The phrases and terms nutritionists want you to forget –

A healthy lifestyle goes beyond good nutrition and following an exercise routine: our mind must also work in favor of change. With that in mind, we gathered opinions from nutrition professionals about what they believe to be harmful in patients’ vocabulary – terms and phrases that you certainly use too! Start your new lifestyle by eliminating words that can hinder your weight loss process:

Regime

“I consider the term inappropriate, as it suggests something programmed and methodical. Food should be light and natural, being a lifestyle, or rather, a DIET (from the Greek diaita = lifestyle). The regime has a start and end date and, thus, becomes a sacrifice in the lives of people”, Maria Vitoria Curban Falcão, clinical and sports nutritionist, from São Paulo.

“How many “junk” days can I have?”

“None! Re-education is for the rest of your life, a new lifestyle. This does not mean abolishing some “fatter” or higher-fat items forever, but knowing how to dose them. Trash meal? OK. Garbage day? No”, Maria Fernanda Perez Kawabata, nutritionist at Sucão, a fresh food and natural juices franchise in São Paulo.

count calories

“A healthy diet, including a focus on slimming, cannot have calories as the sole and exclusive principle. More important than counting them is establishing the diet profile, which must be antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, natural and detoxifying. The amount of calories should be taken into account, but they are just one factor (perhaps the least important of a diet)”, Flávia Cyfer, nutritionist at Espaço Longevitá, in Rio de Janeiro.

“I have no willpower”

“This sentence is one of the champions! It has the effect of depressing us and making us believe that we are not capable of changing our behavior. Choosing the most suitable foods can help with satiety and consequently favors the necessary changes”, Maura Corá, nutritionist at Idealfarma, in São Paulo.

See also: The diets and foods that are trending in 2017

low carb

“The exclusion of carbohydrates and worship of fats and proteins makes most people diets be unbalanced and have little nutritional value. Diet has to be adapted individually and in a balanced way, with no villains or heroes”, Maria Vitoria.

Compulsion

“Currently, many call themselves compulsive, but that word is very strong. Treating a compulsion goes far beyond nutrition. The correct term would be impulsion, which refers to situations in which we eat more than necessary due to anxiety, which does not necessarily characterize a binge eating“, Maria Victoria.

“Weigh myself daily”

“I don’t advise my patients to step on the scale every day. The number depends on the time the weighing was done, which device was used, if the person exercised beforehand and lost a lot of fluid, if he gained muscle mass… The ideal is to always weigh yourself in the office. Doing this every day can create a anxiety which leads the patient to believe that it is not working and to give up the food program”, Andrea Marim, nutritionist from São Paulo.

“My problem is that I love to eat”

“Actually, this is great news! Eating is pleasure, culture and relationship. Loving food is already a positive step towards nutritional changes”, Beatriz Botequio nutritionist at Equilibrium, from São Paulo.

“When will I go back to eating what I like?”

“Change should be pleasurable… The idea that a diet with good nutritional choices is painful and that soon the patient will go back to eating everything she was used to again is not the right mentality to change her diet. Change must be for life”, Bianca Innocencio, functional nutritionist at Clínica Andrea Santa Rosa, in Rio de Janeiro

“I need to take supplements and/or fat burners”

“Supplements are not food substitutes, they are food supplements. food. Not everyone needs it, not everyone can. It is always necessary to evaluate and analyze. We should be careful with the prescription and not take it because our friend takes it”, Maria Fernanda.

Plus: Behavioral Nutrition: How This Trend Will Supercharge Your Diet

light and diet

“Often patients arrive saying that they already eat right because they include diet and light products in their diet! In general, these options are industrialized and full of artificial sweeteners so that calories are diminished. They may even be less caloric, but there are chances of being toxic to the organism”, Flávia Cyfer.

“I deserve to eat this”

“Usually, after a day at work, a stressful situation or sadness, people want to relieve themselves with pleasures that are within their reach, as a form of compensation. Food ends up being the fastest comfort, but unfortunately, at these times, no one is looking for a healthy diet. Compensation with more caloric options is related to pleasure, but it can also lead to weight gain and even more serious consequences for health”, Maura Cora.

“I copy my friend’s menu”

“Not everything that is good for someone is good or will have an effect on someone else. A individuality it’s very important. Each organism has its particularities and works differently”, Maria Fernanda.