The Top Weight Loss Myths of 2024 Debunked

Jim Hill:

Welcome to Weight Loss And, where we delve into the world of weight loss. I'm Jim Hill.

Holly Wyatt:

And I'm Holly Wyatt. We're both dedicated to helping you lose weight, keep it off, and live your best life while you're doing it.

Jim Hill:

Indeed, we now realize successful weight loss combines the science and art of medicine, knowing what to do and why you will do it.

Holly Wyatt:

Yes, the “And” allows us to talk about all the other stuff that makes your journey so much bigger, better, and exciting.

Jim Hill:

Ready for the “And” factor?

Holly Wyatt:

Let's dive in.

Jim Hill:

Here we go.

Holly Wyatt:

I am excited about today's episode. We're going to dive into the top weight loss and wellness myths of 2024. And trust me, there are some doozies on this list.

Jim Hill:

Yeah, you've probably heard these myths everywhere, on social media, in conversations with friends, maybe even from some so-called experts. But here's the thing, Holly, separating fact from fiction is critical for success in weight loss, wellness, and living a healthier life. And as we get ready to close out 2024 and look ahead to 2025, we want to make sure you're not basing your goals on misinformation or outdated ideas.

Holly Wyatt:

Exactly. The last thing we want anybody or the last thing anybody needs to do is to start the year chasing something that doesn't work or worse, something that can actually set them back, Jim. Some of these myths sound so believable. They sound like they're true. No wonder that so many people fall for them.

Jim Hill:

That's why we're here today. We've shifted through the noise to bring you the biggest myths that we've seen this year. Some of them are ongoing from years past. Some of them are newer. We're not just debunking them. We're giving you the truth back by science. And we're going to break down why people believe these myths in the first place.

Holly Wyatt:

And you know us. We like to keep it real and we have to have a little bit of fun. So whether you're out there walking the dog, getting some steps in, listening, hitting the treadmill, or just kicking back, listening maybe with your favorite cup of coffee, stay with us. By the end of this episode, you're going to be armed with knowledge to make 2025 your healthiest, most informed year yet.

Jim Hill:

Okay, let's jump in. First up, we're tackling a myth that we hear all the time. This is an oldie and goodie. Are you ready, Holly?

Holly Wyatt:

I am. You start us off, Jim.

Jim Hill:

Okay. Weight loss is just about eating less and moving more.

Holly Wyatt:

How many times have you heard that?

Jim Hill:

I hear it all the time.

Holly Wyatt:

Okay.

Jim Hill:

Why it's a myth? It's a myth because it's way oversimplified. It's like that information, even though there's some truth to it, it's absolutely no help if you're trying to lose weight. It takes a very complex situation and reduces it to a simple equation, calories in and calories out. Now, Holly, you know me. I love calories in and calories out. Energy balance is a way of understanding energy through the body. But what this simple equation misses is how complex it is. And one of the things that really misses is human metabolism. That fuel comes in just like your gas comes into your car engine and it comes out, but your engine is critically important. So reducing it just to calories in and calories out is a myth because it makes it sound way too simple.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, I agree. And we hear it all the time, I think, from friends or even professionals. It's an easy thing to say. It's not completely false, but it's really not the right thing. It really gives a misconception of what's going on.

Jim Hill:

It sounds like all you have to do is willpower. How many times have you heard? Just push yourself back on the table, willpower. I mean, come on, that is no help at all. It's like telling people with asthma, just breathe harder.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah.

Jim Hill:

It's not helpful advice. So get rid of it. When you hear eat less and move more, just dismiss it. Ignore it because it's not helpful. It's actually harmful. Weight loss involves so many complex things - genetics, hormones, metabolism, psychology, your mind state - all these are important.

Holly Wyatt:

And Jim, it's really the reason why we call this show Weight Loss And because there is so much to talk about. That's why each episode, sometimes we're talking about one thing. And just to oversimplify it to those two things is a disservice. And I really can think it makes people feel like it doesn't work. It just does so much. I just don't think it's helpful at all.

Jim Hill:

Why do you think people believe that, Holly?

Holly Wyatt:

I think it's easy to grasp. You want clarity. You want something easy. And I think it reinforces this idea of kind of the societal norms that we value discipline and control. And if you just do it, you can be successful. But I think it's also just oversimplified. We want quick fixes. I think we look for a quick, easy fix. And we've talked about this when it comes to weight there isn't one quick, easy fix. But we would like for there to be. So we believe that. We want to believe that.

Jim Hill:

Yeah. And it makes people feel bad. People say, oh my gosh, if it's that easy and I can't do it, there must be something wrong with me.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah.

Jim Hill:

There's nothing wrong with you. It's way more complex than that.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. I think people would like to believe it. They feel good if it were true. But then in the end, when it doesn't work, when it's not true, it makes them feel bad. Yeah. So I agree with that.

Jim Hill:

So this one, out the window.

