10 Weight-Loss Myths You Should Stop Believing

[LedMatrix]

These are popular myths people tend to believe. #4 is my pet peeve because of the amount of bad advice I see here. People need to realize that you can lose weight and/or be at a "good weight" but STILL be very unhealthy due to the terrible "diet" someone recommends. 500-1000 a day and detox diets spring to mind.

That being said, here are 10 Weight-Loss Myths You Should Stop Believing

[Dominique]

I would agree with all of them, except #8:

"She recommends eating small meals throughout the day to keep your energy up, maintain stable blood sugar levels, and stay satiated so you don’t make impulsive food choices"

Meal frequency is a matter of personal preference: if you are going to eat 1800 calories during the day, it doesn’t matter if they are split as 2 x 900, 3 x 600, 4 x 450 or 6 x 300 (or even 1 x 1800). Of course, if 2 x 900 would cause you to snack 500 calories between the meals, it would be better to have smaller meals more often. 

[OCDOC]

Agree that 4 (weight on the scale) is misleading, but only for people who are 'close' to being a healthy weight.

However, for people that are significantly overweight (>50 lbs), the scale can be a great help. These people tend to lose pretty quickly when they start, and watching those numbers drop can really keep the momentum going (until they hit that dreaded plateau...).

No question that people who are fretting about a tiny tummy bulge should ignore the scale, and trust how they feel and how their clothes fit (or get professional-level BF% assessments now and then).  Rob

[WendyB]

Great article Thanks!

[JohnRi]

Great article.  Lots of great points.  Comment about #8, a lot of studies have found eating once a day, causes you to gain weight, your body thinks you are having trouble getting food (famine) and therefore hoards onto fat.  I agree with the article, eating smaller meals throughout the day lets your body know food is coming in, and to not hold onto fat.  There are other reasons to eat 4-6 times a day, but when you are in a calorie deficient diet you need to trick your body into losing weight.  Your body has an amazing method to keep you alive by holding on to fat.  You have to trick it into believing everything is ok. 

Consider that most people eat 2000-3000+ calories a day.  And need 1600-2200 to maintain their weight.  Is no wonder so many of us are overweight.

#4 - We've all had that friend who can eat anything and never gain a pound.  So they eat nothing but junk.  Right at the moment I'm 243 lbs, down from 281, and I can tell compared to 2008 the last time I was 243 lbs, I'm a 100 times more healthy than 2008.  I'm eating extremely well, exercising, and working toward my goal of 184.  I could litterly run laps around my 2008 self right now.  I'd describe myself as an extremely heathly obese man of 48.  I'll soon be an extremly healthy man of 49....  I'm totally against all fad diets.  You want real weight loss, eat right all the time, and exercise. 

[josephz2va]

2. indulging (incorrectly) is off-limits.

Something we always done wrong is indulging incorrectly. DD, Starbucks, KFC, McD's. All bad places. Gotta stay away from those temptations and buy our own supplies. Doesn't take long to make a McMuffin. 5 minutes. That's all. Enough time to start your car and let the defroster run and melt your car windows of ice. Grilled Chicken - Watch a movie and cook it in the oven. Or the microwave. Some are already made at your local grocery store for 1/8th of the bad stuff.

[betpchem]

Totally agree. Thanks for the article!

[Tave]

Good article.  Thanks for sharing.  The only thing I take exception to is #8.  That does not work for everyone.  My body works better with fewer meals, and I don't need to snack.

[LedMatrix]

@Dominique - I've heard about the benefits of eating more, smaller meals through the day, but for a lot of people, like myself, that's just not practical. I think for #8 the bigger thing is not skipping meals.

@OCDOC - Good point. There did come a time (hopefully) when you can stop fretting for the number on the scale. I like that keep in mind that I'm making a "lifestyle" change and not on a "diet" where the scale is the tell all.

@JohnRi - To your point, one thing that I have read (can't remember where now) was that your body "has a weight it likes to stay at." Unfortunately it's no usually a weight that's healthy. You're last sentence said it best: "eat right all the time, and exercise"

@josephz2va - I had the impression that by #2 she was referring to having the occasional candy bar, ice cream, etc. Now, binging on the other hand, totally different story!

