Are you not losing weight? Have you just about given up trying to lose weight? All I have to say is hold on Debbie downer!
Let me help!
Nobody said weight loss was easy! It is these bad habits that are very common that make life difficult when it should not be. The 1st step to accomplish when you are not losing body fat or weight is to admit that you need help. There is nothing wrong with not knowing what the heck we are doing. I am not telling you that I am going to be your savior and you will all be Greek gods or goddesses. I will be the 1st to tell you that I have failed with my own nutritional plan a lot more than once! Ya I know how you feel, it sucks! Here are some common mistakes that people need to avoid in order to lose weight and/or body fat.
7 Bad Habits for Weight Loss that you should avoid
1. Unrealistic Goals
I swear if I hear one more person talk about some shape or bodybuilding magazine diet plan that is not working for them, I am going to go nuts! Guys let me be the 1st to tell you that these big bulky beefcakes that are in these magazines talking about “if you eat like this, you will look just as good as them”. These guys do not get insanely big with just diet alone, they have magical liquids that help them get that big. If you followed this program, you could get big and bulky. When they tell you that you will gain 10 lbs of muscle in 2 weeks, that is not possible accomplishing naturally.
You women out there, just because of some celebrity lost 15 lbs in 2 months with some insane rabbit food diet, does not mean it will work for you. What people do not realize is everyone is different. What may work for me, maybe the opposite for you. Instead of saying you want to lose 15 lbs in 2 weeks, how about starting with losing 2 lbs in 1 week. Better yet, how about starting off with getting rid of crap food or getting off your butt and working out? Baby steps will help you have a sustained healthy lifestyle.
2. Eating Packaged Foods
Fat-Free, Sugar-Free, Low Sodium and Low Calorie is what people always say they are always buying. I hate to burst your bubble but just because you see these magical sounding terms on the labels, does not mean they are healthy. Ya, these things might be low in sugar, sodium, fat, or calories, but that means some kind of other chemical or crap has been added to replace it. Is it really that difficult to eat fresh food or are we just lazy?
How many of you like to spend hours upon hours cooking meals a week? The answer is nobody! Too many times I hear “it takes too long to cook”. The reason why packaged food companies keep making food is for the lazy people who do not want to cook. Hate to tell you people, it really does not take long. I would say the average meal that it takes me to cook is 10-20 mins. What makes it even better is that you can cook multiple meals at the same time. Who would have thought that you could 2-3 meals in 10 mins.
3. You are Ab Exercise Crazy
At least 1 time a day I get asked: “what ab exercises will help lower my belly fat”. What I tell everyone is that abs are made in the kitchen. What this means that nutrition combined with exercise is the solution to ab fat reduction. You can do sit ups until you are blue in the face but there is no such thing as spot reduction. Spot reductions are defined as trying to target a certain area to lose body fat in that area. When you see people with flat or 6 pack abs, you may be thinking that they must do a ton of ab exercises. You know how many people who I have seen who have 6 packs and they have poor ab strength and stabilization? Having a 6 pack means is that you have low body fat. Where do you think the most common spots on the body that stores the most fat? Your butt and abs. If you do not burn the calories, there is a good chance that it is going to those areas.
4. Busy Eater
How many of you snack when you are watching T.V., reading and/or on the computer? You probably do not even realize that you are stuffing yourself because you are focused on something else. I am guilty of not having just having a handful of something tasty. If there is a box of cheese its in the house, there is a good chance that it could be gone by the time a 30 min show is over. Even if you are eating something completely healthy like fruit and vegetable, if you eat too much and you do not burn it, you will gain weight or body fat. Remember that it takes about 20 mins for you stomach to tell your brain that you are full. Have a handful of something and give it 20 mins to kick in and you will be satisfied
5. Emotional Eater
I was watching Austin Powers a couple of nights ago and one line that got me thinking was “I eat because I am unhappy and I am unhappy because I eat”. This is so true. How many people (especially women) eat chocolate to comfort sadness or stress? I have nothing against chocolate, I have a problem if we over eat it. I can not really relate well to dealing with sadness and stress eating because my approach on life is you only live once, why be unhappy and stressed out. Now I know you, parents, out there are probably thinking “wait until you have kids”. If you are a high stressed person, getting outside and/or in the gym can be a healthy tool to deal with stress.
6. Afraid to Eat
This was my downfall when I was trying my year long quest for losing 80 lbs. When you hear that you eat like a princess or a rabbit, you would expect to lose a ton of weight right? The positive of doing this is that you can achieve weight loss at a fast rate and the negative is that if you are trying to build muscle at the same time is no bueno! What I mean by this is that essentially your body is looking for fuel but if it is not getting fed properly, then it is going to start eating your muscle. Recently, I became a certified nutritionist and it really opened my eyes to how feeding our bodies properly and helped me realize that I do not need to cut a ton of calories and be no longer afraid of eating carbs! Taking the time to start a plan that mapped out my protein, carbs and fat intake has been the best thing I could have done for faster and great results!
7. Not Committed
Losing weight is something you can not take seriously, what I tell people is you can not put in weak effort and expect results. When people come to me asking why they are not losing weight, the 1st thing I ask them is, are you putting your absolute best effort into what you put into your body and in the gym? In most cases, they say no. People, if it was easy everyone would be fit and in the best shape of their lives! If it was easy to honest it would be boring. You know how many times I failed when trying to build muscle and/or lose weight? It was hard for me to figure this out and this is my career. Did I give up or pout? Hell ya, I wanted to at times. The difference was that I knew that I was not putting my 100% effort into what I was doing. You can not expect the best results if you are willing to put in the work in order to lose weight. Just because you hit the gym with your best effort, does not mean you can give 50% effort in the kitchen. If you go out to the bars or dinner 2-3 times a week and post it on Facebook all the crap drinks and food that you are eating, do not come to me asking why you are not losing weight.
Conclusion
I have been a personal trainer for 8 years now and I have heard so many people come to telling me why they could not lose any weight. These points from this article are all of them that I have heard this week alone! I hate being tough on people but to be honest with you, I wish I had somebody be hard on me when I was trying to lose weight! I would not have wasted 2 years experimenting on my goals.