Weight Loss Mistakes

Common mistakes and solutions

Fat loss and “leaning out” are common goals that many people struggle with. Even worse, there are many fat loss mistakes that you may not even know you are making. We understand that this process can be extremely frustrating and demotivating. Therefore, in this article, we examine some of these mistakes and suggest solutions that can be progressively implemented to get you back and keep you, on track. Our follow-up article will focus on exercise as a unique component of your weight management or any body composition plan.

Weight loss and achieving that physique that you have always wanted is a challenging endeavour for most of us. But, if you choose to make progressive changes to your lifestyle habits without taking shortcuts, you stand a very good chance of achieving the goals that you have set. Remember the ultimate goal is not just eating better or getting fit. It is doing so on a sustainable basis for the best success in the medium- and long term. It is important to not only succeed but to also maintain and even enhance the gains that you have made.

Click here to schedule an appointment with a Biokineticist to guide you along your weight loss journey.

10 Common Mistakes

#1 EXTREME CALORIE RESTRICTIONS

One of the most common beliefs about fat loss is that we need to burn off more calories than we consume. While not entirely untrue. Most people tend to go to extremes with calorie deficits of up to 40% – 50% of their normal energy intake. As a result, many of these Fad and crash dieters relapse and gain additional weight after early success.

These drastic measures are not healthy nor effective in the medium- to long-term. You need to remember that your body needs energy to maintain all bodily processes to perform daily activities. Extreme calorie restriction increases the risk of losing both muscle and bone mass. It is important to realize that muscle is key to burning calories, even while at rest. Therefore, reduced lean muscle mass slows down your metabolism and leaves you in a less-than-optimal state. That is to say, it will be a struggle in the medium- to long term to maintain a chosen body weight. Muscle burns energy at a faster rate than fat, therefore, higher lean muscle mass is key to maintaining an effective functioning metabolism.

Before focusing on calorie counting, your first focus should be on making lifestyle modifications that support your physique goals. For example, eat higher quality, nutrient-dense food and less calorie-dense food. Also, get enough sleep and exercise more.

#2 DISTRACTED CALORIE CONSUMPTION

When we are distracted, we tend to consume more than we are aware of. Just think about watching TV, how you can become so immersed in your programme that you munch through an entire packet of chips before realising it. This is very bad for fat loss as we gulp down thousands of unnecessary calories. Most excess calories come from snacking throughout the day. Again, this tends to happen when we are preoccupied with something else. Therefore, many could make a significant difference in daily calorie intake, purely by reducing snacking.

We all need to pay more attention to what we eat. Sadly, we are in the age of smartphones and constant screen time. I see it all too often where people have a fork in one hand and a screen in the other. Eliminate distractions and focus on what you are eating. Did you know that it can take up to 20 minutes for your stomach to signal to the brain that you are full? Subsequently, this delayed response can put us in a bad place as we can consume excessive amounts of calories “unconsciously”.

#3 CHRONIC DEHYDRATION

Dehydration is one of the top causes of daytime fatigue. Drinking more water is an excellent strategy for weight loss. Water enhances satiety and displaces the consumption of beverages containing high amounts of calories. Another benefit of increased water consumption is that it helps to optimize exercise performance and other health factors. Water is a “magic drink” with benefits that far exceed any supplement on the shelf.

#4 LIQUID CALORIES

An absolute game changer when it comes to weight loss for most people is avoiding liquid calories. Above all, avoid or reduce your consumption of high-calorie liquids. For example, most fizzy/soda drinks contain a significant amount of sugar. Also, don’t be fooled by concentrated fruit juices. Just because the drink is extracted from fruit, it isn’t necessarily good for you, especially when consumed in large quantities. Production of the juice strips out almost all the fruit fibre leaving only concentrated sugars in the drink. Some fruit juices have the same, if not more, sugar content than most fizzy drinks!

#5 IRRESISTIBLE FOOD & SNACKS

We all have things in our grocery cupboards that we find irresistible and usually consume on a weekly or daily basis. My weakness is peanut butter which I enjoy with my breakfast oats. If your goal is to reduce body fat, you need to make it as difficult as possible to cheat. Sometimes, the best solution is to remove the temptation altogether and clear your grocery cupboard of these items!

#6 SAUCES

When thinking about healthy eating, most people think food has to be bland, tasteless and difficult to swallow without your favourite sauce. The first thing that comes to one’s mind is chicken breasts and broccoli. Hence, many who want to eat better include sauces to make bland “healthier” food tasty enough to consume. However, these sauces mostly contain added sugars that load a whole lot of extra calories to the meal. Thus, defeating the goal to eat healthier. I encourage you to rather use spices and herbs to flavour your healthier meals instead of sauces.

