Weight Loss Myths

This isnt a myth but a question..

Okay people who are anorexic, don't eat, or eat verrrry little. Sooo how is it that they become skeletons? Everything I've read says that when you don't eat for a certain amount of time your body actually stops you from losing weight and feeds itself on what you've stored. Not that I want to be anorexic or anything, but I'm just wondering how that happens.

This isnt a myth but a question..

Okay people who are anorexic, don't eat, or eat verrrry little. Sooo how is it that they become skeletons? Everything I've read says that when you don't eat for a certain amount of time your body actually stops you from losing weight and feeds itself on what you've stored. Not that I want to be anorexic or anything, but I'm just wondering how that happens.

I have also wondered about this too! Maybe it's to the point where the body has fed itself on everything it once stored!?

That eating diet foods, 100 calorie packs, and diet soda is the right way to loose weight. Actually, the chemicals and fake sugar just make you have MAJOR cravings later on and over-do it later in the day. Also, people who drink diet soda every day gain 10 lbs during the course of a year on average.

This isnt a myth but a question..

Okay people who are anorexic, don't eat, or eat verrrry little. Sooo how is it that they become skeletons? Everything I've read says that when you don't eat for a certain amount of time your body actually stops you from losing weight and feeds itself on what you've stored. Not that I want to be anorexic or anything, but I'm just wondering how that happens.

I'm just speculating here but I think it depends on how long someone is starving themselves. Eventually, your body won't have any more stored fat. It will start breaking down your muscle tissue and everything else it can in an effort to stay alive.

So far as the OP, I was a vegetarian for a while. Not as a moral issue but as a "read the labels to see what I'm actually ingesting" issue. I've since put meat back into my diet but my parents were terrible with the things they said. "You're going to die without meat" "God gave us dominion over the animals so we could eat them" "Why can't you just eat around the chicken so I don't have to make something special for you" The list of stupid things they said was never ending.

When I was in my early teens "Fat free" was all the rage. I thought as long as it didn't have fat in it - it was fair game. So I ate candy, soda, bagels, fat free frozen yogurt - you name it. Boy was that wrong!

This isnt a myth but a question..

Okay people who are anorexic, don't eat, or eat verrrry little. Sooo how is it that they become skeletons? Everything I've read says that when you don't eat for a certain amount of time your body actually stops you from losing weight and feeds itself on what you've stored. Not that I want to be anorexic or anything, but I'm just wondering how that happens.

I'm sure one will eventually lose weight if he/she does not eat at all. Think of the photos and commercials with people in impoverished countries-- we don't see any over-weight people in them. I'm sure no one wants to look skeletal with a swollen belly, yet people are purposely starving themselves to get that way. It's sick the unhealthy relationship we develop with food, while people in other countries just wish they could eat.

I do think that the body enters survival mode and clings onto the fat as long as it can, but eventually something has got to give.

This isnt a myth but a question..

Okay people who are anorexic, don't eat, or eat verrrry little. Sooo how is it that they become skeletons? Everything I've read says that when you don't eat for a certain amount of time your body actually stops you from losing weight and feeds itself on what you've stored. Not that I want to be anorexic or anything, but I'm just wondering how that happens.

You're absolutely right about the body feeding itself on what is stored. But what do you think it attacks after it runs out of stored fuel? Your muscles.

Advertisers see all dieters as gullible. Anything that promises EASY or QUICK or EFFORTLESS should be suspect. Like the processed white flour no nutrition snacks and the sugar free sodas. All spike blood sugar so we just want to eat more of this stuff.

Hey! Think this is their evil plan?

I hate the "less fat is better" one. UGH! You have to eat fat to live. OH! Or that women shouldn't life heavy weights because they will get bulky. I was told that I should never lift over 15lbs or I'll start to look like a man. :explode:

That eating diet foods, 100 calorie packs, and diet soda is the right way to loose weight. Actually, the chemicals and fake sugar just make you have MAJOR cravings later on and over-do it later in the day. Also, people who drink diet soda every day gain 10 lbs during the course of a year on average.

