5 Diet “Traps” to Avoid

Maybe you’re trying to be a little healthier, or maybe you’re just looking to lose a few pounds. Whatever the reason for changes in your diet, there are a few common ways your new diet can go wrong.

Today.com posted an article on, “5 Common Diet Traps That Are Keeping You From Losing Weight.”

We’re often leery about taking health advice from talk shows, and while we may not agree with everything said, this article addresses a big problem amongst dieters.

Here are the 5 points Today.com warns about:

 

1. Overestimating calories burned during exercise.
2. Confusing healthy eating with reduced-calorie eating.
3. Eating too often.
4. Lack of portion control for healthy foods.
5. Feeding the hungry heart.

Click here to read the full article.

 

Now, let’s take a closer look at each of these “traps.”

 

1. Right off the bat, there is too much emphasis on calorie counting. Yes, you burn fat by using more calories than you intake, but that’s too simplistic a view at weight loss.

The important point to take from this “trap” is to be smart with the time you spend exercising. Physical activity is a must for healthy living, but a lot of people waste a lot of time and energy “working out,” without maximizing their performance. If you’re serious about improving your health, you may benefit from meeting with a personal trainer, who can walk you through some exercise routines that’ll help you optimize your activity.

 

2. Again, there’s too heavy of a focus on calories with this “trap,” but the overall point is okay. People will start switching to healthier options without really understanding the nutritional value of the food. Just because something is “healthier,” doesn’t mean it is healthy, or that you can have as much of it as you want.

 

3. With a good diet, you won’t need to eat “too often.” Eating several small meals a day works well for some, while a few big meals works better for others. The important thing is that you’re getting the right amount of good whole food, and you’re not eating simply to eat.

 

4. It’s not good to eat too much of any one thing. A good diet has a healthy balance of many vegetables, meats, and fruits. A large part of portion control comes down to impulse control. With a healthy, balanced diet you’ll likely need to eat a lot less food than you would on a highly-processed diet. That doesn’t mean people automatically stop wanting to snack, or eating more than they need to. Ask yourself, ‘are you actually hungry, or are you eating just to eat?’

 

5. This is a hard one, probably the hardest “trap” to overcome. The term “comfort food” exists for a reason. For many of us, good intentions and healthy eating fall aside when stressed or upset. In these moments you just need to remember that healthy eating helps you feel better and be your best.

 

You can read the entire original article on Today.com.

 

—

Making the transition to healthy living and eating can be hard, and there are bound to be times where you break your diet. That being said, talking to professionals, to come up with a diet plan and a workout routine, is a great way to start out right and keep moving towards your goal.