Here are the top 7 weight loss and exercise myths that many people mistakenly believe.

Muscle turns into fat once you stop exercising!

Muscle and fat are two completely different tissues. Muscle is made of water and protein whilst fat is made of fat. You can’t magically turn one into the other or vice versa. Mind you, when you stop exercising your muscle mass shrinks, which slows your metabolism down and a depressed metabolism makes weight-loss more difficult.

Also, often when people stop exercising they keep eating as they were before (when they had more muscle and a faster metabolism) and what happens is that their muscles shrink and fat get stored around it so it looks as if the muscle has turned into fat.

The way to avoid this from happening is to simply eat less when you stop exercising.

Sit-ups get rid of the fat on your stomach!

‘Spot reduction’ does not occur in the body. You cannot do specific exercises in order to reduce the fat overlying the body part. This applies for the whole body including the common fat storage areas: stomach, hips, thighs and back of your arms. In fact, it appears that the first place you tend to store fat is actually the last place you lose it from. You need to lose fat from all over your body if you want to lose it from a specific area.

The exercise may be beneficial in increasing your energy or calorie expenditure slightly as well as possibly stimulating some muscle growth in the targeted area but it will not result in accelerated fat loss from the area.

The best way to lose fat from your stomach is to follow a healthy and sustainable nutritional plan, exercise regularly and use supplements that have been proven to be effective helping people lose weight and keep it off.

Lifting weights will make me ‘bulk up’!

If you control your food intake, it is not possible for you to bulk up. In fact, lifting weights is the most under-estimated way to lose weight fast.

If you want to lose weight and you don’t lift weights, your body will indiscriminately lose both fat and muscle when you start dropping the kilos. Of course, if you lose muscle your metabolism slows down, which makes further weight loss more difficult.

By incorporating a regular weight training (resistance training) program into your weekly routine, you can maintain your existing muscle mass or even increase it slightly which will keep your metabolism elevated and keep your body in maximum fat-burning mode!

If I want to get the weight off fast I should follow one of the diets that recommends meal replacement shakes instead of food!

Absolutely not! Meal replacement shakes certainly have their place in a healthy nutritional plan (as mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks) but should never replace whole foods in your diet (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Sure, these types of diets may have you losing the weight fast but you can be guaranteed that you’ll put the weight back on even faster once normal eating resumes!

If you want to lose weight fast it is essential that you don’t limit your food intake too much, never skip meals in an attempt to lose weight and always have whole foods in your diet every day.

Also, if your goal is to lose weight, you need to ensure that your meal replacements are of high quality and are designed to help you lose weight. If the meal replacement you are considering is high in carbohydrates, low in whey protein, doesn’t mix well and doesn’t taste nice then do not use it.

If I eat a ‘balanced’ diet I don’t need to use supplements!

Whilst it is possible to have a ‘balanced’ diet, it is almost impossible in today’s society. If you can guarantee that:

o you eat food from all the food groups,

o if the food was grown in mineral-rich soils,

o if they didn’t use chemical pesticides and herbicides when the food was growing,

o if it wasn’t picked before it was ripe,

o if it wasn’t packaged or processed in any way and

o if it wasn’t left on the shelf in the store for days or weeks at a time, then yes, it is possible to eat a balanced diet!

If you can’t guarantee all of these factors for all the food you eat every day, then you need to supplement your diet, especially if you want to lose weight.

If I eat low-fat and/ or diet foods I will lose weight

Low-fat and/ or diet foods generally don’t assist weight-loss efforts. They may be lower in fat but are often higher in sugars, carbohydrate or starch thickeners to improve flavour after the fat has been removed, which results in a similar calorie intake. Plus, the higher carbohydrate content may induce a greater insulin response compared to the lower carb/ higher fat alternative, which may lead to greater fat storage.

Plus, many people who consume low-fat and or diet foods generally consume more of them because they mistakenly believe that they are eating something healthy.

Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight

As is covered in another article in this issue of Focus On, skipping meals or following a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) does not assist you weight-loss efforts for a variety of reasons. In fact, this approach almost guarantees future weight gain for people who use it.