Sunday, June 6, 2010

Hungry Girl busts those DIET MYTHS!

It's hard to distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to food and dieting.
There's no need to fear... Hungry Girl is here!

Myth#1: By not eating after a certain time of night (for example, 8:00), you'll lose weight.

The Truth: By not eating after a certain time, there is a chance you might lose some weight. But it's not the time cut-off that will rid you of the pounds. Calories count. And whether you eat them at 9 a.m. or 9 p.m., a calorie is still a calorie. However, if you give yourself fewer chewing hours, you'll likely take in fewer calories and have more active hours to burn them off. This is especially helpful for late-night snack addicts. A lot of people eat GREAT during the day, then pig out on chips, ice cream, brownies, etc. at 9 or 10PM. Eeeks! If this sounds familiar, a cut-off time for eating might be helpful to you.

Myth#2: As long as something is fat free or low in carbs, you can eat as much of it as you want.


The Truth: No, no, NO! We know tons of people (literally, TONS) who have gained weight by chowing down on everything with a low fat or low carb label -- because they simply ate too much. When it comes to weight loss, calories count. (Do we sound like a broken record yet?) Many low fat and low carb products are chock-full of calories. You MUST watch your portions and read labels carefully. Seeing the words "Fat Free" or "Low Carb" is no excuse to devour an entire bag of pretzels or chew a whole pan of bacon.

Easy on The Chips, Snacky!
Burn, Berry, Burn!

Myth#3: Negative calorie foods make you lose weight.

The Truth: Negative calorie foods are foods that supposedly contain fewer calories than the amount your body would burn to digest them. Apples, celery, carrots, asparagus, cantaloupe, broccoli and blueberries are just a few of these so-called negative calorie foods. So, is the rumor true? Should you be filling your shopping cart with apples and asparagus? Well, there is no conclusive proof that negative calorie foods make you lose weight. Still, you can be certain that these "negative calorie" foods won't hurt your diet. All of them are nutritious, low fat and low cal. So why not add some of these health-protecting foods into your meal plan? If it turns out that these negative calorie foods do aid in weight loss, that would just be icing on the cake (which, unfortunately, is NOT a negative calorie food).

Myth#4: Margarine is better for you than real butter.

The Truth: This myth is absolutely false. Most margarine has just as much fat and just as many calories as regular butter. And margarine also packs in oodles of heart-clogging trans fats. While butter, with all its saturated fat, is far from good for you, margarine, with all it's trans fats, is even worse. HG Tip: Try Land O' Lakes Light Whipped Butter. It has just 45 calories and 5 grams of fat per tablespoon, and it's delicious!

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