Even though is a ton of information out there about weight loss, people seem to be making three basic mistakes regarding their weight loss plan. These are not small errors that set you back a bit in your plan, these are big mistakes that threaten the success of your plan altogether! If you make these mistakes you are likely to not only only lose weight temporarily, but you will probably gain back even more and be worse off than when you started your plan!
Mistake number one is adopting an all or nothing mindset regarding your diet plan. If a person starts with this attitude it usually means that they have failed at losing weight before and are this time determined to achieve their weight goal by the force of their will no matter what gets in their way. This attitude is understandable since these people are so frustrated with their failure to lose weight with previous attempts. Unfortunately in their zeal they usually pick a particularly complicated plan that can be very difficult to maintain. To assure their success some will even throw out any food that is not on the plan! Even so, the most likely outcome is yet another failure.
At the start these plans often seem successful but inevitably something happens that interrupts the plan. Many things could cause this, but often is is their work forcing them to be away from home where they can’t prepare their planned meal. Often they find that their body just can not take any more and cravings take over, causing them to make a quick trip to the grocery store to find some food they are used to eating. Either way, this throws them off their carefully laid out Plan and they end up feeling like complete failures. Ironically, this feeling of failure is often the last straw and they end up never going back to the plan, gaining back all of their lost weight and more.
If you are this kind of dieter you need to ask yourself some tough questions. Do you truly desire to lose weight permanently, or are you going to be on the diet roller coaster for the rest of your life? This constant losing and regaining of weight can be worse for your health than just being overweight! The way to success is to appreciate the fact that you must make changes gradually to what you eat so you will have a slow but steady weight loss.
Another common error for those attempting to lose weight is the think about the weight loss plan as a time of sacrificing. Dieters with this attitude plan on temporarily changing their eating habits only until they reach the goal weight. Typically, the dieter believes that all the foods they enjoy must be given up in order to reach their goal. Often dieters with this misconception will actually reach their goal and it may look like they are successful in solving their weight problem. However, they inevitably go back to their “normal” food patterns and within the next few months or years they gain back all the pounds they lost.
What these people don’t understand is that they are overweight because their normal eating habits cause them to consume too much food for their activity level and body size. They do not need a period of sacrifice, but instead a permanent change to their eating habits and amount of exercise. We don’t gain 20 or 30 pounds overnight, but instead overeat or under exercise enough to produce a gain of a few ounces a week. Over time this adds up to many extra pounds. We need to lose the weight the same way, by creating permanent lifestyle changes that will cause us to lose a little each week, without giving up all the foods we love!
A third dieting error is to start with goals that are unrealistic. Important to the success of any diet plan is the setting of several realistically achievable goals. Unfortunately, many dieters have just a single goal when they start: their final target weight. This does not provide much motivation if the ideal weight is far from their present weight. In this case, when they lose a couple pounds they may feel that their loss is not significant compared to the overall target, and they may start to feel that their plan is a failure, even though they may be making good progress.
Success is much more likely if weekly goals are a part of the plan, like planning to lose two pounds during each of the first five weeks and then one pound each week thereafter. Using this method gives the dieter a success opportunity for each week. If a goal is missed one week, the dieter can continue on the plan and work on the goal for the next week. The objectives of the plan become much more realistic and motivating by breaking them into weekly goals like this and also putting those goals in writing. Additionally, the dieter can track the weight loss and weekly goals on a graph on a computer and they will soon see that, even though there are ups and downs, the overall plan is working.
If you have been making these mistakes, don’t worry. The most important point in dieting as in so many other things could be to move on. Learn from your failures as well as your success and do not use a mistake as an excuse for giving up. The only method to achieve your goal permanently will be to make a commitment to become a healthier person. Remember that eating normally includes eating more a few days and much less others. Learn to appreciate food in moderation and you’ve each chance of avoiding these bad diet plan mistakes.
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