Updated: Sept. 01, 2024

  • Why the program that works for your best friend may not work for you.
  • There’s more to weight loss than eating the right foods.
  • Calorie quality matters.
  • Willpower isn’t the problem.
  • Fat is not your enemy!

The world of weight loss is a crazy business. So much money is being made selling hot, new weight loss programs, prescriptions, books, supplements, training courses… you name it. And just when you think you’ve heard it all when it comes to weight loss methods and diets, another new trend appears.

How do all these new weight loss products continue to gain traction in a world with so many “miracle” methods and diets already? It’s probably because so many women have “tried it all” and are still struggling to lose weight. Despite the proliferation of weight loss products, books, and strategies everywhere you look, the obesity rates in our country are sky high.

I see it all the time when I work with women. They’re frustrated, angry, and starving themselves to no avail. They’ve tried every fad diet that comes to light, but they’re also stuck on some of the most pervasive myths about weight loss that should have been dispelled a long time ago, but keep popping up in the media and are accepted as truths in our society.

This misinformation and the resulting misunderstandings can lead to total confusion. And that confusion and the frustration that comes along with it can make it nearly impossible to lose weight.

It’s time to break through the noise – and I can help. Healthy and sustainable weight loss is possible, and it starts with ditching the big weight loss myths.

MYTH 1: The (insert diet name here) is the BEST way to lose weight

Any woman who has tried to lose weight has likely heard a friend or family member utter this statement. Even when coming from someone you trust, and who has good intentions, it’s a big red flag! That’s because what works for one person may have a total opposite effect on another.

The way your body responds to food and exercise, and the relationship between your body, hormones, and weight, is multilayered and unique. So, as a general rule, most “one size fits all” approaches are missing the mark.

I’ll explain a bit more, because I hear my patients express a lot of confusion and disappointment around this when they first come to see me. For example, when Karen first came to see me, she told me that her best friend had tried a ketogenic diet, and she had met her weight loss goal within a matter of weeks. She was also feeling fantastic, full of energy, her skin was glowing… she was a great success story for the keto diet!

Of course, Karen told me, she was encouraged and inspired. She started reading up on the keto diet and was excited to give it a try. She put together a meal plan for herself, had her friend there for support, and it all seemed perfect. But unfortunately, although she dropped a couple of pounds at first, she didn’t have the same kind of success. By the time she came to me, she was feeling pretty defeated. She had even started wondering if the problem was that she made some kind of mistake with the food list for the diet.

I assured her that this wasn’t the case. We needed to switch our focus away from the specifics of the diet her friend had tried, and towards finding out more about her body. How was her hormonal balance? What were her unique metabolic and nutritional needs? What would her body respond best to, what did it need, and most importantly, why was she experiencing weight loss resistance? When we got to the bottom of that, she did start to see results!

The thing is, there are always going to be some— maybe even a lot— of people who do lose weight while following any given diet. This is especially true if the person was, previously, eating a pretty objectively unhealthy diet. For example, most diet plans involve limiting (or cutting out) sugar. Limiting sugar will make a huge difference for a lot of people, regardless of the other specifics of the diet.

With some exceptions, the question is not really whether a specific diet is “good” or “bad”, but whether it’s right for you. But even if you find the best diet for your unique situation, that won’t necessarily do the trick all on its own. Which brings me to the next myth…

MYTH 2: Everything will change as soon as you find the right diet

Making good food choices is undeniably important for weight loss and for general health. But food choices alone won’t make the biggest difference. For some women, finding the right diet and exercise routine on their own is enough to get them to where they want to be. But for many, we need to dig deeper. Hormones, habits, and emotions can all come into play as well!

Over the years, I’ve come across other articles that address weight loss myths, and many of them focus on statements like “it’s not true that you have to avoid x food group” or “it’s not true that you have to eat breakfast”. Many of these ideas are important to consider and talk about, but these articles don’t really get to what I think is the biggest and most overlooked factor, which is why so many people are having trouble losing weight.

The reality is that it’s not always because their diet and exercise plan is flawed (and no, it’s not because they do or do not eat breakfast!), it’s usually because they haven’t uncovered an underlying hormonal or other biochemical imbalance, which is preventing progress.

