Five fat loss myths

Feel like you're going round in circles with weight loss? We've debunked five fat loss myths to make things easier

Struggling to shed the weight? We’ve busted some fat loss myths with a little help from PT Ollie Frost...

LOTS OF CARDIO IS BEST FOR FAT LOSS – Myth!

“Many believe that long duration exercise aka low intensity exercise (LISS) - think a duration of longer than 30 minutes - is the best and only way to lose body fat. LISS is great for overall cardiovascular health and improving aerobic capacity but, if performed too frequently, LISS increases our stress hormone, cortisol, and this can put the brake on fat loss.”

Instead…

“Include LISS into your training programme once a week, for your other workouts incorporate high intensity interval training (HIIT) involving short bursts of effort followed by short periods of recovery. Sprint for 20 seconds, rest for 10 and repeat eight times. HIIT training raises your metabolism for hours after your workout, meaning you’ll burn more calories at rest for up to 8-10 hours, depending on the intensity and duration the session.”

FAT IS MAKING YOU FAT – Myth!

“Fat has long been the scapegoat for rises in obesity rates. Whilst a gram of fat has more calories per gram (around 9) than protein or carbs (around 4), the blame is unjustified. Blaming one single food group is wrong - it’s about the total amount consumed throughout the day rather than singling out one particular food group.”

Instead…

“Include healthy fats such as avocados, nuts and coconut oil into your diet. These fats will keep you fuller for longer and reduce inflammation. When paired with a slightly lower carbohydrate diet, your body will use the fat for fuel, ultimately speeding up your fat loss and not slowing it down as so many believe.”

LOTS OF REPS WITH LIGHT WEIGHTS FOR FAT LOSS – Myth!

“Lifting light weights for a high amount of repetitions is similar to the long bouts of cardio at low intensity. Your body doesn’t have a magical ‘fat burning zone’ as a result of lots of reps; get stronger by performing fewer reps using heavier weight.”

Instead…

“Change your body shape and drop body fat by stimulating your muscles. If you put your central nervous system under stress, you recruit as many muscle fibres as possible. The more lean muscle tissue you have the more calories you burn at rest. Keep it simple; choose big lifts, such as squats, lunges and overhead presses. Begin performing four sets of eight repetitions on all exercises."

EATING LESS IS THE BEST WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT – Myth!

“Crash diets or extreme diets involving meal replacement shakes do a lot more harm than good. Initially, weight loss is fast and water is stored within the muscle alongside glycogen. As we use up glycogen stores, our body drops the water weight unless we replenish the stores with more glycogen. Every gram of carbohydrate in the body holds up to 3-5g of water, so as the scale weight is rapidly decreasing, the weight lost is purely water and probably some lean muscle tissue. Then, as normal eating returns, the weight magically lost is piled back on!”

Instead…

“Focus on the total amount of calories consumed throughout the day, as long as you are expending more through eating slightly less or exercising more you will lose body fat. Choose single ingredient foods that will keep you fuller for longer and provide sustained energy throughout the day.”

THERE'S A MAGIC PILL – myth!

“The market is full of diet pills that promise weight loss, but one single pill cannot simply provide this. Don’t fall into the trap of expensive diet pills and meal replacement diets as, again, they will probably give you fast results but these results will not last for very long. There are also plenty of harmful pills and weight loss supplements on the market.”

Instead…

“Focus on the quality of foods eaten rather than looking for a quick fix. As a rule of thumb, if it doesn't swim, run, or fly, or isn't green and grow in the ground, try and avoid it where possible. Try to fill your week up with 80% single ingredient foods and leave 20% for other foods you enjoy for a healthier you for years to come!”

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The Top Fat-Burning Foods

Credit: Getty Images

Boost your metabolism

From Health magazine It’s true: Certain foods have a very high thermogenic effect, so you literally scorch calories as you chew. Other eats contain nutrients and compounds that stoke your metabolic fire. Feed your metabolism with these.