Holly Wyatt:

Out the window. All right. Number two, I'll take this next one.

Jim Hill:

Okay.

Holly Wyatt:

Thin equals healthy. Fat equals unhealthy.

Jim Hill:

That's a big one. I hear that a lot. People believe that. If you're thin, you must be healthy.

Holly Wyatt:

And if you're fat, you're not.

Jim Hill:

It's not true?

Holly Wyatt:

It's not true. It can be true. You can be thin and healthy. You can be thin and unhealthy. Healthy or unhealthy, either one, right? It's not the only thing going on.

Jim Hill:

It reminds me of the work of my dear late friend, Dr. Steve Blair, who I think is one of the great scientists. And what he showed is that taking a measure of fitness, cardiorespiratory fitness, was actually a better indication than obesity in terms of how long you're going to live, your chance of chronic disease and everything else. Now, it doesn't mean that obesity doesn't play a role. They both do. And his work led to the “Can you be fit and fat?” And I think that was taken out of context quite a bit because I think both are important. Whatever your weight, it's better to be fitter. And whatever your fitness, it's better to be not obese. So it's not really a controversy. But the point being, just looking at your body weight doesn't tell you very much about your health. It may give you some indication, but it's much more nuanced than simply thin is good, overweight is bad.

Holly Wyatt:

Once again, I think people want it to oversimplify it. And that's how these myths kind of get started, right? It's something people can remember. It's easy, but it's not really true. And it's more complex than that. That's basically what it comes down to. We need to reframe health as multifaceted, not just one thing.

Jim Hill:

You know, a theme coming out already, it's this idea of people just want to be oversimplistic. And that's got us into so much trouble in the weight management area because things aren't always simple. You know, it reminds me, Holly, of that one. I like Einstein quotes. He had a lot of good quotes. But one of his quotes is, things should be as simple as possible, but not more simple.

Holly Wyatt:

Yes.

Jim Hill:

And so the idea is we all love simplicity, but simplicity, just saying calories in, calories out, just saying your weight tells you about your health - these things aren't helpful. They're harmful.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. You wanted clarity. We're writing this book right now and we're always trying to be clear and it tends to make you want to simplify, but you just can't simplify it too much or you lose what's true. You lose what will work.

Jim Hill:

And the key is trying to take the complexity and understanding and in coming out with some strategies. Just because the situation is complex doesn't necessarily mean the strategies have to be, but you have to understand the complexity in order to come out with more simple strategies that might actually help.

Holly Wyatt:

Totally agree. All right. What's the next one?

Jim Hill:

Weight loss or weight loss maintenance is all about willpower. Suck it up and do it. That's all you have to do.

Holly Wyatt:

No pain, no gain.

Jim Hill:

Buck up. Do better.

Holly Wyatt:

Push through it.

Jim Hill:

Yeah. We know that's wrong. I mean, boy, the new obesity medications have shown that, right? People that have struggled, they haven't been very successful at weight loss many, many times, years and years, man, the medications help reduce their appetite and they can do it. So it shows there's real human physiology. It can be working with you or against you. But this idea that's all about willpower, again, Holly, out the window.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. You know, I think there's some people who do not struggle with their weight, right? Maintain a healthy weight.

Jim Hill:

Genetics.

Holly Wyatt:

Good genetics. And it's not about willpower at all. They may think it's about willpower, but their genetics are helping them. They may be doing some things, but genetics is playing a big role.

Jim Hill:

If you're genetically fortunate, it's easy to say, well, Holly, all you have to do is just eat a little bit less.

Holly Wyatt:

I know it. Yes.

Jim Hill:

But for people who struggle with their weight. It's like, that's so frustrating because if they could, they would if it were that easy.

Holly Wyatt:

Right. They're already using so much willpower and they're fighting it every single day. So it's not about willpower. It's about, you know, once again, it's not that simple.

Jim Hill:

Yeah. You wouldn't tell someone with diabetes to say, just use willpower and regulate your glucose.

Holly Wyatt:

I mean, and you know, Jim, you could, right? You could, I mean, you could with lifestyle changes, pretty much regulate your diabetes. We don't say that though, because we think about it differently. It's really interesting.

Jim Hill:

So another one out the window, willpower. Now, it doesn't mean there's not some willpower involved. Absolutely. You can't just go crazy, but willpower alone, it ain't going to get it for most people.

Holly Wyatt:

The word I'm using now instead of willpower is kind of responsibility.

Jim Hill:

Yeah.

Holly Wyatt:

I think you have some responsibility to do what you can, but let's not think about it as willpower. You know, that to me maybe is a better way of framing it.

Jim Hill:

Yeah, let's get rid of willpower. That's not a good word.

Holly Wyatt:

All right.

Jim Hill:

What's next?

Holly Wyatt:

Ah, this is a good one. You're going to like this one. The GLP-1 medication, so the new weight loss medications like Ozempic or Wegovy or ZepBound are magic bullets for weight loss.

