4 Common Weight Loss Mistakes

by Anand Thakkar, MD.~

Here is a list of the 4 most common weight loss mistakes made by most of us. And easy to follow suggestions on how to prevent them.

Shedding excess pounds is challenging. It can sometimes feel like your body is trying to fight you the whole way. When you think about it, this is a little strange. Evolutionarily speaking, the body should want to be healthy. Remaining a healthy weight is essential for survival.

Unfortunately, the modern world isn’t something that evolutionary history bargained for. We now live in an environment that tricks our bodies into gaining more weight than they should. Today’s foods bypass our biological safeguards.

The good news is that you can lose weight, but you need to avoid mistakes. Often, people make mistakes without realizing it.

In this post, we take a look at four of the most common weight loss mistakes. We describe each and then show you what to do instead.

Common Weight Loss Mistakes

Mistake 1: Cutting Calories Without Changing Diet Quality

Cutting calories – no matter what you eat – leads to weight loss. There are examples of people losing weight on 100 percent fast food diets.

However, for most people, this approach is not sustainable. It risks nutrient deficiencies and creates cravings. Furthermore, it doesn’t prime the body to remain at a healthy weight. If you fall off the diet, the weight often easily comes back.

The trick is to change the quality of the foods that you eat. Instead of eating junk carbs, like white bread, switch to vegetables instead.

When you change the quality of your diet, your metabolism changes too. For instance, compounds in plants reduce inflammation inside cells. This process, in turn, can improve insulin sensitivity.

You can change the quality of your diet by incorporating different foods. Here’s some quick advice:

• Find replacements for white flour, white bread, white pasta and white rice. Fill your plate with non-starchy vegetables, such as artichoke, baby corn, bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage, cucumber, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, water chestnuts, Brussels sprouts and eggplant.
• Avoid added sugar. Do not consume sugar-sweetened beverages. Avoid baked goods as these typically contain both refined sugar and flour. Check the label on all packaged foods. Most manufacturers add sugar to their products to make them more palatable.
• Focus on healthy sources of protein. If you eat animal foods, you can derive protein from meat, fish and eggs. For low-carb plant sources of fats, choose nuts and nut butters. If you allow healthy carbohydrates on your diet plan, you can also get protein from legumes including chickpeas, beans and lentils.

Mistake 2: Allowing Your Food To Become Bland

The idea that healthy food is bland is the biggest myth in weight loss. It stems from a time when people didn’t know how to make healthy foods palatable. Today, however, there are recipe books galore. So cooking delicious meals is easier than ever.

Those following the keto diet have plenty of delicious recipes to choose from. These eliminate feelings of deprivation. They let you enjoy your food just as much as before you decided to lose weight. In many cases, people say that they enjoy healthy food more.

Delicious keto recipe ideas include:

• Low-carb shrimp enchiladas
• Deviled eggs
• Chicken and cauliflower rice
• Baked stuffed avocados
• Cauliflower “potato” salad
• Antipasto salad
• Egg drop soup
• Keto pizza skillet
• Garlic butter steak bites

You can also make delicious recipes from healthy carbohydrate sources:

• Black bean burgers with rocket and harissa
• Hummus and chopped veggies
• Quinoa tabbouleh with chickpeas, cucumber, and spring onion

The tastier you can make your food, the less likely you will be to revert to your old diet. Learn delicious recipes that you love and stick with them. This way, you will never feel deprived.

Mistake 3: Cutting Calories Too Quickly

Follow a healthy diet for weight loss

While cutting calories causes you to lose weight, it must happen naturally. It shouldn’t be forced. The goal of weight loss diets is to normalize your body’s satiety signals. You want to eat foods that encourage you to unconsciously consume the right amount of energy. Counting calories only works in a small minority of cases.

Research shows that reducing weekly calories by around 3,500 leads to around 1 pound of weight loss. Reducing calories by more than 500 calories per day may be problematic. Evidence suggests that cutting calories by 1000 per day can lead to muscle loss. Loss of muscle can, in turn, slow down metabolism.

Generally, if you are eating the right foods, you can trust your body to do the rest. It will tell you when you are hungry and when you are full. If you are still struggling, try to eat early in the day. Get most of your calories before 2 pm. This way, you can increase the time your body spends burning fat for energy.

Mistake 4: Choosing Fad Diet Foods

The fad diet weight loss industry is enormous. There are hundreds of brands all promising to provide the ideal weight loss food.

Nature, however, already did the hard work. Most people can lose a vast amount of weight by simply eating whole foods.

Fad diet foods may actually be counterproductive. Many contain flours and sugars known to raise insulin levels. Some yogurts, for instance, have as much as 12 teaspoons of sugar per serving.

Diet foods also struggle to keep you full. They are low in calories, but their satiety performance is poor. If you eat weight loss crackers for breakfast, you will likely feel full by mid-morning. The flour they contain immediately goes through your stomach wall, increasing hunger.

Don’t fall for “low-fat” marketing, either. Low-fat foods can be some of the most fattening. Sugar-sweetened beverages are low in fat, but lead to weight gain.

Whenever in doubt, ask yourself whether the food on your plate is natural. If it looks unprocessed, it is probably safe to eat. If it contains flours or sugars, you may wish to avoid it.

Summary

Weight loss mistakes are common, mostly because of misinformation. However, improving diet quality and avoiding bland food can make your diet more sustainable.

About The Author

Dr. Anand Thakkar is a licensed Internal Medicine physician. He is Board Certified in Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine. He has been a member of the teaching faculty for students at Chicago Medical School and has been featured on ABC, FOX, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and Forbes as a recognized authority in wellness, fitness & nutrition, weight loss, anti-aging, hormones & metabolic medicine, holistic medicine, lifestyle coaching and women’s & men’s health.

His mission is to help people become the healthiest versions of themselves using movement, nutrition, and a whole-body approach to medical care. If you would like him and his team to help you take steps towards a healthier lifestyle, contact Chicago Weight Loss Clinic to see what resources are available to you and schedule a free consultation. Find a location closest to you.

This blog is for informational purposes only. Do not make any major changes to your lifestyle, diet, or exercise without the supervision of a licensed medical professional.

Images taken from: Unsplash