6 Dieting Mistakes

   I've been trying different diets for a while and I can truthfully admit that I've made most of these dieting mistakes at one time or another. Some dieting mistakes can easily be recovered from, but some are a challenge to fix. Hopefully, you can learn something from my mistakes.

  The first dieting mistake is deciding on a plan without variety in the diet. Many diets come to mind, grapefruit diet, lemonade diet, apple cider vinegar diet. I'm sure you can think of others. The second mistake is going all out for a diet. "I'm going to lose weight and I'm going to be perfect", you say to yourself.

  I managed to combine both these mistakes when I decided to eating nothing but salads for weeks. It was spring and bathing suit season was approaching. Yes, I lost some weight, but I had a hard time staring a salad in the face for months after. Don't set yourself up to be frustrated. It's much better to make many small changes rather than one big change with regards to your diet.

  Select a diet or new nutrition plan where you select from a wide variety of foods each day. Don't limit yourself to one selection. For example, for lunch you might have soup and half a sandwich one day, a veggie quesadilla the next day, leftovers from dinner the night before the following day and to top it off, a terrific salad with egg or chicken on top. Be sure to plan protein and fiber for all your meals. It will help keep you full and prevent snacking on the wrong types of foods.

  The third dieting mistake is depriving yourself of food you like. One thing that we often forget is that no food is forbidden, just have much smaller portions infrequently. Fill up on double servings of fruits and vegetables but allow yourself to enjoy the occasional treat. Chocolate is definitely on the list of allowable treats! Instead of a candy bar, purchase the bars of solid, dark chocolate. Break off a small piece and enjoy it with a cup of tea after lunch or dinner. If you want a piece of birthday cake, have a bite, then set it aside. There is no need to eat the whole thing. After awhile, you may even lose your taste for baked sweets and be satisfied with chocolate which is an antioxidant and good for you!

  The fourth dieting mistake is not tracking what you eat. There are some great apps out there that help you document what you eat for every meal plus snacks. People who track their food do manage to reach their goals with more success. If you do an internet search for 'free diet tracker', you will find many helpful programs to make it easier to track what you eat.

  We've been talking about weight-loss goals so the fifth dieting mistake is not setting any goals. There is a fine medium between setting goals that are too high and goals that are laughably low. My goals are set in a notebook, so when my Wii Fit wants a goal, I laugh and set silly goals. Those who set achievable goals will see the greatest degree of success. Making those goals public and asking for support from your friends is another thing that will help you achieve greater success.

  I also recommend delaying measuring every day. Standing on a scale every morning can be not only depressing, but frustrating when you are eating perfectly and not seeing results immediately. It takes your body days to adjust to changes in diet and you can't expect results right away. I recommend weighing and or measuring once a week. For example, weigh and/or measure every Saturday morning right after you get up. Don't forget to write it down, because I personally can't remember what I weighed a month ago. One researcher found that people would say that they had not gained weight since last year. Most of them did not remember accurately and had actually gained many pounds over the year.

  The sixth and most serious dieting mistake is giving up. Remember that first example where I ate nothing but salads for a month? I gave up on dieting for quite a period of time after and actually ended up gaining more weight than I had started with. We all have setbacks along the way. Focus on where you are going with your health and realize that if you don't meet your goals, you can always set new ones. As you make the small changes in your diet, know that you are making life changes, not just diet changes and these should help you eat healthier from that point on.

  Cynthia Simmons is a Weight Management Consultant. She recently found a wonderful solution to her long term weight problem. She has personally helped many people manage their weight loss safely without drugs or being hungry. Her long-term goal is to build a team of happy, healthy people to share this life-saving information with others suffering from the same weight problems she had.

To find out more about Cynthia, see 6 Dieting Mistakes


 
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