I talk to people about their diets all day, every single day!
I hear the same thing repeatedly:
"I eat healthy but I don't understand why I don't have energy, I'm not losing weight, I still feel hungry all the time."
So I ask: "What are you eating?"
Unfortunately, the answers nearly always include one or more of the five mistakes listed below.
Now I'm not judging the reasons for these choices after all we all face varying difficulties that influence our decisions, however if we truly wish to surpass our goals we need to make sacrifices no matter the obstacles. The mistakes I speak of prevent us from facing the sources of our problems by offering an 'easy' path to our goals or solution to our problems. Before reading about these five 'Holy Grail' weight loss solutions just remember: the quicker you lose weight the more likely you are to gain it all back, this is simply due to the time it takes to change your lifestyle to fully support your weight loss.
The choices below offer quick fix to your weight loss issues but consider how long it has taken you to build the lifestyle you have now, the bad habits, the unhealthy routines.... these ingrained patterns cannot be dropped overnight. The good news is it's not impossible to change these patterns, however your much more likely to continue following new healthier eating patterns if you carefully implement small changes to your diet over time.
5) FAD DIETS
I am not going to name these popular diets because they don't need any more publicity than they already get. People really believe that these diets are going to be the answer to their weight loss problems. I understand how these diets are so attractive, especially when the desperation of losing weight hits, but you will gain your weight back, make yourself sick or not lose any weight at all.
Ask yourself these things when someone is trying to sell you one of these diets;
How long has the person selling you the diet been on this diet? This may guide you to the answer of how long it will potentially take you to reach the same results.
Will I be eating like this until I die? Answer yes? Run
Do I need to sell this plan to other people in order for me to be able to afford to continue to use this product for the rest of my life? How much money will you be spending on this plan plus the costs of feeding your family real food?
How many calories does my body actually need? You need to see a professional to answer this question or learn how to do the equation yourself. You need energy (calories/food) to burn calories/fat.
Are they cutting everyone's calories to 800-1200 calories a day? This tends to be the amount of calories these plans ask you to eat in order to lose weight but these aren't necessarily the amount of calories you need to eat to lose weight.
What has happened to people who have left this diet plan? Did they gain their weight back? Answer yes? Run
Is the person selling me this plan a nutritionist or a dietician? Answer no? Run!
4) STARVATION
Starvation depletes body of nutrients and causes your body to start consuming not only your fat but also your muscle for an energy source.
There are so many sources to find healthy snack options now, there should be no excuse not to eat. If you work at a desk, make sure to have plenty of fruit and vegetables you like to eat on hand. Stick to serving sizes. For instance, two small clementines is one serving, an apple is one serving of fruit and a banana is one serving. Make sure you have a range of vegetables to snack on because each colour will offer different nutrients and vitamins. You will get the maximum amount of nutrients eating fresh raw vegetables. If you choose to cook your vegetables save the cooking water because it will contain the nutrients from the vegetables and it will also make a delicious stock for soup or gravy.
3) BINGE EATING
Are you consuming more calories than needed? Does this mean you are eating while watching television, starving yourself or bored? Try drinking water, coffee or tea(try to omit sugar) while watching television. I snacked on pomegranates while watching TV because they are crunchy and sweet.
Binge eating usually follows periods of starvation. Yes eat when you’re hungry but don't get to the point of starvation to then decide you should make dinner or grab a sandwich or go food shopping.
Binge eating causes digestive issues. Are you chewing your food completely before swallowing or are you inhaling your food? If the answer is the latter then you can start feeling symptoms of IBS or other intestinal issues. Give your body a chance to digest your food. You will notice less bloating because you will then learn to stop eating before you are overfull. You will also notice a change in your energy levels.
1) CUTTING OUT FATS
This one drives me crazy! You are allowed to consume fat. In fact you need to consume natural fats so the protein you have digested can move around to the various organs of your body. Increase the amount of healthy fats i.e., animal fat, avocados, coconut milk and stop eating packaged foods. It is faster and tastier to learn to cook than to eat food that has additives that can also cause bloating.
2) SUGAR
You know that coffee or tea you had. How many sugars did you put in it?
How many cups of coffee or tea did you have with that many sugars in it?
So you say you like chocolate, how much are you consuming each day?
Look at the amounts you have through out the day. If you can cut back on the amount of sugar you are consuming you will notice significant changes in your body.
