Weight Loss Exposed: Debunking the Top 12 Biggest Weight Loss Myths

Top 12 Biggest Weight Loss Myths

There is a ton of information about weight loss available online.
Most of it is either unproven or has been shown to be ineffective.
Here are the top 12 weight loss myths, falsehoods, and misconceptions.

1. All calories are equal

The calorie is a unit of energy measurement. Per calorie, energy content remains same.
This does not indicate that all calorie sources will have an equal impact on your weight, though.
Foods can have radically varied effects on appetite and the hormones that control your body weight because they utilize various metabolic pathways.
A protein calorie differs from, for instance, a fat or a carbohydrate calorie.
In addition to increasing metabolism, cutting back on hunger, and reducing cravings, replacing fat and carbohydrates with protein will help you lose weight (1, 2, and 3 Trusted Sources).
Additionally, compared to calories from processed meals like candy, calories from whole foods like fruit tend to be far more full.

SUMMARY
The impact of various calorie sources on your health and weight varies. For instance, protein can increase metabolism, decrease appetite, and improve how efficiently hormones that regulate weight function.

2. The process of losing weight is linear.

Contrary to popular belief, weight loss rarely occurs in a straight line.
You can have weight loss some days and weeks and a slight gain at other times.
This is unworthy of concern. Body weight typically fluctuates a little bit from day to day.
For instance, you might be retaining more water than usual or transporting more food in your digestive tract.
This is particularly noticeable in women because water weight can vary greatly throughout the menstrual cycle (4 Trusted Source).
No matter how much it varies, if the overall tendency is still downward, you will eventually succeed in losing weight.

SUMMARY
It can take a long time to lose weight. Your weight tends to bounce up and down by small amounts, thus the process is typically not linear.

3. Supplements can aid with weight loss.

The market for diet pills is enormous.
Numerous businesses assert that their supplements have remarkable impacts, yet studies often show that they aren’t very effective.
Most of the credit for some people’s success with supplements goes to the placebo effect. The marketing tactics trick people into thinking that the tablets will help them lose weight, which makes them more conscious of their eating habits.
Nevertheless, some supplements have a negligible impact on weight loss. The greatest ones can enable you to gradually lose a little weight over several months.

SUMMARY
The majority of weight-loss pills are useless. The greatest ones will at most aid in a small amount of weight loss.

4. Willpower is what causes obesity, not biology.

It is untrue to say that willpower alone determines your weight.
Numerous factors, perhaps even hundreds, contribute to obesity, making it a very complicated condition.
Numerous medical disorders, including hypothyroidism, PCOS, and depression, can raise your risk of weight gain (5 Trusted Source), and numerous hereditary factors are linked to obesity.
Numerous hormonal and metabolic mechanisms in your body are also responsible for controlling how much you weigh. It is significantly more difficult to lose weight and keep it off when these are dysfunctional in obese people (6Trusted Source).
For instance, one of the main causes of obesity is the hormone leptin resistance (7Trusted Source).
Your brain is intended to receive a leptin signal informing it that it has ample fat reserves. Leptin resistance, however, causes your brain to believe that you are starving.
It is extremely challenging to try to use willpower and intentionally eat less when faced with the leptin-driven starving signal.
This does not imply, however, that individuals should give up and accept their genetic destiny. Even though some people find it considerably tougher, losing weight is still doable.

SUMMARY
A extremely complicated condition, obesity. Numerous genetic, biological, and environmental factors affect body weight. As a result, reducing weight requires more than simply willpower.

5. Move more and eat less

Energy is merely stored as body fat.
When trying to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in.
This makes it obvious that cutting back on calories while increasing activity will result in weight loss.
Although this suggestion is sound in theory, especially if you adopt a permanent lifestyle adjustment, it is not a good idea for people who have a significant weight issue.
Due to physiological and biological reasons, most people who heed this advice regain any weight they had previously lost (6Trusted Source).
In order to lose weight with food and exercise, a significant and long-lasting change in outlook and behavior is required. It is not sufficient to limit your food consumption and increase your physical exercise.
Simply encouraging an obese person to eat less and move more is equivalent to urging a depressed person to brighten up or an alcoholic to cut back on drinking.

SUMMARY
Simply encouraging an obese person to eat less and move more is equivalent to urging a depressed person to brighten up or an alcoholic to cut back on drinking.

6. You gain weight from carbohydrates.

Low-carb diets can help people lose weight (8 and 9 Trusted Sources).
This frequently occurs even when calorie restriction is unconscious. You will lose weight as long as you maintain a low carb intake and a high protein intake (10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).
However, this does not imply that carbohydrates lead to weight increase. Although the obesity crisis only emerged in the 1980s, people have been consuming carbohydrates for a very long time.
Whole foods with a lot of carbohydrates are actually quite healthful.
Refined carbohydrates, such as sugar and refined wheat, on the other hand, are unquestionably associated with weight gain.

