Read Why Can't I Lose Weight? 26 Ways Your Diet Is Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Online
Authors: Susan J Campbell
Why Can't I Lose Weight? 26 Ways Your Diet Is Sabotaging Your Weight Loss (3 page)
BOOK: Why Can't I Lose Weight? 26 Ways Your Diet Is Sabotaging Your Weight Loss
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How you structure your meals is important to your weight loss success.
Action step:
Only eat meals made with protein + fat (grass fed steak with slices of avocado) or protein + carbs (salad topped with chicken) and avoid meals comprised of fat + carbs (pizza).
Only eat meals made with protein + fat (grass fed steak with slices of avocado) or protein + carbs (salad topped with chicken) and avoid meals comprised of fat + carbs (pizza).
You have junk food in the house whose temptation you cannot resist and you partake too frequently.
It may be because you want to have it as a treat once each week or because your kids need the snacks around.
Whatever the reason, it's there so you eat it. It's hard to have willpower when there's a hot, gooey, chocolate brownie staring back at you. Worse yet, is when you're the only one in the house NOT eating it and you have to watch.
If it isn’t there you won’t eat it.
Action step:
Clean out your panty, refrigerator, and cupboards and get rid of all fat promoting foods, as discussed above.
Clean out your panty, refrigerator, and cupboards and get rid of all fat promoting foods, as discussed above.
You wake up and eat breakfast right away even though you’re not hungry because that’s what you’re "supposed" to do.
You get bored at work so you take a walk to the vending machine and grab a bag of chips to pass the time.
You snack on popcorn mindlessly while you’re watching a movie even though you just had dinner.
You eat lunch every day at the same time even though you aren't actually hungry.
Sound familiar?
You’re flat out eating too much food for your metabolic requirements and storing the extra as fat because you didn't really need to eat.
Despite all the hub-ub out there, you will not ruin your metabolism if you skip breakfast, in fact I often recommend it and do so myself.
Action step:
Do not eat breakfast until you are hungry. Do not snack or eat a meal unless you are physically hungry.
Find other ways to pass the time when bored, anxious, emotional, or tired.
Do not eat breakfast until you are hungry. Do not snack or eat a meal unless you are physically hungry.
Find other ways to pass the time when bored, anxious, emotional, or tired.
Did I just get your attention?
"But fruit is good for you!",
you're probably refuting.
The fact is fruit consists of a type of sugar called fructose. It acts just like any other sugar in your body in that it can be used for energy.
However, if your body does not have immediate use for that energy, it is more than likely that it will go straight to the liver and then immediately turned into triglycerides and shuttled for storage in your fat cells.
Bottom line: too much fruit can inhibit your weight loss.
However, if your metabolism is not “broken” and you are at a weight you are happy with, it is ok to be a little more liberal with your fruit consumption.
One good thing about fructose is that it does not spike your insulin and blood sugar levels when you eat it, so a little bit now and again won't sabotage your weight loss efforts as much as eating high GI fruits several times per day, each and every day.
Action step:
Limit your fruit consumption to only several times per week max, and stick to berries, lemons, limes, and grapefruits.
Limit your fruit consumption to only several times per week max, and stick to berries, lemons, limes, and grapefruits.
There’s no need to immediately eat after you work out. In fact, it’s kind of counter productive.
If you have appropriately completed a proper fat loss workout then you will no doubt be burning fat for hours after you stop exercising. And you won't be hungry after your workout either.
So, the body is using stored body fat as its fuel at this point.
Once you introduce fat, carbs, and/or protein into the blood stream from eating, your body will always work to burn and store those dietary sources before it uses your stored fat for energy.
If you’re not a serious bodybuilder, there’s no need to “replace” anything you lost during exercise in terms of muscle or protein that quickly.
Action step:
Give yourself an hour or two post exercise to enjoy the extra fat burning time and then eat at your leisure.
Give yourself an hour or two post exercise to enjoy the extra fat burning time and then eat at your leisure.
When you eat, protein, fat and carbs enter your blood stream to be used for energy or stored for later use. When carbs enter the blood stream as glucose, insulin is released into the blood stream to help clear the gluc
ose.
When insulin is present in the blood, it inhibits lipolysis, the process of breaking down fat and releasing it into the blood stream for use as energy.
So, there is no fat burning going on after you eat a meal.
It takes approximately 3 hours for insulin to do its job and shuttle glucose to its new home. Then insulin levels decrease significantly.
It is only then when insulin is no longer present in the blood that proper fat burning can begin again. If you eat every 3 hours or less, chances are you are burning very little fat at any point except while you’re asleep.
Action step:
Eat meals 5 hours apart - 3 hours for insulin to work and 2 additional hours for fat burning. Cut it shorter and you only cut into your fat burning time.
Eat meals 5 hours apart - 3 hours for insulin to work and 2 additional hours for fat burning. Cut it shorter and you only cut into your fat burning time.
According to Robb Wolf, Author of the best selling book,
The Paleo Solution
, you should be taking 2-4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids per day. He has seen positive results with his weight loss clients using this dosage.
The Paleo Solution
, you should be taking 2-4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids per day. He has seen positive results with his weight loss clients using this dosage.
Omega 3 works to decrease the levels of systemic inflammation in the body, and thereby, allows for greater weight loss. It will also cut down the risk of developing a disease.
Action step:
Take 2-4 grams of omega-3’s daily. Natural sources of omega-3 include fatty fish and seafood. (Anyone taking heart medication should consult their physician before taking Omega-3 supplemets, although eating natural sources of Omega-3 should be fine).
