5 Weight-Loss Myths That Are Setting You Up For Failure
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Losing
weight is no small feat. It requires you to make changes to your daily
routine, eating habits, and maybe even your social life. The traditional
advice of “eat right and exercise” can often seem daunting if you’re
looking to drop fat fast.
That’s why one internet search for "how to lose weight" yields
millions of quick-fix alternatives to the slow slog of jogging and
salads. But do they work?
Science says no. There’s no one magic ingredient that’s going to make
you lose weight, says Wesley Delbridge, R.D., spokesperson for the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Choosing the wrong fad or crash diet
could leave you lethargic for workouts, lower your immunity, and even
derail your weight loss, slowing your metabolism and making it harder to
drop pounds in the future.
There’s no substitute for putting in the hard work, but the good news
is that there are a lot of little things you can do each day to shed
pounds. Read on for five weight-loss myths that could set you back, and
the research-based tips to try instead.
MYTH #1: DETOX DIETS ARE GREAT FOR YOUR BODY
Some research
suggests that harmful substances we’re exposed to from our environment
(like the BPA in plastics, for example) may play a role in diseases like
obesity and diabetes. However, there’s no evidence that commercial detox products like teas, juice cleanses, and special restrictive diets can effectively remove them.
The all-powerful secret to detoxing? Your body’s natural filters, also known as your liver and kidneys.
The thought that special detox formulas travel from your digestive
tract to your muscles, fat, and skin to seek out toxins, like alcohol or
drugs, and flush them from your body is a myth, says Delbridge.
Plus, most detox cleanses involve drastic calorie restriction, which
can be bad news for your waistline. When your body senses that it’s
starving, your metabolism slows, so it will hold on to those foods
tighter when you do start eating normally again, making it likely that
you’ll just gain back any weight you lost to begin with, explains
Delbridge. Try this: The best way to
support your body’s natural detox pathways is through food. First, you
need to drink enough water, so your kidneys can properly flush out
unneeded chemicals, says Susan Payrovi, M.D., an integrative medicine
practitioner at Stanford University’s Medical Center.
In addition to your favorite slab of meat, adding in plant-based
proteins, like beans and lentils, can help support your liver function,
she adds. Load up on at least five servings each day of colorful vegetables and fruits, too. They’re high in antioxidants, which may help your body process unwanted substances, she says.
When it comes to dropping pounds, reducing calories from all foods is important, right? Not so. All calories are not
created equal when it comes to weight loss, says Susan Roberts, Ph.D.
senior scientist at Tufts Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research
Center on Aging.
Some calories—say, those from high-fiber and protein-packed foods
like broccoli, nuts, and lentils—have been shown to play a role in
boosting your metabolism. These, plus low-glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates, like milk and whole grains, keep you full longer, so you’re less tempted to overeat at your next meal, adds Roberts.
Case in point: Take a handful of almonds and compare them to a snack-sized bag of 18 potato chips.
Both are around 160 calories, but the almonds are more likely to
satiate your hunger than the chips, thanks to their protein and fiber
content. Try this: Include carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber
in all of your meals and snacks, says Delbridge. Instead of just eating
an apple, which contains carbs and fiber, as a 2 p.m. snack, try adding
in a tablespoon of peanut butter for an added protein and fat boost.
Fiber and protein slow down how quickly food moves through your
digestive tract, so your body will utilize the nutrients in a more
efficient way, adds Delbridge.
MYTH #3: EATING "CLEAN" IS ALWAYS HEALTHY
Typically, when you eat clean, you only
consume whole foods you’ve prepped yourself and nix all processed
snacks, added sugar, and salt. That's not entirely a terrible thing, and
the very basic principles of clean eating can align with healthful eating.
But many challenges are questionable. Take the five-ingredient rule,
where a hard “no” on any foods with ingredient lists longer than five
items, like protein powders and frozen veggie burgers, is expected. This
type of restriction can easily backfire, causing you to constantly
crave and binge on the very foods you swore not to eat.
That’s because there are receptive centers in your brain that get
used to eating, say, a bowl of ice cream each night. This makes you
crave sugar similar to that in people addicted to alcohol and drugs,
says Delbridge. So if you tell yourself that you can’t eat ice cream,
you’ll end up going hog-wild once your brain gets the best of you. This
pattern of restricting and binging is a recipe for weight gain, says
Delbridge. Try this:
To wean yourself off, start with a 25 percent drop in your vice of
choice every week. So if you end your day with four pieces of chocolate
and a glass of milk, cut back by one piece a week. “This slow process
reduces splurging and also resentment about your diet,” explains
Delbridge.
And if you want to keep your favorite foods in your life, just remember that eating in moderation can be helpful.
Have two pieces of your favorite kind of chocolate with lunch instead
of a full-size candy bar, suggests Delbridge. (Get the secret to
banishing belly bulge from WH readers who've done it with Take It All Off! Keep It All Off!)
Initially, you will lose more weight
on a low-carb diet. When you eat very little carbs, your body will use
up its own energy stores, so you’ll lose a lot of water weight rather
than fat. Once you start eating a bit more normally, you’ll just gain
that weight back, says Roberts.
If you keep eating this way, your body may dip into your muscle
stores to turn protein into glucose to make up for the lack of fuel.
Because the protein is being converted to energy, it can't prioritize
building and maintaining your gains, says Delbridge, meaning you might
actually lose some muscle.
And when you lose muscle, your metabolism may slow, which makes losing weight—and keeping it off—tough.
Now, cutting back on refined carbs like crackers and cookies is never
a bad idea. These types of carbs are “empty” because they offer you
little nutritional bang for your buck in terms of calories. In fact, research suggests that swapping out refined carbs for whole grains can lead to gradual weight loss. Try this:
Load up on vegetables, which are nutrient-dense carbohydrates, and when
you eat grains, stick to their whole form. Structure your plate this
way: Pack half of your dish with vegetables, and split the other half
between whole grains and your protein, says Delbridge. That ratio will
keep you feeling satisfied.
The gluten-free
lifestyle is misconstrued as a great way to lose weight and improve
health. Gluten—a protein in wheat, rye, and barley—is really only an issue for two percent of Americans diagnosed with celiac disease, wheat allergy, or nonceliac gluten sensitivity.
Eliminating gluten without a professional diagnosis can also set you up for deficiencies in vitamins D, B12, and calcium.
So why is going gluten-free touted as a weight loss tool? When you go
from eating processed carbohydrates, like pastries and cakes, to more
vegetables and whole grains, like quinoa or brown rice, you’re getting
more fiber. This can cause you to eat less, since you’re taking in more
satiating foods, says Delbridge.
The thing is, a gluten-free cookie is still a cookie, so loading up
on the wrong types of gluten-free foods can still set you back if you’re
not careful. Try this:
Before you cut out gluten, try swapping out the type of carbohydrates
you’re eating, and how much, suggests Delbridge. If you eat your
sandwich on white bread, try whole grain or an open-sandwich with just
one slice instead.
If you do think you might have a gluten sensitivity, talk to your
doc, preferably a gastroenterologist, before making the switch.
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