8 Diet Mistakes You Are Probably Making Everyday

Do you know your diet mistakes?

Diet can be difficult and we tend to fall on a routine of starting a diet every Monday. Why?

1. Why Start a Diet?

First of all –

How about forgetting about starting a diet and just start eating healthy food instead?

The word ” diet” can often have a negative impact on our emotions – it is like, now I am in prison and I have to suffer and be hungry, and I am just going to have to endure it.

Not to mention the fact that when you are on a diet, most likely you have this forbidden feeling about food which actually makes the “bad food” more desirable. So what will normally happen – you end up eating more of the bad stuff than you probably would if you knew you could just eat it freely.

2. Fat-Free

There is a perception that fat-free products are good and suitable for people dieting.

Two things:

First, fat-free claimed products like yogurt, for example, tend to have more sugar or unhealthy sweeteners. Not all fat-free products are bad, low-fat milk, for example, is alright and a low-calorie choice for those who love milk.

Solution: Switch to natural or greek yogurt. Full fat or low fat – the choice is yours. A tip when choosing yogurt- the fewer ingredients on the label the better it is going to be.

Yogurt should contain 2 or 3 ingredients max, and they are Milk, live cultures. Full fat yogurt has cream as an ingredient too.

Second, not all fats are bad! There is a good source of fats on fruits, seeds, and meats. Don’t go all crazy on those though. They are healthy but high in calories.

Check out this list of good fat foods and how much calories they have.

3. You Think You Are Not Eating Much

I don’t know why I can’t lose weight, I haven’t been eating much..hahaha don’t trick yourself!

Start writing down EVERY SINGLE THING you eat throughout the day to find out you have eaten more than enough.

Solution: Start a Food Diary – Because that’s going to help you get a big picture of your diet so you can figure out how often you eat, your food habits, and how many calories you consumed

Use this info to make a plan:

1. Set a definite number of your meals and consider it as a rule – whatever works for you but stick with it. Normally 6 meals a day is more than enough. (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack).
2. Identify your common bad eating habits like:
   – eating in front of the TV or computer, we tend to eat more when we are distracted
   – late snacks: we both know that we tend to eat more late at night
   – Eating fast foods: most of people nowadays do not cook because they do not have time or due to their laziness.

4. You Don’t Know How Much Calories You Eat A Day

High caloric food dangers. You might be snacking on nuts thinking they are so healthy to find out they are super high in calories.

Yep, you should be probably counting them! :- (

If you are having a full cream cappuccino every day, guess how many calories a McDonalds medium size Cappucino has? 160 calories!

If you actually switch to a cup of black coffee with 2 teaspoons of sugar – 35 calories! one cup of coffee has just 3 calories..and you can still have a little sweetness. Obviously, it’s better not to have sugar at all. Maybe a splash of skimmed milk might just do the trick!

Solution: Download a free food calorie app like myfitnesspal. 

Now, don’t worry, you won’t need to count calories for the rest of your life. All you need is to:

First, discover how many calories you are actually eating on your normal diet every day.

Second, learn how many calories are on the foods you eat. You will be surprised!

Third, set a daily calorie goal or range. If you don’t know how much you should be eating, check out this guide that covers how you can figure out your BMI.

Fourth, start making strategics and smart decisions. That means cutting down on unhealthy/ unnecessary calories. Switch to healthier and low-calorie food options. Please go for more natural foods and less processed!

If you switch high-calorie foods to low-calorie and nutritious healthy food, you will continue to eat normal quantities, lose weight and you won’t go hungry! 

5. You Think You Are Eating Healthy Food

Everyone knows that vegetables and fruits are healthy choices. No one can get fat from eating fruit and veggies…right?

Well, not quite!

Fruit juices and smoothies are considered “healthy” but really..they are way too high in calories. They may have vitamins and all but you shouldn’t be having them anymore.

Here is why:

Have you googled to see how many pieces of fruit are in one cup of juice? Yeah, a lot. You don’t want to be eating 4-5 oranges in one go…and that’s why you should avoid them.

In a normal diet, it is recommended to from one to two cups of fruit a day according to USDA. So if you having a cup of juice and eating natural fruit too, you are way above your limit. To know more about the amount of fruit in one cup according to each type of fruit, click here.

Solution: Stick to eating fresh fruit and veggies. Don’t juice them.

By doing that, you will be having a more balanced diet and also getting all the fiber that won’t make you hungry.

6. You Are Not Sleeping Enough

If you are sleeping six hours a day you are in trouble! Stop working late at night, partying too hard and switch Netflix off.

Not enough sleep causes all kinds of bad things. A tired body increases the production of insulin and hunger hormones (ghrelin and leptin). To know more about the bad consequences of sleep problems click here.

Other reasons why you should be in bed on time:

• late-night snack dangers
• we tend to eat more if we are tired and don’t get enough sleep (that’s because a tired body produces more cortisol which makes you crave food)
• if you are tired you are more likely to make bad decisions – like eating the wrong foods
• The metabolic rate at night is lower than it at day and your body will store more fat.
• if you are asleep, you are not eating. I know it sounds funny but it’s true, it’s less temptation at night. Please don’t sleep all day!

7. You Are Not Preparing Your Foods Properly

Did you know that our body burns calories to digest food? Yes, that means our bodies don’t burn as much energy to digested cooked foods.

So why not make a switch? Eat more raw foods like veggies and fruits. Check out this list of negative foods.

Not everything can be eaten raw but some vegetable options are:

1. Carrots
2. Capsicums
3. Tomatoes
4. Cucumbers
5. Beets (grated)
6. Broccoli
7. Cauliflower
8. Sweet Peas
9. Green Beans
10. Radish
11. Celery
12. Zucchini
13. Baby spinach
14. Rocket

You will also get more vitamins from your raw vegetables than if they were cooked.

When cooking, opt for boiling, steaming, baking, roasting or grilling your foods. Why? Oil, you want to avoid oil because it’s high in calories.

I know that you know some oils are healthy, nevertheless, you have to be careful. You can add a little bit of olive oil to your salad or steamed vegetables. Try not to cook using oil.

Dressing for cooked veggies suggestion: Little salt, a squeeze of lemon, one clove of garlic, and cracked pepper – and if you want, a tablespoon of olive oil.

Note: When boiling and steaming your vegetables: Nutrients will get lost in water during cooking time, especially vitamin C. Try not to overcook your vegetables and use the water for a soup or another dish.

8. You Are Going Too Hard

Nobody can sustain a super strict diet for too long. The results? Putting on more weight, having massive cravings and eating like crazy.

That happens because:

1. You are hungry
2. You think the delicious forbidden food has been taken away from you

Solution:

Weekends: Allow yourself to have a treat on the weekend. Maybe have a nice meal with friends. The weekend is when everybody catches up with friends and family. You will find yourself in a situation where you may need to have something that’s not super healthy and that’s ok, because:

• if you are eating healthy food 5 days a week, there is no way a plate of pasta on Saturday night is going to ruin everything.
• we are all humans and most of us enjoy food and good company

With time you will start to notice your food habits changing and finding yourself having healthy meals on the weekends, not because you are on a ” diet”, but because this is what you enjoy.