As I mentioned on my instagram post @bodyvolvefitness, there is too much misinformation out in the health and fitness world and that misinformation is damaging peoples health.
Fortunately, I have a passion for this career and love educating people on the truth. I want the best for peoples health, and I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you guys are not being mislead.
I too have been mislead in the past. I am so thankful that I am a very open minded person, and that I was able to push whatever biases I had a-side and listen to actual science. So I beg you to do the same right now.
So, without further a do, sit back, relax and enjoy some myth busting!
#1 Cardio
I used to think cardio made people fat because it was a popular thing to hear. "cardio doesn't build muscle, so it just makes you fat", this is the type of stuff I heard. If that was the truth, wouldn't all marathon runners, swimmers, cyclists and triathletes be obese??
In order to build muscle you must trigger muscle protein synthesis (MPS). MPS is the rebuilding of new muscle tissue. Resistance training and protein are the best ways in which we trigger MPS; cardio does not do this. So, I wouldn't recommend running long distances everyday to try build muscle. If you do a consistent amount of cardio with no lifting, you may end up decreasing muscle mass and might look "skinny fat" if your diet isn't under control.
Skinny fat is basically more body fat than muscle mass, but you're still kinda skinny. Cardio doesn't cause that body fat, your diet does.
You're fat because your diet is crap, not because cardio made you that way. Get in control of your dietary habits and stop blaming other things on why you are overweight.
#2 Carbs
The most popular one in my opinion. It has been shown time and time again in 100s of studies that carbohydrates do not store as triglyceroids, but people love to tell you otherwise.
Low carb zealots who lost a significant amount of weight restricting carbs made this up.
Carbohydrates, when consumed, breakdown and absorb into the blood stream as glucose (all carbs do this). When your blood exceeds enough glucose, insulin is then secreated from the pancreas, reduces glucose and stores it into our muscles as glycogen.
When your blood has low glucose levels, glycogen is then released from the muscles or liver (liver for the most part when sleeping) and abosrbs into glucose again through a process called glycogenolysis. That glucose is then used as fuel for energy.
People who restrict carbs lose a significant amount of weight because they are reducing a significant amount of calories from their diet.
It's that simple folks!
#3 Stress
I don't know where this comes from, but i'm gonna take a bash at it.
When we stress our stress hormone cortisol increases, which leaves us retaining water and you might see an increase in the scales. Maybe that's why people think this, I dunno. But it's more than likely this next bit
An increase in cortisol means an increase in your appetite hormone, ghrelin. What happens when our appetite increases? Yup, we eat more. Sometimes people don't even realize it neither. People will put extra food on their plate because they are feeling more hungry than usual.
And what happens when we increase calories? We we put on weight and this is why some people who stress a lot put on fat, because they stress eat. The important thing we need to do here is try an minimize stress, and if you're the type of person who stress or stress eats quite often, I would recommend choosing something non-food related to help you with your stress. Meditate, go for a walk or exercise.
Stress as an emotion does not cause fat gain. It's the increase in calories due to your increased appetite.
#4 Starvation Mode
I want to make this as brief as I can. But just so you all know, starvation mode does not exist!
What is starvation mode? Basically, when you diet and start to lose fat, your body will eventually go into survival mode or, starvation mode, and it puts on fat even in a calorie deficit. I mean for fuck sake people haha.
They're basically saying, that if you stop eating altogether, at some point your body will start magically putting on weight again? What about anorexic people and the starving people of the world? At what point do they start magically gaining fat? It's absurd!
When we lose fat our metabolic rate decreases. This means, the amount of energy (calories) you expend in a 24 hour period will decrease. At some point, months down the line, you might hit metabolic adaptation. Which means, the amount of calories you expend meets the amount of calories you consume, which leads to a weight loss plateau.
When this happens, people freak out, start eating more and eventually put the weight back on; blaming starvation mode
If they just ate fewer calories again they would lose weight. It's impossible to gain weight in a calorie deficit. The important thing to do here is, definitely not reduce calories. You should recalculate your calories again and increase your food intake to your maintenance calories and go on a maintenance calories diet break for a few weeks to increase your metabolic rate and then diet again once the diet break is over. Once you have done this, you will start to lose weight again.
#5 Eating Late At Night
Well done to all the gyms bros of the world for this absolutely ridiculous claim.
Why do people think this is true?
If you eat late at night you're not expending much energy. People think because you're not expending the energy that the food will just automatically be stored as body fat. What a load of nonsense!
Eating late at night can actually be beneficial for some people who have trouble sleeping. Have you ever slipped into a food coma after eating a heavy meal like christmas or thanksgiving dinner? That's exactly what you can do to help you sleep.
Let me explain why this happens!
Serotonin is an important chemical and neurotransmitter which can help regulate sleep because the body uses it to synthesis melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle
Tryptophan, which is found in plant and animal sources, is essential for creating serotonin
So, eating food sources such as, plants and meat, late at night can help you sleep.
The only way you are going to get fat is if the meal that you eat late at night surpasses the amount of calories you consume in a day. Other than that, it can be very beneficial.
Take Home Note
The only way that you are going to get fat is if you eat more calories in a day than you burn. The important thing for you to do is to concentrate on how much you consume. To maintain a healthy body, the amount you consume should equal the amount you expend. Most of your diet should focus on whole foods, and don't forget to exercise regularly.