by Sandra Piddock

Created on: April 09, 2010

When we embark on a weight loss programme, we eagerly read everything we can find to help us in our quest for the body beautiful. The trouble is, some of the things we read just aren't true. So what are the diet myths that could sabotage your diet? These are some of the more common ones.

Calories don't matter

Calories do matter. Whatever fancy name a particular diet rejoices in, if you follow it and lose weight, it's because you're cutting down on calories. To lose one pound of fat you need to cut out 3,500 calories - end of story.

To lose weight, you need to stick to 1,000 calories a day.

For years, this was the received wisdom, but we know better now - thank goodness. For most people, eating 1,000 calories a day is an unrealistic expectation. Even if you don't give up the diet through sheer hunger, your body will kick into starvation mode, because it doesn't know where the next meal is coming from. It will jealously guard its fat stores to see it through the lean times, and you won't lose as much as you expect - even worse, you may not lose anything at all.

There are plenty of calorie calculators available free online. Input your height and weight, and you'll find out how many calories your body needs to maintain itself each day. To lose one pound in weight, you need to consume 3,500 calories less than your body needs, so if your maintenance calorie requirement is 2,000 calories, and you eat 1,500 calories a day, you should lose a pound a week.

You can eat what you like if you exercise

Oh, no you can't! It's much quicker to take in calories than to burn them off. One hour of moderate swimming burns around 450 calories. Assuming your maintenance calorie level is 2000 calories, and you ate 2000 calories a day, even an hour's swimming every day of the week wouldn't be enough activity to lose a pound in weight - and that's a lot of swimming, believe me! Exercise combined with calorie control is the best way to lose weight, but exercise without calorie cutting could be a diet buster.

Some foods are more fattening than others

Not true - some foods are higher in fat or sugar than others, and some foods are less healthy choices than others, but a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. If you eat 3,500 calories more than your body can use, you will gain one pound in fat. It doesn't matter whether those calories come from chocolate or cauliflower - although you'd be hard pushed to eat that much cauliflower - the end result is the same.

Miss meals and you'll lose weight quicker

Most experts now agree that, rather than miss meals, it's better to have smaller meals and intersperse them with snacks. This keeps blood sugar levels stable, so you don't get the hunger pangs that spell disaster to your diet. Skipping meals signals to your body to enter starvation mode, so you won't burn off your fat, and you could actually end up eating a bigger meal later in the day.

Now you know the truth behind the most common diet myths, you can get on with the business of addressing your weight problem without the risk of sabotage. Good luck!

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