Achieving and maintaining fitness and good health is a comprehensive process that is deeply affected by an individual’s lifestyle. That includes following the right diet and exercising, among other things.
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While there are many popular notions on the subject, especially at a time when user-generated content has taken over the internet, not all of them hold up when put to the test in real life. This goes the other way as well.
Taking to Instagram on January 17, Dr Spencer Nadolsky, an obesity specialist with 11 years of experience, shared three hard facts about weight loss which people find hard to believe.
1. There is no fat-burning diet
It is not possible to lose fat just by following a magic diet, shared Dr Nadolsky, adding, “There is only a diet you can actually live with.”
The best diet plan for an individual is the one that keeps them full, nourished, energised, and consistent. If a diet makes a person miserable, hungry, or weak, it is poorly designed and not because of the individual’s lack of willpower.
2. Your “goal weight” is probably wrong
According to Dr Nadolsky, most people chase a number while picking up their goal body weight without considering muscle, body composition, strength, or how they feel day to day.
“Health isn’t a scale weight,” he noted. “It’s energy, performance, labs, and a body you can maintain without suffering.”
3. Needing help is not failure
Sometimes, on the uphill journey to health and fitness, one may need a little help, which can arrive in the form of medication or even surgery.
“Needing a GLP-1 is not cheating. Needing surgery is not a weakness,” shared Dr Nadolsky.
“Needing tools doesn’t mean you didn’t try hard enough; it means your biology needed support.” He noted that GLP-1s, a drug that is originally a medication for diabetes, does not replace the effort that needs to be put into weight loss. “They reduce food noise, regulate appetite, and create space to build habits that actually stick. That’s not taking the easy way out. That’s practising medicine.”
Weight loss is not a test for character, but rather a physiological problem. And “physiology deserves real treatment,” said Dr Nadolsky.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
