There are many extremes and misconceptions that promise us quick weight loss results. Numerous pseudoscientific articles, and even quite real examples, tell us that in a month you can get rid of all your problems, and you just need to... and then follows a recipe for success as simple as pie. Sometimes this really works, but at what cost to health and will the obtained result be stable?
Let's figure this out:
Misconception #1. "I need quick results, so I'm ready to go on a starvation diet/intermittent fasting/mono-diet (eat only cucumbers or drink only kefir) or just an extremely restricted diet. I'll suffer for a week, but I'll definitely lose 10 kilograms!"
Such an approach can undoubtedly bring desired results to most people, but the price for it will be enormous. Weight loss occurs due to a state of starvation stress. The body is sharply deprived of adequate calorie intake and of course it has to rely only on its own fat reserves. This works especially well on people who haven't previously indulged in such weight loss methods.
Unfortunately, everything has a price. After severe starvation stress, the body enters a state of supercompensation—this is an adaptation principle that every cell of our body and generally all life on this planet adheres to. Immediately after starvation, the body will maximally store all incoming food as fat, as a strategic reserve in case of new starvation. In our heads we're simply losing weight, but for the body we're dying of hunger and something needs to be done about this urgently.
This is precisely why absolutely always, after starvation stress, weight returns exclusively rapidly and often with additional gain. Simply to be better prepared for new starvation. Metabolism decreases in the process, since resources need to be conserved.
With each new such experience, metabolism becomes slower. Losing weight, accordingly, becomes harder, while gaining becomes easier. This ends with a person starting to get fat literally from a cabbage leaf, and not without reason.
Misconception #2. "I want to lose weight only in the belly area. I'll just work my abs every day and it will go away, why do I need any diets if I don't want to lose weight in other parts of my body?"
Localized fat burning doesn't exist—you don't even need to think or dream about this, it's impossible. Fat deposition depends exclusively on genetics. When the body loses weight, it loses weight entirely; sooner or later "problem areas" also go away, you just need to work on it. If you only do crunches without a full diet, all you can achieve is increased abdominal muscle tone, but no one except you will know about your "abs" because they'll remain under a layer of fat tissue.
You need to lose weight comprehensively!
Misconception #3. "I'd rather go to boxing/wrestling/any other club and lose weight naturally, and sharpen my skills. It's better than bothering with nutrition and cardio workouts."
Being able to stand up for yourself is undoubtedly necessary, but whether it's possible to do this effectively in a fat and clumsy body is an open question. The problem with such clubs is that the loads are always intensive and not standardized. You need to understand that the fat-burning zone is a heart rate area around 120-140 bpm. Fat breakdown into energy is not a fast process, so fat as fuel is used only when energy demand isn't too high. When the body's demand significantly increases (pulse rises above 150 bpm), the energy source is no longer fat, but glycogen from liver and muscles. Glycogen can instantly break down into ATP (energy) and feed muscles, thanks to which they work. Unfortunately, glycogen is just a carbohydrate, and it's just as easily synthesized with the first meal.
The situation is always sad. A person can train with all enthusiasm in such a club, 10 streams of sweat can pour from them, but fat doesn't go anywhere... because it doesn't need to.
Misconception #4. "I just need to start running and weight loss is guaranteed. Why do I need any trainer at all?"
Running itself is a good thing, but there are a number of purely medical limitations:
First, the heart should already be sufficiently trained for running, otherwise with too high heart rate, heart muscle overgrowth occurs, the so-called "athlete's heart syndrome." Due to insufficiently effective work, the heart muscle begins to grow, trying to compensate for the pumping function, but because of this a vicious circle begins, since heart chambers become smaller, their space narrows and the heart has to contract more often, which means grow again. All this leads to heart failure, which will definitely come back to haunt in old age. And you simply wanted to lose weight!
Second, you can't run at any weight at all, since knee joints start to suffer. On average, if you're a woman, you shouldn't engage in running at weight over 80kg and height 170cm; if you're a man, then at weight over 100kg at height 180cm. Running is primarily impact loads on the knee joint. So if you don't want to not just run, but walk with difficulty—it's better to trust a professional.
You should start with diet and a comprehensive training plan that takes into account your body's parameters and needs. And only then add running.
Misconception #5. "I'll buy fat burners and won't bother with sports and diet at all. Pills will do everything themselves, they don't sell them for nothing!"
First. It's worth starting with the fact that any fat burners sold in the nearest sports nutrition store, despite bright covers and loud claims, aren't fat burners in principle. Sports nutrition fat burners are pure marketing, which is forced to speculate with research results of some cayenne pepper extract's influence on fat burning speed, simply omitting the fact that real effectiveness is somewhere around 0.1%. Thanks to this, there's no deception from the manufacturer's side, but how effective this is will have to be tested by your wallet.
Often they work at best as pre-workout complexes, simply stimulating the CNS (undoubtedly invigorating, but nothing more), since they contain caffeine and other similar substances. Also don't pay attention to inscriptions like "ephedra"—this still isn't real ephedrine, but simply another extract, this time from Ephedra herb (and again marketing).
All this is connected to the fact that any doping substances, and fat burners belong to them too, are prohibited for official sale. Therefore, only manipulating facts remains, selling grandmother's herbs in bright jars.
Second. Of course, there's another category of drugs—real fat burners, like thyroid hormone, ephedrine hydrochloride, various peptides, appetite blockers, carbohydrate and fat absorption blockers, and so on. On the black market all this is perfectly sold and can be bought without problems, but with unreasonable use they can all noticeably affect health. Ultimately, simply trying to lose weight, you can encounter serious problems. Most of them are hormonal, some can cause cancer, others, like DNP, are garden pesticides and their overdose causes rapid death. Effective? Deadly effective.
Of course, under a professional's supervision, any poison can become a saving medicine, but definitely not in the hands of a simple amateur who read several articles on the internet.
Misconception #6. "I found formulas on the internet by which I'll calculate my calorie norm myself and lose weight perfectly!"
The internet is full of wonderful formulas and even automated programs that will calculate daily diet caloric content with just a few inputs. Everything would be simple if it weren't so complicated.
The main problem is that we're all different and not everyone fits the "textbook" option, this especially concerns people with damaged metabolism due to experience with harsh diets. But even without this, metabolism speed varies tremendously. In two externally similar people, metabolism speed can differ 2-3 times! Genetics, childhood, nutrition quality, physical activity and stress levels play a big role. We're all different! Therefore, limiting yourself to just a formula is unlikely to work.
But suppose you were lucky and guessed the caloric intake. What could go wrong? A lot. The complexity lies in competent distribution of ratios not only of macronutrients (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates), but also micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Unfortunately, to satisfy all body needs, you need to try hard. Since even with a lack of some unfortunate mineral or vitamin that you're too lazy to even think about, weight loss can be significantly limited. This is how the principle of expediency works. Fat is a strategic reserve, and before giving it up we must give the body guarantees of diet completeness in every smallest point, and do this stably. Only with complete satisfaction of all needs can the body part with fat with a calm heart, not interfering with our ambitions at all. Otherwise, you can expect metabolism slowdown even with correct caloric intake. Such is life.
Conclusions
No matter how tempting easy methods with quick results are, unfortunately, the outcome is usually deplorable. The body is too complexly arranged and achieving good results involves an extremely large number of variables. Blitzkrieg might succeed, but will always have its price, which is unacceptable for a long and happy life. For effective, stable, and most importantly safe results, it's better to consult a specialist.
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