5 Fat Loss Myths You Probably Believe
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Are you tired of falling victim to misleading fat-loss advice?
Join me in this episode of Embrace Your Real podcast as we sift through the noise and uncover the truth about fat loss. We'll explore five prevalent myths surrounding fat loss and provide actionable insights to help you navigate your health journey with confidence and clarity. Tune in and walk away with a newfound understanding of fat loss, armed with evidence-based strategies to guide you towards your fitness goals.
What I discuss:
Myth #1: Spot Reduction is Possible
Myth #2: Cardio is King for Fat Loss
Myth #3: Skipping meals is the key to more fat loss.
Myth #4: Fat loss supplements will expedite results…
Myth #5: Fat loss can happen over night.
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human you're listening to Embrace Your Real With Me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I get you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:27][21.0]
[00:00:27] Welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your podcast. Five Fat Loss Myths That You probably believe. Or maybe you have believed, or maybe you didn't even realize that you were believing and you've fallen into that trap. I think that it's important to talk about this because we desperately need to bust through them so that you can finally feel good in your body. You can finally reach the goals that you have, and you can feel energized. You can feel confident in your skin, and you can do it in a sustainable way. Right. And I think that it's so important that these things are talked about, because you can go on to Google and you can Google fat loss. And I will tell you, I mean, the pages that I see on Google that are advertised in page one, page two, page three, even, you know, the first 15 pages of Google when you type in how do I lose fat? They are so contradicting and there are so many articles that are just they will leave you feeling so discouraged or confused. And so that's why I want to dive into evidence based studies and research to find out the truth about fat loss, so that you can learn the strategies that actually work so that you can finally stop yo yo dieting falling off the wagon. We, you know, with your workouts, with your nutrition so that you can build the body that you want and only build the body that you want, but sustain it long term. [00:01:53][84.4]
[00:01:53] So that's what we're going to be talking about. Five fat loss miss you probably believe in today's episode. Before we dive in though, I want to share this review. It comes from embracing my real 24. I love this so much. You give a five star review and said, best podcast. I am not a podcast person. I love listening to music and jamming out. However, when I found Embrace Y'all, I haven't stopped. I've been listening for a while and I haven't left your review yet because literally there are no words to describe this podcast. And Julie, I struggle daily with body image and try to eat right, but Julie is such an encouraging voice to let us all know that we can. We can do anything that we put our minds to. I love how she incorporates her faith and God into these podcasts as well. She is motivated me to spend time alone with God and listen. I have a long way to go yet, but thanks to Julie, I know that I will reach my goals. I could probably write pages on how amazing this podcast is, but I'll stop here. Thank you Julie for your knowledge, your humbleness and your faith. Keep doing what God gave you. Love you so much! Oh my gosh, I love this so much. This your words mean so much to me. Like every time you guys take time out of your day to send a direct message, to send in a review, to send in a comment on Facebook or Instagram or wherever. I just want you to know that I genuinely appreciate this community so much, because I feel like on Instagram and other social media platforms, it's just these small snippets, whereas the podcasts I'm really able to kind of speak my mind, I'm able to speak my heart and, you know, share whether it's a piece of encouragement, it's empowering you in some way, shape or form, or I'm able to really break down, like in today's episode, just giving you education, like breaking down, getting to the nitty gritty and scientific evidence so that you can feel like you are empowered. [00:03:34][100.8]
[00:03:35] Because one of the things that I've learned on this journey, unexpectedly, is that knowledge is power, and knowledge makes you feel so much more confident. When you are knowledgeable about something, you feel like you can actually accomplish it. You feel like you can actually be in a room and talk about it with other people and not feel like you're shying away from it. And so I just love that you guys are tuning in to the podcast. And genuinely when I say, like, you guys are my people, this embrace your community who tune in to the podcast week in and week out. I love you guys so dang much. I wish I could hug every single one of you guys faces and talk to you maybe one day, but for now, this will do. And thank you again for tuning in. Okay, so let's bust these top fat loss myths. Myth number one spot reduction is possible. This gives me the EBS fact. Spot reduction is not possible. Okay. If someone tells you that it is, they're lying to you. They are lying to you. I know we've all been there, you know, staring at stubborn places on our body where it seems, you know, it loves to hold extra fat, whether that be around our thighs, our belly, and all we can think about is targeting that specific area with specific exercises so that we can get rid of that area. I mean, I remember those infomercials growing up where they made it look so easy, right? They'd promise sculpted abs or, you know, with endless sets of crunches or toned thighs with these countless like, lifts with ankle weights or these magazine covers saying like get toned abs with these three moves. And the reality is, and the truth is that fat loss doesn't work like magic. [00:05:12][96.8]