@Tave - Agree, everyone's different. I think it's more important to not skip meals than it is to have several throughout the day. Just avoid sending the body in to "starvation mode."

[Tave]

Your body is not going to go into starvation mode by not eating for a few hours.  If you consume a reasonable amount of calories per day, regardless of time, you will be fine.  Skipping a meal is not the the same as not eating anything for days.

[SolangeE]

Hey, @LedMatrix! Great information, thanks for sharing!  

[LedMatrix]

I wasn't suggesting that skipping a single meal would send your body in to starvation mode. But that forcing our bodies to enter that stage is what we want to avoid. However, If you are on a daily calorie intake that is too low your body can and most probably will go into "starvation mode." Dr. Kristie Leong writes that 1,200 calories per day is the absolute lowest level one should drop to when dieting.

Back to skipping meals: Skipping just one meal causes your blood sugar levels to dive. If it's breakfast you're skipping it never gets out of the starting gate. Your metabolism slows, so the food you do eventually take in isn't burned off very efficiently.

Your brain takes a hit as well. Without a steady supply of nutrients, your intellectual and emotional functioning changes. You're foggy, and become moody and irritable. When you do eat again eight or so hours later, your body feels relief but it's short lived. Your metabolism will stay low since it doesn't know when the next supply of calories is coming. And your blood sugar takes a plunge again, bringing on more low energy, brain fog, and mood swings. Keep the meal skipping thing up and your body might turn to your muscles as a fuel source, further sinking your metabolism and sapping your strength.

Leah Cahill, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health, conducted a study that found "that women who skipped breakfast regularly had a 20% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes." Another of her studies—this one in men—linked going without a morning meal to heart disease.

She says: "Our bodies need to be fed food regularly in order to maintain healthy levels of blood lipids such as cholesterol, hormones such as insulin, and normal blood pressure." "As we sleep all night we are fasting, and so if we regularly do not 'break fast' in the morning, it puts a strain on our bodies that over time can lead to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and blood pressure problems."

The bottom line is, skipping meals takes a toll on your system, whether one wants to admit it or not. Denying it doesn't change the science of our bodies.

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@Tave wrote:

Your body is not going to go into starvation mode by not eating for a few hours.  If you consume a reasonable amount of calories per day, regardless of time, you will be fine.  Skipping a meal is not the the same as not eating anything for days.

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[Danimri84]

It is very dependent on the individual also. I don't eat breakfast. Ever. I am simply not hungry in the AM hours. I lost 70 pounds not eating breakfast. I function just fine, have energy for a morning workout, and I'm alert and focused at work. Some of the best advice I received from a nutritionist is that people in general, don't know how to listen to their bodies. All the "rules" of dieting and weight loss are one size fits all. Humans are unique, and it doesn't work for everyone. If you are hungry, eat. If you aren't, don't force yourself to eat just because it is a generic mealtime.

[divedragon]

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@Dominique wrote:

I would agree with all of them, except #8:

"She recommends eating small meals throughout the day to keep your energy up, maintain stable blood sugar levels, and stay satiated so you don’t make impulsive food choices"

Meal frequency is a matter of personal preference: if you are going to eat 1800 calories during the day, it doesn’t matter if they are split as 2 x 900, 3 x 600, 4 x 450 or 6 x 300 (or even 1 x 1800). Of course, if 2 x 900 would cause you to snack 500 calories between the meals, it would be better to have smaller meals more often. 

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I also disagree with 8 as well as 1.  Carbs do make you fat according to the latest research on insulin response.  It is correct to say limit your carbs to vegetables, but I disagree with the grain part and not due to gluten, but due to the fact that the grains we grow today have been modified through selective breeding so that they are higher in simple carbs and lower in fiber.  Then we tend to strip away what fiber remains and then we grind it up into tiny particles.  Over processing food tends to remove the good stuff and just leave the carbs behind.

I spent the morning on a new website called sci-hub.  Its basically a wiki leaks for scientific papers.  Fasting on obese patients has been going on since the late 50's and all the evidence continues to show fasting is a well tolerated way to loose weight and periodic fasting afterwards to help maintain.  In fact, studies show that skipping an entire day of eating won't cause you to overeat the next enough to make up for what you didn't eat during your fast.

