The Worst Diet Advice I’ve Ever Gotten ft. BGB Gang

Diet Advice….everyone wants to give it to you but most people have no idea what they are talking about. Sadly, I fell victim to the all of the diet advice all over the internet and all of the most well known health magazines. Before I knew the real deal on how to stay healthy, I did some crazy stuff and followed some “diet advice” that was illogical and dangerous.

Even today people try and give me diet advice- usually via social media, but sometimes in real life. I want to share some of the crazy diet advice that I have gotten over the years to tell you all things you probably should take with a grain of salt.

I am also featuring some of my favorite #girlgang bloggers in this post on the craziest dieting advice that they have ever gotten. Some of their comments really made me laugh, and some of them made me #facepalm.

Recently I have gotten some weird comments from people telling me that smoothies aren’t healthy, that I shouldn’t eat overnight oats because they are too calorie dense and should only eat cooked oats with lots of water (WTF), and that potatoes are unhealthy (like maybe if you fry them and drench them in oil).

Besides the things people have said to me in real life, I have gotten a lot of bad advice from the internet and other social media sites.

#1. Eat 1200 calories a day for weightloss.

THIS PHOTO ABOVE IS EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH THE HEALTH/FITNESS/DIET INDUSTRY! Budgeting food? *eyeroll*

This is probably the worst advice I have ever gotten. I used to count my calories and not go over 1200 a day because the internet told me to. Meanwhile I was probably burning 500-800 calories a day from exercise. Horrible idea. I was always tired, felt crappy about myself if I ate more than 1200 calories, and didn’t have good focus in class. Even if you don’t exercise, nobody should be eating that few calories for adequate nutrition, energy, and health. That is literally not even enough calories for a child, and will set you up for metabolic damage making you gain weight after you go back to eating a higher amount of calories. Scientists have done tons of studies on this idea of metabolic damage with The Biggest Loser contestants because so many of them gain back all of the weight if not more. They confirmed that the body’s natural metabolism slows down after severe dieting, exercise, and calorie restriction.

#2 Do not eat after 7 p.m.

Yep, I remember reading that in an article online and thought than was the key to weightloss (not that I ever needed to lose weight) and being healthy. I mean if the internet tells you that you will gain weight if you eat food after 7 p.m. then it must be true right? NOT. Your body’s metabolism doesn’t just after 7 p.m. or automatically convert food to fat after a certain time. I remember feeling so down that I had “failed” at dieting if I ate past 7. I definitely look back on those times and cringe.

#3 Cut carbs to lose weight.

Cut out refined, processed sugar, crappy carbs, sure. But cut out oatmeal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, grains and fruit is not the secret to weightloss. That is the secret to sadness and a future binge because your brain will only be able to go without sustained glucose form carbohydrates for so long. I remember not eating potatoes or grains because I had to keep my carbs low. Now I eat potatoes, whole grains, and fruit every single day.

Here is what some of my Blogging Gang Has to say about the Worst Diet Advice They have ever gotten!

“The concept of “making up for” a bad meal by restricting yourself come next meal time is the worst that comes to mind & puts you in a constant state of guilt! just because you didn’t eat at your best for 1 meal doesn’t mean you should malnourish yourself” – Jess

“I think the worst advice is that you have to avoid certain foods. I mean, sure, cake is less nutritious than kale, but I feel like complete restriction sets us up for failure/binging”-  Catherine

“When people say that if you just had enough “willpower”, weight loss will automatically happen. There are so many factors that play into our weight that blaming another person for being weak and not having enough willpower is so harsh!”-  RunWholeNutrition

“The only carbs you should eat are a bowl of cereal for breakfast” LEGIT MY FRIEND TOLD ME THIS YESTERDAY ” –  Danielle

“If you drink a lot the night before, you should just go to the gym turn on Netflix and sit on the bike for 3 hours.” WTFFFF  rachel pattison