You are trying to lose weight, and you feel like you’re doing it right. You are eating real food in balance, and you invest time to exercise. But, you’re still not losing weight. It seems that some common diet mistakes are tripping you on your way to reach the ideal weight.
If you’re still running to reach your goal, beware of these common diet mistakes!
You’re skipping meals
There is a common misconception that if you’re cutting off your meals, it’s easier to lose weight. But this is a mistake—the truth is that most people who eat fewer than three meals usually end up eating more calories during the course of the day. The key is striving for three meals a day. Never skip healthy breakfast to start your day, and plan your lunch and dinner carefully.
You’re doing too much cardio
You might not believe this, but doing too much cardio means burning more calories than you are acquiring to lose weight. This causes unfavorable metabolic adaptations which is not good for your diet. It has been proven that doing high-intensity interval workouts instead of the long jog on a treadmill to burn far more fat. So, you can try to add one extra day of pure HIIT (high-intensity interval training) using a total-body circuit and do each exercise for 30 seconds and rest for 30 seconds more before moving to the next exercise.
You’re drinking too many liquid calories
You might think that drinking smoothies, alcohol, and coffee with cream won’t add too much pounds to your body, but the fact is that they do. When you drink these liquid calories, you don’t tend to compensate by eating less because these beverages only satisfy thirst and don’t impact hunger. So, when you’re dieting, switching to water, skim milk, vegetable juices, or club soda is highly recommended. And if you do drink alcohol, do so in moderation, and choose lighter drink options.
You removed fats from your daily menu
Here’s the deal: to lose more fat, you’ll have to eat more fat. It may sound counter-intuitive, but be aware that healthy fats such as animal fats, coconut oil, avocados, and nuts will actually make you leaner yet more muscular. These fats will keep you full, and force your body to lower your carbohydrate intake. Try to consume at least 30% of your calories from healthy sources of fat and dismiss artificial fats that can cause health problems.
You’re not resting enough
If you do the right training, and have a clean and healthy diet but still not seeing desirable progress, this is probably the culprit. Studies have shown that changing your sleep pattern could affect metabolism by making you feel hungry, even if you’re not. Try to get at least eight hours of good sleep every night.
You’re too stressed out
Stress and weight gain go hand in hand. Being under constant stress can increase production of the hormone cortisol which can cause an increase in appetite as well as extra fat storage around the abdominal region.
