8 Nutrition Myths to Leave Behind ASAP
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We've all been there, believing in myths that promise quick fixes.
But it's time to debunk some of the most pervasive nutrition myths that might be hindering your wellness journey. In this episode of “Embrace Your Real” podcast, I'm on a mission to set the record straight on eight common myths surrounding weight loss and nutrition. As someone who has been down the same road, I get it.
Let's navigate through these myths together and pave the way for sustainable, effective habits. Tune in to be equipped with practical knowledge to make informed choices about your nutrition, fostering a healthier and more effective relationship with food.
What I discuss:
Eating late at night causes weight gain
Carbs are bad for you.
Eating fat makes you fat
You need to detox with a juice cleanse.
You need to intermittent fast.
You need to eat organic.
Less calories = more weight loss
Weight loss supplements are the solution!
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human you're listening to Embrace Your Real With Me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I get you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it. Let's go. Welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast. I think that it's time that we revisit one of the most popular nutrition myths that I see going around that I've seen going around, whether it's the New Year, it's the middle of the year, it's the end of the year, I know that women will do anything possible to lose weight as fast as possible. I mean, I've been one of those women. I was that woman for over a decade of my life. And speaking from experience, I've learned that most of what we actually believe that will help is actually hindering our results. And so that's why in today's episode, I want to break down eight different nutrition myths, kind of explain why they're a myth, and outline what you can do instead. Before we dive in, though, I wanted to share this review that comes from JessLabella_00. She said: "So thankful that I found the Moment with Julie program, which is super affordable and has a great support group. It is truly the best. With so many influencers out there. I feel truly blessed that Julie caught my attention. She is wholesome, encouraging, challenging, but also realistic. Her podcast keeps things simple and encouraging. I'm grateful to have a woman of faith influencing me when it comes to my body, because I know that she values health but also knows its place in our lives. My husband and 17 year old daughter have seen so many positive changes in my life. In addition to 45 pound weight loss since July, and my bloodwork has completely been fixed. I usually don't do reviews, but this I highly recommend". Wow, that is incredible. That is probably one of my favorite reviews recently, just because there is so much depth to that. And I am just so grateful that you found this podcast, you found this programing, but more importantly that you're actually taking the advice and you're taking the programing and you're doing it. You're doing the work, you're putting in the work. Because I can only put out so much, you know, at the end of the day, like it all comes down to what actions are you taking. And I'm also just so thankful that you value kind of my advice. Coming from a Christian standpoint, I believe that health is so important, and I talk about that on a weekly basis here on the podcast. But I also believe, like you said, it needs to be in its proper place. And so thank you so much. I am so grateful that not only your husband, but your 17 year old daughter is benefiting from all of the positive changes. And then, I mean, how incredible is it that your blood work has been completely fixed? That's incredible. Keep going. I'm so proud of you. If you guys could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and leave rating and review on the podcast, it would mean so, so much. Every single Apple device has a podcast app. So I have to do is click into that, type in Embracer real, and then you can scroll all the way down. First, make sure you subscribe so that you never miss an episode when they release on Monday and Thursday. And then also if you could scroll all the way down and leave a review, that just helps not only people who stumble upon the podcast and kind of look at the reviews before they decide to tune in, but it also helps us and our team kind of know how this podcast is helping you. If there are specific episodes that have been helpful or just in general. So we would love to hear from you and that would bless us tremendously. Okay, let's dive into the eight nutrition Myths to leave behind ASAP. Myth number one eating late at night causes weight gain. So here's the truth weight gain is way more nuanced, right? But it boils down to the simple principle of energy balance. So consuming more calories than you burn, that's going to ultimately lead to weight gain regardless of the time of day. So here's why. Late night eating leads to weight gain. That's a myth. First of all, a calorie is a unit of energy. No matter what time of day it is, your body is going to process that unit of energy the same way. We do have an internal clock. That's our circadian rhythm, which influences several functions, including our digestion and metabolism. But there have been plenty of research done to show that these changes are way too subtle and minimal to actually affect the weight significantly, solely due to late night eating. So you'll see a lot of people argue with the circadian rhythm