How the Myths about Weight Loss Are Keeping Us in the Fatter Zone—and the Truth About the Real Truth.
Every year, losing weight is one of the most popular resolutions for the New Year. Each year, we try various methods, and it’s not surprising that we keep seeing the same results. It’s a sad fact that many weight loss strategies aren’t sustainable over the long run, and some may make things worse or cause damage to other people.
However, that doesn’t mean that the effort to lose weight is useless. Research shows that some strategies are actually efficient.
Here are five methods that fail frequently as well as alternatives that are more likely to bring long-term success.
1. Counting calories
It is possible to track calories in the short run; however, it usually results in frustration and failure over the long haul. One reason is that counting calories isn’t always precise. Food packages and menus for restaurants include calories, but they’re rarely precise. Some food items, including those in home-cooked meals, aren’t listed as calories. Even with the aid of apps, analysing foods for calories can be tedious and lengthy.
A craving for calories can turn meals into a stress-inducing exercise of weighing and counting and contribute to a negative relationship with food, which makes it more difficult to reach and maintain the weight you want to maintain.
Another issue is that focusing on calories may take the focus away from other aspects that are crucial, such as the nutritional composition of foods and how filling they are. Jelly beans, for instance, have fewer calories and contain fewer calories than a portion of nuts. However, the nuts are much more suitable for weight loss (if consumed in moderate amounts) because they do not cause an increase in blood sugar levels that leaves you hungry.
In addition to keeping an eye on portions and calories, be aware of the overall nutritional value of food items, including the amount of sugar added (the smaller you have, the more nutritious) as well as fibre (the higher the amount you have, the more beneficial) and protein (which will help you fill up). Be aware of how healthy and filling the food items are, as well as how you feel after you’ve eaten them.
A food journal is a great method of doing this. Research has shown that keeping a record of how much and what you consume and drink every day can help improve your long-term weight control by helping you become more aware of your food habits and determining where you’ll have to make adjustments.
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2. Exercising
The kinds of exercises that we do most often produce a few calories. Studies have shown that moderately vigorous aerobic exercise, like taking a walk for 30 minutes per day for five days per week, which is the recommended amount for healthy people, usually results in only a small or no loss of weight. Losing weight requires more intense and long-lasting workouts than the majority of people are prepared or willing to perform. If we are able to increase our exercise routine to the extent that we can, the body may respond with increased appetite and a slower metabolism, limiting the number of pounds we lose.
The idea of exercising as an effective way to lose weight results in unrealistic expectations that make our bodies more inclined to abandon exercise. In turn, exercise becomes an act of punishment, a cost that we have to pay in order to lose weight, and something we’re prone to steer clear of.
Instead, think about the movement of your body as a way to improve your quality of life. Concentrate on the immediate benefits, such as more restful sleep, less stress, or feeling empowered. It could be the case that you are able to make healthier, weight-friendly decisions and avoid eating out of fear. You’ll also be more likely to keep exercising over the long term. The reward for perseverance is enormous. Regular exercise lowers the chance of contracting a long range of illnesses, from cancer to colds. Even though it’s not going to help you lose weight, it will help prevent weight gain and enhance your appearance by boosting your muscle mass.
3. Eliminating fats, carbs, or other types of food
Methods to lose weight that demonise whole categories of food can work for a short time, but they’re not long-lasting over the course of time. Many studies comparing strict diets like low-carb or low-fat diets have revealed that there aren’t any obvious winners. After around a year, people on different diets are losing around equal amounts of weight.
It doesn’t matter if the forbidden foods are chocolate and cheese or cereal and corn. Strict diets usually cause us to feel depleted. The ban on foods we love can be detrimental to our brains, which can cause us to want the food more. At some point, all of us give in to the urge. For dieters who aren’t careful, this can lead to cravings for food.
Instead, focus on the overall nutritional quality of your food. Concentrate on whole food items like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seafood, nuts, and lean poultry, and avoid processed food items (sometimes referred to as “ultra-processed” foods) such as cookies, chips, refined grains, soda, hot dogs, and fries. Studies show that this diet is efficient for not only controlling weight over the long term but also improving our overall health.
This approach gives you plenty of options, allowing endless combinations of foods and different proportions of carbohydrates, fats, and protein. The result is a higher chance of finding a healthy diet that is beneficial for you and doesn’t make you feel depleted.
4. Foods that are “fat-burning” foods
We hear often about the foods that range from avocado and vinegar from apple cider to green tea and grapefruit, which are said to have the ability to melt away excess weight. As with other foods that are feared to burn fat, these foods draw our attention to easy solutions. The majority of the scientific research behind the claims of the aforementioned “superfoods” is preliminary and supported by organisations that have a financial stake. Although some of these food items may have a small effect on metabolism or appetite, there is no evidence to suggest that any of them translate into weight reduction.
Instead, concentrate on incorporating broad food groups into your diet, including fruits, vegetables, seeds, beans, and nuts, as well as fish, instead of focusing on specific foods. Pick the foods you like from these categories according to what you enjoy, not the foods you think you need to consume.
Energy-dense foods, which mean they have fewer calories per bite, may be beneficial. Examples include salads, broth soups, plain yoghurt, beans, and the majority of fruits and vegetables. These foods, which are high in water, will give you the most bang for your buck, allowing you to take in fewer calories. There are a number of studies that have shown that low-energy density diets are effective in controlling weight.
5. Taking over-the-counter weight-loss pills
Weight loss supplements typically contain an assortment of ingredients like green tea extract, caffeine, and raspberry ketones. Similar to other supplements for dietary use, they’re not tightly controlled, and the manufacturers aren’t required by law to prove that their product is safe or efficient. There is no guarantee that supplements have the ingredients listed on the label. Some supplements have been discovered to have banned ingredients like ephedra.
In the end, it appears that the little evidence suggests that certain components in supplements can result in a couple of pounds of weight loss in the short term; however, we aren’t sure how long-term they can benefit. Further complicating the issue is the fact that the levels of ingredients can vary between products in the supplement market that aren’t regulated and aren’t usually known. In addition, it’s frequently not clear how mixing a specific ingredient with other substances, like supplements, can affect its effectiveness.
This is also true in terms of the safety of Even if an ingredient is known to have minimal or no adverse consequences when used by itself, it can mix with other ingredients to cause harm. However, since there’s been no strict testing or, in some cases, any testing, it’s impossible to determine. So, the use of a supplement to aid in weight loss is like jumping into the unknown.
Instead, if you’re eligible, think about prescribed weight-loss medication, which studies have demonstrated can reduce weight significantly and maintain it when the medication is continued. The most recent of them, such as Wegovy, are able to reduce hunger by mimicking hormones that signal that the brain is full. But these drugs are not without risks and are expensive. They’re only intended for people who are obese or overweight and who have at least one medical condition, like diabetes.
Another option for people in this group is weight-loss (or bariatric) surgery. As with prescription drugs, surgery can result in significantly more weight loss than is usually achieved with changes in diet and lifestyle. Furthermore, it can bring about significant improvements in general health, such as reversing diabetes and reducing the chances of becoming a victim. Surgery has also been linked to a lower risk of cancer and premature death. It also helps with hypertension, abnormal cholesterol levels, sleep apnea, and many other ailments.