Political conspiracy theories are all the rage these days, but the idea is nothing new. Whenever a topic is difficult for people to understand, they invent quite a few “theories” about it. Sometimes their guesses are well reasons, and other times… well, not so much.

Perhaps nothing is as confusing as weight loss these days, so it’s no surprise to see plenty of “theories” around that topic as well. Here are five of the most common ones, that you hopefully won’t believe.

Carbs are always bad. There’s this popular idea that carbs are evil, and you should never eat any of them. The truth is, complex carbohydrates can be important sources of both energy and nutrients, and there’s no need to cut them entirely from your diet. Simple carbs, on the other hand, can cause quick spikes and drops in blood sugar, and should be avoided most of the time. To learn the difference between them, and how to adjust your diet accordingly, schedule a consultation with us to review your weight loss plan.

You must compensate for the calories you eat, by working them of through exercise. Technically, this is somewhat true. If you don’t use all of the energy you consume through food, then the balance is stored as fat. But that doesn’t mean you should punish yourself for every meal that you eat. Viewing food that way can be mentally unhealthy and set you up for a cycle of binges followed by punishment. Plus, viewing exercise as a punishment adds another mental block to the list.

Exercise must be sweaty and miserable. It’s true that to reap the best results for your heart, you should exercise within your target heart rate range. This means that, yes, you’ll be breathing more heavily and feel more tired afterward. But that rule only applies to cardiovascular exercise. Lower-impact workouts, like toning your muscles, are also important for burning calories and building valuable muscle tone (which bumps up your base metabolic rate).

The “light” or “low fat” options are always best. Sometimes marketing language is misleading. The “low fat” substitutes for common items are not always better, because they replace fat with more sugar. “Light” also might not be the best choice, because you end up eating twice as much to feel satiated, or because that option is lacking valuable nutrients.

There’s one weight loss plan that works for everyone. While there are plenty of scientific truths regarding weight loss, and a medical weight loss plan is a great way to shed unwanted pounds, the plan will look a bit different for each individual. We should discuss what works for you and what doesn’t and tweak your plan to suit your individual needs.