3 Major Weight Loss Myths Exposed !

It is not surprising  to hear there is a great deal of confusion around nutrition. In fact, many people reading this article will have only a scant idea about the different food types and what our body actually needs to keepin good shape.

One of the simplest systems I’ve encountered is this. If the food tastes good, then it has to be ‘bad’ for you! And then there’s its counterpart, “If the food tastes ‘bad’ then it must be ‘good’ for you”. You may identify with these views, or some closely related version! Nutrition for some folks has been reduced to a concept of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ with little else.

Some common weight loss myths that people believe – which aren’t true!

Myth #1: Cutting down on portion size is the best way to lose weight. Not on its own. If you attempt to lose weight by just eating less, you are likely to gain the weight back. Lasting results will come from changing the types of foods you consume, not just the amounts.

Myth #2: Just cut out fat and you’ll lose weight. This approach to weight loss, popular in the 80s, simply doesn’t work for most people. Even if a food is labeled “fat-free,” it can still be high in calories from sugar and hidden carbs. Effective weight loss comes from being mindful of your total calorie consumption as well as your fat intake.

Myth #3: Cutting calories causes your body to go into starvation mode and slows down weight loss process. This is untrue. Your body’s resting metabolic rate can vary by about 15%. Nevertheless, eating too few calories and an inadequate amount of protein can make you lose precious lean muscle mass, which will eventually slow metabolism, for the long term. Ideally, stick to the calorie and protein amounts that are right for your body !

Natural Weight Loss is a REALLY simple concept

The concept that underpins weight loss or indeed weight gain is a

very simple one.
Every human being at every stage of their life needs to take in a certain amount of energy in order to get through the day. This energy comes from the nutrition that we take in, in the form of the food we eat or the liquids we drink, and is generally measured in terms of calories or kilocalories. There is a slight difference between the specific meaning accorded to these two terms, with the latter being favored by professional nutritionists, but for the purposes of this post, I am going to use calories as an all-encompassing unit of food energy.
While every individual is different, you need a certain amount of food energy calories every day to satisfy your own personal energy requirements. These requirements will vary according to the amount of physical work you do, how much exercise you take, the speed at which your body burns the energy you are taking on board (your metabolic rate) and your general lifestyle.
However, at the end of the day, if you take on board the right amount of calories every day, your weight will stay stable and you will in general remain healthy.
If you take in too much energy, you will put weight on, but if you take in too little, you will see the opposite effect and lose weight.
It really is as straightforward as this.
You will see diet plans that recommend that you must cut down on your carbohydrates in order to lose weight, with other diet ‘experts’ on the opposite side of the fence who swear that the only way to lose weight is to reduce the amount of fats in your diet.
However, no matter what type of food you are eating for energy (which includes both carbohydrates and fats), you are going to keep getting fatter as long as you are taking in more energy than you burning. Thus, you will only lose weight if you are taking in less energy than you need.
That really is it. That is how you lose weight naturally – you ingest less energy than you need every day, and the fat will gradually fall off.

How Can You Set an Ideal Weight Loss Goal Scientifically?

How to set the Ideal weight loss goals based on Body Fat Percentage Rather than BMI?

What is Body Fat Percentage ?

The body fat percentage is the total weight of fat divided by total weight; body fat includes essential body fat and storage body fat. Essential body fat  means the minimal amount of fat required for survival - Anything less than this amount would mostly likely result in organ failure, but even approaching this amount of body fat is dangerous.. The percentage of essential body fat for women is greater than that for men, due to the demands of childbearing and other hormonal functions. The percentage of essential fat is 3–5% in men, and 10-16% in women
Why Should you avoid relying Only on BMI?
The Majority of people when they start their weight loss journey tend to focus  on a  weight Goal,they concentrate on getting to this goal and don't figure out that the body composition is much more important!
Your body fat percentage is a better and much more reliable indicator of your health.  There are different recommendations for body fat percentage levels, the following is coming from The American Council on Exercise.

To illustrate why Body Fat Percentage is more reliable than BMI (Body Mass Index) let's consider the Following Two Examples:
-Example 1- a Fat Skinny Woman: Emma
Let Say Emma weighs 155 Pounds and 5.5 feet tall.   Her BMI of 24.4 tells us that Emma is in a normal weight range.  However her percentage of Body fat  is 33%.  This shows That Emma is actually at the risk Zone.  She Has too much fat compared with lean mass on Her body and so She is actually at risk even though BMI tells us  she is in a normal weight  range!!

-Example 2 : in this case we will take John, a Bodybuilder that weighs 253,5 Pounds and 6,33 Feet tall,Of course this weight is muscle. John's BMI would tell us that he is obese!! and yet when he does his body fat percentage testing he has a percentage of 8%.  This actually means That John is in the athlete class and not at all obese!

The Question Now is How to Determine your ideal weight loss Goal based on Body Fat Percentage?

lets consider an illustrative example:

Sarah  is a 19-year old  marathon runner who’s training for the olympic games. She believes she could improve her performance if she drop down some pounds. Sarah  is 5 feet and 4 inches tall and now weighs 135 pounds. Her present estimated body fat is 23 percent. Her body fat goal is 15 percent.

Here’s how she would calculate her optimal weight:

135 (current weight) x 23 percent (current % body fat) = 31 pounds of fat
135 (current weight) - 31 (weight that’s fat) = 104 pounds of lean
FFM (fat-free mass) goal = 85 percent (difference between body fat goal and total body)
104 (current pounds of FFM) ÷ 85 percent = 122 (Emily’s Ideal Goal weight)
Sandra's weight-loss Ideal goal is to reach 122 pounds and reduce her percent body fat from 23 percent to 15 percent.
Here is the Scientific Formula to calculate goal weight based on percentage of body fat

Goal Weight = (Lean Body Mass)/(1-% Body Fat Goal)
Lean Body Mass = (Body Weight)-(Body Weight x % Body Fat)

The key is to remember when setting realistic weight loss goals to focuse on body fat percentage rather than total mass,it's much better and healthier indicator, The other reason is that muscle weighs more than fat and of course when you build more musle bulk you will notice a gain on the scales which is actually not bad at all because it simply means your body fat percentage has dropped and you are healthier and  sexier!
Summer is just around the corner,Folks Let's Drop Some Pounds Fast ;)