5 Bad Habits That Could Be Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Results
Are you kicking butt in the gym but not seeing weight loss results? You may think you’re ‘doing everything right’, but as a trainer, I see these common mistakes all the time with clients.
To help set you straight I have put together a list of bad habits I want you to break right now so you get results from your hard work, not just the frustration.
Bad Habit #1: Overtraining
Do you skip rest days more often than not? Or maybe you had no idea that you should be taking a rest day in the first place? Well, I have news for you. If you aren’t taking at least one rest day a week (if not two), then you are most likely overtraining and overworking your body and muscles.
It’s easy to develop an “I have to workout every day” mindset, but it’s important to remember that one of the most important parts of muscle development is actually giving our muscles time to recover. When we workout we are essentially breaking our muscles down, which causes them to rebuild themselves stronger than they were before, resulting in muscle gains. Doing intense exercises such as weightlifting or running every single day becomes too much for the system to handle, and will eventually lead to overuse injuries, such as stress fractures, muscle strains, and joint pain.
Bad Habit #2: Not Eating Enough
Food is Fuel. Eating enough food is essential to achieving results, yet often times people assume that restricting their calories is the only way to reach their fitness goals. I don’t know when we all started associating everything fitness related with starving ourselves, but it needs to stop. The number one thing that I find when I am assessing a new client is that they are not eating enough, not even close! We have this fear that food is the ‘bad guy’, and that being constantly hungry is just the norm if you’re trying to reach your weight loss goal. Whether you want to lose or gain weight, burn fat or build muscle, you need to eat. The formula is simple; exercise + the right kinds of foods at the right times = you getting to your goal.
We have this fear that food is the ‘bad guy’, and that being constantly hungry is just the norm if you’re trying to reach your weight loss goal.
Bad Habit #3: Doing Endless Cardio
Too often I see girls (and some guys) spending all of their time on the cardio machines, but never seeing any changes. You might feel like you’re getting a good workout in, as you’re huffing, puffing and sweating, but in reality, when it comes to getting the results you’re going nowhere fast.
Realistically, if you are spending any longer than 60 minutes on a piece of cardio equipment more than 4 times a week, you are actually slowing down your metabolism and breaking down your muscle. In order for our bodies to become ‘fat burning machines’, we need to be eating often to keep our metabolism high, lifting weights to build muscle, and doing the proper kinds of cardio – like HIIT
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is one of the fastest and most effective cardio techniques when it comes to fat loss. Let’s face it, wouldn’t you rather do 20 minutes of hard cardio than 90 minutes of slogging it out?
Teaser!! Stay tuned for next week’s HIIT workout you can do anywhere!
Bad Habit #4: Letting a Cheat Meal Turn Into a Cheat Day/Weekend
We’ve all been there; we psych ourselves up for our beloved cheat meal, telling ourselves that this weekend it is going to be different, we’re going to have one cheat and that’s it. Yet somehow that cheat meal turned into a cheat day. Then a cheat 24 hours… and now you’re saying yes to Sunday brunch and donuts and waffles, and you can feel yourself slowly spiraling out of control (okay I’m being dramatic but you get the picture).
My point is that one cheat meal will not hinder your progress. In fact, sometimes a cheat meal is the perfect thing your body and muscles need to replenish themselves, just try not to go completely crazy and fall off the wagon for a whole weekend.
Bad Habit #5: Comparing Yourself To Others
I understand that it’s human nature to admire and compare ourselves to others, especially in our social media world. But I think that we also sometimes forget that when it comes to other people’s lives, we only see what they want us to see.
You are never going to be another person, you will never have the exact same physique as someone else, and you will never have their life. We all need to remind ourselves that where we are on our journey is a lot different than where anyone else is on their journey – that’s the beauty of fitness and life in general.
So at the end of the day, you just do you. Keep working hard, challenging yourself, and practice a little kindness. You’ll only reach your goal through progress, not comparison.
About Your Author:
Lulu Godin, is a member of #TeamReflex, an American Council on Exercise (ACE) Certified Personal Trainer, an online health and fitness coach, and soon to be Certified Nutritionist.
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