Jim Hill:

Of course, right?

Holly Wyatt:

They've solved it all.

Jim Hill:

Is that a myth?

Holly Wyatt:

We need new jobs, Jim.

Jim Hill:

Yeah.

Holly Wyatt:

We're done.

Jim Hill:

We're done. What are we going to do? We're out of a job.

Holly Wyatt:

This podcast is over, basically.

Jim Hill:

Yeah. So you're going to tell me that's not true?

Holly Wyatt:

Yes. So these medications definitely aid in weight loss. And everybody here knows we are supportive. We think we need all the tools possible. They get at some of the genetic hormonal differences that are helped, you know, with the appetite piece of it. But no, they're not solving the problem. They work best with lifestyle changes. And we've talked about many times, sometimes just taking the medications doesn't solve everything. There's more to it than just trying to decrease your appetite. And the other big piece I don't think people understand is they don't cure it. They treat it, but they don't cure it. You stop the medications, it comes back. So if you're going to take the medications, you got to take them long time. It's not a cure. It's a treatment. And even then, it needs to be combined with more. What do you think?

Jim Hill:

I agree. and Holly, there's an interesting, I'll call it a sub-myth in here that you kind of touched on. And that's the idea. If you just get your weight off, your life is going to be wonderful. Your spouse is going to be nicer to you. You're going to get invited to all the good parties. Your life's just going to be...

Holly Wyatt:

You're going to be happy.

Jim Hill:

You're going to be happy. All you got to do is get to that number on the scale and you'll be completely happy. And that doesn't happen just with weight alone. There are some other things that you can do while you're losing weight to help that. And losing weight clearly is a good thing. You know, we find in the National Weight Control Registry, these people that are keeping weight off say, you know, they work hard at it, but it's worth it. Their life is better. But it's more than just the number on the scale.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. I think we're going to see this more and more. And I don't think this means the end of this. I think this is just actually helping us. I see this as a tool that's being added, not that's solving the problem.

Jim Hill:

Exactly. So they're not a magic bullet. They're great new tools, right? I mean, this is one of the most powerful tools we've ever had to manage obesity, but they're a tool and they need to be combined with other tools.

Holly Wyatt:

All right, next.

Jim Hill:

Oh, I love this one. I've got to take the next 30 minutes on this one. Do you know how I feel about this? Carbs are the enemy. That is so out there that all you got to do is get rid of carbs. It's carbs that are causing the problem. Holly, that's a myth. You want to know why? Carbs are a problem when you don't use them for fuel.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah.

Jim Hill:

You know why you don't use them for fuel?

Holly Wyatt:

Because you don't move.

Jim Hill:

Because you don't move. If you look at physical activity, carbs are fueling physical activity. When you start exercising, Holly, your body starts burning carbs like crazy. Look at athletes. What type of diet do athletes use? They get all the carbs they can. So carbs aren't a problem. The problem is if you don't burn those carbs, you have a problem. So if carbs come in, you know, your body can store fat really well. You have just unlimited places and ability to store fat in your body.

Holly Wyatt:

I know that, Jim, very well. Yes, yes. I agree.

Jim Hill:

Well, I wasn't making it personal here. I was talking about your neighbor, Holly, not you. But for carbohydrates, very different. You can't store very much, right? You store it as glycogen, you have a little bit in your liver, a little bit in your muscles, you have some glucose in your bloodstream. You don't have anything to do with it. So if you take it in and you don't burn it, guess what happens? Ultimately gets converted into fat and adds to your fat stores. So if you're sedentary and not moving, yeah, carb is bad.

Holly Wyatt:

I think another way to say it is we were meant to burn carb.

Jim Hill:

Absolutely.

Holly Wyatt:

We were meant for carb to be our fuel source. We were designed that way.

Jim Hill:

Because we were designed to move. And I think lack of movement. You know, right now we hear so much about food. Food's the problem. And don't get me wrong. We need to greatly improve our diets. But the really underlying problem is we don't move. Number one, we don't need much energy at all because you don't have to have energy to move your body. And you don't need carbs to fuel it because you aren't moving very much.

Holly Wyatt:

So maybe a way to say it is, if you're going to be sedentary, then maybe carbs aren't good for you, maybe, you know, aren't the enemy, but is that the way we want to live our lives, sedentary?

Jim Hill:

Exactly. And you're fighting a losing battle. It's hard to eat sufficiently low carbs to match a sedentary lifestyle. And this is why if you look at the diets, the keto, the Atkins in the short run, boy, these things are great because you're reducing intake. The problem is very few people can stick with these over the long term. It's very hard day in and day out, year in and year out to eat sufficiently low number of carbohydrates to match a low energy need for carbohydrates.

Holly Wyatt:

And part of me is like, would you want to?

Jim Hill:

Exactly.

Holly Wyatt:

There's so many foods that have carbohydrates in them. It's not just a few foods.

