So, here wisdom and what's myth when it comes to weight-loss?
Dieting is the best way to lose weight - FALSE
Research shows that when women, in particular, want to lose weight they turn to dieting. Unfortunately, research also shows that this is highly unlikely to lead to long-term weight-loss. More than 85 per cent of people regain all of the weight they have lost, and more, by a year after the diet.
This can then lead to the misery of yo-yo dieting, which has led many women to lose sight of normal eating behaviour. What's more, it may affect your body too with recent evidence suggesting an increased risk of diabetes over and above that related to actual body weight.
You need a good breakfast – FALSE
A recent study confirmed that eating or skipping breakfast makes no difference to weight loss. Everyone is different – you may be an early riser or a night-owl when it comes to sleep - so it is not surprising that your breakfast needs and desires may be different, too.
Dr Norton said the age-old advice that breakfast is the 'most important' meal of the day is false. Instead, she highlights a recent study revealed eating or skipping breakfast makes no difference to weight loss. She said if you want to get the day off to a healthy start, ditch the processed carbs and indulge in a protein-rich meal.
Listen to your body when it comes to eating – if you are having proper nutritious food, your body will tell you when it needs fuelling.
If you focus on a bit of protein - as confirmed by other recent research - and avoid sugar and processed carbs, then whether you have a quick snack or a feast for breakfast is entirely up to you.
Eat low-fat foods to lose weight – FALSE
Based on flawed evidence, the myth that fat is bad has been particularly harmful to our health and waistline. And yet it has been the mantra of health professionals for decades. We have been encouraged to stock up instead on carbohydrates – but we tend to focus on the processed breads, pasta and rice that may actually be causing us more harm than good.
Many fats are healthy in moderation and are essential for brain and body health - did you know your brain is 60 per cent fat? Yet we are bombarded with low-fat yoghurts, 'slimming' ready-meals and processed spreads that are bulked up with sugar, salt or chemical nasties that provide little, if any, nutrition.
Of all of the diets that have been shown to help weight-loss, it is not the low-fat diet that wins out.
A recent study concluded the advice from the 1980s that warned against high-fat diets was based on misinformation
In fact, the low-carb, high-fat diet seems to be most successful in the short-term.
However long-term weight-loss is no better with this diet than with any others that can't be made part of your day-to-day life.
Whatever changes you make to your eating have to be sustainable for you – otherwise nothing will work.
Don't eat between meals – TRUE
We are now told that eating little and often stops you getting so hungry and encourages you to burn off more energy.
However, I believe that our bodies weren't built for constant snacking – particularly on the sort of food we eat nowadays.
If you go without food for a few hours at a time, it helps you understand that you are often not eating from hunger, just from habit.
This in turn teaches us that 'hunger' can be ignored for a while without us falling flat on the floor.
Recent research backs up this view. A study found that women who ate two meals or five meals of the same calorie content showed no difference in the amount of energy they burnt off.
Interestingly, research is also starting to show that eating frequent meals may produce more signs of inflammation (and therefore may increase risk of disease) than eating less frequently.
So perhaps your grandmother was right after all - don't snack between meals.
Exercise doesn't help weight loss – FALSE
Yes, in a very literal sense, exercise does not lead to weight loss – if you believe that all an hour of exercise does is burn off 200 calories worth of a 400 calorie muffin.
But it's much more complex than that.
Exercise builds up muscle – which burns more energy in the longer term.
We lose around five per cent of our muscle per decade from the age of 30 - known as sarcopenia -perhaps one of the reasons why it seems to get harder to lose weight as you get older.
Also, exercise helps us to become more toned, have better posture and look slimmer.
If we feel fit and healthy we are more likely to make healthier food choices, which promote weight loss.
There is also evidence that aerobic exercise, especially combined with resistance training, reduces the risk of central obesity - stomach fat - and metabolic syndrome - diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease).
What's more, getting outdoors gives us a top up of Vitamin D, which more than a third of us are lacking in the winter months and may improve our mood.
Sleep yourself slim – TRUE
There are plenty of studies that suggest sleep deprivation is contributing to our bulging waistlines. Research shows the high fat and sugar snacks we choose in anticipation of a quick energy boost when tired can increase our daily calorie consumption by a few hundred.
This more than wipes out the energy used by being awake and up on our feet for a bit longer.The blue light we are exposed to from late-night screen time can also affect our melatonin levels and interfere with our sleep cycle, which doesn't help.
Brown is best – TRUE
Not just when it comes to bread, pasta and rice…but there is increasing scientific research on brown fat.
The human body has two types of fat tissue. When a person eats too many calories without burning them off, they are stored as white fat cells.
That is what causes a person to put on weight.
There is no solution for my weight problems then? - FALSE
There is a way to lose weight…but you don't hear much about it. In fact, it's a closely guarded secret. Why? Because it's not going to send the cash registers ringing.It doesn't need a sell out book or an expensive diet-shake, so there isn't a penny of profit to be had in it.
The only solution I have found in many years of working in the weight-loss field is simply getting back to basics: make small but sustainable changes to your life that you can keep up for good. No fads, no magic pills….just small steps that you can make into life-long habits.
Focus on real food – that means avoiding anything processed wherever possible.
By doing so you will automatically be reducing your junk food and refined carbs, eating natural fats and proteins, bulking up with fruit and veg – and dramatically cutting down your sugar intake.
Sleep well, increase your activity levels – preferably outdoors – and understand that losing weight is not a sprint.
You didn't put it on overnight and it won't come off overnight either.
Focus on your health rather than your weight…and the pounds will come off, slowly but surely.
That is the best weight-loss wisdom I can pass on.
Photo Credit: Daily Mail Online/ content excerpt from Daily Mailonline
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