Whats the biggest weight loss myth you have ever heard/read?

Oh My God--you guys are hysterical! I can so relate to some of these! I took Xenical several years ago--what a disaster! It was the most disgusting thing I have ever experienced in my life. I will never forget one time waiting for my son to get through with his karate lessons, and felt the urge to go coming on, but by the time I got to a bathroom it was too late! I had to wrap my jacket around me to actually go into the bathroom to try and clean up! If you were going to be away from home for any length of time, you needed to carry a change of clothes--nasty stuff! I also agree with the posts about people thinking this is the easy way out--what a bunch of crap! I am working my butt off to lose this weight. I have always been able to lose the weight, the problem has been keeping it off, and I think that is where this band makes the difference. Keep them coming people!! I needed a good laugh today!

The diet myths that always drove me crazy came from thin people who had never been on a diet. My mother was always around 110lbs and she said that all she ever had to do to stay slim was to tuck in her shirt and that reminded her not to eat. Hmmm No wonder I'm fat!

How about if you eat 2 burgers instead of a burger and fries you will lose weight. Yes I actually heard a dietician say that on a daytime talk show once. After that I stopped buying fries and got 2 sandwiches/burgers instead. Needles to say I gained weight and got used to eating much larger portions.

My friend's mom told me (back in the 80's) that at her Weight Watchers meeting they said anytime you go to a party, just find the girl who's wearing white short-shorts and follow her around and eat whatever she eats.

Weight Watchers has come out with some really wacky things over the years. When my grandmom was on it the 60's they could eat up to five hot dogs a day! I think it was more of a low carb diet back then and up until recently they really limited breads and starches.

I've come to the conclusion that anything other than the golden rule (and the only thing that actually works) "take in fewer calories than you burn, and you will lose weight" is a complete and total myth. That's it. Calories in vs. calories out IS the only way to lose weight. Period.

These are GREAT!!!!!!

I love the "if you just cut out soda, you can lose 15 pounds is a year"...um, if I am 284 pounds...trust me...I WILL find a replacement for soda!!!!! I did this, still don't really drink the stuff, maybe one a month, and all I did was gain weight as usual!

I so agree, I am reading these and cracking up at most of them, because i think most apply to me or I have at least thought about them. LOL

But, from start to finish of getting the band, it will be 14 months, extensive test and dr appointments, and will have to continue to work for the rest of my life for this to really work - so can someone explain how this is easy? :biggrin1:

Agree! They will never know until they walk a mile in our shoes!

I kid you not, I once sat in my bedroom for hours as a 16 year old with red cellophane taped over my eyes because I read that it curbed your appetite.

After reading so many of these myths, this one takes the cake! I was literally on the floor laughing so hard I cried and my dogs had to come rescue me. I think because I can relate too well.

I also let someone wrap me in herb tea soaked towels, then plastic wrap and let me steam under blankets for an hour to try to remove toxins and inches. I didn't lose inches, but I did lose about fifty dollars.

I think the biggest myth I have ever heard is how you have to be really think to be thin. In other words, I am looking at 200 lbs which is 25 lbs heavier than my doctor says I should weigh. I may be a size 16 when I get there. Weight has nothing to do with size. Many body builders weigh a lot and they are lean and muscular.

I once spent a week drinking only tomatoe juice, by the end of the week I was bright red everywhere. I looked like a giant tomatoe.

The band is the easy way out at least from my perspective. My other choice was death, I am happy to be alive.

How about "Just visualize yourself as a thin person and you will BE a thin person!"

Man, I meditated for weeks. In reality, I SHOULD have pitched the tapes and exercised!

OK the biggest load of you know what was when i 17 someone told me the fasted way to burn off fat is to wrap plastic around your tummy and go for jog. Allow me to remind you that i was only 17, so i did it, i came back all sweaty and proud that i was melting away, and gulped about 2 litres of Water, i did this for 2 weeks, realised i hadnt lost a kilo!

2nd load of crap was my cousin who was a very big girl and competitive i might add lost loads of weight well over 30kgs, me being still in the fat boat asked her in her skinny jeans how she did it, her answer was that she didnt consume carbs after 2pm. i and my sister have since suspected that she too has had the lap band but has not told us. I cannot wait till she asks me how i lost my weight, i intend to tell her that the "not eating carbs after 2pm" actually worked for me! lol

Banded: 7/2/07

weight pre-op: 103kg

weight to date: 96kg

I cannot wait till she asks me how i lost my weight, i intend to tell her that the "not eating carbs after 2pm" actually worked for me! lol

LOL!!! I'm actually LOL in real time, thank you for that!

You go girl!

One my mom just said to me comes to mind: "Why have surgery? Just pretend you had surgery and loose the weight that way." Um, yeah. If that worked, I'd weigh a hundred pounds less than I do.

Ok I dont think you are going to believe this but thats what my doc told me, TODAY. She is my endocrinology (thyroid gland) doc, she should know something! Isnt that scary?

She is a nice lady and I dont think she meant it in a bad way but I agree that if I was able to pretend to have the band I wouldnt have gotten this fat:-)))

"Just go out and exercise more"

First off I spend a lot of time outdoors anyway, second of all exercising when you suffer from depression is harder then hell.

I spent a summer jogging wearing a green Garbage bag under my shirt.

Once I had a very sweet teeny tiny fitness instructor tell me if I cut out 1 Pop a day I could lose as much as 30 pound in a year. I haven't drank regular pop since I was in my early teens. I asked her to calculate how much I would way if I hadn't I hadn't switched way back when and if I could include that weight in my total weight loss. I mean really, I could have weighed another 900 lbs if I hadn't switched to sugar free pop 30 years ago.

Based on that I am now down 1,000 pounds not bad eh!!!!!