When most of us set out to lose weight we often don´t think about the big picture. We want those pounds gone yesterday and will do just about anything to lose them. We make big mistakes that cost us months of work to fix and then realize if we had just done it right to begin with, it would have taken us half the time to accomplish the goal. Well here´s 5 of the most common mistakes that you should avoid.
1. Too much too soon
You´ve decided to lose the weight for good and you set out to accomplish your goal by committing yourself to an extremely strict diet and daily workout regimen. Soon enough you´re completely deprived and burned out and feeling so overwhelmed that you just give up. Does this sound familiar? Don´t worry you´re not alone. Not many people can make a drastic lifestyle change like that overnight because it involves too many changes too fast. It´s better to start by changing a couple of things at a time. Start by committing to three workouts a week and working on a couple of food issues at a time. Perhaps it´s cutting down on fat, sugary snacks, and sodas or maybe it´s portion control. Once you have made small but significant changes you can work on making more changes. You´ll find this approach a lot more manageable and set yourself up for success instead of failure.
2. Giving up
People give up their weightloss efforts for all kinds of reasons; cheating on a diet, not seeing results fast enough, too busy to plan meals or exercise, feeling deprived, etc. The problem is that a few months later the weight is still there and you have to start all over again. Nobody wants to deal with setbacks but the truth is that they happen so why not just work with them. If you cheat forget it and start again the next day. There´s no rule that says you have to quit just because you cheated. Learn from your experience and keep going. If you suddenly get too busy to do your weekly workouts then cut back to an amount that you can handle. Doing something is better than doing nothing. If you feel deprived try to come up with other options. Some plans cater to people who need to have a dessert every day. Just find what works for you. The most difficult thing is to keep going when you´re not seeing results. In this case try to focus on other benefits of your new diet and exercise program such as increased energy, improved health, better sleep. Setting mini-goals is also a good way to stay focused.
3. Doing the same thing day after day
So many people get into these diet and workout ruts where everything is always the same. This woman once mentioned how she was climbing stairs every day before work then doing weights and aerobics on saturdays for months and she hadn´t been able to lose any more weight. What many people don´t realize is that the body adapts fairly quickly to increased activity and change so doing the same thing day after day eventually becomes a maintenance program. If you stop losing weight or inches or body fat you need some variety to overcome that plateau. Try new activities, increase the intensity of what you´re doing or increase the amount of activity that you´re doing. Changing things around every 4 weeks will keep you losing and will also keep you from getting bored. Keeping a journal is also a good way to see if your diet is working. You´ll be able to review your week or month and see if changes need to be made.
4. Unrealistic expectations
Lose 10lb over the weekend! Drop 30lb in 30 days! We´ve all seen advertisements for products that promise quick results which leads a lot of people to believe that these are realistic expectations. Well the not so exciting truth is that nobody can safely lose more than 1-2 pounds per week. If anyone is losing more than that it´s all water weight that they´ll gain right back when they go back to a more sensible eating plan. If you want the weight off permanently be realistic about your goals. You didn´t gain that weight overnight so it´s going to take some time to lose it all. If you focus on making those small changes one by one eventually you´ll lose the weight and you´ll be living a much healthier lifestyle.
Scale weight is only one of many ways to monitor your progress. You can also take measurements, have your body fat tested, or check to see if your clothes fit you differently. If you´re one of the many people who have turned to weightlifting to lose weight don´t overlook the fact that muscle weighs more than fat. If you are adding muscle, which can be easy to do at first, you will be burning more fat but it will take longer to see those results on the scale so definitely focus more on inches lost and body fat percentage. Keep in mind that a person who loses 10lb of fat is better off than a person who loses 10lb of muscle and water weight on some fad diet. The more muscle you put on the more calories you burn and the better off you are in the long run. Try to make changes that you can live with and if you make a mistake be positive about it and view it as a learning experience.
Avoid more diet mistakes with: The Abs Diet for Women: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Belly and Firm Up Your Body for Life
