The 3 Biggest Misconceptions About Working Out and Weight Loss

If you ever have a moment where you feel like you just can’t handle your weight anymore, you often know there are two variables you need to incorporate: exercise and healthy eating. But, often times, we see these two things as temporary solutions to get us to where we want to be. We don’t consider them intricate parts of a lifelong lifestyle, and because of that, our weight continues to fluctuate. The way we perceive achieving weight loss is often unhealthy, even though the result is to be MORE healthy. So what exactly are we getting wrong, and how can we change it?

Exercise scientist Shawn Arent weighs in with the top misconceptions about working out and weight loss.

 

1. Weight loss versus fat loss

“I think the biggest misconception is the term ‘weight loss.’ Really what we need to be focused on is ‘fat loss.’ And people confuse the two because they’re concerned about the number on the scale, ” Arent explains. “And the problem is — let’s say I put you on an exercise program, and you gain five pounds of muscle, and you lose five pounds of fat. According to the scale you had no weight loss. According to your body composition and your clothes you just made a 10-pound difference. So we need to be careful about weight loss vs. fat loss.”

2. Relying on cardio

“Another one of the biggest misconceptions is that the way to lose weight is cardio. Yeah, cardio works to lose weight but so do a lot of other things in conjunction with that. So from a fat loss standpoint, cardio and resistance training work great! Even resistance training [such as weight lifting] by itself works well if you do it at an intensity sufficient enough.”

3. A temporary solution

“I think the other misconception is that people think there’s a quick fix. You didn’t get fat overnight, and you’re not going to get skinny overnight either. It’s just not the way it works … It takes time to reverse the effects of gaining that weight.”

What other misconceptions do you think people have about working out and weight loss?

Source: Tech Insider

 

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