Apart from purely aesthetic reasons, being overweight is also an indicator of poor health. Whilst a lean and skinny body also has the propensity to be unhealthy, a heavy body will physically harm your body. Your tendons and joints will take the brunt of your physical exertion, especially if your workout routine does more harm than good. A heavy body will also make physical activities significantly harder and more often than not, this has caused several to fall off the bandwagon to only return to their unhealthy weights.

If you wish to shed those pounds via exercise, you’d need to know what are some of the exercises that may not be as effective as you thought they were. We’ve gathered and debunked 4 myths about the relationship between weight loss and exercise, and reveal the truths behind them.

Myth 1: Belly Fat Melts Away When You Do Crunches

Crunches have been the proposed solution for those who wish to slim their waistline. It’s a popular exercise as it works out your abdomen area. However, that cannot be further than the truth.

The fact of the matter is that crunches don’t actually burn belly fats. Since they elicit and work out only a localised small group of muscles, specifically the rectus abdominis, you’re not targeting your entire belly. Furthermore, there’s very little metabolic work done, which translates to breaking down little to no fat cells. Abdominal movements, unfortunately, don’t burn stomach fat.

Myth 2: Any Form Of Exercise Is Effective For Weight Loss

Similar to how crunches are not effective when losing belly fat, not all exercises will help you in losing weight. There are exercises that are designed to lose weight, but there are several others that meant to stretch or strengthen.

The exercise that will benefit you will be those that will improve your metabolic rate. Cardio routines are especially great at increasing your metabolism. That said, ensure that you don’t overcompensate and overwork your body. High-intensity cardio exercises pose the risk of incurring musculoskeletal injuries. Rather than exposing yourself to this risk, you’d have to exercise moderately throughout the day. Especially if your body weight is heavier than most, your joints and tendons are especially vulnerable. Thus, start slow and increase the intensity in increments. For instance, rather than running, opt for a 20-30 minutes walk 3-4 times a week. You’ll notice significant weight loss in a matter of weeks!

Myth 3: An Exercise Regimen Is A License To Eat Anything

You may have adopted an exercise regime and figured out what truly works and what don’t. However, you realised that your weight hardly budges. Perhaps, you should take a look at your eating habits.

Often, many perceive that once they religiously work out, this gives them the license to eat absolutely anything. That isn’t necessarily correct. Whilst there is slightly more freedom for your dietary choices, all this means is that you don’t need to limit yourself to just salads and chicken breasts.  Review your diet and exclude harmful and unhealthy foods, such as soft drinks and desserts. Ensure that your meals are clean. Otherwise, you can have fun eating anything and everything, so long as your physical activities make up for it!

Myth 4: Once You’ve Lost Weight, You Can Put It In The Backburner

Several weight loss treatments in Singapore are popular because they promise results within a short time. And most often, they do! However, there’s a real and subtle danger that lies within rebound weight.

Apart from suffering from health conditions such as hypothyroidism, excess weight often comes from poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle. If you don’t change the latter, the chances of getting a relapse are high. Even after opting for slimming treatments, ensure that inculcate habits that will help you maintain a healthy weight. For instance, you could consider TCM slimming; it’s a natural slimming treatment without any side effects!

Whilst these 4 common myths have been debunked, you’d need to research into the types of exercises that will benefit you and your body. Have a look at the different types of muscles that are activated. Remember not to target only one type of muscles and always have various exercise regimes. It takes a while but your body will thank you for it.

For most Singaporeans, the temptation to do absolutely nothing after a long day at work often triumphs their desire to move, much less exercise. The physical and mental exhaustion often warrants a portion of time to wind down and decompress. Sometimes, this continues even in the weekends and physical activities become an item on their to-do-list but never actually pursued.

This sedentary lifestyle is easy to fall into since you literally need no effort. However, this very lifestyle possesses a threat to your health by increasing the chances of developing chronic ailments. That said, don’t be disheartened just yet! There are ways in which you can prevent and revert the consequential effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

What’s a sedentary lifestyle

In 2018 alone, a study done by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has shown that 1 in 3 Singaporeans are not active enough. Whilst more men than women are found to have engaged in physical exercise, both genders are still lacking behind the global average. On top of the fact that physical inactivity is the 4th leading risk factor for global mortality is concerning enough, Singapore’s statistics is highly worrying.

