I could retire if I had been given a nickel for every time I heard someone say "I know what to eat but I can't seem to lose weight?"  Sound familiar?  I would bet money that you have said the same thing yourself at one time.  After all, you are doing all the right things.  You read all the books, articles, internet pages and testimonials that you can get your hands on and follow the recommendations as best as you can.  But there you sit wearing the results of all that healthy eating.  Are you frustrated?  I bet you are!  I am too!  But I am frustrated for a different reason.  See I know how to get the weight off in a healthy way without any deprivation, gimmicks or pills.  I don't need to be swayed by the latest diet trend.  Unfortunately the majority of the population fall victim to the full frontal assault of the media food chain, diet book gurus and food manufacturers tricks.  In my opinion, those three combined are analogous to the "Bermuda Triangle" for anyone trying to get lean.  The contradicting information they force feed us can be confusing to say the least.  At any time the media food chain can tell you that you are eating too much fat and then turn around and tell you you're not eating enough fat.  Next the media touts that you shouldn't eat any carbohydrates.  NOW the media food chain is screaming that you need to eat more "good fats."  Add to that mumbo jumbo the latest diet book fad and you'll hear things like acid/alkaline balance, food combining, organic foods, soy foods, 5 a day fruits and vegetables, whole grains, Mediterranean diet, French diet, liquid diets, miracle supplements and functional foods.  Jeez.  I just got dizzy thinking about all the options that people are bombarded with on a daily basis by the media food chain.  Innocent people like you are being engulfed in the deception and ultimately fail at their attempts to be either healthy or lean.  And what you need to keep in mind is that there is a huge difference between just eating to be healthy versus eating to be healthy and lean.  Let's take a look at a meal plan that would be considered "healthy" but not produce any weight loss:

Did you notice that our dieter incorporated bits and pieces of the various plans mentioned previously?  Her diet is chock full of the healthy fats found in olive oil, salmon, nuts and Omega 3 enriched eggs.  She has also made sure to include plenty of fruits and vegetables into her plan by eating plenty of salads and including smoothies to her menu.  Throw in some calcium enriched juice and organic yogurt and she has her calcium covered.  Obviously, choosing turkey bacon over regular bacon and including lean chicken and shrimp lowers the fat content of some of her meal choices. (Or does it?!?!)  She also hopped on the soy bandwagon by including it in her coffee.  She was wise in choosing whole grains over refined grains.  And she figured out a way to include the heart healthy cocoa flavanols in her diet by having a Cafe Mocha at Starbucks and eating a cocoa bar as a dessert.  Yep.  She has definitely covered the bases and she is definitely making healthy choices.  Unfortunately, she does not understand the concept of eating for health as opposed to eating for health and to be lean.  That simple lack of knowledge has resulted in all of her healthy choices accumulating on her body as excess fat because her diet is extremely high in calories, fat and sugar.  In other words, she is blindly speeding down the super highway to fat storage.

Dietary misinformation always follows a predictable path.  If you backtrack through all of the sources, the misinformation may even originate with the scientific study.  We trust that scientific studies are unbiased but that is not always the case.  Sometimes the studies are funded by the manufacturers of the product and results may be slanted in the favor of the product they are trying to market to the consumer.  But let's assume the study is valid.  Unfortunately, sometimes one day the experts say one thing and the next, they seem to say another.  A new study may find today's highly recommended choice to be tomorrow's bad decision. 

Next stop on the roadmap to misinformation:  the media food chain.  The media grabs a hold of the "new and improved" information and force feeds it to us on television, radio and print.  Because the emphasis is on short, "newsworthy" pieces, the media often only reports the results of single studies, and many stories are chosen simply because the results run contrary to current health recommendations.  Because such reports provide little information about how the new results fit in with other evidence on the topic, the public is left to assume that it is correct. 

After the media food chain comes the diet book industry.  Major publishing houses aren't looking for the cure.  They are looking for any book that will go against the current line of reasoning that sets the book apart from the rest.  New scientific studies = new information = a new opportunity to make money.  Combine study information with creative writing and marketing and you just might have a best-seller on your hands!  Not because the information is right, but rather from a marketing standpoint. For example, if the current trend is to eat low fat and a new book comes out suggesting the benefits of eating high fat that will translate into controversy. Best sellers create a lot of "water cooler conversation" and even more sales.  The more people doing the program means the better the odds are that some people are happy with the results.  Or at least they are satisfied for awhile.  Most dieters can follow a program for a limited amount of time and most will get some results from the new method of eating.  The big question is can they do it for a lifetime?  They probably can't if the program involves elimination of favorite foods.  In the meantime, the author and publishing company have made a small fortune while dieters may have lost and regained their weight--again.

Final stop:  food manufacturers and retailers.  Food manufacturers and retailers are always watching for new product opportunities or new ways to market their existing products based on the current diet trends.  You've seen them:  fat free, sugar free, low carb, whole grain, healthy fats, trans fat free..  The list goes on and on.  When you are bombarded with labels declaring the diet trend of the day it automatically reinforces in your mind that the current trend must be the right one for your health.  Now we even have food manufacturers trying to link their foods with medicinal properties to complicate matters further.  Digestive health issues?  Eat Activa yogurt fortified with more probiotics.  (But that product is too high in fat!)  Have a cold?  Eat chicken broth fortified with Echinacea.  (But what about the high sodium content?)  Want a healthy heart?  Eat Cocoa Via chocolate because of the cocoa flavanols.  (But what about the high amount of saturated fat?)  Tell me what chocoholic wouldn't love to be given an excuse to eat chocolate in the name of healthy eating?  Whoever came up with that idea is a marketing genius!

So, do you see how easily it is to be sold a bill of goods by the mass media, diet book gurus and food manufacturers?  Do you understand that it is done intentionally and not always with your best interests in mind?  Then factor in that most people accept what they hear and read as fact and then proceed to follow the motto:  if a little is good then a lot must be better!  All of that combined can lead to doing everything wrong for your body and goals by simply doing everything right according to the diet trend of the day.  No wonder you have been frustrated.  What's the answer?  It's simple.  Limit your percentage of calories from fat to 20% or less and keep your sugars to less than 40 grams a day.  Space your calories across the day by eating smaller, more frequent balanced meals to keep your metabolic rate high and your blood sugar levels under control.  Add some exercise and plenty of water and you are on the road to a leaner, healthier you.  Nothing radical.  Nothing earth-shattering.  Just good, plain common sense.