Carb-free diet? Metabolism-enhancing regime? HealthifyMe experts debunk the most common misconceptions about weight loss.
- No carbs after 6/7/8pm
Any person – whether or not he’s looking to lose weight – must have some macronutrients in all meals, even dinner. The problem with having carbs at night is usually with people who eat poorly through the day and end up binge eating into the night. Skipping breakfast and eating a low-nutrition lunch translates into a heavy dinner, which must be avoided. There’s no need to avoid carbohydrates. Just have evenly spaced out meals packed with all nutrients through the day. The body needs carbs to perform functions through the night so don’t deprive it.
- Metabolism gets lower with age and nothing can be done about it
Weight gain as you get older cannot be blamed only on your age. It tends to happen because of the muscle loss that is a part of the ageing process. Most people don’t do anything to prevent this muscle loss, which is why they feel that their metabolism is slowing and they are piling on the kilos. A person doing strength workouts, maintaining muscle and following the right diet can keep the metabolism high as he or she ages.
- Drinking water helps you lose fat
It is commonly believed that drinking water will help bring down the fat percentage in the body and hence aid weight loss. Perhaps the idea comes from people who have replaced sugary drinks with water and found that they did not gain any additional weight. However, there is no scientific reasoning or research that links drinking water to weight loss.
- Eat as much healthy food as you want, you will still lose weight
Weight loss depends on calorie in versus calorie out. So even if the meals are as healthy as they can be, piling on olive oil, brown rice, nuts can add to calorie intake if they mean ingesting carbohydrates over and above calories burnt. Having healthy meals in large quantities will in no way prevent you from gaining weight.
Written by Roshini Gilbert
After a diligent workout plan helped her lose 30kg of post-pregnancy weight, chartered accountant Roshini Gilbert was inspired enough to go from tallying numbers to training others. A freelance personal trainer today, Roshini has been certified by the American Council on Exercises (ACE) for functional fitness and specialises in post-natal weight loss, exercises for low back pain, arthritis and osteoporosis. She also has REHAB Trainer certification from Australia for rehabilitative exercises and has trained with reputed sports physiotherapist Ulrik Larsen in corrective exercises and injury management. In HealthifyMe, Roshini has found a collaborator with a common cause – making people fit to live life to the fullest. Her assessment of how fit you are is based on three broad guidelines — stamina, body age (a person who looks way older than his age can’t be deemed healthy) and lifestyle (beware, those with bad eating habits and sedentary behaviour). Prepare yourself mentally first and then your body will follow, she says, of the opinion that if you want to change something about yourself then you need to challenge yourself to do it. Are you up for it?
Really Good Points To Open People Looking To Lose Weight Using These Misconceptions.
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