[00:05:12] I know we wish it did, but that's not how it works. Here's the science behind that myth our bodies don't burn fat from specific areas in response to exercise. Yes, exercises like crunches. Like lifts that can stretch. Then those targeted muscles, but they won't necessarily lead to fat loss in those isolated areas, building muscle and losing fat. Those are two totally different things, right? Fat loss happens holistically, meaning that your body sheds fat stores from various areas throughout your body as you create a caloric deficit through exercise and nutrition. Let me repeat that again. Fat loss happens holistically, meaning that your body sheds fat stores from various areas throughout your body as you create a caloric deficit through exercise and nutrition. And this is where genetics actually plays a role in fat loss. Genetics don't tell you if you have fat, but it does determine where you carry the most fat. Right? Some people hold fat in their thighs while other people hold fat in their core. You will need to reduce total body fat overall in order to get fat off the area that you want most. You will need to reduce total body fat overall in order to get fat off the area that you want most. Okay. I want to ingrain that, and I say it twice because I want you to know that truth. Because I know that we have all been led to believe at one time or another, or maybe we still believe it, that we can specifically target areas for fat loss. And that's just not the case. We so what do we do instead? You're like, hey, you're discouraging me now because you're telling me that I can't target specific areas and that's all that I want. [00:06:53][101.3]
[00:06:54] But what you can do is you can really embrace compound movements. Embrace those compound movements instead of chasing these, you know, elusive spot reduction exercises that you're seeing all over target, you know, targeted on TikTok or Pinterest or wherever you're seeing it. Compound exercises and movements. Those are the exercises that target multiple large muscle groups. And one movement. It's the exact opposite of spot reduction exercises, right? These compound movements include things like squats, lunges, rows. These are exercises that engage again multiple muscle groups at once, leading to more efficient calorie burn. And this overall increase in calorie expenditure contributes to fat loss from various parts of your body, not just the exercise area. And so that's why you'll notice if you are doing my workouts and movement with Julie, we do these compound movements on a regular basis. You know we do squats. We do deadlifts. We do these movements that are targeting multiple different areas of your body. In this one movement, especially in our full body days, you'll see those we do movements that target glutes, hamstrings, core, shoulders I mean all of these things. And that's why you'll see me both program the compound exercises as well as isolated movements. And there are still many benefits to isolated exercises. People say this all the time. They say, well, if compound movements are queen, why do I need isolated exercises? Isolated exercises are still so beneficial because they can really, you know, specifically strengthen that muscle group, which is why we still do, you know, concentrated bicep curls. We still do calf raises, which I've taken your advice, ladies, and I'm programing calf exercises more. And actually we're doing these, you know, tricep kickbacks, these movements that are specifically targeting muscles to not reduce them in fat, but to strengthen that muscle group. [00:08:53][119.0]
[00:08:54] And just remember that the problem arises when you think that working one specific muscle group that's going to actually target fat loss, right? That's not going to target fat loss, that's going to strengthen a muscle. Your whole body works together, and you need to work all the different muscles in your body in order to lose fat. And this also nutrition plays a huge, huge role in this. And making sure that you are properly feeling your body so that you can lose body fat overall in your body, which will then thus over time lead to reduction in fat loss in those specific areas. Again, you can't say, hey, I want to lose fat right now in my course. So I'm going to just do all these crunches. And then you're wondering why you still have not lost fat in your core. You can strengthen that muscle, and that's not a bad thing. But just remember that overall fat loss is what's going to be key in here. Myth number two cardio is king for fat loss. So we kind of briefly touched about this just previously in myth one. But I want to take a deeper dive into this because this is something that I was led to believe for years, countless hours pounding the pavement, logging the miles on the elliptical trainer. Yes, that might seem like the ultimate path to weight loss, but remember that cardio isn't the fat burning king. It just isn't, and it will never be. Sheer cardio is fantastic for burning calories during your workout. It can help get your heart rate up. It can increase your blood flow. It can help you torch some serious energy. And don't get me wrong, there's so many. Cardiovascular benefits to cardio, but it's just not going to build the body that you want. [00:10:31][97.3]
