We’re forever searching for the latest dieting tips to lose weight, yet despite the wealth of information available, many of us continue to fall into the trap of making the same diet mistakes.
By that, we don’t mean the time you gorged on a slice of cake that wasn’t in your diet plan.
We’re talking about the BIG unforgiving mistakes! You know the ones which prevent you from ever being anywhere close to realizing your weight loss goals.
And you wonder why you’re not losing weight? Having a clear understanding from the outset about these potential pitfalls will strengthen your mental resolve and support you in your quest to lose weight permanently.
1. Being a Diet Perfectionist
Diet perfectionist characteristics’ are symbolized by the following behaviors:
- (a) Choosing the most complicated diet plan which will invariably be near on impossible to stick to.
- (b) Immediately dispensing food products that do not fit that plan.
This sort of gun-hoe approach may work for the first day, maybe the first week, or even perhaps for a couple of weeks.
Slowly but surely the diet perfectionist will come across a situation where for one reason or another, they are unable to keep to the strictness of their plan. It’s instant game over. They’ve broken the plan once so what’s the point of carrying on, all their hard work was for nothing and in their eyes, everything has been ruined.
The next thing you know the diet perfectionist is back to restocking their cupboards with replacement food. Any weight they did manage to lose, goes straight back on, as quickly as they had lost it.
Do you recognize yourself in this? If so it’s time to take stock and be honest about whether you are really serious about wanting to lose weight.
Tackle this mistake: Instead of trying to do it all in one go, make small changes to your diet to start with. Allow yourself to achieve slow yet steady weight loss.
For those among you who want to add a little extra pep to your diet plan, try a weight loss supplement such as Proactol Plus. Not only will it help you to burn fat, but it will also suppress your appetite too.
2. Don’t Play the Martyr
Dieting does not have to be sacrificial. By completely avoiding the foods you used to enjoy, you will only make your cravings for them greater. Making you feel miserable for wanting them in the first place.
Also, what do you think will happen the moment you reach your target weight? You had a great diet plan but you hadn’t re-trained your brain to eat the ‘bad food’ in moderation. As soon as you reach for the cookie jar, things are going to get messy.
Avoid these diet mistakes: Be good to yourself. It’s okay to include a little non-diet food in your plan once in a while. Learn to enjoy those naughty treats in small quantities.
3. Setting Yourself Up For Failure
How many people sit down and actually set out their goals for losing weight in writing? Not many people do. While this may be fine for those individuals who only want or need to lose a couple of lbs, for larger weight loss goals it’s highly recommendable that you commit your action plans to paper.
For the best results create clear, achievable goals which are tangible.
Combat this mistake: Put pen to paper and write your long-term weight loss plan. Include a week-by-week breakdown of how much weight you intend to lose.
It could be that you want to lose 2 lbs every week for a period of 10 weeks. Whatever you decide this handy weight loss calculator can help you determine what is realistic for you.
Why not include a graph in your plan to visually show your achievements?
Don’t worry if you’ve been guilty of committing the above diet mistakes. In fact, that’s a good thing because now you can learn from them and move on.
Remember the only way to lose weight permanently is to really focus on becoming healthier. Some days you will eat more food than others, but take pleasure in eating moderately and you will have a fighting chance of ending your diet mistakes.
