These are some of the most common diet mistakes that even women who consider themselves pretty fit can make. (Mea culpa - I've been guilty too!) With a little modification you can boost your fat loss and build muscle more effectively - so see if any of these apply to you:
1. Cutting carbs before a workout. Most women feel that getting lean means fewer carbohydrates. But you need healthy carbs to burn as body fuel. Eat a small meal, just enough to support activity. Focus on protein, healthy fat and slow digesting carbs about 30-60 minutes before workouts. Otherwise you're depleting your body of nutrients it needs to effectively burn fat and calories.
2. Diet and Exercise Short Attention Span
It's natural to try to opt for a faster, easier, shorter way to do things. But that won't work when it comes to fitness. Cookie cutter, one size fits all approaches don't work in the long run. To really know if a nutrition plan is working for you, give it a minimum of 6-8 weeks. Don't jump around and follow the latest craze or fad.
3. Eating Too Many Prepacked "Good for You" Foods
Those reduced fat, 100 calorie packs may look tempting, but the fact is, the majority of your meals should resemble their natural state with minimal packaging and come from the outer sections of the grocery store. That's where the produce, dairy, and meat are found. Only a few meals a week should come from plastic containers or microwaveable boxes. That includes power bars!
4. Not eating any sugar.
It's a prevalent assumption to avoid sugar - including fruits and sweet vegetables like carrots. These are healthy for you and should not be avoided. Eat as many vegetables as you can and make fruit a part of your daily diet.
5. Not journaling.
I pooh poohed the journal at first but it does make a huge difference. If you don't write it down, what works and doesn't work will be easily forgotten. With a food and exercise journal you can keep track of what you ate and did during your workouts and how your body responded. When you fall prey to portion distortion and skipping workouts and not holding yourself accountable - you will either add unwanted pounds or not lose the ones you've already got.
6. Reliance on caffeine and diet soda.
The borrowed energy you get from energy drinks and coffee will eventually cause your system to crash after it leaves the blood stream. If you find yourself addicted to caffeine, slowly taper off your intake over several weeks and be sure to eat clean, stay hydrated, and get proper sleep to keep your energy levels up.
Make diet soda a special occasion beverage - not a staple. Recent research shows that the artificial sweetners in these beverages may actually encourage consuming more calories, not less.
7. Cutting Calories After Workouts.
Many women don't refuel after workouts. Post-exercise is a time for repairing and refining your physique with nutrients. When you don't eat enough around your workout it's impossible for the body to spare muscle and increase metabolism, much less burn fat. It just keeps recycling itself to stay in survival mode. Take in a small amount of healthy protein and carbs immediately after exercising.
8. Battling cravings.
Over depriving yourself leads to bingeing. When you have a craving, indulge sensibly while controlling calories. Don't beat yourself up about eating something off limits. Take it in stride and move on.
9. Dieting to the extreme and as punishment.
Very restrictive nutrition plans will create a feast or famine cycle in the body. You can't live on 1000 calories a day. Your body will not function properly and anything extra you put in your body will be stored as body fat since the body recognizes your current state as one of famine. Regulate your calories by your daily activities. www.nutritiondata.com can help you figure out your daily caloric requirement.
View healthy eating as a lifestyle choice, not a punishment. Challenge yourself to find good food alternatives that appeal to you and taste good, to replace the bad ones.
10. Focusing on dieting - not clean eating.
Going "on a diet" is old school thinking that will cause your weight to yo-yo back and forth and weaken your immune system. Healthy, clean eating must be a lifestyle choice. Figure out a year round weight management plan that's more about balance than extremes.
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