Do you want to lose weight? Do you know that the thing you thought was right could be the reason for the slow pace?
I know a man who was doing his best to lose weight, running a marginal distance every morning.
Really, the distance he covers could make someone preparing for marathon up his game in envy.
Unfortunately, what he does after doing that morning run cancels all his efforts. In fact, that habit dashes him more calories than he needs.
Imagine skipping breakfast just because you want to hit the road and when you return from that exercise routine, you are so hungry.
The next thing you do is check the kitchen.
The white rice remaining in the pot from your previous evening meal, saves you. You guzzle it like someone that had been deprived of food for days.
Actually, it is not a difficult thing to lose weight.
In fact, if you want to lose weight and you are not able to lose over 5 kilograms in 2 months, you are not making good progress.
If this is you, you are among the persons that are doing the things we will list here.
To lose weight, avoid doing these 8 things and you will see results fast.
1. Failing To Put A Plan Together
A plan helps people achieve their goals.
Above all, it helps you know how much progress you make and whether you need to tweak your strategy.
Not having a plan begins by not knowing your ideal body Mass Index (BMI) and how much you need to lose to be in shape.
Most persons just embark on a weight lose simply because someone said they need to lose weight.
This is one reason, they start with zeal and backslide few days into the quest.
With a plan, you have your records planed out.
2. Never Think You Don’t Need A Scale
Dear reader, this is the best thing that you can do for yourself to motivate you and keep you in the spirit.
How can you say you want to lose weight without having a scale in your house? Where do you check your weight to know how many kilograms or pounds you have lost?
Biko (please), how to you check your progress? “What cannot be measured cannot be monitored.”
It is self-deceit to start a weight loss programme without a scale in your house.
Each time a person who is working to lose weight tells us there is no scale at home, we know how serious that person is.
2. Ignore What You Eat
Here is one other deceit that we see. Some people tell us they do not eat, yet weight is not coming down.
Food here is not just solid food. Perhaps, we should use the word consume so that you will understand better.
A person who drinks a bottle of soft drink (mineral, fizzy drink or soda) may be feeding his or her body higher amount of calories than another person who takes two balls of fufu.
You must do your best to know what you are consuming.
Some persons will sustain their eating pattern and still expect that they will lose weight.
Basically, it is like trying to blow a punctured balloon. As you burn calories, you consume equivalent or even more.
Junks also play a role in weight gain. But if you make a habit of always having a healthy snack to eat when craving for junks surfaces, you will be able to overcome the desire in no time.
So, tweak your diet up and you will begin to see result.
This plate can guide you.
3. You Must Not Ignore Fibre Intake
Indeed, one way to tweak your diet is to add fibre-rich foods to your diet.
If you are a lover of white rich, it is time to surround your white rice with vegetables.
We know you love semo, but it is time to understand that semo is very low in fibre because it is a processed food.
It is time to replace your semo and eba with red rice swallow, sorghum swallow, amala, plantain swallow, millet and some other whole grains.
Fruits are other foods that are rich in fibre.
Why fibre?
Studies found that people who consume fibre-rich foods have lower risk of obesity and diseases that are associated to it. (1) (2).
When you eat fibre-rich foods, you stay full and have less cravings for calories intake.
4. Think Your Calories Count Is Not Necessary
Furthermore, calories count or a knowledge of how much calories you must take each day is a very important data to have.
If you consume more calories than you burn per day, your weight is more likely not to go down.
As a result, you should know how much calories you need per day, depending on your physical activities level.
Really, if you want to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you eat.
5. Depend On Exercise Alone To Lose Weight
Also, a mistake you must not make is depending on exercise to lose weight.
For instance, can you do 10000 steps, or about 7–8 km walk per day? Not many adults can cover that and sustain it for a long period of time.
This is the reason depending on exercise alone is like setting yourself up to fail.
Food is the major reason you gain weight and controlling what you eat is what will help you lose it.
As a result, we recommend that you combine exercise and a diet strategy to lose weight fast and not get tired trying.
6. Go A Day Without Fruit
Foods are great when it comes to weight loss. They contain antioxidants that help you lose weight.
A study observes that the consumption of whole fruit contributes to a reduced risk of long-term weight gain in adults by reducing the total energy intake (3).
Some persons just conclude that fruits are too expensive and they just look away when they see fruits.
This is a bad habit to carry on if you want your weight to shift.
7. Fall Short Of Adequate Water Intake
Water is another thing that people hardly take in adequate quantity.
While many maintain this habit, studies have continued to pour in, bearing records of how water helps in weight loss.
One study says “absolute and relative increases in drinking water were associated with significant loss of body weight and fat over time, independent of covariates” (4).
When water is taking cold for instance, your body uses more calories to warm the water up to body temperature.
Water helps your body burn more calories.
8. Embrace Sedentary Life
Unfortunately, the kind of job you do could be the reason weight gain is a challenge.
If you are engaging in a sedentary lifestyle, your weight will continue to be a challenge.
This is because the calories that you bring into your body from your meals are not leaving the body.
An accumulation of the calories is what you see as bulging stomach and weight in different other parts of your body.
We know that for anyone to lose weight it is a combination of lifestyle adjustment, that begins with a plan and then adequate exercise to regulate the body system.