Being a woman, I know how difficult it is to shed even a few unwanted pounds, let alone 15 or 20. Guys seem to have it so easy. They can drop 20 pounds in nothing flat! Or so it seems. Deciding to partake in a weight reduction program means you’ll have to make a lot of changes to your daily lifestyle. Committing to this alteration in your diet is how you are going to successfully lose weight, but you need to be aware of the following 7 things that sabotage your weight loss plan.
Sure nuts, fruits, veggies, and other healthy food are good for you, but some of these make it easy to accumulate a large number of calories in a short amount of time. For instance, avocadoes are chock full of healthy fat, which makes it possible to overdue your fat intake for the day by eating an entire avocado. Moderation is the key here. Count your calories even with healthy snacks.
It’s important to be diligent about counting your caloric intake as accurately as possible. Don’t try to estimate the number of calories you’ve consumed. People tend to underestimate this number, which can cause problems with their weight loss regimen. The average number of calories to cut when dieting is around 500. If you think you are close to this number, but in reality you aren’t, then you will become frustrated when the weight doesn’t come off like it should.
I know I’ve had days where I’m completely wiped out. I feel like I’ve run a marathon and burned off hundreds of calories, due to my fatigue. In reality, it usually turns out I haven’t done anything different than I did any other day. This means the number of calories burned isn’t higher than usual. Dieters who think they’ve used up lots of calories and try to sneak in an extra snack because they think they have room for these calories are sadly mistaken.
Sometimes you want something, but you aren’t sure if you need a snack or just a drink. When in doubt, choose the glass of water over the snack. Your body can always use water. The glass of water will keep you closer to your goal of staying hydrated while giving your stomach something to digest.
It’s often much easier to grab a meal at a restaurant than to take time at home to cook. Fast food restaurants are horrible for a person who is trying to stick to a weight loss plan. These joints provide menus filled with fatty foods and meals that are extremely high in calories.
I find it to be so much more helpful when others are supportive of my food preferences. If you are trying to stick to a low-fat, low-calorie diet and everyone around you continues to shove fried foods and fat-filled desserts in your face, then they aren’t really helping you out at all.
People who lack the appropriate hours of rest each night tend to have a higher body mass index. When a person’s BMI is high, they generally are hungry more often and have an increased appetite. Snacking on junk food is more common for people who don’t get enough sleep. It’s easy to grab a sugar snack to boost your energy when you’re tired, but it would be better to simply take a 20 minute nap!
The list posted above of 7 things that sabotage your weight loss plan contains some of the most common ones I’ve come across. What else do you think could be added to this list?
Top Photo Credit: cottonbud_design