The 8 biggest fat loss myths -#7

Myth: DIETARY CHANGES FOR HEALTH AND WEIGHT LOSS ARE ONE AND THE SAME

There's a big difference between the health benefits and body composition benefits you can get from eating certain foods. This is called the health-body fat paradox.

High body fat usually comes with a cluster of other health problems, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and high triglycerides. The first part of the health-body fat paradox is that you can actually be healthy while having unwanted excess body fat, and you can be lean while experiencing major health problems. The ideal is lean and healthy, not one or the other.

The second part of the paradox is that you could eat white sugar, white flour, or virtually any other junk food you can think of, and if you consume only small amounts so that you remain in a calorie deficit, you'll still lose body fat. Conversely, you can be a clean-eating fanatic and cut all of the refined foods out of your diet, and while you will get health benefits from that, if you are in a calorie surplus, you'll still gain body fat.

Weight gain or loss is dictated primarily by calorie QUANTITY. Health is determined by calorie QUALITY. The ideal is the right combination of calorie quantity and calorie quality, not one or the other.

When you understand the health-body fat paradox, you'll be able to strike the right balance between calorie quality and calorie quantity. You'll also understand when a recommendation is made for health purposes as compared to weight loss purposes. They usually overlap, but they're not always the same.