Fast Weight Loss Diet

1. Mistake: Gulping Down Extra Calories

Do you start each morning with a couple glasses of orange juice? How about a nice coffee drink at work? Was that you hitting the vending machine for a sports drink at the gym?

If this sounds familiar, take note: What you drink can be as important to weight loss as what you eat.

Some beverages provide as many calories as a full plate of food. Liquid calories don’t make you feel as satisfied as food, and many beverages bring no nutritional benefit. Even if you were to drink 1,500 calories of beverages a day, you would still feel hungry and then overeat. The solutions to cut Liquid Calories!

Just say no to the following: soft drinks and other sweetened canned and bottled drinks; flavored and sweetened coffee beverages, such as cappuccinos, lattes and frozen coffee; sweetened tea (hot or iced); and smoothies.

While juice is healthier than all these choices, whole fruit is preferable to a glass of juice; it has fewer calories and more fiber. Water and herbal tea (without adding sugar) are ideal replacements for high-calorie beverages.

2. Mistake: Depriving Yourself

So, you’ve sworn to lose weight this time around. You go into your pantry and remove all your favorite fattening foods. You make a sweep of the fridge and all bad foods make their way to the trash can. You do okay for a few days.

Then … at 8 pm one lonely Thursday, night you are ravishing. You head to the nearest service station and buy all your favorite chips and candy bars. Then you eat them all by midnight.

While this exact scenario may not happen to you, it may sound slightly familiar.

No matter how resolved we are to lose weight, it is in our nature to desire treats we are accustomed to eating. Whether your weakness is a bag of popcorn when you watch a movie or a bowl of ice cream before bed, you will eventually get the urge to indulge no matter how well those first few days go. What is the solution? Giving in a little.

Giving up the foods you enjoy is a surefire way to set yourself up for failure. It’s like a form of torture: Everyone else can eat the things you love while you can’t even taste them. How is that going to help you stick to your diet? It will not.

Allow yourself a special treat every now and then. Keep your portion sizes in check and you can still have your favorite foods in moderation.

When it gets tough, try to focus on other things; do not dwell on what you cannot have … thought of all the delicious, nutritious foods you can have.

3. Mistake: Believing Your Genes are to Blame

You look in the mirror and you see your mom. It is not her hair or even her eyes. It is your body. In addition, there is nothing you can do about it. After all, it is hereditary.

And now, what is the Solution: Get Real!

Genes do play a role in some cases of obesity. Often you will see family members who share the same body type. But for many of us, the most important factor in weight loss is calories in vs. calories out … how many calories we eat and how much exercise we get. All of that in order to lose some weight.

Even if family members are heavy, there are steps you can take so that you do not share their fate. Working out and strength-training will build muscle and give your metabolism a boost, both of which will help you head off the propensity for weight gain your genes might bring.

4. Mistake: Meal Skipping

It only stands to reason: If the key to losing weight is cutting calories then why not cut a bunch at once by skipping a meal?

If you skip meals when you are trying to lose weight, you are doing yourself more harm than good.

Meal skipping can cause your metabolism to nosedive. That will set you up for sluggish calorie burning all day long and ravenous hunger (and as a result, overeating) at night. An after all, what is the solution? Don’t Be a Skipper!

Most meal-skippers forgo breakfast. It seems to be the easiest meal to do without. But in reality, breakfast may influence weight loss more than any other meal!

If you aren’t hungry first thing in the morning, have something small. Do you actually forget to eat in the AM hustle and bustle? Set an alarm to go off some time after you normally rise to remind you to stop, take a breath … and eat.

5. Mistake: Giving in to a Food-Pusher

You have met her. She pushes doughnuts on unsuspecting office mates. She brings cupcakes for the book group while only tasting the icing herself. She hands you the takeout menu when you have already told her you brought a brown bag.

Who is she? She’s a pusher! A food pusher, that is. In addition, boy, they are hard to resist if you are missing the food they’re encouraging you to eat. What is the solution? Put Yourself First!

Whether office baked goods temptress or the well-meaning Mom who suggests seconds of her best dishes, some people just refuse to take “no” as an answer. They probably don’t even realize they are making your weight loss efforts that much harder.

You may have to distance yourself from the “pusher” for the time being. Sometimes it’s better for all parties concerned.

6. Mistake: Giving Up On Losing Weight Your Way

Sometimes, telling your friends and family you are on a diet can actually backfire. If they don’t understand your diet or think they know a better way to lose weight, it can lead to unwelcome input or even arguments. You get to the point that you want to throw in the towel. What is the solution? Keep it Under Wraps!

Only you know what works for you. So keep doing what works for you.

There is no rule that says you have to tell friends or family that you’re trying to lose weight. Weight is a personal issue. It is your prerogative to keep it that way.

Tags: diet, diet rules, fast weight loss diet, loss, rules, weight, Weight Loss, Weight Loss Diet, weight loss mistakes, weight loss rules

Posted on January 30th, 2008