These all-too-common weight loss mistakes could be derailing your efforts. If any of these habits sound familiar, then take note! Dodge the weight loss bullet before it wounds your momentum.
1. You’re not tracking your food intake.
To fix any problem, you must find the source of the problem. In the case of losing weight, building awareness around what you’re actually eating will help you identify what and how much you are actually eating. When you are able to identify an issue in your eating habits, you can make changes to your routine. Late night snacking, for example, can hinder your efforts of losing weight more than you think. By eating late at night, we are not able to burn the calories we are eating. The solution to this issue is to have healthy snacks on hand for just such an occasion, if not eating something just feels impossible. Just remember, when you are tracking your food, be honest. Nothing is worse than lying to yourself. How will you know what to change if you’re not being honest? Accurate logging makes for great results.
2. You’re not sleeping enough.
How many hours of sleep do you get a night? If it’s less than 7-8 hours of solid shut-eye, you may be hindering your chances of losing weight. “When you don’t get enough sleep, your levels of cortisol and also ghrelin, a hormone that increases the sensation of hunger, rise,” explains board-certified internist Dr. Patricia Salber. So not only are we tired and making poor food choices, we’re biologically setting ourselves up for failure.
3. You’re stressing too much.
Learn to let things go. Some things can’t be changed, so choose your battles wisely. When it comes to stress and eating, there are a lot of people that are emotional eaters. Food becomes a stress reliever but in all actuality it’s nothing more then a distraction. Over eating leads to guilt, but it doesn’t solve the original problem.
4. You’re skipping breakfast.
Everyone knows breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So wake up early and take care of yourself first before you even think of helping anybody else. Avoid the sugary donut and coffee with cream and sugar, instead try to get some protein in with some eggs and turkey bacon. The protein will sustain you until your next healthy snack and/or until lunchtime when something like a nice chicken salad with a light dressing would be a nice touch. Remember not to “carb-load” with a lot of carbs at dinnertime, either. Eat your cabs throughout the day to avoid binge eating at night.
Priorities change as we grow older, but one thing remains the same, we are still living with ourselves everyday and that will not change. What will change is the quality of our lives. If you’re neglecting yourself now, just imagine 10 years down the road… your future self should be thanking you, not cursing you. So take care of yourself now, physically and mentally, and live with no regrets.
Christina
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