[00:10:32] If you are wanting to strengthen your body overall, and oftentimes I hear people say, what are your goals? And they just say, I want to be lean and tone. Okay, well, when you say you want to be lean and tone, that means you have to build muscle. And it also means that you have to lose body fat in order for you to see the muscle that you built. And the biggest reason why cardio is not king for fat loss is because the calorie burning effects of cardio tend to taper off the moment that you stop doing that cardiovascular exercise, whereas when you do resistance training, the calories that you're burning are around the clock. So you stop doing your resistance training. Your body is still burning those calories from doing those resistance training exercises. So if you love cardio and don't want to give that up, that's totally fine. But I just want to encourage you to not rely on it for solely for fat loss. And you'll need to make sure that you're incorporating resistance training into the mix to ensure that you want to see the results that you ultimately want to see. And here's why. Again, resistance training builds muscle, cardio doesn't. And we want to build muscle for fat because muscle tissue is metabolically active. I've been talking about this a lot in previous episodes recently, but this means that it burns calories even at rest. And the more muscle mass that you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate as your BMR, which is the number that your body burns simply to function throughout the day. So by incorporating strength training into your regular workout routine, you're essentially building a calorie burning engine that keeps you like keeps working even after you stopped working right when you're not actively exercising, which translates to overall more calorie burn and a more efficient metabolism. [00:12:16][104.7]
[00:12:17] Making strength training powerful in terms of your fat loss journey. And so this is why I am such a big believer on dumbbell workouts for women. I love them so, so much and I will never dog on people who love cardio. I think if the best form of movement for you is the form of movement that you love. But I will tell people now if you want to, and you have fat loss goals and you want to have that lean tone look, you want to achieve that, you can absolutely still do cardio, but you're going to need to supplement some resistance training in there as well. And just make sure that you're not overdoing it. Because remember, ultimately, consistency is what leads to results. And so oftentimes when people are only doing cardio and then they start to implement resistance training into their weekly workouts, they don't lessen the cardio at all. They just up and do more resistance training, which leads them to doing way more workouts than maybe they're used to. And as a result, they get burned out very quickly and they don't stick with it long term. And just remember that ultimately, for you to see results, you got to stick with that long term. So finding that balance of resistance training and cardio is going to be key for you. Myth number three skipping meals is the key to more fat loss. Let's be real the idea of starving yourself or skipping meals is a shortcut to fat loss is just. It's a common misconception. And while yes, you might see a dip in the scale initially due to water weight loss, this approach backfires in the long run. In fact, this is the number one reason why people lose weight so fast is because they just lost the waterway, not fat. [00:13:51][93.4]
[00:13:51] And so let's kind of dive into why skipping meals isn't necessarily the answer to fat loss. So while there is science on intermittent fasting for fat loss, I rarely see women do it in a healthy way that's actually going to propel them forward on their fat loss journey. I see most women use intermittent fasting as a way to kind of eat as little as possible without nourishing their bodies with what it actually needs, right? What often happens is when they deprive their body of these macronutrients for extended periods of time, their body enters into a starvation mode for lack of a better term. And when this happens, your metabolism, the rate at which your body burns calories, actually slows down in an attempt to conserve energy. And this is what makes it harder to burn calories and lose weight in the long run, right? Most intermittent fasting experts these days actually say that women need to be very careful when fasting, especially because our hormones and metabolism are very sensitive. And while men can successfully do, you know, 16 hour fast daily, this can backfire for many women. And they are, you know, fasting to burn fat, but then it actually triggers them to hold on to fat instead. So if you kind of do the intermittent fasting routine, just pay attention to your body. Many experts say that you know, just 12 hour fast are beneficial for women. They don't need more. This is, you know, like stopping eating at 8 p.m. and eating breakfast at 8 a.m.. And so maybe some of you guys naturally do that already. But just there is there's a lot more research coming out in terms of intermittent fasting for women. So it's definitely something to look into if this is a route that you want to go. [00:15:21][89.6]
