Weight loss Myth # 4 Eat whatever you want but burn it through workout.!

 

Till the Middle Ages the earth was considered to be flat. Mankind has always been surrounded by many myths and continues to do so even despite science is giving us new insights every day. Weight loss science is no exception. In fact, it is nearly plagued by huge popular misconceptions. I believe the reason behind more myths prevailing in this space is people’s lack of study and true priority. Weight loss to a large population still needs no expertise. But with time, change in our lifestyle, eating pattern, busy schedule, weight loss needs deeper understanding and right knowledge. If we had been living in jungles or villages, we would not have bothered about these facts or myths. But in city life it needs deeper knowledge to address this rightly.

Let us know about the 5 most popular beliefs which I find very prevalent in my conversation with people.

To help you allay these myths I started a series of my blogs. In my last 3 blogs I shared why all weight loss is not always healthy and busted the myth of exercising a lot for weight loss. I also shared weight not is not simply eating less and moving more. Please refer to my blogs on these topics. In this blog I am sharing counter arguments against 4^th biggest myth

Myth # 4 Eat whatever you want but burn it through workout...!

If you go through my previous blogs, it would be clear to you that that this approach (eat whatever you want but burn it through workout) is absolute myth with no scientific reasoning. Absurdity of this is the simpler part but do you know that this approach can have many bad effects on your health. So, in this blog I am going to explain to you how 1) how and why it’s an ineffective approach with no scientific backing and 2) how this can be dangerous to your health and counterproductive in your weight loss aspiration.

Lets first understand why this is complete crap. The science and reason behind absurdity and in-effectiveness of this approach is very simple. Workout burns very few calories in comparison to calories available in various foods (especially your favorite junk food). So your bad diet and wrong eating can never be compensated for by working out harder. Further to your disappointment absorption of calories in your body from junk food is relatively much higher in comparison to healthy nutritious food.

To give you a perspective 2 slices of pizza contains 560 cal which can be burnt theoretically by 65 minutes of cycling. To lose one kg weight you need to create a deficit of approx. 7700 cal which can be burnt by 15 hours of cycling...! Practically if you finish a box of pizza you would be done with your whole day calorie and even 3-4 hours of cycling cannot burn it…! I am not saying you cannot enjoy these delicacies. You can, always, but moderately, homemade, preferably during daytime and with mindful eating (eating slowly with focus, indulging your 5 senses and enjoy the taste, aroma, texture). Don’t starve yourself of these delicacies, rather enjoy it with planning.

Now let’s look at the darker side of this misconception. This wrong belief leads to two things, both of which destroy your dream to become leaner and probably you remain unaware of the destruction you are causing to yourself. First 1) it gives you a false confidence that you would burn by exercising and that leads to overeating, binge eating and un-healthy eating. 2) After your indulgence when you try to burn it leads to over exercising which has its very bad effects on your health.

#1 point about false confidence and overeating is quite clear and simple. You might have witnessed this phenomenon with some of your friends if not have practically experienced it. I personally have heard this comment hundreds of times “come on ek samosa aur khalo, kya hai  2 km jyada daud lena”..!

#2 needs a little more elaboration as it has further bad effects. You will be surprised to know that over-exercising (when done without adequate nutrition and guidance) harms your health in many ways. It leads to loss of muscles and tiredness, can disbalance your hormonal functions and lead to further obesity and sleep disturbance.  Over-exercising without adequate protein leads to loss of muscles. Your body goes into a catabolic state and start burning its own muscles. 2^nd exercising puts lot of stress on your body. Over exercising leads to excess secretion of stress hormone ‘Cortisol’ in body which leads to higher glucose and consequently higher insulin in blood. Higher insulin levels in blood means weight gain! Excess cortisol also interferes with your sleep.

So friends,, if you really want lose weight and become healthier never ever bring this in mind ‘I can eat anything I want till I am burning it’. You can surely enjoy sweets, junks and salty but in moderation, preferably in day hours and with mindful eating. Being healthy is never boring rather its about making smart choices with smart portion and smart timing…!