Dieting is never easy. As anyone that has ever been on a diet will confirm, there are many pitfalls along the way, and you are more than likely to make a mistake or two. While restricting our intake of calories can be enough to start the weight loss process, its always best to combine your diet with some exercise too. Common diet mistakes can be easily avoided by being aware of them.
Yet for all the good work most people in a diet put in, there will be a point in which things go wrong. It could be hitting the weight loss plateau, adding some weight you lost back on, or even struggling to shed any weight to begin with, but there are many points where you will feel like your diet is doing nothing but make you miserable.
Achieving your weight loss goals can be that bit easier if you know what some of the most common diet mistakes are so that you know how to avoid or fix them!
Forgetting to Count ALL calories
Keeping track of how many calories you are consuming daily is a great way to prepare for a diet. You can better understand what you need to cut out, and eventually you can start counting everything in your diet so you know you are creating the calorie deficit required to burn calories and shed those pounds.
What many people forget to do is include every single item that the eat. That includes snacks, which are amongst the most forgotten items on most people’s food diary! Even snacks that seem like they wouldn’t have many calories, as everything adds up and can take its toll on your caloric goals – be mindful of things like soda and alcohol too!
Try using a mobile app that can easily log your calories as you eat them instead of counting everything at the end of the day to ensure nothing is forgotten!
Overindulging on Your Cheat Day
Cheat days are can be a big help fighting of those cravings you might be having, as it gives you something to work towards and enjoy when that day comes. This can be especially helpful for those who are new to the concept of dieting and struggling to cut out all the junk food they eat.
However, the main issue with this is that many people just go for broke on their cheat day, potentially ruining all the hard work they have previously done and taking its toll on you for a few days after.
Instead of relying on a cheat day each and every week, assign a day where you are allowed a cheat meal. You can make the meal what you like, just as long as it is something reasonable and it ends with this meal -it should be right back onto the diet as soon as you have finished!
Focusing on Exercise More than Diet
No matter how much exercise you perform, it will never be enough when combined with a bad diet. Weight loss is best achieved with a blend of exercise and dieting, so when you eat well you can exercise more efficiently, helping to burn more calories and lose more weight.
Hitting the treadmill for an hour every day is all well and good, but eating something bad afterwards just negates all the hard work you did. You could walk several miles at the start of your diet and feel you have earned a treat, without realising the candy bar you ate just added back all the calories you burned!
It is all about combing diet and exercise. Starving yourself with strict diet will make you feel lethargic and make you more likely to cave into your cravings eventually, and not eating enough food to get a good workout on the good means you are not gaining any of the additional benefits of exercise.
A healthy diet alongside regular exercise will help you maintain steady progress with your weight loss!