Diet and weight loss traps are sneaky, sabotaging your efforts at eating healthy and lose weight, or be healthy and fit. If you want to get rid of them, you should know them, at first. Check out some of the most common diet and weight loss traps to avoid.
1. Deprivation
Deprivation is dangerous to your health! Dieting is not about deprivation, it’s all about moderation and easy swaps. Rather than devouring something in one go, you should eat a reasonable portion. I love chocolate and I indulge in just one small square of antioxidant-rich dark chocolate each day. Remember, moderation is the key!
2. Skipping workout
Every morning I try to force myself to get up and to go out running. But I know that I can’t diet successfully unless I exercise regularly. So aim for 40 minutes of heart-thumping, strenuous exercise 5 days a week. Combine your healthy, veggie-centric diet with exercises and you’ll see how easily you can wear those skinny jeans.
3. Skipping meals
You might think that if you skip a meal or two, you can easily cut calories. But diet is more complicated than that. Skipping meals won’t help you lose weight! Cutting calories is okay, but cut those calories from fat and sugar, mostly from junk and processed foods. It’s much more effective than skipping meals. Moreover, skipping meals will make you extremely hungry, and inclined to overeat at your next meal!
4. Poor planning
One of the secrets to a successful diet is good planning. You should plan your meals and buy only essential foods. You should plan ahead and pack your snacks and lunches, and schedule your workout. Before starting a new diet, have some common planning done.
5. Unclear goals
If your goal is unclear, it will be difficult to reach. The goal should be clear and reasonable to be effective. For example, don’t say just, “I want to lose weight.” Set a realistic, concrete, and measurable goal like, “I’m going to lose 10 pounds by July 1.”
6. Stepping on the scale
I know you are so tempted to step on the scale to see the total number of pounds you have lost, but don’t do it. If you gain lean muscle and lose fat, the scale will not change much, and you can get disheartened enough to damn the diet! Don’t step on the scale, it’s better to consider how your clothing fits, and your body feels and looks.
7. Going it alone
Don’t go it alone! Enlist the aid of a friend who is leading a healthy lifestyle. You can motivate one another, and hold one another accountable for exercise and diet. You can also get support of anyone you live with: parents, roommates, spouses and children. Maybe they want to diet and work out with you too!
Be careful and avoid these common diet and weight loss traps, and stay on track. By the way, which of them has had you stuck? Share your thoughts, please!
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