Weight loss Mistakes to Avoid

I'm so proud of my 5 ladies--they lost a total of 21 lbs (all together) their first week! I told them to keep a positive attitude for the weeks ahead. It will be easier to lose weight and keep it off if you think positively!

I also felt it was valuable to go over some potential weight loss mistakes. Many times people THINK they are doing everything right, but in reality, they're making little mistakes that hinder their goals. Causing them to feel discouraged--many times the end result is giving up all together.

Here are some things NOT TO DO on your weightloss journey in order to spare yourself of many pitfalls that derail your goals.

1. Having a negative I can't do it attitude: If you think you can't, you're right.

2. Going on a fad diet that can't be done for the rest of your life: Nobody wants to drink Slim Fast for the rest of their life. If it's short term, it's only going to work short term.

3. Letting the scale rule your mind: There are so many reasons why your weight fluctuates--water, strength training and your menstrual cycle to name a few. If you're eating correctly and exercising right, keep going. Soon enough, you'll see major changes--inches ARE coming off!

4. Not drinking enough water: I recommend drinking at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water. I personally drink more, but start there! It washes out the impurities and helps with your metabolism. It's also the #1 essential nutrient your body needs! Protein coming in 2nd!

5. Drinking sugary drinks: Enough said. Find a sugar-free drink such as crystal light or zero calorie sparkling water. CUT OUT SODA!

6. Eating processed foods: Foods that have been pre-packaged and aren't in their most "natural" state.

7. Skipping breakfast: Most important meal of the day! It gets your metabolism moving.

8. Skipping any meal/snack: Your body will go into preservation mode, meaning when you finally do eat, it will go to storage rather than burned as energy now! You completely mess up your metabolism and your ability to burn fat if you do this.

9. Adding the WRONG dressing to your salad, wrong marinades to your meat, and wrong syrup to your "healthy protein pancakes." Yes, you did have a salad, but that 1/2 cup ranch dressing you put on top was no good. Some of my recommendations are:

• Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Raspberry Vinaigrette
• Walden Farms maple syrup (zero calories, carbs and sugar)
• Walden Farms chocolate syrup (zero calories, carbs and sugar)
• Mrs. Dash salt-less seasoning for your lean meats
• These can all be found at Hy-Vee

10. Drinking too much alcohol: there is so many reasons why this hinders weight loss. Check out my alcohol blog!

11. Being a diet extremist: The weight didn't come on overnight, it's not going to come off over night either. If you lose the weight in a steady, healthy way it will stay off for life.

12. Adding sodium to your food: Try your best to stay away from the salt shaker. This will really help your body get rid off excess water weight.

These tips should help you on your journey to lose weight. And yes, you WILL lose weight! No excuses.

Don't Be Afraid to Step on the Scale--It's the Last Time You'll Ever See That Number!

Losing weight is definitely NOT easy! But, if you have some guidance and lose weight CORRECTLY, great results can be achieved with minimal pain :).

I've decided to blog the weight loss and healthy lifestyle journey of 5 ladies--one in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's all with different goals; that way, all my readers can relate. As I told them, this is not a diet. I hate that word. It's a clean eating lifestyle change that requires time, dedication, pre-planning and commitment. It's not just a way of eating that is only done on the weekdays. It's not another fad diet that only allows you to eat cabbage soup or protein shakes. Its not about avoiding food groups, deprivation or starvation, but about providing your body with the best foods possible.

WEEK 1 of 12

The "Clean Eating Basics"

• Eating 5-6 smaller meals every 2.5-3 hours to keep blood sugar level and to keep metabolism moving
• Eating lean proteins, complex carbs and fibrous veggies
• Avoiding processeed and refined foods (sugar, white rice, pasta and flour)
• Avoiding trans fats, but consuming healthy fats instead
• Avoiding soda, juice and other sugary drinks
• Portion control--for example, eating 4 oz. of grilled chicken
• Drinking plenty of water
• Eating more for nourishment and less for entertainment, although it's important to find balance in order to live happily.
• Recognizing the feeling of satisfaction and how to distingush hunger from thirst

Goals

After going over the clean eating lifestyle basics, we set some realistic goals. I'm going to be assisting these 5 ladies for 12 weeks, so I had them set a 12 week goal and weekly goals as well. I believe that if you set weekly goals, you always feel like you're accomplishing something--and you are!


Workout Program

I have them doing 5 days of strength training with cardio incorporated. You can surely lose weight with nutrition alone, however, maintaining weight loss is going to be VERY difficult without exercising. It doesn't only control weight, increase strength and raise your metabolism, it also improves your quality of life. It reduces stress, lifts your mood, helps you sleep at night, and makes you look and feel younger.

Obstacles

Before these ladies started their journey, I asked each of them what their biggest obstacle was going to be. The most common answers were eating every 2.5-3 hours, social festivities and working out 5 days a week. Throughout this process, I am going to teach them ways to overcome these obstacles--"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or walk around it."

In my next posts, I am going to share ways these ladies are overcoming their obstacles, in hopes it will help others overcome theirs!