Weight Loss Myths

Myth 1: Salad is one of the healthiest foods you can eat

Everybody believes that eating SALAD is always a healthy and non-fattening, but this is not always TRUE. Many restaurants prepared salads with high calorie, high fat dressings. Also, they often add cream or ranch-style sauces and fatty toppings like croutons, bacon bits taco meat, avocado and cheese which make your salad even more fattening.

You probably think that it is okay to eat salad regardless of its ingredients because you tend to associate the word SALAD with DIETING; hence salad becomes an excuse to binge on the food that you desire. Eating salad is non-fattening if you only put either fruits or vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, kiwi fruit, cucumber etc. Also, remember to only use Italian or any vinegar-like dressing so that your salad will not be calorie dense. Never use any of that creamy, mayonnaise- like or ranch-style sauces because if you do; you are sure to add pounds in your weight. If you eat salad with everything on it (croutons, bacon bits, cheese and the like) you are just like eating a quarter pound burger or a solo pizza.

Myth 2: Wheat bread is non-fattening

Some may be confused as to “wheat bread” is healthy or not. Pretty much everyone has heard that wheat bread is much better than white bread because WHEAT is perceived as a healthy and non-fattening ingredient in bread. However, wheat doesn’t always mean WHOLE WHEAT, right? No one will explain to you how to pick a wheat bread, and heaven knows there are about a thousand choices. So here’s a tip, when shopping for bread skip anything white or wheat... yes that's right wheat.

Myth 3: Natural honey and brown sugar are better than white sugar

Replacing honey for white sugar, brown or any other table sugar is really no better for you. In fact, a tablespoon of honey has 64 calories and a tablespoon of granulated sugar only 49 calories; and so honey contains even more calories than sugar. You may think that honey might be better for you than the granulated sugar (there’s really no scientific proof that it is) but still honey has more calories. There is no difference as far as your body is concerned between more refined sugars and more natural products such as the honey.

Another misconception that most people have is the notion that BROWN sugar is less fattening than white sugar. This is just silly. Both are sugar therefore both have high calories which can make you fat especially if you often put in too much on your food and drinks. The only difference between the brown and the white sweeteners is that brown sugar contains more vitamins and minerals. Brown sugar sold at grocery stores is no different with white sugar because brown sugar is actually white granulated sugar with added molasses. Yes, brown sugar contains minute amounts of minerals. But unless you eat a gigantic portion of brown sugar every day, the mineral content difference between brown sugar and white sugar is absolutely insignificant. They are both sugar therefore they both are loaded with calories that can make you fat.

Myth 4: Eating after 6 or 8 in the evening will help you lose weight

Starving yourself is a big mistake in dieting. When you are in a weight loss program, it doesn't matter what time of day you eat--it's how much you eat during the whole day. Time doesn’t any significant relevance in losing weight. You know from a fact that too much calories in your body causes extra calorie deposits; thus become your stored fat tissue. It is even better if you will have 4 small meals a day. You just need to plan carefully on how you will evenly distribute your daily food into 4 smaller portions. This will allow you to eat anytime you want and still absorb few calories. Also, fewer amount of calorie intake allows your body to burn and process those calories easily. In this way, you are assured that every meal you eat is totally burnt by your body. It is recommended that you eat less during night time because during this time of the day, you will not be doing much work. You meal allocation for night time should only include a very light snack, preferably a slice or two of you favorite fruit.

Myth 5: Eating celery, cabbage soup and grapefruit can help you burn fat.

There is no food that burns fat. Even caffeine in colas and coffee does not eliminate fatty tissues in the body. These foods may somehow stimulate your metabolism but that is only momentarily.

Myth 6: Drinking green tea helps you lose weight.

There are still not enough proof that green tea helps in burning body fat. The caffeine that most teas have is known to stimulate metabolism for certain period of time but is still not yet linked to burn fatty tissue.