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THE MYTH: Skipping meals can help you lose weight faster.
THE REALITY: Wrong.
--------------
It seems logical, just like its corollary ("the fewer calories you
eat, the more weight you'll lose"), but it's not true. The effect
is often the opposite of what you expect. Dieting is based on the
fact that if you burn more calories in a day than you take in, your
body will begin burning fat. While this is true, if you expect to
lose weight effectively, you need to keep eating regular meals,
especially breakfast.
Depriving your body of its necessary fuel causes it to go into
starvation mode; when this happens, your metabolism slows down so
that you can get by on less food. Once your metabolism slows, it
can be hard to bring it back up to speed, and until it speeds up
again, regular eating will just cause you to gain more weight.
It can be a vicious cycle that's hard to break. In addition,
skipping meals can make you feel dizzy and weak, can have
deleterious effects on your cholesterol levels, and can be
extremely dangerous for diabetics.
In short, fasting and crash diets are forms of self-sabotage best
avoided. Besides, eating regularly (and moderately) will make you
less hungry throughout the day, so you're less likely to give in to
your food cravings.
--------------
THE MYTH: You shouldn't eat any starches, because they're fattening.
THE REALITY: This myth is a dangerous one.
--------------
For one thing, it's difficult to completely avoid starches, since
they're a major component of staples like bread, pasta, grains,
fruits, potatoes, corn, and rice. Even if it were possible to cut
out all starches, if you did so you'd be starving your body of the
fuel it absolutely needs in order to function properly. Food
consists of only three basic substances: proteins, fats, and
carbohydrates. Starches are carbohydrates; and carbohydrates,
along with their metabolic products, are your body's basic fuel.
Most of the fuel your body uses comes from a carbohydrate called
glucose. Some glucose you might take in as candy or sodas; some
products, like starches and the carbohydrates in substances like
alcohol, quickly break down into glucose. Glucose is absorbed by
your cells and used to run your bodily processes; any excess is
stored in your liver or converted into fat, where it can be called
upon at need.
If your body lacks carbohydrates and glucose, it'll eventually
start using any fuel source it can find. At first these might be
fat cells, but as they shrink, your body may begin attacking the
protein reserves in your muscles for the fuel it needs. This is a
"last-resort" move generally saved for famine conditions, so if it
happens to you, it's bad news. The message is clear: don't totally
eliminate starches from your diet, or you'll live to regret it. You
can reduce them, by cutting out the excess junk like candy or sodas
or sugar, but don't eliminate all carbs from your diet, they are
needed.
--------------
THE MYTH: Vegetarian diets are healthier than omnivorous diets.
THE REALITY: Not necessarily.
--------------
A diet consisting entirely of corn and French fries, or of bananas
and shredded wheat, can be considered vegetarian, but neither diet
is healthy in the long run. If you're careful, you can get by
just fine on a properly balanced vegetarian diet, but you'll have
to your diet very carefully. Vegetarian diets do tend to be high
and fiber and low in fat, but the fact is that humans evolved as
opportunistic omnivores. That is, our ancestors ate anything they
could get their hands on: greens, tubers, bugs, and the occasional
bit of meat.
The human body evolved to expect a varied diet, one that could
provide all the nutrients it needs in a variety of packages. Meat
was an important part of their diet, perhaps the most important
part because it was so uncommon. Vegetarians must always be sure
that they eat enough protein; protein is easily available in meat,
so few omnivores have to worry about getting enough, but it's
scarce in most plant foods.
Fortunately, nuts, beans, and a few other vegetable products are
ready sources of protein. If you go vegetarian, you'll also need
to be sure you get daily doses of Vitamin B12 and zinc, supplements
often missing in vegetarian diets.
Most people can survive as vegetarians if they're extremely
careful, but it's a constant battle, and guess what? You can be
just as healthy and out-of-shape on a vegetarian diet as you can on
a regular diet, especially if you don't exercise regularly.
--------------
THE MYTH: Sweating is a great way to lose weight.
THE REALITY: It sure is, as long as you're sweaty because you're
exercising.
