Here are 6 myths about weight loss

Exercise before breakfast? Don’t eat late at night? There is plenty of advice on how to lose weight, but not all of it works in practice. Here are six tips that are not backed up by evidence.

Don’t eat late at night

There is some truth in this: the body is better at processing nutrients and energy during the day. In other words, it is better to eat during daylight hours if you have to choose.

But when it comes to weight loss, the most important thing is not when you eat, but what you eat.

The body’s energy balance extends over a longer period than just a few hours, so if you want to lose weight, you need to make sure you burn more calories than you consume on a daily basis.

Exercise before breakfast

A real classic that also contains some truth. The fact is that you can burn more fat in the short term if you exercise before breakfast than if you do it afterwards.

But just as it is your energy intake over the entire day that matters, it is not when you exercise that is important, but that you do it. In the long term, there is simply no evidence that people who exercise before breakfast lose more weight over time than those who do not.

Train for “lean” muscles

Are you muscular and want to lose weight by reducing your muscle mass? Then strength training with lighter weights and lots of repetitions won’t work.

If you want to get rid of muscle mass and achieve leaner muscles, you need to stop strength training and consume fewer calories than before. But the question is why you would want to do that, when what happens is that the muscles in your body take up less space and are replaced by fat.

Eat less at a time

This is not about eating less overall, but rather the “trick” is to eat more often but in smaller amounts at a time.

However, there is no research to suggest that this is more effective than any other approach for those who want to lose weight. There are studies that indicate that eating very few meals per day, one or two, increases hunger during the rest of the day, which can increase the risk of consuming more energy than planned.

But from a longer-term perspective, the number of meals does not play a significant role.

You must eat breakfast

Let’s take a step back: for your energy balance, it doesn’t really matter when you eat or how many meals you eat per day. According to current research, the idea that breakfast has a magical effect on weight loss is simply not true.

Eat breakfast if you want to, skip breakfast if you prefer.

Older people can’t lose weight

It can be a little more difficult, as our metabolism often slows down as we get older. This means we burn fewer calories each day.

But it is far from impossible to lose weight, regardless of age. Among other things, a British study from 2020 showed that people over 60 actually lost more weight than those who were younger.

In addition, you can prevent your metabolism from slowing down with age by continuing to be physically active.

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*Weight loss is individual, so we cannot guarantee how much/how quickly you will reach your goal. The important thing is all the health benefits. We distance ourselves from unhealthy ideals and crash diets, and do not recommend calorie counting if you are underweight, ill, or pregnant.