How to Lose Weight: Common Pitfalls
When we’re trying to lose weight, our efforts can sometimes be hampered by our general eating habits, as well as our attitudes towards eating and dieting. If you find yourself regularly self-sabotaging, it’s important to give yourself an opportunity to explore why it’s happening. Self-awareness is really key, so that you can identify and tackle any unhelpful thoughts and behaviours that might be getting in the way of achieving your goals. Being more aware of how and why we eat can help us to develop a much better relationship with food. When I work with clients, I introduce them to the concept of mindful eating, and how it’s about so much more than just going on a diet- it’s about building self-awareness, in terms of your mindset and behaviours in relation to eating and dieting, and replacing unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours with more helpful ones.
How To Lose Weight By Avoiding ‘Perfect Mode’
A key factor that can help a person learn how to lose weight is being aware of ‘black and white’ thinking. In terms of dieting, this can manifest as rigidly following a diet, but then giving up completely following a single lapse, with the belief that you’ve ‘blown it’. This is a really common mindset, and having perfectionist tendencies can be detrimental to weight loss- perfectionists can have the attitude of: ‘It’s got to be perfect or it’s not worth doing at all’. This mindset can result in alternating periods of being far too strict and periods of overeating. The aim is to not think you’ve blown it after a single lapse- this might be a chocolate bar or a piece of cake- and instead to aim for more ‘grey’ eating, based on a ‘grey’ mindset-this involves eating in a more moderate, less restrictive way, with less chance of cravings and lapses. We encounter socializing with friends and family all year round, and a black and white approach to eating doesn’t work. Your aim is to get it right most of the time- this means you can still enjoy yourself whilst losing weight. We can’t put our lives on hold, so it’s important to be patient when it comes to weight loss. Losing weight rapidly with a ‘quick fix’ diet is overly restrictive and you’re likely to put most of the weight back on. What’s the point of a diet that you can only stick to for a few days or weeks?
Rewarding Yourself After Exercise
Another common pitfall is exercise. Although being more active can help with losing weight, it can also cause overeating. It’s all too easy to treat yourself to food after exercising- many dieters fall into the trap of thinking they’ve burned more calories than they actually have, and end up eating something quite calorific as a ‘reward’.
Eating Quickly
Eating quickly is another common pitfall- it doesn’t give your brain time to register the fullness of your stomach. Fast eating is linked to overeating; the more slowly you eat, the more likely you are to feel psychologically satisfied with a meal or snack, and you might then find it easier to resist a second helping or more food. Mindful eating can help us to become more satisfied with less food, as we learn to notice and savour the flavours and textures of the food in front of us.
Letting Go At Weekends
Another factor that can help with losing weight is being aware when you’re being ‘good’ midweek and letting go at weekends- sound familiar? The problem is that two days out of seven is a significant proportion of the week, so if you have a tendency to eat and drink what you like at weekends, despite being good midweek, this can make weight loss stall.
Calories In Drinks
A key part of knowing how to lose weight is remembering the calories in drinks. It’s easy to forget about the calories we’re drinking- fruit juices, smoothies, alcoholic drinks and milky coffees are generally high in calories. Whilst you might be watching your food intake, you might be consuming excess calories through your fluid intake.
How To Lose Weight By Planning More
One way in which people can learn how to lose weight successfully is by becoming more organised and planning ahead. Planning is such an essential part of successful weight management. If you don’t plan your meals and snacks for the week you’re unlikely to stock up well, which means you can get caught out with nothing healthy at home, prompting poor food choices such as takeaways.
Portion Sizes
A crucial aspect of learning how to lose weight is to be mindful of portion sizes. Many people eat oversized portions; they might think they’re eating medium portions, but in fact they’re eating from extra large plates and bowls- downsizing your crockery can really help you to eat less.
Get Support From The Family
Another way to make your weight loss journey easier is to encourage other members of the family to eat the same as you. This can help to address the problem of having tempting foods in the house, if you find that this is a particular challenge for you. If you buy and keep unhelpful foods in the house for other family members, inviting your family to eat the same as you can be a real help. Take the time to find a few simple, tasty, healthy recipes that the whole family enjoys. There are now plenty of tasty, healthy snack options about, but if they do insist on having less healthy snacks, then keep them out of sight. Don’t let others sabotage your weight loss efforts- ask for support, and make it clear to them what your goals are, and request that they don’t entice you with those foods you’re trying to limit.
Weighing Yourself Too Often
The weighing scales can be very motivating, but it can also be highly demotivating if you’re not getting the result you want. If you’re impatient to lose weight, you might be tempted to weigh yourself too often. It’s also possible to become obsessed with the scales when there is a fear of weight gain. Weight can fluctuate from day to day, so it’s much better to weigh yourself just once a week. Don’t let yourself be ruled by the scales. Instead, make your priority to improve your relationship with food, and then weight loss will be a positive by-product.
Overeating After Starving All Day
Some people who are trying to lose weight eat very little during the day so that they can eat more in the evening. Many people also find that the evenings are when they generally tend to overeat. The problem with skipping meals during the day is that it can lead to overeating later on, due to getting overly hungry- you can actually end up eating more calories than if you ate three meals and 1 or 2 snacks over the day. If you starve yourself, your body will respond by increasing your appetite, and perhaps cause cravings for something sweet, fatty, or high calorie. Restriction can lead to bingeing. A key aspect of mindful eating is to tune into and respond to the body’s needs and to avoid deprivation (ignoring the body’s needs)- avoid swinging between feast and famine.
Think about whether any of these common pitfalls apply to you- awareness is power!
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