It’s often easier for most people to gain weight than to lose it. Some of the reason is the misinformation that’s everywhere on the internet with mistakes that can add pounds
. Some of the advice actually can make you gain weight. For instance, those “miracle” shed 10 pounds in 10 days diets that consist of magic elixirs made of juice from grapefruit, cabbage or other foods, may actually help you lose some weight in a short period, but lowers your metabolism. The minute you go back to eating normal meals, you put it all back on and sometimes more.
Eating a low fat diet might be one error.
Sure it’s fat and it only makes sense that if you eat fat, you’ll get fat, but that’s not how it works. The type of fat that you eat is ultimately important and the amount of fat in your diet is also important. Fat has been given a bum rap. It actually can help you shed pounds. It fills you up and makes it a lot less likely that you’ll overeat. It boosts your metabolism, balances hormonal activity, stops cravings and even aids in reversing heart disease. It’s not just any type of fat, however. Some foods with good fats are meat and butter from grassfed cows, avocados and whole eggs.
You’re eating processed foods that are labeled diet foods.
Special diet foods are everywhere. If you read the labels of most of the dishes, you’ll notice a chemistry lab of ingredients, which includes fructose. It’s sugar that, while natural, plays havoc with your brain and is in everything. It isn’t metabolized like other sugars and goes directly to fat. Eating refined sugar is the real enemy of dieters and it tends to be in all processed products. Stick with whole foods, organic if possible, and you’ll watch pounds fall off quicker.
You forgot to include exercise, particularly strength training in your weight loss regimen.
Exercise is so important when you’re trying to lose weight. It burns extra calories and provides many other benefits. It can burn off the hormones of stress, like cortisol, which is associated with abdominal fat—the most dangerous type. Stress hormones make other changes in your body and can also lead to “stress eating,” a real diet danger. Strength training helps build muscle tissue. That extra muscle tissue can boost your metabolism, since it requires more calories to maintain than fat tissue does.
One huge mistake is snacking on “diet treats.”
You think you can eat more if the package says low calorie, low fat, low sugar or any word related to diet and weight loss, but that’s not true. One study at Cornell University let overweight people choose their snacks. Those who opted for the lower-fat or sugar-free version actually ate twice as many calories as the ones who ate the regular snacks. It’s all about portion control. Let yourself splurge occasionally, but in small amounts.
- One big mistake is not getting enough sun, which means, not getting enough vitamin D. Start working on a protective tan that prevents sun damage. Vitamin D can help you lose weight and it’s free.
- An imbalance of beneficial bacteria in your body can add pounds. Lots of things can cause that, but one definitely does. It’s antibiotics. Farmers often use low doses to help fatten cattle. Need I say more?
- Make your goals about improving your performance in the gym and eating healthy, rather than actual weight loss, and you’re more likely to stick with the program and get results.
- Don’t just depend on the gym for exercise, get up and move around frequently. Walk to work, park further away from your destination or climb the stairs. Put more exercise into your daily life.