I was really inspired to write the "5 Biggest Weight Loss Mistakes" because these are all mistakes that I have made and after hearing back from you girls about my 7 Day Guide, I know a lot of you make these mistakes as well! I hope that you find all of this information helpful, it's everything I have learned along the way of my weight loss journey!
1. Counting Calories/ Putting Calories Before Nutrition
I briefly touched on this in my article 'Feed Don't Starve Yourself" but once you realise that calories are such a small part in eating healthy and loosing weight; you will see what a waste of time counting calories is. It really is such a waste of energy that you could be using to, I don't know..exercise! It comes down to nutrition and good food choices as key because with 100 calories you could eat an egg and some almonds or a snack pack of Twisties. An egg and almonds will provide you with protein, vitamins, minerals and amino acids whereas the Twisties will provide you with next to no nutrition..just some salt and carbs. This just proves that calories are such an insignificant part of loosing weight; if you're eating healthy, proportioned meals then don't bother calorie counting.
1. Counting Calories/ Putting Calories Before Nutrition
I briefly touched on this in my article 'Feed Don't Starve Yourself" but once you realise that calories are such a small part in eating healthy and loosing weight; you will see what a waste of time counting calories is. It really is such a waste of energy that you could be using to, I don't know..exercise! It comes down to nutrition and good food choices as key because with 100 calories you could eat an egg and some almonds or a snack pack of Twisties. An egg and almonds will provide you with protein, vitamins, minerals and amino acids whereas the Twisties will provide you with next to no nutrition..just some salt and carbs. This just proves that calories are such an insignificant part of loosing weight; if you're eating healthy, proportioned meals then don't bother calorie counting.
2. Underestimated Intake/ Not Watching Portion Sizes
Okay so prepare yourself for me about to contradict myself...counting calories can be somewhat important. So everything I just said about nutrition over numbers is completely true but that doesn't mean you can go crazy and eat 5000 calories a day; even if it is just all fruit and quinoa. You still have to eat reasonable amounts of food and not over consume, even on the healthy stuff. So make sure you stop and think about what you are eating and actually figure out how much you have eaten because a lot of the time we underestimate how much we have actually had.
3. Skipping Meals/ Not Eating Enough
So many people make the mistake of skipping meals or not eating enough and thinking that it will aid their weight loss. In actual fact, depriving yourself and not eating regularly can actually hinder weight loss and even make you gain weight. Our bodies are designed to store food to keep us alive and this goes right back to the "hunter and gatherer" times where there would often be periods of no food so the body would store whatever food it did receive. This is just how our bodies are so that means that if you don't eat until dinner, when you finally do, eat your body is going to store all of those fats, carbs and sugar instead of burning them off. Whereas, eating regularly actually boosts your metabolism and helps your body burn off calories faster. So that means you can actually eat to loose weight; crazy right?!
4. Expecting Too Much, Too Soon
I know that it can be discouraging to work really hard and not see results but it takes persistence and patience! Keep in mind that nothing worth having comes easy and you aren't going to wake up the day after an amazing workout with your dream body. Hard work pays off so just keep at it.
I know that it can be discouraging to work really hard and not see results but it takes persistence and patience! Keep in mind that nothing worth having comes easy and you aren't going to wake up the day after an amazing workout with your dream body. Hard work pays off so just keep at it.
5. Lured Into Fad Diets/ Cutting Foods Out Completely
"The Cabbage Soup", "South Beach" and "Lemonade" Diets are all short term solutions and statistics show that the weight you loose on those diets, you gain back within a couple of months! It's not a sustainable lifestyle so it's only a temporary diet! An amazing part of not being on a "diet" as such but just having a healthy lifestyle is that you can keep it up, it's something that you can continue to do for the rest of your life.
I really hope that you all enjoyed this and found it helpful! This is the "food edition" and there will be an "exercise edition" as well so look out for it.
"The Cabbage Soup", "South Beach" and "Lemonade" Diets are all short term solutions and statistics show that the weight you loose on those diets, you gain back within a couple of months! It's not a sustainable lifestyle so it's only a temporary diet! An amazing part of not being on a "diet" as such but just having a healthy lifestyle is that you can keep it up, it's something that you can continue to do for the rest of your life.
I really hope that you all enjoyed this and found it helpful! This is the "food edition" and there will be an "exercise edition" as well so look out for it.
