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Spot These 3 Pitfalls in a Calories Loss Diet and Lose Weight
By Rowena French | December 1, 2008
Most people who start a calories loss diet usually give up their healthy eating plan within a week or eventually fail within three weeks. You do not need to be one of this large proportion of unsuccessful dieters if you learn to recognize and avoid three common pitfalls that confront everyone on a weight loss journey. Identifying these traps means that you will be able to change some of your dieting behaviours and expectations and make decisions that will see you enjoy eating while you lose weight.
Making extreme changes to your daily menu is a common pitfall, especially on unreliable diets. If you start an eating program where you eat only one type of food and eliminate everything else it will be very challenging to remain committed to this diet. The modifications to your eating plan need to be introduced gradually and in a balanced way. This will mean that your diet will impact on your body in small ways and you will avoid the kinds of cravings that can tempt you to give up on your diet and fall back into unhealthy eating habits.
Setting unrealistic goals is tempting especially as, when you first start dieting, you might lose anywhere from five to ten pounds in the first couple of weeks. When that happens, of course you feel like the diet is great and you want that kind of weight loss to continue but most of the time early weight loss is all water weight. Real weight loss does not happen that fast. Experts say a healthy rate of weight loss is one to two pounds per week. So if you tell yourself that you want to lose ten pounds a week every week you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If you begin to feel disappointed and believe you are failing on your calories loss diet, you are more likely to give up on it and go back to your unhealthy lifestyle.
Rewarding yourself with food is not uncommon in our community however this is can be a dangerous pitfall for those of us who want to lose weight. If you want to reward yourself for your ongoing weight loss, find ways other than eating food to do this. Instead of eating a meal at a restaurant, consider spending the same money on a CD or that cute black jacket you have seen at the store. When you do need to join celebrations that include food and drink, make sure that you order low-cal drinks and avoid sugary or fatty foods. Focus on the company or the entertainment and avoid anything that will compromise the benefits of your calories loss eating plan.
Topics: Diabetes |
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