You’ve changed your lifestyle for the past couple of weeks, cutting out the bad habits of too much junk food and switched to eating healthier by adding more fruits and veggies to your diet, and yet you still aren’t seeing the results you’d expect after weeks of dieting. So what’s the deal? If you’ve been dieting and aren’t seeing any type of decrease in weight when you step on the scale, then you might want to check out these 10 common nutrition and dieting mistakes below.
1. Skipping Meals
If you think that skipping meals is a surefire way to lose weight, think again. Skipping meals during the day can be just as bad for your metabolism as eating meals that are too large. You want to keep your metabolism going by making sure you aren’t skipping out on breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you are one of the many breakfast dodgers out there, you need to stop. There are numerous health benefits for eating breakfast that can lead to weight loss that you aren’t taking advantage of.
2. Eating Too Many Calories
You’ve finally decided you’re going to eat healthier by loading up on fruits, veggies and whole grains, while cutting out all the junk food. The problem is, you’re actually gaining weight rather than losing it. So, what’s the deal? While it’s much harder to gain weight from eating too many vegetables, the whole grains and fruits are the likely culprits. You have to understand that just because they are considered healthy, doesn’t mean they’re free calories you can consume all day. You still need to track your calorie intake and manage your portions properly if you want to lose weight.
3. Not Reading Nutrition Labels Properly
Often times, people get tricked into believing certain packaging labels claiming “less fat” or “fat free” means they are eating something healthy. What they don’t realize is they still need to read the nutrition label properly. Another common nutrition label flub is confusing the “serving size” information on the nutrition label with the entire package.
4. Destroying Your Diet Foods with Condiments
Although you’ve been sticking to mostly salads and fruits for your meals and snacks, you’re still not losing any weight. Why? Most people forget that the condiments and dressings they’re adding to their diet food are just as bad as the junk food they’re eliminating from their diet. Coating your entire salad in Ranch dressing can defeat the entire purpose of eating a salad in the first place. If you need to add a little something to your fruits and veggies to help the.
5. Drinking Extra Calories
A major dieting mistake people tend to make is forgetting about the stuff they drink. When you’re going into diet mode, you need to include your beverage selection with the rest of the process. Powering down two, giant cups of orange juice with your oatmeal can actually destroy your diet meal. If you want the vitamin C, you’re better off eating the actual fruit. Iced green tea looks like a diet drink right down to the packaging, until you find out how many calories are in one serving. When you’re dieting,water should be the main drink of choice.
6. Eating the Wrong Foods
You’re eating more veggies in your diet, but don’t forget the protein. Lean meats like chicken breast, and fish like salmon and tuna are healthy sources of protein, which is crucial for weight loss. Protein helps you stay full longer, and can help build muscles that are beneficial for slimming down. If you’re a vegetarian, you should at least be supplementing your diet with protein-rich foods like tofu and peanuts.
7. Starving Yourself
A major nutrition mistake for people who are dieting is starving themselves. Starvation is not a healthy way to lose weight, and can lead to vitamin deficiency and serious health problems like anemia and heart failure. Starvation also causes the body to go into survival mode, retaining fat because it feels it is not getting enough nourishment. Your metabolism also slows down due to starvation. You also run the risk of binge eating after starving yourself, which can completely destroy your dietary goals of losing weight.
8. You aren’t Planning Your Meals
When you’re dieting, it’s important to plan your meals with a regular eating schedule and healthy portions. By planning your meals, you can track the amount of calories being eaten and types of foods you need to eat to gain vital nutrients, and you avoid the risk of overeating. Eating on a regular schedule also helps you avoid the temptation of eating excess calories by snacking all the time.
9. Not Cheating on Your Diet Every so Often
Dieters need to allow themselves to indulge every so often. That doesn’t mean they should go on a junk food bender, eating anything they want on certain days of the week. Try having a guilt-free snack or dessert every so often, and use it as a motivational tool for your diet. For example, promise yourself a scoop of ice cream at the end of the week, just as long as you’ve been good and stuck to your diet plan. Cheating on your diet every so often can reduce the anxiety that accompanies dieting, and keep you from completely falling off the diet wagon.
