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Weight-Management Myths Debunked on Yahoo! Health
See why you can eat after 7 p.m., plus get the real story about six other commonly held beliefs

Diets are filled with dogma about when, what and how much to eat. Certainly "the rules" are usually based on observations that make sense, but unless you understand why you do certain things, you'll break the rules as soon as the temptation is greater than your motivation. Let's examine some of these myths, where they come from and how to make long-term changes that will work for you.
Myth #1: Don't Eat After 7 p.m.
Your metabolism doesn't shut off at 7:01 p.m., so why is this rule so common? It is based on the observation that a lot of people who struggle with their weight overeat in the evening. Most people have already eaten dinner, so they aren't snacking because they're hungry. They snack because of boredom, television, loneliness and other triggers.
Rather than creating a rule to address those habits, ask yourself, "Am I hungry?" whenever you feel like eating in the evening. If you truly are, eat, keeping in mind that your day is winding down so you won't need a huge meal. If you aren't, consider why you feel like eating and come up with a better way to address that need. Ken, a man in one of my workshops, realized he was just bored, so he started doing stained-glass projects in the evenings to entertain himself. Whatever works!
Myth #2: Eat Small Meals Every 3 Hours
This rule is based on the fact that many thin people tend to eat frequent small meals. However, most of the thin people I know don't check their watch to tell them it's time to eat--they eat when their body tells them to. They eat when they're hungry and stop when they're satisfied. Since that tends to be a small meal, they get hungry again in a few hours.
Instead of watching the clock, begin to tune into the physical signs of hunger to tell you when to eat. And remember, your stomach is only about the size of your fist, so it only holds a handful of food comfortably. By learning to listen to your body's signals, you are likely to follow a frequent small-meal pattern naturally.
Myth #3: Don't Let Yourself Get Hungry
This one is based on the belief that overweight people are incapable of controlling themselves when they are hungry. In my experience with hundreds of workshop participants, once they learn to tell the difference between physical hunger and "head hunger," the opposite is true.
Think about it. When you're hungry, food tastes better and is more satisfying. My grandmother used to say, "Hunger is the best seasoning." Besides, if you aren't hungry when you start eating, what's going to tell you to stop? Of course, you also need to learn to recognize hunger and make time to eat before you are too hungry, since it's harder to make great choices when you are starving!
Myth #4: Exercise More When You Cheat
I hate this one because it has caused millions of people to equate physical activity with punishment for eating. As a result, many people either hate to exercise or use exercise to earn the right to eat.
While it's true that your weight is determined by your overall calories in versus your calories out, exercise is only part of the equation and it has so many other important benefits. Instead of using exercise to pay penance, focus on how great you feel, how much more energy you have, how much better you sleep and how much healthier you are becoming. In the long run, you are more likely to do something because it feels good than because you are forced to.
Myth #5: Follow Your Diet Six Days a Week, Then You Can Have a Cheat Day
This is absurd! What if you were a harsh, overly strict parent six days a week, then completely ignored your kids every Saturday? How would this approach work for your marriage or managing your employees?
It just doesn't make sense to try to be perfect (whatever that is) Sunday through Friday while obsessing about everything you're going to eat on your day off. Then on Saturday you overeat just because you're allowed to, so you end up feeling miserable all day. Huh? Personally, I would rather enjoy eating the foods I love every day mindfully and in moderation. I call this being "in charge" instead of going back and forth between being in control and out of control.
Myth #6: Eat X Number of Calories (or X Number of Points) Every Day
Does it make sense that you would need exactly the same amount of fuel every day? Aren't there just days when you're hungrier than others, maybe because of your activity levels or hormonal cycles?
Rather than setting yourself up to "cheat" on those hungry days and forcing yourself to eat more food than you want on your less hungry days, allow yourself the flexibility to adjust your intake based on your actual needs rather than an arbitrary number. Important: For this to work long-term, you also need to learn to tell the difference between physical hunger and "head hunger."
Myth #7: Carbs Are Bad (or Fat Is Bad)
This "good food-bad food" thinking makes certain foods special. As a result, you may feel deprived and think about them even more than you did before. Worse yet, healthy foods become a four-letter word.
The truth is, all foods fit into a healthy diet. Since different foods have different nutritional qualities and calorie content, you can use the principles of balance, variety and moderation to guide you without trying to restrict yourself from eating an entire food group.
Truth: You Are In Charge
I assume the rule makers are well intentioned and don't realize that they've created a tightrope that most people will fall off of sooner or later. If your head hadn't already told you that all these rules are crazy, wasn't your heart saying there had to be a better way?
It's time to give yourself a wider path that you can stay on forever. Allow yourself the flexibility to make any decision as long as you consider the advantages and disadvantages of your choices and always keep self-care in mind.

