By Jess Bloom – Nutritionist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During my time as an online nutrition coach, there are certain misconceptions which I hear daily. There are SO many myths in the health and fitness industry, these myths will have largely been invented at some point by a company trying to sell a product under false pretenses. Ever seen ‘fat burner’ supplement capsules? Or ‘drink this to lose belly fat’ adverts? Don’t even get me started on the bits of equipment you see being sold on shows like QVC, that vibrating plate that you stand on and it supposedly burns body fat? You catch my drift. Let’s divulge into some common health and fitness myths so you never have to fall for the sneaky advertising again!

LOSING BELLY

Firstly, ANYTHING that says ‘lose belly fat’ you can immediately write off. As it is absolute fact that you cannot spot-reduce fat. You can’t choose the specific area that you want to lose body fat from, if you read last month’s article, you’ll remember that in order to lose body fat you need to be in an overall calorie deficit where you will reduce your overall body fat. So, any company that claims that a specific exercise, supplement, or food product is going to help you lose fat from a specific area is an absolute farce.

 

WEIGHTLIFTING MAKES YOU BULKY

Secondly, ‘lifting weights will make me bulky!’. Unfortunately, a statement I hear regularly (primarily from females) as an online coach. This is a myth I wish would be banished for good, because there are so many incredible benefits to lifting weights for all individuals including generally being stronger, its great for your cardiovascular and heart health, mental health, joints, reducing injuries, as well as the obvious aesthetic reasons (like appearing more ‘toned’, as well as having more muscle mass means we use more calories at a resting rate). The truth is, women are NOT small men, men naturally have more muscle mass to start with, and a females lack of testosterone make it a lot more difficult to build visible muscle. Women also have a very short window during the month where they’re likely to have a great quality training session due to the varying hormones during the 28-day menstrual cycle. Typically, the first 14 days of the cycle known as the ‘follicular’ phase where oestrogen is prominent is the most similar to the male sex hormone (testosterone), and 3-5 days out of these 14 are taken up by menstruation. I could go on – but to appear ‘bulky’ for a female requires SO much time, effort, food, it is not going to happen from attending a couple of body pump classes believe me!

 

FAT BURNING SUPPLEMENTS

Thirdly, let’s nip this one in the bud nice and quick. Fat burning supplements. All fat burning supplements are simply just caffeine in capsule/powder form. Caffeine increases your heart rate, that’s it. Walking at a slightly faster pace will also increase your heart rate. So, look at the ingredients on the back of the supplement, probably some sort of green tea extract or another form of caffeine in there right? Save your money!

CUT CARBS

Lastly, let’s revisit what we touched on in February’s article. Cutting out carbs. If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard someone telling me they’re giving up carbs I’d probably be out buying a holiday home right about now. Primarily bread being the biggest bad guy! If you did read February’s article, you’ll know that carbohydrates are the bodies main source of energy, we get so many essential vitamins and minerals from carb sources as well as much needed fibre which is crucial for our digestion, and overall health! For every 1g of carbohydrates we consume, we hold roughly 3g of water which is totally fine and normal, but that’s why the likes of Atkins and Keto keep getting away with pulling the wool over people’s eyes, as they stand on the scale after a few days of ‘low carb’ and think they’ve had some miraculous weight loss and that it must be that carbs are the devil (nope, just a bit of water loss which will return immediately once you eat a banana or any source of carbs!)

Hopefully you took something from this and remember to challenge anything you see that appears to be a ‘quick fix’ whether that’s on social media, tv ads, your friend down the pub. Quick fixes just do not exist!

For Online Coaching with myself, a qualified Nutrition Coach as well as a Personal Trainer with a decade of experience, head to www.nourishandgain.com. Knowledge is power!

Jess x