So. What's the worst weight loss myth?

Tacklewasher

My vote is starvation mode. But there are so many good myths out there that are a hinderance to healthy weight loss that it might be fun to put them all in one place, argue about them and decide which is the worst of all.

singingflutelady

Sugar and carbs are the devil, fat makes you fat, sugar automatically gets stored as fat even in a huge deficit, weight lifting will make you bulky

ugofatcat

Starvation mode, doing a cleanse to remove toxins, eating clean, ItWorks, Shakeology...

ieroen

Doing cardio will burn fat.

peaceout_aly

Weight lifting makes you bulky or manly (and the idea that as soon as you start lifting you're gonna get a veiny, striated muscle body)

janejellyroll

That eating "healthy" will result in weight loss and the flipside myth -- that there are certain foods that will prevent you from losing weight even if you're at a deficit.

I spent too many years thinking that I had to have a "perfect day" in order for it to count or that there were certain foods that I just couldn't eat.

singingflutelady

Ingredients that you can't pronounce are automatically poisonous and bad for you

cwolfman13

That carbs make you fat...which is just ironic because carbs are not readily converted to fat...

Escloflowne

Paleo....

everher

You can lose *insert ridiculous amount of pounds* in a day/week/month.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

That I must eat breakfast

I must drink lot's of water

That I should eat faux ice cream instead of the real thing

That I need to "Detox" to jump start my weight loss

singingflutelady

Aspartame will make you fat

1princesswarrior

The "magic pill" of the week.

shanahz

That fruit is bad because of the carbs & sugar.

riffraff2112

toxins (cleansing) , and starvation mode are my top two.

CSARdiver

That you can only lose weight through clean eating.

humpbackgirl

diets in general

ccrdragon

paleo/lchf/vegan/organic/no sugar/etc is the only way to lose weight.

humpbackgirl

also saunas

ieroen

If you eat late at night, the calories will not be burned but stored as fat.

singingflutelady

Superfoods, negative calorie foods

Francl27

Never heard of the starvation mode myth until I got on MFP actually...

So I'd say that carbs are evil.

Cylphin60

Laxatives disguised as weight loss aids/cleansers

RunHardBeStrong

That I must eat breakfast and eat several times a day to keep my metabolism going.

leanjogreen18

Can I vote for all of the above?

Most of these got me and as a result I yoyo'd for years.

Also can I add blame on mainstream media/nutritionist/experts that repeat these?

help me out here I'm trying to find something to blame other than myself:).

rileysowner

Not the most horrible, but one that refuses to die is that a person needs to eat a bunch of small meals throughout the day to stoke the metabolic fire.

avskk

I'm sort of torn between "starvation mode" and "meal timing matters," particularly (for the latter) the series of myths about eating breakfast/eating a lot of small meals "kickstarting" your metabolism.

quiksylver296

Anything eaten after 7 p.m. is automatically stored as fat.

cahubbard6421

Losing weight will make you happy.

singingflutelady

Your GI system needs occasional breaks from eating solid food, your body doesn't digest food at night, your metabolism stops at night, you have to reset your metabolism in order to lose weight

ieroen

That's funny... "Starvation mode" ?? Never heard of that, but it would make an awesome name for a metalband!