Myth No. 3: Going on a Diet Is the Best Way to Lose Weight
The theory: Switching to a prescriptive plan temporarily is the smartest way to drop pounds.
The reality: Short-term, you do lose weight on any plan that results in your eating fewer calories. But temporary changes don't lead to permanent losses. "A diet won't work if you think of it as doing a different thing for a while and then you're going to stop doing it," says Christopher Gardner, an assistant professor of nutritional science at Stanford University School of Medicine. "If you have a new way of eating and think, I'm going to eat like this forever, that's the way to lose weight." And keep it off.
The best advice: Don't go on a "diet"?a quick fix that begins on New Year's Day or before bathing-suit season. Instead, change the way you eat. Find a satisfying eating plan that you can live with long-term, and make sure you're eating the right amount of calories for weight loss. Then, when you've taken off some weight, don't go back to eating as much as you did before you cut calories. "To maintain a lighter weight, you have to eat a little less than you did to maintain your heavier weight before," says Gardner. Besides, dieting alone won't work as well as dieting plus exercise?a little bit of exercise, or maybe a lot. Since 1994 the National Weight Control Registry has followed and analyzed the habits of successful weight losers (defined as people who have maintained at least a 30-pound weight loss for a year or more). Among its findings: Those who kept weight off exercised?with brisk walking or some other moderate-intensity activity?an average of one hour a day. "One of the most important aspects of weight maintenance is a high dose of physical activity," says Rena Wing, Ph.D., a cofounder of the registry and a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School, at Brown University.
Low-fat or no-fat diets are good for you.
A low-fat diet can help weight loss, but don't cut out fat altogether.
Fact: Leading dietician Lyndel Costain says: 'People tend to think they need a low-fat diet to lose weight, but you should still have a third of your calories coming from fat.'
The body needs fat for energy, tissue repair and to transport vitamins A, D, E and K around the body.
Lyndel Costain adds: 'As a guideline, women need 70g of fat a day (95g for men) with 30g as the minimum (40g for men).
'There's no need to follow a fat-free diet. Cutting down on saturated fats and eating unsaturated fats, found in things like olive oil and avocados, will help.'
Crash dieting or fasting makes you lose weight.
Fact: This may be true in the short term, but ultimately it can hinder weight loss.
Claire MacEvilly, a nutritionist at the MRC Human Nutrition Research Centre in Cambridge, explains: 'Losing weight over the long term burns off fat. Crash dieting or fasting not only removes fat but also lean muscle and tissue.'
The loss of lean muscle causes a fall in your basal metabolic rate - the amount of calories your body needs on a daily basis.
This means your body will need fewer calories than it did previously, making weight gain more likely once you stop dieting.
It's also why exercise is recommended in any weight-loss plan to build muscle and maintain your metabolic rate.
Claire MacEvilly adds: 'Fasting can also make you feel dizzy or weak so it's much better to try long-term weight loss.'
Myth 4: A slow metabolism prevents weight loss.
Fact: This is a common myth among dieters who are struggling to lose weight.
Studies have shown that resting metabolism - the number of calories used by the body at rest - increases as people become fatter.
In other words, the larger you are, the more calories you need to keep your body going and the higher your metabolism.
Clare Grace, research dietitian at the Queen Mary University of London, says: 'Weight gain occurs when the number of calories eaten is greater than the number used up by the body.
'Unfortunately, people are becoming increasingly sedentary, burning off less and less calories, and it seems likely this is a crucial factor in the increasing numbers struggling to control their weight.'