Wednesday, February 25, 2009

3 Weight Loss Myths That Can Put Your Life at Risk

By Frances Norah Smith

Health related articles contain lots of information when it comes to weight loss. It includes useful tips that actually work and also those that don't. The weight loss industry is filled with myths, not to mention misleading and inaccurate information as some tend to change the facts for their own gains or partly due to the lack of knowledge. As a result, fad diets, weight loss supplements and pills that don't work came about. In this article I will discuss three such weight loss myths.

1. Myth#1: Spot reduction of fat is possible: Not true to a certain extent. This statement has been reviewed by weight loss experts and they also disagree that spot reduction of fat is possible. There is no way whereby you can force your body to spot reduce fat, regardless of what exercise methods you use.

Here is an example. By doing crunches and leg lifts, your main focus here is to lose fat in the abdominal area. However, in reality, this is not the case. Instead of losing belly fat, you will reduce the muscle mass below the abdomen. A solution to this is to combine a healthy diet that will help you to increase your metabolism rate and help to burn fat, together with doing workouts like crunches and leg lifts.

2. Myth#2: You will lose body fat if you cut down extremely on your calorie intake: This myth has influenced many to go on a starvation diet hoping to lose their excess fat quick. Not many are aware about the consequences of such diets. These types of diets damage the body instead of helping them. The body goes into starvation mode when it senses that there is a very low or no calorie intake. This takes place usually when you are fasting or starving. The body slows down your metabolism rate when it goes into starvation mode. This results in the loss of muscles instead of fat in order to produce energy. The bigger downside to cutting down drastically on calorie intake is that you will gain extra weight once you return to your normal diet.

3. Myth#3: Doing cardio exercises alone can assist in weight loss: Cardio exercises can definitely assist in weight loss however it is not the only form of exercise that is able to help you lose weight. Different form of exercises like aerobics can also have the same weight loss effects. Other exercise like weight lifting on the other hand, is a much better exercise compared to both cardio and aerobics. It assists in weight loss and also helps you gain muscles at the same time.

I hope that this article has helped you to be aware of the misleading information about weight loss. - 15995

About the Author: