Five Diet and Exercise Myths That Actually Make You Gain Weight

But fortunately there are corresponding truths about diet and exercise that help people lose weight. Let's consider five common fallacies first.

1. All you need to do to lose weight is to count calories

The truth is, calories are not always countable, especially the calories in healthy, wholesome, whole foods. Consider apples. Everybody knows that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, and many diet plans encourage dieters to eat an apple, or two, every day.

The calorie content of an apple measured gram for gram, however, can vary as much as 100% depending on when the apple was picked, how long it has been in storage, and how much the apple has dehydrated during the trip from the orchard to your kitchen. Fresh apples can have calorie content approaching that of dried apples in some circumstances.

A single 25- to 50-calorie underestimate in your diet does not make a lot of difference, but multiple miscalculations every day make weight loss impossible. The foods that no one recommends on any weight loss diet, Ho-Hos, Ding Dongs, and Dunkin' Donuts, for example, that are factory-made from carefully measured mixes of fat, flour, sugar, and chemicals, offer reliable calorie counts. You can be sure that your Hostess Ding Dong cellophane-wrapped chocolate cake with the Marshmallow cream filling always delivers 368 calories per serving. And 736 calories in 2 servings. And 1104 calories in 3 servings. The foods that wreck your diet are always the easiest to measure.

2. All you need to lose weight is to keep a food diary

Looking at the amount of food you eat throughout the day, you will instinctively stop eating when you notice you are eating too much.

There actually are some people who record their eating accurately. An analysis of 65 studies conducted in the UK, however, found that most people who are overweight record more protein, fiber, and carbohydrates than they actually consume, and less fat, sugar, and alcohol. Snacks are most likely to be forgotten.

3. You can lose weight by exercising regularly

Actually, most people who exercise regularly manage to gain weight, although they gain weight as muscle. Most people who diet lose both muscle and fat.

4. A low-fat, or low-carbohydrate, or (the latest fad) low-protein diet is all you need to lose weight

There is no need to count calories or restrict portion sizes.

All diets that focus on a single nutrient work because of the boredom factor. If all you are allowed to eat is steak and eggs, very soon you get tired of steak and eggs. If all you are allowed to eat is raw vegan plant foods, you either spend a great deal of time choosing a constantly changing variety of raw plant foods or you soon find yourself sneaking forbidden snacks. Although low-fat, low-carb, and and low-protein diets all can help you lose weight, there is no advantage in terms of weight loss of one approach over any other. Of course, there are many reasons to avoid certain food groups, ethical, religious, and practical. But not eating a given food group has no magical powers for losing weight.

5. Eat all you want until 4 pm to lose weight

The nineteenth century version of this advice was "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper." If you grossly overeat at breakfast and lunch, you will still be storing more fat than your body burns at night. It's just that simple. Alternating cycles of fasting and gorging actually make you gain weight. They don't help you lose weight.

6. Extra myth #1: More exercise is always better

While regular exercise is crucial for health, excessively pushing the body can lead to overtraining, injuries, mental burnout, and a compromised immune system. Intense, prolonged training can cause hormonal imbalances, affecting menstrual cycles in women and raising stress hormone levels.

Muscles require rest to repair, and without adequate recovery, the body can't improve. Nutritional deficiencies may arise if extreme exercise isn't paired with proper diet. Beyond physical tolls, excessive commitment to exercise can impact social life and overall well-being. It's essential to balance exercise with rest and to prioritize one's holistic health over relentless training.

7. Extra myth #2: All calories are equal

"All calories are equal" is a common saying, but it oversimplifies nutrition. While a calorie is a standard measure of energy, the source of that calorie matters for metabolism and overall health.

100 calories from soda, primarily from sugars, impact the body differently than 100 calories from almonds, which provide healthy fats, fiber, and protein. Different foods influence hunger, hormones, and energy storage. Sugary calories can spike blood sugar and trigger fat storage, while protein-rich calories can promote satiety and muscle growth. It's crucial to consider not just calorie quantity, but also quality when evaluating dietary choices.

