Weightloss myths!!!!
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"You're building muscle."
Not likely. It's VERY difficult to build muscle mass while in a calorie deficit. This is one of the reasons bodybuilders have a "bulking" phase where they eat tons of calories, lift like crazy, and get all puffy. Then they do a "cutting" phase where they cut the fat while trying to minimize muscle loss.
Even serious lifters have trouble gaining more than a few pounds of muscle mass a year.
However, it is true that your muscles can retain water right after you lift hard, a by-prodouct of the muscle fiber tear-down process, I believe. This can lead to temporary (small) weight gain.
The gain the next day after a workout. I have been wanting to ask this question! I notice a slight gain the next day. But then it goes away. Thank you for the answer.0 -
Myth: as long as you exercise regularly, you can eat pretty much everything in moderation.
Truth: you need to feed your body with nutritionally dense foods. Diet is 80 % of fitness, exercise only 20%. Do not discount it's benefits, but use diet and exercise in conjunction with each other!0 -
Myth: If women life any weights, they'll bulk up like the Hulk
Truth: Women simply don't have the ability to naturally hulk out
It's quite remarkable the number of women that believe that. It's hard enough for guys to add muscle mass unless they're on roids or its their first few weeks. Women don't have the testosterone levels either to acquire much muscle mass unless drugs are used.
How many women do you know have "bulk" or serious muscles? Maybe 1 in 10,000, if that.
How many women are of a Costco "bulk" size? Probably 1 in 10.
Nail on coffin to that argument
But you all like to use it as an excuse not to do some serious weight lifting, and NOT the 2-5lb dumbbell crap.
Besides, which one's more physically appealing in general to guys? A fit "hulky" woman or an obese "bulky" woman?
Answer depends if you're a scrawny dude or not
Nail HAMMERED into coffin!!!0 -
Here's another...
MYTH: Big Caloric Deficits and Lots of Cardio Activity will lead to Rapid Fat Loss
TRUTH: For some...yes, but for most, Big Caloric Deficits and Lots of Activity Can Hurt Fat Loss
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html0 -
How about the one always starting arguments here: muscle weighs more than fat.
It's like the old axiom: Which weighs more; a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?
Now, for identical volumes, muscle weighs more (has greater density).
Myth: doing cardio while wearing garbage bags makes you lose more weight.
Truth: it's a false loss - you're simply dehydrating. When you rehydrate, the weight comes back.0 -
How about the one always starting arguments here: muscle weighs more than fat.
It's like the old axiom: Which weighs more; a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?
Now, for identical volumes, muscle weighs more (has greater density).
Myth: doing cardio while wearing garbage bags makes you lose more weight.
Truth: it's a false loss - you're simply dehydrating. When you rehydrate, the weight comes back.
LOL, I had a trainer (a long time ago and obviously not a great trainer to begin with) who suggested a wear saran wrap around my waist and thighs while I was working out. I never bothered to try. I didn't understand how it would actually help and the thought of it all wrinkled up against my skin gave me the creeps.0 -
Myth: Aerobics is better for shaping up than weight lifting.
Fact: to transform your physique, you must train with weights.
Myth: If you exercise, it doesn't matter what you eat.
Fact: If you exercise, it matters even more what you eat.
Myth: If women lift weights, they'll get bulky.
Fact: Resistance exercise helps women create lean, toned bodies.
Myth: Weight training is only for young people.
Fact: People of all ages should be weight training.
Myth: The longer you exercise, the better.
Fact: Too much exercise prevents results.
Myth: Muscles grow while you're working out.
Fact: Muscles grow while you're resting and recuperating.
Myth: To lose fat, and improve your body, don't eat.
Fact: To build a lean, healthy body, you have to eat.
Myth: High-carbohydrate, low-fat diets work best.
Fact: People are becoming fat from a "carb overdose."0 -
Eating late at night causes weight gain. Nope its not what time of day you eat but what you eat that causes you to gain weight. However it could cause heatburn and indigestion.0
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"You're building muscle."
Not likely. It's VERY difficult to build muscle mass while in a calorie deficit. This is one of the reasons bodybuilders have a "bulking" phase where they eat tons of calories, lift like crazy, and get all puffy. Then they do a "cutting" phase where they cut the fat while trying to minimize muscle loss.
Even serious lifters have trouble gaining more than a few pounds of muscle mass a year.
However, it is true that your muscles can retain water right after you lift hard, a by-prodouct of the muscle fiber tear-down process, I believe. This can lead to temporary (small) weight gain.
Expounding on this one slightly and I'll probably get a few arguments against it but this is a common missconception.
Myth: lifting heavy weight at lower reps = more mass, lifting light weight at higher rep = more tone.