#7 NON-SUSTAINABLE HABITS: DIET, EXERCISE

Diet habits

Put simply, this is trying to do too much, too soon or trying to make drastic changes to your lifestyle to achieve fat loss. This is a common mistake concerning exercise and “diet”. For most of us, it is quite difficult to adopt new habits immediately, especially when trying to unlearn unhealthy lifestyle habits practised for many years. Rather take small steps and progressively develop better habits over time. The goal is to develop habits and routines that are specific and sustainable to your unique lifestyle. For both short- and long-term adherence, it is better to “normalize” routines before moving onto a more radical routine.

When it comes to diet, most people look for quick fixes. For instance, we see many people opting for all these magical weight loss supplements or Fad diets promising drastic results. These rarely work over the medium- to long-term leading to disappointment. Progressive adaptions to your daily food intake are certain to have lasting medium- to long-term success.

Exercise habits

Similarly, each year we see many people attending the gym to start a physical exercise programme to enhance their physique and health. However, often such people start radical gym programmes, such as trying to exercise six days a week. This is very difficult in the short term and near impossible to maintain in the medium- to long term. Such people end up leaving the gym demotivated.

As with healthier eating habits, an exercise regime needs to be introduced gradually. Begin with 2 to 3 exercise sessions a week and then gradually increase your training frequency. We each have our unique life commitments and it is important to ensure you have a good balance so you can commit 100% to your gym goals. Be realistic with yourself. Make small and simple changes that produce results and then grow from there. Small changes eventually lead to big gains.

Biokineticists are exercise specialists who can help you implement exercise as a strategy for weight loss. Click here to contact one of our Biokineticists so that we can assist you.

#8 STRESS, STRESS, STRESS

Stress comes in many forms and is a reality in our lives, whether we like it or not. Exercise is a stressor that over time can result in many beneficial adaptions or if done wrong can result in burnout and injury if not managed properly. Likewise, we get many non-exercise stressors that can wreak havoc on our bodies unless we better manage them. In many instances, it is better to remove these stressors before adding the additional stress of exercise or caloric restrictions. This is crucial so that when you do eventually implement exercise, it can provide maximal benefits. You may ask, what are non-exercise stressors? Read on.

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation has not received the attention it deserves. There is certainly a lot of research that shows how sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain. You need to ensure that you get a minimum of 7 hours each night. Certainly, some individuals need more sleep than others to function properly. Bear in mind that when you sleep, many important hormones for fat loss and muscle growth are released. On the other hand, poor sleep or lack thereof has a profound effect on body composition.

If you consistently starve your body of sleep; your body produces cortisol (the stress hormone) too often. Importantly, constantly elevated cortisol levels can lead to increased fat storage in your abdomen. In addition, sleep deprivation harms performance during physical training.

Work-related Stress

Work environments and busy schedules are a huge source of stress in our daily lives. Work takes up a large proportion of our daily lives. Consider the time you spend working, usually more than 8 hours a day. This is more than devoted to work in a 24-hour cycle. It is a fact that how you spend your day, is how you spend your life, hence work takes up a large proportion of your life. Therefore, spending too much time working can be a significant cause of stress. As a result, if we are constantly stressed our stress hormones are going to be chronically elevated.

These hormones not only influence body composition. To clarify, elevated stress hormones can increase heart rate and elevate blood pressure resulting in short-, medium- and long-term health problems. You need to make time to rest and re-energise yourself when working. Avoid skipping or working through lunch and other breaks. Use that time to relax, de-stress and focus on what you are eating. In addition, get up from your desk, go for a walk, listen to some music and breath calmly.

#9 HOLIDAY & TRAVEL DIETARY CHALLENGES

We all enjoy going on holiday and for most of us, holidays mean we take a holiday from our usual routines such as healthy eating and physical exercise. Consequently, when we are on holiday, it is very easy to fall into old habits and deviate from healthy eating. This may not be a problem if you holiday once or twice a year. However, if you travel a lot for work or go on holiday most weekends, dietary mishaps can add up. Vacations generally involve a lot of snacks, takeaway food, buffets, deserts and increased alcohol consumption. As a result, this stacks up the extra calories consumed each day while away.

We don’t want to tell you not to enjoy your holiday, but, we would like to suggest some strategies to curb some of these behaviours. One strategy is to exercise early in the morning when on holiday. To clarify, if you exercise in the morning it helps you focus and keep you on track to better eating choices. Once you have exercised you are more likely to choose the healthier food options during the day.

#10 NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY

A great deal of sitting occurs at work these days resulting in greatly reduced movement and exercise-related activity. Non-exercise activity can refer to simply walking more throughout the day. We suggest you go for a walk, or even do a few simple mobility drills, at least 5-10 minutes after each hour of sitting. You must discover more ways to increase your physical movement in your daily lives. We even have access to unique pieces of equipment these days which can help us with this. For example, smartwatches have great tracking capabilities and can record the number of steps taken each day. This can be a great tool for setting and adhering to exercise-related activity goals.