Dieting Myths

For as long as I could remember, there's been promises of effective weight loss from left, right, and center. But how can we differentiate the fakes from those that 'actually work'? Well, dieting does not necessarily have to be complicated and neither does it have to include any of those so widely advertised dieting pills.

Are we looking at high protein, low carbohydrates, no carbohydrates, low sugar, no sugar, Mediterranean, Atkins, low calorie, low fat...? The truth is, we could easily get lost in all that lingo. We feel so overwhelmed at all the suggestions thrown at us on a daily basis that we have lost sight as to why we are trying to do this anyway.

Losing weight actually starts with healthy eating and adopting eating patterns we could all live with. I prefer not to call it a diet but rather a lifestyle change. There's no point in making a commitment to something that you know you can't keep.

Remember when your parents used to tell you that you needed to eat your breakfast? They might actually be onto something here. Holy cow, this one is not a myth.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It's so emphasized because of what it could do for you nutritionally. Even tracing back to the root words 'break' and 'fast', breakfast is literally to break your fast. The night before, most people are always told to never eat after dinner. If your dinner was approximately between 5-7PM and you don't go to bed until 11pm or later then there would be a huge gap between dinner and breakfast. Let's assume that there is a whole 12 hour gap, your body is going to want to have a little bit more than a half a grapefruit.

First thing in the morning, your body will be craving to have a combination of protein and a good source of carbohydrates. Instead of having half a grapefruit, why not have some egg whites and a slice of whole grain toast? It'll keep you fuller and instead of starving yourself, feed your body what it's asking you to. So go ahead, start your day off with a healthy hearty breakfast.

This myth is a tough one. Too many people have said that you can't eat before bed for us not to believe that right? There's actually a gray line in the middle. With so much information available at our fingertips these days that the most important thing to remember is that common sense still plays the largest role in our decision making. So let me first explain why it's a myth and then we'll get to why it's not.

Eating between dinner and bedtime is acceptable providing that it's a reasonable snack since there is usually a large time gap to ask you to solely depend on your will power to take over. As long as that it is not a huge meal where you are stuffed till next year. Of course there will be stipulations as to what kinds of snack to have as well.

Your evening snack should be something to just to keep your cravings at bay. A bag of potato chips or any other junk food type foods are examples of unacceptable snacks. A light snack could include either:

A protein shake (A real protein shake, not a seniors meal replacement type shake or diet shakes. Popular examples of no-no's are Slim Fast, Ensure, or Boost.) Protein is the basic building block for muscle. A common misconception is that protein will make you gain weight or look like a body builder. Fat is used in your body as the last resource of energy. If your body does not receive enough protein to continue feeding your muscles, your body would actually start breaking down muscle instead of fat. Muscle burns fat. Fat cannot burn fat. Therefore, you would need to feed your current muscles so that your body could help you use up fat as energy.

Note: Just be careful not to fall into the trap of making yourself a delicious smoothie overloaded with fruit. Fruit may be good for you but too much is also not good. Fruit contains a very high amount of sugar. Natural sugar or not, it's still sugar. Moderation is always the key to any successful lifestyle change.

A sugar-free, low fat yogurt and an apple (which is equal to one serving. A serving of anything is whatever you can fit into the palm of your hand). It is absolutely crucial to watch how many calories and carbs to consume before bedtime. Some types of fruit contains more sugar than others. When choosing fruit, try to pick one with a lower sugar content. An example of a good yogurt would be Danone's Silhouette. Per 100g serving it is 40 calories, 7g carbs, and 4g of protein.

The reason why this is not a myth is because it still all boils down to the type and how much food that you put into your body. This is where common sense is going to have to kick in. Having a big feed of nachos and wings is clearly not a good choice of a snack. Main thing to keep in mind is that the amount of calories, carbs, and fat has to be used up or mostly used up before going to bed. Your body can only burn off so much before going to bed. If you don't burn it off, your body will store.