For starters the easy one, tone comes from reducing fat (and dehydration in many cases) bigger, stronger muscles means more kcals burned, more tone.
As for bulk, low rep/high weight to fatigue == high rep/low weight, i,e working a muscle to fatigue is working to fatigue regardless of the strategy. The difference you're going to get with these two strategies is not bulk vs tone, it's strength vs endurance.
Take a look at real word examples, if a dancer lifts say 15 lbs for 20 reps, then a body builder must be lifting a mac truck like two or three times right? Wrong, Body builder's usually do (relatively) low weight high rep workouts just prior to competition (when size matters) because they want a pump. On the other hand look at those who lift the largest amount of weight, olympic lifters, strongman competition, etc. those guys aren't huge like body builders, they're huge like line backers... strength not size.0 -
MYTH: As long as you eat "healthy" you will lose weight.
TRUTH: This is a half truth, eating "healthy" is important, but you can still over eat "healthy" food. If you don't keep calories consumed under calories burned you will not lose weight.
I lived this, BTW, after losing 20 pounds when I had a stroke while eating "healthy food" in the hospital and shortly before when I had already decided to change my life style, I keep eating "healthy" after getting out of the hospital. I lost nothing else for 3 months, then I started watching my calories and making sure I had a caloric deficit and started losing weight.0 -
Nothing to say, but it's interesting, so want to keep a track of what everyone has to say. Thank you.
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How about the one always starting arguments here: muscle weighs more than fat.
It's like the old axiom: Which weighs more; a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?
Now, for identical volumes, muscle weighs more (has greater density).
Myth: doing cardio while wearing garbage bags makes you lose more weight.
Truth: it's a false loss - you're simply dehydrating. When you rehydrate, the weight comes back.
LOL, I had a trainer (a long time ago and obviously not a great trainer to begin with) who suggested a wear saran wrap around my waist and thighs while I was working out. I never bothered to try. I didn't understand how it would actually help and the thought of it all wrinkled up against my skin gave me the creeps.
Someone once told me to do that,Lol but I didnt want to feel like left over dinner.0 -
I love this thread!! Thanks.
How about this one: A calorie is a calorie??
Really? so I can drink 700 calories of beer and eat 700 calories of potato chips?? And I'd lose weight the same way as I am now... uh, I thonk not!!!! Took a lot of tweaking WHAT I eat to get the pounds coming off, for sure!!! Maybe true for the twenty-something male that posted it (in rebuttal to me suggesting someone make healthy food choices) , but not for this 40-something female (or most other people I would guess)0 -
Bump0
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I know I'm going to stir up some debate with this one, but the whole "Starvation Mode" concept just seems so ludicrous to me. YES, weight loss will slow down, but if you're eating too few calories you are not going to start gaining weight! Let's use our rational brains here, if that were true, no one would ever starve to death and anorexics would balloon up.0
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I love this thread!! Thanks.
How about this one: A calorie is a calorie??
Really? so I can drink 700 calories of beer and eat 700 calories of potato chips?? And I'd lose weight the same way as I am now... uh, I thonk not!!!! Took a lot of tweaking WHAT I eat to get the pounds coming off, for sure!!! Maybe true for the twenty-something male that posted it (in rebuttal to me suggesting someone make healthy food choices) , but not for this 40-something female (or most other people I would guess)
Actually, a nutrition professor did an interesting study on this and lost 27 pounds eating Twinkies and Doritos but just watching his calories. Obviously that's not a great thing to do to your body, but his health actually improved, as measured by blood tests. See the CNN article here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html0 -
I have nothing to add, but very interesting.0
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I know I'm going to stir up some debate with this one, but the whole "Starvation Mode" concept just seems so ludicrous to me. YES, weight loss will slow down, but if you're eating too few calories you are not going to start gaining weight! Let's use our rational brains here, if that were true, no one would ever starve to death and anorexics would balloon up.
I'm not sure where I sit with that debate. However there have been a few people that have said "OMG if you don't eat every 3 hours you'll get thrown into starvation mode!!"
yeah...no I don't think so.0 -
I know I'm going to stir up some debate with this one, but the whole "Starvation Mode" concept just seems so ludicrous to me. YES, weight loss will slow down, but if you're eating too few calories you are not going to start gaining weight! Let's use our rational brains here, if that were true, no one would ever starve to death and anorexics would balloon up.
No you're not going to gain weight when you eat so little, it's when you start to eat again where you have the problem, you're body will retain everything, you will have a rapid weight gain and your metabolism will be messed up, making losing weight in the future much harder to do. A normal person will lose weight eating 1200 cals per day. If you've been living off 700 cals for a period of time, then start eating 1200, you will actually gain0 -
Bumping so I can find again!0
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