You may be eating your veggies, doing tones of exercise forms and still not getting the desired result? Then probably you’re doing some of the common weight loss mistakes that halts your results.

Weight loss is a point of concern to many nowadays that needs real efforts and true commitments in order to achieve results.

Getting into shape is a gradual process, not an overnight success. It requires more than just healthy eating habits and a regular exercise routine.

So even when you’re doing everything right, chances are that your weighing scale refuses to budge when you step on it.

If this is happening to you too, you may be unknowingly making few weight loss mistakes when trying to lose weight.

Here are the 12 most common weight loss mistakes that may be stopping you to shed extra kilos:

Skipping meals

One of the biggest weight loss mistakes people on weight loss mission make is they often skip their meals in order to eat fewer calories.

Even though it seems logical at first, the less you eat, the faster you lose weight. Though, in reality, skipping meals not only slows down your metabolism but also makes you overeat for later meals.

One study has found that people who have skipped breakfast consumed more calories at lunch than what they should.

So instead of skipping breakfast, make sure you eat small, nutrient-rich, healthy breakfast foods to fuel your body with the most important meal of the day.

Not only breakfast, by eating healthy all day you’ll naturally eat less with few calories without compromising nutrients.

Also, practice eating small every few hours to stay on track because starving yourself of food won’t give a long-term stable weight loss!

Consuming “low-fat” or “diet” foods

When you want to lose weight, you often go for the diet or low-fat foods thinking this will serve you fewer calories, but that does the opposite of that.

Unfortunately, most fat-free and diet foods are loaded with extra sugar and other additives to compensate for their flavor.

Furthermore, rather than filling you up, low-fat products make you eat more since you feel no harm in added eating of these so-called “healthy” foods.

For example, a fat-free flavored yogurt can have as much sugar content as a chocolate bar!

Opt for a reasonable amount of healthy fats over the processed low-fat foods to get fewer calories and satiety. You can include avocado, nuts and eggs for healthy fats foods.

If you must buy diet foods, read the nutrition label to ensure that it’s actually low in calorie and has no added sugar or chemicals.

After all, diet ice-cream tastes tasty for a reason…

Counting only calories, not nutrients

Losing weight isn’t healthy and long-lasting if you’re missing vital nutrients. Not just how much you eat, focusing on what you eat is also important.

Our body needs essential vitamins and minerals to keep our digestive system regular, increase metabolic rate and protect muscle mass while weight loss.

Add foods with a good source of protein, fiber and complex carbs that can give you the feeling of fullness and you’re likely to eat less for later in a day.

For instance, you can eat lots of leafy vegetables, fruits, beans, seeds, and whole grains to get all nutrition.

While some people completely avoid carbs, some amount of complex carbs like sweet potatoes, oats and quinoa are really good for our body.

However, keep in mind to not overdo these nutrients since they can do an opposing effect on your slimming journey by storing an excess of them as fat.

Not drinking enough water

Many times we often reach for snacks when we feel hungry. However, the key is you need to drink water whenever you feel like hungry.

The reason for this is sometimes we confuse thirst with hunger and despite not being actually hungry, we end up eating more calories.

This is why it is important to stay hydrated all day to cut unnecessary cravings.

Drinking water is also said to reduce appetite because water takes space in your stomach and keeps you full.

Studies also suggest that drinking cold water even helps you to burn more calories in order to compensate with body temperature.

As dehydration often leads to stress eating, it’s beneficial to drink enough water to stay hydrated and aid weight loss.

Setting unrealistic goals

We understand your urge to lose weight as soon as possible, but weighing yourself on a scale every day isn’t going to help you except giving frustration.

People often give up in a couple of weeks of trying because they think they’re not losing weight as fast as they’ve thought.

It may happen that when you start your weight loss routine, initially you feel excited to see the results on the scale.

Though, understand that our weight fluctuates daily depending on how much food and water we take in a day. So you can’t see changes overnight or in a few weeks of efforts.

Setting realistic goals, you can realize that weight loss is a gradual process and is more sustainable if done over a long period of time.

So next time when you see your scale isn’t moving, take a chill pill. Probably you are not losing numbers on scale, but you’re losing fat and your clothes are fitting better!

Being too strict on food

Can you imagine a diet routine without your favorite cookies? Not at all. Then why being so strict on foods you love?

Just because you’re trying to get slim doesn’t mean you should eliminate everything delicious totally and forever.

This method makes you feel deprived and you’ll more likely to overindulge on the food you love.

Treat yourself with 100-150 calories of any of the food you desire to eat whether that be a scoop of ice-cream, a piece of chocolate or a small serving of chips.

This way you don’t always feel hungry for the foods and go overboard on everything you once craved for.