Whole grains

Your body burns twice as many calories breaking down whole foods (especially those rich in fiber such as oatmeal and brown rice) than processed foods.

Lean meats

Protein has a high thermogenic effect: You burn about 30% of the calories the food contains during digestion (so a 300-calorie chicken breast requires about 90 calories to break it down).

Low-fat dairy products

Rich in calcium and vitamin D, these help preserve and build muscle mass—essential for maintaining a robust metabolism.

Green tea

Drinking four cups of green tea a day helped people shed more than six pounds in eight weeks, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports. Credit EGCG, a compound in the brew that temporarily speeds metabolism after sipping it. To up your intake, keep a jug of iced tea in the fridge.

Lentils

One cup packs 35% of your daily iron needs—good news, since up to 20% of us are iron- deficient. When you lack a nutrient, your metab slows because the body’s not getting what it needs to work efficiently, says Tammy Lakatos Shames, RD, co-author of The Secret to Skinny.

Hot peppers

Capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their kick, heats up your body, which makes you melt additional calories. You can get it by eating raw, cooked, dried, or powdered peppers, says Lakatos Shames. “Add as much cayenne or hot sauce as possible to soups, eggs, and meats.”

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Should We Really End the War on Fat?

By Keri Gans

The recent Time magazine cover story “Ending the War on Fat” by Bryan Walsh has the entire nutrition world talking: Could it be that everyone was wrong and that saturated fat is not the enemy, and the advice being given to avoid it for the last 30 years was not warranted? After all, instead of reducing heart disease, Americans simply got fatter.

It seems this all began in 1980 when the USDA issued its first dietary guidelines, and one of the key messages was to avoid cholesterol and fat of all sorts.  That same year the government announced the results of a $150 million study that encouraged Americans to eat less fat and cholesterol to reduce their risk of a heart attack, and the National Institutes of Health also jumped on the bandwagon, recommending that all Americans over the age of 2 reduce their fat intake.

However, over the last decade or so researchers began to state otherwise, concluding that there was no significant evidence that saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.  Most recently a meta-analysis that I blogged about in March reached the same conclusions, as well as revealing that the intake of polyunsaturated fats (the supposedly heart healthy ones) also had no effect on heart disease.

Science will still support that saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol levels, which are associated with higher rates of heart disease. However, it has now been found that saturated fat also raises levels of so-called "good" HDL cholesterol, therefore they cancel each other out. What is new is that scientists have discovered there are two kinds of LDL particles: small, dense ones and large, fluffy ones. The large ones seem to be mostly harmless, and fat seems to raise those, while carbs seems to have an effect on the damaging small ones.

So where does that leave us? As stated in the Time article, “The idea here was in part to cut calories, but Americans actually ended up eating more: 2,586 calories a day in 2010 compared with 2,109 a day in 1970.” I think that is exactly where the problem lies, plain and simple. We didn’t replace fat with fruits and veggies, but rather “fat-free” products and sugary carbs, not high-fiber ones. For some reason Americans believed that if it said “fat-free” on the label, than it was “calorie-free;" obviously that's not the case. Fat-free cream cheese on a bagel doesn’t make it a healthy choice.

Also, if you were to look at the size of portions served in restaurants over the last 30 years and the frequency of fast food dining, inevitably you will see that they both have grown tremendously. Perhaps that's another valid reason we are gaining weight, not solely because we thought to eliminate saturated fat from our diets. And by the way, there is lots of fat served at these establishments.

I won’t deny that saturated fat is no longer the evil once thought; I strongly advise all my patients to include fat with all meals throughout the day. Without some fat in a meal for satiety, most people will overeat. And yes, I like butter on my baked potato.  But let's not get carried away here. “Eat more fat” is not the correct message. One serving of butter on my potato is not the same as a stick. If only everyone could focus on eating a variety of whole foods that include fruits, veggies, 100-percent whole grains, dairy, and nuts, and watch their portion sizes, then I think positive change could really happen. And let’s not forget to exercise too.

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