10 NUTRITION MISTAKES: DIETING AND NOT LOSING WEIGHT

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You’ve changed your lifestyle for the past couple of weeks, cutting out the bad habits of too much junk food and switched to eating healthier by adding more fruits and veggies to your diet, and yet you still aren’t seeing the results you’d expect after weeks of dieting. So what’s the deal? If you’ve been dieting and aren’t seeing any type of decrease in weight when you step on the scale, then you might want to check out these 10 common nutrition and dieting mistakes below.

1. Skipping Meals

If you think that skipping meals is a surefire way to lose weight, think again. Skipping meals during the day can be just as bad for your metabolism as eating meals that are too large. You want to keep your metabolism going by making sure you aren’t skipping out on breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you are one of the many breakfast dodgers out there, you need to stop. There are numerous health benefits for eating breakfast that can lead to weight loss that you aren’t taking advantage of.

2. Eating Too Many Calories

You’ve finally decided you’re going to eat healthier by loading up on fruits, veggies and whole grains, while cutting out all the junk food. The problem is, you’re actually gaining weight rather than losing it. So, what’s the deal? While it’s much harder to gain weight from eating too many vegetables, the whole grains and fruits are the likely culprits. You have to understand that just because they are considered healthy, doesn’t mean they’re free calories you can consume all day. You still need to track your calorie intake and manage your portions properly if you want to lose weight.

3. Not Reading Nutrition Labels Properly

Often times, people get tricked into believing certain packaging labels claiming “less fat” or “fat free” means they are eating something healthy. What they don’t realize is they still need to read the nutrition label properly. Another common nutrition label flub is confusing the “serving size” information on the nutrition label with the entire package.

4. Destroying Your Diet Foods with Condiments

Although you’ve been sticking to mostly salads and fruits for your meals and snacks, you’re still not losing any weight. Why? Most people forget that the condiments and dressings they’re adding to their diet food are just as bad as the junk food they’re eliminating from their diet. Coating your entire salad in Ranch dressing can defeat the entire purpose of eating a salad in the first place. If you need to add a little something to your fruits and veggies to help the.

5. Drinking Extra Calories

A major dieting mistake people tend to make is forgetting about the stuff they drink. When you’re going into diet mode, you need to include your beverage selection with the rest of the process. Powering down two, giant cups of orange juice with your oatmeal can actually destroy your diet meal. If you want the vitamin C, you’re better off eating the actual fruit. Iced green tea looks like a diet drink right down to the packaging, until you find out how many calories are in one serving. When you’re dieting,water should be the main drink of choice.

6. Eating the Wrong Foods

You’re eating more veggies in your diet, but don’t forget the protein. Lean meats like chicken breast, and fish like salmon and tuna are healthy sources of protein, which is crucial for weight loss. Protein helps you stay full longer, and can help build muscles that are beneficial for slimming down. If you’re a vegetarian, you should at least be supplementing your diet with protein-rich foods like tofu and peanuts.

7. Starving Yourself

A major nutrition mistake for people who are dieting is starving themselves. Starvation is not a healthy way to lose weight, and can lead to vitamin deficiency and serious health problems like anemia and heart failure. Starvation also causes the body to go into survival mode, retaining fat because it feels it is not getting enough nourishment. Your metabolism also slows down due to starvation. You also run the risk of binge eating after starving yourself, which can completely destroy your dietary goals of losing weight.

8. You aren’t Planning Your Meals

When you’re dieting, it’s important to plan your meals with a regular eating schedule and healthy portions. By planning your meals, you can track the amount of calories being eaten and types of foods you need to eat to gain vital nutrients, and you avoid the risk of overeating. Eating on a regular schedule also helps you avoid the temptation of eating excess calories by snacking all the time.

9. Not Cheating on Your Diet Every so Often

Dieters need to allow themselves to indulge every so often. That doesn’t mean they should go on a junk food bender, eating anything they want on certain days of the week. Try having a guilt-free snack or dessert every so often, and use it as a motivational tool for your diet. For example, promise yourself a scoop of ice cream at the end of the week, just as long as you’ve been good and stuck to your diet plan. Cheating on your diet every so often can reduce the anxiety that accompanies dieting, and keep you from completely falling off the diet wagon.

10. Being Impatient

Remember that weight loss through proper dieting takes time. You aren’t going to see instant results from your dieting efforts, but don’t let the measurements on the weighing scale discourage you. Try sticking to your diet because you want to do something that will benefit your health, and because you want to make a positive change in your lifestyle. If you want to speed up the weight loss process, or you want to lose a significant amount of weight, then you need to do more than just dieting. Regular exercise and physical activity is crucial to losing weight.

8 Diet Motivation Tips for Success

Thanks to Susan Seliger from WebMD we are able to supply you with the latest facts;

for today's blog post.

Here it goes...

If you've dropped and regained so many pounds it would take a Harvard PhD to do the math, then here are some diet motivation tips that can help.

Sure, you've tried to diet before. You've gotten rid of the cookies in the cupboard, and virtuously refused the cake at the office party. And then, a few weeks into it, your motivation begins to flag. Maybe you hit a plateau in your weight loss, or you're bored with steamed vegetables for dinner night after night, or, tempted by a special dessert, you decide that just this once can't hurt. A few slip-ups and you're totally derailed, physically and emotionally.

