Here are eight assumptions about diet, exercise, and sleep that fail the sniff test.
Myth No. 1: Popular diets are everywhere, so they must work
“That kind of restriction leads to weight gain in the long run, not weight loss, and it often leads to weight gain,” says Nina Taylor, education manager at the National Alliance for Eating Disorders.
Myth No. 2: It’s okay to take your smartphone to bed
Briefly: Don’t take your cell phone and the harmful blue light to bed with you. Use an old-fashioned alarm clock to wake up.
Myth No. 3 Social media can inspire you to diet and exercise
“They believe this will motivate them to exercise or diet,” Taylor said. “However, what that can lead to is body dissatisfaction — social comparison and a lot of body and weight concerns. Those are all risk factors for developing eating disorders.”
Experts fear that body dysphoria may have increased during the pandemic as more young people turned to social media, while also facing social isolation and disrupted routines, Taylor said.
“Disordered eating is often a coping mechanism,” she said. “It’s a way of being in control and dealing with difficult emotions.”
Myth No. 4: Hitting the snooze button will get you more sleep
Pro tip: Put the alarm clock on the other side of the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. (And no, you can’t tell Google or Alexa to turn it off. That’s cheating.)
Myth No. 5: You Can Lose Belly Fat With Crunches
In reality, exercise burns fat all over the body, not just the body part that is your workout goals.
“You can do an exercise to increase the strength of a muscle, but you can’t see a reduction to remove fat,” says Dr. Angela Smith, former president of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Experts suggest increasing cardio to burn fat. Aim for a balanced fitness routine by varying exercise intensity with high and low intensity training.
Myth No. 6: It’s best to stay in bed with your eyes closed when you can’t sleep
Staying in bed for more than 20 minutes when you can’t sleep is one of the worst things you can do, according to sleep experts, because it trains your brain to associate the bed with a lack of sleep. Doing this can lead to chronic insomnia.
Instead, get up and do something boring, like folding the laundry, until you’re sleepy. Make sure you keep the lights dim and don’t look at your smartphone or laptop.
Myth No. 7: I have to exercise or diet all the time to change my body type
There’s a belief that constantly exercising or dieting can change your basic body type, Taylor said. “Especially in younger age groups, the feeling is ‘if I just eat better, or if I just exercise more, I’d make my body look a certain way.’ The reality is that there is a wide range and diversity of body types that are all normal and healthy.”
Genetics is a key to how exercise can affect your body, Smith said. “If your parents are both over six feet tall, you probably won’t be successful as a gymnast, for example,” she said. “Some of this can be determined by the shape and size of the muscles, and some of this can be determined by hormonal balances you’re given at birth.”
The idea that anyone can lose weight or gain weight or swell up to an ideal body image doesn’t make sense, Taylor said. “There will always be body diversity. After all, we would never say, ‘You should be taller’ or ‘You should be shorter,’ right?”
Myth No. 8: Bodybuilding Supplements Advertised on Social Media Really Work
High school and college-aged youth may feel they need strength training supplements after seeing products advertised on social media, said Dr. John Xerogeanes, chief of sports medicine at Emory Orthopedic & Spine Center and professor of orthopedics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
“The biggest problem I have with my patients is supplements,” Xerogeanes said. “Some influencer is marketing something that is complete nonsense, and all of a sudden the kid says, ‘Hey, I can take this supplement, and it’s giving me abs.’”
That’s a problem, he said, because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t regulate the supplement industry.
“There might be one thing on the label, but you really don’t know what’s in it,” Xerogeanes said. “The manufacturers can put other minerals or even stimulants in their mix, which is why some high school and college athletes are positive on drug tests.”
When he worked with college teams, he said, “I tell them, if you’re going to do a supplement, we need to see that supplement, and we have to get it tested independently.”