10 Lies We've Been Told About Weight Loss

1. You’ll have immediate results.

This is a blatant weight loss lie. Will you have immediate results if you completely change how you eat, don’t cheat on your new found lifestyle, workout every day, and get a lot of sleep? Yes. Do people actually do this right away? No.

While there is always an exception to the rule, it’s challenging to change your lifestyle and grow accustomed to a new day to day routine. Weight loss companies want to tell you how easy it is because they want your money. Most people end up losing weight for a short period of time and then gain it back because they don’t actually know how to eat without this company feeding them. It’s brilliant from a money-making standpoint but disgraceful for the consumer.

2. Starving will make you lose weight.

When you starve yourself, your body thinks it’s not going to get food. So it starts to eat on what’s already inside of you and doesn’t excrete anything. So you can go days without going to the restroom. Is this how we were created to live? No. Starving yourself slows your metabolism, it makes you miserable to be around, it creates a moderation problem in your eating, and I can go on and on about what else it does to your body. I used to starve myself and take laxatives everyday.

I was DESTROYING my body. I did it because someone kept telling me how fat I was, but I didn’t know how to lose weight properly. I tried everything unhealthy first because I wanted immediate results. After two years of being miserable and creating extreme issues with my stomach, I taught myself how to treat my body like the temple it is.

Starving yourself is going to create issues with your mind when you see food. You won’t be able to eat a little bit, you will eat it all.

Starving yourself is going to create issues with your mind when you see food. You won’t be able to eat a little bit, you will eat it all. Your body is going to be craving so many different things that it has been going without, you won’t be able to handle it. So please don’t starve yourself.

3. You can look like a model if you just do this one thing.

This is a trendy phrase that companies use to get you to click on whatever they’re promoting. Do you think you can look like someone who is 5’9” with extremely long legs and a 23” waist when you’re 5’2” and have completely different genetics? No. I kept making this mistake. Candice Swanepoel (a gorgeous Victoria Secret model) was my screensaver for the longest time because I wanted to have her body. Jokes on me, though, considering I’m 3 inches shorter, have 28” legs (compared to her 34" legs), and have a very different frame.

We all have different bodies. Instead of comparing yourself to someone who has a different structure than you, try finding someone who is a similar height and has similar genetics. Legs won’t magically grow, arms won’t magically grow, etc. Know your body and find someone who inspires you realistically so you won’t drive yourself crazy looking at someone who is out of reach.

4. Drink this drink, and you will look like a Kardashian.

The Kardashians are incredibly guilty of getting paid MILLIONS to promote a product that they’ve absolutely never used. If you think the Kardashians look the way they do without surgeons and doctors, you’re wrong. Between laser treatments for their cellulite, implants, plastic surgery, liposuction, the top trainers in the world, and more...they're not even comparable to regular humans. Yet companies want them to promote this magical product when we all know that the product didn’t do anything to them. I get sent offers to promote products and “magic” drinks that will make you get abs like mine, and I turn it down right away because it’s a lie.

Why would I be a part of what’s wrong with the health industry? I’m not going to say that some product made my body the way it is when I eat extremely healthy and exercise all the time. So don’t buy into those products. They just want your money.

5. Weigh yourself every day to ensure you’re on the right track.

This is very much based on opinion. From my own experience, scales made me crazy. Every day I would weigh myself in the morning after using the restroom. If I gained weight, my day was awful. If I lost weight, I would think I could eat more since I was proud of myself. It was an endless roller coaster of disappointment. I stopped weighing myself at the end of my eating disorder, and it was the best thing I could do.

If I gained weight, my day was awful. If I lost weight, I would think I could eat more since I was proud of myself.

Before you get in the shower, look at your body and see what areas you want to work on. You might have a number in your head that equals “success” to you, but it might not be realistic to your height and weight. I wanted to weigh 110lbs, but for how tall I am...I would be very unhealthy if I weighed 110lbs. Scales were not helpful to me because it messed with my thinking. So, if it messes with your thinking as well...stop weighing yourself for a while to see if it helps you.

