Posted by In this article I am going to discuss about the 10 most common nutrition and fitness mistakes made by women. These mistakes also exist among men, but they seem more common among women. Most of the women client I have trained made the same mistakes in their past and these are the mistakes I always listen in my first counseling session.
1. I Want To Lose Weight.
This is the most common phrase uttered by women. It is true that many overweight and obese individuals need to lose weight for many health reasons, but when they utter “I want to lose weight” they actually mean they want to lose body fat and not weight. Confused? What’s the difference?
If you lose weight that doesn’t necessarily mean you will lose only body fat. For most of the women a workout regimen that includes lots and lots of cardio 
will eliminate body fat. Weight loss can be of three types i.e. Fat loss, muscle loss and water loss. If your diet lack enough protein and you just focus on cardiovascular workout than there are more chances that you will lose muscle weight than fat weight. Muscle loss and water loss is not recommended at any cost. Just checking your weighing scale will not give you the exact idea on whether you are losing body fat or losing muscles. If you will lose muscles and your fat percent is the same than you will still see those flabs that you actually wanted to get rid off.
Therefore, the obsession with numbers on a scale is unfounded; one can greatly improve appearance, enhance fitness level and eliminate unwanted fat. A combination of proper diet, cardio and weight training is the best way to lose fat. It is possible that you might not lose weight at all in and the reason can be you might have gained muscle mass and lost body fat. But this doesn’t mean you will look the same you will look more toned and will lose inches. What I mean to say is you can look more slim, toned and fit at same body weight if your fat percent is low. Always remember 1 kg of fat will require more space to stay on body than 1 kg of muscle.
2. I Gained 1 Pound! 
Again this is something where most of the women get disappointed without knowing the truth. As I discussed above you weighing scale is not the perfect tool to measure your progress.
There are many factors which may show you this minor fluctuation on a weighing scale. For example an individual should weight him/herself at the same time every day because the little difference in weight stepping on the scale first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and stepping on the scale after dinner can be quite noticeable. This difference is quite normal. In my case I see a difference of 2 pounds! 
Another culprit can be water weight. But this has nothing to do with permanent weight gain. Just consider you checked your weight and it should 120 pounds and after 10 mins you had 500 ml water and weighed again. It is very obvious that there will be a difference in your weight but this is a temporary difference and this doesn’t mean that you gained that much weight permanently.
3. I Am On _____ Diet.
For most of the women, the word diet means starvation and cutting down almost all the calories. And most of the diets as mentioned in many fashion magazines have an end date. Which means it comes to an end after a certain period of time. Thus most of the women gain weight again once the occasion for which they were on diet is over.
So the better way is have a balanced healthy diet. Have 5-6 smaller meals. You don’t need to starve to lose weight. Crash dieting is very unhealthy and by doing so you will surely gain weight later because you will lose muscle mass while on crash diet. Eat healthy have a cheat meal once a week and you will be able to stay fit and healthy for life time.
4. I Want To Lose Weight Fast, So I’m Going To Give Weight Loss Pills A Try.
Do you know what is Yohimbe and how does it affects your body? Do you know the benefits and advantages of Ephedra? Are you sure you not consuming more coffee than recommended?
I have seen many individuals who want to lose weight so desperately that as soon as they start working out they want to start consuming weight loss pills so that they can achieve their goal in a month or so. They think weight loss pills works as magic pill which will make them look like any fitness model in a very short period of time.
When someone starts working out for the very first time they can lose weight easily without all this weight loss pills. The only thing needed is proper workout, diet and rest. Weight loss pills surely boost basal metabolic rate but that doesn’t mean you should start using those pills as soon as you started your weight loss program.
If you are willing to use these weight loss pills then you should use it once you hit plateau. You should use it as a tool to break through a plateau. Again that doesn’t mean it will work by itself and you don’t have to put effort to lose weight because you are using weight loss pills. These pills works well only when it is combined with healthy diet and proper workout.
5. I’ll have only salad at night 
I see many people consuming only salad in their dinner because if they will eat anything else they will gain weight. Salads can be a good source of nutrients. But you will not get enough protein just by eating salad. This will lead to muscle loss and you will end up lowering your basal metabolic rate.
For example, you have proper meal at 5 in the evening and you having salad as your dinner at 8:30. And there after you eat nothing and sleep. The next meal you will have is your breakfast.
This way your body will get protein after 12-14 hours. Your body needs s protein at regular intervals and if it doesn’t get it from food your body will start getting it from muscles. So it is recommended to have a complete meal with low fat, moderate carbs and slow protein for your dinner.
6. I Try To Skip Breakfast.
Studies confirm that those individuals who eat a balanced breakfast lose more weight than those who skip it. After a night of fasting your body is in catabolic state and it requires nutrients as soon as possible.
Another reason is if you skip your breakfast you tend to eat more later in the day.
7. First I want to reduce fat from my thighs.
There is nothing like spot reduction. It’s a myth that doing exercise for any specific body part will reduce fat from that part. Your body will reduce fat evenly. Rest it depends on your genetics.
8. I Don’t Want To Lift Weights, It will make me look muscular!
Women can never build muscles like men. The reason is lower testosterone level. Studies documented that women have 1/6th testosterone level compared to men. So no matter how hard you train you will never look bulk like any muscular men. Now you might say that “then what about those female bodybuilders?” Female bodybuilders are usually on steroids which gives them that muscular body. So unless and until you are not on steroids you don’t have to worry about getting bulk like men. Lifting weight will make you look tone and not bulky.
9. I Can Eat As Much As I Want Because Its Reduced Fat.
If you are on very low fat diet that doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you want. If you consume more calories than your body requires then you will gain weight no matter whether you are eating low fat or not. For example if your body requires 200 kcal at a time and you are eating low fat meal but its total kcal is 400 then those extra 200 kcal will turn into fat. Anything in excess will turn into fat, whether its protein or carbohydrates. You should avoid fat but at the same time you should watch your calories too. If you want to lose weight don’t consume more calories than your daily metabolic rate.
|
||||||
No related posts.
