Even when you try your best to lose weight, for some mysterious reason, you don’t get the result you aimed for. Nobody is perfect, but if you keep on sabotaging your efforts with some actions that you’re unaware of, the chances are that your weight will remain the same or if you do lose some pounds, they might come back a bit later.
Read about some habits that you need to break in order to reach a healthy weight and enjoy optimal well-being.
Table of Contents
Consuming “diet foods”
Most of them are filled with a lot of harmful ingredients that aren’t doing your body any favors. All these additives, artificial flavors, sweeteners etc. are being stored as fat in our bodies, in order to protect them from damage. And they don’t even satisfy your hunger, most of them will leave you hungry, and the next thing you know is digging into the jar of peanut butter with a spoon.
Don’t forget diet sodas, although they do not contain calories, they contain artificial sweeteners which trick the body to believe the calories are on the way. Not only this may lead to gaining weight instead of losing it, diet sodas are associated with heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes Type 2.
Do you sleep enough?
The lack of sleep will disrupt the production of your appetite hormones, which then leads you to feel hungrier the next day. According to some studies, those who are sleep-deprived have 55% more chances to become obese, as compared to those who get quality rest each night.
Skipping your breakfast
The most common advice for weight loss that many people take for granted. People who eat breakfast on a daily basis tend to weigh less and are more successful at keeping that weight off than those who don’t. The reason is, by consuming a breakfast made up of protein, healthy fats and fiber, you will feel fuller longer and have more energy too, so you’ll be more likely to burn those calories by exercising.
Are you a fan of alcohol?
Drinking alcohol will decrease your resistance to diet foods and increase your appetite. This results in consuming hundreds of extra calories. People often underestimate the quantity of alcohol they drink in a week, or in a month. But, if you consciously cut back, or even better, don’t drink at all, losing weight will be a lot easier.
Overconsumption of healthy foods
Developing a healthy routine is one thing and overdoing it is another one. Even when you only eat healthy foods, if you start eating too many, you’re still taking too many calories, especially if that’s not followed by regular exercise. Pay attention to your body signals, you may actually not be that hungry after all.
Go shopping while hungry
It is never a good idea to go to the grocery store while hungry and be tempted with all that unhealthy snacks. A person usually ends up buying the first thing that looks good. Luckily for you, this habit can be broken easily. Simply eat something healthy before you go so that you won’t be tempted to purchase those less than nutritious, calorie-laden foods. Another good idea is to shop with a list – and stick to it.
Do you eat enough?
Our logic says, if we take in fewer calories, that should mean losing more weight, not less. In reality, while you might experience quick results at the start, you will experience unwanted side effects too. So, when going on a very low-calorie diet (1000 calories or less), it not only slows down your metabolism to a crawl, but also causes fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, and difficulty thinking clearly.
Losing weight is a combination of multiple activities, it doesn’t rely only on consuming healthy food. We hope that breaking these bad habits will make you a lot happier the next time you stand on a scale.