[00:15:22] And then for those who skip meals as a way to eat less throughout the day, this is also not going to be. The solution, right? When your body doesn't get enough energy from food, it starts breaking down muscle tissue for fuel. And as I said, muscle is metabolically active, meaning that it burns calories even at rest. This means, you know, losing muscle mass further hinders your metabolism and makes it even harder to lose fat, and this can lead to some serious chaos. Skipping meals can lead to uncontrollable cravings later in the day. It can trigger to unhealthy food choices and overeating and under eating and all of that yo yo cycle that you might find yourself in. So what do we do instead? Well, first of all, don't live in a caloric deficit for an extended period of time. This is number one. And I talk about this a lot in the podcast. It's why there's four different phases of macro counting. You need to be cycling through them on a regular basis. You know, sometimes people will stay in the maintenance mode for, you know, even a year. And that's totally fine. I mean, you're literally living at maintenance, so you're not in a body fat loss, you're not in a surplus. But there's four phases a macro counting. And so it's important that you're not just living in a Clark deficit phase. That is a phase for a reason. Making sure that you're, you know, giving your body the adequate amount of macronutrients that it needs daily to keep your metabolism thriving. Aim to, you know, aim for three balanced meals, a few snacks throughout the day that's going to help keep your cravings at bay. Help prime your body for fat burning because it's actually getting the macronutrients that it needs daily. [00:16:50][88.6]
[00:16:51] And if you do decide to intermittent fast again, I need you to really research this for yourself. If you're doing it because you just don't want to eat for an extended period of time. I'm going to discourage you 100%. Intermittent fasting should not be related in any way, shape, or form with your relationship with food. And if you struggled in the past with under eating or, you know, not fueling your body properly, I would discourage you from going straight into intermittent fasting. But if that is a route that you want to go aim for, you know, 12 hours and see how your body feels. More is not always better for women. Fasting included. Myth number four fat loss supplements will expedite results. Whoo hoo! We're getting in some popcorn here. We've all seen them advertise those miracle pills. Promising, you know, effortless fat loss. The truth is, there is no magic bullet when it comes to fat loss. None. The reality is, supplements can be tools in your toolbox for things like boosting your vitamins, your minerals daily, giving you overall more energy because you have those vitamins and minerals in your body. But there isn't one supplement that's going to melt fat off of your body. And if there's a person that tells you that there is, they're lying to you. They're lying to you because they're trying to make money. Right? It's a great marketing plan that has been put in place. The fitness industry brings in billions and billions of dollars every single year because they're lying to you. They are fueling and feeding off of your insecurities. And just remember that marketing doesn't equal facts. And the fact is that fat supplements are not the answer. The supplement industry is, especially in the US, is not highly regulated. [00:18:37][106.6]
[00:18:38] Some supplements might be completely ineffective or even unsafe, and no one is really monitoring their ingredients or their claims, which is absolutely crazy and asinine to think. But the United States does not regulate supplements as closely as some other countries do. So what do you do instead? I always tell people supplements make less than a 3 to 5% difference. So instead I need you to focus on your macronutrients. I need you to focus on how much protein, how much fat, how many carbs you are eating on a daily basis, rather than what supplements you are taking, really dialing in your food intake. That's going to give you the best results, better than any result that any supplement could ever give you. And when you are providing your body with the proper amount of protein, carbs, and fats each day, this is where the magic happens, right? If you want a magical tool, it's really properly fueling your body through utilizing the 12 macro counting. And the beautiful thing about that is it's based on your body, based on your goals, where you're at. It's not a one size fits all, right. It's not oh, so-and-so who's also five eight and who also works out five times a week. This is what she's eating. So I'm going to eat that. No different age, different height, different, maybe even the same height, maybe the same workout. But are you guys doing the same intensity in your workouts? There are so many factors that go into figuring out your customized macronutrients, which is why this is such a personalized approach. And lastly, myth number five fat loss can happen overnight. The fact of the matter is, this is just not true. Fat loss is a process. It's our idea that we can lose fat overnight. [00:20:14][96.0]
