Common Weight Loss Mistakes to Avoid
Losing weight can be a daunting task for many. Even after making healthy lifestyle choices, they might not get quick results. In fact, with many scams and fake advices that pop up everyday on weight loss, you might be even following misguided or outdated advice. In order to help you make an informed decision, this content will provide you with information on some common weight loss mistakes that you should avoid.
Eating too many or too fewer calories
When it comes to losing weight, the first thing that strikes is losing the calories. There is no doubt that a calorie deficit is important for weight loss, however, there is a pattern that needs to be followed. You will have to set a weight loss plan where you will burn more calories than you consume. There are even chances that you might be consuming healthy foods that are high in calories. Some of these foods are nuts, fish and dairy products. Regardless of the type of healthy foods you consume, you should keep the portion size in mind.
On the other hand, cutting down too many calories will make you counter productive. An unplanned low calorie diet may also make you low in energy.
Less or More Exercise
During the weight loss process, most of us like to exercise to obtain quick results. There are chances that you might even lose muscle mass along with the fat. However, this completely depends on several factors. On the other hand, if you do not exercise while restricting your calorie intake, you may lose more muscle mass as well as experience a decrease in the metabolic rate.
Painting your weight loss routine with the right exercise will minimize the amount of muscle mass you lose, prevent the metabolism from slowing down, and increase fat loss. However, overexercising also causes different problems. Excessive workouts can be unsustainable in the long run and may lead to stress. This can also negatively impact the endocrine hormones in the body. Thus, it is one of the weight loss mistakes you should avoid.
Focusing only on the Scales
It is common to feel that you are not losing weight fast enough even after following a healthy lifestyle. However, you should remember that the number you can see on the weighing scale is just one measurement of weight. Your body’s weight is influenced by several factors like fluid fluctuations and the type of foods you consume, and how much of it remains in your body. In women, hormonal changes can also lead to water retention.
In many cases, there are chances that you might lose fat mass, but hold on to water. Additionally, if you are working out regularly, you might be losing fat but gaining muscles. Thus, even if the numbers in the scale do not change, you might be actually having positive changes in your body.
Choosing Low Fat Diet Foods
Processed low fat or diet foods are considered often healthy. However, in some cases, they can have negative effects. In most cases, highly processed foods contain high amounts of sugar to improve their taste. Low fat foods may make you feel hungrier very soon and you may end up eating more foods than your body requires. Thus, instead of choosing low fat or diet foods, you should choose a combination of minimally processed, nutritious foods. Whenever possible, it is important to choose fruits and vegetables. This can even be frozen varieties that are low in fat but packed with many essential nutrients.
Not Eating Enough Protein
Consuming enough protein on a regular basis is important even when the plan is to lose weight. In fact, protein can help you with weight loss. It reduces appetite, lowers the amount of weight regained, increases the feeling of fullness, helps in maintaining an increased metabolic rate, and even protects the muscle mass during weight loss.
Some studies have shown that higher protein intake has helped people with appetite control, which also changed the body composition. Thus, when it comes to weight loss, make sure your meal contains one or the other high protein food. Apart from meat and diary, you can also include different types of beans, legumes, seeds, etc.
Drinking Sugary Beverages
Most people cut down soft drinks and other sugary beverages from their diet to lose weight. Reducing the amount of sugary drinks you consume is definitely a healthy choice, however, drinking fruit juices instead is not an ideal choice. Even 100% fruit juice contains sugar and may lead to different health problems and obesity. This is also one of the comon weight loss mistakes that most people make. Thus replacing fruit juices with water or simply eating whole fruits could be a great choice.
Not Tracking What You Eat
There is no doubt that eating nutritious foods can be good for your health and also in losing weight. However, there is a chance that you might be eating more calories than your body actually needs. What’s more, you may not be getting enough protein, carbs, fiber or fat that is required to support the weight loss efforts of your body. Thus, tracking what you eat will help you to get a better picture of your calorie and nutrition consumption. Logging each of these will also give you a better understanding of your overall health.
Getting Enough Sleep
It is a known fact that insufficient sleep contributes to different types of weight management issues. Reduced sleep is also linked with higher calorie consumption, more snacking and increased craving for junk or high calorie foods. This will also make you crave for snacks during odd hours, which can also have negative effects on your health and body. On the other hand, when you are tired without sleep, your hunger hormones go haywire, which makes you crave for more food. Thus, it is important to get enough sleep when you are planning for weight loss.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, it can be challenging to lose weight due to the sedentary lifestyle that most people are leading these days. However, if you are planning to do so, do it right and avoid these common weight loss mistakes. This will gradually help you to obtain the desired results. Be consistent in diet management and exercise regularly. This can eradicate the unwanted body weight naturally.
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