Weight Loss
Myths Blasted
When it comes to weight
loss, have you heard it
all? Don't buy into the
myths!
By: Aviva Patz, Marjorie
Centofanti
The
onset of bathing suit
season has a way of
resuscitating our No. 1
New Year's resolution:
Lose Weight.
Beach-bound or not, it's a
worthwhile goal, since
excess weight not only
increases our risk of
developing heart disease,
diabetes, stroke and
cancer, but also
compromises our
psychological welfare:
Being overweight lowers
self-esteem and heightens
vulnerability to anxiety
and depression. And with
more than one of every two
U.S. adults considered
overweight, one in five of
them obese, health
officials have declared
the problem an epidemic of
crisis proportions.
One
reason Americans can't
slim down? We have
fundamental misconceptions
about how to do it. Test
your weight-loss IQ by
labeling the following
statements TRUE or FALSE,
then learn the truth from
the experts.
-
You can't lose a lot of
weight and keep it off.
-
Your "set point"
determines how much you
weigh.
-
Poor willpower is to
blame for excess weight.
-
The best weight loss
regimens incorporate
structured exercise
three to five times a
week.
-
Losing just a small
amount of weight has
significant health
benefits.
-
You should eat only
low-fat and no-fat
foods.
Answers
-
FALSE. Congressional
hearings, diet books
and the media have for
many years bred
hopelessness among
dieters by quoting the
statistic that 95% of
people who lose weight
regain it—and then
some—within a few
months or years. But
that figure is based
on a 1959 study of
only 100 people and,
say obesity experts,
cannot be considered a
universal truth. The
National Weight Loss
Registry, launched in
1994 to get a more
accurate picture of
long-term dieters,
offers signs of
encouragement.
Researchers Rena Wing,
Ph.D., of the
University of
Pittsburgh and the
Brown University
School of Medicine,
and James Hill, M.D.,
of the University of
Colorado, were
surprised at how easy
it was to find people
who have achieved
major weight loss
goals. The project's
2,800 respondents have
maintained an average
67-pound weight loss
for five years, with
up to 14% of them
staving off a more
than 100-pound weight
loss. Wing and Hill
are now compiling
profiles of successful
dieters to learn just
how they did it.
-
FALSE. The set-point
theory holds that we
all have an internal
weight regulator, like
a thermostat, that
adjusts our metabolic
rate up or down
whenever we gain or
shed pounds in order
to return our body to
its predetermined
weight. Undoubtedly,
some controls do exist
or we would all be
obese, or,
alternately, wasting
away, says Roland
Weinsier, M.D., chair
of the department of
nutrition sciences at
the School of Medicine
at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham.
But studies show that
when we lose weight,
our metabolism
actually shifts to a
normal rate for that
new weight,
independent of
individual
differences. People
nevertheless embrace
the theory to blame
their bodies, rather
than their own
behavior, for their
weight-loss failure,
says Weinsier. "It
offers comfort to
those who refuse to
accept the fact that
weight control
requires a commitment
to a physically active
and calorie-conscious
lifestyle."
-
FALSE. Being
overweight is not a
simple problem of
willpower or
self-control but a
cocktail of genetic,
metabolic,
biochemical, cultural
and psychosocial
factors, according to
Joseph Riggs, M.D., a
spokesperson for the
American Medical
Association. While
there are some
exceptions, he says,
most people are
overweight because
societal changes over
the last 20 to 30
years have increased
easy access to
delicious, high-fat
foods and decreased
opportunity and
motivation for
physical activity.
When it comes to
stopping overeating,
exerting willpower
can't hurt. But to
lose weight and keep
it off, an active
lifestyle is the most
important step.
-
FALSE. While pursuing
a physically active
lifestyle is the best
way to maintain weight
loss, you don't have
to live in the gym to
do it. Two studies
published in 1999 in
the Journal of the
American Medical
Association showed
that everyday physical
activities, such as
simply walking for 30
minutes most days of
the week, are as
effective over the
long term at lowering
body fat and blood
pressure and boosting
aerobic fitness as
traditional,
structured exercise
performed three to
five days a week.
-
TRUE. Even small
weight changes can
have a major impact on
your health and
quality of life. The
American Medical
Association published
results of a four-year
study in which
overweight women who
lost as few as five
pounds completed
everyday activities
more easily and
complained of fewer
aches and pains. The
effect is most
pronounced among the
obese. A 12-year study
published by the
International Obesity
Task Force, an agency
working with the World
Health Organization,
showed that weight
loss of only 10 to 20
pounds among
overweight women with
obesity-related
diseases led to a 20%
drop in total
mortality, a 50%
reduction in mortality
from obesity-related
cancers, and a 40%
reduction in
diabetes-related
deaths. It also
improved their
depression, anxiety,
psychosocial
functioning, mood and
quality of life.
-
FALSE. Lower-fat foods
may promise smaller
waistlines, but not
when you eat a whole
box of them in one
sitting. Many people
avoid fatty foods only
to overeat foods
billed as "low-fat" or
"fat-free," leading,
paradoxically, to
extra pounds. "You end
up getting more
calories from a bunch
of low-fat cookies
than you would have
with one or two
regular cookies," says
Deborah Galuska,
Ph.D., author of a
study sponsored by the
Center for Disease
Control and
Prevention. Research
by the American
Medical Association
confirms that reducing
fat intake is only
effective if we reduce
calories as well.
Article courtesy:
www.psychologytoday.com
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