Especially for city dwellers, having a constant exercise routine is challenging. Apart from the lack of recreational time and pre-existing medical conditions, most Singaporeans would rather spend time on their mobile devices. Whilst it is definitely easier to adopt a sedentary lifestyle, your body and health may be the ones to pay the cost.

How it affects your health

Ironically, not doing anything has the propensity to bring you harm. Long periods of sitting or lounging on your couch will significantly reduce your metabolism, which makes it harder to break down fat. The weight loss plan that you thought would work, in actuality, wouldn’t give you any satisfactory results. Extended periods of inactivity will also impair your body’s ability to regulate blood sugar – basically your insulin and glucagon production – and also your blood pressure. This easily gives rise to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, especially when weight becomes a concern. It may also lead to osteoporosis and even abnormality in cell growth, aka cancer.

It’s not only your physical health that gets affected but so will your mental health. A study was done with 10,381 participants who have adopted a sedentary lifestyle. According to their findings, they concluded that an inactive lifestyle increases the chances of one developing a mental health disorder, especially depression.

Solutions to sedentary lifestyles

The only solution for physical inactivity is as straightforward as it gets: be physically active. Clock in an exercise routine that combines both cardiovascular exercises and weight training. It could be as simple as walking for 30 minutes a day and doing 30-minute sessions of push-pull trainings a week. However, if you’re dedicating the majority of your time sitting down, having a weekly routine may not even cut it. Instead, reduce your time spent being sedentary by walking to your workplace or even spending more time doing simple chores at home every single day.

If your health is already at risk, don’t panic. Figure out solutions to tackle one problem at a time. For instance, if you have gained several pounds and have trouble trying to lose weight, perhaps you may want to invest in an effective weight loss treatment. If you are trying to reduce your high blood pressure, commit to a healthier and cleaner diet. There’s no way getting around it as the majority of Singaporeans are desk jockeys but incorporate tweaks to your way of living will prove to be sufficient.

Whether it is from stumbling across the horrific truth about animal husbandry, adopting a healthier lifestyle or a viable approach for weight loss, embracing a vegetarian diet has many benefits. As with any diet/lifestyle change, making the change to be a vegetarian is not easy. Avoiding all variations of meat is challenging, especially for women as meat products are excellent choices for iron. Whilst difficult, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

To help with your diet transition, here are a few tips you can try picking up and include in your lifestyle.

1. Take It Slow

Vegetarianism can be rather daunting and jumping straight into it can give your body physical and mental stress. An all or nothing attitude may pose bane and get in the way of your progress. Instead of going 100% from the get-go, consider taking smaller steps. Implement sustainable changes such as going meatless on Mondays before transitioning to three times a week to meatless weekdays. You may also start by giving up one meat product at a time, from red meats to poultry to pork then seafood. There is no right way, just do what makes you comfortable.

Approaching vegetarianism this way also means not putting yourself in a box. You can be vegetarian today, a pescatarian tomorrow.

All change takes time and it wouldn’t do you any good if you put yourself on a pedestal. If you caught yourself slip because you were tempted by a meat dish, it does not render your previous efforts obsolete! Go easy on yourself and just go back on track the next day.

2. Seek Comfort In Familiarity

Unless you’ve adopted an all-meat diet, not eating any vegetarian dish is almost impossible. Think Margherita pizza, mushroom soup and something as simple as scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Start by jotting down some of your favourite plant-based dishes and start your journey with what you’re comfortable with. It’ll make your lifestyle change so much easier.

Vegetarian dishes need to be exotic, as seen from the examples above. Substitute your meats with vegetables and that’s it! It needs some getting used to but roasted eggplant curry tastes just as good as a chicken curry dish.

3. Meat Substitutes

If you don’t wish to let go of your favourite meat dishes, you can change them to their vegetarian versions. Satiate your meat cravings with meat substitutes. Meat substitutes used to have a bad reputation but it has come a long way since then. There is a reason why there is so much rave for the impossible meat.

Continue to try the different brands and products until you find the one that works. Some products are designed to be prepared in a certain way whilst some are versatile and will work for any type of dishes.

However, it is worth to note that just because they’re called meat substitutes, they can’t entirely substitute meat products. The vegetarian imitation will leave you disappointed if you’re hoping to get the exact same taste and texture.