6. Size 0-4 is considered thin, but a size 6+ means you're fat.

I’m sorry, WHAT?! The fact that a size 6 is considered "big" for modeling is ridiculous to me. I think that if you're having health issues with your weight, you should start looking into changing your diet. I don’t know when or why we went from Marilyn Monroe who was a size 12 to the models of today who are size 00.

The fashion industry has been under fire multiple times for having models who look sick because they’re so thin. So I think that if you feel beautiful, aren't having health issues, and do your best to take care of yourself (eating healthy and exercising), then it doesn’t matter what size you are.

7. It’s all about exercise.

This is another weight loss lie. When I worked out every day, ate whatever I wanted, and was miserable...I saw very little change in my body. When I found meals that I thoroughly enjoyed, ate them every day, and treated my body right...I lost weight instantly. Exercise is important to tone and reach goals you have for yourself.

It’s really hard to out-exercise a poor diet.

However, if we’re just talking about losing weight...it is 100% what you’re putting inside your body. "You are what you eat" is a simple phrase that not many people pay attention to. It’s the truth. When you feed yourself healthy foods, you have a healthy looking body. Some say it’s 80% diet and 20% exercise, and I agree wholeheartedly. So keep that in mind whenever you’re choosing what to eat. It’s really hard to out-exercise a poor diet.

8. Become gluten-free, keto, paleo, vegan, vegetarian, etc.

Every one of these popular "fads" is helpful in some way to changing the way you eat. I personally eat gluten-free & dairy-free due to allergies, and it’s helped me immensely with maintaining my weight. The one thing that’s important to note with all of these dietary changes is that they’re usually temporary. Usually. Some people do it for allergy purposes, so I’m not speaking to them.

My least favorite is the keto diet. We NEED carbohydrates. We’re human beings. To starve yourself of carbs, good luck. You can’t do that forever. So you’re going on a crash diet that's going to end, and you will once again have issues with food.

Being a vegetarian isn’t really a diet. It’s a choice not to eat meat. You can still eat grilled cheese, pizza, etc. Now, being vegan is a whole other world. I was vegan for a while and was noticing that when I would work, I wasn’t able to eat anything. Nobody had vegan food. It was difficult for me, but some people love it. If you have digestion issues with meat and want to have a balanced diet, being vegan is a great option. Or you could become a pescatarian which means you just eat fish.

Paleo is a more comfortable long-lasting lifestyle that helps you to lose weight. It’s a hunter-gatherer diet, so meat and veggies are the main ingredients. I promote this to people trying to start changing their lifestyle with food.

When you feed yourself healthy foods, you have a healthy looking body.

Now, I'm a big fan of being gluten-free. Don’t get me wrong, you can eat gluten-free and not lose any weight, but I think that the gluten protein was not meant to be digested by humans. I recently had my brother remove it from his diet. After about 3 weeks, he had a burger to reward himself and vomited all night. His body was detoxified, and it didn’t take too kindly to that ingredient. It just goes to show how intense our bodies can be with certain foods. I do like that being gluten-free is much simpler now. They have gluten-free options almost everywhere. So it’s a slight change but does some good to your stomach with digesting food and causes less bloating.

9. Drink this smoothie and lose weight.

I was always taught to eat my calories. A morning smoothie is one thing, but if you’re drinking all of your meals...that’s not normal.

You should be drinking water all of the time. It gives you energy, it flushes out toxins, and is the most simple liquid for your body to consume. If you eat your calories, you won’t blindly consume 400 calories from a soft drink. It’s important to be aware of what you're consuming because, once again, you are what you eat.

10. Take appetite suppressants.

There are people who immediately go to pills as a quick fix for any pain or illness. Do you have a headache? Take an Advil. Do you have a stomach ache? Here are some Tums. There's always a magical pill that TEMPORARILY helps you. The same can be said about appetite suppressants. It temporarily makes you not want to eat, but what happens when you get off of those pills? You want to eat everything. So then you have more issues with your unhealthy relationship with food and have to keep buying the appetite suppressants in order to lose weight. Do you see how companies just want your money and are not helping you in the long run with your eating? Just something to consider.

Closing Thoughts

Stop believing these harmful weight loss lies, and choose sustainable and healthy weight loss methods.