Here are some common weight loss mistakes and how to correct them.
1. EATING TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE CALORIES:
This is number 1 for me. For you to achieve weight loss, there must be a caloric deficiency. Calorie deficiency refers to a shortage in the amount of calories consumed relative to the amount of calories required for maintenance of your current body weight.
Eating healthy is good. But even those healthy foods contain calories, some of them are high in calories and if you eat too much of such foods then your weight loss effort is defeated. There is a difference between eating healthy and eating for weight loss. For instance, 100g of white bread contains 265 calories while 100 g of sweet potatoes contains 86 Calories. If you substitute bread with the healthier, fiber rich carb like sweet potatoes, make sure that you are not over-eating it. And you are keeping it at the number of calories needed for you to loose weight. You may also want to consider adding waist training to your weight loss plan as this helps you to eat less calories.
Eating too little calories is not the solution either. You may start by loosing weight when on such weight loss plan but later, your body will automatically switch to starvation mode. Your metabolism slows down and starts to crawl , burning calories as slowly as possible to conserve it’s energy stores and compensate for the small amount of calories you are providing it. This is why people who cut their calories too much may reach a plateau and stop losing weight. This will also sabotage your weight loss effort. You may eventually become frustrated that your efforts are not paying off. And this can lead you to overeat and ultimately gain more weight than you already lost.
Solution: Make sure that you have calculated the amount of calories you need to eat and burn before you embark on your weight loss journey and stick to healthy meals that fall within the calculated calories.
2. TRYING TO CORRECT A BAD DIET WITH EXERCISE:
You cannot correct a bad diet by exercising and trying to do so is counter productive. You are setting yourself up for failure.
Imagine eating a total calories of 2,500 in a day and you’re trying to burn 900 calories so that you can create a deficit. It is a lot of work! It takes 1hour of high impact cardio exercise to burn 600 calories. You will need to take About 12,000 steps to burn 600 calories. And for someone who is more or less used to a sedentary lifestyle and is overweight, this could prove to be an Herculean task! And you’re still 300 calories behind to create the deficit you desire! Phew!
Now imagine having to do this everyday of the week to create a constant calorie deficit! Do you think it’s realistic? You would soon burn out.
A more practical approach to weight-loss is the 80/20 approach. Let your food create 80% calorie deficit for you and the balance 20% from your exercise routine.
3. TRYING TO AVOID A PARTICULAR CLASS OF FOOD:
With the low carb fad that is currently on, a lot of people have latched on to the idea that they need to avoid eating carbohydrates in other to loose weight and that Carb is bad. While it is possible to live without carbs, it is not advisable as carbohydrates gives your energy. What you can do is to replace processed carbohydrates with healthier versions while balancing your protein consumption (body builder) and eating healthier fats.
4. NOT LIFTING WEIGHTS:
Too many women are afraid to do heavy weight lifting because they believe it would make them look more like muscle builders and less feminine, but it is most unlikely that weightlifting will do that to you because weightlifters have to follow a particular routine and diet to achieve what they have. And the benefits of weight lifting are overwhelmingly positive.
Lifting weights is one of the most effective ways for gaining muscles and increasing your metabolic rate. And when you gain muscles, you loose fat. Let me add again though that adding as much muscles as weightlifters takes a special kind of routine and diet and A LOT of dedication. So don’t be afraid to add weight lifting to your workout routine.
5. NOT COUNTING CALORIES:
As earlier stated, a lot of folks equate eating healthy to eating to loose weight. This is wrong. While we encourage you to eat healthy for all the health benefits you get from doing so, if you plan to loose weight,then you need to follow a specific dietary routine to take you there.
To loose weight, you have to count the calories you eat even when your diet is made up of healthy foods. This is because you may still be eating more calories than you need to loose weight.
Also, you may not be getting the right amount of protein, fibre,carbs and fat you need to support your weight loss efforts. So keep an eye on the calories you are consuming and make sure it is well balanced for your weight loss goal.