10. Being Impatient
Remember that weight loss through proper dieting takes time. You aren’t going to see instant results from your dieting efforts, but don’t let the measurements on the weighing scale discourage you. Try sticking to your diet because you want to do something that will benefit your health, and because you want to make a positive change in your lifestyle. If you want to speed up the weight loss process, or you want to lose a significant amount of weight, then you need to do more than just dieting. Regular exercise and physical activity is crucial to losing weight.
Tag Archives: Weight loss
Working out and Not Losing Weight: Nutrition Mistakes
Filed under Natural Remedies
Jennifer Aniston Zone Diet Meal Plan And Workout
What does Jennifer Aniston really eat? She follows the Zone Diet, which involves eating a 40:30:30 ratio of carbs to fat to protein.
If you want a similar physique as her, you can do what she does (Granted results will vary because not everybody has the same body type.). She does:
1) Zone Diet. She follows the zone diet which is a meal plan that follows the calorie ratio of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fats.
2) Interval Cardio. Basically, she’ll do variations of sprinting for 30 seconds (or longer) and do a moderate pace for a minute (or two). This is called interval training or in this case cardio.
3) Yoga.
Sample Menu for Females
Breakfast
- Protein: 1 c. low fat plain yogurt, 1 oz. lean Canadian bacon
- Carbohydrate: 1 c. strawberries
- Fat: 1 tbs. slivered almonds
Lunch
- Protein: 3 oz. grilled chicken
- Carbohydrate: 2 c. romaine lettuce, ¼ c. sliced mushrooms, ¼ c. chopped tomatoes, ¼ c. chopped onion, lemon juice to taste, garlic powder, 1 dash of Worcestershire sauce, pepper to taste, 1 orange
- Fat: 1 tbs. olive oil
Afternoon Snack
- Protein: 1 oz. cheese
- Carbohydrate: ½ apple
Dinner
- Protein: 3 oz. pork
- Carbohydrate: ½ apple, 2 c. steamed broccoli
- Fat: 1 tbs. olive oil
Bedtime Snack
- Protein: 1 oz. cheese
- Carbohydrate: ½ c. grapes
Recommendation for Zone Diet Vegetarian
If you want to give vegetarian Zone Diet a try, here are the top recommended sources of vegetal protein:
- Tofu
- Soy bean protein powder
- Soy-based products
- Eggs
- Cheese
- Nuts
- Nut butters
- Meat substitutes (seitan, tempah, vegetable protein)
Filed under Diet & Detox
Portions Control Is Key To Maintain A Healthy Lifetyle
I can’t even begin to emphasis how crucial portion control is to maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle. You could eat healthy but if your over eating at every meal your going always to have excess weight. I like the motto ” Eat until you are 3/4 full”, by the time your brain begins to feel completely full you have probably over ate already. Another tip to avoid over eating is to pace yourself. Eat slow and take break in between bites to decide if your at the point of being full. Another way to avoid feeling too full is not going into a meal in ” starvation mode”, where you feel so hungry you could eat through a whole box of cereal. You should be eating at least 5 small ( very small) meal a day and always feel satisfied hunger wise. I know most usually don’t have time to fit in so many meals but my solution to this is to always carry snacks or little meals on you.Always having different fruit or almonds in purse or car.
If your not sure how you should e portioning out your good these charts can be very useful for measuring food.
Filed under Natural Remedies
H.I.I.T Workouts
I love high intensity interval training. You burn so many calories and even after your done your still burning. Its important to do every set the fastest and hardest you can to see improvements. Push your limits.If your dripping sweat from your forehead that’s always a sign you got an awesome workout.
Perfect Diet For Active Women : Cardio & Strength Training
Perfect Diet For Active Women : Cardio & Strength Training
-This is a good diet philosophy ,small meals and portion control. Eat until your 3/4 full or portion your food out prior to eating. Your usually dont realize your full until its too late.
