When you first set out on your weight loss journey, you didn’t envision yourself losing energy, becoming confused about which foods you should be eating, and burning out on your exercise routine. These things happen to the best of us. It’s time to take a second look at your weight loss plan and figure out what mistakes you made and what you can do better. Have you fallen into these 11 common weight loss mistakes?

1. Focusing on Calories Instead of Nutrients

Our culture tempts us to count calories obsessively. We go to great lengths to follow a calorie plan, only to lose energy and hope because we are hungry! What is the problem? When we eliminate a lot of calories from our diet, we often eliminate the important nutrients that keep us healthy and help us lose weight. Instead of counting calories, be more mindful of what nutrients you’re eating.

2. Skipping Meals

Think you’re going to lose weight skipping breakfast? Think again! If you don’t eat enough, your body thinks you don’t have enough food, so it stores food instead of using it. Then, when you do eat, you’re hungry enough to eat an elephant, making it easy to overeat. Make sure you’re letting your body know that you’re trying to be healthy, not desperate!

3. Not Drinking Enough Water

Most people don’t drink enough water. If you’re striving for weight loss, drinking water before your meal can actually make you less hungry. Plus, getting enough hydration prevents headaches, which can lead to eating unhealthy food (ie. stress-eating).

4. Not Eating Enough

When you’re exercising more, your body needs more fuel, not less! Under-eating leads to binge-eating, which isn’t going to help your weight loss plan. Keep fueled with healthy meals and snacks.

5. Doing a Detox Diet

A weight loss plan is long-term, and detox diets and cleanses are short-term. Skip the detox and opt for balanced meals instead. You’ll feel healthier, and you’ll also be training your body how to eat right.

6. Doing Cardio Only

The more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn long after leaving the gym. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. If you don’t build your muscle, you won’t boost your metabolism as much as you could be. Alternate your routine; do cardio one day and strength training the next day. This will help preserve and build your body instead of strain it. It will also help you reach your goals faster.

7. Over-Exercising

Working out too much can have the opposite effect of what you intended. Instead of steadily burning fat, you’ll burn fat and muscle. You’ll also increase stress hormones, which makes it harder for your body to lose fat. Exercise regularly, but give your body time to rest and get used to working out.

8. Sleeping Less

When you add an exercise routine to your schedule, you have to push something else out of the way, right? Don’t let the other thing be sleep! Lack of sleep actually messes up metabolic and hormonal processes, making it more difficult to achieve weight loss. Keep striving for 7-8 hours of sleep every night.

9. Obsessing about Your Outward Appearance

Maybe you’re on a weight loss plan because you want to look thinner, but sometimes the visible results happen slower than you like. Don’t worry! And try not to step on the scale so often! Obsessing about your outward appearance will put a frown on your face, and you look much better wearing a smile. Be happy knowing your weight loss routine is making your whole body healthier one day at a time.

10. Indulging on the Weekends

This is where I usually fail. The temptation to slack off on your diet strikes particularly strong on the weekends. However, be self-controlled. You can go out to eat, but be mindful of what you are putting into your body. Don’t stuff yourself! An indulgent weekend can undo all your hard work from the week before.

11. Trying to Be Perfect

Give yourself leeway to mess up. It’s impossible to eat the perfect amount of food with the perfect amount of nutrition, drink the perfect amount of water, and then follow the perfect exercise routine. Instead, aim for the best you can do. Don’t beat yourself up if your exercise routine is 10 minutes shy of what you planned. As long as you are sticking to your plan most of the time, and honestly trying to be healthy and lose weight consistently, then you are doing a great job! Reward yourself for a job well done (just make sure the reward is nutritional, not ice-cream!).

A weight loss journey can be a difficult trip to take, full of surprises, challenges, and setbacks. However, the destination is a better, healthier you. Look forward to the goal, and be encouraged by your progress.

Stay Healthy My Friends!

Dixon Troyer is the President of Operations at 3 Elements Lifestyle, LLC., a Fitness and Weight Loss company that specializes in YOU! With more than 15 years of gym and club experience, owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, Dixon lectures, delivers seminars and workshops on the practical skills required to successfully help you with your health and fitness goals. Dixon also helps you build the teamwork, management, and training necessary to open your own fitness center.

Visit his website at www.3elementslifestyle.com or email at Dixon@3elementslifestyle.com or call 805.499.3030.