Have you decided that, once and for all, you are going to stick to your diet plan? Finally, this is going to be the time that you follow through and get the results you are after—a lean, muscular and tight body. But, do you have a good plan to help you reach your goals?
Even if you have a smart meal plan with the right macronutrients and calories to facilitate fat loss, you may not be set up for success. To achieve and maintain your goals, you must avoid certain classic dieting sins that can directly affect your ability to gain lean muscle or burn off fat. Ditch these ‘7 Dieting Sins,’ and success can be yours!
Sin #1 – Envy
Envious of the Venus Lean Bodies
Stop being jealous of those women who can build muscle and melt off fat just by looking at a dumbbell or a cardio machine, and just focus on YOUR goals. It’s a lot of wasted energy that you can invest into consistently following a solid nutrition and training plan. Remember…the woman who you are envious of has likely been committed to hard work for a long time. There is no off-season when it comes to building or maintaining a great body, so keep at it day after day.
A few diet reminders…each day, your diet should contain 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight from chicken, fish, turkey, protein powder and lean red meat. Your complex carbohydrates should include such foods as oatmeal, sweet potato, brown rice and veggies. Your essential fats should come such foods as flax oil, avocado, and nuts.
Sin #2 – Lust
Dreaming of Pizza, Chocolate and Ice Cream
After one week on a diet, are you ready to give into your weakness? Are you constantly thinking about that piece of chocolate or other items not on your meal plan? Some of you may think that one week of good clean eating means that you deserve some kind of reward. While it’s true that cheat days can help boost leptin levels and reset your metabolic rate, this should only be done occasionally and when your body has had time to adjust and plateau to being on a diet.
Hold off on a cheat day until your body reaches a plateau, you stop seeing results or you stop losing weight. Until that time, clear your head of those items and focus on how good it’ll feel to reach your goal.
Sin #3 – Sloth
Too Lazy to Stick to the Plan
Too lazy to plan your meals for the week can mean missing meals, consuming the wrong foods and losing sight of your goals. Slowly, one week of ‘no planning’ can turn into weeks of half-hearted efforts. Remember…each meal is an opportunity to build your body, and so maximize it.
Keep yourself focused. Make a habit of planning out your meals for the following week. Be sure to consider your schedule for the upcoming week, so that you are prepared no matter what.
Sin #4 – Pride
Too Proud to Ask for Help
If you don’t experience any progress after a month of consistent effort, don’t be too proud to seek help. Ask questions, search for answers and refer to good sources of information like FitnessRx for Women.
Find a personal trainer, a nutritionist or seek advice from a friend who has accomplished an amazing fitness goal! The only pride you should be guilty of is taking pride in your appearance.
Sin #5 – Greed
Eating Too Many Calories
You might think that you are eating the right amount of calories to get the results you want; but, if you are not weighing your food and counting your calories, you are likely over-consuming! Eating too many calories will lead to increased fat instead of lean muscle. Invest in a scale and some measuring cups to be certain you are eating the right amount of calories.
You can determine your weight loss calorie range by simply multiplying your weight by 10 to 12 for softer builds, 14 to 16 if you have an athletic build and 18 to 20 for those of you who have lean builds. Use these numbers as a guide. Remember, you should never drop below 1200 calories.
Sin #6 – Gluttony
Relying on Supplements Instead Good Nutrition
Yes, supplements are an important part of any fitness and weight loss plan, but they do not work alone. You can’t eat whatever you want, workout occasionally and expect a magic supplement will build lean muscle and burn off fat without you doing a single thing! It takes work.
You need to follow a consistent diet, workout and supplement plan to get maximum results. These three pillars ensure your metabolism is working optimally for muscle building and fat loss.
Sin #7 – Wrath
Suffering with Diet Anger
Are you ready to chuck that plate of chicken out the window and give the whole thing up for a piece of cheesecake? It happens. Three days into a diet, you can start feeling a little angry if you are bored and unsatisfied. The good news is that there are many ways to stop diet boredom. Just inject a little creativity into your diet—the possibilities are endless.
Inject a little creativity into your diet—the possibilities are endless. Try new spices, condiments or marinades on your meats, or try blending different shakes using a variety of different protein powders and clean ingredients. Try a new vegetable each week. No matter what you decide to do, you can make it fun and interesting; diet food is only as good as you make it!
