At some stage of our lives, most women will try to drop a few pounds.
Unfortunately, the majority of us tend to try and do it by adopting a fad diet, getting tips from misinformed friends or listening to articles that promise to help you drop 10lbs in two days (spoiler alert: it’ll never work).
Even with the best of intentions, it’s easily to fall victim to weight loss myths so we’ve debunked a few of the most common ones for you.
Listen up, ladies…
1) You have to cut carbs to lose weight
This is NONSENSE. Like, ‘one day you’re going to marry Ryan Gosling’ levels of nonsense.
No dietician or trainer worth their salt will suggest cutting out an entire food group as part of a healthy diet. Does that mean ordering pizza and plates of potatoes? No, but controlled portions of healthy carbohydrates are your friend. Carbohydrates make you feel fuller, fight disease and give your energy so ditch the white bread and opt for oats, vegetables and beans.
2) Hit the gym regularly and you can eat what you want
Some of us love our sessions in the gym and feel like we can reward ourselves with food as a result. Unfortunately, the old chestnut ‘you can’t outtrain a bad diet’ is very true and chances are, your energetic Zumba class will only cancel out your dinner, not the chocolate bar and bag of crisps you had after.
3) You have to choose ‘reduced fat’, ‘diet’ and ‘slimline’ products if you want to shed a few pounds.
Again, nope. In fact, most of these substitutes are full of sugars, additives and other chemicals that throw your system completely out of whack. So, work away with the full fat milk and the real butter – just watch your portion sizes and keep an eye on your calorie intake.
4) Skipping meals is a good way of keeping your calories down
Admit it, we’ve all thought this was a good idea. You skipped breakfast… but then got peckish around 11am and had a croissant. You skipped lunch, but had a few chocolate biscuits while you were waiting for dinner to cook. Study after study has shown that consistency and regular meals are the only way to go here.
5) You’re too busy to prepare healthy meals
If you have time to watch Eastenders, you have time to cook. Put aside an hour on a Sunday and cook lunches in bulk for the days ahead. Even if you don’t have a freezer, most curries or casseroles will keep in the fridge for a day or two. There are plenty of fresh and healthy soups that you can buy and substitute for that hot chicken roll or microwave dinner. Stop lying to yourself.
6) A few salads a week is going to make you look like Gisele
You made three meals this week that even Operation Tranformation’s Dr Eva would approve of, so obviously you’ll see a difference on the scales… right? Sorry, no dice. Like any good relationship, you have to commit.
7) You have to eat clean all the time and never make a mistake
Here’s the good news. if you think you’re going to transform your life and be a beacon of health overnight, you’re just setting yourself up for a fall. Everyone has to start somewhere and everyone also needs a little treat now and then. If you’ve had a good week and fancy a sneaky takeaway or a few glasses of wine at the weekend, go ahead. Just make sure it’s a treat, not a habit.
8) Going to the gym on an empty stomach is best
Not only is it not better, it’s actually worse. If you’re working out after fasting all night, you won’t have a lot of energy and won’t be able to push yourself as hard. You wouldn’t try to drive a car without petrol, why treat your body any different?
9) You’ve got the worst willpower of all time and will fail miserably
Will you have a slice of cake in the office when it’s someone’s birthday? Yes. Will you come home fed up and binge eat Pringles some evening? Probably. Will you be raging with yourself and want to through the whole thing out the window? Most likely. Guess what? We’re all the same. As they say, ‘giving up is the only sure way to fail’ so keep at it, you’ll get there in the end!
