Understanding Weight Loss Myths

Have you ever considered it's your thoughts and habits that keep your weight up? It may be a foreign concept, but the primary thing keeping you overweight may be your own mistaken beliefs in certain weight loss myths. If you want to know if it's your beliefs that are stopping weight loss, check the following statements and see which ones you consider to be true.

Weight Loss Myths:

* If I just forget about breakfast or lunch, the weight will come off quicker.

The fact is that eating fewer meals can actually cause weight gain and increased body fat. The truth is one of the studies done proved people who kept skipping breakfast ended up with a metabolic rate of four to five percent lower than people who didn't. Your metabolic rate and how fast your body burns calories is important to maintaining your body's vital functions when you sleep. When you skip a meal your body will compensate by burning calories at a slower rate. You can actually lose weight more quickly if you eat many small meals throughout the day as opposed to only one or two large meals. They don't call breakfast the most important meal of the day for nothing, but skipping any meal can

a lot more harm to your health and weight loss than good.

2. You won't gain weight from fat-free foods, regardless of the amount you consume. A single gram of fat has nine calories, compared to only four calories in a single carbohydrate or protein gram, making fat the most concentrated source of calories that we consume. However, cutting back on fat in only effective if calories are also cut. You should also realize that fat-free foods are not necessarily low in calories.

Manufacturers often replace the fat they remove from a food with copious amounts of sugar, making that fat-free product higher in calories than the original product. Weight is gained when too many calories are consumed, the origin of the calories does not matter when it comes to weight gain. Cutting down on dietary fat can be good for you and can help to cut down on excess calories, you'll also want to keep track of how many calories you consume in a day.

3.) I know if I don't see fast results I won't stick with a weight loss program

If the weight comes off too fast, like more than one or two pounds in a week, you're apt to lose muscle as well. Muscle is like an engine. The larger your body is, the more muscles you need to move it. As you lose muscle, you require fewer calories to keep your body moving. However, you will probably be eating the same amount of calories as you were before you unknowingly lost muscle mass. Here's a tip - a fast loss of weight now will make it tougher for you to keep that weight off in the future. Take this into consideration when you find yourself tempted to hop on a fad diet bandwagon that promises rapid weight loss in a short amount of time, or if you feel the urge to abandon a plan because you don't see immediate results.

4.) I'll feel like my diet failed unless I reach my target weight

Success is not just the weight that you wind up at. It's a lifelong process and you will feel accomplished every time you make a positive change to your lifestyle. So don't fret over the numbers on your scale. Put your attention, time, and efforts into what's really important: having accurate daily records of your daily progress and becoming more physical active. It is your daily habits, not daily weight fluctuations on a scale, that determine whether you'll have long-term success with your goals.

5.) If I don't engage in strenuous exercise for many hours I'll never lose weight

All the experts agree that the most important thing for controlling your weight, and improving your health, is replacing habits like sitting at a computer or watching TV to any activities that cause you to get up and move around. It is proven that only thirty minutes a day of exercise can reduce your risk of chronic disease, and just sixty minutes a day can help you maintain your weight at the level you would like. And you don't even have to do that sixty minutes of activity at one time. Consider doing 15 to 20 minutes of some kind of physical activity several times during the day, perhaps before heading out to work, walking during your lunch hour, or after dinner.