Fake Diet Tips – Dispelling Diet & Exercise Myths

[Freddy]

I thought a really good diet tip would be for us to share the fake and crazy diet tips we’ve heard, so we can beware of taking bad advice we might come across in the future.

Here's fake diet tip -

TIP - As long as the food is healthy, you can eat as much of it as you want

This isn’t true. You always need to control how much you eat of any one food. A healthy diet is about creating the right balance, not about overloading your system with the same types of healthy foods. For instance, eating an apple a day can do great things for your body. Eating 4 apples a day could royally upset your digestive system.

[suzieQ]

This is a pretty nifty idea, Freddy.

TIP - Coffee can help you lose weight

While coffee can slightly help curb your appetite, it does't actually help you lose weight. You'd have to drink copious amounts of coffee to receive any kind of weight loss benefit from it at all, and drinking too much coffee (more than two cups a day) can really have a bad effect on your body, giving you the shakes, anxiety, and insomnia. It can even spike your blood pressure!

[ChefMel]

This is a pretty nifty idea, Freddy.

TIP - Coffee can help you lose weight

While coffee can slightly help curb your appetite, it does't actually help you lose weight. You'd have to drink copious amounts of coffee to receive any kind of weight loss benefit from it at all, and drinking too much coffee (more than two cups a day) can really have a bad effect on your body, giving you the shakes, anxiety, and insomnia. It can even spike your blood pressure!

Exactly. That tip only works for some people and it is very short term. It's great for the people it works for,but any benefit that coffee does have by speeding up the metabolism or shrinking the appetite is very small and is very temporary. It's primarily from the caffeine that it contains, and it's small enough that it would not produce any measurable weight loss. What I mean by that is that you may burn off 10 more calories and eat one bite less of your meal, but when all is said and done, you won't drop an extra pound this week because you drink coffee.

[Bruce]

Thanks for these!

I've got one to share.

TIP- if it's healthy, it's diet friendly.

that's not true at all. There are a lot of healthy foods that are great for nutrients but horrible for weight loss. sushi, for example, is a healthy food, but the carbs in the rice aren't doing you any favors. Plus it's white rice not brown. Also, unless you have the veggie rolls (which are good on the calorie side), then you might be eating a huge belt of calories, liek with the addition of tempura fried fishes and cream cheese, etc.

[M-Stark334]

TIP - Exercise Won't Help You Lose Weight

I'm sure most of us would see this tip and think it was false, and, naturally we would be right. Believe it or not, I've heard that there have been a few weight loss studies that have more or less suggested that exercise doesn't promote weight loss. That's crazy! Of course exercise is important to lose weight. in fact, I would go so far as to say exercise is essential. You can't just cut the calories and the fat and/or take a diet pill and expect weight to slide off of you. Not exercising makes it harder for you to lose weight. If you want the pounds to fall off faster, move your body. Just make sure you choose an exercise regimen that works for your body and your health. Overdoing it with exercise will only work against you. Like everything, it’s a matter of finding the right balance.

[enviroTodd]

TIP - Weight loss comes in a package

The only weight loss that works is a marriage of your spirit and that of mother earth. When the relationship is strong, you will regain the balance of your body.

[TracyK]

enviroTodd....what does that even mean?

TIP - Drastically chop your calorie intake to lose weight

This tip sounds like it makes sense, but the truth is if you cut out too many calories all at once, your body will go into starvation mode and it starts to conserve energy and as a result slows down your metabolism. A slow metabolism is REALLY counter-productive for weight loss. Yes, you should reduce you calories, but only a little bit at the time. Your body still needs balance. If you shock your body, you'll regret it later.

[MadMike]

I have a similar tip to yours, TracyK

TIP - Skipping meals will help you lose weight

In reality, you're going to send your body into the same starvation mode TracyK described. It's better to actually eat MORE meals so that you're having 5 or 6 small meals so your metabolism never stops running at its best.

[ChristySmiles]

TIP - Snacking is a bad idea

You may have heard that if you want to lose weight, one of the first things you need to do is cut out the snacking between meals. This isn't true and it's also not a good idea. If you feel hungry, you shouldn't starve yourself and wait until your next meal because you are far more likely to cave to your desires and either eat a larger portion or eat junk food. Yes, there is a difference between snacking on a bag of chips, chocolate and cookies, and eating fruit, veggies, and low-fat yogurt. Eat small low-fat, low-cal snacks between meals. Take advantage of snack time. This is when you can cram lots of great veggies and fruits into your diet!

[Whirlybird]

TIP - Snacking is a bad idea

You may have heard that if you want to lose weight, one of the first things you need to do is cut out the snacking between meals. This isn't true and it's also not a good idea. If you feel hungry, you shouldn't starve yourself and wait until your next meal because you are far more likely to cave to your desires and either eat a larger portion or eat junk food. Yes, there is a difference between snacking on a bag of chips, chocolate and cookies, and eating fruit, veggies, and low-fat yogurt. Eat small low-fat, low-cal snacks between meals. Take advantage of snack time. This is when you can cram lots of great veggies and fruits into your diet!

That's a really good one, ChristySmiles. I hear that one all the time. Even my mother has said "if you don't want to be fat then stop snacking so much". I think it's better to have a good light snack then to be starving at dinnertime and then make the wrong decisions based on hunger.

[enviroTodd]

enviroTodd....what does that even mean?

I mean that you cannot purchase weight loss. You have to live it

[TracyK]

enviroTodd....what does that even mean?

I mean that you cannot purchase weight loss. You have to live it

Ah, I get what you mean now. Good tip

[KittyKatt]

Alright, here's my bad TIP - Fat is bad for a diet.

Actually, it depends on the types of fats that you eat and the amount you eat. If you're eating lots of good fatty acids like Omega 3, and olive oil and almonds, it will actually help you to lose weight in the right amounts. It's the saturated fats like in a deep fryer that will hold you back from losing weight (and will put you at risk of heart disease and cancer while they're at it).

[Firefly77]

Tip - what works for your friend will work for you

This is really not true. Just because one diet program works for a friend or someone else you know, it may not work for you the same way and it may not even be a good option for you. Forget about what your friends are doing and focus on your own diet goals and make sure you find a practical diet and exercise program that makes sense to your lifestyle and your health.

[Whirlybird]

Tip - what works for your friend will work for you

This is really not true. Just because one diet program works for a friend or someone else you know, it may not work for you the same way and it may not even be a good option for you. Forget about what your friends are doing and focus on your own diet goals and make sure you find a practical diet and exercise program that makes sense to your lifestyle and your health.

That is a very good tip! It's something I think we've all fallen for at some point or another. I can admit that i have tried a diet AND a pill because a friend of mine has tried it and said that it worked really great. The diet worked just fine for me but the pill didn't. It's a huge risk. I mean, it's not that you shouldn't trust your friends with what works for them, and it's not that it won't necessarily work for you, but just because it works for one person, it really doesn't mean that it will automatically be the right solution for absolutely everyone.