Sunday 17 July 2016

6 Biggest Weight Loss Mistakes You Should Avoid

1. Skipping Meals

Eating patterns, such as frequency and distribution of eating throughout the day, can have a huge impact on your weight loss progress. Many people think reducing calorie intake by skipping meals will help speed up weight loss. But in reality, skipping a meal can often lead to overeating at the next meal because you are even hungrier. Plus, skipping meals can negatively impact your blood sugar level, metabolism and energy level


2. Relying on Low-Fat and Diet Foods

When trying to lose weight, many people adopt the habit of looking for ‘low-fat’ or ‘diet’ labels before deciding whether a food is diet-friendly. Such foods, however, may contain abundant fats and hidden calories as well as artificial sweeteners.

Furthermore, eating such foods can cause sugar cravings, reduce your energy level and lead to weight gain over time. Foods high in saturated fats should be replaced with foods high in monounsaturated and/or polyunsaturated fats. This means you should focus on eating foods made with liquid vegetable oils but not tropical oils.
For weight loss, it is better to follow a low-carbohydrate diet. This type of diet is highly effective, as it helps reduce insulin resistance and even addresses the underlying problem rather than just treating the symptoms.


3. Being Sleep Deprived

If you are not losing weight despite exercising a lot and following a strict diet, the reason can be sleep deprivation. In fact, not paying attention to getting proper sleep is one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose weight. Sleep levels are linked to our hormone levels. Sleep deprivation leads to an increase in the secretion of the hormone cortisol, which triggers fat storage.
It can also cause fluctuations in the key hunger hormones, leptin (a hunger-inhibiting hormone) and ghrelin (a hunger-inducing hormone).

4. Going Through Stress

Stress is a fact of life, but unfortunately excess stress can prevent you from losing weight. Even worse, it can add some extra pounds despite eating healthy and exercising daily. During stress, your brain instructs your cells to release cortisol, a hormone that makes you crave sugary and high-fat foods.

5. Neglecting Protein
Several nutrients play a key role in several aspects of body-weight regulation and protein is one of them. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, and it helps keep sugar cravings at bay and prevent excess fat deposits due to sugar overloads. So, increased dietary protein along with physical activity and an energy-controlled diet can help reduce weight.

A 130-pound adult should try to eat at least 47 grams of protein daily. Protein aids in thermogenesis, a metabolic process in which the body produces heat to burn calories.

6. Not Staying Hydrated
Water makes up over two-thirds of a healthy body and plays a significant role in determining your body mass and overall weight. Dehydration affects how your body burns fat, encourages excessive calorie intake and slows down your metabolism. It also causes a drop in your energy level, leading to increased tiredness that makes it difficult to be active.

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