Weight Loss Myths

There is a lot of misinformation out there about weight loss. Here are some of the myths that can make losing weight a lot more difficult than it should be.

Myth: Low-fat diets help to lose weight.


Fact: Actually the low-fat diet is one of the reasons for the high rate of obesity! 
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Myth: Eating less calories is the key to losing weight.

Fact: Actually eating less calories can turn your body into starvation mode and lead to weight gain. It’s not about eating less calories as much as it’s about eating the right less calories.

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Myth: Walking every day helps to burn fat.

Fact: Walking is good for your cardiovascular system, and is a good way to get into the habit of exercise. Walking is also a good way to loosen up and warm up your muscles, but walking doesn’t burn fat.

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Myth: Working with a dietitian will help to lose weight.

Fact: Dietitians may know more than you, but many of them are out-dated in their thinking. In fact, many of them subscribe to many of these myths. You should interview your dietitian before paying them your hard-earned money.

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Myth: Following one of the famous weight loss programs will help me to lose weight.

Fact: These weight loss programs can work as long as you follow their rules, but they also subscribe to many of these myths. One of the advantages though is that these programs provide structure to your life, and some provide pretty good meals – to get you started and going in the right direction..

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Myth: High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets are a healthy way to lose weight.

Fact: The long-term health effects of a high-protein/low-carbohydrate diet are unknown. But getting most of your daily calories from high-protein foods like meat, eggs, and cheese is not a balanced eating plan. 

You may be eating too much fat and cholesterol, which may raise heart disease risk. You may be eating too few fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, which may lead to constipation due to lack of dietary fiber. Following a high-protein/low-carbohydrate diet may also make you feel nauseous, tired, and weak. 

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Myth: Certain foods, like grapefruit, celery, or cabbage soup, can burn fat and make you lose weight.

Fact: No foods can burn fat. Some foods with caffeine may speed up your metabolism (the way your body uses energy, or calories) for a short time, but they do not cause weight loss.

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Myth: Eating after 8 p.m. causes weight gain.

Fact: It does not matter what time of day you eat. It is what and how much you eat and how much physical activity you do during the whole day that determines whether you gain, lose, or maintain your weight. No matter when you eat, your body will store extra calories as fat.

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Myth: Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight.

Fact: Studies show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the day tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast and eat four or five times a day. This may be because people who skip meals tend to feel hungrier later on, and eat more than they normally would. It may also be that eating many small meals throughout the day helps people control their appetites.

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Myth: Lifting weights is not good to do if you want to lose weight, because it will make you “bulk up.”

Fact: Lifting weights or doing strengthening activities like push-ups and crunches on a regular basis can actually help you maintain or lose weight. These activities can help you build muscle, and muscle burns more calories than body fat. So if you have more muscle, you burn more calories—even sitting still. Doing strengthening activities 2 or 3 days a week will not “bulk you up.” Only intense strength training, combined with a certain genetic background, can build very large muscles.

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Myth: Nuts are fattening and you should not eat them if you want to lose weight.

Fact: In small amounts, nuts can be part of a healthy weight-loss program. Nuts are high in calories and fat. However, most nuts contain healthy fats that do not clog arteries. Nuts are also good sources of protein, dietary fiber, and minerals including magnesium and copper.

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Myth: Spot reduction exercises work for reducing belly fat.

Fact: Contrary to what the infomercials suggest there is no such thing as spot reduction. Fat is lost throughout the body in a pattern dependent upon genetics, sex (hormones), and age. Overall body fat must be reduced to lose fat in any particular area. Although fat is lost or gained throughout the body it seems the first area to get fat, or the last area to become lean, is the midsection (in men and some women, especially after menopause) and hips and thighs (in women and few men). Sit-ups, crunches, leg-hip raises, leg raises, etc. will only exercise the muscles under the fat.

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Myth: You have to do cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

Fact: It doesn't matter when you exercise - as long as you exercise intensely and consistently. Focus on relatively high-intensity workouts to increase your metabolism for as many hours after exercise as possible. That is best done with interval training and resistance training.

Note: Exercising in the morning is a good thing because the day won't get in the way of your exercise regimen. If you exercise in the evening, a lot of things tend to happen that get in the way.
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Summary

As you can see, there are quite a few myths and misunderstandings about weight loss that can explain why you are struggling with losing weight. The bottom line here is that having the proper knowledge is one of the keys to achieving successful weight loss. So, let’s get started on acquiring that proper knowledge and on your journey to better health. 

Additional Myths About Diabetes

Following are some additional myths about diabetes:

The American Diabetes Association is Searching for a Cure. Sure, they are. They are simply taking your money and promoting the drug and food companies agenda. That’s in my opinion and in those of many other diabetics. By the way, I worked (as a volunteer) for the ADA for more than 3 years.

Diabetes makes you fat.  Being overweight may be caused by poor diet and lack of exercise. It is a fact that the majority of diabetics are overweight. The diabetes is a symptom with the same causes as the weight gain.

Cinnamon lowers blood sugars. While cinnamon can enhance the tastes of foods, it has not been proven to lower blood sugar readings over the long term. There was a study that showed an reduction in blood sugar but it did not last. Subsequent studies have not shown any benefit from cinnamon. Gorging on cinnamon can cause liver inflammation so use in moderation.

Diabetics should be on a low fat diet. Not true. Diabetics need the good fats in their diets just like everyone else. These low fat diets were the knee jerk reactions to problems caused by the bad fats in our diets. Diabetics should concentrate on avoiding junk foods and eat diets containing foods that stabilize blood sugars.

