You’re
tracking your calories, fending off snack temptation, and ordering salad bowls
so often, you have a salad guy who knows your order by heart. But despite your
best efforts to shed pounds, the scale won’t budge.
Don’t
blame a lack of willpower. Your diet fail probably means you’re falling prey to
some mistakes that can derail even the most motivated dieters.
To
help you figure out where you’re going wrong, answer these seven questions.
Then follow the expert-backed advice that’ll get you on the road to being a weight-loss success story.
Do You View
Your Diet As Temporary?
If you’re counting down the days until you can go back to
your pre-diet eating plan, then no wonder it’s not working. Denying yourself
certain foods and putting a tight limit on calories in the short-term often
makes you feel deprived (or actually does deprive you of the necessary level of
calories and nutrients your system needs to function right)—and that can make
you eat more than you realize to compensate. Instead of dieting, make small
tweaks to your eating habits so you eat more good stuff with almost nothing 100
percent off limits. “You want your healthy lifestyle to be something you can
maintain throughout life, not just for a few weeks,” says New York–based
nutritionist Alissa Rumsey, R.D.
Do You
Cut Carbs, Fat, or go Vegan?
Cutting out an entire food group sounds like a worthy
strategy: By avoiding one specific food category, you avoid all the extra
calories that go along with it. For a few days or weeks, any kind of elimination
diet can work. But you’re probably also eliminating the wide range of
nutrients your system needs to feel energized and satiated, which makes fatigue
and hunger pangs kick in. Even worse, your taste buds will start to rebel and
hit you with killer cravings for the banned foods, driving you to face plant in
the very type of food you swore off. Eating a variety of healthy foods, on
the other hand, will help you ride out temptation and drop pounds.
Do You
Overcompensate after a big meal?
After a night out indulging at a big dinner or drinkfest
with friends, you skip breakfast and head to the gym instead to “make up” for
your extra calories last night. Sound familiar? “This actually creates a cycle
of deprivation followed by overeating later in the day when your body is
hungry,” says Rumsey. “Instead of trying to compensate by skipping meals or
working out, the best thing you can do is to start the day with a balanced breakfast
and focus on making healthy choices today.”
Do You
Reward Yourself for ‘Good’ Behaviour?
Losing
weight isn’t easy, so “it’s natural to think, I ran three miles this morning, I deserve a treat!” says Rumsey.
But most people overestimate the calories they burned in a workout and
underestimate the ones in a dessert or treat, she says. “Don’t have dessert
because you feel like you ‘earned’ it; have a treat on occasion when you really
want it and it’s something you enjoy,” she advises.
If you've run on a
treadmill in your life, you'll be able to relate to these thoughts every woman
has had on the treadmill:
How Much Are You Boozing?
A glass of wine has about 144 calories; mixed drinks can
sneakily pack in even more. Listen, we know the weather’s perfect for outdoor
happy hours and drinks al fresco with friends, but alcohol calories add up
without providing any satiety. Ease up on the booze or subtract the calories in
your nightly pinot grigio pour from another part of your diet, and your clothes
will start to feel looser.
Do you
Track Everything you eat – everything?
Maybe you think you’re keeping tabs on everything you eat.
But don’t forget to factor in things like the cheese samples at the
supermarket, the half a pizza slice you scarfed off your husband’s dinner
plate, the mini-cupcakes you indulged in during an office birthday party. These
sneaky food bites still have calories that thwart your weight-loss efforts.
Are You
eating enough protein at breakfast?
“Many of my clients eat low-protein breakfasts like oatmeal,
cereal, or bagels and cream cheese, and while these foods can be part of a balanced
breakfast, they are lacking in protein—an important nutrient that helps to keep
us full and satiated,” says Rumsey.
Research backs up the idea that spreading
protein throughout your day, by including it at all meals, helps with weight
control, she adds. But it’s especially important in the morning because the
energy and fullness you feel sets you on the right healthy eating course all
day. Adds Rumsey: “Be sure to add protein, and some healthy fats, to all of
your breakfasts—like a dollop of Greek yogurt and a handful of nuts or seeds, and
top that bagel with scrambled eggs or smoked salmon.”
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