When it comes to learning how to lose body fat, information overload is a real thing. One diet suggests drastically cutting calories whilst another says to go large on heavy gym workouts and guzzle protein powder. (Both approaches are to be swerved, by the way. A balanced method will always be the most sustainable.)
Yep, there’s still a lot of shoddy advice out there. Fitness and diet fads come and go, and some are worse for your waistline (and health!) than others.
Let’s count down the top offending weight loss tricks.
1. Juice cleanses
I love a fresh juice of fruit and veg. It can be a great little snack or pick-me-up between meals. But trying to live on just juice for weight loss or ‘detox’? You’ll miss out on some critical food groups. Not to mention you’ll probably feel tired and hangry all day. Any weight you lose will probably come right back on once you start eating real food again.
2. Cutting carbs
Cutting carbs out might help you drop water weight in the short term, but that doesn’t last. Eat the pasta. Enjoy the bread. Snack on that fresh fruit. I insist.
3. Liquid diets
I don’t mean a nice brekkie smoothie or workout supplement. I mean those full-on meal replacement shakes in the chemist. It’s supposed to work by restricting calorie intake, and can sometimes include making other meals mostly liquid, too – like soups and juices.
While doctors can prescribe liquid diets for people who really need it, the danger is in the DIY. Just grabbing off-the-shelf-products and using them without proper guidance can have negative effects. You can end up hungry, nutrient deficient and miserable. And because they’re not teaching your body about healthy eating, it can be hard to make that weight loss stick once shake time is over. So chat with your GP first.
4. Going fat-free
Newsflash: you need good fats to be healthy, and you need to be healthy to lose weight and keep it off.
Why do you need fats to lose weight? Fat, combined with protein, can keep you feeling full and satisfied for longer. It also helps muscles recover, and certain fats are essential for brain function. Basically, a little bit of fat goes a long way in supporting your body!
Obviously, too much fat is like too much of anything. You want to balance it with veg, fruit, protein and complex carbohydrates.
Don’t treat fat like something you can only have as a ‘cheat’ food. It should be part of your everyday. Recipes like my delicious Sweet Potato Toasts with Egg, Salmon & Zataar has healthy fats from avocado, egg and salmon. It’s the perfect way to power up your day!
5. ‘Diet’ or ‘lite’ foods
Watch out for ‘diet’ claims! Just because it has the word ‘diet’ or ‘lite/light’ splashed across the label doesn’t mean it’s healthy, and it definitely doesn’t mean you’ll lose weight. Usually these products will be low or no fat, BUT they make up for that by being higher in sugar or artificial sweeteners! They’re also often highly processed and full of preservatives.
6. Cardio only
Think a treadmill sweat sesh is the only thing that helps you lose weight? Well, regular resistance training (like weight lifting and Pilates) is proven to support fat loss too!
By building lean muscle, you also get a great ‘afterburn’, so your metabolism keeps working hard even after you’ve put the dumbbells down. It’s why I love using a mix of resistance and cardio moves in my TXO Life workouts.
7. No treats, ever!
You deprive yourself, you crave more, you’re more likely to snap and binge. It’s a vicious cycle. Plus, if you deny yourself nice things, you’ll spend your time obsessing over everything you can’t eat.
Small, good-quality treats can help keep the cravings in check and make your weight loss journey a whole lot happier. Delish little morsels to keep you going without making you feel deprived. If your eating plan doesn’t spark joy, you won’t stick to it.
8. No rest days
You might think you need to be hitting the gym or jogging every single day to burn fat and lose weight. But when you push your body that hard without letting it rest, you’ll feel tired and pretty rubbish. Your muscles won’t have time to recover, so you won’t be able to work out as hard, AND you increase your risk of injury.
When you’re on a fitness journey, your body NEEDS to rest. Trust me.
9. Crash diets
A crash diet is where you severely restrict calories for a short time to lose weight fast. Think, cabbage soup and baby food diets, but also any fad diet that relies on seriously low cals.
Even if you can drop a bunch of kilos (a lot of that probably being water weight!), you’re not losing the weight in a healthy or sustainable way. That means as soon as you stop the crash diet, that weight is likely to come straight back on – and maybe even some extra.
10. Going vegan or gluten free
Ok, so you absolutely can lose weight on a vegan diet, and a gluten-free one. In fact, I opffer great vegan and gluten free recipes in my health and fitness program, TXO Life! But if you’re choosing those diets just because you think it’s a quick fix for weight loss, then sorry – that’s not how it works.
For one, there’s still a lot of processed vegans and gluten free options that are calorie dense or high in sugar. And even when you’re cooking at home, you have to follow the same principles for balanced meals. Just because your dinner doesn’t have gluten or animal products doesn’t mean you can get off scott-free with second helpings!
Obviously there are medical reasons you might need to go gluten free. And more people are trying vegan, vegetarian or ‘flexitarian’ diets than ever before. Focusing more on fresh veg and whole foods is great. But if you’re making the switch, you have to do it properly, so chat to your doctor first.
11. Eat lots of tiny meals
This fad diet suggests having lots of small snacks throughout the day (whether or not you’re hungry) will keep you from eating large meals. While eating regularly is important, constant grazing can mean you end up consuming more food than you would on a solid structure of nourishing meals and top-up snacks.