Jim Hill:

And they're good foods.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. So carbs are the enemy. I think that's a myth.

Jim Hill:

So carbs aren't the enemy. But if you're sedentary and you're eating a lot of carbs, you're going to gain weight from that.

Holly Wyatt:

Well, you're sedentary and you're eating a lot of calories, period. You're going to gain weight.

Jim Hill:

If you're sedentary, you know, Holly, what, 75% of the people in the U.S. are overweight or obese. So we've already lost the battle. part of the reason is that those people are so sedentary. In today's environment where food's everywhere, it tastes good, it's inexpensive, if you want to be sedentary, the chances are incredibly high that you're also going to be overweight.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. Which moves right into the next myth. Eating fat makes you fat.

Jim Hill:

Same way as carbohydrate. The idea is you want to be simple. Well, you only got three to choose from, fat, carbohydrate, protein, and you're going to find somebody to tell you each one is the enemy. So we've just talked about carbs, not the enemy. Well, fat isn't either if you match your intake to your expenditure. And again, back in the 70s and 80s, we went through the low-fat craze and it's very interesting because the advice was to actually lower fat. If you look at most of the information, the people didn't actually reduce fat that much, but we're still eating a fairly high-fat diet. The reason that fat's a little different from carbohydrate is why carbohydrate brings four calories per every gram. Fat brings nine calories. So right away, you've got something that you need to be a little careful with.

So fat is not bad when you eat an amount of fat that matches the fat you burn. When you don't, it's very easy to store excess fat. When you overeat fat, you store it very efficiently. But the idea of saying fat's the problem, carbohydrates are the problem, way oversimplification. The problem is when you have positive energy balance, more energy coming in than coming out. And ultimately that leads back to a sedentary lifestyle being a huge problem here.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. So it's not eating fat makes you fat. Let's change it. What makes you fat? A positive energy balance, right?

Jim Hill:

Exactly. And that energy can come from anywhere.

Holly Wyatt:

Yes.

Jim Hill:

It can come from any source. If you take in more calories than you burn, you're going to end up storing it as fat. Now it's interesting because Because it's more efficient to store excess fat as fat than carbohydrate or protein. There's no way around it. You take in more calories than you burn, you're going to add body fat.

Holly Wyatt:

Yep. All right. What's the next one?

Jim Hill:

Finish it out. We talked about fat and carbohydrate.

Holly Wyatt:

I know.

Jim Hill:

So obviously protein's the answer.

Holly Wyatt:

Right. High protein diets are the ultimate key to weight loss. Myth, right?

Jim Hill:

Oh, it's not true?

Holly Wyatt:

Not true.

Jim Hill:

Oh my gosh. But I hear that a lot. I hear if we could just eat more protein, because again, you don't store much protein, has a higher energy expenditure. So it's got to be the answer, just increase protein.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. And I believe in eating a higher protein diet. It works for me, but I don't think it's the ultimate key, right? It's not, once again, it's simplification, people wanting there to be one thing that people need to do or one thing people aren't doing. And they try to sell that, right? And they sell that this is the wrong thing. And if you do make one change, it's going to be huge. I personally eat a higher protein diet for satiety reasons. And I like it for that reason. And also to help me preserve muscle mass when I am losing weight. But, you know, I do think that it's not the ultimate solution. And once again, you can talk about carbs being the problem or the solution. You can talk about fat being the problem or the solution, right? You can talk about protein being the problem or the solution. That's all we got, right?

Jim Hill:

So if you were to go in a bookstore, they still have bookstores, don't they?

Holly Wyatt:

I think they do, Jim, but nobody really goes in them anymore.

Jim Hill:

So if you go in a bookstore, first of all, it's going to be empty. You're not going to have a lot of people. But you go to the diet section. I guarantee you, you can find an expert that says reduce fat, an expert that says reduce carbohydrate, and an expert that says reduce protein. And these diets have been around not for a year or two years, but for decades. Why do people still buy into that when we have so much data that none of these work in the long term? They all work to get the weight off, but they don't work in the long term.

Holly Wyatt:

Well, it's because they're looking for a solution and they're looking for an easy solution. Like we're saying, they like to oversimplify, trying to find what will work. And they're hoping it can be that simple.

Jim Hill:

Wow.

Holly Wyatt:

I think that's what it's about. And it is complex understanding how all the different macronutrients work together in combination with energy balance, in combination with hormones, in combination with your environment, right? All those factors come together and studying it and understanding it. Yeah, it's a lot.

Jim Hill:

So the real message here or the real myth does a spell is that reducing any single macronutrient is the key to successful weight loss.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, that you shouldn't think of it that way as just, boom, that's all you got to do.

Jim Hill:

Okay.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah.

Jim Hill:

Wow.

Holly Wyatt:

Reducing calories. We do talk about that. Restricting calories is, I would say, required or part of what's needed for weight loss. I feel like that's the truth. What about you?

