5 Worst Weight-loss blunders

[aurorabunny]

Just as a disclaimer to this post, I'm by no means a food or weight loss expert.  I'm learning things every day on my journey to become healthier.  However I have lost 80 lbs. over the past year, and these are some of the things I've learned on my way.  I've seen a lot of misinformation flying around lately so just thought I would share.  This is all IN MY OPINION, by the way. 

1) Cutting carbs completely.

Dr.Atkins was WRONG ladies, oh so wrong.  Our bodies NEED carbs.  Simple carbs are what you want to ditch (cookies, cakes, foods chocked full of sugar) but complex carbs (veggies, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, etc) are essential to give your body the energy that it needs.  Cutting them out completely will not only leave your body with a nutritional void but could end up making you seriously sick.

2) Eating only processed foods.

I know many, if not most of us, want to lose pounds so that we will LOOK better.  I'm no different.  But health matters too.  It may be easier to lose weight noshing on Lean Cuisines and 100 calorie packs all day long, but your health will suffer in the end, even if your waist line is shrinking.  Not to mention that eating like this can get pretty expensive.  These can be okay choices on the go or in moderation, but don't rely on them for your daily meals and snacks.  There are so many wonderful healthy choices that can be made in your own kitchen easily and on the cheap.

3) Fad diets.

The cookie diet, the cabbage soup diet, whichever one you want to talk about.  Ya know, the ones where you eat 1 __ for breakfast, 1 __ for lunch, and then a teeny little dinner?  Don't do it.  Not only are these plans NOT nutritionally sound, but how long do you plan to eat cookies for 2 meals out of the day?  For the next 60 years?  I highly doubt it.  When you go back to eating regular foods, you'll gain back any weight you lost, plus some, statistics say.  Quick results that don't stick (and that also don't teach healthy eating habits) aren't what you want in the long run.

4) One word: Soda.

We all know that regular soda is chocked full of calories, but diet soda is really not much better for your waistline.  All recent studies have pointed out that in tests, people gained more weight the more DIET soda that they drank.  And besides the negative effects on weight loss, most sodas are filled with a lot of yucky chemicals (including HFCS).  Stick to water or tea.  If you're really having a soda craving, check out a line like Reeds for a special treat.  Not very calorie friendly, but made from organic, healthy ingredients and sweet enough to hopefully nip a craving!

5) Throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Who made that expression up anyways?  Kind of frightening to moms..anyways...

You're going to have bad days.  You're going to screw up, you're going to have days where you cannot possibly "Just say no!" to that plate of brownies, and that's okay.  Don't let it throw you off.  If you accidentally drop a plate while you're washing dishes and it breaks, would you break the rest of your plates while you were at it just because you had broken one?  That would seem crazy.  Yet that's what many of us do when we slip-up at healthy eating.  "I already ate 2 cookies today, so I might was well just forget about the rest of the day."  Sound familiar?  I used to do it ALLL the time.  Don't buy into the dish breaking scenario. ;)

If you're interested in more food advice, exercise tips or just needing some support on reaching your goals, join us at Life Change. 

[KTMOM]

Jun. 11, 2009 at 11:21 PM Great post Katie.

[KnoxvilleDoula]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 12:09 AM

voted popular

[sapient]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 1:53 AM

Rah rah rah!

I have read that something in diet soda actually turns of your receptor in your brain that registers the 'full' signal that your stomach sends out, causing you to over eat.

I totally agree with ALL those things

[clairandamjones]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 1:55 AM

Me likey how you think.  Even though I, personally, would break all the damn dishes.

Okay, not really, but you made a great point.  I'm so glad you mentioned the carb thing.  That one really bites my butt.  Or the bites collect in my butt...or something like that.

[t1gger143]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 3:22 AM Great post. I have tried many of those fad diets and found myself thrown back into anorexia. A person cannot live on cereal for long. I now choose healthy foods, love my veggies.

[kk_bella]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 8:42 AM

Great post, just wanted to comment that Dr. Atkins never reccommended cutting out all carbs for life. His book was actually very interesting. The atkins diet is not supposed to be long term. His biggest issue was that people ingest too many simple carbs and use carbohydrates as their main source of food. Carbs should be complimentary, not the mainstay in our diet. I always saw the atkins diet as more of a detox-type diet.

[cleanaturalady]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 12:10 PM

[catholicmamamia]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 12:19 PM

Wonderful points, wonderful post!

[Lindalu2]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 12:50 PM

Thanks for the informative post!!! I voted POPULAR.Good info. You will be helping many Moms who are trying to get back in shape in a healthy way! ;-)

[aurorabunny]

Jun. 12, 2009 at 12:56 PM

Thanks for voting up ladies! 

I went on a chocolate chip and almond trail mix binge last night just to illustrate that last point.  That was the only reason I did it.  Um yeah.  That's okay, back on the horse. ;)

(Original Poster)