The 4 most common weight loss myths

Carb-free diet? Metabolism-enhancing regime? HealthifyMe experts debunk the most common misconceptions about weight loss.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.