Myths And Misconceptions About Your Weight Part 2

Eating “carbs” such as pasta or bread will make you gain weight. Carbohydrates aka “carbs” are an essential part of the diet because they are what give the body the energy and fiber it needs. Besides, declaring an entire food group “off limits” just makes you crave it more, increasing the possibility of binging in a moment of weakness. Carbs help you to feel more “full”, which tells you to stop eating and taking in calories. In that sense, carbs can actually help you lose weight, not gain.

Diet sodas are healthier and less fattening than “regular” sodas. Not necessarily. Diet sodas cut down on calories in that they don't have sugar, but some artificial sweeteners can cause other problems. I have a friend who gets massive migraines any time she eats or drinks something with aspartame, the sweetener most commonly found in diet sodas. This isn't unusual and is hardly more healthy than taking in sugar! Diet sodas also do not satisfy cravings for sugar and thus increase the possibility of eating sweets to make up the difference.

Low fat=low calorie. Similar to the above, this isn't always true. While there are definitely low-fat foods that have fewer calories than the full-fat versions, sometimes the foods are processed in such a way that can negate any benefits gained from removing the fat. For instance, sometimes starches or sugars are added to improve the flavor and make a low-fat food more appealing. This can add extra calories, sometimes making the “healthier” version more caloric than the original.

Also, a big misconception many people have about low-fat or low-calorie foods is that they can eat more of them and not worry about gaining weight. That's not necessarily true. Snackwell's cookies might have fewer calories than the same-sized box of Keebler, but that doesn't mean you can eat the whole box and not take in too many calories.

People who exercise can eat whatever they want because they'll burn off the calories. That really would be nice, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, this isn't true for a few reasons. First of all, not everyone burns calories at the same rate. Just because you're in a Zumba class with someone doesn't mean you'll burn off the same amount of calories she will. It's not that simple; she may have a completely different metabolism, weight and body composition than you. Also, we don't always burn off as many calories as we think. If a 130-lb woman wanted to burn off 400 calories, she'd have to walk at a moderate pace for roughly 2 hours or spend an hour on the exercise bike. That's more than a lot of us are willing or able to do. However athletic we are, we still need to pay attention to calories.

The good news is that we burn a lot more calories than we think. Here's a page that gives the calories used for daily activities. http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm

These are just a few of the more common myths I've heard. What about you?