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Erika
•
January 31, 2025
Debunking Nutrition Myths: Pt. 2
“Doing ab workouts gets you abs” (aka: spot reducing fat)
You cannot spot reduce fat! I know, it sucks to hear but doing more sit-ups will not get rid of that stubborn fat around the stomach and give you visible abs. You can build up your ab muscles through exercise but the only way to reduce body fat is to be in a calorie deficit. Your body decides where the fat comes off first.
“Detoxing”
Not eating for a day or only drinking juice for three days or whatever new trendy detox fad is popular at the time does not work like you think it will. That’s what your organs are for; to process the things your body needs and get rid of the things it doesn’t. If you are doing it for weight loss, you might lose a few pounds of water weight but after you start eating again, it will come right back up. These cleanses also typically end with you going back to exactly how you ate before, leading to no long-term change.
“Eating healthy is expensive”
This can be true if all you are eating is premade, prepackaged food items. This does not have to be the case, though. Things like chicken, greek yogurt, in-season produce, rice, beans and frozen vegetables can be found pretty cheap. Overcomplicating your diet can make it expensive. Look for whole foods and shop the sales. (ex. out of season strawberries at Whole Foods are going to be like $10. Maybe don’t go for those)
“Toning”
You cannot “tone” muscle. Muscles grow or they shrink. When people use this word, they really mean they want to grow muscle and lose body fat.
“You need to hit 10,000 steps a day to be healthy”
10,000 is not a magic number. This number originated in Japan to market a new pedometer. While 10,000 may be a good goal for a lot of people, it might not be right for everyone. The whole point of getting steps in is to increase your NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis) which just means to be more active outside of your scheduled exercise. This can be done at 10,000 steps or at 3,000 depending on a person’s starting point. The number 10,000 is arbitrary in this case. Just make sure to be moving your body outside of planned exercise. If your average step count is 2,000, maybe aim for 5,000. If your average is 8,000, maybe 10,000 is a good goal for you.
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