Myth #1: Nutrition alone is enough to lose weight
Before reading any further, I need for you to accept this truth:
Very little of the nutrition/weight struggle is about food.
How many diets have you tried? How many times have you gone on a diet, saw some success,
only to gain back the weight you lost plus more..
The Fitness Industry approaches the nutrition and weight struggle from a surface level
approach instead of digging deeper to the real root of the problem. The Surface level approach
says that it is all about calories in versus calories out. Fitness Industry experts say that you just
need willpower to make better choices. People in the health/fitness industry like to preach that
80% of the success with a fat loss program comes from what nutrition but I strongly disagree
with that.
Nutrition is absolutely a BIG factor in a fat loss program but nutrition alone isn’t enough to see
sustainable results. There are other external factors. One of the most important is your
metabolism.
Metabolism is defined as the sum of all chemical reactions within your body. A woman who is
breastfeeding does not have the same chemical reactions in her body as a woman going through
menopause. A 25-‐‑year-‐‑old college student does not have the same chemical reactions in his
body as a 50-‐‑year-‐‑old Executive with 3 children. All have different reactions in their bodies
because all are at different stages of life and have different sleep and stress levels. Each one could be choosing the same nutrition plan and all may have a different result due to a different
metabolic rate.
Myth #2: Calorie Counting is the Best Way To Lose Weight
Calories in vs. Calories Out. That’s all there is to weight loss right? Wrong! There are so many
variables that play a role in how your body metabolizes food.
As expert coach Scott Abel says in his book, Understanding Metabolism, the issue is much
deeper than calories in vs. calories out. The hormonal and metabolic environment of the body
within which calories enter determines how your body deals with over the years that will have
an effect on how your body processes these foods.
We also know that calories in vs. calories out 100 calories of M&M’ʹs will not produce the same
hormonal or energy response as 100 calories of asparagus so that’s why calorie counting can be
pointless.
Metabolism is highly individual which is there is no perfect diet for everyone because everyone
metabolizes food differently so simply counting calories is futile because I do not metabolize
1500 calories the same way as another person.
The most important point is that your metabolism does not work like a calculator but more as a
as a thermostat so that is why calories in versus calories out becomes frustrating and futile.
Myth #3: There is a Perfect Diet that will get you all the results
All of us metabolize food differently and have different variables such as stress, medications,
hormone levels, etc. so what works for me is not going to work for another. There is no perfect
diet. Here’ʹs a diet truth that you can hang your hat on.
The most Predictable outcome of a diet is that you will gain the weight back and 40% of us
will gain even more weight.
The gurus, the marketers, the coaches, etc. have told us that if you sign up with me, then I can
give you the perfect diet and all your troubles will be over. These are the biggest lies ever told
and all designed to take your money and give you false hope.
There IS no perfect diet. There is a better way of doing things and there is improvement to your
lifestyle. Dietary habits are the product of their entire life so to think you can remedy a lifetime
with one perfect diet is a fallacy.
I don’t believe in diets at all. I believe in listening to the body and following several principles
(not rules) as lifestyle:
- Fresh Food is Best
- Eat Breakfast with protein and fat with protein cornerstone of each meal
- Drink plenty of Water
- Regulate Alcohol Intake
- Minimize Refined Sugar intake
Your food choices shouldn’t be giving you anxiety attacks. Remember that stress plays a
critical role in the way food is metabolized.
Myth #4: People just don’t want to eat healthy. People need more willpower. Emotional eating is all in people’s heads
The Fitness Industry perpetuates an outside/in paradigm for fitness when the correct paradigm
is inside/out. We must change the inward dialogue before worrying about meal plans. ALL of
us are emotional eaters. We all have emotions and we all have to eat to stay alive. Some of us
may use food as a coping mechanism to the stressors of life while others may have other
coping mechanisms such as sex, drugs, alcohol, exercise, etc.
For many people food is an antidepressant, friend, another tool to render guilt and shame upon
themselves, or a substitute for whatever is missing in their life.
Does this sound familiar? “I’m not going to eat the cookie…I’m not going to eat the cookie….I’m
not going to eat the cookie. I have willpower!” The dieter says but yet she can’t get her mind off
of the cookie. She tries to distract herself by going for a walk, eating a piece of gum, or drinking
the water. Two things normally happen: She eats the cookie, feels guilty about her lack of willpower, or doesn’t eat the cookie but obsesses about the cookie and the next time she is able to eat a cookie she eats the whole box plus ice cream.
We know two things: Resisting and distracting are not long term solutions if people are struggling with food as a coping mechanism. Willpower and Distractions are techniques but are completely unsustainable as strategies if you’re having issues with emotional eating.
Myth #5: Stress plays no role in fat loss. Those are excuses for the WEAK WHO DO NOT WANT TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR GOALS
Raise your hand if you just rolled your eyes at that statement.
According to the American Institute of Stress (yes that is a thing) 75-‐‑90% of doctor visits are
related to stress. What does that tell us? Stress adversely affects our health and yes that
includes weight.
Stress leads to poor sleep and we know sleep plays a crucial role in weight management.
People who get poor quality sleep eat more foods and are also more attracted to high sugar and
fat “comfort foods”. We know this from real life as well. No espresso, no energy drink, and no
supplement can replace adequate rest.
Conclusion
I hope that by reading these myths you will see that there is so much more to nutrition than
calories in vs. calories out. These Nutrition myths have left us frustrated, stuck, and going
around the same mountains over and over again.
My Live Better Transformation programs and Health Coaching services are about empowering
people to form better habits CONSISTENTLY so that they can live with vitality, energy, and
LIVE BETTER.
