4 Workout and Weight Loss Myths That You Can Abandon Because They Are Bullshit
Okay y’all, it’s the end of 2021 now. Enough with the diet gimmicks and lose-40-pounds-by-next-week schemes.
Quite frankly, this kinda shit drives me BONKERS. I feel SO bad for clients who have been victims of the diet industry — who aren’t sure what products are safe, which voices to trust, or why they can’t reach their goals despite trying harder and harder with every passing day.
It’s time to clear the air. This list is is not by any means comprehensive, and these viewpoints are my own strictly based off my experience and review of the science. If you trust me, great. If my suggestions make sense based upon what you’ve experienced yourself, awesome. Still take everything with a grain of salt — because I do NOT claim to be the top expert in the world and I also do NOT believe everyone should be doing the same exact things.
What I DO encourage is to take all this information and apply it (or not) in ways that work for you.
Bullshit Myth #1: Meal replacement shakes or multiple days of detox drinks are healthy
Most brands who tout their shakes as meal replacements are full of shit. Both literally and figuratively — the ingredients are normally garbage (artificial sweeteners, inflammatory oils, weird chemicals and stabilizers) and are often too small, too low-calorie, or too nutritionally deficient to take the place of a healthy meal. Don’t buy into it.
Regarding the detox drinks, your liver is already detoxing on a regular basis. That’s literally it’s job. So you don’t need to “do” anything to detox harder. The best ways to support natural liver detox are to eat a properly prepared, whole-foods, nutrient-dense diet with plenty of protein and micronutrients. Nutritional therapy can help with this.
That being said, if you have questions about a specific brand I’d be happy to vet/verify them for you! Drop them in the comments below this post.
Bullshit Myth #2: Drastically cutting calories is a good idea… or thinking that everything should revolve around calories in general
It’s painful when I hear someone say they’ll have to run four miles after work for eating a cookie… to even-out the calories. The body doesn’t work like that, folks.
Sure, on paper, caloric deficit (AKA eating less calories than you expend during a day) leads to “weight loss”… but what kind of weight loss? What kind of calories?
You want to avoid losing muscle while burning body fat, and this is a huge blind spot for most people. Additionally, not all calories are created equal, so the 400-calorie cookie you ate at work is not going to serve your health in the same way a 400-calorie lunch of chicken thighs, olive oil salad, and quinoa would.
Bullshit Myth #3: You have to sweat or be super sore to see any benefit from your workout
Not everyone sweats heavily, or at all, while they exercise. That might just mean your body controls its internal temperature differently than others. This is not a sign that you didn’t work hard or see some sort of cardiovascular benefit.
And being sore is not a badge of honor. Depending on HOW sore you are, it could mean you either pushed too heavy too fast, didn’t take in enough water AND electrolytes, or need to pace yourself better.
Additionally, lower-intensity movement like yoga or walking actually keeps your heart rate at a more fat-burning level than a high-intensity session does. This has tremendous benefits too, if not more, than those sweaty sessions — low-level movement should be incorporated as much as possible!
Bullshit Myth #4: Mustering up “willpower” is necessary
The truth is, we don’t really get things accomplished because we’re motivated to do so — we get things accomplished because we have a plan in place and all the right inputs to make the choice easier. In order to be successful in any healthy habit adoption, you need to set yourself up for it. Check out this post for ideas.
Quite frankly, you may NEVER have “willpower” or “motivation” to do things like meal prep or exercise daily. Maybe that approach just isn’t something that’s gonna work for you.
Instead, pencil those kinds of activities into your calendar. Specifically make space for them so you have no choice but to deliberately do it or skip it as the event stares back at you. You might find that making it part of your regular schedule helps you accomplish it more often (“it” being whatever goal or task you have a hard time sticking to).