Number 6 is an interesting one.  Recent studies show that exercise has very little to do with fat loss, even in a fasted state.  This is not to say exercise doesn't make you healthier, only that it's impact on weight loss is minimal.  Weight loss is about diet.  Building muscle does increase metabolic rate, true, so in that regard, it can help, but even if you are a body builder and you eat a calorie restricted diet, your body will eventually adjust the metabolism down to that level.

[Dominique]

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@divedragon wrote:

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Carbs do make you fat according to the latest research on insulin response.

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I disagree with the above statement. There is nothing inherently fattening in carbs. People don’t get fat from eating carbs, they get fat from overeating them. They also get fat from overeating any other macronutrient.

There’s only so much space in your liver and your glycogen stores for carbs. If you are very active, carbs in these stores will be used for fueling your activity (carbs are the best fuel there is). If you are mostly sedentary, it’s easy to fill up your glycogen stores: once they are full, the excess amount is converted to fat and goes into your fat cells. This is why low-carb diet are best suited for sedentary people. Active people can eat a decent amount of carbs and not get fat from it.

If carbs were fattening, most Japanese would be overweight or obese (rice being a staple food in their diet). Yet Japan has one of the lowest obesity rate in the world. Same with Italians (pasta, bread, pizza etc.): how come they have one of the lowest obesity rate in Europe?

[DominicJ]

Meh, its mostly using myth to "bust" myth.

"Skipping Meals" is bad, but theres a different between skipping a meal you normally eat and not eating certain meals, your body quickly learns to expect food at certain times, but it also quickly learns not to.

I dont eat breakfast, am I gobbling biscuits at 11am, of course not, I dont eat at all till my dinner around 1:30pm.

If ypu normally eat breakfast and skip it one day, you will be uncontrollably hungry a few hours later.

[divedragon]

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@LedMatrix wrote:

I wasn't suggesting that skipping a single meal would send your body in to starvation mode. But that forcing our bodies to enter that stage is what we want to avoid. However, If you are on a daily calorie intake that is too low your body can and most probably will go into "starvation mode." Dr. Kristie Leong writes that 1,200 calories per day is the absolute lowest level one should drop to when dieting.

Back to skipping meals: Skipping just one meal causes your blood sugar levels to dive. If it's breakfast you're skipping it never gets out of the starting gate. Your metabolism slows, so the food you do eventually take in isn't burned off very efficiently.

Your brain takes a hit as well. Without a steady supply of nutrients, your intellectual and emotional functioning changes. You're foggy, and become moody and irritable. When you do eat again eight or so hours later, your body feels relief but it's short lived. Your metabolism will stay low since it doesn't know when the next supply of calories is coming. And your blood sugar takes a plunge again, bringing on more low energy, brain fog, and mood swings. Keep the meal skipping thing up and your body might turn to your muscles as a fuel source, further sinking your metabolism and sapping your strength.

Leah Cahill, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health, conducted a study that found "that women who skipped breakfast regularly had a 20% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes." Another of her studies—this one in men—linked going without a morning meal to heart disease.

She says: "Our bodies need to be fed food regularly in order to maintain healthy levels of blood lipids such as cholesterol, hormones such as insulin, and normal blood pressure." "As we sleep all night we are fasting, and so if we regularly do not 'break fast' in the morning, it puts a strain on our bodies that over time can lead to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and blood pressure problems."

The bottom line is, skipping meals takes a toll on your system, whether one wants to admit it or not. Denying it doesn't change the science of our bodies.

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@Tave wrote:

Your body is not going to go into starvation mode by not eating for a few hours.  If you consume a reasonable amount of calories per day, regardless of time, you will be fine.  Skipping a meal is not the the same as not eating anything for days.

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Sorry, but I have to categorically disagree.  If you want to talk about the science of our bodies, the current science shows that fasting, whether to loose weight or not, is healthier than eating regularly and ancedotal evidence in the form our our obesity epidemic supports this position.  The reason we store fat is for those lean times.  Our bodies are designed, then, at some point to burn the fat that was stored.  This, in and of itself, should tell us we are designed to go without at some point.

