Losing weight and dieting is not easy, and most people love receiving advice from everyone when it comes to dieting. A lot of people have something to share when it comes to losing weight, especially those who lost weight themselves, but you should be careful.

Not all advice is good and effective, and a lot of the advice you heal can actually do more harm than good to your weight loss journey, and your overall health.

So, I’m sharing a roundup of the worst dieting advice you should avoid no matter what.

20 Worst Dieting Advice You Should Ignore 

Exercise can replace a healthy diet

This is definitely bad weight loss advice. While exercising is great, and you should definitely be physically active, both for your health and for losing weight, exercising can’t replace a healthy diet. Eating healthy foods is crucial for long-term health and a healthy weight loss journey. Plus, losing fat and losing weight heavily depends on what you eat, so if you just eat fast food and processed foods, and you work out, you can’t expect good results. For the best results, you need to eat healthy foods. Exercising is a bonus, not a replacement for that. 

Keto is the only way to lose weight

While keto, or any low-carb diet, can be really beneficial for your weight loss journey and your overall health, it’s definitely not the only way to lose weight. You can still lose weight if you eat carbs, so if keto isn’t the best fit for you, don’t force yourself.

Eating fats will make you gain weight

This is a misconception all registered dietitians hear all the time - many people believe that eating fats will make them gain weight. They think a fat-free diet is necessary for losing weight.

But that’s not true, and it’s bad diet advice. There are many healthy fats that have tons of health benefits and need to be consumed. Avocado, nuts, fatty fish, coconut oil, olive oil, etc. - all of those are examples of healthy foods that are great for your blood sugar levels, and your overall health, so there’s no need to exclude them. Eating fatty foods doesn’t always mean eating a high-fat diet, it just means eating a balanced diet that has all of the necessary food groups your body needs.

Avoiding ____ will make you lose weight

No food is the solution to losing weight. If you remove one food from your diet, you can’t expect to lose weight just because of that. Losing weight is all about eating a nutritious, healthy, balanced diet, it’s not about avoiding one food.

A restrictive diet is needed

Another misconception I often hear is that a restrictive diet is needed if you want to lose weight, but that’s bad nutrition advice. A healthy and balanced diet is the key to losing weight and being healthy, and that doesn’t mean eating a restrictive diet. Your diet needs to include vitamins and minerals, protein, veggies, fruits, healthy fats, it can include healthy carbs, and so on. You can eat everything, as long as your diet is balanced and healthy.

Does that mean that you can also eat pizza and lose weight? Sure! Of course, to be healthy and lose weight you can’t eat pizza daily, but every now and then, if you eat healthy overall, a slice of pizza won’t ruin your whole healthy lifestyle.

You only need to eat healthy foods

As I explained above, your overall diet should consist of healthy foods that nourish your body. But if you do eat healthy foods most of the time, eating something not-as-healthy every now and then won’t be a huge problem.

Starvation isn’t that bad

Starvation is bad and you should never let your body go into starvation mode. It will actually do the opposite of what you want - when your body is in starvation mode, it burns less calories, to make up for the fact it’s not getting enough food. But burning less calories per day means losing weight slower than usual, so it’s actually counter-productive for your weight loss journey. And of course, starving yourself is not healthy at all.

A low-fat diet is the only way to lose weight

Another one of the bad dieting tips I see if that a low-fat diet is the only way to lose weight. I already explained above that eating healthy fats is good for you, not bad, and that there’s no reason to cut out all fat from your diet.

You can’t eat more than 1200 calories per day

The number of calories a person needs to function is different for everyone, and it depends on your height, weight, lifestyle, and so on. For many people, 1200 calories per day isn’t enough for their bodies to even function properly, let alone lose weight in a healthy way. 

Only eating protein will help you lose weight

A balanced diet means eating all food groups, not just protein.

Skip meals

Skipping meals isn’t healthy for you, and it’s not a good way to lose weight. Your body might go into starvation mode, and we already covered why that’s bad.

You need to work out every day

Working out every day is definitely not necessary. First of all, rest days are important for muscle forming. Secondly, working out is just there to help you stay active and stay in shape, it’s a bonus that will help you look and feel your best, but it’s not necessary to do it every day to lose weight.

You can lose weight if you work out a few times per week. Technically, you can lose weight without working out at all, since a healthy diet is the key, but working out is recommended because physical activity is important for health.

Snacks are always bad

There are tons of healthy snacks out there, so if you love snacking, you don’t need to avoid it to lose weight.

You need a juice detox

While some people like juice detox, it’s not necessary to lose weight, at all.

You can’t eat after 7 pm

You lose weight by being in a calorie deficit. Therefore, it doesn’t matter when you eat, as long as you’re in a deficit. 

Of course, it’s better to eat at 8pm than at 2am, but eating after 7pm can’t mess up your diet.

You can’t eat desserts ever again

As we mentioned, everything in moderation is okay, and if you eat healthy most of the time, eating a dessert once in a while won’t hurt. Plus, there are tons of healthy dessert options you can try out!

You can never drink alcohol

Of course, it’s not recommended to drink it too often, but just like with everything else, if you have a healthy lifestyle and eat healthy foods most of the time, drinking alcohol at a special occasion won’t make you gain weight.

Cardio is the best exercise for burning fat

While many people think that cardio is the best exercise for burning fat, exercise with weights is actually more effective for that.

You can target specific areas of your body to burn fat

When exercising, you can’t target a specific area of your body where you want to lose fat. If you do exercise that helps you lose fat, you will lose fat in all parts of your body, not just a specific part.

Weighing yourself is crucial

There’s so much more to a healthy lifestyle than weighing yourself, and there are more ways to measure progress than just the number on the scale. 

You can look at how you look, how you feel, how much energy you have, and so much more. The number on the scale isn’t always the best representation of the progress you’re making. For example, if you’re losing fat but also building muscle at the same time, the number on the scale might not change as much, but you’ll be healthier, skinnier, and fitter.

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