argument, but the effects are just way too small to really make any sort of difference. The only reason why late night eating might cause weight gain is the fact that you are eating late at night, right? It's not only that, but it's also how much are you eating throughout the entire day. So where your late night snacking might make you go over your macros that the protein, carbs, and fats that your body needs based on where you're at and what your goals are. If you're doing that continuously, of course that's going to lead to late weight gain, but that's because of the excess calories and not because that those calories were consumed at night. Does that make sense? So if you have room in your macros to eat late at night, go for it. It's not going to trigger any sort of weight gain. And I think that we need to bite this in its. But because again it just is it's calories in, calories out. I know that sounds too simple for it to actually be true, but at the end of the day, when it comes to weight gain, if you think about it, the majority of the things that we're consuming at night, maybe we're not thinking with a clear brain. We're tired, but we're, you know, binging a Netflix show, we're watching movies, we're not really paying attention. And that's what's going to lead to the overconsumption of calories, which is ultimately going to lead to weight gain over time. Myth number two carbs are bad for you. This is. Probably my biggest pet peeve. So many women are scared of carbs and this was me. This was me for a decade of my life, and they think that carbs and eating carbs instantly is going to make them gain weight. But here's the thing our body, especially as women, loves carbs. And without enough carbs, we're gonna see issues with our hormones. That's going to lead to more serious issues in the future. Here's kind of the breakdown on why I think it's a myth. So our brains, muscles, red blood cells crave glucose. Glucose is what your body breaks carbohydrates down in order for your body to actually absorb and use it. And this is just the reality, right? Carbs are their preferred energy source, which provides the essential boost for physical activity, mental clarity, and cellular functions. One thing about carbs that makes them so important is that they are packed with fiber. And this is a huge player in weight loss, right? Fiber keeps us feeling fuller longer and aids in digestion, and it can even help to manage blood sugar levels. Like I said earlier, certain hormones, such as our thyroid hormone, requires an adequate amount of carbs to function properly, so restricting the carbs that can actually disrupt your hormone balance, it can lead to menstrual irregularities. Which was me. I was on and off with my period, especially in my early 20s. Decreased libido for fertility issues, thyroid dysfunction, high cortisol levels and that can even lead to weight gain. Lastly, most people struggle with this yo yo dieting when they go to low carb. And this is something that I see all the time on a weekly basis. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. I've been in this industry now for over a decade. I've been working with women for over a decade, showing them how to properly fuel their body. And what I see is when women go low carb, they can not stick with it long term, which will cause them to eat more, which then thus leads to weight gain in the long term. Myth number three eating fat makes you fat. Okay, I said that myth number two as my biggest pet peeve, but I actually think that this myth might top it. Man, just because you are eating fat, that does not mean that you're going to gain fat. In fact, eating fat can actually fuel fat loss certain fats like fats and nuts, avocados, olive oil those digests very slowly. And the slower that something that digests in your body, the more full you're going to feel. And for a longer period of time, fats are actually promoting this feeling of fullness. And guess what? This can actually lead to reduce calorie intake overall. As you feel satisfied longer, you are less likely to snack in between your meals. Plus, some fats actually enhance satiation, which is just essential, like how full you feel by influencing the hunger hormones like leptin and ghrelin. These those two are your hunger hormones. So fat helps in that, full hormone to dominate rather than, hungry hormone. But some amazing other things about fat and why it's so important to prioritize fat in your daily intake is depriving your brain of healthy fats that can actually negatively impact your brain health, which can triggered a brain fog, making you feel more forgetful, making it hard for you to concentrate and even alter your mood overall. Just like carbs, fat serve as a building block for various hormones and this also very much includes your stress hormones, so eating enough fat daily. This is going to ensure that your hormones are properly balanced again, which regulates your menstrual cycles, your libido and your stress levels. And get this some essential vitamins like vitamins A, D, E and K. Those are fat soluble, meaning that they need fat for absorption and utilization in your body. So by restricting fats that can actually hinder the absorption of these vital nutrients, making you nutrient deficient, which can lead to a whole other array of health issues either now or in the future. Myth number four you need to detox with a juice cleanse. All right, man, all of these are just irking me. And it's because I was led to believe all of these things. And that's why I created this podcast for you, so that you don't waste the time and the