To say that dieting and trying to lose weight can be unpleasant would be like saying that hiking though the Antarctic Circle in shorts and a tank top would be unpleasant. Okay, perhaps that’s a slight exaggeration, but it’s a pretty safe to assume that most people do not enjoy dieting and trying to consciously lose weight. Whilst it can be unpleasant, if you can stick with it, the end results more than make up for the weeks, months, even years, of struggling that you’ve gone through to get to where you need to be. If however, you thought that losing weight was simply a case of working out and eating salads several times per week, you are in for a very rude awakening. Losing weight can get pretty complex, and there can be a lot to get your head around, and because of that, people often find themselves making mistakes and slipping up, even if they had the purest of intentions. Here’s a look at a few common weight loss mistakes that people often make.
Eating vegetable chips
If you’re a potato chip lover, you’ll know how tasty these snacks can be, and sadly, you’ll also know how unhealthy they can be. Not only are the potatoes often deep fried in oil and then coated in unhealthy levels of salt, often they are enhanced with artificial flavourings and preservatives as well. When people are dieting and trying to lose weight however, for times when they get hunger pains and cravings, they find themselves eating vegetable chips instead. Although vegetable chips are healthier than potato chips, they are still often loaded full of oil, salt, sugar, and flavourings. You could make your own in which you control how much fat, salt, and flavour you use, but that is pretty complex and time consuming. You may think you’re being healthy, but when you consider the fact that one bag of vegetable chips can contain anything from 400 – 600 calories, that is a pretty calorific snack.
Drinking store-bought smoothies
When we think of smoothies, we think of fresh and healthy produce, often commonly consumed for breakfast. However, store-bought smoothies are deceiving as they often contain added sugar, plus they are already naturally high in natural sugars to begin with. They use fruit as the primary ingredient, which, although healthy, is high in fructose sugars and calories. Ideally you should make your own smoothies with plenty of green veggies which are low in fructose and calories and high in nutrients.
Binge-eating
We all deserve to treat ourselves now and then, and a little of what we love can do us good. With that being said however, if you find yourself dieting and constantly craving junk food, when the time does come for you to finish your diet, or to have a day off your diet, more often than not, you will find yourself binge-eating just for the sake of eating. By all means have a nice meal out at a restaurant every now and then, and if you want to order dessert then you order dessert, but if you then carry this on to the next day, or the entire weekend, you will then consume copious amounts of calories which will then set you back a few days, or even the entire week in some cases. Basically, the message we’re trying to convey here, is that it is perfectly fine, and is recommended in fact, to treat yourself to something you enjoy every now and then, and to enjoy it in moderation, but just because you are off your diet for however long it may be, you should not eat as much junk as possible just for the sake of it.
Slipping up slightly and throwing in the towel for the whole day
This is actually a very common mistake amongst dieters, and it is one of the primary reasons why people do not see the results they may have been hoping for right away. If for example, you get peckish and eat a couple of cookies from the cookie jar, although not ideal, obviously you will only have consumed a few hundred calories, so it’s hardly catastrophic. A lot of people however, then get it into their heads that just because they’ve slipped up slightly, that the entire day of dieting is ruined, and so they decide to throw in the towel for the day and just binge on junk and tell themselves that they’ll pick up the pieces the very next day.
Drinking alcohol regularly
If you enjoy a glass of wine or two in the evening, either when you relax, or with your food, you may wish to re-think this, or any other form of alcohol, because it does you no favours whatsoever. Alcohol such as beer, or wine, is enriched with empty calories, which means basically that the calories you get from the beverage in question will provide you with no nutrients and no nourishment at all. A single beer or glass of wine can increase your caloric intakes by a few hundred, and those few hundred calories could literally be the difference between being in a caloric deficit in which you lose weight, and in a caloric surplus, which could cause you to gain weight. Even at maintenance, in which you get just the right amount of calories so that you don’t lose weight, but don’t gain it either, can be detrimental to people trying to lose weight. Whilst you may not think that one glass of wine per night is going to cause any lasting damage, it could quite literally be the reason why you aren’t losing weight.
