We all know of dieting as a tedious process. The process of actually motivating yourself and finally convincing yourself that this is finally it, you’re going to start. That is in fact the simple part. The hard part is, of course, getting it right and creating the perfect formula for your dieting efforts. Unfortunately, it is that same formula you are following for your diet that might be sabotaging your results. Dieting is a sea filled with many dos and don’ts but we’ll reveal how the ideas you think might be helping you, are in fact, hurting you.
1. Starting a Diet
Dieting can be a great start to a healthier body, but there are also repercussions with diets that many are unaware of. The one problem you can face with dieting is the aftereffect it brings with binge eating.
The problem with dieting is that you restrict yourself of vital nutrients, micro-nutrients, and healthy fats – this void then creates an imbalance in your body’s chemical processes and hormonal balance, which in turn will lead to post-dieting binge eating. You’ll soon find unhealthy food cravings after coming out of a diet regimen.
2. Reducing Your Calorie Intake is a No-no
Lowering your metabolic weight means your dependency on food becomes lower. This drop will cause a spike in weight, specifically when you return to your normal food intake. You’ll find that once you’re back to your regular eating habits, packing up those pounds will come even faster than before. By reducing calories, your body, to compensate, will start storing away fat, a key for reserving its energy.
3. Spending Too Much Time on the Scale
The infamous daily scale step in hopes of miraculously shedding a few pounds consumes you. Carefully gauging where the needle sits time and time again can be stressful and misleading. Here’s the thing — muscle has a much greater density, therefore it takes up less volume than an equal mass of fat and this is deceiving. You might be losing your fat from your dieting efforts, but if you are also weight training or exercising, then you might in fact hover around the same weight, maybe even increase in pounds. Not to worry, though because muscle weighs more than fat so this weight might be deceiving to the eyes.
4. Relying on Diet Pills
Usually regarded as the shortcut in dieting, diet pills are known to create dependency and in some cases extreme addiction. You may think that this seems unlikely, but the truth is that diet pills can create ongoing psychological and physiological problems. Some of the more common side effects that come with diet pills are: include insomnia, restlessness, headaches, diarrhea, and dry mouth. Due to their chemical make-up, there is a chance that intestinal problems, diarrhea and cramps can also occur after taking pills, which promise to block carbs or fat. These bad effects perpetuate a dependent cycle. Let alone that over the counter diet pills are unregulated.
5. Not Incorporating Fat into Your Diet
By now you we all know fat is known as a three-letter enemy towards dieting or better known as the “F” word. Unfortunately it has the worst credibility as a compound. But new data has emerged on its great benefits, well, the good fat that is. Fat is a great contributor to making our skin soft, providing essential fatty acids, acting as a energizing fuel source, and mainly acts as a source to help you absorb vitamins A, D, E and K, which are essential for your nervous system. What you should look for are Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fats. These types of fats raise good HDL cholesterol, lower bad LDL cholesterol and protect against the buildup of plaque in your arteries.
In addition to providing essential omega-3 fatty acids — which boost brain function and may help strengthen your immune system and improve your mood — and omega-6 fatty acids, which in small amounts can keep skin and eyes healthy. At 9 calories per gram, any type of fat — good or bad — packs more than twice the calories of carbohydrate and protein. But the key here is moderation.
6. Thinking Whole Wheat is a Healthier Choice
Here’s one that does not get talked about often… whole wheat. The bark against whole wheat is the misconception of it being favorably healthy. We all know that refined grains like white bread is digested fairly quick, due to this quick digestion, it basically causes a spike in blood sugar. Although, whole wheat is considered as a healthy alternative with its high fiber content, the problem is that it is usually mixed well in with fine flour, which unfortunately leads to rapid spikes in blood sugar as well.
To measure how quickly food would elevate blood sugar science uses the glycemic index as the gold standard. According to a Harvard study research found that on average, whole wheat bread has a glycemic index of 71, consequently it falls nearly identical to white bread.
7. Lacking in Your Precious Sleep
Sleep is very important and when it involves keep off extra pounds, there’s no exception. When you are catching up on night’s sleep, you affect your body’s production of leptin (a hormone responsible for notifying your body when it is full).
In addition, levels of the hormone Ghrelin are increased when you are sleep deprived. The problem with this is that the increase in Ghrelin secretion can be held responsible for overeating. Therefore getting a night’s rest is imperative, let alone the energy levels you’ll begin to feel when you are all caught up. By tweaking your sleeping habits, you might be a
Sleep affects levels of the hunger-regulating hormone leptin, which helps your body realize it’s full, and ghrelin, which stimulates appetite. Not getting adequate sleep lowers levels of leptin while raising levels of ghrelin, which can cause overeating when you’re sleep-deprived. A recent study found that women who didn’t sleep enough ate an average of 300 more calories than those who got adequate sleep. And, since exercise helps you sleep, revamping your sleeping habits can be the start of a beneficial cycle.
8. Choosing Salads as a Healthier Alternative.
Most of us go with the option of having a salad for lunch, as it is a healthy alternative. This is all great and if eaten with the right ingredients could be greatly beneficial, but the issue lies in what bad choices we make in the decision making of a salad.
For example, adding dressing to your salad using consist of two tablespoons, which could easily exceed 200 calories. There are also disadvantages in adding dried fruits, which conceal sugars.
9. Eating Too Much of the Good Stuff.
It is possible to overdo and overeat on the good stuff. Just because something is healthy does not mean that you can eat excessive amounts of it. For example, nuts contain beneficial good fats, which are heart healthy; the problem with consuming too much is that these fats will creep up on you. Fat contains 9 calories per gram, versus carbohydrates and protein, which are only 4 calories per gram.
The key is balance and moderation. Spreading your selections of foods with the color spectrum is a great approach. Avoiding portion size will factor in weight gain so no matter how you look at it, if you consume more calories than you burn will cause you to store fat.
10. Missing Out on Breakfast.
Let’s go on the record and say that the breakfast we are referring to do not include your typical dishes, which include, bacon, waffles, pancakes, or anything unhealthy for that matter that is usually associate with a typical breakfast – but rather a delicious and delectable nutrient-dense meal. Well then, if that is the case, you are missing out on a lot. Eating earlier in the day will keep you from starving later in the day. Among other things, when you skip breakfast
11. Not All Fruits are Created Equal.
Fruits are a great for dieting, they really are. The food pyramid recommends us having 2-4 servings of fruits per day. Fruits also provide great nourishment, including essential vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, without carefully understanding fruits, they might be working against you. The reason? Excessive consumption. The cause? Sugar.
Here’s the thing, most fruits are rated low on the glycemic index (which is a good thing), but those that are high, will cause a spike in blood sugar and eventually cause hunger hormonal imbalance and insulin resistance. Fruits like apples and oranges have a low glycemic, whereas bananas, watermelons and pineapples are high in the glycemic index.
Slowly but surely you will find the balance for your body and find what actually does work. But informing yourself with facts is a body’s best friend to concrete weight loss.