money that I did for so many years. But no, you do not need to, in fact, do this to lose weight. Your body was actually made to detox itself. It does not need a juice cleanse to help with that. These cleanses often deprive you of essential nutrients and calories, which can lead to you feeling sluggish and weak. And this can actually stress your body instead of supporting its natural detoxification process. Newsflash God is an incredible creator. He has created our body so intimately and so delicately and so complex that we actually have the ability to detox our body on its own without needing to aid in a juice detox or water detox or whatever type of crazy detox either you are wanting to do or someone that you know has done. I hear this all the time, but Julie, my friend, did a juice detox and she's lost a bunch of weight. Okay, here's why. She likely lost 7 or 14 pounds in a very short period of time. She likely only lost what? Her weight and or muscle mass, not fat loss. And guess what? The lost weight often times returns once you resume to your normal diet. This is why I am a huge proponent of focusing on long term habit. And that's what's going to give you long term results. And it's going to sustain you much longer than the seven to 14 or 30 day transformation that you see. Plus, if you're feeling like you do need to do a detox, just take a look at the things that you're eating. What is making you feel sluggish? What is making you feel tired? Take a break from eating those things for a bit. We don't need to do a juice detox. We don't need to do a juice cleanser. We just need to reset by focusing on eating and prioritizing what actually makes us feel good. And I'm guessing that a juice detox or water detox, or whatever type of detox you're looking into that's not going to make you feel good long term. A lot of women that I work with, they just reset, for lack of a better term, by simply just prioritizing the protein, carbs, and fats that their body needs based on where they're at and what their goals are. This way they are nourished, but also being mindful of how much they're eating of each macronutrient. Typically, when we feel like we need to detox, it's because we overdid it on carbs. We overdid it on alcohol, we're overdoing it on some type of food or some combination of food, and you're doing that on a daily, weekly basis. You just need to learn how to properly fuel your body through utilizing the 12 macro counting. You can still eat the carbs. You can still drink alcohol in moderation if you want, but it just helps you to kind of scale back and understand, oh, this is actually what my body needs. If you're not sure what your macros are, I do have a online academy. I will link that in the show notes. I'm not here to sell you on anything. Honestly, there are so many free resources out there. I have a free resource. I will link that as well. It's just on my website actually a better.com/free dash e-book. But I want to teach you how to properly fuel your body. And if I can't teach you in the way that you learn it, I want somebody else to teach you. But ultimately that is going to help you so, so much in terms of resetting again, for lack of a better term, making you feel better. Because I feel like sometimes these women, oftentimes 99% of the time, these women go on these juice detoxes, that does nothing to their education. And I talk about this and I will continue to talk about this on the podcast, but educating yourself as to how to properly fuel your body, that's what's going to carry with you in a month, in six months, and in five years in ten years. If you know how to properly fuel your body, you'll never have to do a juice detox. A water detox again. Myth number five you need to intermittent fast. Whoof! I won't argue intermittent fasting does have some benefits when done correctly, but most women. And hear me on this. Most women take this to the extreme and it actually triggers adverse effects. Plus, intermittent fasting can be beneficial, but it's not mandatory to build the body that you want. Let me say that again. Intermittent fasting can be beneficial, but it is not mandatory to build the body that you want. You by no means need to ever fast in order to change your body composition. You can build the body that you want in a super effective way without ever needing to dip your toes in the intermittent fasting. So if you do decide that you want to intermittent fast, there are few things that you need to be aware of. Otherwise you might actually trigger weight gain. And I know that's not what you're looking for. Restricted calorie intake during fasting windows. This can actually impact the production of two key female hormones estrogen and progesterone, potentially leading to irregular periods amenorrhea, which is essentially just the absence of your period or fertility issues. I know that we don't want those. No thank you. That is not what women are looking for. Plus, the stress response triggered by fasting can elevate cortisol levels, and chronically high levels of cortisol can lead to weight gain. Yes, this means that your body's going to hold on to fat. It's going to hold on to water all of those things instead of burn it. Plus, this can actually disrupt your sleep. It can impact your mood, and it can increase your appetite. Lastly, this is most important when it comes to intermittent fasting. This is something that I always talk about when people come to me and they say, Julie, can I intermittent fasting, should I be intermittent fasting? If you have a history of restrictive relationship with food in any way, shape