Sample Vegetarian 1 Day Meal Plan
- Breakfast – ½ cup of Oatmeal.1Tsp of organic peanut butter.
- Snack -An apple, app. 200 grams – 100 calories. Here you can add a protein shake (80-100 calories).Protein shake is made of soy and is good for completely vegetarian diet.
- Lunch– 100 grams boiled brown rice (110 calories) with 150 grams low fat tofu (210 calories). You can boil rice and tofu together, very important to add many seasonings, like Cumin and black pepper, because they give strong taste to this dish. Don’t add any oil. On your taste have fresh salad with the launch, like tomatoes or cucumbers or lettuce.
- Snack – a glass of low fat soy milk. If you don’t like the taste, drink it with a straw, so the milk goes directly in the throat lol. Depending on the brand it is 80-100 calories per glass.OR 50 grams raw almonds – 280 calories
- Dinner – a bowl of dense lentils soup, app. 200 grams of drained lentils. This is app. 220 calories
General directions for a vegetarian diet plan
- Fruits have good nutrition value and once you lose weight you can eat plenty of them. But for the period of vegetarian weight loss diet, limit them per 1-2 fruits per day because of the high carb content. Dry fruits have more calories than raw fruits per 100 grams. Eat fruits before the lunch, because body has time to spend energy from carbs until the night. If you eat many carbs before you go to bed, than you don’t have time to spend this energy and most probably you will gain weight.
- Protein shakes in the above vegan diet are not obligatory. But because vegetarian food is not rich of protein it is good to consider including protein shakes in your menu from time to time. Like 3-5 times per week.
- Tofu – especially low fat is excellent food choice for a vegan diet. There are different types/brands of tofu and some of them don’t taste good – just try several brands to find out what you like. The fresher and the firmer is tofu, the better. I found that adding vegetables and seasonings to the cooked tofu is the best way to enjoy tofu meals.
- Nuts are very healthy food, but they also are high in calories. For the period of vegetarian diet, limit them to no more than 50 grams per meal.
- Vegetables – eat plenty of them, because they are high in fiber, vitamins and low in calories. Every time you feel hunger – eat vegetables. If you have late cravings before going to bed, than prepare a big salad and eat it slowly. Don’t add any sauce, just, salt, vinegar and olive oil.
Source: Women Workout Routines
Awesome 7 Day Detox Diet
The detox diet is split in 7 stages and if you want to try just a week long diet, each stage will last only a day, while in 2 weeks detox diet each stage will last 2 days and so on.
The longer the plan the greater the effect! If this is your first time practicing detox diet, than 7 day detox diet is the right lasting diet.
After a month you can practice 2 weeks detox diet, but start only with a week long detox diet.
The 7 Stages in Detox Diet are:
Stage 1 Liquids only
Stage 2 Liquids and fruit only
Stage 3 Add raw vegetables
Stage 4 Add cooked vegetables and brown rice
Stage 5 Add beans, lentils, nuts and seeds
Stage 6 Add grains and live yogurt
Stage 7 Add fish
Stage 1 Liquids only
Usually this would be just water, which is the quickest and purest means of flushing out the body. But adding a squeeze of fresh lemon to warm water helps to neutralize acidity and stimulate the bowels. If you find this too restricting, there are other liquids that have supplementary benefits – freshly made fruit and vegetable juices, herbal or spice teas and the final option is broth.
Stage 2 Liquid and fruit only
Fruits are generally alkaline foods (although they have acidic taste), so they help neutralize the acidic waste that is produced when you begin to detoxify. High fibers in fruits make them good laxative. Buy only organic fruits because non organic contain toxins and you will do nothing.
Following fruits have detox properties:
Apples – contain a lot of pectin, which help too remove toxins, and tartaric acid which aids digestion.
Pineapple – contains the enzyme bromelin, which helps to produce acids that destroy bad bacteria in the gut, encourage the growth of “good” bacteria that are important for digestion and support tissue repair.
Mango – also contains bromelin, and enzyme called papain, which helps to brake down protein wastes.
