Unfortunately, almost everyone who has ever tried to lose weight can answer “Yes!” to this question.
It should be so, so simple to lose weight, right? All you have to do is eat less, eat healthy and exercise, yes?
So, why is it that almost all of us have experienced diet disaster after diet disaster, despite starting out so motivated?
You go shopping for healthy foods, cut them up and get them ready for this so special diet. Then you embark on what you are determined is your last and FINAL weight-loss mission.
And, everything works beautifully – at least at first.
You start to lose weight. You’re feeling pretty good and looking pretty slimmer (you’re convincing yourself, maybe?).
Then something happens. It’s like a switch is flipped (without your permission, of course!) inside of you, and you notice that you’re struggling more often than you’re not.
You feel hungry all the time, your positive attitude is all but gone, and your weight loss has come to a discouraging and disastrous grinding halt.
What just happened?
Chances are good that, despite your best of intentions, you may have made a few minor mistakes along the way that eventually led to the abrupt halt of your well-intentioned diet to lose that extra weight for good.
It wasn’t that you lacked willpower or are meant to stay at the weight you don’t want to be at. But, you have to tweak your approach just a bit so that staying on a healthy diet is easy.How?
Below are the five most common diet mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.
5 Common Diet Mistakes We All Make
5 Common Diet Mistakes:
Diet Mistake #1. You eat too little
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While you may certainly need to reduce your portion sizes or eat less of the foods that aren’t so good for you, where most dieters go wrong is that they go too far by reducing their food portions.
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Now, let me say that it isn’t entirely your fault if you do this. A good number of diet plans are based on calorie targets that are way too low. So, if you follow them to the letter, you can be guilty of this mistake without every trying.
The truth is that your body needs a certain number of calories every single day day just to keep it functioning. It uses the energy that you get from food to perform bodily functions such as digest food and pump blood around your body.
Therefore, you need to make sure you consume sufficient calories to help your body do just that. In addition, you need calories to support the level of activity in your daily life. Eat too few calories, and your body is going to retaliate.
Most people will lose weight on a calorie intake of between 1000 to 1600 calories per day. (These figures are general guidelines as everyone is different, so check with your nutritionist or diet-guide– for YOU). If you consume fewer than this, you could be setting yourself up for failure.
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5 Common Diet Mistakes:
Diet Mistake #2. You don’t eat often enough
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They don’t want to snack or they believe the myth that they shouldn’t eat after a certain time of day, or that the fewer times they eat, the faster they’ll lose weight.
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Your body is like an engine, one that burns energy all day long. So, when you don’t give it the fuel it needs to run efficiently, you’re going to feel it.
You’ll be tired more often, and you’ll have hard-to-manage cravings.
The best thing you can do for your body is eat a small meal or snack every 3-4 hours. Doing so, you’ll ‘soon notice that your food cravings and moods will stabilize, and you’ll find it much easier to stick to your nutritious diet plan.
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5 Common Diet Mistakes:
Diet Mistake #3. You eat too many “diet” foods
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In the 21st century that we live in when many people are weight-conscious and want to look like reed-thin waif-like models and mannequins, the weight-loss industry has given birth to a huge selection of diet foods to choose from when you’re watching your weight.
There are 100-calorie packs of chips, non-fat/low-fat or sugar-free desserts, and even diet soda and beer.
So, how can eating them be a bad thing?
Foods that are labeled as “diet” foods are usually high in sodium or artificial sweeteners to enhance ‘their taste.
Both of these substances can derail any diet.
Sugar-based products affect your blood sugar and start craving cycles (like we talked about in past health letters).
Salt-based products inhibit your body’s ability to determine when you’ve had enough food to be satisfied that you don’t need to eat more.
That means that the best thing you can do if you’re trying to lose weight is stick to natural, “real” foods as often as possible.
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5 Common Diet Mistakes:
Diet Mistake #4. You don’t drink enough water
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Firstly, because hunger cues and thirst cues are so similar, people often mistake the two. Second, water fills you up and makes you less likely to overeat.
The list of reasons goes on and on, but suffice it to say that the more water you drink, the more weight you’ll lose overall.
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5 Common Diet Mistakes:
Diet Mistake #5. You tell yourself that one little cheat-treat doesn’t matter
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That may be true if you’re only doing it every once in a while. The problem is that we do it more often than we realise or are willing to admit.
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And doing the same thing again and again makes it a habit. Doing so again and again will reinforce the habit, making it more difficult to break, although, take heart, bad habits can always be broken!
You don’t have to spend the rest of your life avoiding your favourite foods. But, be honest about how often you’re giving yourself these food rewards.
Although having a cheat-treat may not derail you, a cheat-treat every single day can certainly do some damage to your waistline. I’ve heard the saying: 5 minutes in your mouth, 20 years on your derriere (behind). Whether this is true or not will depend on each individual!
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Now that you know what to watch out for, you’ll increase your likelihood of success as you try to lose weight.Did you know that a Paleo Diet can help you shed fat,improve muscle tone, and boost your energy levels through the roof? .
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You may want to give it a try: Go explore!
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See you again very soon!
The Healthy, Lean Paleo Lifestyle
If you’re interested in the Paleo eating plan as a way to cut out processed foods
while still eating the meats and fats you love, check out this way of eating now:
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