__________________
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Attilla the Hen

Was watching a David Attenborough wildlife documentary called Life in Cold Blood; about reptiles and amphibians.
He claims that with warm blooded animals that can regulate their internal temperatures, 80% of the food we eat is used to keep our internal temperature constant.

Bit off topic, but, interesting.

the dogcatcher

Here is the equation. If you expend more energy than you consume you will lose weight, and that is tough. I eat sod all in the summer and work physically like a slave 12 hours a day. I lose about 12 pounds in 4 months.
In the winter I do fck all and eat fck all other than rice and weeds, I gain that weight back in 4 months.

Panda

Double post

Panda

Read an interesting study many years ago. They had two control groups and fed them the same meals, but at different times of day.

Group 1 had a breakfast based on grains and veges or fruit. Lunch was a hot meal centered around meat. Dinner was a lite meal based on salad and vegetables.

Group 2 had the same breakfast based on grains and veges or fruit.
But group two had the salad for lunch and the heavy meat centered meal for dinner.

After a few months group two had much higher Cholesterol levels than group one, even though they were eating the same overall diet.

The conclusion the study came to was that our digestive system evolved with us as a hunter gatherer society. In the mornings the group would scratch around for whatever was available close by or easily stored. Hence the grains, fruit and veges for breakfast. Then as the women gathered fruit and vegetable matter the men would go out to hunt. If the men were successful there would be a feast of meat after which the group would settle down to have a siesta in the heat of the day. By evening it was just a small meal of vegetable matter to fill the void before lights out at sundown.

Haven't read much on it since then which was about 20 years ago, but seems to make a lot of sense.

StrontiumDog

Yeah, true, my body has always liked the heavy lunch, then siesta arrangement. I always feel bloated if I eat late. No reason for it to happen but my body just doesn't like it.

I'd also say breakfast is extremely important, but I'm a lazy bastard.

Makes sense Panda, at least my body seems to agree.

__________________
Eat plutonium death, mutant scum...

beazalbob69

Guess this is a bit off topic also but I am amazed that most animals on the planet are exactly the correct weight that they are supposed to be except for humans and pets of humans. Funny how most people just dont know how to eat. They all look for a magic pill to make them skinny lol. Everything in moderation and good healthy phyical activity and you will be thin and healthy!

My wifes Dad reminds me of an older Bruce Lee. He has absolutly zero fat. He works his ass off everyday on the family farms and then eats about 5000 calories. Sadly he is in better shape at 40 something than I am at 35!

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AntRobertson

There's a guy like that at my gym. Japanese extraction I think, from Hawaii. He's mid-to-late 50's but ripped and cut to shreds, almost to the point that his entire vascular system looks like it was placed on externally as an afterthought. Only a small guy but strong as an ox too.

__________________
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Davis Knowlton

Had one of them in my gym too. Only about 150lbs, so I had him by about 40lbs. Lifted about 30% more than I could. Incredibly strong. Claimed it was simply mind over matter.

DaffyDuck

This 'advice' is bullshit - done right, eating *the right thing and amount* every 3-4 hours is the best way to healthily lose weight quickly.

I managed to lose almost 50 pounds in less than 2 months this way (1-1.5 lbs each day) and it worked quite well.

Eating when you feel like it is idiotic.

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akdraw

I've been retired for 7 years and each of those years I gained 10 lbs. Lets see 7 X 10, that makes 17lbs I've gained. I didn't like the sumo wrestler look even though it was very attractive on me. So, a few months ago I changed my eating habits. I now have one large meal a day. I don't get hungry until about 4p and eat at 6. Seems to be working for me I've lost 30 lbs in three months and I have much more energy.