“I’ve been good today” -well done you’ve earned yourself a takeaway and a box of Krispy Kremes
“I’ve dieted for years”- I’m pretty sure you would be dead by now.
I think I have tried every possible diet that has ever existed to man. I remember being 12 years old and wanting to eat healthily, writing down what I ate in my mum’s Weight Watchers food journal to ensure I was eating my 5 a day, becoming older in my teenage years and wanting to lose weight, ALWAYS wanting a flat stomach, despite not being overweight. At one point in my teenage years I spent a month doing 200 sit-ups a day because I thought that was how I could look like an athlete and get a 6 pack! It has taken 15 years later, A LOT of experimentation and education in the last 5 years to understand how to drop weight effectively, how to build muscle and most importantly, how to be healthy, so please take heed of this Blog post. Having tried everything, what I reveal below will save you wasting any more time if you are struggling to lose weight.
MY HISTORY OF ‘DIETING’
In the past, I tried the fruit diet (only eating fruit all day and everyday) not consuming any other carbs or even protein. The pure protein diet-no damn carbs. I survived this for a month and then ended up putting the stone I lost in 4 weeks in a matter of days because I was undernourished and starving for food. I did the shake diet, again went down a dress size in a few months but as soon as I went back to normal food and meals, all the weight piled back on again. I genuinely believe this caused me to have stomach issues later on. Every time I ate any gluten, my stomach would react very badly. It took me 6 months of eliminating all gluten and slowly reintroducing foods in small amounts for my stomach to go back to ‘normal.’ I tried the Dukan diet - ewww I had to eat just oat bran as a carb and the rest was high protein but virtually no fats - NOT GOOD for hormones. I tried just eating twice a day, again by skipping breakfast I was absolutely ravenous by lunchtime and would probably eat 2 meals in one go, technically eating even more than if I just ate my breakfast. Other experiments of mine involved trying to incorporate carbs just once a day at dinner time. I was 17/18 years old by then and managed to drop a lot of weight before I experienced America for the first time. In the 2 weeks I was there, I put on over half of what I had lost. I remember the myth about no carbs after 6pm so then tried that; I recall going to bed starving, the sound of my own stomach grumbles sending me off into a voracious slumber. It is worth noting, no carbs before 6pm IS utter nonsense because whether you’re hitting X amount of calories a day, hitting X said amount doesn’t matter if 500 of these calories are after 8pm...a calorie intake is a calorie intake.
The common denominator in all of this? Not educated about nutrition or training, not understanding the importance of mindset and changing lifestyle habits and always wanting a quick fix eg short term fad diets for a holiday or other big event. I was either on a diet and undernourished, feeling starving or overeating massively until the cycle came back round again. I never understood balance.
Because the majority of people I come across are mainly those with fat loss goals, it is funny how having experienced and overcome the many fat loss mistakes myself, the same issues always come up, even though every client is different and their fat loss goals go at different paces.
THE BIG REVEAL:
So here they are. The most common diet mistakes I myself have experienced, but also what a lot of our clients have gone through too:
· Having the idea that dieting is a short- term fix. TIP: It’s not. Set aside to lose about 1lb a week for it to be effective and doable. Remember metabolic adaptation? Your body will get used to each time your calories decrease, so you’re not likely to binge from massively undereating.
· Measuring progress against 1 weigh in a week rather than a weekly average. TIP: Women, remember your weight fluctuates especially in or around your cycle but everyone should be weighing themselves daily (in the morning after going to the toilet and before eating and drinking anything) and therefore measuring progress against the weekly average.
· Underestimating your calorie intake. TIP: Log your foods and weigh everything accurately to know you’re not overshooting your calories.
· Starting your calorie deficit macros too low. TIP: Start your deficit calories at the higher end and gradually decrease overtime (10g off carbs or some off fats depending on the rate of your weight loss). You measure this against your weekly average weight.
· Not doing Weight training. TIP: DO IT. Training increases metabolic rate as well as working multiple muscles at the same time and burns the most calories. It is the best form of exercise to aesthetically change your physique.
· General output very low. TIP: Stop being so sedentary. Schedule in walks where you can, to hit at least 10k steps.
· Not hitting your protein intake. TIP: remember your intake should be approximately 1g per 1lb of your bodyweight-this will help you feel full!
· Not enough fibre: TIP: women should be hitting 25g, men 30g. To see your fibre intake, you must be logging your foods.
· Not enough water. TIP: aim for 2-3litres because it suppresses appetite and keeps waste moving. If dehydrated, your body will hold onto everything.
· Not enough sleep and feeling stressed. TIP: have a bedtime routine that works for you and do things that de-stress you. Cortisol levels (your stress hormone) means your body holds onto more fat. Tiredness increases appetite. Remember, you also burn calories in your sleep.
· Overeating Friday through to Sunday: Unfortunately, by doing this, you’re not in a calorie deficit over the course of the week, you’re just making up for those calories on those days. TIP: keep foods consistent and stop overshooting calories at the weekend.
· Bad mindset and lifestyle habits: you’re in a continuous cycle of ‘on a diet’ or ‘off a diet’ going ham or starving yourself. TIP: have more patience because fat loss is long term and just track your food consistently and have an equal portion of calories in each meal throughout the day.
· You’re cutting out carbs or other food groups: TIP: keep all food groups in, you will still drop weight with them, plus you need these for your body to function. Just have good quality food in your diet.
· You’re not accountable to anyone and not really sure what you’re doing. TIP: GET A COACH. They will set you realistic goals tailored just for you and they know what they’re doing.
I hope you have found this helpful. Please get yourself out of the endless cycle. Stop ‘trying’ to lose weight yourself, succeed in it by investing in your health and trusting the process.
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