Keto? Intermittent Fasting? What about HIIT and cardio? Let’s break down some fitness trends that are totally overrated for fat loss.

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Ever find yourself going down the rabbit hole of fitness trends and try to spot the themes?

• Don’t eat carbs.
• Fruit will make you fat.
• HIIT is the only way to train.
• Cardio will kill you.
• Strength training is the only way to train.
• Don’t eat fat. Or gluten. Or butter.
• Only eat fat. And butter.

It’s nauseating. And dizzying. No wonder most folks are absolutely confused on where to start with their weight loss journey.

Which is why I set out to try and simplify this fat loss stuff as much as possible.

Here’s the one thing that you need to know about all of this fitness stuff:

It’s a billion-dollar industry designed to get you to spend money on the latest solution to your problems. And the business model hopes you are totally confused about this stuff so it can fool you into buying its newest quick fix.

Shiny object syndrome at work here.

Just when you think carbs are safe … there’s another influencer telling you something else.

And then they’ll hook you into some overrated and overhyped product or approach that “worked for them.” Usually these have a price tag on them.

Today, I’m going to help you weed through some of the hottest fitness trends that are completely overrated for fat loss. The goal is to provide that red pill like Morpheus gave Neo to open your eyes to the truth that the vast majority of this stuff is just unnecessary.

You’ll learn how to actually apply some of these trends into your fitness approach to make them work for you (or how to completely avoid them altogether so you can actually enjoy your fat loss journey).

Let’s get into it.

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Before you get all up in your feelings about any of these overrated fitness trends, you need to understand that I’m not necessarily saying these things suck.

I’m just saying they are not quite all they are cracked up to be. That’s all.

Except for Keto. Keto definitely fucking sucks and it’s pointless. But, more on that later.

Alright, so with that little preamble, let’s dive in and discuss the 5 things that are overrated for fat loss.

HIIT

Let’s just set the record straight here really quick. There’s nothing wrong with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).

In fact, I have an entire ebook available with over 52 HIIT style workouts that you can download for absolutely free.

But, HIIT is not the end-all, be-all for fat loss … or training in general. You’ll see some influencers push metabolic conditioning as some holy grail of fat loss.

Remember, fat loss happens when you establish a calorie deficit. And a calorie deficit is most efficient when you are managing that deficit by controlling your nutrition.

No amount of exercise, no matter how intense, will make up for a poor diet.

As I pointed out in this guide to increasing your metabolism, purposeful movement (like working out) accounts for a very small percentage of your daily caloric expenditure.

Which means these promises of HIIT increasing metabolism or burning some crazy amount of calories are simply empty and not backed by science.

The biggest reason why HIIT makes this list of overrated fitness trends is because of the amount of exertion it places on your body.

Check in with yourself after the last time you performed a HIIT session. How did you feel? Probably a lot like death or close to it.

Most people are so drained from performing high intensity work that it leads to a more sedentary approach to the remainder of their day. They end up sitting around more to recover because they feel like they did something when they were bouncing around and doing burpees.

As a result, your Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (or NEAT) calories burned drops substantially and you end up sitting around your maintenance level of calories as a result.

Not to mention, cardio-based, HIIT style workouts can drive up hunger levels and make it harder to stick to your diet if you are performing too many of these sessions per week.

So what’s the solution?

Aim to practice HIIT about once or twice a week at most. That’s it.

Here’s a quick guide on how your weekly activity priorities should look:

• Strength training 2-3 times per week (here’s how to get started with an effective strength training regime)
• HIIT or metabolic conditioning or sprinting 1-2 times per week
• Walking every day with a goal of 8,000 to 10,000 steps per week on average
• Active recovery––like mobility, flexibility, stretching or yoga––1-2 times per week, at minimum (daily is totally cool, too)

Shift your workout focus to the above approach. Stop trying to kill your body with daily HIIT training. Embrace real strength and progressive overload.

And then watch your body respond in ways you never thought possible.

Intermittent Fasting

This is similar to HIIT in why it’s made my list of things that are overrated for fat loss. Fasting is effective and it’s even a part of my toolbox when I’m trying to lean down.

But it is not some panacea of fat loss awesome sauce.

Fasting is simply a means to make the dieting process a tad easier. You reduce your window of eating to allow for bigger meals.