--------------
Otherwise, all you're doing is losing water weight. Sweating is
extraordinarily effective at doing what it was meant to do: cooling
the body by coating the skin with evaporative fluids.
It was never meant as a way to lose weight. Lose enough water, and
you're toying with dehydration. Even if you don't try to sweat off
several points in one sitting, dehydration can still get you:
progressive dehydration can occur if you fail to rehydrate yourself
sufficiently after every workout. If you get sufficiently
dehydrated, your electrolyte balance will get out of whack, your
cells will be starved of the fluids they need, and you could die.
Not a happy prospect, so avoid it.
For this reason, the old sweatbox and sauna are of no use for
losing real weight. Neither are their modern "high-tech"
equivalents, such as body wraps and plastic sweat suits, no matter
how many people swear by them. All they do is make you thirsty.
Yes, you lose weight: two pounds per quart sweated away. But
that's weight, not fat. And the moment you drink enough water,
you'll gain all that weight back.
--------------
THE MYTH: If it's fat-free, I can eat all I want!
THE REALITY: Here's another myth that's completely off the mark, so
don't fall for it!
--------------
All "fat-free" means is that a particular food has no detectable
fat content. Sadly, however, it's fat and related compounds that
give most foods their flavor. Ice cream, butter, cheese, and a
whole host of non-dairy products, including chocolate, are little
more than specially prepared, congealed fat. When manufacturers
design many fat-free products, such as bread, cookies, ice cream,
and the like, they know these products will be mostly dry and
flavorless without fat.
Some fat substitutes are available, but they can cause
gastrointestinal upset, and most are expensive. This leaves one
common ingredient that manufacturers can use to make their products
taste better: sugar. And they use it liberally, so many fat-free
products are high in calories.
Furthermore, plenty of foods like breads and pasta are low in fat,
but rich in carbohydrates--and we already know what that means.
Carbohydrates break down easily into our friend glucose, which can
result in increased fat when eaten in excess.
You always have to consider calorie and portion size; you're
fooling yourself if you do otherwise, just as completely as if
you've accepted the claims for the latest "fat-burning" pill
advertised on TV. Moderation is the key to dieting success.
THE REALITY: Wrong.
--------------
It seems logical, just like its corollary ("the fewer calories you
eat, the more weight you'll lose"), but it's not true. The effect
is often the opposite of what you expect. Dieting is based on the
fact that if you burn more calories in a day than you take in, your
body will begin burning fat. While this is true, if you expect to
lose weight effectively, you need to keep eating regular meals,
especially breakfast.
Depriving your body of its necessary fuel causes it to go into
starvation mode; when this happens, your metabolism slows down so
that you can get by on less food. Once your metabolism slows, it
can be hard to bring it back up to speed, and until it speeds up
again, regular eating will just cause you to gain more weight.
It can be a vicious cycle that's hard to break. In addition,
skipping meals can make you feel dizzy and weak, can have
deleterious effects on your cholesterol levels, and can be
extremely dangerous for diabetics.
In short, fasting and crash diets are forms of self-sabotage best
avoided. Besides, eating regularly (and moderately) will make you
less hungry throughout the day, so you're less likely to give in to
your food cravings.
--------------
THE MYTH: You shouldn't eat any starches, because they're fattening.
THE REALITY: This myth is a dangerous one.
--------------
For one thing, it's difficult to completely avoid starches, since
they're a major component of staples like bread, pasta, grains,
fruits, potatoes, corn, and rice. Even if it were possible to cut
out all starches, if you did so you'd be starving your body of the
fuel it absolutely needs in order to function properly. Food
consists of only three basic substances: proteins, fats, and
carbohydrates. Starches are carbohydrates; and carbohydrates,
along with their metabolic products, are your body's basic fuel.
Most of the fuel your body uses comes from a carbohydrate called
glucose. Some glucose you might take in as candy or sodas; some
products, like starches and the carbohydrates in substances like
alcohol, quickly break down into glucose. Glucose is absorbed by
your cells and used to run your bodily processes; any excess is
stored in your liver or converted into fat, where it can be called
upon at need.
If your body lacks carbohydrates and glucose, it'll eventually
start using any fuel source it can find. At first these might be
fat cells, but as they shrink, your body may begin attacking the
protein reserves in your muscles for the fuel it needs. This is a
"last-resort" move generally saved for famine conditions, so if it
happens to you, it's bad news. The message is clear: don't totally
eliminate starches from your diet, or you'll live to regret it. You
can reduce them, by cutting out the excess junk like candy or sodas
or sugar, but don't eliminate all carbs from your diet, they are
needed.
--------------
THE MYTH: Vegetarian diets are healthier than omnivorous diets.
THE REALITY: Not necessarily.
--------------
A diet consisting entirely of corn and French fries, or of bananas
and shredded wheat, can be considered vegetarian, but neither diet
is healthy in the long run. If you're careful, you can get by
just fine on a properly balanced vegetarian diet, but you'll have
to your diet very carefully. Vegetarian diets do tend to be high
and fiber and low in fat, but the fact is that humans evolved as
opportunistic omnivores. That is, our ancestors ate anything they
could get their hands on: greens, tubers, bugs, and the occasional
bit of meat.
The human body evolved to expect a varied diet, one that could
provide all the nutrients it needs in a variety of packages. Meat
was an important part of their diet, perhaps the most important
part because it was so uncommon. Vegetarians must always be sure
that they eat enough protein; protein is easily available in meat,
so few omnivores have to worry about getting enough, but it's
scarce in most plant foods.
Fortunately, nuts, beans, and a few other vegetable products are
ready sources of protein. If you go vegetarian, you'll also need
to be sure you get daily doses of Vitamin B12 and zinc, supplements
often missing in vegetarian diets.
Most people can survive as vegetarians if they're extremely
careful, but it's a constant battle, and guess what? You can be
just as healthy and out-of-shape on a vegetarian diet as you can on
a regular diet, especially if you don't exercise regularly.
--------------
THE MYTH: Sweating is a great way to lose weight.
THE REALITY: It sure is, as long as you're sweaty because you're
exercising.
--------------
Otherwise, all you're doing is losing water weight. Sweating is
extraordinarily effective at doing what it was meant to do: cooling
the body by coating the skin with evaporative fluids.
It was never meant as a way to lose weight. Lose enough water, and
you're toying with dehydration. Even if you don't try to sweat off
several points in one sitting, dehydration can still get you:
progressive dehydration can occur if you fail to rehydrate yourself
sufficiently after every workout. If you get sufficiently
dehydrated, your electrolyte balance will get out of whack, your
cells will be starved of the fluids they need, and you could die.
Not a happy prospect, so avoid it.
For this reason, the old sweatbox and sauna are of no use for
losing real weight. Neither are their modern "high-tech"
equivalents, such as body wraps and plastic sweat suits, no matter
how many people swear by them. All they do is make you thirsty.
Yes, you lose weight: two pounds per quart sweated away. But
that's weight, not fat. And the moment you drink enough water,
you'll gain all that weight back.
--------------
THE MYTH: If it's fat-free, I can eat all I want!
THE REALITY: Here's another myth that's completely off the mark, so
don't fall for it!
--------------
All "fat-free" means is that a particular food has no detectable
fat content. Sadly, however, it's fat and related compounds that
give most foods their flavor. Ice cream, butter, cheese, and a
whole host of non-dairy products, including chocolate, are little
more than specially prepared, congealed fat. When manufacturers
design many fat-free products, such as bread, cookies, ice cream,
and the like, they know these products will be mostly dry and
flavorless without fat.
Some fat substitutes are available, but they can cause
gastrointestinal upset, and most are expensive. This leaves one
common ingredient that manufacturers can use to make their products
taste better: sugar. And they use it liberally, so many fat-free
products are high in calories.
Furthermore, plenty of foods like breads and pasta are low in fat,
but rich in carbohydrates--and we already know what that means.
Carbohydrates break down easily into our friend glucose, which can
result in increased fat when eaten in excess.
You always have to consider calorie and portion size; you're
fooling yourself if you do otherwise, just as completely as if
you've accepted the claims for the latest "fat-burning" pill
advertised on TV. Moderation is the key to dieting success.