3 Very Costly Weight Loss Mistakes To Avoid

Even though I talk and write tons of information regarding weight loss and overall health and wellness, the same diet mistakes are being made over, and over, and over; every day. 

We are not talking here about little slip-ups where you ate a slice of pizza, or a piece cake; but huge mistakes that lead to weight loss failure. Understanding these errors can help you develop the attitude and skill set that will lead to permanent weight loss. 

The All Or Nothing Attitude

All or nothing dieters will often pick out a complicated diet (surely something that Beyoncé or the Kardashians are doing) that is almost impossible for them to maintain. 

Before beginning, they will search the kitchen for anything that does not fit the plan and throw it in the garbage.  Most of it, anyway.  Most people tend to keep an 'emergency stash' of junk food somewhere.

But they are planning to be the perfect dieter this time; and they will be… for a few days or so.   … ok, for maybe about a week.

Then, inevitably ‘something’ happens. 

Now, to us regular folks; it’s just “life” happening, but to a dieter it’s “the excuse they need to cheat … and sleep good at night after doing it.

•    It could be them having to work late, causing them to raid the vending machine or eat at Taco Hell, Fat Donalds, or Bulging King. 
•    They have friends visiting and they want to go out. The peer pressure is just unbearable. 

OR MY FAVORITE:
•    I WORK OUT VERY HARD. I DESERVE TO EAT CRAP EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE.

While the sentiment is true.  The person saying this usually has not yet earned the right to say this.  This usually comes from a person who’s been sorta - kinda eating right for about a month, as opposed to someone who’s been eating right - right for about 3 months.

But whatever it is; it translates to: “I cannot keep to the diet when ‘this’ happens.”

The next day or so, they cheat again … with the promise of doing an extra hour of exercise to ‘burn it off’, or they’ll promise to take ‘4’ Bootcamp Classes this week instead of the usual 3.

Shortly after this, they get tired of fooling themselves and they simply stop saying that they “are” watching what they’re eating.  And start saying they “were” watching what they were eating.  

“I’ve fallen so far behind … I’ll start back next Monday … next month … after my birthday … blah, blah, blah.

With this self-endowed permission slip, they go to the store and buy all the things that went into the garbage a few weeks ago and proceed to gain back all the weight that they lost, as fast as possible.

If you are this kind of dieter you need to ask yourself a tough questions.

Do you really want to lose weight permanently, or just lose a few pounds so that you can enjoy putting them back on again? The way forward is to make small changes to what you eat so that you have a slow but steady weight loss.  It simply doesn’t happen as it does on t.v.

The Attitude of Sacrifice

Another common mistake is to view your diet as a 'period of sacrifice'.  Meaning, you do not allow yourself the foods that you enjoy most while you are on your way to your target weight. You may have a great diet plan and be very successful in losing weight, but what happens when you reach your goal?

Let me tell you:

You have not learned how to eat 'bad foods' in moderation; as soon as you reach your weight loss goal, you will go back to your 'default setting' of eating junk as a staple, and salad in moderation.  Like … only at the work place … to impress your co-workers … because they know you’re on a diet, so you know, you have to keep up appearances. 

“Oh Mary, I don’t see how you can eat that rabbit food all day.”

The truth is, Mary doesn’t either.   

It is better to include a little of everything in your diet and learn how to enjoy it in small quantities. Yes, even chocolate!  But you have to learn how food works and you have to know what you’re eating before you can refine your eating habits. 

Goal Failure

Setting achievable goals is vital in any weight loss plan. Goals should be clear, realistic and put in writing.  

People do not normally do this, but every single self help Guru will tell you do so.  

While you probably have an ideal weight in your mind, unless you are only 10 – 20 pounds overweight, it is probably too far out to be useful at this time.

You  should have several short term goals and mile stones to look forward to.  Create something to look forward to; something to celebrate upon achieving it that'll which motivates you to continue.

A more useful goal would be to lose two pounds per week for the first five weeks and then one pound per week after that.

Some weeks you will lose more and some weeks - less. Some weeks you may even gain, but if you track your progress on a graph you will see that ups and downs are natural and that you are not to stop your progress.  Stay the course steadily toward your major goal.

If you have been making these mistakes, do not worry. The most important point in dieting as in so many other things is to stay the course. Learn from your failures as well as your successes and do not use a mistake as an excuse for giving up. The only way to achieve your goal permanently is to make a commitment to become a healthier person. Remember that eating normally includes eating more good foods than bad foods. Learn to enjoy food in moderation and you have every chance of avoiding these bad diet mistakes.