Dieting – The True Story

Somewhere between the notions of “You are what you eat” and “fitness frenzy” we all get caught up with dieting and activities relating to the same. But a number of people go through the act of dieting and losing weight without understanding what it is all about. With studies and new developments coming and going through the market, there are some myths which have been overridden while some that have penetrated the minds of a number of people. Let’s address some of these common myths and give everyone the inside story about dieting and the correct ways to go about doing it well.

1. Dieting alone is enough to keep weight under control: One of the biggest myths in the minds of people about dieting is that it can prevent weight loss and ensure health on its own. However, any healthy diet clearly states the need for exercise, good routine and other similar practices which would be able to contribute to having a healthy body and a healthy mind. Diet has to be coupled with other practices; otherwise even the diet would not be a success.
   
2. Eating before you sleep makes you gain weight: Eating makes one gain weight as long as it’s above the required calorie intake of the body. This is because the extra calories which are consumed but not used by the body would store themselves as fat. So even if you do eat before sleeping and it is a part of your daily calorie intake which the body needs, it will not be stored as fat, it will be utilized, thus it will not make you gain weight.
   
3. Dieting means giving up desserts: Sugar is an important part of consumption for the human body. It is important for one to have a balanced diet which would include sugar intake. Either dessert consumption can be balanced with the intake over the rest of the day or the dessert intake itself can be modified to better suit the diet. For example, an ice cream scoop can be substituted with frozen yogurt instead.
   
4. A young person does not need to worry about health: The younger one starts, the more chances of success during a diet. When health problems are ignored because of age, they tend to accumulate and the older the body, the more difficult it becomes to recover from a health disorder, thus it is important for everyone, irrespective of age, to be careful about their diet.
   
5. Vegetarians are thinner: This is not true. A vegetarian diet comes with high amounts of carbohydrates like potatoes, dairy and nuts. While a vegetarian diet may be higher in fibre, but one tends to consume more amount of food to keep the system satisfied which could contribute to more weight gain as oppose to a non-vegetarian person restricting himself to a high protein diet.
   
6. Margarine is substitute for butter: You could say that for taste or usage but it cannot hold true if you try and substitute butter with margarine in terms of calorie intake. Both, margarine and butter are made up of 80% fat. If you are looking for substitutes, switch to products with “low fat” labels on them because they reduce fat content to 40%.
   
7. Special diets need special foods: Do not fall for tablets and powders which make you lose weight. It may be recommended by physicians or dieticians, to kick start a diet and then reduced with time, eventually to be given up. But using such products in a self-prescribed way would lead to devastating results because the body would develop dependency and weight gain would be more when stopped.
   
8. A good diet comes at a high price: The presumption related to dieting and prices goes way back. However with the increase in demand for diet foods, low fat products are the same price as other products. Also, people with a sensible diet usually prepare things at home which include simple ingredients like vegetables and some meat – both of which are costs which would be incurred irrespective of the diet.
   
9. Violation of diet ruins all efforts: There may be weak moments but that does not mean that all the efforts you have put in to maintain a diet so far have been futile. This is because the body can also be allowed a break, but these breaks need to balance with restricted consumption over the next few days. 
10. Skipping meals will reduce weight: Skipping meals may seem like a diet plan but that starves the body. This way the body taps into the reserves and the brain sends stronger feelings of hunger. This way, when you would eat again, you would eat high calorie food and more in quantity because the body would want to store itself for the next starvation session.

Keeping these few myths in mind, plan a diet that doesn’t get disrupted with either of these and yet helps you to keep in shape and improve the way you eat. Nutrition, when controlled and monitored would be beneficial in a number of ways.

(Guest Post by Jefferey Morgan)