Diet Myth #1: You can’t consume too many veggies (or fruits)
Weight Watchers started this one by assigning zero points to fruits and vegetables. This led dieters to believe that apples and pears were free radicals, floating in the empty space of your stomach without turning into fat. Obviously, this is nonsense, but when you’re hungry, and you want to remain pure, the brain can rationalize anything. If you consume more calories than you spend, where will that excess energy go? Hm…If you’re a woman, hips and thighs. If you’re a man, stomach, and sometimes, breasts. And certain fruits, like avocados, pile on the calories with remarkable efficiency.
Diet Myth #2: You can Turn your Fat into Muscle by Exercising
No, you can’t, because fat and muscle are composed of different cells. Exercising will lead to a build-up of muscle cells, which weigh more than fat cells. Therefore, too much exercise and not enough food reduction will increase your weight, regardless of how many extra fat cells you are lugging around on your butt or around your ribs. You can, however, burn fat cells through exercise. The problem is to find the balance between burning up fat and building up muscle. The important thing is to be healthy and strong for your weight.
Diet Myth #3: Do not Eat Before a Workout
This myth is particularly harmful, especially considering the knowledge that the body’s fuel is food. This food, measured in calories, is registered as an energy source which muscles burn. If your do not have enough energy in the muscle, it slows you down and produces a less efficient work-out.
Diet Myth #4: Avoid Fat to Lose Fat
This myth is complicated because fat is a complicated substance, which works in the body in a complicated process. Many fats are good and necessary, like fatty fish and fatty avocadoes. Others are terrible, like trans fats. Study your fats and make good decisions.
Diet Myth #5: Nutrient Deficiencies Cause Cravings
Most cravings are emotional. Chocolate comes to mind. What possible vitamin deficiency could lead to being a chocoholic? The problem has to do with your habit, not your biochemistry.
Diet Myth #6: Cutting Calories Is Best Path to Weight Loss
Technically, this is true; it corresponds with other myths, like the one about getting a free pass on fruits and vegetables. The problem comes because when you cut your calories too far, it can have a boomerang effect. People end up storing more fat on their trouble spots, because the body thinks it’s starving. Don’t fall into the trap.
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