There are many myths surrounding dieting. For example, you can lose 10lbs in a week just by drinking water. That sounds crazy, right there. While some will try it, most realise the unrealistic and unhealthy goal. However, some dieting myths sound like they could really work. Here are six that you need to watch out for.
You Can Eat as Much as You Like as Long as It’s Healthy
As long as you eat healthy food, you can have as much or as little as you like. That’s the common misconception, and people get really annoyed when they still find that they’re gaining weight. The truth is you can’t just eat and eat and eat.
It doesn’t matter what you’re eating, there are calories in food and you need to think about portion control. If you eat too much, regardless of healthy or not, your metabolism will struggle to burn it all and your body starts to store the excess as fat.
As Long as You Exercise You Can Eat Anything You Want
The next myth is that exercise is the only important part. The truth is that weight loss is 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise.
While they both work really well together, you really need to focus on the amount of food you eat. Creating a calorie deficit is important, and exercise just helps with that.
Low-Fat Is the Best Option
You’re in the supermarket and see a low-fat or normal version. Of course the low-fat is the best for your diet, right? Well, not always. Low or reduced fat does not mean no fat like some people believe.
There are still calories in there. There are also still sugars in there that you need to think about. While it is healthier in most cases, it’s not always the best option.
Carb-Free or Fat-Free Diets Are a Must
The Atkin’s Diet, South Beach Diet and others similar teach people that carbs are bad. This is definitely not the case.
The wrong carbs are bad. It’s important to focus on healthy, complex carbs. Likewise, your body still needs some fat, but the healthy fats. Your body needs a bit of all food groups, so you should never cut one out entirely.
Crash Dieting Helps You Lose Weight Quicker
Yes, this is true but only to a point. Crash dieting is considered ok if you have a lot of weight to lose and you want to kick start your system for the first two weeks.
However, it’s much harder to lose weight over the long-term and then keep it off. You don’t teach yourself the healthy habits of weight loss, so you end up gaining it all back and more afterwards.
You Shouldn’t Eat After 6pm
There’s a common misconception that eating late at night is bad for weight loss.
A study was conducted at Cambridge’s Dunn Nutrition Centre, which found that it’s the total number of calories consumed within a 24-hour period that affects weight loss; not the time that you eat. So you can eat at any point in the day.