Top 10 Weight Loss Mistakes!

Weight loss mistakes trip us up! Weight loss is complex, but doable. There are a few mistakes that catch most of us at one time or another. Let’s locate those and put them away for good.

The top 10 weight loss problem areas are:

• Misunderstanding of "What is a calorie": This can be in the exercising and eating arena. Counting calories does not work. We misunderstand portion sizes and the average person is off by 25 to 40%. Keeping track of calories burned by exercising is virtually impossible too. If you are off by 100 calories per day, this can add up to 10 pounds of weight gain per year! Learning proper portion sizes and exercising daily without all of the counting is a better plan. This can have a huge impact on your weight.


• Lack of sleep: Not getting enough sleep makes you hungrier by interfering with your appetite hormones. If you can’t sleep well, get help from your doctor. Getting enough sleep is a huge weight loss mistake!


• Stress: Life is too fast, and most of you are stressed. Stress increases cortisol, your stress hormones. Cortisol stimulates your body to crave comfort foods. You begin emotional eating and feel like a failure, but it is your hormones that are causing these cravings, and not a failure on your part. Understanding and dealing with stress can have a huge impact on your weight!


• Misunderstanding Exercise: Many people exercise regularly, but do not control their eating habits. They believe that if they exercise, they can eat anything! Huge weight loss mistake! Controlling your food, is by far the easiest way to lose weight. Keeping a great food journal will often allow you to cut your calories in half without decreasing your quantity. For every 100 calories you decrease daily, you will lose 10 pounds per year.


• Exercising but eating more. Many people eat more when they exercise because they are hungrier. A great combo of healthy eating paired with exercise is a winner.


• Not Counting Drinks: This might be one of the biggest weight loss mistakes out there. Drinks do not fill you up, but they do fill you out. Those calorie laden coffee drinks can be the root cause of your obesity. Sodas, juices, and any drink with calories can be your problem. My personal food policy is "Do not drink calories". The average person drinks 450 calories per day. Is any drink worth carrying extra weight around?

• Not Counting Every Piece of Food that you Eat. People mindlessly eat all day long and forget about it. This can add up to hundreds of extra calories and weight gain per year. Ending mindless eating can add up to weight control. Are YOU a Mindless Eater?

• Living life on Auto Pilot Without Much Thought. Many people are in a rut. They do the same thing every day. Learn to be a clear thinker. Make a plan to change. Take baby steps and move out of the rut. Weight loss is achievable if you quit fighting and thinking you can’t do things. If you think you can’t, you are probably right! Change your thinking!

• Eating way too many processed foods. If you check out the my food plate, you will see that processed foods are not a part of a healthy diet. Few of us actually follow healthy guidelines, even though most of us feel we are healthy eaters! Try eating only real foods for a week, and see how difficult this is. Eat only real foods that are not in a box, bag, or have a barcode. Eat foods that do not need a food label!

• Eating Foods That are full of Additives, Hormones, Chemicals, Pesticides, or are Genetically Modified: There has been a lot of research done showing that these additives are interfering with our body’s hormone systems. Do your best to eat organically grown foods and do eat foods that have not been genetically modified (GMO). This will take some education on your part because food labeling is not required on GMO foods.

There are many weight loss mistakes. If you develop Lifestyle Solutions to these problem areas and follow healthy diet habits consistently, you should be able to avoid being caught in these traps!