or form, intermittent fasting can actually deepen that relationship. It can actually continue to hinder that relationship that you have with food. The goal here is to have a healthy relationship with food. That is ultimately what I want for every single one of you guys this year and moving forward. And by realizing that all foods are within limits at all times, so you can really enjoy food and build the body that you want at the same time. So if intermittent fasting stands in the way of that, then I would say steer clear of that. If that triggers you in any way, shape or form, whether you have a history of under eating and reducing your calorie intake, you know, intermittent fasting, if you're constantly counting down the minutes till you can eat. That's not going to likely enhance your relationship with food. That's likely going to deepen whatever struggles you have previously had with that. And what I found, just in my experience, women thrive when they just know how to properly fuel their body, the amount of food, and then they get to pick and choose. You know, I want to have a smaller breakfast or I want to have a big breakfast, and I maybe don't have lunch, but I have a few snacks in between. Or maybe I have a big lunch. Whatever is, they are finding what works for them. And that's the beautiful thing about utilizing the 12 macro counting is it's not cut and dry, it's not black and white. It is whatever works for you based on where you're at, what your goals are, and what your day to day schedule looks like, and finding what is ultimately sustainable for you long term. Myth number six you need to eat organic weight. So whether or not you choose to buy organic, that is 100% up to you. I'm not going to dive into the pros and cons of organic. I am going to look at this from a purely weight loss building the body that you want standpoint organic food on its own will not help you lose weight. Non organic food will not stop you from losing weight. Period. End of story. Weight loss primarily depends on creating a caloric deficit for a certain period of time. Not living in a deficit long term while eating the right amount of protein, carbs, and fats. Regardless of whether your food is organic or not, that isn't part of the equation. I would focus more on hitting your macro goals rather than stressing so much about is this organic? Is this clean? If your goal is purely weight loss or changing your body composition? Again, I'm not debating the pros and cons of organic food. I'm just saying from a pure weight loss standpoint, if you want to buy organic, do it. But it's not necessary for you to change your body composition. Myth number seven less calories equal, more weight loss. Did you know that you should actually only live in a deficit for a few months at a time, and not permanently live in a deficit? If you do live in a caloric deficit, and you have been living in a deficit for months on end, for years on end, this is going to kill your metabolism for lack of a better term, making it slow. So weight loss is actually going to be much harder for you to achieve should you cycle in bouts of caloric deficits. That's what's going to keep your metabolism healthy. That's what's going to allow your metabolism to adapt to you seeing results long term. Plus, when you go in a caloric deficit, it should really only be about 300 calories in that deficit and not even starting at a 300 calorie deficit. When I tell people starting a caloric deficit, I'm talking 150 200 calories to start with. Max 500 okay, max 500 calories from your maintenance, calories your max. So the end of your body fat loss phase. So whether that is six weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 weeks, however long it is, you should be no more than a 500 calorie deficit from your maintenance. So this means you know you're eating 2000 calories instead of 2300 or instead of 2500 calories. This does not mean you should not be eating 1200 calories a day. You should never go that deep into a caloric deficit. Not only is that going to crush your metabolism, it just isn't sustainable, and it's going to trigger you to gain more weight in the long term. If you want to enter into a caloric deficit, please do so carefully, and please do so mindfully. I think again, this is so important, and this is why I will go back again to education, educating yourself not only about how much your body needs based on where you're at and what your goals are, but also looking at the phases of macro counting. I have a podcast episode which I will link in the show notes. I don't have the number off the top of my head, but it's the phases of macro counting and I talk about the different phases that we have. So we have maintenance mode, we have caloric deficit mode, we have caloric surplus mode, and then we have reverse diet. It's important that, you know all of those different phases and that at different times in your life you cycle through that. So this is why when people tell me, oh, macro counting is a diet, it's not because there's a tool and there are there are times where maybe you might be in a body fat loss, but there are also times where you're chilling and maintenance. There also might be times where you're coming off of a pretty, you know, 500 calorie deficit for 4 to 6 weeks. You feel like you've reached where you want to be, and now you want to start to build up your metabolism so that you're not gaining a bunch of weight. If you just go back to eating 500 calories more. So you're slowly going back to maintenance into a caloric surplus if you want to start building muscle. Right. So