Five Nutrition & Fitness Misconceptions
Let's face it, when it comes to nutrition and fitness, there is a LOT of information out there. Eat this but don't eat that because it will cause you to gain weight... Do this workout for fat loss, but don't do it too much or you will bulk up... Needless to say, it can be exhausting and confusing to figure out what the heck you should be doing on your journey which is why I wanted to talk about five common misconceptions when it comes to your nutrition and fitness in this post. Whether or not you have done (or still do) these things, believed (or still believe) these things, I am here today to clear up the confusion and explain why you should not always believe everything you hear on the internet. Without further ado, let's jump right into #1...
1. Exercise can make up for having a poor quality diet.
Have you ever fallen guilty of thinking that you can eat whatever you want because you workout and it cancels out? Ever find yourself constantly rewarding yourself for working out with ice cream and thinking you burned enough calories to "earn" it? Ever find yourself eating that extra serving because oh you'll just "burn it off tomorrow."
Yep. I am sure we've all been there to some degree! Now don't get me wrong, I am NOT shaming you for treating yourself or thinking you earned some ice cream because the fact of the matter is that you should never have to "earn" your food or feel guilty for eating certain foods. It's the fact that you are allowing yourself to believe that as long as you are working out, you deserve these things more frequently or you are making up for what you are eating.
When it comes down to it, your diet quality DOES matter. Not only for your short term physical wellbeing, but your long term health. You can't just exercise your way to your healthiest self. What you are doing outside of the gym does matter too!
What I am saying here is that you don't have to restrict or eliminate your ice cream runs and all your other favorite foods, but maybe consider what your diet (referring to your diet as what you eat on a daily basis here) looks like on a larger scale. Are you making an excuse to eat out for lunch every day because it's the most convenient option? Is the majority of what you consume processed foods ( And I say the term processed lightly here because processed foods are not bad, it's more of their reputation and how we look at the term processed. But that's a blog post for another day..)?
At the end of the day, what you are choosing to put on your plate does matter for your overall health goals in the short and long term. Not to mention if you are choosing poor quality foods all the time, you likely physically won't feel your best either! Everything in moderation, but keep in mind what the majority of you diet looks like right now and make an effort to make small and sustainable changes with what you can ADD rather than take away from your diet.
2. Eating gluten free is healthier.
Unless you have celiac disease or an intolerance to gluten, gluten free is not the way to go. No matter if you are trying to reduce carbs from your diet or just trying to eat healthier, there are so many benefits to eating gluten containing carbohydrates and you are missing out on key nutrients if you are thinking you need to skipping out on gluten for the sake of your waistline. Vitamin D, iron, B vitamins, calcium, zinc, copper, and vitamins A, E, and K just to name a few. Now sure if you do have celiac disease or an intolerance to gluten, there are ways to supplement your diet to get these nutrients and fiber that you are missing from whole grains, but generally speaking, you don't need to remove gluten from your diet because it's the healthiest option.
3. The longer your workouts the better.
Long workouts do not equal effective workouts! No matter how many hours you are putting in the gym, it will not mean that you are going to get to your goals sooner. In fact, you may be doing more harm than good and risking injury with having too long of workouts! Your workouts should be built with the mindset that QUALITY sets, reps and rest periods are more effective than just trying to do everything and anything and burning yourself to exhaustion every single workout. You know that saying "too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing?" Exactly what applies with your workouts! Which brings me to #4...
4. No pain, no gain.. Soreness is a sign that your workout was effective.
Most people think that they need to waddle out of the gym and barely be able to sit down on the toilet the next day for it to mean that they worked hard in the gym. Again, the quality of your workouts, your ability to recover from your workouts, and how you fuel yourself is going to make for effective workouts long term. When you work out, you are creating micro-tears to your muscle fibers and your body works to repair and rebuild these to get stronger over time. If you are consistently super sore and have a hard time recovering from workouts or if you are going into your workout still very sore from your previous workout, you likely aren't optimizing your training ability and there are many factors to consider when it comes to your recovery. I am not saying that you should never ever be sore, I am saying that soreness should not be your measure of an effective workout.
5. Toning your body and spot training is possible.
Getting right to the facts here, muscles shrink and grow, they don't tone. Doing endless crunches and ab workouts will not magically give you abs or doing a million tricep extensions will not reduce the fat on the back of your arms. You unfortunately cannot spot train or choose where your body loses fat from. The "toned" look you speak of actually means having muscle on your body and low enough body fat to see it. Toning your body is often just a marketing term designed to appeal to women who don't want to get "bulky." Throwing in a sixth misconception here while I am at it to let you also know that strength training itself will not make women bulky! While we can increase our muscle mass creating that "toned" effect, I promise you will never walk around looking like the hulk. Increasing muscle mass is a great and effective way to increase the amount of calories you are burning in a day, therefore decreasing body fat mass!
I hope this post cleared up any confusion and questions you have regarding just a few of the many misconceptions when it comes to your nutrition and fitness. If you have any other myths you would like me to clear up the confusion on, head over to my instagram @balancedbynutrition and shoot me a message!
- Coach Megan
