Myths on How to Lose Weight Quickly and Safely

8 Weight Loss Myths

Weight loss is a billion dollar industry and with so much information out there, it can be confusing and challenging to sift through the junk and get to the gems. Big news. Most of the stuff out there is misleading and/or completely fraudulent.

Here are my top eight weight loss myths. Knowing what does not work is one step closer to getting you to the things that do. So, dig in.

Spot Reduction

1. People tell me that they want to do exercises to develop their abs. People that are 50 or more pounds overweight want to work that relatively small muscle group. Why? They think that "working the abs" will help them burn fat in that area. It's called spot reduction and it's THE biggest myth out there and I believe it will never die. It's like a cockroach. They survived the ice age.

Targeted exercise will not "melt fat" off a specific area of the body. You have seen infomercials for the useless exercise devices out there; the "latest and greatest" methods for slimming and reducing your waist; the problem is they are selling you the myth that if you do enough crunches you will cut fat from your abdomen.

Truth of the matter is that you will burn fat in much the same manner that you gained it. For example, if you gain fat on your hips first then when you begin a workout routine, that is likely to be the first place you lose weight from. Your gender, genetics, and even age play a big role in where the fat is burned and when.

High Repetitions

2. Myth number two is the idea that doing strength training for high repetitions with a light weight will help you lose more weight than low or moderate reps with a heavy weight. The fact is that using a light weight will not build muscle and will usually result in a lower intensity workout, this is counterproductive to the weight loss you are going for.

Low Abs

3. Another big myth is that working the low abs with leg raises will help them burn fat there. This myth has sold countless ab rollers and other devices. Does anyone of the millions of people that purchased one these things now have a six-pack? I want to meet him or her.

Morning Cardio

4. A common school of thought is that you should do cardio exercise (steady-state) in the morning before you eat breakfast to REALLY lose weight. I recommend exercising first thing in the morning but not because it is some magical hour that will result in tremendous weight loss. I do so because when you exercise first thing in the morning you'll feel better and have more energy through out the day.

The Zone

5. Along the same lines is the advice that says you must "do cardio" in the "fat burning zone". If you exercise at a lower intensity, you will decrease metabolic requirements of the workout and burn fewer calories throughout the day. Exercising a low intensity is fine for health however you will be dropping the ball on a huge opportunity to elevate your post exercise calorie burn. Instead, increase the intensity level of your workouts to boot camp proportions and supercharge your weight loss.

20-Minutes

6. There are many myths about proper cardio workouts floating around out there. This one says that you have to do your cardio for 20-minutes before you begin burning fat. This is utter nonsense. What you need to be concerned with is raising your metabolism. Raising your metabolism will increase your calorie burn and help you lose more fat.

Ice Water

7. Work out myth number seven is the idea that "ice-cold water will help you burn more calories" and lose weight. You should drink water and plenty of it; however, the temperature of your water doesn't have an impact on weight loss.

50 Calories

8. Finally, you may have heard that for every pound of muscle gain you will burn 50 more calories per day. That not only sounds good, it sounds plausible. However, if you think about it rationally, you will see there is no way that it is anything more than another fat loss myth. If a man added thirty pounds of muscle that would mean he would have an extra 1500 calories per day at his disposal. This isn't logical.

Conclusion

Don't fall for the weight loss myths, if you are over weight and want to lose weight quickly seek help from a qualified fitness and weight loss professional.

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