But the science shows, and you can find many references I've made in other posts here, that not eating for a period of time (16 hrs minimum)  we stop insulin from being produced and it increases our insulin sensitivity.  Type 2 diabeties is an over production of insulin which happens because our bodies constanly secrete it.  Our cells gets insensitive to it, so we produce more and more.

In your opening remarks, you said something to the effect that these myths continue to be propagated here and elsewhere.  I would submit that you too are perpetuating myths that science doesn't back up. And in the case of 1 and 8, the myth article is also perpetuating myths.  Just so you don't need to search through the site for my other references, I'll put a couple here:

http://www.pnas.org/content/100/10/6216.full

http://www.ilsi.org/Documents/2015%20Annual%20Meeting%20%20Presentations/Varady.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3946160/

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/author/jfung/

[LedMatrix]

Looks like some are mis-reading teh article. #1 is stating that carbs leads to weight gain is a MYTH. 

It depends on what kind of carbs, how many, activity level. Lots of factors to consider.

[LedMatrix]

Looks like some are mis-reading the article. #1 is stating that carbs leads to weight gain is a MYTH. 

It depends on what kind of carbs, how many, activity level. Lots of factors to consider.

[LedMatrix]

@divedragon

I appreciate your opinions. No propagating myths here. Pretty common knowledge by now (as many studies have shown) that skipping meals, particularly over the long term, is not good for you.

For example, in 2007, the journal “Metabolism” published a study examining the effects of skipping meals on people who were healthy and of normal weight. Over the course of eight weeks, the subjects skipped two meals every day and ate all of the calories they would normally eat in one big daily meal. At the end of the study, participants had blood sugar levels and insulin responses that put them at a higher risk for diabetes than they had had before the study began.

Going for hours without eating deprives the brain of glucose, which is needed for normal functioning. Lack of glucose to the brain can lead to irritability, dizziness, fainting, as well as more serious conditions like hypoglycemia. Not eating regularly throughout the day, and for days, weeks and longer, puts you at a higher risk for long-term nutritional deficiencies including anemia, stunted growth, loss of bone or incomplete bone development, decreased immune function, amenorrhea (loss of menstrual periods), decreased thyroid function, increased susceptibility to colds and infections, low energy levels, poor concentration and cognitive development, and gum infections and poor dental health, just to name a few.

Let's say breakfast is the meal one chooses to skip, which many do because they "don't feel hunger" or "don't have time." Let's say for the sake of argument that you ate as late as 10pm. The next morning you skip breakfast and don't have lunch until noon. You've gone at least 14 hours depriving your body/brain/nervous system of much needed fuel and nutrients. Not good.

Many people say skipping meals helps them lose weight. They may lose weight in SPITE of skipping meals, but the adverse effects aren't worth it.

But to your point, my reference to the bad advice mentioned on these boards are to the numerous suggestions to go on 500 calorie a day diets, crazy fad diets etc. 

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Being on a diet of fewer than 800 calories a day for a long time may lead to serious heart problems.

TIP: Research suggests that safe weight loss involves combining a reduced-calorie diet with physical activity to lose 1/2 to 2 pounds a week (after the first few weeks of weight loss). Make healthy food choices. Eat small portions. Build exercise into your daily life. Combined, these habits may be a healthy way to lose weight and keep it off. These habits may also lower your chances of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.

Myth: If I skip meals, I can lose weight.

Fact: Skipping meals may make you feel hungrier and lead you to eat more than you normally would at your next meal. In particular, studies show a link between skipping breakfast and obesity. People who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast.

TIP: Choose meals and snacks that include a variety of healthy foods. Try these examples:

• For a quick breakfast, make oatmeal with low-fat milk, topped with fresh berries. Or eat a slice of whole-wheat toast with fruit spread.
• Pack a healthy lunch each night, so you won't be tempted to rush out of the house in the morning without one.
• For healthy nibbles, pack a small low-fat yogurt, a couple of whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter, or veggies with hummus.

SOURCE
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Regardless of what anyone says though, always consult your healthcare provider before starting some program. 

Other Resources:

Skipping meals and alcohol consumption. The regulation of energy intake and expenditure among weight...

Impact of reduced meal frequency without caloric restriction on glucose regulation in healthy, norma...