Jim Hill:

Yeah, no, absolutely. And that's why all these diets work in the short run. You can reduce fat, carb, protein in the short run and you lose weight. But, you know, if this podcast is about one thing, it's about the long-term. And in the long-term, I keep saying, if any of these diets really worked, why would we need so many of them? So, Holly, the other thing, though, we hadn't talked about is alcohol. That's another way of calories. Is that a problem for weight?

Holly Wyatt:

Yes, I do think it is a problem for weight. And, you know, it's hard, especially we're in the holidays right now. People want to have some alcohol. But if you drink alcohol, it tends to turn off fat burning. Your body has to get rid of alcohol. That's what I always say. So it's going to be the priority to burn because if it didn't, you would die. You would get out. You'd be toxic, right? So it has to burn the alcohol first. So it will shut off fat burning, shut off anything to get rid of that alcohol and because to live. And so, yeah, I think it can definitely cause problems, especially people who like drink a couple glasses of wine or a couple drinks every night. I'm like, oh, I don't think that's good.

Jim Hill:

Well, tell me that there's a way to keep your weight off that doesn't have to give up alcohol totally.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, well, you know what that is. Move more, right?

Jim Hill:

Maybe we should do an episode on alcohol because, you know, we're not saying you have to give it up totally.

Holly Wyatt:

No.

Jim Hill:

But it can be a problem. You don't have to give up fat or carbohydrate. You just have to take it inappropriately.

Holly Wyatt:

I think there's a way you can do it, but I guess when I see a lot of people trying to lose weight, it does cause a problem for a lot of people. And you tend to drink a couple drinks and then you want to eat a little bit more.

Jim Hill:

That's right.

Holly Wyatt:

And so it's complex. I think it'd be great to do a show on that, though. People have a lot of questions about that.

Jim Hill:

Let's do it. Let's put it on our list.

Holly Wyatt:

Okay.

Jim Hill:

All right. What's next? Is it you or me?

Holly Wyatt:

I think it's you.

Jim Hill:

Rapid weight loss is unsustainable and always leads to weight regain. Now, I have to say, Holly, this is one I've come around on a little bit. Early in my career, I bought into the fact that slow, gradual weight loss is probably better. I think that's a myth.

Holly Wyatt:

I do too.

Jim Hill:

I think it's okay to lose weight quickly. And what led me to that is our work showing weight loss is different than weight loss maintenance. I actually think it does. Now, there are some caveats, but overall, I think there are so many different ways to lose weight, slow, fast, et cetera. Now, there's some dangerously low ways to do it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with rapid weight loss as long as you realize you're not going to be able to sustain that. You have to switch to a plan of weight loss maintenance.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. I actually think it is. I tell people, let's get off as much weight as we can safely, as quickly as possible, and then let's move to weight loss maintenance, right? And then let's move to weight loss maintenance. That's the important part. I think that these crash diets that have really been, you know, 500 calories or less, I'm not talking about that, but these crash diets have really given rapid weight loss a bad reputation.

Jim Hill:

Yeah.

Holly Wyatt:

I think that actually getting off as much weight as you can safely in a finite period of time gives you the best shot of keeping off as much as you can.

Jim Hill:

But you got to have a plan to keep it off too. You can't just do that and hope for the best. You can do it as long as then you have a plan for weight loss maintenance.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, that's something I've kind of moved to, too. I believe that let's get it off and then let's have a plan so that you don't regain.

Jim Hill:

Love it. Wow, we're rolling through these. There are a lot of myths.

Holly Wyatt:

Well, it's coming to the new year. They got to know this stuff. So here's a myth. Diets don't work. Everyone regains the weight.

Jim Hill:

True, right?

Holly Wyatt:

[26:51] Jim, not true. Myth.

Jim Hill:

[26:54] Oh, that's what I meant. It's not true.

Holly Wyatt:

It's not true. So here is the thing. This one I feel so strongly at. Jim and I just got back from the Obesity Society meetings a few weeks ago. And this one actually irritated me because now with the weight loss drugs, there seems to be this kind of opinion of people are saying things like diets don't work. Don't even talk about diets. It's all about these drugs and changing your physiology. And I'm like, well, wait a minute. I believe in the drugs, but come on. Diets do work. Not everyone regains the weight. We should be talking about what we're eating. And yes, we can still use the medications, but let's not throw out diets or throw out ways we eat, you know, nutritional plans, whatever you want to call them, because we have these weight loss medications. I think diets fail if you don't know how to transition into weight loss maintenance. We have success stories.

Jim Hill:

Well, we have the whole National Weight Control Registry. That's over 10,000 people we've studied, and they all lost weight with diet. It was before there were effective weight loss medications. And the interesting part is there was no consistency in how they lost it. They used every diet under the sun to lose weight, but then they all transitioned to a weight loss maintenance plan. So you're right. The medications are wonderful. They're great. You can lose weight without them. Diets do work if you follow them. But there's a difference between losing weight and keeping it off. Food restriction is the key to losing weight. You cannot maintain food restriction over the long term. It's a good short term tool. It's a lousy long term tool.