Not eating between meals is a myth. How many times have you heard that 5-6 smaller healthy meals throughout the day is a lot better than 2-3 large meals? This is all relative to how much your body can burn per a very specific interval of time. If your body cannot burn off the amount or type of food you consumed before your next meal, you will start to store whatever is left over. When you store the unused portion, this eventually gets turned into fat if it doesn't get used up. Eating 2-3 large meals per day would put your body into fat-storage mode. Skipping meals is also a big "what not to do".

Eating 5-6 smaller meals per day would actually increase your metabolism by increasing bodily functions of digestion and absorption. By eating smaller meals more frequently, this also makes your body feel more satisfied throughout the day.

Skipping meals or limiting how many meals to have a day is bad for your body. Ever notice how you should never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach? When you shop for food while you are hungry, you'll tend to put more items into the grocery cart that either don't belong or you think you'll be eating. By the time you get home and actually have a meal, you'll wonder why you even bought those items in the first place. You know the saying that "your eyes are bigger than your stomach"? This is a prime example of it.

Another reason why it's bad to skip meals is because when you skip, most people would likely end up having a larger meal at their next sitting to 'make up' for the meal that they missed. When having such a large meal, your body has to actually produce extra insulin to help cope with the sudden surge of carbs and sugar. It actually puts a strain on your body. These sudden surges of insulin being produced may possibly lead to a condition called insulin resistance which could also put you at risk for type 2 diabetes.

This is probably one of the worst things that you could do to your body. Watching how many calories you consume is important but drastic changes are never good. Cutting back too many calories could put your body into starvation mode. This means it will store everything that you put in. Not a good sign no matter which angle you look at it. Since most people could only do this for a very short period of time, it could make your cravings for certain foods even worse than before.

A good indication of how many calories to cut would be to first try to track the amount of calories, protein, carbs, and fat that you currently consume daily. After about 3 days of the tracking, you'll need to assess if the ratios of those previously mentioned are skewed. For example, if you are currently consuming mostly carbs and fat but not enough protein, you'll need to readjust the ratios so that your protein is the higher intake of the three. After the new reassessment, if your calorie intake is still relatively high, the most you should cut at any period of time should be between 200-300 calories every 4-6 months. Although counting calories may seem like a hassle, after the first month or two it will come to you automatically. As hard as it is to break a bad habit, it's just as hard to break a good one. Making healthier lifestyle choices does come easy after a while.

It is also important to remember that men and women calorie intakes are different. Calorie intakes are even different from person to person. It is absolutely crucial to know that starving yourself is NOT the way to a lifetime of healthy weight management.

Sorry to burst this bubble but the truth is going to hurt. By just cutting calories alone, your body might lose a few at first but then you will reach a standstill fairly quickly. After your weight has been constant for a while, even when you lose weight, your body will try to get back to the original weight. This is why maintenance is so important. There is no way to maintain weight simply by keeping your calorie count low. By cutting calories alone without exercise, your body would actually start slowing down your metabolism. Your body will slow your metabolism because it's a natural instinct for survival. By cutting calories without the exercise, your body thinks that you losing weight because there isn't enough natural resources to run on for fuel.

Bottom line is unfortunately, watching your calories and exercise do go hand in hand for weight management. You really can't have one without the other.

I personally do not like calling it a diet. Diets are generally hard to stick to. It gives people the illusion that you have to be eating salads and rice cakes all the time. Which by the way, rice cakes are bad for you. (So are those 100 calorie snacks since they should be only consumed when you are really craving something sweet. They are bad because they eat up your calorie count but they have no nutritional value.) As previously mentioned, I prefer it to be called a lifestyle change because it's not something that you do for 2 or 3 months and then give it up just to try to stick to it again in 6 months.

I rather weight management to be a lifestyle change than a diet simply because it helps me eat and live with a healthier attitude. Knowing the nutritional value of the foods that I eat and the reasons why I should eat it helps me gradually get past the taste. Sometimes certain foods may not taste the best but this is where you have to be creative. Coming from a Chinese family, I have only ever known the taste of white rice. Within the last two years, I have gradually made the transition from all white rice to all whole brown rice. At first, I'll have to admit that it wasn't easy. The texture is completely different and the taste is slightly different too. All said and done, now I feel much better because of a healthier food choice and to be quite honest, I really like brown rice now.

