1 – I have to work a harder exercise regimen if I want to lose more weight.
It’s always a good idea to start a good exercise regimen when you begin your weight loss plan. It helps to tone your muscles while you are losing weight and even helps to increase stamina.
Some people do their workouts intensely often exercising multiple times per day, for many hours, at least 5 days per week. Others only exercise once per day, for an hour or less, a few times per week.
Believe it or not, both of these methods are just fine. It really doesn’t matter whether you exercise for a long time daily or weekly, or for only a few minutes. Every single person’s body is different.
Some people will lose more weight the harder and longer they work out. Others will lose less weight doing the exact same routine. It all depends on the person, their stamina, their age if this is a regular routine for them, and other factors.
The real key to losing weight is burning more calories than you actually take in. The more energy you burn, plus the reduction in calories that you are taking in, equals a larger weight loss.
For example, let’s say that your normal caloric intake every day is approximately 2500 calories. Knowing this, you change your diet to eat healthier and increase your water intake as well.
You’ve decided to reduce your calorie intake to 1200 calories per day ensuring to keep track of what you’re eating, along with the calorie count for those foods.
If you are able to do this and incorporate some form of exercise routine into your daily activities, you’ve made a change to your body’s routine and should start seeing the weight come off.
2 – Stress doesn’t have anything to do with my weight gain.
This is one of those “laughable” myths. To learn more about how stress is adding lbs. to your life, please read my post on this subject.
3 – I can eat what I want and still lose weight.
When you’ve made the decision to lose weight, you must have also taken the time to take a close look at the types of foods you’ve been eating that have caused you to want to lose weight in the first place.
Albert Einstein stated, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” With this in mind, why would you want to continue eating the same way while trying to lose weight? That truly defeats the entire purpose, doesn’t it?
Now, this doesn’t mean that you can’t do this, but to be successful, that would mean you would have to start and maintain, a steady diet, ensuring to burn more calories than you’re taking in.
This also means that you really should consider both diet and exercise along with improving the variety of food that you eat. Most people today are unable to do this.
They tend to get back into old habits of eating junk foods most of the time while eating less healthy fruits, vegetables, and lean meats and not drinking enough water.
If you want to try to lose weight and continue eating the foods that you are, be absolutely sure that you are incorporating more health-conscious food into your diet while burning many more calories than you are taking in, every day, for the best results.
4 – A good way for me to lose weight is to skip a meal or two per day.
The truth is, the exact opposite is true. Your body needs energy throughout the day to function properly. It is actually better to eat more during the day rather than eat less. Instead of skipping meals, try eating more meals in smaller portions throughout the day.
For example, they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Be sure to eat a hearty breakfast along with a fresh glass of water to give your body a good start full of energy. Before you have lunch, give yourself a snack to keep your energy burning at a steady level.
Your snack can be something as simple as a piece of fruit or a salad. Next eat a healthy lunch like some soup, a sandwich, or even leftovers from dinner the night before. Again, eat a snack between your lunch and dinner.
This time try snacking on fresh vegetables like carrot sticks, celery, a salad, or some nuts. This should keep your energy going until dinner. Eat a health-conscious dinner but don’t overdo it.
You’ll be going to bed soon which means you’ll burn fewer calories while you sleep. Be sure to eat a small snack before you go to bed to keep away any hunger pangs away while you sleep.
Be sure to drink water before and after every meal to ensure your body stays full throughout the day. This also helps to flush your system of toxins.
5 – If I eat at night I won’t lose weight.
Your body needs to burn energy 24 hours per day even at night. The key to not overindulging is to eat a full breakfast, a full lunch, and then eat a sensible dinner at night ensuring to include vegetables, making this meal lighter than your earlier ones.
This way it doesn’t weigh heavy on your stomach and ends up being unused calories that turn to fat later.
6 – People won’t like or accept me until I lose weight.
It is true that people have small minds when it comes to appearance of a person. The truth of the matter is if someone won’t accept you for the person you are, you really don’t want their acceptance to begin with. Right? You are a special person, one worthy of friendship and affection regardless of how you look.
Losing weight is not going to make you feel better about yourself. Your weight loss is only one factor of this. You have to learn to love yourself first, really before you start your weight loss. If you can begin to feel good about who you are inside, you will learn that what others think doesn’t matter.
As long as you feel good about yourself, you will start to look good to yourself. When you finally do lose the weight you want to lose, you will be healthier for it.
7 – The more calories I reduce, the faster I’ll lose weight.
It is true that if you reduce your caloric intake, you can lose weight. On the other hand, if you are cutting calories by simply not eating meals, this can have a noticeable impact on your body, resulting in weight gain instead of weight loss.
You’ll end up slowing down your metabolism instead of increasing it for caloric burn, resulting in your body trying to keep the energy it has a little longer. This can increase the amount you weigh.
