Realities Versus Myths
We are all part of a very weight conscious time and era. We have all been affected by it. The media pushes imagines of a teeny tiny waists from the decade of the 1950s to the super skimpy skirts of the 1960s. The 1970s showed us how to let it all go free and Jane Fonda bounced around showing us how to look perfect in a leotard in the 1980s. Even though we grew up having this information, it seems that from the 1990s we have watched as we got larger and our health continued to deteriorate. We now have all the information at our finger-tips to remain healthy so what is going on with us today ?
Let’s talk about some of the diet myths.
So we have new studies and new ideas and new options to get fit and in shape every day. Why do they contradict each other and what can we believe ? There is so much confusion. Here are a few “truths” that we need to understand.
We all should be on a diet. This is a lie.
This is plain wrong wrong wrong. Maybe we can lose a bit of weight if we diet and restrict ourselves for a period of time but the numbers don’t lie and 85% of us will gain the weight we lose (and more) within one year of the “diet” ending. Hello. This tells me that diets do not work. What we need to do is to make lifestyle changes. Real changes to the way you live and eat. We need to create habits that last for a lifetime and that become our way of eating and our way of life.
Eat a big breakfast each day. This is a lie.
Again, I think this is up to each client and their individual needs and requirements. Some of us are awake with the birds and others are night owls and have a hard time falling asleep. We are biochemical individuals and when it comes to eating breakfast we need to listen to our bodies and our individual needs. Your body will give you signs and signals when it needs to eat. Listen to your body and allow it to guide you. When you do eat or “break your fast”, avoid sugary foods and refined carbohydrates choosing to eat clean protein with fruit and vegetables whenever possible.
Low fat foods help with weight loss. This is a lie.
This is a big fat lie. Healthy fat is back in style. The whole “low fat craze” was very harmful to our bodies. All those low fat foods and yogurts and cheese and cookies and margarines may have had the fat removed but in order to taste good, they were filled with sugar, and chemicals and salt. Don’t buy or eat low fat foods. Eat the real food. Yes, eat the butter in moderation. The best way to look at this is to focus on eating real food and avoid anything that is processed. If you follow this rule, automatically you will reduce your refined carbohydrate load. This is my very favorite advice for long and short term weight loss. Don’t eat the Fruit Loops / Eat the Fruit.
About the Author: Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
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