If you are struggling to carry out any of your daily tasks without feeling unhealthy and you have put on some weight during the pandemic due to the work-from-home routine due to binge eating or just sitting throughout the day attending meetings online and having very little to no physical activity.
Losing weight most definitely is one of the hardest things to do as it requires a great amount of effort and willpower. Though sometimes you might feel like you are making healthy choices and changing your lifestyle for the better but still for some reason you might not see any difference in your weight.
Some of the other reasons for you not being able to see any changes are the fact that you might be misguided or have been given irrelevant information or advice. In this article, we discuss some of the most common mistakes many people make when they try to lose weight, and unfortunately, these are so common you might not even recognize them.
These reasons may cause weight gain if not rectified soon.
Consuming too many calories
A strict calorie deficit is required to cause and maintain weight loss meaning you need to burn more calories in comparison to the number of calories you consume. This may vary from person to person depending on their consumption or even body type as some might have a very slow metabolic rate as compared to another person of the same weight.
You may sometimes feel like you are not consuming many calories as you have reduced the number of meals you take each day but a very important thing to note is that you might still be consuming the same or even more calories as before.
You might be estimating the number of calories burnt or taken incorrectly, On one side you are working hard, cutting out any junk food that you crave and only eating the healthy food but might be a very calorie-dense food that is hindering you from losing weight.
Some of the foods that you must try to avoid or eat very little of are red meat, chicken meat, fish, beans, milk, egg, cheese, potatoes, whole grains, bread, and rice.
Focusing on the weighing scale too much
It might be a common practice to keep checking the scale too often to assess your progress but this can make you feel like you are not losing weight fast enough even after following a healthy lifestyle. But you forget to factor in that the number on the weighing machine only signifies the weight change.
But in reality, your weight is determined by a multitude of factors like the number of fluids in the body which can be a reason for the fluctuation of weight, amount of muscle, etc rather than the amount of fat in your body alone.
It has been found in some studies that during the day a person can vary anywhere from 1 to 2 kilograms from their normal or actual weight due to the water and food consumed.
Some medical conditions may also cause fluid retention like any cardiac problems like high blood pressure and venous insufficiency, and heart failure to name a few. kidney diseases rendering them useless to filter out fluids like nephrotic syndrome and nephritic syndrome. Hormonal changes in women can be a big factor when it comes to fluid retention.
It is best advised to check your progress over a couple of months rather than every so often, other ways you can keep a tab on your weight loss journey, not including the scale as it could sometimes be deceiving are taking pictures of yourself to check progress or using a tape measure to measure your waist and a common indication could be loosening of clothes.
In addition, if you have been working out you might be gaining muscle and burning fat.
Eating too less calories
You might think that starving yourself might be the way to go to lose an immense amount of weight in your weight loss journey but a key factor people miss out on is that eating fewer calories can be ineffective and counter-productive as fewer calories may cause muscle loss for energy production and to keep the body going and this ultimately decreases your metabolism.
This reduced metabolic rate will cause you to burn lesser calories on food consumption.
Not working out
Though several factors govern the amount and extent of your fat loss and muscle loss it is very important to workout in the gym or exercise daily along with a calories deficit failing which you can start to lose a lot of muscle mass along with fat which is finally going to cause reduced metabolic rate.
Exercising can help you maintain muscle as the food you consume and the protein the body gets in used to construct the muscles. Exercising helps prevent loss of lean mass ( body weight excluding the fat) which in turn helps lose fat and maintain it easily.
On the other hand, working out too much can be counter-intuitive as it may lead to stress and the excessive breaking of muscle fibres.
Not lifting weights
Doing any type of resistance training can help with weight loss. Studies have concluded that lifting weights can be one of the most vital things to do to lose weight which also increases your metabolic rate along with physical strength, body posture, and other general benefits adding to your healthy lifestyle.
Not adding enough fibre or protein to your diet
Eating enough protein is very important as it has many benefits like adding to your muscle mass, reducing your appetite, increasing your metabolic rate, and protecting your muscles from destruction during weight loss as discussed earlier in the article.
High protein foods like tofu, egg, and milk should be consumed in a moderate amount.
Not eating enough fibre can be a reason for your weight gain and may also be unhealthy. Fibres help reduce your appetite and reduce the risks of any digestive problems.
Skipping breakfast
Skipping breakfast or not eating a proper breakfast and supplementing it for a fruit juice can cause depletion of energy by the time your actual day starts and thus making you need energy causing you to overeat throughout the day. It also reduces body metabolism after overnight fasting thus causing fat accumulation.
Taking too many liquid calories
Some people avoid solid food in hopes that it might help them lose weight, some commonly consumed liquids are alcohol, sugary drinks, and coffee.
Excessive consumption can impair weight loss and the sugar-dense liquids might add up to your weight and also make you feel hungry as they pass quickly through the body.
Being very inconsistent
Being inconsistent either on your diet or your workout routine can disrupt your weight loss journey, It is imperative to maintain a routine as being inconsistent can leave your body confused and it can also cause health complications or add to anything if they are already present.
Time of eating food
Researchers have found that the time of the day which you eat also makes a difference, it has been found that the circadian rhythm helps the body burn calories effectively, keeps a check on the blood glucose levels, and helps with digestion.
It is usually advised to consume your dinner at or around 5 pm which helps with weight loss due to the body’s internal clock.
Another commonly advised tactic for weight loss is to avoid eating your food quickly and not concentrating on your food while watching television can cause weight gain and health issues. It has been found that people who eat quickly are usually obese. Thus you are well off eating slowly as your body starts releasing hormones in the gut.
This causes reduced appetite ultimately causing less calorie intake.
Stress
As discussed above stress can play a key role in weight loss, one of the most neglected reasons for weight gain. Experiencing mood swings and feeling anxious to work out either in the gym because of the stress of your progress or for any other reason can cause you to overeat.
It negatively impacts your endocrine glands which tend to regulate body functions thus disrupting them. Cortisol, a very important hormone in the body causes fat and carbohydrate metabolism which increases your appetite and makes you crave unhealthy calories like sweets and fatty foods.
Conclusion
All the above-discussed mistakes might seem too obvious but are very important to avoid. It is really important to set realistic goals that you can achieve and not follow anything and everything that has worked out for somebody else.
Being guided by somebody who has expertise in this matter can help be it your gym instructor or a friend who has lost weight. Nonetheless, try to enjoy the journey as it is going to be hard but you are going to turn out better and as you have expected and envisioned yourself to be.
Hire yourself a personal trainer as they can help you out better than anyone else.