I had no clue about the diet soda thing. hmmm, makes me wonder.

I don't think it is true for everyone, if this were the case I'd have gained over a 160 pounds since high school graduation, which is not true, not even close! I am not saying it's good for you... or that it can't cause gain... but I don't think it's such a black and white matter for everyone either.

That eating diet foods, 100 calorie packs, and diet soda is the right way to loose weight. Actually, the chemicals and fake sugar just make you have MAJOR cravings later on and over-do it later in the day. Also, people who drink diet soda every day gain 10 lbs during the course of a year on average.

I drink two or three diet sodas per week and I will eat from 100 calorie packs every day. I rarely ever eat the whole thing in one sitting. Fake sugar or not I have no problem with cravings or over-doing it later. I've lost 31 lbs since Jan 15th.
Everything requires self control.

Good point. I track everything and I notice if I compare the days I have no soda, real soda, and diet soda together, or any fake sure, I don't later go on some kind of binge, etc. You have to figure out what works for your body. I try not to make a habit of eating fake sugar and other "crap", but if you track everything, after some time you can go back and look at your patterns. So far diet soda and 100-cal pack days haven't increased my eating from any other day. I am sure I'll plateau sooner or later and I will look at those items. That is what I like about MPF - if you are honest in tracking, you can go back and see what hinders you. I try to update the notes section too with how I feel or what happened that day, etc. I'm sure for some people soda is evil. One time I quit for months, and the weight didn't budge, so screw that. It stayed.

Everything requires self control.

I think you have hit the nail smack bang in the middle of it's head. Self control or lack of it is the ONLY reason why I (and most people) are overweight.

it is not to do with lack of time (you can make time to prepare food instead of sitting in front of the TV)

it is not because of a busy life style (stuffing your face with unhealthy snacks and stressing yourself out working is NOT a life)

it is not because of your genes (studies have shown that there is no common fat gene, genetic disorders are extremely rare and not as common as magazines, tv programmes make it out to be)

It is not because of "big bones"

it is not because of upbringing or parents. As an adult YOU make your own choices as to what you put in your mouth or how much exercise you do. Besides bad habits that have been learned as a child can also be unlearned as an adult by taking responsibility for your own life.

Simply put: you gain weight because you don't control what goes in and what goes out. And as we all know that is the only way you are going to lose weight: by using more calories than you put in, it really is simple maths.

But personally I think that the biggest myth is that diet products will make you lose weight more easily. Truth is that "diet" products or substitute ingredients are sometimes worse for you than the real stuff. Why snack on a chocolate flavoured snack which is full of artificial crap, fillers, bulking agents, artificial flavourings and which doesn't have the same satisfaction when you can have a small portion of real chocolate and enjoy yourself?

Also substitute sugar or artificial sweeteners are worse for you than real sugar. Apart from all the chemicals you are putting in your body -and whose side effects are well documented in various studies- truth is artificial sweeteners simply don't work or help in losing weight! A recent documentary on the BBC a couple of weeks ago showed studies where they looked at people's brain scans while eating foods with real sugar and foods with artificial sugar. Turns out that our brain does not recognise the artificial sweeteners as "real" energy because it is not the kind of sugar it needs to function. So if you eat lets say a biscuit with artificial sweeteners it will taste sweet in your mouth, but your brain will not see it as the energy it needs to function. So it will send a signal for more food, which results in more calorie intake, over eating, weight gain, desire to lose weight, purchase of more "diet" products ... and enter the vicious circle. And then people are surprised that they can't lose weight even though they are trying their best and doing everything the diet "experts" are telling them to do.

It's sick the unhealthy relationship we develop with food, while people in other countries just wish they could eat.

What a very sad, but incredibly moving statement. Definately my motivation to stay on track. :flowerforyou: