Everywhere you turn these days, there is a lot of information about dieting that you need to sort through if you want to find an effective weight loss plan. Hopefully, we can dispel some of them here. Following are six common myths about weight loss that you need to steer clear of.
1. The number one myth out there is that you can lose weight fast by eliminating as many calories as possible from your diet. This is an extremely unhealthy way to go about dieting. Your body goes into starvation mode, and hangs onto as much fat as possible.
2. In our search for quick weight loss, another myth will instruct us to eat just a certain kind of food. The cabbage soup diet has no doubt led to many binge episodes through its existence. An unbalanced fad diet will result in not enough nutrients that are essential for good health and a strong immune system.
3. You may have also heard that you can never cheat on your diet. If you do, you’ll need to exercise for hours to make up for it. This just isn’t true. Really, you can have that piece of chocolate cake occasionally. It’s only necessary that you cut back on your calories for a day or two. If you indulged yourself a little too much, a punishing workout certainly isn’t necessary.
4. A popular myth is that you should avoid eating before bedtime because your body will just store all the calories as fat. But this is wrong; dieting is just a healthy style of eating and keeping an eye on how many calories you take in throughout the day. A bite to eat just before going to bed won’t matter one way or the other. Unless, of course, it’s a 5-course meal or an entire frozen cheesecake.
5. Maybe you’ve heard of the one that tells you not to eat at all between established mealtimes? Snacks are actually part of a healthy eating style. Consume several mini meals through your day and your hunger won’t overwhelm you. When you cut out between meal snacks, you become ravenous before it’s time for the next meal. You might end up eating considerably more food than your body requires just to keep hunger at bay.
6. Another myth concerns dairy products, and tells you to completely avoid them because they’ll make you fat. However, don’t ban dairy products from your refrigerator, because they are loaded with healthy substances that your body needs. There are even studies that show a correlation between weight loss and eating dairy products on a daily basis. Just make sure you limit your amounts and go for the low-fat versions.
Don’t be taken in by the vast number of weight loss myths you read about on the internet. By eating healthfully (as a general rule) and exercising regularly, you can achieve healthy weight loss.
Maintaining a healthy weight is key to good health, particularly that of your heart. If you enjoyed this article, you might be interested in my recent posts: Vitamins for the Heart and Acupuncture for Heart Disease.