cant lose weight, these 7 mistakes you must have made!
Don't let these wrong methods hinder your weight loss plan! So how can you successfully lose weight? It boils down to six words: control your diet and exercise more. However, many people make mistakes on the road to weight loss, leading to failure. Have you ever wondered why you can't lose weight successfully? Maybe it's because you're not eating little enough? Maybe you're not burning enough calories? Maybe... Below are 7 common weight loss mistakes that many people have definitely made.
1. Eating too little
Yes, you read that right, eating too little.
This is a common misconception among most dieters. They believe that eating very little and reducing calorie intake will help them lose weight. If you need to burn 2500 calories a day but only consume 1200 calories daily, the result won't be weight loss but increased fat storage. Moreover, it will lower your basal metabolic rate, making your weight loss journey even harder.
Solution:
So don't be afraid to eat, and don't treat eating as a crime. Of course, you need to eat healthily. Feel free to eat fruits, starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, and peas), whole grains, fish, chicken, tofu, avocados, nuts, and green vegetables. Consuming 1800-2000 calories of these healthy foods daily will make you feel full and better than eating junk food.
2. Only doing aerobic exercises without strength training
You've probably heard that aerobic exercises like running and cycling are the most effective for burning fat, so you only do aerobic exercises to lose weight. But this is incorrect. Especially for women, who think that anaerobic exercises to build muscle are unnecessary.
Adding strength training to your aerobic exercises can speed up your metabolism. In other words, even when you're lying on the couch after exercising, you can still burn fat. Isn't that a better and faster way to lose weight?
Solution:
If you're only losing weight by running and not doing strength training, take note. Here are some suggestions: do strength training 2-3 times a week, such as lifting dumbbells or doing push-ups. You might find it challenging at first, so start with lighter weights or fewer repetitions. As your ability improves, gradually increase the weight or repetitions.
3. Constantly reminding yourself to diet but not changing your lifestyle
Once you decide to diet to lose weight, you focus more on dieting until you reach your goal. It's like asking yourself how to lose weight and then eating less. In fact, dieting is not a good way to lose weight; you need to change your lifestyle. You can't diet forever; only by changing your current lifestyle can you achieve long-term health.
Solution:
When you're exercising and changing your eating habits, you can remove the word 'diet' from your dictionary. Finding a healthy lifestyle that suits you can help you achieve your weight loss goals, enjoy the process, and stick with it.
4. Your friends don't support you
If your family or friends support your weight loss, it will be more effective than losing weight alone. If your family or friends don't support or participate in your weight loss plan, it will be hard to maintain.
Solution:
Find a running buddy or a weight loss partner to help keep you on track. If you can't find such a person, at least let your family know your goals and ask for their support, or at least not hinder you. You can also look at other people's weight loss experiences online to stay motivated or find virtual weight loss partners to encourage each other and share tips.
5. You haven't set clear goals
The key to successful weight loss is breaking down the overall goal into smaller, manageable goals. For example, if your goal is to lose 30 pounds, break it down into 6 stages, losing 5 pounds in each stage. Doesn't that make the weight loss seem more manageable?
Solution:
Set clear, actionable, realistic, achievable, and time-bound goals for yourself. For example, if your goal this month is to drink 8 glasses of water daily, then next month, you can maintain the 8 glasses of water while replacing half of your carbohydrate intake with vegetables or fruits. Each of your goals must be clear and achievable to gradually improve your lifestyle.
6. You overestimate the calories burned in a single workout
Many people work very hard to lose weight, sweating profusely in the gym. They think that such hard work must burn a lot of calories, so eating a snack should be fine. But in reality, they overestimate the calories burned in a single workout, leading to eating more. For example, a bag of chips has 515 calories. To burn that many calories, you would need to run about 7 kilometers.
Solution:
Remember, increasing your exercise means you need to increase your calorie intake, but the proportion should be appropriate.
7. You give up halfway
This is the most common mistake for anyone trying to lose weight. After sticking to it for one or two months without seeing significant results, they give up halfway.
Losing weight is never easy. Only by sticking to exercise and improving your diet can you achieve your weight loss goals.
Solution:
Generally, the motivation for weight loss can last for up to 2 weeks. So in the third week, you can take a short break and then get back on track in the fourth week. Occasionally slacking off isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you slack off for too long, you need to quickly return to your weight loss plan.
Original Title: There are many reasons why you can't lose weight, and you must have made these 7 mistakes