If you’re going to cut back on calories, do it responsibly by eating smaller portions but continuing to eat throughout the day. Adding exercise to your daily routine helps to burn additional calories as well.
8 – I can lose weight by skipping meals here and there.
Your body needs energy throughout the day. If you don’t provide the nourishment your body needs, it can start to slow your metabolism down.
You’ll start feeling sluggish and become so hungry that the next time you do eat, you may end up eating more than normal, resulting in weight gain instead of weight loss.
It is always better to eat meals in small portions throughout the day and increase your activity instead.
9 – Gaining weight runs in my family. It’s genetic.
The truth of the matter is if your family background is to eat foods rich in fat, cook food by frying it instead of broiling or baking, or eat foods in other unhealthy ways, you too may have the same weight issues as in your family history.
This doesn’t mean that gaining excessive weight is genetic. It means that if you continue to have unhealthy eating habits you can and will gain weight.
10 – Eating Healthy is too hard.
Eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard. As a matter of fact, it should be easier and maybe even less expensive to eat healthily! Start by planning your meals for approximately 30 days. Be sure to include all items in your shopping list that you’ll need to ensure you are cooking and eating healthy meals.
Include fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats (if you’re not a vegetarian). Pay close attention to the vegetables and grab those vegetables that you can quickly use as a snack between meals.
It takes at least 3 weeks to change a habit. Try to stick with your new healthy habit for at least 3 weeks and you should start seeing an improvement in yourself. For more information, please read my post on this subject.
11 – I have to give up my favorite food to lose weight.
The key to being able to eat whatever you want while you’re dieting is moderation. If you can discipline yourself to eat a healthy meal, several times per day, while reducing calories, and increasing your physical activities, you should be able to enjoy your favorite food as part of your diet.
Like most things in life, as long as you have things in moderation, there’s a balance. When you go on binges like eating, drinking alcohol, shopping, or more, you become out of balance.
This can result in increased weight gain (from eating), a possible hangover (drinking alcohol), and having less money available in your wallet or bank account (from shopping).
Always try to keep balance in your life. Do things in moderation and you’ll start to live a healthier, happier life.
12 – Overeating is caused by hunger.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word overeat as: “to eat to excess” (verb). Overeater (noun). Wikipedia.org says, “Compulsive overeating, also sometimes called food addiction, is characterized by an obsessive/compulsive relationship to food.
To overeat is a compulsive act based on your mood at the time you are eating. You may feel sad, lonely, or upset and decide to eat something as “comfort food” because this makes you feel satisfied or better than before.
Although feeling hunger pangs do make you feel hungry, your body may just be used to eating regularly around certain specific times throughout the day and sending you a signal that it’s time to eat. This doesn’t mean that you have to overeat.
Eat your food in smaller portions giving your body the fuel it needs thus eliminating excess fat in your body.
3 – The only diets that work are the drastic ones.
There are lots of quick weight loss diets available. There’s the Scarsdale Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Atkins Diet, and many others. They may even work to help you lose weight as long as you religiously stay on the diet.
What a lot of people find is once they decide they no longer need the diet, they go back to the bad eating habits that created the weight loss problem in the first place. As a result, you will end up gaining more weight than when you started.
14 – I am so overweight now that there’s no sense in me even starting a diet. It won’t work.
Nobody can start to make a change unless you take the first step. You can’t reach any goal unless you make the decision to begin. No goals succeed overnight except maybe winning the lottery but, the odds are so great against winning that your chances of winning are slim to none. You have to make the decision to start. Give yourself the okay to make a change in your life. As the saying goes, “there’s nothing to it but to do it”.
Be like the Nike slogan and “Just Do It”. Just get started and stick with it for at least 30 days. If you create a good dieting plan that includes eating fresh fruit and vegetables, and lean meat, while decreasing your daily calories and increasing your physical activity, you should start to see results in that time. Once you see the results, you’ll be inspired to continue. Remember everything in moderation. Too much of a good thing, even food, is not good for you.
15 – I have tried to lose weight so many times and failed that I know I can’t do it.
If you have it in your mind that you can’t do it, then you’re right. If you have it in your mind that you can do it, then you’re right again. Your body will believe what the mind tells it to believe. It’s as simple as that. There’s no excuse for not trying. You cannot reach any goal unless you first make the attempt to succeed.
Get started today by setting your weight loss goal. Document your weight today and how much you’d like to weigh within a certain time period. Next, create your meal plan, ensuring to include healthy food like fresh fruit and vegetables and lean meat.
Stick to that plan in accordance with your schedule. Increase your physical activity daily while reducing the calories you take in and watch while you finally reach your goal.
Although you may have failed in the past, doesn’t mean that you can’t do this. There’s nothing to it but to do it.
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