Common Diet Mistakes

 Common Diet Mistakes

 1. FOCUSING ON CARDIO

Many people opt to do only cardio workouts when trying to lose weight because cardio workouts burn more calories in the duration of the workout than, say, resistance training. But what they don’t realise is that the key to getting a more toned body is to increase the metabolism. You should go for activities that not only burn calories during the workout but also burn calories for hours and days afterwards, such as resistance and/or interval training. In short, don’t focus on just cardio-only workouts but aim to combine it with some weight training to build up muscle.

2. SKIPPING BREAKFAST

Skipping meals is something many people do – especially when they feel they ate like a pig the night before. But there is a reason why breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should never be missed. When you wake up, your body craves for nutrients as it’s been fasting for six hours or so. When you skip breakfast, your body starts breaking down muscle for energy – again, you have to remember that your muscle is your metabolism. Eat a healthy, well-balanced breakfast and you’ll find you’re less likely to overeat later on.

3. RELYING ON PILLS

I scoff everytime I see ads on TV with a distinguished spokesperson, an MD of some sort or other, talking about the benefits of their particular diet pills. Please! I have never met anyone who has ever lost weight through diet pills. Just as bad as crash diets.

4. EATING TOO LITTLE

Eating too little throughout the day will result in you overeating during dinner where there is little opportunity to burn off the calories as you’re more likely to just sit in front of the TV and relax. You may have heard this too often before but you really should try to eat 5 to 6 small meals throughout the day.

5. EATING OUT TOO MUCH

Since I started cooking at home, I realised just how much bigger the servings are in takeaway shops and restaurants. And because you paid $10 or so for the meal, you don’t want to waste it and you end up scoffing everything down even though you were already full halfway through. Avoid eating out too much – not only are you more likely to control how much food you put in your mouth at home, you also know exactly what goes into the food.

6. EMOTIONAL EATING

How many times have you found yourself stressed at work then wolfed down a Hungry Jack’s large whopper meal to make you feel better? If you want a healthy body, you need to find a way to control your emotional attachment to food.

7. LACK OF CONSISTENCY

A key to getting and keeping a fit, healthy body is changing your lifestyle and ensuring you maintain it. Which is why crash diets don’t work because not many people can maintain it over a long period of time. When starting a weight-loss program, you need to ensure you can incorporate that into your lifestyle and that it is something you can maintain for a long period. I have seen too many friends of mine who have gone hard at exercising, spending time at the gym for 3 hours every day for 2 weeks only to find themselves dropping off and not being able to keep up with it.

8. NOT ENOUGH SLEEP

My personal trainer told me this was by far the most important key to losing weight. Getting a reasonable amount of sleep at night (at least 8 hours) relaxes and revitalises your mind and body, which is a must if you’re working out regularly. Having insufficient sleep-time leads to increase in stress hormones and you’ll find when you wake up in the morning, you become hungry and crave for junk food.