Holly Wyatt:

All right, Jim, we're going to have to speed up. We got so many of these myths.

Jim Hill:

All right.

Holly Wyatt:

All right, next one. Let's go. Let's see if we can hit some of these rapid fire. I think we can. Spot reducing fat. So like trying to do crunches for if you have some belly fat works. Can you spot reduce?

Jim Hill:

Everybody knows that's a myth. You can't do it. When you reduce weight, your fat comes off your body, probably in a pattern determined by your genetics. It would be great if you could do sit-ups and get rid of belly fat. Doesn't work. You can't spot reduce.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. Just stop that. I know the fitness industry and marketing, they want to sell you that. Don't do it. Just don't go there. It's a myth. All right. Next one.

Jim Hill:

Intermittent fasting is the best way to lose weight. Well, actually, for some people, intermittent fasting works. There's been a lot of research here. And I think mixed studies, but by and large, it's shown that intermittent fasting is a good way to lose weight, but not necessarily that much better than other ways. And I think what we need to figure out is who might do better from intermittent fasting and who might do better from other methods of weight loss. So it's okay, but it's not a magic bullet. It's not necessarily better than other ways of losing weight.

Holly Wyatt:

I would say it's not universally superior by any means. And if you actually look at the amount of weight loss that occurs when people do lose weight, it's not that much, Jim. I think intermittent fasting probably plays its biggest role or could play a bigger role in weight loss maintenance, not in weight loss.

Jim Hill:

I think you're right. And we've talked about that before.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. So it's not superior. It may be helpful. I like to add it on. Sometimes we do intermittent fasting and another method for restricting calories together, get a kind of a one-two punch going. But the fact that people are saying this is all you need to do and you lose the weight, I think that's a myth.

Jim Hill:

All right, what's next?

Holly Wyatt:

All right, next. This is a good one, a myth that so many people believe. Healthy eating is too expensive for most people.

Jim Hill:

I think a lot of people believe that. You hear it over and over. Oh, it costs more to eat healthy. You're going to tell me that's not true, Holly?

Holly Wyatt:

It's not true. We've had our dieticians here at the University of Alabama at UAB look into that and actually put diets together and compare costs. Now, yeah, there's certain things you could choose to eat that would be more expensive, but you absolutely can eat healthy and it does not have to cost more. This is a myth.

Jim Hill:

Part of it is preparing yourself. If you want everything ready-made, order out, eat out, yeah, it's going to be a little bit more expensive. But if you're cooking it yourself, you can actually eat a pretty healthy diet that's not particularly expensive.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah.

Jim Hill:

You just need to put a little bit more thought and effort into your food prep than simply saying, let's go order it out or, you know.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, that's a good point. It may take a little more time, a little more prep. It may not be easier, but I don't think it's the cost. People are saying it's too expensive, but I think you're right. It probably takes more effort.

Jim Hill:

And you can turn it around and make that effort, especially for families, make it a family sort of thing of cooking together or shopping together. So there are ways of actually turning it into a positive.

Holly Wyatt:

I think that's an excuse people want to believe, maybe. A little bit. Some people. Yeah.

Jim Hill:

So it doesn't have to be. You don't have to pay more to eat healthy.

Holly Wyatt:

Yes. All right. Who's up? Me?

Jim Hill:

Go ahead.

Holly Wyatt:

Okay. This one. Hunger is bad and should always be avoided during weight loss. Ooh. This is one that I've shifted. I used to say, don't get hungry. I used to say, hunger is bad.

Jim Hill:

Now you're going to tell me it's okay. I can get hungry.

Holly Wyatt:

Yes. I think it's actually a little bit better. Now you don't want to get extremely hungry because then you just eat anything and everything. But I think allowing your body to work as it's meant to, I mean, hunger serves a purpose. Allowing yourself to get hungry, allow yourself to feel what it feels like, and then to respond appropriately with a meal is not a bad thing. It's allowing our body, the hormones, our appetite to work as it was meant to work instead of just trying to completely avoid hunger. What do you think?

Jim Hill:

No, I think it is. And hunger in a way is telling you that your body is going to stored energy for fuel. You know, we have a friend, Holly, that says people used to get hungry and they would pull out energy from their fat cells. Now when you get hungry, you go to the refrigerator to alleviate it. So this period of being hungry allows you to go in, mobilize fat from your fat cells and burn it and you have less fat.

Holly Wyatt:

I love that, Jim, because now you're thinking of hunger a little bit differently. It's not something to be avoided. This is a mindset shift, Jim.

Jim Hill:

It is.

Holly Wyatt:

When you're hungry, oh, my fat cells are burning. My fat cells are burning fat. I love that.

Jim Hill:

It's a good way to think about it. We'll use that.

