10 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Weight Loss Journey

No carbs. More fat.

Eliminate this. Eliminate that.

Are you confused with all the weight loss tips? Frustrated that you have tried dozens of diets and nothing has worked?

1) Skipping Meals

Restricting calories is a terrible idea when you are trying to lose weight. Skipping meals slows your metabolism and can cause you to actually gain weight.

When you don’t eat, your body goes into starvation mode. In order to try and conserve energy, your body will burn muscle tissue, not fat.

2) You Say No to All Fats

Trying to eliminate all fats is a big no-no. All fats are not created equal. In fact, our bodies need fats, but we need to good kind.

There are good fats? Absolutely. The right kind of fats increase metabolism, keep you full longer and protect your body from heart disease. Examples of fats that you should be incorporating into your diet are:

• avocado
• coconut
• greek yogurt
• nuts
• flax seeds
• chia seeds
• nut butter

Obviously, don’t go overboard on the fats, but consuming these healthy fats in moderation will help you lose weight.

3) You Are Obsessed with the Scales

Obsessing over the number on the scales can sabotage your results. When you don’t see the number you like, you can get frustrated and quit.

Focus on non-scale victories like how you feel, how your pants are fitting, energy levels, etc.

4) You Don’t Read Food Labels

If you aren’t read nutritional labels, you are making a big mistake. You should be using this tool as part of your journey. They tell you what is in the foods and how much is in there. It tells you how much a “single serving” size is. Hint: it’s not the whole box!

5) You Are Drinking Your Calories

Eat your calories. Don’t drink them. Cut caloric beverages from your diet. Eating your calories is a great rule of thumb for anyone, but especially those wanting to lose weight. It’s important to get your calories from food so that you can satisfy your hunger.

Choose water, green tea, and black coffee. If you need to flavor your coffee, steer clear of high calorie and sugar loaded creamers.

6) You Choose “Diet Food”

It’s easy to be mislead by so-called “diet food”. Foods that are labeled as “low fat” are filled with sugar and usually more sugar than their full-fat counterpart. Cereal bars, store-bought granola, and smoothies are full of added sugars that will put on the pounds rather than shed them.

Focus on whole foods rather than the “low fat” options. You can easily make granola and smoothies at home so you can control the ingredients. Whole fruits and vegetables will always be the better choice.

7) You Don’t Exercise or You Exercise Too Much

You need to incorporate some sort of exercise into your journey to losing weight. Are you new to exercise? It’s important to know that you can overdo it. When some people are on their fitness journeys, they don’t realize that they can exercise too much too. You need to find a healthy balance.

Find a type of exercise that you enjoy. Get a workout buddy to help encourage you and keep you motivated and accountable. Walking, cardio and dancing are great options. Remember to lift weights too. This is the best way to drop pounds. Strength training helps boost your metabolism. (If you are a woman, don’t worry, you won’t get bulky.)

Try different forms of exercise until you find the right fit for you just remember to move your body. Aim for 10,000 steps a day and get a fitness tracker to help you keep track of your steps.

8) Not Keeping a Food Diary

Keeping a food diary or a weight loss journey blog is a great way to keep you accountable.

You should keep track of what you are eating (and drinking) so that you can see where your calories are coming from.

Food diaries are a great way to hold yourself accountable. This will help you reevaluate things if you are not seeing the results you want.

9) Not Drinking Enough Water

Water helps rid your body of waste, boosts metabolism and can keep you fuller longer. Despite what you may think, increasing your water intake can keep you from retaining fluids. You need to drink half your body weight. If you weight 200 pounds, you should drink 100 ounces of water.

Do you have trouble drinking water? If you get bored with plain water, you can flavor it. You can add herbs, fruits, and veggies to your water to keep you from getting bored. A few delicious suggestions are:

• strawberry
• lemon
• ginger
• cucumbers
• mint
• lavender

You can find water bottles that will track your water intake or use an app on your phone. If you want carbonation, choose sparkling water.

10) Doing It Alone

Having a weight loss support team can be the difference between meeting your goals or failing. You are more likely to be successful in your journey if you have supportive people around you.

Some people closest to you may try and sabotage your results, so having a support group or accountability group will help you stay motivated.

A supervised medical weight loss program may be what you need. Having someone supervise what you are doing and help you stay focused can keep you on the road to success.