Weight loss myths are misleading

I grew up as a fat kid in the pre-internet era where knowledge sharing was extremely limited and most of what you can rely on were misinformation. Weight loss tips were largely from the adults that surround you, like whatever your parents may have heard or were raised to believe! Back in the day, if you want to lose weight – you would be given a list of what not to eat: no carbs, no desserts or sweets, no salt, not much sauce or flavour on your food – nothing. Weight loss felt like living a very sad life!

Unfortunately, some of these misconceptions, I still carry to date. And it’s also not easy where in this day and age, it’s quite the opposite with internet, you get information overload and proliferation of news or facts that aren’t necessarily true!

So I thought I’d do an experiment and see if I could debunk 3 most popular myths on weight loss. My goal was to maintain my weight – or even lose, that be a bonus! I started this experiment at 66kg, in Aug 1 2020.

Myth No.1: No Carbs!

We’ve all been told to stop eating carbs if we want to lose weight. It was a love-hate relationship. And since desperate times call for desperate measures, I once stopped removing carbs off my menu for as long as 6 months.

My Experiment: I continued eating carbs. And I had carbs every single day. Carbs that are either from pumpkins/ vegetables. I would also eat dimsum and bao/ pao from my favourite Chinese restaurants. I also had freshly baked bread from time to time (buns, mostly).

What I did differently: I was conscious in maintaining my total caloric intake. Despite eating few pieces of dimsum or few slices of bread a day – it was well within my caloric intake of 2,500/day.

There is no reason to cut carbs completely from your diet during weight loss

Myth No.2: No Sweets!

How can you say NO to food that brings you happiness?! It wasn’t easy. And often, people fall out of their programs because of deprivation. Once you feel deprived, it’s not going to be easy to sustain whatever program you’re on.

My Experiment: I continued eating desserts. I was happily enjoying my fruits every day: from pineapples, cantaloupe, watermelon, about 300g to 400g a sitting. At times, I would also get my happiness from jello. And pushing it further, I would also have 1-2 pieces of my favourite pastry or M&S biscuit every day. No judgment, it was all part of an experiment!

What I did differently: I did not deprive myself of desserts. But it was extremely helpful that my main meals were mostly vegetables (carrots, cabbages, broccoli, mushrooms, radish, bean sprouts – either in soup or stir-fry), which are very filling, yet super light on calories. I started to love veggies more coz they’d fill me up yet let me eat my favourite treats.

Top tip: use fruits and berries to curb your craving for sweets

Myth No.3: Sweat It Out!

I’m not sure if it’s just in the Asian culture, but I grew up believing that sweat is highly associated with fat loss. The more you sweat, the more it feels like you’re on the right track – and maybe from time to time, even reward yourself with a cheat treat (which often ends up having more calories that what you’ve burned!).

My Experiment: I stopped running or doing any form of HIIT. I saw myself transitioning from running 10km/hr speed, down to using the elliptical and drastically went further to just walking on a light speed of 5.5km/hr every day.

What I did differently: Walking at 5.5km/hr, my heart rate was still higher than my resting rate, between 80-120bpm (my resting heart rate sits at 55bpm), but there wasn’t sweat involved at all. Instead of sweating off, I was walking on more extended distance/ time – that made me burn more calories over time. Running for an hour versus walking for 2 hours – naturally kept me on maintenance weight.

Weight loss does not necessarily require intense workouts

Result of the Experiment

Three months after the experiment, by November 1, 2020 – I stand at 64.5kg, which means I’ve maintained my weight without having to deprive myself! How cool is that. I know our bodies would respond differently to these tests, but it’s interesting how I’ve managed to debunk these weight loss myths.

At the end of the day - it’s all about Calories in, Calories out. It’s really what you put in versus what you burn, and as long as you’re in caloric maintenance or even deficit – then eating carbs or some tasty treats would be no harm!

3 Reasons Why You Should Try This Experiment?

1. If you’re prone to injury, then this would work well for you. I’ve had this misconception that only when I work out extremely and strenuously hard can I achieve great results. It wasn’t entirely the case after this experiment and best, I was relatively low risk from injuries compared to what I typically faced back then with crossfit, weight-lifting or even extended running!

2. If you don’t want to be gaunt-looking, this one’s for you. The act of intense running doesn’t really make your skin sag but sometimes, the rate by which we lose weight is faster than our skin can adjust thus you would have seen runners or some athletes with droopy faces that doesn’t look as youthful. The experiment was more subtle and not as abrupt and that probably played a huge part.

3. If you’re stressed out – well this is something to keep your mind at peace. With the easing of restrictions in most countries, we finally have access to nature parks and walking paths! I found walking on extended hours very calming – like I’m able to free my mind off all things chaotic, allowing me to manage my stress scores! If you haven’t started the healthy habit of measuring your scores daily, do check out and download the free fingertip stress scan from Healthzilla App here.

De-stressing with yoga or meditation is a good way to keep calm and focused during your weight loss project

Debunking Top 3 Weight Loss Myths