There is a lot of fitness information out there, and it confuses the hell out of a lot of people. But it shouldn't, because fitness is simple (kind of).
Its confusing simply because there is so much information out there, and a whole lot of it is contradictory, it becomes hard to tell fact from fiction, so here are my top fitness myths that need to die.
1) Fruit makes you fat
I mean, if you were to eat 10,000 calories of strawberries then i suppose you would put on weight, but have you seen what 10,000 calories of strawberries looks like? Google it, i'll wait. That is a lot of food, and i couldn't do it.
This comes from the fact that fruit is high in fructose (a type of sugar) and refined sugar is high in calories, and therefore easy to over consume.
Fruit does not contain refined sugar. It does contain a high proportion of carbohydrates and a whole load of water, which aids in feeling full. So anyone who says you shouldn't eat fruit because of fructose is a knob and you need to stop listening to them now.
2) You can lose weight in a surplus if you follow diet 'X'
You cant lose weight in a surplus, it doesn't work like that.
I've seen both Keto diet advocates, and Vegan diet advocates make this claim, and its just wrong. Sure, you can feel full on both diets while being in a deficit (especially Vegan, as fruits and veggies are very low calorie dense, meaning you feel fuller faster for fewer calories) but you cant escape the laws of thermodynamics (energy in vs. energy out).
If you find a diet that keeps you full, while putting you into a deficit then you win. You win at diets. But unless you're a new breed of human, don't expect to eat whatever you want, as much as you want, and lose weight.
3) You're not eating enough to lose fat.
Your calories are too low, so you've gone into starvation mode and your bodies holding onto fat, for when it needs the energy.
Let me rephrase that;
You've entered a calorie deficit, so our body is going to use the inadequate amount of energy to fuel your body and store the leftover energy as body fat... whilst in a deficit.
If it sounds stupid, it probably is.
Starvation mode isn't a thing. at one point people thought it was, i actually remember being taught about it at school, but then the people that decide things realized it was just stupid. And yet, there are still people who believe it, and you know what?
I can kind of understand why.
If you're on a diet that doesn't involve tracking calories. and you're hungry all the time then its understandable you think that means you'll lose weight. But if your 3 meals a day are McDonald's, then you're going to be eating around 3000-5000 calories which probably wont be a deficit.
If you're not losing weight, you're not in a deficit.
The trick is to find low calorie foods, that fill you up, and keep you full. That's how you win at diets.
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