5 Ways People Sabotage Their Own Weight Loss

Here are five ways people sabotage their own weight loss and how to avoid doing it.  You would not believe how well-intentioned people actually sabotage their weight loss.

You would also not believe the things people do just to lose weight. Some would even go as far as starve themselves to death! But do you know what’s even more surprising? It’s how people end up sabotaging their own diets.

Yes, that’s true. You are your own worst enemy, when it comes to dieting. Self-sabotage doesn’t make you a bad person, although it would certainly make you feel guilty. So what can you do to stop yourself from ruining your own weight loss program?

Well, first things first, you have to know what these self-destructive behaviors are, and then you can work out a solution for each.

Weight Loss Sabotage:  Skipping Meals

So you think you’re doing yourself a favor skipping meals. After all, fewer meals mean fewer calories, and fewer calories mean weight loss, right? Actually, the opposite is true. Skipping meals does cut calories but it also leads to uncontrollable hunger, and eventually to overeating.

Not to mention, it also slows down your metabolism as your body tends to go into “starvation mode” when you’re not eating right on time.

To avoid the harmful “starve and binge” habit, you have to plan out your daily calorie intake and distribute these over three major meals and two snacks. Small but frequent is the way to go.

These tips will make sure you don’t sabotage your weight loss

Using Food as a Reward

Rewards system is indeed an effective way to reinforce a certain habit or behavior. But when it comes to losing weight, you have to be careful as to which type of reward you use.

If you’ve done a great job completing your exercise routine for the week, feel free to reward yourself with things that you like—an hour of massage, a movie date, or a trip to your favorite beach.

Just make sure that you don’t reward yourself with a food feast. That would defeat the purpose of your weight loss program. Having burned off a lot of calories during workout doesn’t give you an excuse to forget all about your diet.

Getting Fooled by Label Claims

Buying food products labeled with “low fat”, “low calories”, “light”, “gluten-free” and “zero fat” may seem like the smart move. But it’s not, if you haven’t read the nutrition facts. Read and understand the nutrition facts so you know exactly how many calorie you’re consuming.

That’s not all, you also have to know if the food product you’re buying contains any nutrients. You need essential nutrients to keep yourself in tiptop shape.

Drinking Too Much Alcohol

So you’re following your weight loss plan to the dot but you still haven’t lost any weight. How come? The bottles of beer you chug down during weekends may be the culprit. Alcohol contains seven calories per gram, more than what carbs and proteins contain.

Not only are you loading up on calories, you’re also slowing down your metabolism and increasing your appetite. Yes, alcohol has been found to do these two things.

If you can get rid of your drinking habit altogether that will be great.

If not, a drink per day if you’re a woman, and two drinks per day if you’re a man would be the limit to observe.

Weight Loss Sabotage:  Getting Carried Away During Cheat Days

Cheat day has been proven effective in controlling overeating. But it can also be counter effective if you use your cheat days to eat a whole week’s worth of food feast. It’s okay to indulge, it’s your cheat day, after all.

But you don’t have to eat the whole town, or everything in plain sight.

You still have to remember, you’re attempting to shed off unwanted pounds. Don’t lose sight of your weight loss goals.

There’s no other person who can make you succeed in your weight loss program other than you. Instead of doing things that will ruin your efforts, focus on the positive, and keep motivating yourself to reaching your goals.

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