[00:20:15] That's that's what triggers us to yo yo diet, to take these drastic measures that aren't sustainable, that are leading us down this path to a damaged metabolism. And even being further away from where we want to be. If we let go of this idea that fat loss will happen overnight, we can start to make room and build sustainable habits that we can maintain long term. So we can see results and we can see real results that actually lasts. So instead of looking towards the quick fixes, I want you to focus on properly fueling your body through utilizing the 12 macro counting, I want you to focus on prioritizing resistance training, dumbbell workouts, and building a sustainable lifestyle. Those are the three things that you need at the end of the day, to lose the body that you want. Focus on properly fueling your body through utilizing the 12 macro counting. Really prioritize those resistance training and then focus on habits that will help you build a sustainable lifestyle. The mindset tips that the daily habits that you are doing that will help you to ensure that you stick with this long term. So let me kind of recap what those five minutes are that we talked about in today's episode. Myth number one spot reduction is possible. Number two, cardio is king for fat loss. Myth number three skipping meals is the key to more fat loss. Myth number four fat loss supplements will expedite the results. And lastly, myth number five fat loss can happen overnight. Again every single one of those that I just mentioned. Those are myths. The real way, the sustainable way to fat loss is through consistency with resistance training and through utilizing the 12 macro counting. You can easily start this journey. [00:21:59][104.7]
[00:22:00] I have two resources for you. Number one, the best way for you to start resistance training is through utilizing my weekly workouts on my Meet with Julie app. So five brand new workouts are released every single Saturday at 12 p.m. out in standard time. We have lower body, upper body, cardio and core, shoulders and glutes and full body. You can do all five of them. You can do two of them. You can do three of them. There are 60 and 30 minute variations for every single workout. So depending on your time constraints, you can get a workout in and trust that you are working every single muscle group effectively and efficiently. There's video demos for every single movement. You can track and logger weights within the app so that you can track and implement progressive overload. We just recently in 2024, I started the move of the month. This is where we focus on, you know, on a lower body. So for example, in the month of March, we previously just focus on static reverse lunges. So every single week you'll see that programed in there. And you are able to really work on your form. You're able to work on in increasing that weight, increasing that volume. So either your weight and or your reps or sets. And it really just allows you the confidence to build muscle because like I had mentioned, muscle is ultimately what you are likely looking for. When you say, I want this toned, lean look, you need to build muscle. You got to shed the body fat in order for you to achieve that look. And and so resistance training is a great way to do that. You can check out the website and sign up. Get 50% off your first month as a brand new subscriber by going to sale. [00:23:39][99.4]
[00:23:40] That's Sally Dot moon with julie.com. And then in terms of your nutrition, we have a macro counting mean simple online academy that's going to teach you everything that you need to know about how to properly fuel your body through utilizing the 12 macro counting. So I'll go ahead and link back our counting mean simple.com in the show notes as well. I hope that this was helpful for you. I hope that you maybe found something new, or you are just reminded of these truths because I think that, you know, even if you knew these things, I think it's so easy to fall back into the cycle or fall back into the marketing ploy that we are constantly bombarded with on social media of you can lose, you know, 5 pounds in a week, you can lose 25 pounds in a month. And that's just not realistic. And I want more than anything for you this year to feel like you have the tools that you need to achieve a sustainable lifestyle. Like, I believe that is ultimately what's going to lead you down this path of feeling so confident in your body and so empowered in your own skin. And so that's why I'm putting out these podcast episodes. So hopefully you found this helpful. If you have a friend, a coworker, or somebody in your life that you feel like could really benefit from this specific episode, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can copy the link, send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so dang much. I mean, I'll talk to in the next one. [00:25:01][81.1]
[00:25:01]All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:25:55][0.0]