Holly Wyatt:

Yes, let's use that. That's a way we can pull our mind state into it. All right, next one, Jim, you do it.

Jim Hill:

Eating at night causes weight gain. You know, this whole issue of meal patterning, we know so little about it. It's a myth to say simply eating late at night causes weight gain. It can. There are some people that probably can do it without harm. For some people, it's more harmful. It's not a one-size-fits-all. But this is an area where research is really moving quickly, and I think it's going to tell us a lot about how we eat related to our circadian rhythm and everything. But simply just saying eating late at night causes weight gain is not universally true.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, I don't think we understand the timing. We're trying to better understand, And there may need to be some time when you don't consume calories. That might be a good thing to go through a period of time. And the best time potentially would be at night, right, to go through a period of time where you're not consuming. Where I think this becomes a myth is people think that the calories that you eat at night somehow or another go straight to storage. You can't burn them. There's something special about those calories that, you know, don't apply to when you eat calories at other times. And I think that kind of is what the myth more is about.

Jim Hill:

All right, a couple more.

Holly Wyatt:

Okay.

Jim Hill:

We're getting to the end here.

Holly Wyatt:

Here, this is another good one. Poor sleep has little impact on weight loss.

Jim Hill:

Oh, that's a myth, Holly. We have learned so much about sleep. If you're not getting enough quality sleep, your whole energy balance can be disrupted. You're going to overeat. You're going to under-exercise. You're going to have cravings. Your energy's lower. If you want to maintain a healthy weight, you better figure out how to get quality sleep. Otherwise, you're going to be at a disadvantage.

Holly Wyatt:

I agree. I think, you know, we concentrate on nutrition. We concentrate on activity. We concentrate on mind state. I think we need to add a fourth. We got to concentrate on sleep and recovery. It's critical.

Jim Hill:

I agree. I think it's really critical.

Holly Wyatt:

All right. Next one up. Oh, this is a good one for the start of the year because I get the questions about this all the time.

Jim Hill:

Why don't you take this one? Because I don't understand why people believe this in the first place.

Holly Wyatt:

Oh, because, okay. Detox diets and cleanses help you lose weight and reset your body. And that's the message people tell you. You need to reset. You need to get the stuff out. You need to cleanse your body for it to work like it's meant to work. That's the message.

Jim Hill:

Isn't your body self-cleaning?

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, it really is. I don't know how, you know, it sounds like maybe you could, once again, you kind of would wish that to be, if I could drink this potion or drink this liquid for five days and solve all my problems, wouldn't that be happy? And then you have celebrities out there endorsing this. And I think marketing just kind of perpetuates this myth that they're effective. And when you do a detox, you're going to lose some weight, right? You can lose some weight, but it's not fat, Jim. It's something else.

Jim Hill:

Out the window. This is a myth. Forget the cleanses, detox. It isn't going to help.

Holly Wyatt:

I agree. All right. You take the very last one. This one's for you.

Jim Hill:

All right. Last one is that technology alone can fix weight management problems. So Holly, you know me. I love technology. I love this new stuff. And there's so much good stuff out there. The latest is now you can get continuous glucose monitoring, even if you don't have diabetes. These are all tools, but they alone aren't going to do it. They can provide some useful feedback. I like simple things like pedometers, providing useful feedback. So it's okay to use these, but they're a tool. They're not going to do it for you. And there's so much stuff out there. You can buy a pedometer for $10, or you can spend hundreds of bucks on some of these other monitors. A lot out there, use them. They're tools. They aren't going to do it alone. You've still got to bring in your personal effort and your behavior change.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. I think they help with awareness.

Jim Hill:

Yes.

Holly Wyatt:

And you know how I'm big on awareness. Let me be aware of how much I'm moving. But awareness alone doesn't solve the problem. And I see people all the time using Fitbits or using some type of wearable device. They then figure out, you know, they get awareness of what their activity is or what their blood glucose is. But then you got to do something with it. You got to change it. It's not just knowing where it is. It's then having a plan that fits with it.

Jim Hill:

That's right. Feedback is great, but you got to have a plan.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. And I think so many people think I'm just going to wear this and it's going to solve my problem. And that's not how it works.

Jim Hill:

Okay. There are a lot of myths out there, Holly.

Holly Wyatt:

Oh, I don't think that's all of them, but we hit a lot of them.

Jim Hill:

I think we've hit a lot for today. So what do you want to do next?

Holly Wyatt:

Let's do a couple listener questions. These are questions listeners have sent in that I thought fit well with this area.

Jim Hill:

You take this one. If weight loss isn't about just eating less and moving more, what's the first step I should do to start losing weight effectively?

Holly Wyatt:

Love this question. Get it all the time. Not going to be probably what you wanted, what they wanted as an answer. But what you should start with, in my opinion, isn't what to do. It's why. Why are you going to do it? The first question I would ask people is, why do you want to lose weight? The motivation. Because everybody wants to start, especially as we move into the new year, what are they going to eat? How are they going to move? What are they going to do? They want the plan. I believe in a plan, but before you even get to the plan, the first step to me is why are you going to do it?

