Misconceptions About Losing Weight

Misconceptions About Losing Weight - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. One misconception when losing weight is thinking that the less calories you eat, the better. That is not necessarily true. While you want to follow a reduced calorie diet when trying to lose weight, you want to make sure that you are getting enough to support your bodys' needs and to support any exercise that you are doing. Sometimes if you cut back too much on calories your body actually goes into starvation mode and holds on to body fat, slows down your metabolism which can cause you to plateaux. Anytime you are trying to lose weight and follow lower calorie diet, always make sure you are exercising. That way you can maintain lean body mass and your metabolism can stay nice and healthy. Another misconception about weight loss is that some people think that cleanses or juice diets or juice fasts are a great way to jump start your diet. This is not true at all. Many of these diets are high in sugar, low in protein, low in fiber and way too low in calories. Many of these diets also put you into starvation mode because of the reduced calorie level. You want to make sure that any time you are trying to lose weight you get enough calories, you have a balanced diet and you do not do something like a cleanse where most of the weight you will be losing is water weight and the second you start eating food it will come back on again. A third misconception about dieting is giving up carbohydrates. A lot of people who come to me ask if they should give up carbohydrates if they are trying to lose weight. And I tell them absolutely not. Your brain needs 130 grams of carbohydrates a day just to function. Instead of giving up carbohydrates choose the right kinds of carbohydrates. You always want to choose high fiber, complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain breads, pastas, brown rice, fruits and vegetables. These help you stay full much longer, they provide you with the necessary fiber you need, as well as provide you with vitamins and minerals. If you choose these over the white sources, such as white rice, white bread, you will stay full longer and you are less likely to store the carbohydrate as fat. And always remember portion control is always critical. A fourth misconception is that losing 10 pounds in one week is healthy and reasonable. That is untrue. Healthy weight-loss, unfortunately, is slow. Healthy weight-loss is one to two pounds a week. So any diet that is going to promise a 10 pound weight-loss in one week is too good to be true. Most of the times these diets are very low calorie, unhealthy diets that cause you to lose more water weight than fat weight. And again, the second you start eating the weight will come back on.