8. Extra myth #3: Fat-free equals healthy

The "fat-free" label can be misleading. While it indicates the absence of fat, it doesn't always mean the product is healthy. Often, to compensate for lost flavor when fat is removed, manufacturers add sugars, artificial sweeteners, or other fillers. These additives can lead to increased calorie consumption, spikes in blood sugar, and cravings.

Furthermore, the body needs healthy fats for functions like nutrient absorption and hormone production. Some "fat-free" products might lack essential nutrients found in their full-fat counterparts. It's crucial to read ingredient lists and consider overall nutritional value rather than relying solely on "fat-free" claims.

Now let's consider five diet and exercise truths that can help you lose weight.

Five Corresponding Diet Principles That Help You Lose Weight

Fortunately, the five most common diet myths are based on diet facts. The honest diet facts can help you lose weight.

1. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, let someone else count calories for you

This is the idea behind most medically supervised weight loss diets and the Jenny Craig program. You get most of your calories in prepackaged meals, and you only add salad vegetables, fruit, and dairy products that you buy at the store. If you take any possibility of super-sizing (and forgetting about it later) out of your diet program you will lose more weight, especially if you "overeat" vegetables and fruit rather than cookies and ice cream. If you also have a counselor or dietitian whom you meet in person or with whom you have conversations over the Internet or telephone, you are much more likely to keep the weight off for a year or more.

2. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, plan a menu before you eat rather than recording your memories of food choices after you eat

Ideally, you would carefully plan your diet food menu and then hand it to your kitchen staff at the beginning of each week. Your personal attendant and butler would make sure that you adhered to your diet choices by politely reminding you of your weight goals.

But if you prepare your own food on a budget, you can at least make healthy choices in the foods you buy during your weekly trip to the market, preparing high-calorie foods ahead of time in carefully planned portions. Let your salad and fruit choices be spontaneous, but eat soups, casseroles, roasts, stews, and bean dishes that you prepare on your shopping day, from recipes that give you accurate calorie counts.

3. You may be able to lose fat and gain muscle while you diet with a little help

Sometimes weight loss dieters who exercise gain more muscle when they shift the way the body uses the amino acid arginine. You don't have to take huge amounts of protein powder to do this. Just 1,000 mg of a mixture of arginine and ornithine twice a day is enough. This inexpensive amino acid supplement keeps arginine from being transformed into other amino acids, and makes it available for muscle growth. You only add 10 calories a day to your diet, and if you are already exercising, this should not be a problem.

4. Ultimately, dieters lose weight on low-calorie diets, not low-carbohydrate, low-fat, or low-protein diets

It is not exactly true that calories in = calories out + calories stored as fat. The body has to transform essential amino acids into the non-essential amino acids it needs, which requires energy. The action of digesting food requires energy. And even storing excess calories as fat requires some energy.

But the amount of energy the body needs every day to use the food you eat is less than you can consume in a single donut. Ultimately, weight loss is about eating less. If the boredom of a high-protein diet kills your appetite, this approach may work for you (at least for a while). If the variety of a raw foods variety distracts you from your hunger, this approach may also work for you (probably for a longer while). But the key to success to any diet always comes down to eating less. The diet plans are really about fighting hunger, not about losing weight.

5. Take an 18-hour break from eating every other day to lose weight

There is nothing magical about eating less later in the day. There are two things that are nearly magical about short-term fasts.

When you don't eat for 17 or 18 hours, your body's lipase enzymes begin to take more fat out of fat cells that other processes put in. Even if you overate at your last meal (and please don't interpret this as license to overeat before an 18-hour fast), your body begins to burn fat.

And when you don't eat for 17 or 18 hours, your body begins to make growth hormone to protect your muscles. Your muscles do not, as the three-hour diet advocates tell us, begin to break down if you don't constantly eat protein. Growth hormone protects them, and also rejuvenates many other processes in your body. Since growth hormone production is enhanced during sleep, it helps to skip dinner rather than breakfast.