Urban Diet Legends
7 WEIGHT-LOSS TIPS: Dieticians debunk urban legends and offer advice that actually works
Carbs are evil. Grapefruit burns fat. And water mixed with cayenne pepper and maple syrup can make you look like Beyonce.
Uh-huh. There’s all sorts of advice out there on how to lose weight. And a lot of it, even if it seems semi-plausible, is based on questionable science.
We asked some experts — registered dieticians — to debunk those weight-loss urban legends and share tips on how you actually can get closer to your ideal weight.
- NEXT TIME YOU EAT OUT, TRY ORDERING THE DOGGIE BAG FIRST: Eating out is fine occasionally, but the usual portion sizes at restaurants are not. Try asking for a container at the beginning of the meal, not the end, Pappas says. That way, you’ll be less inclined to eat everything in front of you. Also think about splitting your meal with a friend, even if the restaurant charges you extra for it.
- EXERCISING EARLIER IN THE DAY DOESN’T BURN MORE CALORIES: One of the most-persistent myths about weight loss is that it’s best to work out early in the morning. But the number of calories you burn depends on your metabolism, food intake and body composition — things that aren’t dependent on when you choose to exercise. Get your activity whenever it fits into your schedule, even if it’s just 10 minutes at a time. “Without exercise, you have to continually eat less if you want to continually lose weight,” says Celia Pappas, a dietician at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
- EATING AFTER 7 P.M. WON’T MAKE YOU FAT: Yes, Oprah says she lost weight by staying away from her kitchen after dark. But it’s not because calories consumed after a certain hour stay with you longer. The real problem with most people is that, when they eat late at night, they’re usually skipping meals during the day, says Annie Neuendorf, a dietician at Northwestern Memorial’s Wellness Institute. That puts the body into deprivation mode, slowing your metabolism and making you more inclined to overeat later on. Better to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.
- IT’S OK TO TREAT YOURSELF ONCE A WEEK: No matter how committed you are to losing weight or sticking to a healthy diet, you can’t be good all the time. Allowing yourself to have something decadent every now and then is not only OK, it’s encouraged. “It’s really helpful to people to have one day a week when they can kind of let go of whatever they’ve been doing,” says Mary Russell, director of nutritional services at University of Chicago Medical Center. But you have to know yourself, she says: “If you’re the kind of person that can eat 10,000 calories in one day, it’s not a good idea to do that.”
- WHEN YOU DO SPLURGE, DON’T STARVE YOURSELF THE NEXT DAY: One mess-up isn’t going to make or break your health. “A lot of [people] go out to eat, and then skip breakfast, thinking they’re fixing things. That’s probably the worst thing you can do to your body,” Neuendorf says. Instead, get lots of activity on days when you know you’re going to be eating more than you normally would.
- IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS. Any diet plan that recommends cutting out an entire food group or loading up on a so-called superfood is suspect, Russell says. Eating what you like in moderation is the key to keeping the weight off. “People are always discovering things, but the basic principles have been in place for some time,” Russell says. “Try not to focus on the latest and greatest.”
- LIQUIDS CAN SABOTAGE WEIGHT-LOSS EFFORTS: Fruit juice might seem a healthy choice, but eating the fruit would be better, since liquids leave you feeling less full than solid foods. Likewise, drinking pop on a regular basis can add unnecessary calories. Consider: A 12-ounce can of regular pop has 9 teaspoons of sugar and about 100 calories. “If you do that three times a day, that’s almost a pound a week of calories,” Pappas notes. Water and low-fat milk are smarter choices.