Have you followed a popular diet in the past because you thought it would help you lose weight and found yourself disappointed because it didn’t work?
There are many weight loss myths that are based on what people have read or what they’ve heard but they are often not based on facts which is why they don’t end up working.
1. Stop grains to lose weight
Many people avoid grains because they think that’s what is causing the weight gain so they’ll avoid foods like pasta, roti and rice and they’ll find it helps them to lose weight for the short term, but they find after they start to eat grains again, the weight comes straight back on. The reason why they lose weight when they stop eating grains is usually because it’s the water weight that they are losing.
Fact: You don’t need to cut out grains, but you need to know about portion sizes of these grains and learn to have whole grains rather than just refined grains.
2. Avoid snacks
Some people stop having snacks or treats or their favourite foods because they feel they need to give up everything they like to lose weight and they don’t think they can do it living their normal life. However, this also works only in the short term, because it’s very difficult to give up on your favourite snacks forever and at some point if you begin to have those snacks again, it’s likely that this might lead to you overindulging and having too much which will lead to you getting the weight back.
Fact: You don’t need to stop having treats of your favourite foods, again this is mainly about portions and learning how to make swap, for example, instead of having fried crisps, you could have baked crisps to ensure you can still eat your favourite foods but instead just make a healthy swap.
3. Skipping meals
People skip meals and go into a calorie deficit because they feel it’ll help them lose weight. They’ll do things like miss out on eating lunch because they might be eating a big dinner and focus too much on calorie counting. However, this does not result in long term weight loss and the weight comes back on.
Fact: You shouldn’t skip meals and if you do go into calorie deficit for a prolonged period of time, it can affect your metabolism and in the long term this may affect your ability to be able to lose weight. So, skipping meals is not a solution, it’s better to eat balanced meals.
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4. Low fat
People feel they need to avoid fat to lose weight which isn’t true, you can still eat fat. Fat has many functions in the body, we need it for our hormones, for vitamin D, to help us feel satisfied and some low fat foods are even higher in carbs and sugar too so this is not the solution.
Fact: Include fats in your diet but learn what your healthy fats are and understand the portions of healthy fats that you should be eating daily.
5. Exercise
People feel they need to be exercising intensely and doing a lot of cardio and end up trying to do too much too quickly which becomes difficult to maintain. Despite the exercise, they still struggle to lose weight because exercise alone is not enough, it’s also important to have a balanced lifestyle that consists of healthy meals, enough sleep and also making mindset changes.
Fact: You do need to be active to lose weight but don’t make it all about doing cardio or doing exercises that you don’t enjoy. You could instead be going for a brisk walk or dancing, swimming or doing any other activities that you enjoy.
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Sujata Din is a Certified Health Coach and Certified Professional Cancer Coach. In this regular column for iGlobal, she offers some special insights, from useful wellness tips to recipes for creations that are not only delicious but also healthy.