10 Myths That Can Block Permanent Weight Loss

1. Myth: “If I starve or skip meals, I’ll lose more weight.”
    Fact: When you skip meals your metabolism slows down because your body has an instinctive survival mechanism and thinks it is in starvation mode. Skipping meals also leads to a greater preoccupation with food.

2. Myth: “Laxatives, diuretics, and vomiting will speed weight loss.”
    Fact: While these quick-fix methods of purging temporarily reduce water weight, all three are extremely dangerous and do not result in calorie reductions.

3. Myth: “I fail on my diets because I have poor self-control.”
    Fact: Failure is more likely linked to distorted thinking.

4. Myth: “If I don’t lose a lot of weight fast, or if I stop losing weight, the plan isn’t working.”
    Fact: Your body’s metabolism may level off if it thinks you are starving. You may need to gently increase exercise to gradually increase metabolism.

5. Myth: “I can sneak these cookies by my body.”
    Fact: This is a form of denial when you pretend the calorie count automatically goes to zero if you eat quickly or privately. If you indulge in this type of distorted thinking, you believe cutting the size tag out of clothing makes the clothing smaller.

6. Myth: “I’ll weigh myself right after overeating to see if I gained any weight.”
    Fact: Weight gain may take several days to show up on a scale.

7. Myth: “I weigh myself in the morning because I weigh less then.”
    Fact: This is a meaningless assumption and should not be considered a reliable indicator.

8. Myth: “If I step on the scale immediately after breakfast and see more pounds registered than I expected, it means I ate too much and need to skip lunch and dinner to get the weight off.”
    Fact: Skipping meals to get the weight off from breakfast may temporarily reduce your anxiety about gaining weight, but the “hunger monster” hovers near, and you may find yourself looking for a quick (usually fattening) way to banish the empty feeling.

9. Myth: “After I’ve eaten a lot, I exercise strenuously and then weigh myself to see if I’ve lost weight.”
    Fact: You may temporarily lose pounds because of water loss, but lasting weight loss takes time and patience.

10. Myth: “Healthy eating and weight management require willpower.”
      Fact: Overeating indicates not a lack of willpower but the result of negative, distorted thinking patterns, which often lead to out-of-control behavior.