Avoid the All-or-Nothing pitfall to Lose Weight

Why you Should avoid the All-or-Nothing Pitfall

In general, when people attempt to lose weight they usually go to the extreme and restrict themselves from all types of foods in order to lose weight as quickly as they can, however, even if you manage to stick to your intense weight loss regimen and manage to lose all that weight, you are likely to gain it back after and you would have to go through the whole regime again and again. Many studies have also shown that people who have restricted themselves from certain foods have a much harder time controling their impulses when they are exposed to it.

On top of that, several studies have shown that people who are following a restrictive low calorie diet have 23% lower metabolism than those who simply just eat a well balanced diet. The lower level of metabolism is not temporary as it can persist long after you stop your diet which will make it even harder to maintain your weight. Researchers also believe that the lower level of metabolism after a restrictive diet is also partly to blame for the fact that over 80% of people regain their weight once they have lost it. This happens because of the lower muscle mass that you typically experience after depriving yourself from nutrients that you get from a well balanced diet.

Furthermore, if you severely limit yourself from certain foods, it makes you much more aware of them, for example if you stop yourself from eating ice cream, you will become much more aware of it when you see it next time. Like a forbidden fruit, when you stop yourself from having something, you want it even more, that is how our brain works and when you finally get your way and get the first taste of ice cream, you will overindulge and over eat. It is also scientifically proven that people who had desserts had more success in losing weight over 8 months than those who completely deprived themselves of it.

How to Avoid the All-or-Nothing Pitfall

In order to lose those pounds for good, you should not follow some insane workout plan or a complicated and extreme diet, you should just moderate yourself and take it slow so that it becomes a part of your lifestyle and you will be able to maintain that weight in the future.

First of all, you should eat three regular and balanced meals a day. A healthy and balanced diet should include vegetables, fruits, grains, protein and dairy. You should also set small and realistic goals to lose weight safely so that you will not be one of the 80% of people who end up gaining all their weight back. Instead of completely cutting down on foods, you should replace it with healthier substitutes for example, instead of fries and chip dips, try dipping cucumbers or carrots into hummus, it will still provide you with the satisfaction of haing a snack while also keeping you filled during the day while still keeping you healthy.

Another way you could sustainably lose weight is to have portion control. Instead of replacing your usual meals with just a salad etc. you could simply reduce the portion size in order to ease the transition into your diet. Picking and using a smaller plate will help and make it a rule to only go for one round. This will give you a physical way to restrict the amount of calories consumed and will still provide you with satisfaction.

If you want to try new diets then you can dabble around. You do not have to make dramatic changes in order to lose weight, for example if a keto diet is working for a friend and you want to try it as well you do not have to go all-in and set yourself up for failure, but you could try a couple of keto recipes in order to see what its about and if it's something that you would like to incorporate to your diet. You should always experiment with new things instead of going all-in and extreme on a particular diet which will ultimately end up badly for you in the long term. This also applies to your workout plan, do not go crazy and go to the gym for 2 hours every day of the week. This will not only make you feel exhausted and fatigued, it will put you off exercising in the long term, and if you skip a couple of days because of your exhaustion, you will feel like you have already failed and will give up. Furthermore, when you over exercise, and over-diet you will likely be reducing your muscle mass which means that there are less muscles in your body to burn all the fat and as soon as you stop dieting and working out, you will gain the pounds back way more quickly than you did before.

If you want to lose weight sustainably for the long term, you should not have an all-or-nothing attitude otherwise you will end up gaining the pounds back. Don’t buy into those strict diet plans and rigorous exercise plans especially if you are just starting out, it will just give you guilt and shame and prevent you from making positive changes in your life. If you need professional counseling or someone to help you get you into the right mindset to lose weight then do not hesitate to contact Dr. Narindr.