Insulin cures Diabetes.  Nope. It helps control sugar levels by ushering glucose into the cells. The underlying causes are unchanged. Taking insulin forming pills or insulin is simply buying time to seek a cure.

The only way to treat diabetes is with medicine. Wow, I could write for days on this. To me, taking medication for type 2 diabetes is a short term solution. Once you change your diet and exercise routines, medicine should be unneeded. On this subject I will be at odds with traditionally educated doctors.

Treating diabetes with medication is all I need to do.  If that were so then how do you explain the shortened lifespan of a diabetic?

As long as I take my pills or shots I can eat anything.   If you believe this, I have a bridge to sell you. Pills or shots only hide the symptoms of your diabetes, while the diabetes continues to rot out your body!

Diabetes is incurable. - At least that is what we’ve all been told. Is diabetes curable? Somehow these experts haven’t talked to all the people who are living medication and insulin free. You won’t see their stories in the popular diabetes magazines either. That doesn’t sell advertising to drug companies. There are many former diabetics who lead drug free lives because they changed their former self destructive eating habits and added regular exercise. Today,  there are many doctors like Dr. Rosedale, Dr. Mercola, Dr. Young, and Dr. Oz who are challenging this myth and proving it to be untrue. There is no pill you can take to cure diabetes or any other disease.

Myths About Diabetes

There are many diabetes myths circulating among diabetics, today. Some of these were started through ignorance, others  by doctors, dietitians and diabetes educators, others by a single flawed study, and still more exist because of a resistance to change by diabetics.

In some cases the very people that claim to be helping diabetics are lying to them.

Although it is very important to learn everything you can about diabetes, it may be just as important to unlearn a lot of things you believe to be true about diabetes, drugs, and nutrition.

Here are several myths and misunderstandings about diabetes, drugs, nutrition and other related topics.

Myth: Diabetes is just a little sugar problem – it’s not that serious.

Truth: Diabetes is a disease that affects trillions of cells in the body and, gradually, leads to complications such as heart attack, stroke, amputation, kidney failure, and blindness. So, diabetes is serious . . .  very serious.

Myth: Eating sweets and your genetics cause diabetes.

Truth: Eating sweets does not cause diabetes – they make you fat, which can lead to diabetes. Although your genetics can play a partial role in diabetes, the eating and cooking habits that are passed down from one generation to the next are more significant contributors, when combined with a sedentary lifestyle. Look at your genetics as being the “loaded gun” and your eating habits/lifestyle as “pulling the trigger”. As long as you don’t pull the trigger, the loaded gun can’t harm you! Your body may have a genetic predisposition to acquire diabetes, but, if you make better decisions than your ancestors about food, exercise, and lifestyle, then it is not a forgone conclusion that you will become diabetic.

Myth: There is no cure for diabetes – once a diabetic, always a diabetic.

Truth: The treatment protocol for Type 2 diabetes is drug therapy, which is designed to suppress the symptoms of the disease and not address the root causes of the disease. And, therefore, the disease cannot be cured. However, there is sufficient clinical evidence that shows lifestyle changes (such as nutrition, exercise, testing, and spiritual health) can prevent and control Type 2 diabetes. And, once the diabetes is under control, further lifestyle changes may reverse the effects of the disease – if the treatment focuses on repairing the trillions of defective cells.

Myth: Diabetes is not as serious if you are taking pills instead of insulin.

Truth: Diabetes should be taken as seriously regardless of whether you are taking pills or injections. Unfortunately, because we live in a drug-tolerant society that sees pills as “normal”, we don’t really believe our health is in any danger if we are taking pills. Either way, the diabetes will still progress and lead to other health complications. In fact, pills lull diabetics into a comfort zone and a false sense of wellness that eventually fails them.

Author’s Note: A co-worker thought that he was safe taking a pill, but today is on insulin because the disease continued to progress.

Myth: You can control your diabetes by avoiding the carbs.

Truth: You may be able to temporarily lower your blood glucose level, but you can’t avoid a major macronutrient such as carbohydrates and expect to get healthy. Besides, not all carbohydrates are bad – it’s the refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta, and cereals that are the problem. However, good carbohydrates, such as broccoli and Brussel sprouts, actually provide some of the missing saccharides, which help to repair the cells and reduce the insulin resistance.

Note: Recent research indicates that cells have a thin carbohydrate (“sugar”) coating (glycocalyx) of glycoproteins and glycolipids that support cellular communications and the immune and endocrine systems.

Myth: It costs more to eat healthy foods.

Truth: It does cost more to eat healthy foods – in the short term. Fresh vegetables and fruits cost more than a box of macaroni and cheese. Sprouted-grain bread cost more than wheat bread. Organic brown rice cost more than white rice. However, as your health improves, you will save money with over-the-counter drugs, prescription drugs, doctor visits, physical exams, hospital stays, and the quantity of groceries.

Myth: Most people (including diabetics) do not like taking drugs.

Truth: Surprisingly, most people prefer to take drugs – in lieu of making changes to their lifestyle, nutrition, or exercise regimen. Most people will deny that they like taking drugs, but the facts show that more than 65% of the people in the United States take prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs; and, more than 60% take multiple drugs. This is due to our intolerance to personal pain and suffering – why suffer if there’s a drug that will eliminate the pain? Also, there is the belief that the drugs are “working” because they do what they are advertised to do, e.g. reduce pain, lower blood pressure, lower blood glucose, lower cholesterol. It will require a major paradigm shift in our thinking to move away from drugs as the solution to our health problems.