You May Have Heard Wrong!
Summary: Think you’ve heard everything there is to know about proper dieting? If it isn’t working, you just may not know as much as you thought you did.

Myth 1- One of the biggest Myths going around these days is that cholesterol and fat should be completely avoided at all costs. This just is not true; you need some fat and cholesterol in order for your body to function, produce hormones, and grow healthy hair. I knew a woman in college who was on an extremely low fat diet; she eventually began to lose her hair and her menstrual cycle shut down. When she went to the doctor to see what was going on; they found that parts of her body were literally shutting down due to the lack of fat in her body. If you want to cut down on saturated fats, which consist of meat (more so the turf than the surf), creams, butter, and cheeses, go right ahead. This will only give your heart a breath of fresh blood flow. Otherwise, cut fat a little slack; at least one third of your total daily calorie intake should be coming from it.

Myth 2- To go along with this first myth is the commercially overly used phrase, “Fat Free“. And when they say fat-free, they are of course trying to refer you to the fact that this item is somehow a healthy diet food that will allow you to lose that excess weight. How, I don’t know, because it is not all about the fat content of a food that causes us to gain and lose weight. Weight gain is typically caused by the ingestion of more calories into the body than you will be able to burn off over any given day. The calorie content of a food can make or break it as an otherwise seemingly healthy snack. Sometimes the words fat-free give people a false sense of security to dig-in and eat even more than usual. But it is just that, a false sense of security. Remember, It is not the fat that makes you gain weight, but the overabundance of unburned calories. (to be continued…)

*Photos curtesy of foobean01 and woodsy at stock.xchng