Myth: If you’re not hitting your weight loss goals, it’s because you don’t have enough willpower
Fact: Willpower is finite. People only have a certain amount of willpower to use for every challenge in their lives.
Fact: We often live in an obesogenic environment.
Food is inexpensive. Consider these ingredients for peanut butter sandwiches.
- 40-ounce jar of peanut butter ($4)
- 30 ounces of jam ($4)
- 4 loaves of white bread ($6)
For $14, you can purchase 16,000 calories…enough for 8 days!
Food is everywhere. Visualize your route to work or to another place you go to often. How many fast food, convenience stores, coffee shops, grocery stores, and restaurants do you pass?
Socializing often centers on food.
Advertising can increase hunger and cravings. It’s everywhere - on billboards, television, online - and it’s usually promoting candy, snacks, sugary cereals, fast food, desserts, and value (big portions)
Fact: Making healthy living easier reduces dependence on willpower.
Replace old habits with healthier new habits to make healthy living easier. For example:
- Instead of going out to lunch, make extra servings of a healthy dinner and pack them up for the next day’s lunch.
- Instead of making eating decisions last-minute, build meals around vegetables and lean proteins so you’re more likely to have nutritious meals.
Make your environment less obesogenic to make healthy choices easier. For example:
- Take a different route to work so you avoid seeing a favorite drive-through.
- Keep your wallet in the trunk so it take more effort to go through a drive-through.
- Leave your lunch in the car when you arrive at work so you have to walk to the car at lunchtime to get extra steps midday
Go with the flow for healthy living. For example, if everyone’s eating cookies at a work meeting, bring your own carrots. That way, you still get to eat while everyone else does.
Myth: Packaged and processed foods are unhealthy
Fact: Some nutritious foods must be processed or packaged. Consider these.
- Olive oil comes from olives that were pressed, and packaged oil
- Peanut butter, eggs, yogurt, milk and oil must be packaged
- Milk is pasteurized for food safety
- Yogurt and cheese come from milk; their proteins and other components may be separated, and additives like salt and probiotics may be present
- Whole-grain pasta come from wheat that’s been ground into flour, mixed with water (and possibly other ingredients), and dried.
Remember: There are many ways to “process” foods, like washing, cutting, freezing, fermenting, pasteurizing, and cooking. Adding ingredients can also count as processing.
- Some added ingredients are healthy - think of sterols and stanols to lower cholesterol or vitamins and minerals for fortification
- Some added ingredients are less healthy - think of sugar and salt for flavor and as preservatives, nitrates and EDTA as preservatives, and chemical dyes for color
Fact: processed and packaged foods can help you eat healthier. Consider these types of processed foods and how they might allow for healthier choices.
- Shredded carrots can support increased vegetable intake because they’re easy to use in meatloaf and pancakes
- Canned tuna is a more nutritious choice than lunch meats like bologna for sandwiches
- Bottled or packaged vinaigrette can encourage you to make or order salads instead of options like pizza or burgers
- Veggie burgers may enable you to limit ground beef patties
Labels can help you select good options for processed and packaged foods.
Check the list of ingredients for ingredients like:
- (Good): whole grains, sterols, “natural” spices and flavors, nuts, seeds
- (Less good): nitrates, EDTA, artificial flavors, artificial colors, hydrogenated oils, sugars
Look at the nutrition facts panel for things like:
- (Limit) added sugars, saturated fat, calories, sodium
- (Increase) fiber, protein
Sometimes, similar products from the same brand and at the same price have very different nutrition! It’s worth checking the label quickly to find “better” processed and packaged foods.
Myth: Calories don’t matter if you’re eating healthy foods
Fact: Calorie balance determines weight trajectory.
- Positive calorie balance: calorie consumption (calories in) exceeds calorie expenditure (calories out). Weight gain occurs.
- Calorie balance: calorie consumption (calories in) is equal to calorie expenditure (calories out). Weight is stable.
- Negative calorie balance: calorie consumption (calories in) is less than calorie expenditure (calories out). Weight loss occurs.
Fact: Calorie consumption and diet quality are both important. Healthy foods can help you eat fewer calories.
- Nutrients like fiber and protein can help increase fullness for longer..
- Foods higher in fiber and lower in sugar and saturated fat have a lower insulin response and cause more stable blood sugar.
- Eating healthy foods more often can reduce cravings for sugary, fatty, starchy, or high-sodium foods.
The thermic effect of food (TEF) describes the energy (calories) your body uses to digest a food. Protein has the highest TEF, carbohydrates are in the middle, and fat has the lowest TEF. Still, the difference in usable calories between higher-fat, lower-protein meals and lower-fat, higher protein meals isn’t enough to cause noticeable changes in weight or calorie consumption.
Myth: Meals prepared at home are healthier than meals at restaurants
Fact: either home-prepared or restaurant meals can be healthier.
Foods away from home (FAFH) and foods prepared at home (FAH) have different average nutrients and food group components on a per-calorie basis.
Positives of FAFH:
- Lower in added sugars
- Higher in vegetables, meats, poultry, eggs, and seafood
Positives of FAH:
- Higher in fiber, calcium, iron, fruits, dairy, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and soy products
- Lower in saturated fats, sodium and refined grains
- Lower in calories
You can take advantage of FAFH and FAH by being aware and making better choices, like ordering vegetables and watching portion sizes when at restaurants, and choosing whole grains and plant-based proteins when at home.
Myth: You need to change your diet to accommodate physical activity that meets guidelines
Fact: Most people’s physical activity doesn’t require special dietary considerations or sports nutrition expertise.
Consider these aspects.
- Total daily calories: Most people, especially those trying to lose weight or prevent regain, are not burning enough calorie through exercise to need a substantial amount more to support needs.
- Post-workout snack: A post-workout snack or meal can help prevent low blood sugar, but count it as part of your daily intake, and not as an additional need.
- Workout hydration: In most cases, staying hydrated throughout the day and drinking 8 ounces of water during every 15-20 minutes of exercise is sufficient.
- Protein: Meeting your protein requirement with moderate amounts of protein throughout the day is usually sufficient so you don’t need a protein shake after your workout.
You may need to alter your diet or hydration under certain circumstances. Here are some examples.
- You may need extra protein if you’re training particularly hard, trying to gain muscle mass, or aren’t getting enough protein throughout the day.
- You may need a sports drink or electrolyte supplement in addition to water if you’re training exceptionally hard, like over an hour of high-intensity effort, or if it’s hot and you’re sweating heavily.
- A snack or meal within an hour of finishing your workout can promote glycogen replenishment if your workout was hard enough to deplete your glycogen stores by using carbohydrates for fuel at a high intensity instead of burning fat for fuel at a moderate intensity.
Myth: Other people are responsible for your health-related choices
Fact: You’re in charge
It’s your journey, work, and reward - but others can come!
Did you know…?
- People probably aren’t thinking much about your healthy lifestyle - and they’re definitely not thinking about it as much as you are!
- Your healthy choices may inspire others
Be inclusive and non-threatening. Don’t exclude people. Invite them to join you - on walks, in making healthy choices, and in talking about weigh-ins and challenges.
