Want to lose weight? Stop Making These 4 Mistakes

Everyone wants to lose weight, but it seems like most fail –even after they drop the weight. According to studies, almost eighty percent of people regain the weight they`d lost in no more than five years of losing it.

Even former Biggest Losers such find it hard to keep the weight they`d shed. Ryan Benson, for instance, the show`s first winner ever regained more than the 122 pounds he lost during the show in no time. So yes, weight loss can be tough, if you don`t have the right knowledge or if you`re making mistakes that sabotage your efforts… Like these four:

Mistake #1: Not keeping an eye on the HALT

If there`s one habit that will make or break your health, it will be emotional eating. Studies by the University of the Basque Country consider emotional eating to be the number one reason why people fail to keep the weight they lose in the long term.

Stuffing food in just because your sad, alone or stressed creates more serious issues without offering real solutions.

I`ve been there, and I know that it takes a lot of effort to stop mindless eating, but you must find a solution.
One basic tip here is to watch yourself when you`re hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Professionals call these four, “HALT,” and if/when you find ways, other than food, to cope with the last three, you`ll keep so many unwanted calories off your belly.

Mistake #2: Not using your natural fat-burning boosters

Coffee and shakes are good, but they shouldn`t stop you from the two most important weight-loss beverages one can have: water and green tea. I`m not going to talk about the side effects of dehydration, but did you know that you can lose up to five times more weight if you drink a glass of water 30 minutes before each meal. It`s possible according to a 2015 study by the University of Birmingham.

Now, what about green tea?

Green tea has so many health benefits, but the one I`m going to talk about now is how it will increase your fat burning. First off, green tea has very few calories —one calorie per 100 mL serving— so it`ll make you full without messing with your daily intake.

Second, Green tea increases increase insulin resistance through a very active component called Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which, once entered the blood, reduce glucose intolerance, improve insulin resistance and promote weight loss.

Finally, green tea will make you more active as studies say it can increase your 24-h energy expenditure by 4 percent.

But, how much green tea should you drink? Experts say you should drink as many as five cups of green tea every single day, and not only you`ll lose weight faster, but you`ll also enjoy its other benefits.

Mistake #3: Letting numbers trick you

I`m a huge fan of the saying, “whatever gets measured gets managed,” and I tell my clients to scale themselves at least once a week to stay aware of where they stand. However, using only the scale to measure your progress isn`t the best idea either.

When you begin a diet, you`ll often lose weight at a fast, yet deceiving, rate. But this rate will get slower as your body gets used to this new lifestyle. You`ll find it harder to get those numbers down the scale, and for some people, this means panicking, anxiety or maybe quitting.

The truth is, the scale isn`t the most reliable way to measure your progress, especially as you become more experienced. Gaining muscle, losing fat, water retention, and the time you choose to step on the scale —ex. before or after your first meal—, all these factors will affect your numbers.

My tip to you is to use more than one tool to measure your progress. Measure your body fat and muscle mass, take weekly before and after pages, and notice how you fit in your old, slimmer, clothes.

Mistake #4: Not picking the right environment to lose weight

Everyone — every single one of us — eats how much we eat largely because of what’s around us.
We overeat not because of hunger but because of family and friends, packages and plates, names and numbers, labels and lights, colors and candles, shapes and smells, distractions and distances, cupboards and containers. This list is almost as endless as it’s invisible.” – Brian Wansink Ph.D., author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think

If you`re new to eating healthy, then watch out for these two; the company you keep and the food in your kitchen.

Don`t believe me? Watch this experiment after you read this post.

You`ll do great at fighting temptations if you eliminate those temptations in the first place. I`ve been doing intermittent fasting for years and, surprisingly, the only time I feel less urged to break a fast is during Ramadan.
It`s because everyone around me is set to eat at a specific time so I feel less tempted to eat. You`ll notice the same thing if you`re hungry and there`s nothing in the fridge at 4 am. You`ll go back to bed, and soon you`ll forget about hunger because that`s the only option you have.

My advice, keep your fridge clean and plan your meals, so you either eat them when you go out with your friends or right before so there`s no need to eat more.

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