regions is simply a matter of time.
Weight loss will lead to fat reduction all over the body, but you can’t control where this fat comes from.
You can’t do ab exercises to burn belly fat, and you can’t do specific arm exercises to reduce fat under the arms.
You need a regular exercise routine, a caloric deficit, and a healthy diet to lose weight. As you continue to lose more weight, the extra fat stores will begin to reduce all over.
6. You Shouldn’t Eat Late At Night
Some research suggest that late night eating is correlated with being overweight.
It might surprise you to learn that this is not the result of some physiological truth that late night eating turns directly into body fat.
Instead, this correlation is caused because late night eating is often driven by stress, emotion, and/or boredom, and involves low willpower, high calorie foods, and limited ability to moderate intake.
In short, late night eating causes weight gain only when it leads to overeating.
It’s these extra calories consumed that leads to the weight gain, not that they are being consumed at night. If your last meal of the day happens to land later in the evening, don’t worry about it as long as you stay within your calorie goal for the day.
As you can see these myths have proliferated society for as long as diets have existed.
As a fitness coach, I would love to see these myths die for good. There is no need for men and women to be stressed about details that have no meaningful impact on the goals they hope to achieve.
Free yourself from the burden of this nonsense and focus on what matters: controlling your calories, consuming an appropriate amount of protein, strength training regularly, and finding ways to make movement enjoyable for your lifestyle.
P.S. Want further direction for what to focus on with your nutrition? Click here to download your free Food Freedom Framework Guide, where we lay out the only formula you need to get in shape and make sense of the confusing nutrition world.