Bigger meals should satiate you a bit more, making it easier to stick to your diet long-term. But …

The law of thermodynamics still applies. In other words, you still must be in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. Period.

You can still overeat while fasting. It’s just much harder to do so because you have fewer hours in the day to stuff your facehole.

While fasting is a tool that I use from time to time, it is most definitely not for everyone.

Because of the rigid nature of the eating setup, it can lead to some pretty disordered patterns of eating. Fasting can also lead to a binge-cycle of eating where you try to “save all of your calories” for later in the day and thus add a bunch of junk to those calories you consume.

Yes, calories in versus calories out will be the nature of weight loss. But prioritizing nutrient dense foods when you consume those calories should be the goal with at least 80-percent of your meals.

Going all-in on some “if it fits my macros” style of eating is just setting you up for failure down the road and a poor overall relationship with food.

If you want to fast and if it works for you without leading to too much restriction, then cool. Fast away. But if you don’t enjoy fasting, there’s absolutely no need to practice it in order to lose fat and keep it off for good.

Keto

I could go off on this one in an entire article. And maybe I will someday.

But for now, let’s just count the ways that keto sucks:

It’s restrictive. You are essentially cutting out an entire food group.

It’s unnecessary. You can eat carbs and still lose weight. Because that’s what a calorie deficit is all about.

It’s not nearly as effective as advertised. Largely because it is so unsustainable. But also because if you ever want to eat carbs again, you’re in for a rude awakening in scale weight spikes once you introduce carbs back into your diet.

It’s not even made for dieting. True story, keto was designed to help children suffering from epileptic seizures. It was not designed for the Kardashians to pump out ketone supplements and act like inhaling copious amounts of bacon and avocado was healthy.

It’s not nearly as healthy as you’d like to think. Most people just assume that “going keto” means dropping all carbs and then eating as much fat as possible. There’s actually a very regimented way to split your macros for this style of eating.

For instance: consuming too much protein can take you out of ketosis. And not eating enough fats can result in lack of energy and poor hormonal health.

And the final point about why keto blows: Carbs are tasty and they are the body’s preferred fuel source over protein and fats. Yes, your body can convert protein and fats into fuel for the body (so don’t even come at me carbopobic zealots), but your brain would much rather prefer some awesome, tasty carbs.

So fucking eat your carbs.

Apple Cider Vinegar

I’m not sure where this one came from.

Somewhere in the depths of Internet silliness, some asshat influencer started taking shots of raw apple cider vinegar and was convinced that it helped them lose some weight.

Now it’s all over the damn place with randos trying to get you to follow their lead.

Fucking gross.

Apple Cider Vinegar has some benefits for potential improvements in digestive health. But let’s wrap this one up once and for all: it is completely overrated for fat loss.

Why?

Because it doesn’t do anything for fat loss!

Ugh.

Remember, a calorie deficit is how fat loss is achieved. If you need assistance figuring out how to make that calorie deficit happen, I’ve got a million and one guides for that. You can read all of my knowledge bombs about fat loss throughout my article archive here.

Save your taste buds. No need to burn the back of your throat with this shit. Keep your money.

And if you see any influencer or fitness “guru” trying to get you to drink this shit, run far away.

Juicing

Pulverizing our food is nothing new. The smoothie industry is large and lucrative, after all.

You see the folks lining up at all sorts of Juice Bars extolling the potential benefits of drinking spinach, carrots and kale in liquid form.

And yes, you will get some nutrient rich boosters from chugging an aqueous version of a salad.

But you know what will work even better for you?

That’s right … eating an actual fucking salad.

Drinking calories will not keep you nearly as satiated as chewing on your food.

You have teeth. They are made for a reason. Using them to grind food, especially fibrous food like veggies, will help control hunger levels more effectively and evenly throughout your day.

You likely lose some of the fiber content from drinking your plants.

And you definitely lose some hard-earned money whilst doing so, as well.

Once again, you can save your money from this overrated fitness trend and just aim to eat your food.

And if you’re complaining that your salad is boring, that’s likely because you haven’t figured out how to make it more badass. I have a complete guide to salad badassery here.

Let me help you learn to avoid the fitness trends that are completely overrated for fat loss … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Overrated for fat loss” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you’d like more knowledge bombs from me. I’d be honored if you join my mailing list to get regular updates every time I post something pretty dope.