SUMMARY
Low-carb diets are excellent for shedding pounds. However, the initial cause of obesity is not carbs. Whole, one-ingredient foods based on carbohydrates are very healthy.

7. Being overweight is caused by fat.

In comparison to carbohydrates or protein, which have just 4 calories per gram, fat has about 9 calories per gram.
Junk food frequently contains fat, which is particularly calorie-dense. However, fat does not make you fat if your calorie intake is within a healthy level.
Furthermore, multiple research have demonstrated the ability of low-carb, high-fat diets to promote weight loss (12 Trusted Source).
While eating a lot of bad, high-calorie junk food will make you fat, this macronutrient is not the only one to blame.
Your body actually requires healthy fats to function correctly.

SUMMARY
Obesity has frequently been attributed to excess weight. Although it makes up a portion of your daily calorie intake, fat does not by itself make you gain weight.

8. Breakfast is essential for weight loss.

According to studies, people who skip breakfast typically weigh more than those who do (13).
But this is most likely because breakfast eaters are more inclined to follow other good lifestyle practices.
In reality, a 4-month study comparing breakfast practices in 309 individuals discovered no difference in weight whether participants ate or skipped breakfast (14Trusted Source).
Additionally, it is a fallacy that eating breakfast increases metabolism and that having several small meals throughout the day increases calorie expenditure (15 Trusted Source).
To achieve the best outcomes, eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. If you choose to have breakfast, don’t anticipate it to have a significant impact on your weight.

SUMMARY
Although it is true that those who skip breakfast typically weigh more than those who eat it, controlled studies have shown that whether you eat breakfast or not has no effect on your ability to lose weight.

9. Fast food always makes you fat

Fast food is not always unhealthy.
Numerous fast food businesses have started to provide healthier options as a result of people’s growing health consciousness.
Some restaurants, like Chipotle, even only serve nutritious cuisine.
In most places, you can order something reasonably healthy. Most low-cost fast food establishments frequently offer healthier variations of their standard menu items.
These foods might not meet the requirements of every health-conscious person, but they’re still a good option if you lack the energy or time to prepare a balanced dinner.

SUMMARY
Fast food does not have to be bad for you or make you gain weight. The majority of fast food restaurants provide some healthy variations on their standard menu.

10. Diets that help you lose weight are effective.

The diet industry wants you to think that diets are effective.
However, research indicates that dieting rarely has long-term success. An interesting fact is that 85% of dieters end up gaining the weight back within a year (16Trusted Source).
Furthermore, research shows that dieters are most likely to acquire weight in the future.
Therefore, dieting consistently indicates future weight gain rather than decrease (17Reliable Source).
In actuality, you shouldn’t approach weight loss with a dieting mindset. Instead, choose a lasting lifestyle change as your objective so that you can live a better, happier, and more physically fit life.
You should see a natural side effect of weight loss if you are able to raise your activity levels, eat healthier, and sleep better. Dieting is probably not a long-term solution.

SUMMARY
Dieting typically doesn’t work, despite what the weight reduction industry would have you believe. Instead of switching up your diets in an effort to lose weight, it is preferable to alter your lifestyle.

11. Obese people are ill, whereas skinny people are healthy

Obesity does, in fact, raise your risk of developing a number of chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and several types of cancer (18Trusted Source, 19Trusted Source, 20).
However, many obese persons have normal metabolisms, and many skinny people also have similar chronic conditions (21Trusted Source).
It appears to matter where fat accumulates. You run a higher risk of developing metabolic disease if you have a lot of abdominal fat (22Reliable Source).

SUMMARY
Type 2 diabetes, among other chronic conditions, is associated with obesity. In contrast to many skinny persons, many obese people have good metabolisms.

12. Dietary foods can aid in weight loss.

Many processed foods are touted as being healthful.
Examples include low-fat, fat-free, and processed gluten-free foods, as well as high-sugar beverages.
You should be skeptical of any health claims on food packaging, especially on processed items. These labels typically serve to mislead rather than to educate.
Some marketers of fattening junk food would entice you to purchase their products. In fact, if the packaging of a food tells you that it’s healthy, there’s a chance it’s the exact opposite.
SUMMARY
Products that are promoted as diet foods are frequently disguised junk foods since they have undergone extensive processing and may contain secret components.

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The bottom line

If you’re trying to lose weight, you could be aware of many of the same falsehoods. You may even have fallen for some of them since they are so pervasive in Western culture.
Of note, the most of these misconceptions are untrue.
The connection between food, your body, and your weight is far more complicated.
Try learning about evidence-based dietary and lifestyle adjustments you can make if you’re interested in losing weight.