5 Things that are Overrated for Fat Loss
By: Sean Barker, Cpt
Tags: Overrated, Weight Loss Tips, Fat Loss Nutrition, Healthy Lifestyle, Fat Loss

5 Things that are Overrated for Fat Loss

And 7 things that are underrated

Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash

Before I get to the 5 things that are overrated for fat loss, here are 7 things I believe are underrated for fat loss…

1. Greek yogurt, especially 0%, is awesome! 1 cup contains 132 calories and 19g protein. That’s a ton of protein for very few calories. Plus the important mineral calcium is proven for better bones, muscles, and metabolism.



2. Walking. It’s free (minus the cost of shoes). Almost anyone can do it at any age. It makes you feel great (especially outdoors in nature). And it’s an easy place to start if you’re feeling overwhelmed with starting some consistent exercise.



3. Hard-boiled eggs. They’re nature’s perfect protein portions and VERY difficult to overeat. You can cook them in batches and keep them in the fridge. Or you can outsource the work and buy them ready-boiled. (I like the Strubs’ pickled eggs at Costco and when they are pickled in vinegar they don’t stink ;)



4. Weight training. It’s a MUST to change the shape and strength of your body, it preserves and even builds a little muscle as you age which keeps your metabolism nice and high. It also increases bone density which is so important especially for middle-aged women. Even bodyweight exercises like squats, lunges, pushups, and planks are challenging enough resistance for most people starting off.

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5. Blueberries. (or any berries) 1 cup contains around 85 calories. Which is a lot of volume of food and nutrients for so few calories. All that fiber will fill you up, especially when paired with a high-protein food like Greek yogurt, tossed in your morning oatmeal or smoothie.



6. Water. Drink more water for better focus, mood, hunger control, and performance when you work out. Add sliced citrus fruit or naturally sweetened stevia drops for flavor.



7. Sleep. Anything less than 7 hours of quality sleep most nights will have your energy, mood, and hunger hormones out of whack. When your body is not getting enough energy from sleep, it will make you crave carbs like Cookie Monster.

Photo by Tijana Drndarski on Unsplash

Now on to what I believe is 5 things that are overrated for weight loss…

1. Meal Timing. It’s now clearly proven when you eat or how often you eat doesn’t matter for fat loss, just how much you eat. Meal timing may only have a small benefit for recovery for advanced athletes training twice a day.



2. Keto Diet. The rapid weight loss at the beginning is just water weight.

Then eating 70% fat fills you up so you don’t overeat carbs (and extra calories). It’s too low protein for my liking, is not sustainable for most people long term, and eliminating all carbs or any food group is a great way of worsening your relationship with food.



3. Running. Cardio is great for your health and to clear your mind, so you should do some form of it when you can. Just don’t rely on running for weight loss, especially if you are currently overweight (unless you want to destroy your joints). Lose the weight first with weight training and diet before you start running, not the other way around. Running also only burns calories WHILE you do it, unlike weight training that elevates your resting metabolism long after.

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4. Fat burner supplements, detoxes, and cleanses. It’s either overpriced overdosed caffeine pills that give you extra energy to exercise (along with jitters and anxiety), or any weight loss on a detox or cleanse is due to water loss, not eating extra calories or the detox diarrhea that cleans you out!



5. Intermittent fasting. The magic in not-eating is just that, you are not eating, extra calories! No matter what magic hourly eating window you eat from, you still have to eat at a calorie deficit to lose weight. If not eating after 7pm keeps you from binging on junk food while you binge on Netflix, fine. But it’s not wizardry. And when you don’t eat before bed, you are doing intermittent fasting every night for 8 hours anyway when you are asleep. Hence the name for your first meal of the day, break-fast.