That food choice was of course only my decision to a healthier lifestyle. Your journey might be different. Main thing to keep in mind is still going to be, never be afraid to try something new and experiment until you know the right combination of foods that you know you could stick with. Never make commitments to food that you know you don't like and cannot adopt for good.

I'm sorry but nobody is taking away my Reese peanut butter cups or anything else with peanut butter for that matter. My husband actually laughs at me for the amount of peanut butter that I eat. Having a favorite food is not a crime. If you have a favorite food, you don't have to give it up. You just have to learn to moderate yourself. Never give up any food groups. This is why the Atkins diet is an unhealthy way to go. Atkins preaches low to no carbs and most of the recommendations is to consume high fat foods.

Moderation is always the most important thing. By cutting something out altogether, the chances of binging on it later is greater. When you binge, you'll likely put the weight back on twice as fast. There's nothing worse than craving something that you can't have. When you do that to your body, once you start eating the food you had cut out, you'll want to 'make up' for all the times you didn't get to have it. Every lifestyle change still incorporates a cheat meal here and there. So go ahead and have ribs (in moderation) every now and then.

Just as the previous myth, never cut anything out. Moderation only. You don't need to have a huge slice of chocolate cake to say that you've had dessert. Knowing where to draw the line is going to be a big help for weight maintenance.

Not all fats are bad. It's probably going to be our biggest obstacle yet. All these years we've been told that fat is bad for you. When we go grocery shopping, we scan the labels to make sure that whatever we buy it has to be low fat. Once and for all we are going to battle it out today on the war of the fats.

Omega 3, 6, and 9's are fats that are good for our bodies. They can come from many sources such as fish, nuts, seeds, and various other plants. These are all what we call essential fatty acids (EFA's) or good oils. EFA's are good fats because they help our bodies do many, many different things. EFA's are good for everything from your hair, skin, and nails, to brain function, to the reduction of cholesterol, and yes even weight maintenance. EFA's are oils that your body cannot make which means you have to get it through your diet or a supplement. So make sure you try to get some in your diet as well.

Low fat or no fat is not necessarily good for you either. Some fat conscious foods are either high carbs or high calories or possibly even high sugar. While fat content is important, also make sure that you look at the rest of the label. Don't get fooled into thinking that a fat conscious item is definitely a good food for your body.

Actually, this myth is true to an extent. Yes, drinking lots of water is good for you. Losing weight is just one of the benefits from drinking lots of water. The secret behind the water is actually fairly simple. When you drink more water, especially with a meal, it will help you feel fuller faster. Your meal will expand with the water intake. Sometimes when you think you are hungry, you might just be thirsty. So before searching for your next meal, try drinking a glass of water first.

Now why would you not weigh yourself? We all have to know where we started to know where our journey for weight maintenance is going. I suggest that in order to track your progress, you should weigh yourself at least once a week, every week at the same time just to see how your progress is coming along. The one thing to remember is that you should never get discouraged if you don't see weight loss immediately. There are other ways to tell if your body is changing especially if you are exercising too. Measuring key areas of your body are also good indicators of how much change there has been. Some studies have also shown that people who weigh themselves on a regular basis tend to be more weight conscious.

Diet plans and diet products that promise quick and effective weight loss is usually too good to be true. Unfortunately there are no short cuts. Since you did not put the weight on overnight, then likely it's not going to come off overnight either. Average healthy weight loss can range from 1-3 pounds a week. Any more than that may be unhealthy. The saying goes "if you lose it fast, you gain it back fast" is true. Usually any fast weight loss would have required drastic changes to their diet and since most people cannot stick to any drastic changes, then it is not a feasible plan.

Do your body and your wallet a favor and invest in a good old fashioned gym membership and healthy foods.

If the answer hasn't become apparent by now then here is the cold hard truth. There are no quick fixes. "No pain, no gain" We all hate the saying but it's true. The journey to healthy weight maintenance for life requires work. There are no magic pills and there is no fairy Godmother, you can just reap what you sow.

If you have enjoyed this lens then please look forward to updates and various other health lenses in the future. My next lens is about planning your meals ad how to eat well. Just remember, your health is in your hands.

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