it's really cool when you start to learn about these things, is that there are phases for different parts of your life. And that's when you when you feel educated around that man, there is nothing stopping you. There is no type of advertising that's going to sway you in a different direction because you say, these are facts. This is not me relying on a diet. This is me and my body and what my body needs based on where I'm at and what my goals are. Myth. Number eight. Weight loss supplements are the solution. Again, this one big, big, big pet peeve for me. Weight loss supplements are often marketed as quick and easy solutions for you to shed pounds, but in reality, these generally do not live up to these claims and they can actually be potentially harmful. And here's why. The supplement industry has very, very, very especially in the United States, very little regulation. It is not regulated by the FDA. And literally anyone can start a supplement company and make these weight loss claims. This means that their ingredients, the safety, might not be thoroughly vetted. And this can lead to side effects like headaches, nausea, insomnia, and even more serious health concerns and problems down the road. Liver damage, heart issues, things like that. Most weight loss supplements, they lack strong scientific evidence to support their claims, and the ingredients that they contain often have minimal to no impact on weight loss and any results that are seen frequently due to kind of like this placebo effect. Or they there's minor changes in the diet and exercise that occur alongside of the supplement usage. So even if a supplement shows some promise in studies, the effects are often small and it's unsustainable in the long term, or it's going to help you lose water way. Again, not fat loss. So my advice to you is to save your money and focus on the lifestyle habits. This is going to be way more beneficial, way more effective, and it's going to allow you to save money. Long term. Lifestyle habits are responsible for 95 to 99% of your weight loss. Seriously, supplements might help a 1 to 5%. Like when people ask me, do I need to have protein powder to see results? Or do I need to be taking creatine? Okay, creatine is very much researched. There are, and that's a whole other episode that I can go into. Creatine is very researched, but you don't have to have these things to see results. Right. It's going to make less than a 5% difference. And so don't rely on supplements for 99% and the lifestyle habits for 1%. That's just not going to lead to these long term sustainable habits that are going to serve you and actually help you and aid you in fat loss and body composition changes. Okay, so there you have it. The eight nutrition myths that you need to leave behind ASAP. Let me quickly recap what we talked about in today's episode. Myth number one eating late at night causes weight gain. Myth number two carbs are bad for you. Myth number three eating fat makes you fat. Myth number four you need to do detoxes with juice cleanses mid-summer five you need to intermittent fast bit number six who am going to burst in bubbles here? You need to eat organic. Myth number seven less calories equals more weight loss. And myth number eight weight loss supplements are the solution. So going back to what I talked about in today's episode, macro counting, that is going to be the single most effective way for you to not only see results long term, but also educate yourself on how to properly fuel your body through protein, carbs and fat. I will link both things that I have there two resources. One of them is a free resource to free ebooks that will teach you kind of just an introduction of macro counting, how macro counting has changed my life. And then I also do have a program. So if you need a little bit of guidance, you purchase this program. It gets sent to our team. You fill out a questionnaire form kind of where you're at, what your goals are, and then we will calculate your macros for you. Look at this. We're not only just calculating your macros and then sending you these random numbers. We're showing you how you did it so that you can feel empowered in the future. Because like I said, you might start with a body fat loss, or you might start with a reverse diet. That doesn't mean that you're going to stay with that long term. We want you to cycle through the different phases of macro counting, which is also why I will link that episode that I talked about the different phases of macro counting, four different phases of macro counting, kind of what they are and when to do it. So if you want to learn more about macro counting in the phases, maybe you've never heard that kind of standpoint of macro counting. I will link that in the show notes as well. I hope that you found this helpful. If you have a friend, a coworker, or someone in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode or this podcast in general, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can copy the link, send them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story. Be sure to follow Embrace Your Real on Instagram for all golden nuggets, tips, tricks and just showing you kind of what episodes are released each week so that you can share those with your friends. But thank you again for tuning in. I love you so much. I mean, I'll talk to you in the next one. [00:24:56]
[00:25:03] All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie Ledbetter. Yes, it's with a in the middle for that Daily Post workout. Real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:25:03][0.0]