Take 2-4 grams of omega-3’s daily. Natural sources of omega-3 include fatty fish and seafood. (Anyone taking heart medication should consult their physician before taking Omega-3 supplemets, although eating natural sources of Omega-3 should be fine).
Being in a constant state of “fed” isn’t always a good thing.
When you’re digesting food, some of the hormones and enzymes important to our well being and slim waistlines can’t do their job’s effectively.
Growth Hormone, an amino acid responsible for growth, regeneration, and reproduction of cells is mostly active in the absence of insulin, the hormone present in the bloodstream for about 3 hours after you eat.
When insulin is absent, the hunger hormone, ghrelin, is secreted and stimulates the release of Growth Hormone.
Growth hormone promotes the breakdown of stored fat for use as energy. We love this.
It also promotes the increase in muscle mass, strengthening of bone, and stimulates the immune system.
All awesome things. You want all of this to be lean, strong, and to look young!
Growth hormone is produced and secreted naturally as a result of a particular type of exercise, deep sleep, and by fasting, i.e. going without food for a certain length of time.
Unfortunately, as we age, the natural levels of growth hormone that we produce decreases. That’s why it is important to know some of the things we can do to help facilitate growth hormone to do its job.
Intermittent fasting is one of those things you can use.
Intermittent fasting also creates a massive caloric deficit in your body, which is a great strategy for losing weight quickly.
Action step:
Use fasting as a means to increase growth hormone as well as create a massive caloric deficit. On day 1, finish eating dinner at 7pm. Fast from that moment on, consuming nothing except water until you eat dinner on day 2 at 7pm. Try this one time each week.
Use fasting as a means to increase growth hormone as well as create a massive caloric deficit. On day 1, finish eating dinner at 7pm. Fast from that moment on, consuming nothing except water until you eat dinner on day 2 at 7pm. Try this one time each week.
Being prepared when it comes to your meals is essential to the success of achieving your weight loss goals.
If you’re not planning out your meals for the week, and preparing meals and snacks ahead of time, chances are great that you will catch yourself in a moment of extreme hunger without a healthy snack or meal prepared.
You’ll likely gorge on anything you can get your hands on, and it won’t be something waistline friendly.
Action step:
Sit down on the weekend and plan out each meal and snack you will be preparing for the week. Make a list of ingredients you will need. Hit the grocery store and buy only the items on your list. Prepare your meals and snacks for the week so they're handy in a pinch.
Sit down on the weekend and plan out each meal and snack you will be preparing for the week. Make a list of ingredients you will need. Hit the grocery store and buy only the items on your list. Prepare your meals and snacks for the week so they're handy in a pinch.
If you’re not writing down everything you eat and in what quantities for every single meal and snack for each day of the week, you may not succeed at reaching your weight loss goals.
The fact is, the volume of food we think we consume is far less that what we actually eat.
Further, the quality of food we eat is far less than that we actually do.
If you are having trouble losing weight, a food log is a great place to discover why.
You will be able to see in black and white what you need to improve so that you will start seeing progress.
Action step:
Start keeping a food log for every meal and snack, every day. Track what you eat, how much of it, and your feelings at the time. You can use a simple notebook, make an excel spreadsheet on your computer, or create a free account on an online website designed for logging food, such as FitDay.com.
Sabotage #25: You're Focusing on CaloriesStart keeping a food log for every meal and snack, every day. Track what you eat, how much of it, and your feelings at the time. You can use a simple notebook, make an excel spreadsheet on your computer, or create a free account on an online website designed for logging food, such as FitDay.com.
As per the most current thoughts on weight loss, it does not appear that balancing your caloric intake and output is the end-all-be-all of weight loss as was once thought.
Meaning, if you have more than 10-15 pounds to lose, chances are you don’t need to count calories to make serious weight loss progress.
That said, once you begin to approach your ideal body weight, calories may indeed become more important to your success.
But many of you reading this will be in the former boat, having a healthy sized weight loss goal. Stop focusing on counting calories consumed and burned.
Action step:
Focus on consuming foods that contain only 1 ingredient and that are high in nutrients. If you do this, the weight will come off effortlessly.
Focus on consuming foods that contain only 1 ingredient and that are high in nutrients. If you do this, the weight will come off effortlessly.
When you eat at most conventional restaurants you have very little control over what they do to their food to prepare it.
Restaurants regularly use many of the sabotaging ingredients found in foods these days that I have discussed with you previously in this guide, such as trans fats, vegetable oils, and refined carbs.
Now, you can ask for very basic meals and provide instructions on how to prepare them, and that works a lot.
But my feelings are you still never know.
You still don’t have the control over your food at a restaurant that you will when you prepare meals at home.
And in fast food restaurants, you’ll never get anything worthwhile.
Action step:
Avoid fast food restaurants. Limit the number of times you eat out each week to 1-2 times. When eating out, ask the waiter to have your meals prepared by steaming, broiling, and baking and to use only extra virgin olive oil to cook with.
Your Advanced Weight Loss Diet BlueprintAvoid fast food restaurants. Limit the number of times you eat out each week to 1-2 times. When eating out, ask the waiter to have your meals prepared by steaming, broiling, and baking and to use only extra virgin olive oil to cook with.
So, there are the 26 ways your diet is sabotaging your weight loss.
No fluff, no extra details. Just exactly what you needed to know and how to make an immediate change.
You don’t have to complete the action steps on all 26, however, the more you do the greater your chances are that you will achieve your weight loss goals.
BOOK: Why Can't I Lose Weight? 26 Ways Your Diet Is Sabotaging Your Weight Loss
12.27Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
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