If you've spent time in the gym or scrolling through fitness content online, you've probably come across a lot of nutrition advice. Some of it is great. Some of it? Not so much.
We sat down with the Loop Nutrition team and asked them about the most common nutrition myths they hear people repeating at the gym. Their philosophy? All foods fit. No guilt, no off-limits food lists, just practical, science-backed guidance to help you feel and perform your best.
Here's what they want you to stop believing.
Myth #1: You Have to Drink a Protein Shake Within 30 Minutes of Your Workout
The "anabolic window" is probably the most persistent myth in gym nutrition. The idea is that if you don't get protein into your system within 30 minutes of finishing your last set, you've essentially wasted the workout. It's why people are chugging shakes in the locker room before they've even changed.
The reality is that the window is a lot wider than that. Research shows that muscle protein synthesis, the process your body uses to repair and build muscle, remains elevated for several hours post-workout. What actually matters more is your total daily protein intake and whether you're eating enough of it consistently across your meals. If you had a protein-rich meal an hour or two before training, your body is already working with what it needs.
Timing does matter a little more if you're training twice a day or hitting the gym first thing in a fasted state. In those cases, getting protein in sooner rather than later makes sense. But for most people, training once a day, the pressure to chug a shake the second you rack the bar is overblown.
Have the shake if it's convenient and you enjoy it. Just don't stress if you're 45 minutes out and still sitting in the parking lot.
Myth #2: You Need to Avoid Carbs When You're Trying to Lose Weight
Low-carb diets work for some people, and that's a completely valid approach. But the leap from "low carb works for me" to "carbs cause weight gain" is where things go sideways.
Carbohydrates are your body's preferred fuel source, and your muscles run on glycogen, which comes from carbohydrates. Cutting them significantly while training hard usually means less energy, worse performance, slower recovery, and, over time, more muscle breakdown. (Not exactly the outcome most people are going for.)
Weight loss comes down to a calorie deficit over time. The diet that creates that deficit in a way you can actually sustain is the one that's going to work. For a lot of people, keeping carbs in the picture makes that a whole lot easier, especially around training.
Myth #3: You Need to Cycle Creatine
The logic sounds reasonable: take creatine for a few months, then stop to give your body a break, then start again. But if that sounds stressful and is preventing you from wanting to take it to begin with, know that there's no physiological reason to do this. Creatine is not a hormone, it doesn't suppress your body's natural production of anything, and it doesn't build up to toxic levels with consistent use in healthy individuals.
Creatine monohydrate is one of the most researched supplements in existence. The evidence supports taking it daily at a consistent dose of around three to five grams. Loading phases aren't necessary, cycling isn't necessary, and the "break" people take in the middle just means their muscle creatine stores drop back down and they lose the performance benefit they'd built up.
If creatine is working for you, keep taking it!
→ Should you be taking creatine supplements? Click here to read our dietitian team's answer!
Myth #4: Eating Fat Makes You Fat
This one has been around since the low-fat diet era of the 80s and 90s, and somehow it's still hanging on. Dietary fat does not directly translate to body fat. Weight gain happens when you consistently eat more calories than your body uses, regardless of where those calories come from.
Fat is actually essential. It supports hormone production, helps absorb fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K, and plays a role in joint health, which matters quite a bit if you're training regularly. Sources like avocado, olive oil, nuts, fatty fish, and eggs are doing a lot of good work in a well-rounded diet.
The only real thing to be mindful of is that fat is calorie-dense at nine calories per gram compared to four for protein and carbohydrates. So portions matter in the context of overall intake, but fat itself is not something to avoid.
Myth #5: More Protein Is Always Better
Protein matters when you're training consistently, but more isn't always better.
For most gym-goers, the benefit maxes out at around 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. Eating well beyond that doesn't build more muscle. It just adds calories and starts crowding out the carbohydrates and healthy fats your body also needs to perform and recover. Athletes in heavy training blocks or older adults preserving muscle mass may benefit from the higher end of that range, but for most people training three to five times a week, dramatically exceeding it isn't doing what they think it's doing.
There are physical side effects worth knowing about, too. High protein intake often pushes out fiber from fruits and vegetables, which leads to bloating, and people leaning heavily on supplements frequently run into GI issues from the sugar alcohols found in a lot of those products.
Hit your target, spread it across your meals, and remember to still leave room for the other foods you love to eat!
The Takeaway
Nutrition doesn't have to be complicated, restrictive, or stressful (especially when you're already busy putting in the work at the gym.) Focus on adding nourishing foods you enjoy, fuel your body for the activity you're asking it to do, and ditch the all-or-nothing mindset.
You're showing up and putting in the effort. Make sure your nutrition is working with you, not against you!
