Myths About Weight Loss

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not all carbs are equal. eating too many refined carbs over the long haul, causes elevated levels of insulin which makes the body hold onto weight [in the form of fat]. continuing this vicious circle, the elevated insulin also causes ravenous hunger, which encourages the subject to eat more, continuing the cycle of fat storage and hunger.

It's not just the carbs themselves, Auntblabby, though too many are certainly bad for you and will make you gain weight, it's also linked to obesity- some obese folks develop a condition called insulin resistance. That's what causes the holding on effect. It's treated by use of oral hypoglycaemics such as the drug Metformin. It's also why type II diabetics have such a hard time losing weight.

None of those things are myths. They are things that may apply to some people and absolutely don't apply to other people. I lost weight by adhering to many of the things he calls myths. To be exact, I lost weight by not eating breads and starches, not eating dessert, not eating my favorite fioods (because they were all dessert), not counting calories but instead practicing portion control, no fast food and last but not least....skipping meals. Those are all things he calls myths and things that "studies say" aren't helpful for weight loss. But I really don't care what "studies say". I care about what works for me. It wasn't until I started ignoring all such well-meaning advice that I was able to lose weight.

For the record, once you are adapted to low carb, skipping meals becomes easy and does not lead to eating more later. Like auntblabby (and perhaps also Kelspook? couldn't tell if it was the voice of experience with insulin resistance) I found that stepping off the insulin rollercoaster made weight loss so much easier. I am so done with such advice as "eat several small meals a day and don't skip a meal". That led to horrible, horrible hunger. It wasn't until I got off the insulin rollercoaster and started skipping meals that I got less hungry.....and thinner.


That's what worked for me. Other people have lost weight by doing the things he calls myths. Some can do it with exercise alone. Some did it with fast food (supposedly Jared of Subway Sandwich fame), some went vegetarian. Some went low fat. None of that worked for me but it has worked for other people.

What the author of the article doesn't understand is that there is no one thing that works for everybody. Something that works for some people and not for others is not therefore a myth. It's just something that works for some and not for others. I think the driving force for these differences is what got the person fat in the first place. If they gained weight because of always eating dessert, then avoiding dessert will help (not a myth). If they gained weight from inactivity even with a good diet, then exercise alone will help. If it was fast food that caused it, then stopping the fast food will fix it.


A truly terrible list of bad advice. But then all advice that claims to be applicable to everyone will be bad advice.

Not from me having either of those conditions, no. I'm a paramedic, so professional experience, nothing more.

that is what ended up killing several of my ancestors. I am increasingly believing in the blood type theory of nutrition. in a nutshell- type O = mostly carnivore; type A = mostly herbivore; type B/AB= omnivore. since I am type A, I had to ditch most animal products and go largely herbivore, before my health returned.

Very sorry to hear that. I think there may be something to that theory as well...

I dont think that it means that cancelling the dinner wouldnt help you loose weight, because of reducing your calories by doing so and additional, giving your body time to have no food to relie on. But the myth is, that it would be about the dinner cancelling. If you simply cancel dinner, but eat an additional amount of calories during the day, then you wont loose a kg. All kind of diets can help people, simply because when people do certain diets, they start to watch more carefully what they are eating all day long and so lots of calories that people eat, by not watching for them, suddenly are reduced. May it be white bread, may it be tons of oil you use for frying, may it be tons of "Oh so little chocolate pieces you ate during day...", whatever your problem is. You suddenly watch for it, and are more aware for your eating habbits, including the bad eating habbits. There is absolutly nothing strange or mythic about you loosing weight, when suddenly being aware of all the empty calories you eat in form of white bread, fast food, desserts and addtionial giving your body each day a certain amount of time, to be without risen blood sugar = cancelling a meal.

You simply need to be aware of, that you didnt loose calories because doing this or that, but simply because of in the end, reducing lots of calories you ate. Thats simply all there is to know. If you do that, its functioning. But its not functioning by a certain method to reduce calories, all methods function equal. According to your personal habbits, there simply can be functions that are more easier for you to do then others.