9 weight-loss mistakes you don’t know you’re making
Reported March 23, 2009
Anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight knows it’s no cakewalk. Eating less is hard enough, and certain factors – biological and environmental – can sabotage our good intentions.
There are ways to combat what makes losing weight so tough. Here are a few tips on what you may be doing wrong, and how to right it from Woman’s Day magazine:
– Overdoing the artificial sweeteners: Research shows that people who have diet drinks regularly may be more likely to gain weight and develop metabolic syndrome, a condition that includes having excess belly fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance. One theory why: Taste signals how many calories are in a particular food and helps your body judge how they should be used.
Avoid it: Water is always an ideal choice, but you don’t have to go cold turkey on the diet soda. Limit yourself to one a day, and be careful not to compensate with high-calorie beverages like fruit juice or sports drinks.
– Not recalibrating your eating plan: As you lose pounds, your body needs even fewer calories to keep going (or maintain the weight loss). Unfair, we know, but the lighter you are, the fewer calories you need.
– Judging fullness with your eyes, not your stomach: One difference between the French (whose obesity rates are low) and Americans (whose obesity rates are rising) is that the French say they stop eating when they’re full. According to experts, we Americans see food in front of us, and we eat it.
Avoid it: Use smaller plates – you won’t be able to fit as much on them, and chances are, you’ll eat less. Never eat from a carton or a bag, because you can’t gauge how much you’re having. At meals, take a break when your plate is half empty, and think about whether you want to continue.
– Always doing the same workout: Muscles have memory, they get used to your routine and don’t work as hard each time you do it. This means that over time if you don’t change things up, you’ll burn fewer calories. Help by adding resistance training, whether it’s resisting your own body weight, or using resistance bands or free weights. It’s key to building muscle and boosting metabolism, since muscle burns more calories than fat.