 4. Cook and Experiment

Vegetarian food may have a reputation for being expensive, but it doesn’t have to be as such! Look at the all-accessible and inexpensive Indian cuisine and you’d be introduced to several scrumptious dishes!

That said, if you wish to have full reign of the flavour profile, perhaps it’s time to bring it into the kitchen! Browse through tried and tested recipes and experiment! Tweak the recipe to suit your palate! It will be an interesting opportunity to use a specific set of ingredients and make something mouth watering.

Conclusion

Being a vegetarian doesn’t have to be complicated. As with every goal, it is best to focus on the journey rather than the end goal. Revel in the feeling of being healthier, both physically and mentally. Another outcome of adopting a healthier diet also means a few pounds shed. Whilst it may not be a comprehensive weight loss plan, it is one of the important aspects!

If you’re serious in losing weight, you might want to look into perhaps opting for weight loss treatments in Singapore. Having a team of experts to guide you in your weight loss journey will make it easier and less lonely. Going for a slimming treatment will also allow you to reach your desired weight faster than if you go into it blind.

If you’ve decided to make an effort to lose weight, you might’ve realised that upon doing your research, there are several weight loss claims and advice on the internet. You might think, the more information you have, the better it is. However, there are several downsides to having so much of it. One of it is, you may easily get overwhelmed with the content. Another reason is the fact that many of these are either unproven or have been proven not to work!

To help you correct the misconceptions and conjure a more effective weight loss plan, we’ve gathered the 3 most common weight loss myths and have debunked them for you!

1. Obesity Is The Result Of The Lack Of Willpower

It’d be tone-deaf to merely chuck obesity as a result of the lack of willpower and dismiss the role of genetics and biology. The body has numerous hormones and biological pathways to help regulate your body weight. More often than not, those who suffer from obesity also suffer from abnormal activities in those areas and are helpless when changing their biological makeup.

For instance, an abnormality in leptin production may lead to unnaturally significant weight gain. Leptin is a signalling hormone that communicates with your hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates your appetite and food intake. The lack of this ‘satiety hormone’ translates to the inability to feel full and you’ll constantly feel starved. Eating may help to satiate your endless appetite, but only for a while, before you find yourself yearning for more.

Obesity can also be a by-product to a medical condition, for instance, depression and hypothyroidism. Thus, it is not as simple as generating enough willpower to stop obesity. Losing weight is definitely possible, even with a debilitating disorder like obesity, but it’s much harder for a few.

2. Calorie Deficit Means To Eat Less and Move More

It’s basic science: to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you what you’ve taken in. This is what we often call, calorie deficit.

While this work for many, especially those who wish to adopt a permanent healthier lifestyle, it may backfire those who have a severe weight issue. Instead, the latter will realise that they end up gaining the lost weight in a short time, especially once they’ve stopped ensuring that they’re in a constant calorie deficit. In some cases, they would gain more mass than what they initially started with.

This is due to their physiological adaptations and biochemical factors that favour weight gain. To overcome physiological weight gain, you need to change the physiology of body weight regulation. This may include taking in safe weight loss supplements, treatments and even, invasive surgery. Of course, you can also opt effective weight loss treatments that are as non-invasive as they are beneficial for your body. The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) slimming procedure, for example, is a viable option. Not only will they help to help you lose weight, but TCM slimming treatments will also boost your immunity and general health.

3. Carbs And Fats Are A No-No

The two nutrients that spark the most wariness amongst those who wish to lose weight are carbohydrates and fats. This is because low-carb diets and low-fat diets can indeed aid in weight loss.

That said, do not jump in straight into these diet fads. Carbohydrates and fats are not the sole culprits to your weight gain, especially if you have them in moderate amounts. In fact, your body needs these two nutrients. Carbohydrates provide energy for your cells and help to maintain blood glucose. Your body needs fats to not only keep you warm but also produce important hormones and absorb some nutrients.

What you can do instead is incorporate complex carbohydrates such as wheat and whole grain, and healthy fats into your dietary intake instead.

Conclusion

If you’re looking into losing weight, you must’ve heard a few of these myths and you may have decided to plan your weight loss plan according to these myths.

The bottom line is, the one aspect that you should prioritise during this journey is the relationship you have with food, your body and your weight. Building and manifesting a healthy relationship between these three aspects will not only give you good physical results in the long run, but this will bleed into the other aspects of your life.

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