If this isn't the first time that losing weight was one of your New Year's resolutions, then maybe you just haven't had the right diet motivation. It turns out that the key to losing and keeping weight off isn't simply a matter of what you eat or how much you exercise - it's your attitude. Lasting weight loss is a slow process and it's all too easy to give up before you reach your goal. With the right psychological tools your chances of diet success can be greatly improved. WebMD consulted experts for diet motivation tips that will keep you, and your diet, on the winning track to losing.

Diet Motivation Tip 1: Set Realistic Goals for Diet Success
The first step to maintaining your mojo should take place before you cut a single calorie. In fact, one of the strongest predictors of long-term diet success lies in setting the right goal at the start. "If you set unattainable goals, such as losing 30 pounds in just a few months, you're setting yourself up to fail," says Ann Kulze, MD, author of Dr. Ann's 10-Step Diet: A Simple Plan for Permanent Weight Loss and Lifelong Vitality. Instead, you'll be more likely to stick with a diet if you "focus on your health and create sensible eating strategies," says Kulze. Setting smaller, attainable benchmarks, like losing 5 pounds or a single dress size, will give you the confidence to continue.

Diet Motivation Tip 2: Go Slow
Diet success entails making real lifestyle changes, and that doesn't happen overnight. "You have a better chance at keeping the weight off if you lose it slowly. People who are starving get irritable and have a higher failure rate," Kulze tells WebMD. "If you cut back 200 calories a day, you won't even realize it and the weight will come off and stay off." If you keep in mind that optimal weight loss is 1 to 2 pounds a week, you'll be less frustrated

Diet Motivation Tip 3: Expect Setbacks
Everyone is bound to give in to temptation (hello, hot fudge sundae) from time to time. The danger isn't a single splurge but letting it become an excuse for an all-out binge. Call it the "I've already blown it so I might as well eat the entire bag of Oreos" syndrome.

Diet Motivation Tip 4: Don't Be a Perfectionist
So what do you do if you've scarfed down a pint of ice cream before noon? "Perfectionist thinking gets in the way of success more than anything I know," according to Vicki Saunders, RD, who oversees the inpatient weight loss and lifestyle program called Transformations at St. Helena Hospital in Napa, Calif. "A 100-calorie indulgence is just that. But if it's perceived as a failure and a reason to give up, it can turn into a thousand-calorie indulgence." Bottom line when you slip up: Forget about it. Tomorrow is a new (healthier) day.

Diet Motivation Tip 5: Use the Buddy System
"It's hard to make major lifestyle changes when you're swimming upstream by yourself," says Saunders. Finding other people with similar goals can greatly improve yours odds of diet success. When your spirit - or willpower - flags, having people to call on can provide the support you need to continue. Saunders recommends looking for people at your local gym or Y, Overeaters Anonymous, or an online support group. "Having a support group to turn to, whether it's your family or people in a weight-loss chat room, can make all the difference" for diet success.

Diet Motivation Tip 6: Be Patient
One of the biggest diet motivation-busters is the dreaded weight loss plateau. You've been doing everything right, exercising and eating well, and the numbers on the scale have been steadily dropping. Then suddenly: nada. The scale stays stuck for several days in a row. According to Ann Kulze, this is perfectly normal. "Turn it around and congratulate yourself on the diet success you've had so far," she urges. "This is a natural part of the weight loss process." When you hit the plateau, you may want to try something slightly different to jump-start your diet. "Commit yourself to expending an extra 100 calories a day with walking, for instance," Kulze advises. "And look honestly to see if you're backsliding in little ways with your eating." A few minor adjustments and you'll soon be back on course.

Diet Motivation Tip 7: Reward Yourself
Dieting is hard work -- and it's not always a whole lot of fun. Small rewards can provide an incentive to keep going. But make sure your rewards are not food-related. (Translation: Rewarding yourself for losing 5 pounds with a box of chocolates is not what we're talking about.) Set mini-goals along the way and reward yourself when you reach them. Your reward could be a massage, a round of golf, a new pair of jeans, or a hot bubble bath. "Celebrating your diet success will fortify your resolve to continue," says Kulze.

Diet Motivation Tip 8: Have a Maintenance Plan
For many people, losing weight is far easier than keeping it off. It's important to remember that healthy eating is a lifelong goal, not a one-time project. If this has been a problem for you in the past, devise a maintenance strategy ahead of time. Vicki Saunders says you may want to consult an expert to help create a diet or exercise plan that works for you. "Plan an appointment with a professional, whether it's a nutritionist, a counselor, or a trainer, for an added boost," she says. An expert can help you get off on the right foot -- and maintain your healthy habits even after you've reached your ideal weight.

Fat Loss Question #5 Answered

Thanks to Precision Nutrition we are able to supply you with the latest facts;

for today's blog post.

Here it goes...


Q5: Are you including enough healthy fats?


Highly processed fats, often found in processed fats, often found in processed foods, can ruin your health and lead to fat gain. However, a healthy mix of other naturally occurring fats is important for fat loss. So, for this next meal, are you eating some healthy fats?


You can choose from sources like olive oil, avocados, raw nuts (not roasted), raw seeds, and omega-3 rich fish oils. Whichever type you choose, make sure you're adding healthy fats to your diet while replacing the unhealthy ones.