Grapes – help to counter the production of mucus, which can clog up tissues and cleanse the liver and kidneys. Their high fructose content also provides instant energy.
Watermelon – is a diuretic and therefore speeds the passage of fluids carrying toxins through the system.
Stage 3
Add raw vegetables in your detox diet
Include bean sprouts (best grown yourself), as sprouting increases the nutritional content of seeds five-fold. Use raw garlic which is excellent blood cleanser. Vegetables share many of the properties of the fruits and some of the once that can be eaten in salads have particular detox powers.
Fennel – helps to improve digestion in general and also prevents flatulence.
Watercress – contains betacarotene and sulphur, both of which are liver tonics.
Dandelion leaves – are a liver and kidney tonic and also act as a diuretic.
Parsley – is a mild diuretic and contain zinc and trace minerals that aid liver function.
Stage 4
Add cooked vegetables and brown rice
Cook the vegetables with as little water and for as short time as possible to retain their maximum nutritious value. Steaming is the best method.
Leafy green vegetables are good for overtaxed liver. The rice should always be brown short-grain as this kind is by far the most absorbent. It soaks up toxins from the gut and is the easily digested and contains the most fiber.
Among the spices you can cook with include cayenne pepper and ginger, both of which stimulates digestion and encourages the elimination of toxins trough the skin.
Vegetables normally eaten cooked that have detox properties include the following:
Leeks – onion and garlic contain sulphur compounds that bind to and speed the elimination of toxic metals.
Globe artichoke – stimulates the liver’s production of bile, which speeds up digestion.
Jerusalem artichoke – contains inulin, which aids the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. But beware of their deserved reputation for flatulence.
Beetroot is an acidic food. Which stimulates the production of enzymes that aid digestion in the stomach.
Stage 5
Add beans, lentils, nuts and seeds
Beans and lentils are a good source of protein but should not be eaten with rice at this stage since mixing starch and protein can slow down digestion. Try to leave four hours between the consumption of the two types of foods.
Nuts should be eaten raw and unsalted. Like seeds, they provide useful calories in the form of essential fatty acids, which are needed by all cells in the body but which it can not manufacture.
Stage 6
Add grains and live yogurt
The yogurt should be goat’s or sheep’s, which are easier to digest than live cow’s yogurt but have the same beneficial action on the gut.
The grains should always be wholegrain, which provide fibre to help move wastes through the intestines and trace minerals useful for liver function. Choose from rye, buckwheat, barley or oats – anything but wheat.
Stage 7
Add fish
Any fresh fish will do but your skin will benefit from the essential fatty acids in oily, cold-water fish. By this stage, you should begin to feel more relaxed and not in a hurry to eat everything you have been missing.
Ideally, introduce excluded food types with at least a day between each. By this stage you should be more in tune with your body, which will help you to decide what and when.
We aware that after 7 day detox diet you will have 2 benefits – you will clean your body and you will lose weight.
Adapted from: women-workout routines
Filed under Diet & Detox
Healthiest and Most Powerful Meal Replacement
Healthiest and Most Powerful Meal Replacement
Garden of Life RAW Meal
-100% pure organic raw meal replacement powder which was created for two concurring purposes – to satisfy hunger and provide energy, while also replenishing all of the valuable nutrients you would find in a healthy raw meal.Not the best tasting meal replacement on the market but it has amazing nutrition.
1.Shake blender cup
2.16oz of H20
And now I have a fast meal on a busy day.
SportBell Adjustable Dumbbells
SportBell Adjustable Dumbbells
1-10 pounds.
Versatility
- You can perform countless exercises for every major muscle group with free weights, whereas machines usually offer limited options. If you get bored with your weight-lifting routine, it’s easy to mix in a few new moves.
Convenience
- Free weights take up much less space than a weight machine and are ideal for working out at home. Store dumbbells under the couch, and you can pull them out for a quick workout during your favorite TV show.
Price
- A set of free weights, including dumbbells, barbells and a bench, costs less than most at-home weight machines.
