3 Weight Loss Mistakes To Avoid (By James D. Foster, Ph.D. )

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It's estimated that over 100 million people all over the world are overweight. Although, there is a lot of good information on how to lose weight, there is also a lot of misinformation. For you to lose a few pounds the healthy way, you need to avoid the following mistakes.

Mistake #1: sticking to a fixed calorie plan
Many people set their calorie intake at a given number and expect to lose weight at a constant rate over a period of time; therefore, they look for fixed diet plans such as 1000 and 1800 calorie plans.
You should note that fixed calorie diet plans don't work. This is because if you burn 2000 calories a day at the start of your diet, you will most likely not be losing the same calories after a given time. For example, you might be losing 1500 calories after one or two weeks.
This means that if you maintain constant calorie intake you will face decreasing calorie expenditure and as result you won't lose weight as expected.
If you want to lose weight at a constant rate, you need to lower your calorie intake in order to accommodate the calorie expenditure drop. You also need to exercise more in order to increase calorie expenditure.

Mistake #2: lack of sleep
In the current busy lifestyles it's common for people to sleep five or fewer hours. A recent study done by the University of Chicago showed that people who sleep fewer hours tend to have more fat and less muscle. This means that if you want to a leaner body and
 more muscles, you need to get a full night sleep.
If you are having problems with sleeping you need to get rid of any destruction. For example, you need to avoid taking caffeine after 10 PM. You can also try
to go to bed on an empty stomach.
You should also get rid of any light in your bedroom. This is because even a dimly-lit alarm clock has the ability of throwing off the body's sleep/wake cycle.

Mistake #3: going on a very low calorie diet (VLCD)
Since many people know that calories are the ones that bring about
 weight gain, they resort to taking very low calorie diets, which is wrong. A VLCD brings about a drop in metabolic rate.
In addition to this a VLCD creates an illusion of fast weight loss but in real sense you will be losing water. Finally, as a result of very low calories in the diet, you body lacks energy and as a result you can't sustain the low calorie diet for a long time.
Instead of going for a VLCD, you should go for a balanced diet that contains all the necessary nutrients

By James D. Foster, Ph.D.