However, keeping an eye on portion is the key to not binge them. Rather than taking a whole cheat day, set aside a small 20% for your loving foods each day and you’ll lose weight without refusing foods – I promise!

Drinking calories

Not counting your drinking calories is the worst among the weight loss mistakes. And, because you’re not chewing, it’s easy to forget about the calories you drink in sodas, packed fruits juices and alcohol.

Furthermore, liquid calories don’t give your brain the same satisfaction like solid foods so, you’ll eat more which could be the culprit for your weight gain.

For example, a can of coke has more than 150 calories and added sugar. So if you eat one packet of chips with it, you can easily imagine calories exceeding 500 per meal.

Swap sugary beverages with just plain water or eat whole fruits than juices to save more drinking calories. It will not only keep you hydrated but also helps you lose weight.

Though, if plain water sounds dull to you, you can spice it up with few drops of lemon, ginger and mint leaves or even berries for some taste.

You eat without place and time

Many of us are habituated in having a bite while watching TV, working at our desks, in-car or standing. Some are midnight eaters too.

Although sometimes we don’t have enough time to sit and eat, it’s important to savor the food you eat for satiety so that we don’t overstuff our stomach.

Also, if you have a habit of grabbing small munches from friends or co-worker’s desk, remember those small bits do add up your calories, possibly enough to halt your fat-to-fit process.

Therefore, become aware of what you eat and when you eat. Midnight snacking and eating with distractions can be very bad for your quantity of the food.

Instead, sit down, focus on your food, chew proper and maintain regular time for your meals and snacks to keep the appetite going.

Focusing on cardio only

When it comes to getting into shape, exercise is truly a proven way to manage a healthy weight and strong muscles.

Though, you can give an excuse that it’s better to do some exercise than no exercise at all. But, the right formula to lose weight more effectively is to do strength training with cardio.

Many women think that doing cardio is enough to promote the fit body. However, the fact is, weight-lifting can boost more fat loss and preserve more muscle mass.

By sticking with just calorie control without exercise, your metabolic rate becomes slow and you lose more muscle mass.

On the other hand, resistance training is better in handling your metabolism and make it easier for you to burn more calories even at rest.

Equally divide muscle strengthening with your workout for better results. Also, keep in mind not overdoing exercise as it can bring more stress to the body.

Moreover, ensure to keep changing your workouts at regular interval since doing the same exercise over and over again will make your body used to it and it’ll not work had to burn those calories.

Considering exercise a license to eat

Agree that you’ve hit the gym very hard today and if you think that is a license to eat your favorite cheese sandwiches then you’re misleading.

Workouts should be to complement your healthy diet, not for your right to eat whatever you want. That’s not exactly for what you’ve done sweat sessions.

Plus, if you run for an hour on a treadmill just so you can binge on a 300 calorie worth desert, it’s no wonder why you’re not losing any weight and actually gaining instead.

This type of thinking can encourage your unhealthy relationships with food. You’ll no more lose weight because you’re trying to repay your workouts with almost triple the calories you’ve burned.

Do exercise to support your healthy eating, not as a backbone for your desire to eat unhealthy foods.

Ignoring a quality sleep

Not only a good night sleep is an important factor for our physical and mental well-being, but it’s also related to losing weight.

When you don’t get enough shut-eye, the level of hunger hormones ghrelin start increasing and the level of fullness hormones leptin drops.

Hence, you feel like eating more and reach for more high-fat foods. Furthermore, lack of sleep also makes your metabolism slows, which may further cause fat storage in the body.

Make sure you get recommended 7-8 hours of healthy sleep at night. If you find trouble in falling asleep, do something relaxing like reading a book or taking a warm bath.

A gentle bedtime routine will help you to go to bed early and catch a better sleep at night.

Overeating healthy foods

Another one of the big weight loss mistakes is people often have the misconception that overeating healthy foods won’t do any harm on their pounds.

You assume that as the food is healthy, you can eat as much of it as you like. However, you need to understand that despite being healthy, it’s still possible to put on weight on overdosing.

Look, calories are calories even though it comes from healthy sources and foods like nuts, oils and brown rice are quite rich in calories to start with.

Opt for a single serving of anything you eat healthy. For example, you can take 5 pieces of nuts or 1/3 serving of avocado for better portion control.

Counting on calories isn’t really required, but you should have a general idea in your mind to confirm weight loss.

In the End

Losing weight isn’t an overnight thing and it requires so much dedication and self-determination. The most bang-on way to lose weight is simple: burn more calories than you take in.

Sometimes despite doing everything right you don’t get success to keep the fat off. The reason may be you’re doing some of these common weight loss mistakes.

Read all of them to know if you’re doing any of this weight loss mistakes and make your dream body a reality!