6 common mistakes you might be making that will prevent you from
achieving your weight loss goals AND what actions to take instead.
Attaining reasonable weight loss goals is totally possible...people do it all the time.
But if you're frustrated with your weight loss journey and not achieving results that stick, just know that you're in the norm.
Weight loss can be pretty simple, but that doesn't mean its easy.
You have to be mindful and know what you're doing, especially if you don't have someone, like a nutritionist, coaching you through your journey.
A lot of people don't realize that some of their habits and behaviors are severely hindering their ability to reach their health & wellness goals. If you're struggling with losing the weight you want to lose and/or keeping it off, there's a good chance you could be making one *or more* of the mistakes below.
Mistake #1. Adopting the 'All or Nothing' Mindset & letting one slip-up ruin your progress
Arguably the biggest reason people ‘fail’ at ever achieving their weight loss & fitness goals. First, realize that you’re human and we ALL make mistakes and have little slip-ups when it comes to our nutrition. All you have to do is make sure your next meal is a healthy one.
It’s okay to eat something ‘unhealthy’ here and there, but don’t go into it with the mindset that ‘Well, sh*t, I ate that brownie and now I completely failed my diet…guess I might as well have 5 more.'
NO.
Change that mindset and instead think ‘The brownie may not have been part of my diet plan, but I enjoyed the heck out of it and I’m satisfied. I’ll get back on track by making sure the next thing I eat is something nutritious.’
Do that & you’ll be WAY more successful with your weight loss and health goals.
Mistake #2. Completely eliminating sugar and/or all junk food instead of REDUCING them
If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll definitely want to reduce the amount of junk food you eat and how often, but don’t completely eliminate it.
You’ll crave it so much more if you try to completely remove it from your diet, and you can only ignore those cravings for so long.
Instead, reduce how much and how often you allow yourself to enjoy your favorite junk foods.
Life is too short to not enjoy your favorite snacks with your friends or some chips & guac at home on the couch once in a while!
Mistake #3. Focusing on what foods to cut OUT of your diet
When we center our thoughts around what we ‘can’t’ have, we’re bound to feel restricted sooner or later, and that leads to unsustainability—AKA, ending up completely quitting on eating healthier.
Instead, we should focus our attention on what we can ADD to our diet.
Such as adding more greens, fresh fruit, increasing water intake, etc.
Mistake #4. Not measuring serving sizes & underestimating portions
If you rarely ever measure the servings of your foods...ya know...you just dive into your peanut butter jar with your spoon, scoop it out & plop it onto your toast, or you 'drizzle' your oils over your salad or onto your frying pan straight from the bottle, mindlessly grab your nuts by the handfuls, etc...I HIGHLY recommend you try measuring out everything you eat for one day.
Just try it.
It can be incredibly eye-opening and you could find that you’re consuming way more than you knew. It’s super easy to underestimate what we’re putting into our mouths when we’re not being mindful about it or practicing portion control.
Mistake #5. Starving yourself during the day & binging at night
Intermittent fasting is one thing…and if that works for your lifestyle & you’re happy eating that way—there’s nothing wrong with that & I’m all for it!
HOWEVER.
It’s a totally different situation when you’re trying to starve yourself all day so that you can come home and completely indulge all night. It’s not even about ‘eating late at night makes you gain weight'. It’s that you’ll more than likely overeat with this strategy because you’re bound to choose non-nutritious foods that are highly processed, high in calories and not satiating.
You might feel full for an hour, but then you’ll end up going back to the kitchen for more. Wash, rinse, & repeat.
It’s a vicious cycle that usually leaves you feeling like crap the next morning and not wanting to eat all day again because of the inevitable guilt that comes with binging, and then you’ll go right back to doing the same thing again that night.
Don’t starve your body during the day. That’s when your body is the most active and you burn the most calories, so you should actually try to eat the majority of your calories DURING the day instead of at night. If you need more tips on how to beat binge eating, check out my post here for what helped me get past that mindset and helped me not only with achieving my goals, but feeling SO much better, too!
Mistake #6. Blaming carbs for weight gain
Assuming there’s no medical issues or diseases involved, overeating is the reason for weight gain.
It’s not the potatoes, or the rice, or the bread—it’s eating TOO MUCH of it.
That principle applies for ALL FOODS, not just carbs.
You can 1000% have bread & pasta *I recommend whole wheat/whole grain, of course*, and still lose weight…you just have to control your portions and make sure you’re eating within your daily caloric allowance.
If weight loss is the goal, or you're just trying to improve your nutrition & have a healthier relationship with food, I hope this post brings some of the mistakes you're making to your awareness & you can take any tips from this that make sense for you & head in the direction towards achieving your goals!
xo Mackenzie.