It's likely that you want to lose weight or wanted to lose weight at some point in your life. Looking back, there was only one stage of my life where I was actively trying to gain weight. That was in my late teens. Since then, I've spent years thinking that I needed to lose weight. I did not need to lose weight at all, but this type of thinking is completely normal in our current society. What I have realized over the last couple of years is that our weight and health is not all about food, the types of food we eat, or how much we exercise. There is a lot more involved than just food, nutrition & exercise. Just because you eat "healthy", count calories, follow the fab diet, and exercise excessively does not mean that you will lose weight OR be healthy. Have you ever met someone who was 'thin' and unhealthy or someone who is 'heavier' and healthy? How about the chronic exerciser who is always injured or the one that doesn't seem to have to exercise with all the muscles and energy you desire? The best formula for being healthy and gaining energy is to get 7-9 hours of sleep, get into a parasympathetic state before eating, practice breathing techniques, reduce stress, get joyous movement and add in nutrient dense foods.
Let's take a look at some nutrition myths from Marc David, founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating and author of "The Slow Down Diet".
Myth #1: You will lose weight if you eat less and exercise more.
“This formula intuitively sounds correct but is woefully incomplete. For the majority of people this approach fails over and over again. If it could work long-term it would have done so long ago. As you’ll soon learn, underfeeding the body can slow metabolism, as can overexercising. Punishment gets you absolutely nowhere. True nourishment and joyous movement of the body will take you where you want to go.”
Myth #2: The reason you eat too much is lack of willpower.
“Fortunately, the experts are off the mark on this one too. As you’ll discover, your willpower is better than you could have ever imagined. We overeat not because we’re willpower weaklings but because we’re physiologically driven to do so when our meals are deficient in relaxation, time, pleasure, awareness, and high-quality food.”
Myth #3: As long as you eat the right foods in the right amounts, you'll ensure good health and lose weight.
“This principle seems scientifically sound but it’s caused way more damage than good. As you’ll see, we can eat the healthiest food in the universe and in the perfect amount, but if we consume it in a state of anxious rushing, the physiologic stress-response will cause a dramatic rise in nutrient excretion and a deep decline in calorie-burning capacity. What you eat is only half the equation of good nutrition. How you eat is the other half.”
Myth #4: The experts are your ultimate source of reliable and scientifically accurate nutrition information.
“f only this were true. We experts certainly have our lofty place, but we love to disagree with one another and we constantly change our minds. In actual fact, the most definitive nutrition expertise is literally found inside you. It’s called the enteric nervous system or ENS—the brain in the belly. This is your most faithful and accurate day-to-day dietary guide. The enteric nervous system has its own metabolic rules, which are your rules. This expert within you will help you choose which experts to follow outside you.”