The very first thought in the direction of weight loss immediately causes our brain to strategize. The immediate strategy? Cut your stomach.
Let’s think this through logically. Less food intake means less fat available to be stored. Sounds logical enough, right?
The answer is no. To reason, you must have all facts in place. Not just the ones you want to believe is true.
So, the first step in the direction of dieting is understanding where you’re going wrong.
Running Far From Fat
Mileage: The ratio of the number of miles traveled to the number of gallons of petrol burned
If the petrol is slow-burning, your mileage increases. Good fats (emphasis on “good”) take longer to burn than carbs or proteins. This means you need to refuel (read: eat) less often.
All fats do not equal fat.
Making Meals Of Energy Bars
Energy bars are high in calories, making it easy to exceed your recommended calorie intake. Don’t you love them cause they’re sweet? Well, that’s a problem too – sugar makes you more hungry.
Going Overboard With The Healthy Foods
Healthy food substitutes are definitely low in calories compared to their unhealthy counterparts. This, however, does not mean that you can devour mountains of them guilt free. It will lead to weight gain.
Going With The Trend
Everyone looks different for a reason. They are different.
Metabolism, body composition, and lifestyle are important factors that determine the effect food has on our bodies. Learn how to filter out healthy effective diet tips through the exaggerated exaggerations in advertisements.
Skipping Meals – Especially Breakfast
Never skip breakfast. Your metabolic rate is highest in the morning. Taking advantage of that, breakfast should be your biggest meal of the day. As your day progresses, you will feel less like this guy…
Eating Less
Not making eye contact with the apple crumble pie after dinner or taking a detour past the cafeteria door during lunchtime are not diet techniques you should be directing your effort toward. While you may achieve your daily calorie deficit initially, by eating less, your body will soon become accustomed to a new “normal” and lower your metabolism in compensation. Your metabolism will soon…
…come to a halt. Lowered metabolism does not gel well with weight loss.
Eating Too Early
We all know metabolism dips as it gets later in the day. It’s the reason you end up at your dinner table no later than 7. However, if you do not sleep early to support this good habit, you will just end up feeling hungry close to midnight. A weak will power is all it takes to make a waste of it all.
Avoiding Snacks
Snacking is not bad. Not when it’s healthy foods. So when hunger pangs hit between your three meals of the day (like when you inadvertently stroll toward the fridge at noon), instead of depriving yourself of food, satiate your hunger temporarily with healthy snacks. (Think baked kale chips, a beet salad, or watermelon with feta cheese.)
Running After “Fat-Free”
“Diet,” “fat-free,” “sugar-free” foods in no way attempt to achieve what you think they will.
Companies that sell these products remove nutrients like fat and replace them with flavor-boosting chemicals (chemicals never sound like good news) that actually raise the weighing scales.
Miscalculating The Liquid Calories
With our horse blinkers on, we unhesitatingly shift focus from solid to liquid food. (You feel foolish already, don’t you?) All food, whether solid or liquid, is broken down into the same complexes – fat, protein, and carbohydrate. In simpler words, substituting solid foods with liquid ones does not necessarily mean you’re cutting back on calories. In fact, the smoothies, sodas, coffees, and sweetened juices that you so enjoy without any guilt are actually adding to your waistline.
For a particular group of people (yes, you alcoholic weight-loss strivers)…
…the reasoning is: the more the alcohol consumption, the lesser the hunger, so “Yay! I’m not fat anymore.” That’s not how it works. When you have alcohol in your system, your body uses it as fuel for energy instead of burning the stored fat that you have been trying to burn since you were bullied for being fat at ten.
Leaving The Reins A Little Too Loose On Cheat Days
It makes no sense for you to exercise all that control and caution about what you eat six days of the week and end up making up for it and even exceeding it on day 7! Moderation is key.
Sleep well to regulate your hunger hormones and ensure your meals are fresh and balanced (fats+proteins+carbs+vitamin D)…
…drink plenty of water, lift weights, and don’t stress. You’ll be a lean mean metabolic machine even before you know it.