Jim Hill:

I love it. Yeah. I love it.

Holly Wyatt:

That would be my answer.

Jim Hill:

Okay.

Holly Wyatt:

All right. Let's see. Let me give you one. Jim, what about this one? How do I know if a diet trend like keto or intermittent fasting is right for me? Okay.

Jim Hill:

You really don't, but it's okay to try them. But realizing that these plans are short-term weight loss. And if you go on one of those plans and say, this is the way I'm going to live for the rest of my life, good luck. It's highly unlikely you're not going to do it. So it's okay to try some of these things. Some of them work better for some people than others, but they're short-term. They're getting the weight off. The weight's going to come back unless you then have a plan for long-term weight loss maintenance.

Holly Wyatt:

I agree with that too. Part of it though is also, I think, saying, how do you figure out, Jim, maybe they're saying, okay, I'm going to do this for weight loss and then I'll switch to weight loss maintenance. How do you figure out in weight loss what's the best diet for you? And that's an interesting question because a lot of people would tell you you could get a blood test or you could do this and we are not there yet.

Jim Hill:

I think we're still trial and error. It's okay to try something. See if it works. How do you know it works? Look at the scale. Look at how hard it is for you to stick with it.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, we're trying to figure out how to match people to the best diet for weight loss.

Jim Hill:

We'll get there, but right now we can't do that.

Holly Wyatt:

And I think anyone who says they can, I think that's a red flag.

Jim Hill:

Exactly.

Holly Wyatt:

If they tell you they can match you because the science is not there yet, although we're trying to develop it. I will say we're working on a clinical program at UAB called Just Right where we get to experience three different types of diet and see which one works best for you.

Jim Hill:

Love it.

Holly Wyatt:

Right? That's what you should do. Try it out. See what fits, what works best for you. And realize then, like you said at the beginning, you're going to need to switch to weight loss maintenance at some point.

Jim Hill:

All right. What's next?

Holly Wyatt:

Vulnerability question.

Jim Hill:

[41:58] Oh, boy. My favorite.

Holly Wyatt:

You know we have to have those, Jim. All right. I'm going to give you one to start. Is there a moment in your career, Jim, when you realized you've been giving the wrong advice based on outdated or incorrect information, and how did you handle it?

Jim Hill:

Well, I think we hit two today that are in that realm. First of all, I was very anti-low-carb diets. I thought low-carb diets, if you go on the low-carb diets, your lipids are going to go, you're going to have all kinds of bad things happen. And we actually did the research and found out, guess what? they're perfectly fine for weight loss. So I changed my mind on that. I know you came from the opposite point of view, feeling like they were good. And then the second is rapid weight loss, because I used to advise against rapid weight loss. I've changed my mind on that. I think it's okay. What about you?

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, I've got two big ones. I was just thinking breakfast, right? I used to always tell people, you got to eat breakfast. It was a rule. I had this as a rule. You got to eat within two hours of getting up. Changed my mind on that one. And then the hunger. I used to say, do not get hungry. And now I'm like, okay, let's get a little hungry. So definitely have changed my mind on that one. Yeah.

Jim Hill:

All right. Let's close it out here, Holly.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. This was a fantastic conversation. I love doing this. I love just going back and forth and we get to cover so many different topics. And I think we covered so many myths that are out there. And I hope people are walking away with tools to really spot the myths, spot the fiction, and really know that there are some facts out there. And knowledge is power. I think this is a great episode.

Jim Hill:

Absolutely. And if there's one thing we hope you take from this episode, it's that your journey doesn't need to be guided by myths or fixes. You deserve strategies that actually work, that are backed by science and make you feel great, not guilty. And there are those available.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. So Jim, I would love for our listeners to send us maybe the myths they used to believe or ask, is this a myth? We could do a whole another show on it. I think there's so many more out there.

Jim Hill:

Yeah. And so send us ideas at [www.weightlossand.com](http://www.weightlossand.com/). And let us know if there are myths you want us to take on or if they're ones that you've come up that we haven't.

Holly Wyatt:

All right, guys, until next time, keep making progress one step at a time. We will see you soon on “Weight Loss And…” Bye, everybody.

Jim Hill:

And that's a wrap for today's episode of Weight Loss And. We hope you enjoy diving into the world of weight loss with us.

Holly Wyatt:

If you want to stay connected and continue exploring the “Ands” of weight loss, be sure to follow our podcast on your favorite platform.

Jim Hill:

We'd also love to hear from you. Share your thoughts, questions, or topic suggestions by reaching out at [weightlossand.com](http://weightlossand.com/). Your feedback helps us tailor future episodes to your needs.

Holly Wyatt:

And remember, the journey doesn't end here. Keep applying the knowledge and strategies you've learned and embrace the power of the “And” in your own weight loss journey.