If you are in the beginning stages of thinking about losing weight, a great place to start is taking a close look at how you can improve your diet. But if you, like so many women, have made a million and one dietary changes already, it’s probably time to take a look at the inner workings of your body and hormones. Weight loss resistance is generally not a standalone issue, it’s a symptom of a greater underlying imbalance that needs to be resolved for your overall health.

MYTH 3: A calorie is a calorie

While it’s true that difficulty losing weight is often the result of an underlying imbalance (hormonal imbalance, adrenal dysfunction, or an imbalance in the gut), there are a few basic diet-related concepts that are essential to understand, regardless of where you are in your weight loss journey.

Calorie counting is a strategy that seems to make sense on its face, especially if you’ve had a tendency to struggle with overeating or portion sizes in the past. The problem is that while you might be able to look up the calories in any food (or find it on the package), that value doesn’t mean very much by itself.

A calorie is a measure of energy, but all calories are not the same. Eating 200 calories worth of vegetables versus 200 calories from a sugary baked treat is very different in terms of what happens in your body. Our bodies respond to and process calories from different kinds of foods in very different ways, including the metabolic pathways they are going through, how quickly hunger will return, and how much energy is required to break those calories down.

For similar reasons, the strategy of burning off more calories than you consume may seem simple, but it doesn’t quite stand up to scrutiny. Again, our biochemical reactions to calories from different foods vary widely. Our bodies also react to exercise in different ways. As logical as the “calories in, calories out” strategy may seem, there is no straightforward mathematical formula that is sophisticated enough to understand all of the differences in calorie quality, not to mention the biochemistry of your body.

MYTH 4: It’s all about willpower (you just need to try harder)

So many women I meet who are struggling to lose weight have heard this time and again – even from their doctors! But although their stories and bodies are all very different, I believe one thing: they are all doing their absolute best.

If you have weight loss resistance due to an imbalance within the body, pushing yourself harder and harder is not going to help. In fact, it just might make things worse! The underlying causes of weight loss resistance are often related to and affected by stress. Punishing yourself over your struggles with weight loss is only going to tire your system out more.

If you do feel like you’re having a hard time following your basic healthy eating and exercise routine, I would suggest a focus on planning and organization rather than on willpower. Willpower is great, but it’s not an infinite resource. We are busy women with jam-packed lives, not machines! Having a regular routine in place, and implementing strategies like meal planning, can help to set you up for success.

MYTH 5: Eating fat makes you fat

I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all diet, but I do believe in a number of basic principles of healthy eating! One of the most important myths to dispel when it comes to a healthy diet for weight loss is that eating fat makes you fat.

Fat has been demonized for decades (thanks in part to the sugar industry), but it’s time to shift the narrative! The body and brain require healthy fats (such as olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado, and wild caught fatty fish) in order to function.

That said, it is still important to be conscious of the quality of the fat in your food choices. Avoiding the kinds of fats found in highly processed foods is essential.

But if you’re going to make anything a villain, let fat off the hook and turn your gaze towards refined sugar! On this note, be cautious of “fat free” options at the grocery store, many of which have simply replaced fat with sugar, sugar alcohols, or unhealthy sugar substitutes.

The truth about weight loss

With all of the confusion and misinformation out there about weight loss, I wouldn’t blame you if you felt exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated, or some combination of all three!

I really believe that knowledge is power when it comes to weight loss, and the more you can understand what is and is not true when it comes to losing weight, the more empowered you will be.

The single most important thing to consider if you’re struggling to lose weight is not which diet/pill/program is “best”, but what your own body needs.

Everyone is different, and in functional medicine, our primary goal is to get to the root cause of what’s going on within your body. Getting to the bottom of any underlying imbalances, including hormonal imbalances, issues within the gut, adrenal dysfunction, or chronic inflammation, is the first step towards resolving the problem. Once you can identify the imbalance, you can focus on healing it. Chances are, you will find yourself finally getting to your ideal weight, and feeling better in a dozen other ways!

For those looking for a little boost as you begin to unravel your underlying issues, I suggest trying my Drop 20 plan, which incorporates personalized nutrition plans and built in support, along with effective homeopathic drops. I have yet to see someone fail to lose 20 lbs in the first 6 weeks of the program if they follow the plan. How empowering is that!