You’ve heard the saying……” You can’t out-exercise a bad diet!” You can exercise every day, but if you are making common mistakes in your daily eating routine, fat and weight loss will be slow, if not non-existent! Approximately 80% of your weight loss success is determined in the kitchen, so common diet mistakes can easily get us off track and de-rail our weight loss efforts. Below are a few common diet mistakes that you can easily avoid and keep your weight loss goals (and New Year’s resolutions) intact!
Not Eating Enough Calories
Starvation diets may seem to work temporarily, but they have a negative effect on your body overall. The calorie restriction slows down your metabolism and causes your body to store calories instead of burning them. These diets also have a tendency to cause a “rebound” effect, leading to even more weight gain when you start to increase your caloric intake.
Eating the right amount of wholesome calories throughout the day will boost your metabolism and increase fat loss. It is important to make sure the calories you are eating are wholesome foods, not junk!
Not Eating Enough Protein
When trying to lose fat, eating adequate amounts of protein is a must! It is important to get enough protein for several reasons, and most of us do not consume recommended amounts in our daily diet, much less the additional amounts required for fat loss and improved body composition. A higher protein intake boosts metabolism, reduces appetite, and changes levels of weight regulating hormones. By replacing carbohydrates and fats with protein, you reduce the levels of hunger hormones and increase the satiety hormones. This leads to a reduction in hunger and can make you eat fewer calories naturally. Eating approximately 0.6-0.8 grams of protein per one pound of body weight can reduce your appetite and improve body composition. The top ten foods high in protein are eggs, lean beef, tuna, almonds, chicken breast, oats, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, milk, and broccoli. Whey protein supplements can also be added to your daily routine to boost the protein intake with an average of 20-50 grams per serving.
Drinking Sugary Beverages
One of the biggest mistakes most people make is drinking sugary beverages throughout the day. When counting calories, it is important to include the liquid ones too! They add up quickly and can stubbornly stick to our waistline! Whether you enjoy sodas, sweet coffee, sweet tea, fruit juices, or alcoholic beverages, liquid calories are habitual and can be devastating to fat loss and overall health. One can of coke contains 55 grams of sugar. Even 100% fruit juices are loaded with sugar! Twelve ounces of unsweetened apple juice contains 36 grams of sugar. Liquid calories also do not affect the appetite centers in your brain the same way food calories do. If you are going to consume alcohol in the evening, you need to compensate for it by reducing your caloric intake during the day.
Eating Too Many Processed Foods
Some studies suggest that today’s obesity and other major health problems are directly associated with the production and consumption of industrially processed foods and drinks. Eating highly processed foods is one of the worst things you can do when trying to lose weight. One study showed that with the availability of ultra-processed foods there was a higher prevalence of obesity in all age groups involved in the study. It is a good idea to stick to whole, single-ingredient foods. One helpful tip is to shop the perimeter of the grocery store – where you find the freshest foods like produce, meat, and dairy products – and avoid the isles where most of the processed foods are located.
We hope this may help in sticking to that New Year’s Resolution you made a few months ago! If you need assistance with nutrition counseling, weight loss, or improved body composition, give us a call at 832-789-4989 and our professionals here at Edge Weight Loss & Fatigue will get you back on track!
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/weight-loss-mistakes#TOC_TITLE_HDR_8