With so much information our there now in the fitness world, it is hard to determine what is good advice and what is bad. Bad advice can lead to serious issues, such as injuries, and most likely will not get you to your goals. The following are the 10 biggest mistakes made when a person decides they want to lose weight.
1. Fad Diets:
With a quick Google search you can find hundreds of diets that say they will help with weight loss. Most of these diets, if followed, will make you lose weight. However, some will cause unhealthy weight loss and most likely will not keep the weight off for good. Look out for any diet plan that says you will lose more than 2lbs per week. They won't let you eat entire food groups or limit you to certain food or involve a cleanse or supplement that must be taken. Bottom line is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your own research on the diet. Don't pay attention to most before/after pictures since they are usually tampered with. Any diet that you plan to start you should be able to stick with for the rest of your life. If you cannot, you will not keep the weight off once you start eating normally again.
2. Eating extremely low calorie diets or starvation:
Many individuals will decide to stop eating to lose weight. While again you probably will lose weight by doing this, it is obviously extremely unhealthy and dangerous. When an individual goes on a very low calorie diet, problems start to occur. If no food is in the body, then there is no fuel for the body to function. When the body does not get adequate fuel for functions, it has to get it from somewhere. Since your body thinks that it is starving and may not get another meal, it will save fat cell until the last possible moment. Obviously you still need to move, so you brain signals for your body to start breaking down muscle to turn protein into energy. You will continue to lose muscle mass and keep fat. On top of all of this, your metabolism will get slower and slower. If you stay with this type of diet long enough, your metabolism may never recover and you may cause serious health risks to your body. If you, or anyone you know, has this problem you should seek counseling immediately.
3. Perform hours of cardio:
A cardio routine is a great part of an exercise program but sometimes people can take this too far. The thinking process seems to make sense: if I do more cardio I will burn more calories and lose more weight. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out this way. When you perform long duration cardio, a few things happen in your body. First, prolonged aerobic exercise increases cortisol response in your body. Cortisol is a hormone that is released when stress is placed on the body. High levels of cortisol in the body create a catabolic environment. This means that the body will break down muscle proteins for fuel. Not only will cardio increase cortisol, but it will decrease testosterone which will promote muscle growth. When this situation occurs, you will lose more and more muscle mass and not necessarily burn significant amounts of fat calories. In order to limit this effect in the body, stick to cardio workouts that last around 30 minutes and focus more on increasing the intensity.
4. Skipping strength training:
In the previous mistake we learned that too much cardio is a bad thing for weight loss because it can deteriorate the muscle. The only thing that will promote healthy muscle growth is resistance training. Yet many will skip their strength workouts because they are afraid of bulking up and looking like a body builder. Most body builders shown on TV and in ads use drugs to help them get that big. It is extremely hard to build that much muscle with just a weight training routine. I could write a book on the benefits of resistance training, but I don't want to take too much of your time. Some key points, however, are it will build muscle mass which increases your metabolism, it will promote higher bone mass density, and it will create a higher post-exercise oxygen consumption than cardio alone. This last point might sound technical but it is so important for weight loss. In a tough workout you will burn a couple hundred calories. After the workout your body has to get to work repairing the damages you made during the exercise and restore everything back to how it was before you worked out. This can take hours or even days to get back to normal. Until it does, you will burn more calories than you would if you had not worked out. If you are serious about losing weight, you will not be very successful without a strength routine.
It can be hard to design a routine to follow but if you stick to some basic guidelines you will be fine.
o Perform 2-3 workouts per week
o Perform exercises that involve multi-joint movements
o Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps to help build muscle mass
o Perform at least one exercise for each major muscle group or movement pattern (push, pull, squat, bend, lunge, and rotate)
5. Unrealistic goals:
When setting up goals make sure they are something that you really think you can do. A healthy rate of weight loss is 1-2lbs per week. That is a great goal to shoot for. If you are looking to lose 10lbs in a week, it is just not healthy. Any diet that says they can do it may have serious health risks associated with it. Make S.M.A.R.T. goals. They should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Instead of saying you want to lose 30lbs you can say you will you will work out 5 days a week for the next 3 months. This is a great goal for many reasons. Instead of focusing on the end result you are thinking about behavior you have to change to get to the goal. You cannot control how much weight you can lose. You can control how much or often you are working out. If you stick to a program 5 days a week for 3 months you will lose weight. Along with being specific you are setting an end date. It helps you stick to a plan when you see the end in sight. Once you get there, if you are not happy with the results, you can try a new goal.
6. Not keeping a food journal:
They have done research where they take two groups of people, put them on a workout/nutrition plan, and tell one group to keep a journal of everything. The research shows that the group who kept track of everything lost more weight and was more likely to stick to a program. Unless you are writing things down you will not be sure how much you are eating. It is also a great idea to have someone review your journal. This can be a friend, family member, personal trainer, or anyone else who would help you. Even if this person is not a nutritionist, the idea that someone will be checking it will help you stay accountable.
7. Not tracking results:
Most people will track their weight. This is not usually the best way to keep track of your progress. You can become obsessed with your weight and give up if you don't lose weight every day. Instead, take circumference measurements on different areas of your body, have your body fat measured, and keep track of weights you use or distances you run. The scale doesn't always tell the whole story. If you lose fat but gain muscle you might not see a big drop on the scale. If you measure your body, however, you can see exactly where you are losing weight. Having your body fat measured is also a great way to see if you are losing fat or not. You may have to hire a personal trainer for this, but many times he or she will to it for free. So take advantage of having a professional take measurements. If you are working out you will see strength improvements. Each week you should try and lift more weight than the week before or get more repetitions. You can test yourself by performing as many push ups or squats in one minute and see if you improve. Also, keep track of how fast you can run, swim, bike.... a given distance and see if you improve. It might not be a change in weight, but it still feels good to know you are making improvements.
8. Relying on supplements:
I know the ads can be tempting but most supplements have not been proven to work. Even if they have been shown to have some benefit, the manufacturers are not regulated. So it is hard to say what you are getting. Bottom line is there is no magic pill to lose weight or burn fat. Some supplements may help for some but it should not be the focus. A supplement is exactly what it says. It should supplement your current diet, not replace it. Avoid the ads with fitness models showing their ripped muscles. There is a good chance they do not even take the supplement they are promoting. Stick to a daily multivitamin and avoid the fancy fat burners and muscle builders unless you have done your research on them.
9. Give up on your plan too soon:
Unfortunately, losing weight takes time. I already said that 1-2lbs is the average you will lose on a good plan. Most people do not want to hear this but it is true. Think of how long it took you to put on the weight. It will take even longer to get it all off. Give your workout program a chance. Stick with a program for at least 3 months. If you have noticed nothing changing you are probably on a bad program. Reevaluate it and try again. You might not get it right the first few times, especially if you are trying it on your own.
10. Overdoing it in the beginning:
I'm sure by now you are motivated and ready to get started on a fat burning routine. Hold up a minute and plan out a strategy. I have seen many individuals throw things I've told them right out the window. I give a progressive program that eases their bodies into the workout so they don't kill themselves. Instead they want to do more and more. I love seeing the drive but you have to be very careful. Doing too much too fast can lead to serious injuries. Look for signs of overtraining. If you suffer from any of these issues, you might have to rest and take it easy for awhile before starting up again:
o Always sore or taking more than 2 days to recover from a workout
o Joints constantly ache
o Getting sick frequently
o Not seeing improvements and actually starting to get worse
o Feeling depressed and run down
o Not getting enough sleep
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