Busting Health And Fitness Myths Once And For All

Since 2023 is still fairly young, a lot of people are probably still trying to stick to their New Years resolutions of eating healthier or working out more. And if you have spend any time at all on social media, you will know there are A LOT of “experts” on those topics. Don’t get me wrong, of course there are a lot of people on Instagram, TikTok etc., that actually know their stuff. But there are probably just as many people giving out anecdotal or outright bullsh*t advice about health and fitness. Today, we are going to take a closer look at some of those claims and bust some health and fitness myths!

Health & Fitness Myth #1: Diet X works for everybody!

I put it as simple as “This miracle diet works for everybody!”, you’re probably (hopefully) not going to believe it. But sometimes, it isn’t phrased as obvious as that. Instead it might read “Eat these foods for a six pack”. Or “I lost X kg eating Y”. The problem with statements like that is that they imply it would work for anybody. But that simply isn’t the case. Yes, a person might have lost a certain amount of weight eating a specific diet. And maybe this diet is going to work for another person. But most certainly, not for everybody. Our bodies are unique, even those of identical twins. So just copying what another person does diet-wise isn’t going to have the same effects for you.

Some people thrive eating a high fat diet, while others have a hard time digesting those foods. Other people might do very well on a high carb diet, while the only thing some people get from it is high blood sugar peaks and the munchies. It really all depends on your body and gut microbiome. So the next time you see your favorite health/fitness influencer rave about a certain diet, take a step back and think about how your body would react to those foods.

Health & Fitness Myth #2: If you fail diet X, you didn’t try hard enough

Continuing on from Health & Fitness Myth #1, if you do decide to go on the same diet as somebody you look up to but it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t try hard enough. Maybe it didn’t work for you for the reasons mentioned above. But unfortunately, some people believe in their diets so much, they can’t imagine it not working for other individuals. Or maybe they are embarrassed. Whatever the reason, nobody should ever make you feel bad for “failing” a diet.

Before following some miracle diet that’s promising you to lose a certain amount of weight in just a few weeks, put on your thinking cap. Is it actually possible to lose that amount of weight in such a short time? Is it going to be as easy as the diet claims? Is it going to a sustainable change in weight or are you going to gain it all back? If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

I know it can be very tempting to go for the quick fix, but unfortunately, weight loss doesn’t work like that. Just like you don’t gain weight from eating too much for a couple of days, you’re not going to lose excess weight in that time. Simple as that. So before going on the next fad diet, try eating a balanced, whole-foods diet. And give it a fair shot: Don’t quit because you don’t see any results within two weeks. These things take time.

Health & Fitness Myth #3: Exercise will make you lose weight

This health & fitness myth might come as a shock to some people. I think we all have been told all our lives that exercise is going to make you lose weight, because you’re burning calories while working out. And even though the latter is factually true, exercise has not been proven to be very effective for weight loss. The one and only way to lose weight is to improve your diet. Period. But people seem to have 2 “problems”, when it comes to exercise:

Problem 1:

People generally tend to overestimate the amount of calories that is actually burned during a 1 hour workout. I can’t even give you a number, because it depends on so many factors. The type of exercise (endurance, strength, etc.), the amount of active muscle mass, or you body composition, just to name a few. If you think you can burn up to 1,000 calories during an hour of Zumba (as was once claimed), you’re likely mistaken. And the amount by which the basic metabolic rate (the amount of calories burnt just to keep you alive) can be increased through strength training isn’t that big, either. Even if you do build enough lean muscle tissue to burn an extra 100 cal/day, you really can’t eat that much more. Because 100 cals isn’t a lot if consumed in junk food.

Problem 2:

The next problem with exercise and weight loss: People tend to overeat after a workout. For one it’s the bodies coping mechanism, as it wants to save its fat stores. Another thing is that some people might tend to reward themselves for a good workout with a bigger serving size or maybe even candy. And since you likely haven’t burned as many calories as you think, you find yourself in a calorie surplus.

There is no doubt at all that exercise is very healthy for you, as it strengthens your cardiovascular system, bones, muscles, etc. But it doesn’t help you lose weight if you don’t adjust your diet.

Health & Fitness Myth #4: Your smart watch knows how many calories you have burned

Fitness trackers or smart watches can be really motivating. They might buzz every hour to reming you to take 200 steps or keep moving for a minute. And with our more and more sedentary lifestyle, that probably is a good thing. Or they encourage you to close some rings by a certain time of the day. Again, great reminder to incorporate movement into your day. (To see how I incorporate fitness into everyday life, click here.) But please don’t rely on them to accurately track the amount of calories you’ve burned during the day or a workout. Those are guesses at best.

