Diet and Nutrition Myths

Everyone from your best girlfriend to your Great Aunt Muriel has advice about losing weight. Sometimes it’s hard to know which information is sound and which is just plain fiction. Never fear! Wo40 is here to help.

Here are some common diet myths along with a good dose of reality.

Myth: Low-fat diets make you lose weight.

Reality: Just because a food is labeled “low fat” or “fat free” doesn’t mean it’s low calorie or calorie free. Often low-fat products have added ingredients such as flour or sugar to help improve taste and texture. These added ingredients are low in nutritional value and often higher in calories.

Myth: Restricting calories is the best way to lose weight.

Reality: Both cutting back on calories and exercising more will help you lose weight and maintain the lean muscle mass needed to boost metabolism. Starvation diets just don’t work. A drastic reduction in calories will leave your body without the fuel it needs to maintain normal functioning and may therefore slow metabolism. A starving body enters “crisis mode” and will slow down in order to conserve what little energy a severely restricted calorie diet provides. Don’t starve yourself. Chances are you won’t be able to stick with a drastic change in diet long term.

Myth: As long as I’m eating healthy foods, I can eat whatever I want.

Reality: A calorie is still a calorie. Oatmeal may be a healthier breakfast than your usual doughnut, but that doesn’t mean you can eat 5 cups of it. You still need to be mindful of your portion sizes, even if you are eating whole grains and lean meat.

Myth: Eating late at night will make me gain weight.

Reality: There is no magic hour to turn off eating. This myth probably formed because of the high-calorie junk foods usually consumed after dinner. Deserts and snack foods can be really calorie-dense. Spreading your calories evenly through the day helps prevent late-night binge eating. A healthy snack before bed isn’t going to go straight to your thighs.

Myth: If I’m exercising daily, I can eat whatever I want.

Reality: Even if you are exercising regularly, you should still keep track of what and how much you are eating. It’s easy to reward yourself with cupcakes and fried chicken when you’ve been consistent with your workouts, but it’s probably not the smartest way to treat yourself. It’s common for people to over-estimate the amount of physical activity they engage in, and under-estimate the amount of calories they consume. For example, the average cupcake has about 250 calories. A fried chicken breast has about 360 calories. Since I burn just over 200 calories on my normal 2 mile jaunt, it’s not justifying the cupcake or the chicken. The bottom line is exercise and sensible nutrition go hand in hand for weight loss and general fitness.

Myth: Eating a high-protein diet will make me gain muscle.

Reality: Only strength training and exercise lead to muscle changes. Eating protein may help in the repair of torn muscle fibers that occur after strength training, but protein itself does not grow muscle. High protein diets can actually be detrimental to your health since they increase the risk of kidney stones and osteoporosis.

Check out the article Eating For Fat Reduction to help with developing a good sound nutrition plan.