"Reduce Weight and Inches With an Ultra-Cleanse!"
"Use Maximum Strength Acai Berry to Burn Fat and Block Carbs Too!"
"Chinese Herbal Tea Melts Away Flab!"
Oh, really now. Does anyone buy these pills, supplements, enemas and diet plans with the expectation that they will work? That, if you "cleanse your colon of impurities" (read take some modified Ex-Lax) or take a supplement (which isn't regulated and doesn't have to be scientifically proven to be either bio-available or actually produce the claimed effect), you'll achieve Jillian Michaels' ripped body?
Jillian Michaels, and the rest of the diet industry want you to think so. Why? Because it makes them money. If people didn't buy into scams promising instant results, they'd be out of a job, or have to work a lot harder at it. It's not just obese, middle-aged women who fall for these too-good-to-be-true claims, just open Oxygen Magazine or Muscle and Fitness and you'll see similar ads targeted at their reader demographic.
Most folks are doing the exact opposite of what is needed when it comes to fat loss. It's no secret: the road to weight loss and better health is a journey of trial and error, finding tried and true methods for permanent change and tweaking those methods to personally maximize results.
Here are great 8 fat loss mistakes…
Mistake #1: Just trying to lose weight
It's not all about pounds and the scale when it comes to fat loss and looking great. Fat takes up more space, pound for pound; if you lose weight, your body is going to become a thinner version of itself. Meaning if you don't build any lean muscle you'll still be flabby and won't look good in a bathing suit. This is the definition of "skinny fat." The solution? Incorporate weight resistance training into your workouts, work to create a great nutrition plan and do high intensity interval training. Those are the silver bullets, the "secret" to weight loss.
Yes, it's simple. No, it's not easy. It's what works.
Mistake #2: Starving yourself and then bingeing
80% of success with long-term weight loss comes from diet and nutrition. Cutting calories and eating less junk is a good thing, but going overboard with cutting food quickly leads to a point of total starvation where self-imposed deprivation causes a backlash. This is when the cycle of emotional eating begins and diets fail. The emotional cycle of deprivation, frustration, anger and guilt keep repeating over and over again. The physical toll of deprivation and binge eating is a possibly weakened immune system and eventually a slowdown in metabolism - another cycle that will impede future progress.
Mistake #3: Thinking exercise is all you need
Building from mistake #2, to burn fat and have a toned shaped body you'll need to exercise and lift weights. But if you neglect your nutrition then you might as well throw your workouts out the window. You can't out-train a bad diet.
Go simple. Take a month or two to transition to eating foods that aren't boxed, with ingredients you can pronounce. Build your meals around 3-4 oz. of lean protein, at least 1 cup of non-starchy vegetables, 1/2 to 1 cup (cooked) whole grains or fiber (beans, lentils, etc.) and round out with a small piece of fruit. Eat well 80% of the time and you won't feel so horrible about that Blackstrap Praline you had at Jeni's last week.
When you are gearing up for a workout, be sure to eat a small snack (about 200 calories) with some protein to fuel your body. You wouldn't try to drive your car on an empty gas tank, and not eating before a workout has not been shown to have an effect on fat loss.
Mistake #4: Not having a plan
Many people trying to lose weight go to the gym with no end goal in sight. Not even a short term goal. They grab a magazine and hop on the elliptical machine for an hour, do some bicep curls, check out a yoga class every once in a while. Having goals is essential to getting your body into its best form. It's very much like Mapquest - you put in where you are but you have to put in where you want to go to be able to know the best route to get there. The same goes with weight loss goals.
(Hint: If you can read a magazine while you're working out, you're not doing it correctly!)
Mistake #5: You just do cardio
Doing steady state cardio as a weight-loss plan has to be the biggest mistake when it comes to fat loss. Old school aerobics have been found to not do much when it comes to losing unhealthy weight and burning fat. Unless you're training for a marathon, you shouldn't be running at the same pace on the treadmill for half an hour. High intensity interval training along with total body resistance training burns fat the most effectively and the fastest. It's a one-two punch for that paunch.
Mistake #6: Skipping breakfast
Breakfast has been called the best meal of the day for good reason. Your body is in a catabolic state and not burning many calories, as you've been in a fasting/resting state for the past 8-12 hours. When you skip breakfast, your body isn't burning fat calories - it thinks you may be starving and responds. Studies also found that eating a larger, 600-calorie breakfast will help with weight loss throughout the day.
Mistake #7: Going too hard too fast
When it's time to start a self-improvement project, the all-or-nothing approach is a common pitfall. In the gym, there are always new, pumped up people ready to go all-out everyday, only to disappear 2 weeks later. Going too hard too fast is detrimental in the long run and can lead to rapid burnout (and injury). It's great to be energetic about working out and living healthy, but if you go crazy with it all at once the odds of making it a permanent change dwindle. This explains the rush that occurs at the gym when New Years' rolls around, people are pumped to work out - but a month later the gym has emptied out.
Mistake #8: Surrounding yourself with negativity
This can be a huge barrier to weight loss, especially if you take the things others say to heart. When you embark on a weight-loss journey it is a guaranteed that there are people in your acquaintance who will try to bring you down because they don't want to see you succeed. Other people can be cruel and petty when it comes to others' successes. Do your best not to listen to the negative people in your life and if you can, get rid of them. Everyone deserves the highest praise for their positive lifestyle changes and achieving goals is much easier when you're surrounded with positive and encouraging people.
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