Think of it: What does this little thing know about you? Your height, weight, age and gender most likely. Your heart rate during your workout. But that’s about it, right? How on earth is that poor little device going to calculate how many calories you have burned? It doesn’t know how strenuous the workout was for you. Nor does it know your body composition (muscle mass burns more calories than fat tissue does). And another problem: During high intensity workouts, a lot of watches can’t even accurately measure your heart rate (due to sweat, jumping, etc.). It could be both too high or too low. Accordingly, the amount of calories it says you’ve burned will be too high/low. So before adjusting the amount you eat based on the numbers your watch gives you, think again.

Health & Fitness Myth #5: Natural sugars in dates, maple sirup, etc. are healthy

Hate to break it to you: But sugar is sugar. And so is the sugar found in fruit. If you’re using dates, maple sirup or coconut sugar for baking instead of regular, refined sugar, just know that it doesn’t make a difference. The sugar is going to be metabolized in the same exact way. There is a good thing about using fruit etc. to sweeten food with: The fibre, polyphenols (formerly known as antioxidants), and micronutrients (vitamins/minerals). Refined sugar obviously doesn’t have any of that. But just because dates have a lot of fibre it doesn’t mean you should eat tonnes and tonnes of them. They still contain a lot of sugar, making them very calorically dense (plus your dentist probably wouldn’t be too happy either).

I do like to use bananas for sweetness, for example when making brownies. But I don’t think of them as healthy brownies because of it. I rather see them as “less unhealthy”. Which to me, is a big difference. Some people might get fooled into believing they could eat unlimited amounts of these “healthy brownies”, which simply isn’t true. Regardless of where the sugar comes from, you should limit you intake.

Health & Fitness Myth #6: Fruit smoothies or smoothie bowls are healthy

Continuing on from health & fitness myth #5, smoothies/smoothie bowls that just contain fruit aren’t healthy. Yes, they contain a lot of different fruits, that have a lot of different micronutrients. But you know what else they have? A lot of sugar. I’m not saying you should never have a smoothie again. What I’m saying is to balance it out. Instead of adding 5 different fruits, go for 1-2, and add some veggies/leafy greens in there. To make it a balanced meal, add a source of protein and fat. For your protein you could try (soy-)yoghurt, silken tofu, milk or protein powder. For fats use avocados or nuts and seeds. Not only is it going to decrease the blood sugar spike, but it’s also going to keep you full for longer.

Health & Fitness Myth #7: Juice cleanses detox your body

You probably already know where this is going, but let me write it out: You do NOT need expensive juices to “detox” your body. Why would you need to detox your body anyway? Yes, there are things in our food that aren’t great for our bodies. But that stuff doesn’t build up inside us. Not if you have healthy kidneys & a working liver. They do all the detoxing – for free! No need for overpriced juices, which once again aren’t really healthy in and off itself. Since they are made up of lots of fruit (+ veggies/greens), they contain a lot of sugar/carbs, but barely any protein and fat. How very unbalanced. If you really feel like you need to detox your body, say after Christmas or a holiday with an “All you can eat”-buffet, just stick to whole foods and drink enough water. Same effect, only better. And cheaper.

Health & Fitness Myth # 8: Lifting weights is going to make you bulky

A lot of women are afraid of lifting weights or doing any sort of strength training, as they fear to get very bulky. Instead of increasing the weight, they stick to high reps and/or body weight exercises. Of course that’s fine if it’s what you want to do. But rest assured: Just because you use weights during your training doesn’t mean you’re going to get bulky. And if you’re still on the fence about it, ask a “bulky” man (or woman), how long it took to build all that muscle. Point is: It doesn’t happen over night. You won’t wake up the next morning looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even though some people might dream for that to happen.

Of course you are going to build some muscle if your training with weights – but isn’t that the point of strength training? You should be afraid to use them though. If you do actually find you’re getting too bulky, increase the weight. Simple as that. And for women, building muscle is a lot harder than for men, due to the hormones. So if you do enjoy lifting weights, go ahead!

That’s it!

As you can see, there are a lot of health & fitness myths/rumors around. You bust one, another one pops up. There’s nothing wrong with taking health and/or fitness advice from people online. But like I said, put on your thinking cap and take a critical look at “too good to be true”advice. Anecdotal evidence is fun to look at, but scientifically pretty irrelevant. Check your sources sources, their qualifications, etc. Not everybody who claims to be a health & fitness expert actually is one. And especially do your research before spending money on any miracle diet or fitness plan!

If you have any other health or fitness myths to bust, please let me know in the comments! There obviously are so many, so in this post, I focused on the ones I come across most frequently.

Lots of Love,

Lena